NECWA News Blog

Marine Wildlife Strandings on Sandy Neck and Scorton Creek. Lauren and Jessica recording data.  Today Krill, Tammy, Lauren and Jessica headed to Sandy Neck Beach, Barnstable for a stranded ocean sunfish that had washed ashore that morning. Ranger Nina Coleman contacted Krill and arranged for transport to the carcass once the team made it down to the Gatehouse at Sandy Neck Beach. Ranger Doug assisted the team by driving them to the location of the ocean sunfish carcass. As the team closely examined this carcass, they realized that this fish had been necropsied last week on the west side of Sandy Neck Beach.  Tammy examining ocean sunfish carcass. Because the carcass was not marked, it was difficult to determine that it had already been looked at by NECWA last week. Hard to believe that this carcass had drifted over 5 miles from where it first washed ashore and it had flipped onto its left side. This is the side that was not exposed when the carcass was ex...

Ocean sunfish carcass at Linnell Landing.  Dead Ocean Sunfish at Linnell Landing Yesterday, Mary contacted Krill about a dead ocean sunfish off Linnell Landing, Brewster. Krill headed down to Brewster early the next morning and relocated the carcass close to the beach access at Linnell Landing.  David photographing the carcass.  David with his wonderful weighing tripod. Krill contacted friends and colleagues David and Fran Clapp who live in Brewster and who graciously changed their morning plans to come and help with the necropsy. This turned out to be a 225 lb. ocean sunfish and the first dead ocean sunfish we have recorded for Linnell Landing this season.  Ocean sunfish suspended from the tripod.  To weigh the carcass, Krill setup NECWA's portable weighing tripod that uses an electronic crane scale and a chain lift. This was the first time that David got a chance to see his creation in action. David was the b...

Sunday, December 2, 2012  Photo by Michael Webster.  On Saturday, December 1, 2012 Michael Webster stopped by Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay to report a dead ocean sunfish a mile or so south of Thumpertown Beach in Eastham, MA. With the help of Mass Audubon, Michael got connected to NECWA by calling Krill and providing detailed information about this stranding to her directly.  The next day, Krill and Lauren Tauer, a Biology Senior at Bridgewater State University (BSU), headed down to Eastham in the hopes of relocating this carcass.  Melissa from Mass Audubon lives in the Eastham area and kindly offered to look for the carcass early in the morning. With her trusty dogs, she has 3, Melissa scoured some of the beaches in the area, but was not able to find the carcass. But Melissa did contact someone who had seen the carcass that morning so she was able to get us connected! Lauren with the ocean sunfish carcass.  This semeste...

Click HERE to go to our Constant Contact site and read our 2012 Fall / Winter Newsletter. Lots of fun stuff in this issue.

Ocean Sunfish Stranding - Barnstable MA Dead ocean sunfish on the beach. Just when I thought there was going to be a little down time, I get a call from Ranger Nina Coleman at the Sandy Neck Beach Park about a dead ocean sunfish in the surf. The crew! Ranger Nina, Ed, Kevin and Christine.  Over the past few days, Ranger Nina and her team have been picking up many cold-stunned sea turtles so this was a bit of a change for them. Ranger Nina met me at the Park's Gatehouse around 1 pm and offered to drive me to the carcass. Once I transferred all my gear and equipment to the park's 4-wheel drive truck, we were off and were accompanied by two local journalists, Christine and Kevin. Ocean sunfish getting weighed. We were met down at the beach by resident Ed White who took an interest in this carcass. With Ed's help, I was able to weigh this carcass which Nina had very accurately predicted to be around 368 lbs. Ed photographing the carcass.  Ranger Ni...

Dead Ocean Sunfish at Rocky Nook, Kingston MA Ocean sunfish carcass finally exposed at the water's edge.  View of ocean sunfish carcass looking back towards the beach.  This morning, Nancy Borsari called to report a dead ocean sunfish in Kingston, MA. Most strandings of ocean sunfish occur on Cape Cod so this was an usual sighting for us.  With a quick call, Leah was at my house and ready to head out to Kingston to find and necropsy this carcass. Leah taking photos of carcass.  Since NECWA is a volunteer non-profit, Leah was helping out on her own time. Leah recently graduated from Bridgewater State University in Biology and has been with NECWA for many years. NECWA is grateful for her help and the help of the other biologists and professionals within the community that volunteer their time and expertise on behalf of these amazing animals. Thanks Leah! Head-on view of this ocean sunfish.  In an effort to help us locate this carcass, Nancy m...