NECWA News Blog

  Join the NECWA team in Nantucket or virtually for this  exciting  event.  The UMass Boston Nantucket  Field Station is thrilled to host: Big Fish in New England: Strategies for Strandings and Research Activities Carol "Krill" Carson  President and Founder of the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance Meet Carol "Krill" Carson. Learn about big fish research and rescue.  Open to the public, students, staff and faculty. Thursday Dec 15th, 2022. Hybrid talk: (in person or zoom webinar) Talk 1:00-2:15PM ( ZOOM Webinar) Broadcast from the Nantucket Field Station  Conference Room, 180 Polpis Road Stranding training will follow the talk for those attending in person on Nantucket.  (2:30-4PM) Webinar Registration required by all attending virtually or in person:  https://umassboston.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JQMvMzZbRnepHa5Ix1ti4g

By Joshua Perry, 2022 NECWA Intern Wareham, MA. June 27, 2022 — On the morning of June 14, three diamondback terrapins were struck and killed by cars while crossing the Weweantic Bridge, the busy Route 6 thoroughfare linking the towns of Wareham and Marion. A concerned motorist, Mike Maurer from Marion, managed to save a fourth terrapin and notified NECWA of the other fatalities. It was a shocking tragedy and a clear sign that terrapins and other turtles are in grave danger on our roads. The Weweantic Bridge is a known hotspot for these accidents: nearby terrapins come ashore looking to nest and are funneled on to it, ending up in the middle of mid-morning traffic. NECWA is working with local and state authorities to find a solution to this problem and to increase awareness of the bridge’s safety issues. The reality is that adult female terrapins are running out of options when it comes time to nest each year. Urban encroachment, coastal armoring, and rising sea levels are eroding...

by Ben Waltz, 2022 NECWA Intern In the early parts of the Summer, when horseshoe crabs are most abundant, volunteers perform surveys to better understand how the horseshoe crab population is faring. New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) is one of the organizations that volunteers to take part in these surveys, organized by Mass Audubon. The data from these surveys is sent to the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) who then use this information to make decisions about the best conservation practices for horseshoe crabs. One of the perks of these surveys is that you get to be at the beach, enjoy the nice weather, and learn. When I took part in a survey, I got to see what goes on behind the scenes. One thing I learned quickly was that female horseshoe crabs tend to be much larger than males. Size alone isn’t enough to tell them apart which is why we need to flip them over and check their pincers. Male’s pedipalps have an appearance that looks like a boxing glove ...

  What am I doing this Friday on Earth Day?  Working with Dani and Amy in the NECWA office on diamondback terrapin data and preparing for a new season of field research and rescues. What do I wish on this Earth Day? That NECWA had more Members to support the work we do. What can I do to make this happen? Reach out to my friends and family and ask for their continued interest and support. NECWA needs your support to keep us in the field researching and rescuing marine wildlife (actually any wildlife), especially those 'mis-fit" species ignored by others. NECWA is all volunteer which means that each of us volunteers our time and expertise on behalf of local wildlife. I am so proud of all the work we do and am amazed at all we have and will continue to accomplish as volunteers. However, each of us struggles to juggle NECWA activities with other responsibilities, including family, work and our health.   How can you help? Become a member of NECWA and keep us going! Your suppo...

SUMMAH AUCTION   May 29 — June 11, 2022 The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance is organizing an online auction from May 29th to June 11th. 100% of the net proceeds goes towards NECWA’s important marine wildlife research & rescue work and our internship program for high school & college students, which provides young professionals with hands-on experiences in the field of marine science. Subscribe to our newsletter to get up-to-date information on the auction. https://app.robly.com/.../3356b861fbb67ddf.../NECWAsubscribe NECWA needs your help! We are looking for donations of goods and services to be auctioned. This could be tickets to a performance, a basket of goods from your store or company, golf packages, spa packages, a boat tour... or perhaps something you can offer that we have not thought of yet! Sponsorships are welcome, and for your sponsorship, we will include your company name, logo, and link to your website (as appropriate) on our auction materials. If you are...

It is often difficult to know what organization to call if you sight a live animal swimming offshore or a distressed animal that has stranded on a beach.  Below is a list of numbers that we hope you will find helpful.  Marine Animal Entanglement Response Overseeing organization - Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) Focus: to report sightings of live or dead entangled marine animals Rescue Hotline Number: 800-900-3622 Sea Turtle Sighting Hotline for Southern New England Overseeing organization - Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay Focus: to report live or dead sightings of sea turtle in the waters of southcoast MA Hotline Number: 1-800-888-Sea-Turt (1-888-732-8878) website:  https://seaturtlesightings.org Cold-stunned Sea Turtle Sightings   Overseeing organization - Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay Focus: to report sightings of live or dead stranded, cold-stunned sea turtles Rescue Hotline Number: 508-349-2615 x 2104 Ocean Sunfish and Basking Shark Sightings  Overs...

NECWA in action is what it is all about! We understand the importance of educational outreach to interested young professionals like the Cadets at Mass Maritime Academy. Last week, Krill Carson and Helen Granger presented NECWA's work with marine wildlife strandings to a group of interested cadets. At the end of Krill's presentation, Jack Gerrior and Coleman Earner talked about their experiences with NECWA last fall and early winter as they worked with NECWA through the college's coop program. Both were eager to talk about their work and experiences out in the field rescuing live animals and documenting dead ones. Jack and Coleman were amazing members of our team last fall and we miss them very much. But we are so proud of all of their work and accomplishments.

Natural History Museum hosts presentation on protection of local wildlife Nov 9, 2021 To see the article online, click Sippican Week The Marion Natural History Museum welcomed the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance last week to learn about what can be done to rescue Diamondback terrapins and Ocean sunfish in the area. Terrapins live in the brackish coastal waters off our coast and nest along our sandy beaches. Ocean sunfish swim in the open waters along our coast and due to their distinctive dorsal fins — which wave above the water surface — are occasionally mistaken for sharks when viewed from a distance. The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance showed attendees how they are working to protect terrapins as well as helping sunfish who find themselves stranded in water too shallow for them to escape and get back out to the open ocean. The museum thanked Krill Carson and the volunteers at the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance for all their work protecting these important species.

Happy Earth Day from all of us at NECWA. Each day we have the opportunity to do something positive for Mother Earth. Some actions are small like using reusable bags at the grocery store and some are big, like purchasing an electric vehicle. No matter how significant the action, each one makes a difference, especially when we combine actions and work together. Lets' work hard to make every day Earth Day. Our survival depends on a healthy and diverse planet as does the survival of all life on Earth. We are connected, we are One!

Earlier this month, NECWA was contacted about some very sad news. Our good friend, colleague and biggest supporter, Dr. John Jahoda, died from a long battle with a rare form of liver cancer. You can click HERE to read John's obituary.  This series of photos are of John when he joined me and Dani on Aucoot Beach in Marion, MA in July of 2017. I had asked John if he would identify the various plants on Aucoot Beach for me in preparation of a vegetation study that I was putting together for the nonprofit. Dani and I had so much fun listening and learning from John that day and still remember how amazed we were with John's ability to know all the names and life histories of each of the plants we found. John was a trained zoologist but knew all about plants, environments and just about everything and anything. He was brilliant but he never made a show of all that he knew. He was a gracious, wonderful and supportive teacher and mentor with me and with all of his students, regardless ...

During the 2020 stranding season on Cape Cod, NECWA documented the first stranded adult shirttail mola. This is a more tropical species compared to the common mola, the species that typically strands on the shores of Cape Cod each fall and early winter.  On April 16, 2021, Cory Farrelly, a NECWA volunteer, who recently graduated from UMASS Dartmouth in Marine Biology, presented a poster on this stranding in collaboration with NECWA's President Krill Carson and other researchers also studying these unusual species.  Click on the poster below to enlarge. Working with our interns and volunteers on scientific posters and presentations is what NECWA is about. This provides the experience and opportunities that these young professionals need as they grow in the field of marine science.  Please donate to NECWA to help us continue this important mission. NECWA works with over 60 high school and college interns each year as we train the scientists, journalist, educators, etc. of t...

  Where are our NECWA interns now? Jessica Bethoney interned and volunteered at NECWA from 2014 to 2015. She was a NECWA whale research intern on the whale watch boats in Plymouth, MA where she was responsible for collecting, identifying and organizing Humpback whale research. In the winter, Jessica volunteered to look for cold-stunned sea turtles along Cape Cod along while also assisting with necropsies of sea turtle and ocean sunfish. Today, Jessica is a Zebrafish Aquatics Facility Manager at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Smiches Research Building. In this facility, she provides husbandry care for over 1500 zebrafish tanks. Jessica assists the multiple researchers who use zebrafish embryos to identify genetic pathways that are responsible for birth anomalies, regrow ligaments and tendons for people who are missing a limb and cancer research.  In her spare time, Jessica enjoys scuba diving, hiking, kayaking, drawing but most of all photography. She continues t...

Hello! My name is Austyn Morin. I am currently a senior at Stonehill College, majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Spanish and German. I have always been interested in the outdoors, spending lots of my free time hiking and fishing in Vermont. This has allowed me to gain a deep appreciation for the local wildlife. Those experiences have inspired me to pursue a career in wildlife biology and conservation. Austyn (on left) and David (right) with rescued live sea turtle. So, naturally, I wanted to do something that would allow me to work with the wildlife of Massachusetts.  I first heard of NECWA through Stonehill College and other students that had interned here. The first activities I participated in had to do with NECWA’s Ocean Sunfish Project, which involved responding to stranded Ocean Sunfish reports and returning them to the water if they were still alive. On one chilly November morning in East Sandwich, I had the opportunity to help return an Ocean Sunfish to ...

Coleman with dead Common Dolphin at Linnell Landin, Brewster, MA. Hello! My name is Coleman Earner and I am in my Junior year at the Massachusetts Maritime   Academy (MMA). I am currently studying Marine Science, Safety, and Environmental Protection (MSSEP) with a minor in Marine Biology. From a young age, I was fascinated by the ocean ecosystem and all of its moving parts. Since then, I’ve known for certain that I wanted to pursue the field of Marine Biology. During my time at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, I became especially interested in the phenomenon of stranded marine life. Participating in marine wildlife rescues and field research are activities that I’ve wanted to become involved in for a long time. I first heard about NECWA through one of Mass Maritime’s Career fairs as well as recommendations from various fellow students, which drove me to become more involved with their program through a MMA Winter Co-op Program.     Dead Ocean Sunfish stranded on G...

Stranded dead Gray Triggerfish on Great Island, Wellfleet  on 11/21/2020 by Holly Kuhn The Gray Triggerfish ( Balistes capriscus ), also known as a Leatherjacket or Taly, belongs to the Balistidae or the triggerfish family, containing about 40 species altogether. Their most identifiable feature is their front spiny dorsal fin, which gives the Gray Triggerfish its name because they use their front dorsal fin as a defense mechanism against predators. When threatened, the Gray Triggerfish will move into a rocky crevice and erect their front dorsal fin, locking them into place. The Gray Triggerfish has been known to become stranded on Cape Cod's beaches, so it is important to note other important physical features. Mainly since the physical characteristics of the Gray Triggerfish can change depending on age and sex. That way, if one is identified, you can take photos of it and take note of its location. In general they have large plate-like scales at the front of their body, but they b...