NECWA News Blog

NECWA and Captain John Boats collaborate on a Marine Wildlife Internship program. Captain John provides two free tickets each day for NECWA interns to accompany whale watching passengers offshore. NECWA interns assist with educational outreach while offshore and when on the whales, they collect sighting data and photographic/video information. Later, NECWA interns will analyze this information and share their findings with other research groups in the area. This internship program is a wonderful way for students and professionals within the New England area to get experience in the field of marine biology and marine science. We want to thank Captain John Boats for providing this opportunity to NECWA interns since 2005. This Sunday, October 31st, is our last day of whale watching for the 2010 season. To celebrate this event, Captain John Boats is offering a Halloween special (see below). We hope you can join us this Sunday for our last whale watching trip. By supporting Captain John Bo

Beach Cleanup at Scusset Beach This morning, NECWA and Captain John Whale Watching & Fishing Tours (CJB) sponsored a beach cleanup at Scusset Beach within the Scusset Beach State Reservation. NECWA staff member Dominica Webster and NECWA/CJB staff member Krill Carson coordinated this event on behalf of both organizations. This cleanup effort is part of the state-wide program called COASTSWEEP (www.coastsweep.umb.edu). Coastsweep is the Commonwealth’s annual coastal cleanup program, organized by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and the Urban Harbors Institute of the University of Massachusetts Boston. NECWA and Captain John Boats are proud to support Coastsweep through their involvement in this program for the past 5 years. Sixteen volunteers meet at 9 am at Scusset Beach, a beautiful beach on the shores of Cape Cod Bay. Scusset Beach is located within the Scusset Beach State Reservation, a windswept area that also borders the Cape Cod Canal. Winds were light out

Live Ocean Sunfish Stranding - Scusset Beach State Pier Aerial view - Scusset Beach to right of the canal entrance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scusset_Beach_State_Reservation This afternoon Cape Cod Canal Rangers from the US Army Corp of Engineers were alerted that a live ocean ocean sunfish that had accidentally gotten wedged between the pilings of the Scusset Beach Fishing Pier. This pier is situated in the Scusset Beach State Reservation and juts out into the swift, cold waters of the Cape Cod Canal. The tide was ebbing (going out) so the water under the Fishing Pier was dropping. This created a very dangerous situation for the ocean sunfish for without water, the fish would not be able to breathe. The Canal Rangers called Krill and she alerted other NECWA staff members who might be available to assist with this rescue effort. Dominica and Bob were able to join Krill as they all met at the Scusset Beach Fishing Pier ready to help out in any way possible. Dominica did a fabulous jo

Wellfleet Oyster Festival - Saturday, October 16th and Sunday, October 17th NECWA and staff from Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours sponsored a tent at the local Wellfleet Oyster Festival. This festival is an annual event that just keeps getting bigger and bigger in terms of attendance each year. People who attended the festival could enjoy fresh Wellfleet Oysters or other types of local cuisine served up by many different restaurants from around the area. Live bands played non-stop on the main stage that was situated by the food tent. And there was plenty to see as vendors from around the United States set-up tents all along the road and in the parking lots. At the NECWA/Captain John Boats tent, families stopped by to "ohh and ahh" over the variety of whale and shark artifacts that were on display. This collection included: mako shark jaws; teeth from whales and sharks including a huge fossilized tooth of a megladon (an ancient shark); baleen from a humpback whale