NECWA News Blog

Dead Torpedo Ray in Michael's truck. This morning, Jane from IFAW's Marine Mammal Rescue and Research program called Krill about a possible dead ocean sunfish at Ellis Landing in Brewster, MA. Jane indicated that the town's shellfish officer had made the initial report of this carcass. With a rising tide, Krill worried that she would not be able to find the carcass by the time she drove down to the Cape. With this in mind, Krill contacted Michael Sprague from MA Audubon at Wellfleet Bay and asked if he could get to the carcass and pull it above the high tide line to secure it for later examination.   Close-up of dead torpedo ray.  Michael dropped everything and immediately headed towards Brewster. When he got on site, he was surprised to find a dead torpedo ray, not an ocean sunfish. Torpedo rays also strand on our New England beaches in the fall but their numbers are not as high as those we observe for ocean sunfish or sea turtles. So finding a fresh carcass ...

Dorsal fin of the ocean sunfish in Little Buttermilk Bay. Yesterday, NECWA received a call from the IFAW Rescue and Stranding team about a possible live ocean sunfish trapped in Little Buttermilk Bay, in Bourne MA. Krill and Tammy headed to Bourne late that morning to connect with the gentleman who initially reported this sighting, Lyle Kessler.  Lyle lives with his family on the shores of Little Buttermilk Bay and is the Commanding Officer at the USCG Northeast Regional Fisheries Training Center. Lyle was able to get the afternoon off to help us locate and possibly move the fish into a safer location. A big thank you to our USCG for Lyle's help and assistance this afternoon. This rescue would not have been possible without his help and the help of his family. Ocean sunfish off the bow of the kayak. We found the ocean sunfish in the back of Little Buttermilk Bay and in shallow water. Using kayaks that Lyle had borrowed, we were able to direct the fish across the Bay and...

Our team: Tammy, Michael, Spring and Tom. Staff of NECWA and Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay worked together to necropsy a small male ocean sunfish that had stranded on Saturday in Chipman's Cove, Wellfleet. This beautiful fish had stranded as a result of being close to shore in shallow water as the tide was going out. Michael rigging the carcass to be weighed.  A Wellfleet resident, Swede, had notified NECWA of this animal on Saturday, but we were not able to respond.  Swede returned to the fish to try and push it back into deeper water, but the animal had already stranded and died. NECWA staff members Krill and Tammy worked with Mass Audubon staff members Tom, Spring and Michael to necropsy the carcass in order to collect body measurements, to sex the individual and to conduct a thorough internal examination. Michael using the chain lift to weigh the carcass . Tammy and Michael measuring the carcass. =  This necropsy had to be conducted on site giv...

Scusset Beach. Beach cleanup at Scusset Beach - Krill, Tammy, Marianne and Tiffany Tammy, Marianne, Krill and Tiffany.  Today staff from the Captain John Boats, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance teamed up for their annual beach cleanup at Scusset Beach. Captain John naturalists, Krill, Tammy. Marianne and Tiffany helped set-up the cleanup effort while New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance staff members Dominica and Bob helped run the event. Tiffany's mom, Cathy, came to help set-up and participate in this event and she had us all laughing as we put up our tables and organized the supplies.  Tammy helping to set-up the tables.  Tables with educational material, cleanup supplies, food and much more.  This cleanup effort is part of COASTSWEEP, the statewide coastal cleanup sponsored by the  Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management  (CZM) and coordinated by the  U...