EASTHAM — It was gray and blustery on First Encounter Beach, but nine teams of artists refused to let the summer end last weekend. The peal of a cowbell signaled […]
Local Journalism Project
GRAY AREA
Outer Cape Health Restructures as It Loses Top Staff
Financial operations will require an overhaul, says CEO Archer
WELLFLEET — Outer Cape Health Services is regrouping after a rash of staff departures over the past several months left the organization with a shortage of top leadership and primary […]
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Notes From a Naive Swimmer
Panic and transcendence on a cold sojourn in the bay
PROVINCETOWN — The intensity of the physical and emotional exertion I was about to undertake didn’t hit me until I was packed into the last Funk Bus full of neoprene-suited […]
ON THE FLATS
Meet the Farmers of Mayo Beach
Growers respond to nature and science as they consider the future of shellfishing
WELLFLEET — Jake Puffer beckons a group of touring visitors closer, asking if they want to peek inside the ridges of his farm’s oyster hats. Disks dipped in lime, sand, […]
ELECTROMAGNETIC
Studies Look at Turbine Cables and Lobsters
Experiments in Long Island Sound found few effects
WELLFLEET — Two years after its first public announcement in August 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to hold public auctions for eight offshore wind energy leasing […]
MARSHES
Scientists Measure an Ecological Transition at Duck Harbor
How the ‘overwashes’ preview the restoration of the salt marsh at the Herring River
WELLFLEET — Duck Harbor, enjoyed by visitors as a bayside beach, is returning to its 19th-century roots as a salt marsh, according to Tim Smith, a restoration ecologist at the […]
ON THE FLATS
Meet the Farmers of Mayo Beach
Growers respond to nature and science as they consider the future of shellfishing
WELLFLEET — Jake Puffer beckons a group of touring visitors closer, asking if they want to peek inside the ridges of his farm’s oyster hats. Disks dipped in lime, sand, […]
SURFING
The Oldtimers Longboard Classic Turns 50 in the Fog
Surfers brave hurricane-powered waves for a day that’s more ‘goofy’ than competitive
WELLFLEET — Swells from the aftermath of Hurricane Ernesto and an eerie fog mixed with drifting smoke from Canada’s wildfires enveloped White Crest Beach on Aug. 18 as hundreds of […]
BACK TO SCHOOL
Nauset High Reconstruction Is Almost Half Done
New spaces for art, physical education, and science will update an old campus
EASTHAM — The eastern half of Nauset Regional High School’s campus has been under construction since February 2023, pushing faculty and students into temporary modular classrooms, but with the new […]
SURFING
The Oldtimers Longboard Classic Turns 50 in the Fog
Surfers brave hurricane-powered waves for a day that’s more ‘goofy’ than competitive
WELLFLEET — Swells from the aftermath of Hurricane Ernesto and an eerie fog mixed with drifting smoke from Canada’s wildfires enveloped White Crest Beach on Aug. 18 as hundreds of […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Eye to Eye With a Catbird
Seeing the soul of the natural world on a banding day at Wing Island
BREWSTER — I pulled into the parking lot of the Cape Cod Natural History Museum at 5:30 a.m. on a mid-August morning that was hot and humid even at that […]
CEPHALOPODA
The Kids Will Squid
A newcomer joins a summer night’s ritual on MacMillan Pier in Provincetown
PROVINCETOWN — It’s 7:30 p.m. and the sky is changing from navy blue to black. It’s squidding time. Squidding is a tradition passed down through generations, says Maxine Meads-Stojiljkovic, the […]
AQUACULTURE
Off the Tides, the Work Goes On for Oystermen
Culling, sorting, tumbling, tagging, and selling are unseen tasks of the trade
WELLFLEET — Jimmy Mulpeter stands under the shade of a patio umbrella on an August afternoon, holding oyster after oyster against a metal gauge before tossing them into one of […]
PIER JUMPING
Making the Leap in Provincetown
At MacMillan Pier, a summer tradition that’s ‘an exhilaration thing’
PROVINCETOWN — Pier jumping is a tradition here. On almost any summer day when the tide is high, you’ll see people laughing, holding hands, and then leaping off MacMillan Pier […]
WELLFLEET HARBOR
Hydraulic Fluid Spills; Oysters Deemed Safe
Wind, tides, and the movement of boats disperse a slick over 2 acres
WELLFLEET — Local and state agencies sprang into action when a sheen — later identified as spilled hydraulic fluid — was seen coating the surface of Wellfleet Harbor on the […]
