Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 26 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
Environment
STORM CHASERS
Storm Offers Rare Encounters
Birders gather to see species blown ashore by Hurricane Lee
The night before Hurricane Lee tore through the coastal waters of Massachusetts, most Cape Codders were stocking up on food and hoping the storm wouldn’t hit too hard. Birders, meanwhile, […]
ON THE MARSH
Shorebirds Thrive Between the Tides
Birds making some of the longest migrations on the planet stop to feed on our flats
On Wellfleet’s saltwater marshes, at low tide, the grasses stand high over a vast, muddy plain. Six hours later, those same grasses are half-submerged, or standing on islands with deep […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 19 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
MOSQUITOES
West Nile Virus Makes Its Annual Appearance Here
Experts recommend removing standing water to control the disease
EASTHAM — West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne illness that appears on Cape Cod annually, has been detected in a sample of the insects in the Fort Hill area of Eastham. […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 12 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 5 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
COLD FEET
Wellfleet Backs Out of Dredging Mitigation Agreement
Select board plans to ask spring town meeting for $4.5 million for permit
WELLFLEET — The select board has backpedaled on its support for a plan that would have dedicated 28 acres in Blackfish Creek to oyster habitat restoration. The restoration was a […]
PILGRIM PROGRESS
State Hears Mostly ‘No’ at Public Hearing on Radioactive Wastewater
In written comments and at a town hall event, people press DEP to deny permit
PLYMOUTH — Nearly all of the more than 700 written comments sent so far to the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) urge the agency to finalize its denial of […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 29 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
A Threat of Fines Prompts Oil Spill Cleanup to Resume
Years of testing follow a spill near a Wellfleet wetland
WELLFLEET — State officials want to see the cleanup of a nearly two-year-old oil spill at a downtown business and recently threatened the owner with fines “in excess of several […]
RADIOACTIVITY
Holtec Releases Some Pilgrim Wastewater as Gas
Officials say amount is small, but watchdogs worry more is planned
PLYMOUTH — Officials and citizens groups that have spent two years fighting to block Holtec Decommissioning International from dumping 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater from the Pilgrim nuclear plant […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 22 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
CLIMATE CRISIS
Lobstermen Face Hypoxia in Outer Cape Waters
Low oxygen levels linked to warmer water spell trouble for local lobsters
PROVINCETOWN — Alex Iacono, a lobsterman who says he favors lobsters and ocean solitude over people, is worried about the future of his business. Iacono, who lives in Truro and […]
STATUS QUO
4 Years On, Uncertainty Lingers at Bike Path’s End
Options for Wellfleet leg of Cape Cod Rail Trail get no hearing
WELLFLEET — When the Mass. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) proposed in 2018 to extend the Cape Cod Rail Trail bike path, it was one part of an expansive […]
