Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 17, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
Environment
ENVIRONMENT
Scientists Pick Up Effort to Study Ponds
Seashore looks at role of warming; APCC urges county action
WELLFLEET — With a growing number of cyanobacteria blooms occurring in ponds across Cape Cod, researchers are expanding their efforts in hopes of better understanding toxic algal blooms and how […]
PUBLIC SPACE
Making Stellwagen Bank More Than ‘a Line on the Map’
Spaces for community use are part of the visitor center plan
PROVINCETOWN — One of the Outer Cape’s greatest assets is its proximity to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a federally protected swath of ocean whose southernmost boundary is just three […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 10, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Broken Wing
The ways of nature can be difficult to witness
Three days in a row, in late September, I went out to Race Point Beach in search of a couple of rare gulls. Three days in a row I failed […]
WATERFRONT
Worries Stall Rock Harbor Building Plan
An alliance of neighbors puts pressure on town officials
EASTHAM — The Rock Harbor Improvements Committee, a subgroup of the Capital Projects Committee, has hit pause on a plan for a new harbormaster’s building while town staff try to […]
RECYCLING, PART 1
Plastics Prove Difficult to Recycle
Their costs in the environment and in waste streams is rising
Garbage. It’s a story ripe with complexity. The Independent is dumpster diving into the subject to better understand where the Outer Cape’s garbage goes. In this first installment, we look […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 3, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
DIGGING DEEP
Seashore Prepares for Bound Brook Land Swap
Archaeologists play a role to protect natural and cultural resources
WELLFLEET — Driving northbound on Bound Brook Island Road in Wellfleet last week, travelers were greeted with a peculiar sight: a number of workers in reflective vests sifting through buckets […]
ENVIRONMENT
Truro Takes a Shot at Restoring Tidal Flow to the Pamet
Officials prepare for emergency fix of a failed culvert
TRURO — George Mooney couldn’t recognize his farm on South Pamet Road. His pasture and vegetable gardens were completely submerged under two feet of salt water during three consecutive nor’easters […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Oct. 27, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
A Network of Local Friends of a Funny Looking Fish
Feasting on jellyfish, some molas are stranded as waters chill
WELLFLEET — After a mysterious flopping in the water, a large dorsal fin emerges. You think: “shark!” But it turns out to be an ocean sunfish, Mola mola, leisurely swimming […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Oct. 13, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
THE DREDGE REPORT
They’re Out There, Digging
WELLFLEET — “Well,” said Dan Conroy, a field engineer-slash-hydrographic surveyor at Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting, a Quincy-based company working under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers, “I […]
ENVIRONMENT
Researchers Worry More About Geese Grazing Than Pooping
‘Nearly ubiquitous’ Canada geese have limited effect on pond water
Though there are no hard numbers for the population of Canada geese on the Outer Cape, it’s not hard to infer that they are growing. And there’s little argument about […]