Sengekontacket News
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Published in the Vineyard Gazette - 7/20/2007
FOS President's 2006 Annual Report
FOS Presidents - Past and Present: Maxwell R. McCreery, Malcolm W. Reed, Christina Miller, Charles B. Sanders, and Albert (Hap) Hamel
Photo Courtesy Don Cullivan © 2006
State of the Pond Report
FOS publishes an annual report of the State of the Pond. In 2005, Friends of Sengekontacket, Inc. reported that the Pond was in moderate health.
2005 Report covers:
2004 Report covers:
William Wilcox, Water Resource Planner, Martha’s Vineyard Commission
This report was prepared by Mr. Wilcox and presented at the 2005 annual meeting of FOS on September 2, 2005 Mr. Wilcox discusses testing activities, eel grass meadow restoration, and progress with the Massachusetts Estuaries program. Mr. Wilcox is an advisory member of FOS.
David Grunden, Shellfish Constable and Marine Biologist, Town of Oak Bluffs, MA
Mr. Grunden presented this paper on September 2, 2005. Activities to track sources of pollution, health of the shellfish habitat, and the barrier beach are discussed. Mr. Grunden is an FOS Advisory Board Member.
Sengekontacket Pond News
The Fall 2005 newsletter was distributed in October 2005. The following topics were covered:
The
Spring 2005 newsletter was distributed in June 2005. The following topics
were highlighted:
Nitrogen Isotope Analysis Project
In 2005-2006 a project funded by the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Non-Point Source Pollution Grants Program, and supported by FOS, Inc was conducted to determine the source of nitrogen in three Island coastal ponds. The research was mainly conducted by David W. Grunden, Oak Bluffs Shellfish Department, and assisted by Richard McKinney, US EPA Atlantic Ecology Division, and William Wilcox, Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
The method used to assess the sources of nitrogen in the ponds was an analysis of nitrogen-stable isotopes. The ratio of nitrogen-stable isotopes varies with the source from which the nitrogen is derived. By analyzing the ratio of these isotopes from aquatic animal and plant material collected from coastal ponds the researchers determined the source of the nitrogen animals and plants are utilizing in their growth. The results allowed the researchers to differentiate the source of the nitrogen between septic system/animal, agricultural (fertilizers) and precipitation. The report contains a wealth of environmental and statistical information. The full report is available by clicking on the title of the report above. An excerpted version relating to Sengekontacket Pond is available in PDF format by clicking this link.
Red Tide - Gone but not Forgotten
We were fortunate that the historic red tide of 2005 missed Sengekontacket Pond, but scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) are wondering about future Alexandrium blooms. This July 15, 2005 report tracks the efforts of the WHOI scientists tracking the red tide menace during 2006. Other WHOI Coastal Science reports can be found at http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewTopic.do?o=read&id=2&type=11
FOS helped finance the Island Blue Pages. It is an excellent source of information. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read this document (see the note at the bottom of this page on how to obtain this free program). This is a very large file (3.4 MB) and even on fast Internet connections can take some time to download.
In 2004 and 2005, FOS distributed a safe watershed letter to every household in the Sengekontacket Pond Watershed. This included a map and description of the Sengekontacket watershed with recommendations for landscaping and other household practices that minimize negative impacts on the pond.
Review of Existing Data on Sengekontacket Pond and Recommendations for Future
Research
Ecological Extension Service, Massachusetts Audubon Society
June 2003
A PDF version of this document can be viewed by clicking on the above link. Please note that this is large file and may take some time to download. The PDF files require Adobe Acrobat, a free program, to view. Click on the Get Acrobat button below to open the Adobe web site where the free viewed can be downloaded. The PDF files can be printed or zoomed in on the screen for easier viewing.
