Environmentalists Buy Surplus Oysters to Boost Shellfish Industry and Restore Imperiled Waterways
Environmentalists Buy Surplus Oysters to Boost Shellfish Industry and Restore Imperiled Waterways CapeandIslands.org CAI | By Eve Zuckoff Published December 29, 2020 at 11:17 AM EST Local oyster growers are getting a boost after months of restaurant closures have “torpedoed” the industry, according to one grower. The Nature Conservancy, a Boston-based environmental group, and its […]
Summer Staff on the Move
For three summers now, BCWC has grown oysters in an upweller demonstration project on Hyannis Harbor in partnership with the Massachusetts Oyster Project and the town of Barnstable. The tiny oyster spat are only 1-2mm (the size of a grain of sand) when first placed in buckets in the upweller. They filter phytoplankton (algae), nutrients […]
The cleaning power of oysters
The cleaning power of oysters Tasty bivalves provide clear water and denitrification, and play an important part in local marine ecosystems. The Martha’s Vineyard Times By Lucas Thors December 23, 2020 Oysters naturally clean the water column, reduce nitrogen, and are a vital part of the marine ecosystem on Martha’s Vineyard. — Lucas Thors Oysters […]
Barnstable High School launches $1.2M environmental science & technology lab (12/23/20)
Barnstable High School launches $1.2M environmental science & technology lab Barnstable Patriot Bronwen Howells Walsh Dec 23, 2020 As head of Barnstable High School’s new $1.2 million Environmental Science and Technology Lab, Michael Smith cannot wait to get to work. Now entering his 18th year of teaching at BHS, Smith teaching environmental science and biology in the […]
Marstons Mills Cranberry Bog Restoration
In December 2019, BCWC, the EPA and TNC co-hosted the Marstons Mills Cranberry Bog Restoration Workshop. This workshop, attended by 47 scientists and regulators from the local, state, and national level, focused on identifying nature-based strategies to reduce the amount of nitrogen travelling through the cranberry bogs at the headwaters of the Marstons Mills River. […]
Progress With Alternative Septic Systems
Back in June, a new alternative septic system called the NitROE Waste Water Treatment System (NitROE WWTS) received a permit for “provisional approval” from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. This permit codifies a 40% improvement over all previously permitted Innovative/Alternative septic systems – and that is only the beginning! We believe this system will […]
Summer Water Sampling
An important part of BCWC’s water quality monitoring is the collection of water samples from our ponds, streams and estuary. This summer, we are lucky to have David Carter on board to conduct weekly water sampling at several sites, including four ponds, one river and cranberry bogs. The water sampling at the ponds involves collecting […]
Mill Pond Perched Wetland Study
Check out Mill Pond Perched Wetland Study Like many popular coastal areas of the country, Cape Cod has water quality problems. Excess nitrogen leaching into waterways has led to eutrophication and algae blooms in many of the Cape’s surface waters, groundwater and estuaries. Some species that proliferate in nutrient-enriched waters, like bluegreen algae, are dangerous […]
A Note from the Helm
Three and a half years into our revised mission to restore the Cape’s waters and rescue our blue economy, we are ready to begin the healing process. Right now, that effort involves removing nutrients and contaminants from wastewater, which enters the groundwater predominantly through our septic systems. The principal problem we are facing is nitrogen […]
Pot Calling the Kettle….Pond?
Kettle Pond History and Ecology Folks all over the world travel to Cape Cod every year to enjoy its beautiful coastline. But the coastline is not the only place to find water on the Cape! In fact, there are 996 freshwater ponds, 182 of which are in the town of Barnstable. Kettle ponds were formed […]