Category: Environment

Humpback whale breaching. PHOTO: TOM FERNALD

Working Waterfront

Research highlights whale movement

A major study of humpback whale movement patterns across the North Atlantic basin is illuminating the behavior of at least one endangered species of whale. “Ocean basin-wide movement patterns of North Atlantic humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae,” published by the International Whaling Commission’s Journal of Conservation Research and Management, provides an… SEE MORE
Allison Foust, left, and Arzu Pahl stand by the gatehouse on the east side of Camden Hills State Park, where they work. The gatehouse was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

The making of a coastal state park

In the April 1936 issue of The Sagamore, the Camden camp newsletter, the CCC was described as having “two fundamental objectives: the completion of worthwhile projects and the building of manhood … In the Civilian Conservation Corps camps many opportunities are given you that are not to be had on the outside: honest work, the chance to learn different jobs, religious, social, athletic and educational advantages—these are all here.” SEE MORE
A boat unloads its catch at the Port Clyde Co-op in 2023. FILE PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Landings reports: good science, but unpopular

From the shore, the life of Maine’s lobstermen may look idyllic. They work their own hours and set their gear wherever they want. They enjoy spectacular sunrises and vistas of the open sea and the magnificent coast. And, at least from that shoreside perspective, they are unfettered by the constraints… SEE MORE
A former golf course is going back to nature. PHOTO: CATHERINE SCHMITT

Working Waterfront

Greens gone wild

“We’ll let forest regrow over most of the greens, but we’ll also maintain some area as open meadow to sustain birds as well as bees and other pollinators,” said Whittemore. The land trust is working with Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service to assess wildlife habitat. SEE MORE
The approach the ferry service takes to the Fox Islands Thorofare. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Coast Guard in the fog over buoys

In an apparent effort to demonstrate that it takes the Trump administration’s war on “fraud, waste, and abuse” seriously, the U.S. Coast Guard plans to discontinue—remove—more than 150 buoys and other aids to navigation, such as fixed “daybeacons,” from Maine’s coastal waters. The Coast Guard’s stated rationale for the planned… SEE MORE