Sue Wieber Nourse Watches the Sun Set Behind Great Island
Looking at Blackfish Creek back in August as we conducted night surveys of diamondback terrapin activity in the channel off Boathouse Beach on Lieutenant Island, it’s really hard to believe we’re even on the same planet, never mind the same continent, same peninsula, same estuary as today. Even though the day brought bright sunshine and some melting of caked ice on walkways, clues that winter would cling to the Outer Cape for at least another six weeks were fairly abundant as the tide rushed in from the bay.
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Incoming Tide Drives Giant Ice Floes in Blackfish CreekÂ
With a 15 foot range from highest high to lowest low, the physics of Wellfleet tides and the geography of its estuaries generate enormous forces and intense energies that toss multi-ton icebergs through the creeks like Legos, interlocking them horizontally and vertically until channels are completely clogged in an icy mosaic. As though this freeze itself were not enough evidence, tomorrow brings the forecast of a major nor’easter for the Outer Cape as more than a half foot of snow is predicted with gale winds that will pile up two foot drifts.
So, even though not a single turtle saw its shadow on the Outer Cape this Groundhog Day 2009, even though not one snoozing reptile opted to emerge from brumation to test the extent of this frigid and seemingly never-ending winter, the verdict is in: six more weeks of winter … at the very least.