{"id":7945,"date":"2010-11-13T23:36:17","date_gmt":"2010-11-14T04:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=7945"},"modified":"2010-11-14T14:00:36","modified_gmt":"2010-11-14T19:00:36","slug":"stranding-weekend-november-wildlife-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=7945","title":{"rendered":"Stranding Weekend: November Wildlife Cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Naviator Steams into Wellfleet Harbor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turtle Journal and Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary led a\u00c2\u00a0November cruise to Billingsgate Shoals at the mouth of Wellfleet Bay as part of the Stranding Weekend Program offered by Mass Audubon.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0After completing an afternoon of quahog\u00c2\u00a0harvesting in the bay, Captain Rick Merrill skippered the Naviator into Wellfleet Harbor to pick us up for the cruise.\u00c2\u00a0 During spring and summer, the Naviator conducts exceptional marine life cruises with Mass Audubon naturalists aboard to help visitors explore the wildlife of Wellfleet Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 Rick also charters\u00c2\u00a0the Naviator\u00c2\u00a0for fishing trips during season.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse and\u00c2\u00a0MAS Dennis Murley<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turtle Journal’s Sue Wieber Nourse and Mass Audubon Dennis Murley, Stranding Weekend instructors, helped participants identify significant aspects of the Wellfleet Bay habitat and pointed out various wildlife species during the cruise.\u00c2\u00a0 Collectively, they bring two lifetimes of experience as scientist, researcher, naturalist, adventurer, educator, conservationist, rescuer\u00c2\u00a0and explorer of Cape Cod geology, geography, history, flora and fauna.<\/p>\n

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Pre-Cruise Safey Briefing on Wellfleet Dock<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We met on Wellfleet Pier a little after 3 pm.\u00c2\u00a0 Stranding Weekend partcipants were joined by other Mass Audubon visitors for\u00c2\u00a0a cruise of Wellfleet Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 Before boarding the Naviator, Dennis Murley reviewed safety procedures, introduced instructors and provided a preview of what to expect.\u00c2\u00a0 While\u00c2\u00a0an important\u00c2\u00a0focus of the Stranding Weekend was tropical and semi-tropical sea turtles, the layered dress of participants clearly indicated that this cruise was anything but a tropical event.<\/p>\n

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Leaving Harbor for Wellfleet Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Winds blew\u00c2\u00a0from the north bringing\u00c2\u00a0in a gripping Arctic chill, especially\u00c2\u00a0when the\u00c2\u00a0boat cleared Wellfleet’s protected harbor and tacked into the breeze.\u00c2\u00a0 The\u00c2\u00a0Naviator backed from its slip and cruised by the working\u00c2\u00a0fishing fleet tied to the town pier.\u00c2\u00a0 We cruised west through the channel, pointed at Griffin Island (right) and Great Island (left), connected by the low tumbolo called the Gut.\u00c2\u00a0 Once past the\u00c2\u00a0 breakwater, the Naviator turned south (left)\u00c2\u00a0toward Billingsgate Shoals.<\/p>\n

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Bundling in the Bow<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When we were heading north, the apparent wind transformed conditions aboard ship\u00c2\u00a0to\u00c2\u00a0a Shackleton\u00c2\u00a0expedition.\u00c2\u00a0 Passengers ducked low\u00c2\u00a0under protective\u00c2\u00a0bulwarks and huddled together for warmth.<\/p>\n

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In Search of Tropical Sea Turtles!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They wrapped themselves in winter scarfs and hoodies, thrust hands deep inside the warmest pockets, and they endured …\u00c2\u00a0in best Shackleton tradition.<\/p>\n

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Approaching Billingsgate Shoals<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But when the boat pointed south with the wind to our backs, decks came alive.\u00c2\u00a0 Binoculars scanned the horizons for shorebirds and water fowl.<\/p>\n

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\u00c2\u00a0Brants in Wellfleet Bay at Dusk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Loons, gulls, gannets, ducks, geese and many more species dotted the horizon, which had begun to\u00c2\u00a0turn pinkish orange as an early dusk swept over Cape Cod Bay.<\/p>\n

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Gray Seals Occupy Billingsgate Shoals<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Billingsgate Shoals rise from Cape Cod Bay each low tide.\u00c2\u00a0 A century ago this once 60-acre island was still inhabited as a fishing community.\u00c2\u00a0 But the ravages of erosive storms sank the island below Cape Cod Bay; the last lighthouse abandoned and destroyed in 1915.\u00c2\u00a0 Today, Billingsgate is\u00c2\u00a0sometimes called the Atlantis of Cape Cod by oral historians and folklorists.\u00c2\u00a0 Day trippers boat to the shoals to use\u00c2\u00a0its exposed tidal flats for picnicking and shellfishing.\u00c2\u00a0 Eel grass beds around the shoals are rich in striped bass schoolies and blues\u00c2\u00a0in season.\u00c2\u00a0 In the “off season,” another set of tourists arrive to exploit the low-tide exposed sandbars:\u00c2\u00a0 gray seals.\u00c2\u00a0 As we approached the shoals on Saturday, hundreds of seals, backlit by the rapidly setting sun,\u00c2\u00a0had already claimed prime spots on just\u00c2\u00a0emerging sands.<\/p>\n

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Gray Seals Hauled\u00c2\u00a0out\u00c2\u00a0on Billingsgate Shoals<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hauled out on the tidal flats, plump, well\u00c2\u00a0nourished\u00c2\u00a0seals spread their ample bodies across the sandbar, occasionally belly-crawling a few feet left or a couple of inches right or flopping a bit up or a tad down to optimize their level of comfort.\u00c2\u00a0 In the fast flowing current around the island, seals played and wrestled and surfed.\u00c2\u00a0 A few curious and courageous individuals spy-hopped their way toward the Naviator to examine the exotic\u00c2\u00a0critters (us) basking on\u00c2\u00a0this mysterious floating island.\u00c2\u00a0 Come to think of it, with layers of clothing triple and quadruple wrapped around our bodies, perhaps we too waddled like seals as we spy-hopped above\u00c2\u00a0our bulwarks to examine the exotic creatures luxuriating on their\u00c2\u00a0mysterious rising island.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I suppose\u00c2\u00a0the correct definition of\u00c2\u00a0“specimen” and “observer” depends on which side of the zoo’s bars you’re occupying.<\/p>\n

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Gray Seals on Billingsgate Shoals<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shackleton would be proud that we returned to harbor with a full complement of crew, eager to endure yet\u00c2\u00a0another “on the edge” adventure during Stranding Weekend.<\/p>\n