Island Science

Nantucket Harbor
Island Science

Dreaming of a Green Nantucket

• by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • Spring has sprung, the island is filling up with people and warm sunny weather is erasing memories of a long hard winter. This is a perfect time to become aware of how your actions can effect […]

Giant Oarfish on Nantucket
Island Science

Strange Visitors – Giant Oarfish

• by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • Two photos accompany this article and they may look like an elaborate gimmick or hoax but they are photos taken by Tyler Bradbury and Mike Strazzula of a giant oar fish that washed up on Nantucket […]

Island Science

Balloons Away

• by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay – Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • On April 22nd we will celebrate the 45th Earth Day. It is hard to believe that 45 years have passed since the first Earth Day. As citizens of the planet, we have come a long […]

Nantucket BioDiversity Initiative
Island Science

Nantucket Nature Year in Review – 2014

• by Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • 2014 has been an interesting and eventful year for the world of Nantucket nature. Winter Storms on Nantucket In March we had a serious winter storm similar to the doozies we endured in February and March of […]

Great White Sharks off Nantucket
Island Science

Katharine & Betsey – Great White Sharks Return

• by Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • They’re back! Two great white sharks tagged in 2013 have returned to our waters over the past week. Katharine and Betsy were tagged by scientists with the well-known Massachusetts based shark research group OCEARCH (http://www.ocearch.org/) in August […]

Monarch Butterfly | Nantucket | MA
Island Science

Where are all the Monarch Butterflies?

• by Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • The milkweed plants are everywhere, waiting to host one of their primary users, monarch butterflies. Hundreds of other insects occupy the plants using every inch of them for food and shelter. Two years ago I wrote about […]

Beach Plums
Island Science

Nantucket’s Beach Plums

• by Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • I finally got to do something quintessentially ”Nantuckety” today for the first time in the eleven years that I have lived here, namely pick beach plums. I stumbled upon a bush laden with purple fruit and was […]

Rust Tide | Nantucket | MA
Island Science

Rust Never Sleeps – Algae Bloom

• by Dr. Sarah Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station • Well, I wish I was reviewing a 1979 Neil Young and Crazy Horse album (although that would be a bit weird and not all that timely), but in fact I am talking about the rust tide which […]