by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station As the summer temperatures warm up our harbor and offshore waters, floating translucent creatures begin to crowd our shores and become a concern for swimmers. Unfortunately, as ocean waters warm world-wide and we continue to over-fish or endanger […]
Island Science
I’ll be Your Huckleberry
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station There is a wide range of fun and fulfilling things to do on Nantucket in the summertime, from surf-casting on the south shore, lounging with a good book at the beach, walking on the moors, or shopping downtown. […]
The Boy Who Cried “Shark!” – Fin Sighting 101
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station It is never an easy thing to try to identify a marine creature from the five percent of their body that sticks out above the water. Unfortunately, the recent New England paranoia over great white sharks coupled with […]
Nature’s Thermometers – Cicadas
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station Insects are an important part of summer and of our collective impression of the passing seasons. When I reflect upon a quintessential summer, I think of June bugs, grasshoppers, butterflies, perhaps on more cynical days, deer flies, mosquitoes, […]
Deer Fly, Don’t Bother Me
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station If you happen to see me walking around the field station maniacally slapping my head, just keep walking. We have had a beautiful, sunny, extremely dry summer. The ponds and groundwater are lower and the freshwater mosquitoes have […]
Milkweed Paradise
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station The summer of 2012 so far has been hot and dry and that has been a real boon for many of our sun loving plants like the magnificent milkweeds dotting the landscape. Perhaps no other plant provides such […]
Itchy & Scratchy: Poison Ivy
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station There are so many things to love about Nantucket that I kind of hate to even bring up anything that isn’t awesome about the island. But there is one thing I do hate about the island, and that […]
Tooth and Nail – Ivory throughout the Ages
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station For the second time this past week I was fortunate to be in the Nantucket Whaling Museum accompanying a group of students. Each year I take 10-15 groups there and I never tire of seeing the exhibits. I […]
Squirrels – Fluffy Invaders
by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay Managing Director UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station Every time I drive down the Field Station road, I see the same gray squirrel run across the road in almost the exact same location. Today he was followed by a second squirrel and I immediately thought, “there […]
