News and Events for Nantucket Island
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ In just a couple of hours I will go outside along with many people in the United States to watch the total lunar eclipse on a lovely night with some cloud cover. This year is special […]
The Maria Mitchell Association, in collaboration with the Nantucket Land Council and the Nantucket Shellfish Association, has produced a twenty-page book highlighting a decade of research focused on Nantucket Harbor. Nantucket Harbor Research: A Ten Year Summary is a synopsis of research projects conducted by island conservation groups ranging from […]
I love fall when the kids are back in school and coming out to the Nantucket Field Station for nature walks. One of my favorite things to find along the beach and show them is Codium fragile, otherwise known as “dead man’s fingers.” Among the many common names for C. […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ As you walk around the island this month, take a deep breath and tell me what you smell. If you are at the Nantucket Field Station, the scent of Welch’s grape jelly is wafting through the […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ There are many crabs that call Nantucket’s waters their home; both native species and interlopers paddle, skulk, scamper, skitter, or crab-walk around. Common species include the lady crab, black-fingered mud crabs, spider crabs, blue crabs, purple […]
~ by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station ~ One of the many luxuries that Nantucket visitors can experience is the chance to see a humpback whale, and just a few weeks ago we had one cavorting very close to the island in the shallow […]
-by Dr. Sarah D. Oktay, Director, University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station- For the first time in many years, we have a new mammalian intruder who has managed to stowaway on a boat and make their way to the island. What would be a farcical children’s book story for the […]
• 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 […]
• 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 […]
