Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: You can see the seal population in Chatham from space

August 29, 2017 — There are so many seals on the coast of Massachusetts that you can see them from space.

Literally. If you zoom in on Cape Cod using the satellite photo feature on Google Maps, you won’t miss the herds of seals scattered along the coast.

Start at the southern tip of Monomoy Island near Monomoy Point and move north on the ocean side of Monomoy Island.

Kimberly Murray, a research coordinator for the seal program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said officials this year observed up to 25,000 seals off Massachusetts in a single day.

The number of seals currently residing in the waters off the state’s coast is likely as high as 50,000, based on recent research that also factored in the number of seals in the water.

Read the full story at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Video shows a horde of seals off Chatham

April 13, 2016 — A Norwell man has taken stunning video of the horde of seals that has taken up residence on Monomoy Island, the seal haven off Chatham at the outer elbow of Cape Cod.

Aaron Knight filmed his flight off the Massachusetts coast Sunday. He said he’s been watching the seals there in the past few years, and he’s never seen so many.

“They used to be in harems and small chunks dotted down the beach, but this year … it’s just astonishing,” he said. “It’s an infinite forever stretch of seals.”

The video has gotten nearly 200,000 views and more than 2,700 shares on Facebook, Knight said.

See the video and the rest of the story at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Coast Guard, Samaritan tow in fishing boat disabled off Monomoy

October 16, 2015 — The Coast Guard and a commercial fishing boat towed another fishing boat in from off Monomoy Island where it had become disabled after engine trouble Thursday, according to the Coast Guard.

Late Thursday afternoon watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England notified their command center that the 41-foot Angel Fish, with its three-man crew, was disabled because of a main diesel engine failure 10 miles south of the island, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.

Read the full story from the Cape Cod Times