Sept 16: Kayaking in North Sea & Seafood Cookout at Towd Point Beach

Conscious Point Oyster Hatchery
by Christopher Wozny

Friday, September 16th had to be one of the most enjoyable days of class I have ever been a part of. Beginning with a introduction to the Conscious Point Oyster hatchery on the shore of the North Sea harbor. We learned about some of the great work the hatchery is doing to replenish the numbers of filter feeding, water cleaning oysters in the bays of Long Island. Oysters are an important part of the marine ecosystem and their populations have dropped drastically due to exploitation and poor water quality. Working to rebuild their populations, the Conscious Point hatchery imports young oysters and allows them to grow while also growing food for the oysters. When they reach a size large enough to avoid being eaten by predators, they are placed into the harbor, where hopefully will have a successful spawning season. Rebuilding the oyster populations is very important on Long Island because these filter feeding bivalves (in high population) have the potential to greatly reduce the levels of toxic algae that have become commonplace in some of the bays in the Island.

After a brief lesson about the hatchery the entire class got on kayaks and launched from the shoreline. We paddled around the harbor to a number of spots including a channel used by migratory Alewives and cage sites utilized by the hatchery for growing oysters. It was a perfect day to be on the water, calm, sunny and warm. Paddling to different peaceful spots we learned about the history of  Conscious Point and the first European settlers to the area, whom where actually heading to Boston but due to an unexpected pregnancy, decided to stay on Long Island. We also learned about some of the local and migratory wildlife and of the many conservation efforts being made by residents to keep the Hamptons as natural as possible.

After a long afternoon of kayaking we landed on the beach and where met by Capt. Andy and a buffet of snacks and BBQ fish, which was perfect considering the appetite we had all built up paddling. Capt. Andy and Kurt prepared local fish including puffer, sea bass, and porgy and Tara satisfied everyones sweet tooth with homemade brownies. We spent the rest of the evening talking and singing by the bonfire on the beach and listening to sea shanties from Tara's personal collection. Nights like this I wish class lasted a few hours longer, and that every semester was a semester by the sea.

Kayaks, Cookouts and Campfires!
by Maria Grima

[Google Maps screenshot featuring our field trip location]

We kayaked around North Sea Harbor, exploring various locations such as conscious point and David’s Creek, Fish Cove, and Towd Point. The red pin indicates Towd Point, where we docked our kayaks and had our Seafood cookout.

After piling into the Southampton vans and making our way over to North Sea Harbor, Dr. Kurt Bretsch and Dr. Tara Rider kicked off our series of mini-lectures by teaching us the difference between bioaccumulation and biomagnification, two very important concepts at the intersection of marine and food science.

Dr. Kurt Bretsch teaching us about how bivalves are healthier to eat than many other marine organisms, due to the fact that they don’t accumulate many toxins in their tissues. Since their lifespan is very short, and they are at a lower trophic level, they do not have high rates of bioaccumulation and biomagnification (explained below). The facility we are standing around in this photo is a place that develops food for oysters, in an effort to sustain their populations.

Bioaccumulation, we learned, occurs when toxins accumulate in an organism's tissues over time. In fishes, this buildup may come from breathing in waters that contaminated by heavy metal. The longer those fishes live in that waters, the more their toxin concentration will accumulate.

Have you ever heard that you shouldn’t eat tuna more than once a week? Or that pregnant women should avoid tuna altogether? This is because of biomagnification. When a big fish (like a weakfish) eats a little fish (like a herring), all of the herring’s toxins get absorbed by the weakfish. The weakfish fish eats several of these herrings during its lifetime, and absorbs all of those toxins into its already toxin filled tissues. If an even bigger fish (like a bluefin tuna) eats that weakfish, it has an even higher magnification of toxins stored in its tissues, hence the term biomagnification. Now you know why those warnings exist! These scientific concepts are part of the reason why Kurt and Tara chose the fishes they did to grill up at our Seafood Cookout at Towd Point!! Captain Andy cooked us up some porgy, weakfish, seabass, blue crab, and blowfish--all species that can be found right in our local waters.

This photo, taken by student Jennifer Marie Stahl, features the blowfish she just ate. This cookout marked the first time several students tried puffer! Most students said that they would recommend this dish to other seafood lovers.

Tip: Be careful when preparing blowfish on your own because if not cooked the right way, it may be poisonous to eat! Fortunately for us, Captain Andy knew exactly what he was doing.

[Left to right: Helena Nierer, Jessica Massaro, James Macdonald, and Lara Cordaro]

This photo, taken by Dr. Kurt Bretsch, features students eating some hotdogs n’things to fill up between taste-testing fishes! As you can see, we had quite the buffet! We had all sorts of condiments and spreads, chips, pretzels, pineapples, cantaloupe, bananas, cookies, several types of breads, and Tara’s homemade brownies laid out on the table!! Our professors made sure that all dietary restrictions were met- even having vegetable burgers, eggplant, and portabella mushrooms for us vegans! We all went to bed pretty full that night.

This photo, taken by Dr. Kurt Bretsch, features the remnants of what were once weakfish, seabass, and porgy! Students surrounded the table like gulls excited to try a piece of each fish. Captain Andy really knows how to grill! And we SoMAS students really know how to eat! Don’t worry; everyone who wanted to have a bite was able to! Unlike seagulls, we SoMAS students know how to share.

Some of the MAR 355 students warming up by the firepit with Dr. Kurt Bretsch and Dr. Tara Rider after a chilly post-kayak swim! Fortunately Kurt and Tara were able to grab our towels and sweaters from the vans so that we were able to dry off quickly. After changing, we pretty much only left the warmth of the fire to eat the yummy new foods that Captain Andy was setting out!!

The night ended with seafood (and veggie) filled tummies, good (and bad) campfire jokes, astronomy lessons (taught by Dr. Tara Rider and our fellow seafaring classmates), pirate song and dance (even though I was the only one dancing), and a very sleepy ride back! And this was all part of a 2-credit course. Who knew class could be so much fun?

Kayak & Beach Cookout
by Janette Lares

For this week’s trip we took out some kayaks and cruised along the North Sea Harbor. Before hoping in the kayaks, however, we stopped for a brief moment outside of the Shellfish Hatchery near Conscience Point and learned about the purpose of the hatchery. The hatchery breeds oysters for the benefit of the ecosystem, as oysters are notorious for filtering large volumes of water.

Water filtration is only one of the numerous things that can be beneficial for the environment. There is also the addition of protected areas, like Conscience Point National Wildlife Refuge, that help to keep the local environment intact and protected from possible future developments. As we learned during this particular trip, conservation in The Hamptons began with efforts to maintain the beauty that surrounded the area, however, tourism was a significant economic incentive for these communities to increase conservation efforts. Due to the distance that isolated The Hamptons from more heavily populated areas, few were the people that actually made the trek out to the region. When better roads and methods of travel were established, one of the key factors that got people more interested in coming out to The Hamptons was the environment. People were attracted to the beautiful scenery all around – something they didn’t quite get in more urbanized areas. People were coming into Hampton Bays to be able to experience the nature, and if there was no nature to experience there was no incentive for people to come.

Instances like these are definitive proof that, ultimately, economic incentives play a huge role in environment conservation both at a national level and a local level like here in The Hamptons.


Kayaking in the North Sea
by Zach Roselle

Towards the end of our time kayaking we worked our way up North Sea and made a right into a marshy area before we finished at a beach on the Peconic Bay. At the marsh area, we linked kayaks and listened to a lecture from Dr. Bretsch and Dr. Rider. Speaking on Long Island habitats, they stressed to us the importance of keeping the land preserved. There is a struggle on Long Island to keep the families that have lived here for years from selling this valuable land to developers. Development would change the entire feel of the east end. Farming may be considered an occupation of the past; it is not easy way of life. It may become very tempting for those who have owned and farmed this land for generations to sell their land for a large sum of money and move off of Long Island. Development would likely change the natural, untouched feel of the area, effecting the number one money maker on Long Island, tourism.

A glimpse of the area we stopped at to hear Dr. Bretsch and Dr. Rider speak about the importance of preserving the east end.  Areas like this are great to look at nature and bird watch.  This picture is on the way back from where we linked up and listened.

Dr. Bretsch also spoke to the fact that there are many places on Long Island that are off limits to developers and are not to be disturbed. These parks are protected at the Federal, State, and County levels. Some of these parks include Fire Island National Seashore, Heckscher State Park, Bethpage State Park, Blydenburgh Park, Gardiners Park and many more. These areas are being preserved and are great spots to enjoy and commune with nature, birdwatch and look for other animals. Though these areas may have been altered to an extent to make preservation of the area possible, these places give us a glimpse of what an undeveloped Long Island used to look like.


The Story of Conscience Point
by Alexandra Bonecutter
 

Above: Students of the Coastal Cultural Experience class constellate around professor Tara Rider at Conscience Point for a brief history lesson. Photo courtesy of Professor Kurt Bretsch.

Conscience Point got its name in the classic historical foundation story manner. Now a wildlife refuge home to a small marina and shellfish hatchery; the area is a magnificent, thriving piece of land with a diverse range of species and colorful background. Around 375 years ago, a sailing ship carrying somewhere around ten souls on board sailed from Lynn, Massachusetts (“About the Refuge: Conscience Point”) and landed along the coast of what is today known as Southampton, New York. As the story goes, the voyage could not quite have been described as ‘smooth sailing.’ Of the small number onboard, there was but one woman amongst a sea of farmers searching for promising greener fields across the waters. To make matters worse for the inexperienced female sailor, the entirety of her journey was spent amidst a pregnancy. Upon dropping anchor on the coast of the Shinnecock tribe’s land the woman immediately made her way to solid ground. In more or less words, she proclaimed: ‘By my conscience, I will not be going aboard another ship again.’ And with that, English settlement of Conscience Point, Southampton begun.

Nowadays, the wildlife refuge around Conscience Point is normally closed to the public, open to scientific research and educational outings only (“About the Refuge: Conscience Point”). With this strict policy, the wildlife here is granted a relatively safe haven from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding settlements within the Hamptons area. Thus the diversity of bird species within Conscience Point has a wide range, including the Osprey and Egret birds. The conservation focus has also helped to bring back the Alewife fish and oyster populations by conscious efforts linked to the notable environmental ethics of the humans of Long Island, New York and especially Southampton. Although the protected area is not open to the public, one could always kayak around! As class continued along the waters around Conscience Point, my classmates and I were able to enjoy the wildlife company spilling over from the refuge. I personally appreciated the oyster sanctuary we kayaked over, marked by buoys. Though it is on a very small scale, the sanctuary’s sole purpose functions to increase the population of oysters so that they may filter and clean the water of the Bay. And with the previously noted spillover effect from the protected area, it is clear that a little truly goes a long way.


Kayaking
by Chris Meyer

One of our first stops on our awesome kayak adventure in North Sea was at an alewife spawning area. Kurt explained that alewives are fish that make a yearly migration to their spawning grounds. When this is done more than once in a life cycle, it is known as iteroparity (Dictionary.com). The Eastern Long Island population of alewives had been steady up until dams were built for hydroelectric power. Since then, those dams have prevented the alewives from successfully returning to their spawning grounds. The dams have presented a similar problem for the American eel, which also carries a yearly migration in the region. As Kurt went on to say, the dams are slowly being taken down. Luckily in the meantime, there have been other measures taken to aid migrating species in getting around the dams. Fish ramps aid migratory species by giving them a path over or around dams, and a similar idea with tubes for eels to swim around have been implemented.

Top: Image provided by Kurt Bretsch. Our wonderful class pauses to learn about alewife migration and some of the barriers to that. We also hear that people harvest alewife eggs more often than the fish themselves. On a side note, it was definitely a team building exercise keeping the chain of kayaks connected to each other. I had to let go for a couple seconds to reapply sunscreen and the whole rest of the chain began to float downstream. Bottom left: Image provided by John Burrows. This image is of a group of alewife fish. They are on average 10 to 11 inches, but can grow up to 15 inches. Bottom Right: Image provided by Nature World News. This image depicts a fish ladder. This particular one is for salmon on the West coast, but the idea is the same for Eastern alewives.

One of the questions asked was if alewives were edible. The answer was yes they are, but the eggs are more valuable than the meat from the fish. Also, as of now, the species is threatened, so fishing or harvesting of any kind is not allowed. During spawning season, there are signs up warning people not to remove or disturb any of the fish in order to help increase abundance. Hopefully, this will turn into one of wildlife conservation’s success stories and the population will rebound. Eventually, populations might rise enough to open fishing or egg harvest, but before that can happen, we must be patient and help the environment that we exploit so often to its very limit. If we are not willing to give back to the earth, it will stop giving to us.


Blog Post #1 Kayak Trip
by Darren de Silva

For the kayak trip on September 16th we kayaked around conscious point in the North Sea and were able to visit the different nesting areas of the many migratory birds in the area including ospreys, egrets, and other predatory birds. The normally nest in the marsh type of areas and where we visited it was quite open and not many trees. While there we also learned about the effects that the pesticide, DDT, had on these populations of birds. As bioaccumulation and magnification took its effect in the environment it caused the birds to produce eggs that had thinner shells than normal and when they adults would sit on the eggs to keep them at a stable temperature they would crush the eggs accidently causing mass mortality and a huge drop in recruitment.

Image 1: One of the rivers that which alewives would swim and span. Since they are a migratory fish they use these rivers as a mechanism to spawn and the nutrient rich area to have their young grow. As damning became more prevalent it drastically decreased many of the migratory fish populations.

Image 2: Conscious Point Oyster Hatchery where many different organizations including boy scouts would help grow oyster larvae in upwelling cages and eventually having them settle on the shell that they place at the floor of the estuary.

The other aspect of the trip was the settlement of Conscious point. We learned that the Europeans who settled here meant to settle farther up in New England, but since many were not sailors they weren’t used to being on a boat and were very prone to sea sickness. In one particular case out of the few women who traveled to the New World, there was a pregnant woman who begged to be let off the boat for a break onshore. They eventually let her off and she then stated that “On my conscious I am never going on that boat again”. They negotiated with the local native American tribes to stay here and began a settlement.

Image 3: The other side of the hatchery where upwelling units help the larvae to stay in the water column and suspended for a month or so before having them set onto shell or other hard surfaces.

Image 4: The North Sea and Conscious Point as we were going to kayak. On the left there the area on the left is a marsh type environment where there may have been multiple amount of nests that resembled what was seen on the other side of the estuary close to Peconic Bay.

The reading also highlighted some important topics about both the economy and environmental aspects of Long Island for fisherman. Before the East End of Long Island became “the Hamptons” and the really rich area it is known for it was mainly full of barren land without any building or development going on. Fisherman were the main group of people out there and they made a living off fishing shellfish and bony fish off the coasts of Long Island. With the invention of the car many more people began to drive out here as it was more convenient and started to settle and build homes and other structures. Eventually, as the area became more populated more environmental problems became prevalent and also the shellfish populations began to decrease dramatically. As there weren’t as many conversation efforts at the moment many fishermen believed that “they’ll be back. Everything comes back” (East Hampton…, 2). As the shellfish and other marine life began to get harder and harder to find many of the baymen families who have been fishing for years started to push their children to go to school and college rather than fish as it became an unsustainable profession

Image 5: Sunset at Peconic Bay with Robins Island towards the right and the channel leading to conscious point on the left. Although there have been many problems with overfishing and environment degradation, the push for environmental restoration growth has allowed some populations to bounce back.