A Gold Star Project

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Hillary T.

We recently received this letter from a Colleen Kiely, a young Mass Audubon member from Western Massachusetts. Colleen spent her summer at the Cape Cod National Seashore teaching visitors about piping plover conservation as part of her Girl Scouts Gold Scout Award Project. We were so inspired by her story that we wanted to share it far and wide. 

Colleen Kiely

My name is Colleen Kiely and I am a senior at Wahconah Regional High School in Berkshire County Massachusetts. My father and I have been members of Mass Audubon for 10 years and enjoy birdwatching and hiking at Pleasant Valley and Canoe Meadows, two beautiful sanctuaries in the Berkshires. Our experiences with Mass Audubon have inspired me to become an environmental activist and protect endangered birds and their habitats.

I have been a Girl Scout for seven years and this year, as an Ambassador Girl Scout, I am completing my Girl Scout Gold Award Project. Last year I volunteered at the Cape Cod National Seashore, teaching vacationers about the protected birds with a Shorebird Exhibit. For my project, “Protecting the Piping Plovers,” I talked to over five hundred vacationers this year at the National Seashore about the shorebird’s conditions, how climate change is affecting the birds, and what they can do to help the Piping Plovers.

Prior to my work on the Cape, I researched the Piping Plovers endangered species status as well as made a new Piping Plover bird model, and included a coloring page for kids, for the Shorebird Exhibit. I also continued my research on the birds throughout the summer to stay up to date on how the shorebirds are doing this year. Through writing this letter, my hope is to spread awareness of the Piping Plovers and encourage others to take action in protecting the birds.

The ways in which you can help include:

  • staying out of all marked off areas of the beach
  • keeping your pets on a leash
  • throwing away all trash

Thank you,

Colleen Kiely

You can learn more about Mass Audubon’s work to protect piping plovers through our Coastal Waterbird Program.

A Gelatinous Invasion

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Rosemary

Our beaches are teeming with tiny gooey blobs. Though they look like jellyfish, they’re called salps. Here are the basics on this remarkable invasion.

Salp © Cindy Bortee

Salp © Cindy Bortee

About Salps

Salps are stingless, barrel-shaped creatures that travel by jet propulsion, squeezing water through their bodies. During different parts of their life cycle they may live individually or in chain-like colonies.

Don’t be deceived by our beach visitors’ almost featureless appearance—when salps are young, they have a rudimentary “spine” called a notochord. This puts them in the same scientific phylum as vertebrate animals like us.

Salps on the beach © Cindy Bortee

Salps on the beach © Cindy Bortee

Efficient Ocean Filters

As they jet along, salps filter the water for ocean microorganisms called phytoplankton, which become their food. Scientists have found that they’re adept at extracting even the tiniest organisms from the water.

What salps don’t use, they pack into dense, carbon-rich pellets of poop that sink to the seafloor. Because they remove carbon from the surface waters, they help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere—and combat climate change.

Booming Blobs

A number of factors can lead to a population explosion of salps. One is a boom in phytoplankton. When this prey is depleted, salp numbers will also decline. Another factor: ocean currents and winds that bring the salps to shore. While it lasts, this phenomenon may bring an unexpected benefit: bizarre-looking ocean sunfish, which are popular with whale-watchers, have been common in the waters off Massachusetts. These giants often eat gelatinous creatures such as jellyfish and salps.

Ocean sunfish © Chris Leahy / Mass Audubon

Ocean sunfish © Chris Leahy / Mass Audubon

Have you experienced this phenomenon? Let us know in the comments!