On Sunday July 26th, five Save the Harbor/Save
the Bay summer youth staffers got the opportunity to go on an eight-hour marine
wildlife and fishing cruise off the coast of Massachusetts. A swift push from
the dock was all we needed to begin the hour and a half journey to the Stellwagen Bank
National Marine Sanctuary. Captain Mike Delzingo
and First Mate Bradley of Fishbucket Sportfishing Boston invited Kristen,
Vanessa, Grace, Roy, and Michael to explore the bank with fishing and wildlife
observation along the way. We were joined by Krill Carlson of New England
Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) who shared her in depth knowledge about the
marine animals that inhabit the waters of Stellwagen Bank.
Prior to the trip, the collective offshore experience of the Save the Harbor team aboard the Fishbucket could be chalked up to a few whale watches, fishing charters, and Provincetown Ferries. Our work at Save the Harbor is often located in and around Boston’s Inner Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands, so needless to say we were excited to get on our way and see what Massachusetts’s offshore waters had to offer. Before we departed, and on our trip out to Stellwagen, Krill and Captain Mike provided us some great resources from NOAA, notebooks for us to record our sightings and catches in, as well as NECWA commonly encountered species guides so we could further familiarize ourselves with the history of the Sanctuary as well as the animals we may catch a glimpse of.
Stellwagen Bank is a
large underwater feature that rises out of the ocean floor in Massachusetts
Bay. Water depth goes from 300’ to 100’ incredibly quickly which causes an
upwelling of currents that brings nutrients to the shallower waters on the
bank. This creates an excellent habitat for organisms ranging from
phytoplankton and invertebrates to the whales that come to feed on them. Like
many of the geologic formations in New England, Stellwagen Bank was likely the
product of glacial activity some 20,000 years ago.
As ice sheets receded, glacial till was deposited and formed Cape Cod and
Stellwagen Bank. Based on the fossils found on the bank, such as mammoth teeth,
Stellwagen must have been above sea level for some time before being covered by
the Atlantic Ocean. Thousands of years after its formation, Stellwagen Bank and
the other banks in the area served as important fishing grounds that helped to
build the prolific seafood industries that are synonymous with places like
Gloucester. Captain Henry S. Stellwagen
is credited with discovering the bank. Even though fishermen were aware of
shallow areas, the bank was not officially mapped until Captain Stellwagen’s
work. Luckily for us, Stellwagen Bank was designated as a National Marine
Sanctuary in 1992. This allowed for fishing and shipping to continue in the
area, but it prevented the mining of sand and gravel from the bank, protecting
the essential marine habitat there. Krill likened it to a National Park, but
offshore.
After an hour and a half
of cruising out of Boston, we reached the Northwest Corner of the bank where we
made our first stop to fish. We were after groundfish. Groundfish are a group
of fish that spend most of their time near the bottom, hence the name. The most
familiar species being cod and haddock. Fishing for these species is
intrinsically linked with New England. The pilgrims headed for Plymouth with
the goal of fishing cod, and Native Americans reaped the benefits of the sea
long before that. In author Mark Kurlansky’s book, Cod, the importance
of groundfishing for New Englanders, both economically and culturally, is
heavily stressed. Cod was so essential to New England, especially
Massachusetts, that a wooden “Sacred Cod” sculpture has been hanging in
Massachusetts legislative buildings for over 200 years. We felt proud to
continue this tradition of fishing the Northwest Atlantic banks, although we
found none. Cod, which was once so plentiful that early European explorer
Bartholomew Gosnold states his “ship… was constantly ‘pestered’ by these fish”
off the coast of Cape Cod (Kurlansky, 65), has now been reduced to very low
numbers. If we had caught any cod, they would have been released promptly to
help rebuild their stock.
Our rods were set
up with tandem rigs consisting of circle hooks adorned with flashy pink
material and baited with squid. Normally lead weights and monofilament line
would be used, but instead we used chain links as a lead alternative and
braided line instead of mono. Both of these choices were made with the interest
of the wildlife in mind, not because it was easier to use but to catch fish in
a sustainable way. Lead can be very detrimental to organisms if consumed.
Monofilament is much cheaper than braid, but if it is lost it can persist in
the environment for a very long time, ensnaring marine organisms during its
life. A rod rigged with a weight and a blunt, barbless hook was brought along
as well, in order to send fish back to the bottom for release. Fish with swim
bladders, sacks that allow fish to regulate their depth in the water column,
cannot acclimate to the quick change in pressure that occurs when being pulled
up from great depths. The gas in their bladders expands and the fish will not
be able to swim back to the bottom when released. By hooking these fish on the
release mechanism, we were able to send the fish back to the bottom where they
were acclimated to the pressure.
Within a few minutes of
our first drop, a couple haddock were pulled into the boat and put on ice.
Haddock have a dark back, silvery body, black lateral line, and a thumbprint
sized black mark above their pectoral fin on either side of their body. Among
the few haddock that were caught, whiting and red hake routinely took our bait,
with the larger specimens being added to the cooler too. Whiting are slender
with a toothy mouth, and hake more closely resemble cod, with a small chin
barbel and tendril-like pelvic fins. The longhorn sculpins we caught sported a
thorny exterior, making them tricky to unhook, but we enjoyed observing the
variation in their mottled brown coloration. We were captivated by the two
redfish that were caught. Their massive eyes, brilliant red color, and venomous
spines seemed to belong more in a tropical aquarium than the cold waters of the
North Atlantic. Redfish are truly an organism designed to spend its life at
depth, their huge eyes help to concentrate what little light is down there, and
their bright color acts as camouflage since red light is the
first to dissipate in the water column.
We were very grateful
that Krill was on the boat with us. She had a keen eye for marine life and was
able to spot things we would have surely missed without her. Krill also
introduced us to the many seabirds that we saw. Tiny storm petrels deftly flew
amongst the swells as shearwaters glided just above water level in search of
their next meal. The rich waters of the marine sanctuary support a diverse
array of these birds, and we were able to see many of these creatures offshore.
While we were entranced with fishing, Krill wielding binoculars often brought
our attention to the charismatic macrofauna that were swimming by the boat so
we could shift our focus and go check them out.
The whole team was
overjoyed with the numerous whale sightings just off the bank. Humpback whales
were the primary cetacean that we encountered, and one minke whale made a brief
appearance. All of these are baleen whales, meaning they have an arrangement of
fibrous material in their mouth instead of teeth. When a baleen whale feeds, it
gulps water and small fish or invertebrates. It will then force the water
through the baleen, leaving whatever organisms it caught to be consumed. Spouts
of water from the humpbacks’ blowholes betrayed
their location, affording us the ability to come within a respectful viewing
distance. These intelligent creatures seemed to pay no mind to our boat,
surfacing close to us at times, almost as if they were curious and wanted to
get a better look. It was an incredible experience that we will not soon
forget.
We spotted a North
Atlantic right whale sensor buoy in our travels which launched us into
continuing our education on that particular species. The North Atlantic right whale
can sometimes be spotted within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
These critically endangered whales were once heavily hunted during the age of
whaling. Their tendency to swim close to the coast, and because they float when
dead, made them easy targets for whaling ships. Even though these animals are
no longer subjected to whaling, collisions with ships and getting snared in
commercial fishing gear has led to high mortality rates. Buoys were put into the
marine sanctuary to “listen” for the songs of right whales, if heard, a signal
is sent to nearby ships requiring them to slow down to avoid hitting the whale.
The Stellwagen provides an excellent summer feeding ground for whales and gives
people opportunities to observe these beautiful marine mammals.
The biggest surprise of
the day came when a leatherback sea turtle surfaced next to the boat halfway up
the bank. A turtle sighting is often a fleeting wish of visitors to the bank,
due to the fact that their trips to the surface are not as magnificent as those
of the whales that we saw. This amazing spot by Krill seemed to be consuming a
jellyfish, and we only had a few short moments to observe its behaviors before
it launched itself back into the depths of the water.
As we departed the southwest corner of the bank in our trek back to Boston, Krill pulled out the phytoplankton net for us to get to take a look at the organisms that form the base of the food chain that supports all of the fish, whales, seals, and seabirds offshore. We dragged the net for five minutes and upon pulling it back into the boat, we could see all of the microorganisms that were trapped inside. Krill had us take a closer look utilizing the magnifiers, and we were able to see the phytoplankton dancing around the slide. These are truly the species that you don’t typically think about when visiting the National Marine Sanctuary, and we were so excited to be able to interact with these organisms.
We
were truly impressed with all of the ways that the Fishbucket was being
cognizant of conservation during our travels. We learned that some people use
balloons in their pursuit of larger fish, and often these balloons are found
floating in the waters. Not only did we stop for every balloon that we saw to
scoop it out of the water and place it in the trash aboard, but we stopped for
any foreign objects, such as plastic, that we encountered along the way. That
being said, for the most part the sanctuary proved to be a very clean area,
presumably due to the respect of visitors and admirers of the Stellwagen Bank.
While any day spent on
the water is a good day, this one was unbelievable. We were able to learn so
much more about the waters that neighbor the harbor that we interact with on a
daily basis, not to mention see a ton of amazing creatures and catch a ton of
fish. Thanks to Captain Mike and first mate Bradley we were all able to take
home a healthy supply of fish that will be put to good use. Upon our arrival at
the dock, we were all able to take home heaps of fish which we all promptly
took home and cooked for dinner!
We are so grateful for the opportunity to be a
part of such an amazing and enriching trip, and would like to thank the
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation for the chance to learn more about the
unique features of the Sanctuary and the species that live there. We would also
like to thank Captain Mike Delzingo of Fishbucket Sportfishing Charters Boston
for connecting us with this full day of offshore exploration through a lens of
conservation, allowing us to go beyond fishing in the Boston Harbor and
interact with more species in the Massachusetts Bay. The day would not be the
same without our resident expert Krill Carlson from New England Coastal
Wildlife Alliance who not only told us the specific names of each of the whales
that we saw but served as our personal encyclopedia on all things Stellwagen
Bank. It truly was an unforgettable experience that we all cannot stop talking
about and sharing photos and videos from! We hope to be able to have a similar
experience to share with our other youth program staffers in the years to come!
Until Next Time,
Michael Dello Russo
Grace Burns
Roy Thompson
Vanessa DoVale
Kristen Barry
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