Pipefish, stripers, hermit crabs, minnows, even pufferfish: Bodhi Favreau, 8, of Easton, had seen all these before. But on Sunday at State Beach, he he discovered a rare and magical ocean denizen: Hippocampus erectus, a lined seahorse.
Scientists have yet to determine the cause of death as of Monday afternoon, but the dead calf represents another blow to the critically endangered whale species, which has dwindled to fewer than 360 individuals in recent years.
Edgartown and Oak Bluffs fire rescue teams responded to an out-of-control boat off State Beach Friday after the operator, a shellfisherman, suffered a medical emergency.
Dredging is nearly complete at the Joseph Sylvia State Beach. For much of the fall, the Edgartown dredge has been pumping sand out of Sengekontacket, deepening a channel on the Oak Bluffs side, with the spoils trucked to Cow Bay for beach nourishment.
Norman Rankow, chairman of the dredge committee, said last week that the work in the area is winding down. The dredge will be removed from the pond probably by mid-January.
Beachgoers whisking their dogs onto Joseph Sylvia State Beach for a quick spin hoping no one notices may want to think twice this summer — the Dukes County commissioners are calling for a volunteer-based patrol program to help enforce the no-dogs policy.
Although it was completed and opened to motorists just last week, the new Big Bridge spanning Oak Bluffs and Edgartown at Joseph Sylvia State Beach has already caused concern among county officials, who worry the back railing of the wooden platform is too close to Beach Road, leaving pedestrians and sunbathers at risk of injury by oncoming traffic this summer.