Mark Alan Lovewell
The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is winding down and it could be practically over with today and tomorrow’s bad weather. Though the weather already has shut down the shore division, there has been a new development every day this week in the boat division.
On Sunday, the derby committee announced that a fish weighed on Oct. 5 was removed from the contest because it had ice in it.
It sounds like a bad science fiction movie: a slime from outer space has reached the earth. It spreads underwater across the harbors and bays of a small Island community and eventually throughout the East Coast. The world’s top scientists gather to study and discuss the problem..
What it sounds like is nearly true in the waters along the eastern seaboard, only in this case the slime is believed to come from the Sea of Japan.
The Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club homestead is done. Last week the club members had their first monthly Wednesday night dinner and meeting in the place, and accolades were passed around along with stuffed chicken dinners. Over 70 came and enjoyed a good time with a fire burning bright in the newly restored fireplace.
The future for living local is moving beyond eating Island-grown vegetables and fruits. Vineyarders are already eating Island-raised poultry on an increasingly large scale, and a growing group of farmers would like to see that expanded to include local beef, pork, lamb and venison.
In a special forum at the Living Local Harvest Festival on Saturday at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury, three farmers and a local chef spoke about their hope for a slaughterhouse on the Vineyard, despite a daunting array of government restrictions.
A juvenile humpback whale that made an errant visit and got stuck in Katama Bay on Sunday afternoon is believed to be okay and swimming the ocean. A group of Islanders, with help from the staff of the New England Aquarium, were able to monitor and eventually see the whale as it swam out into Nantucket Sound late Monday morning.
The 20-foot-plus whale, weighing 10 tons or more, was first spotted on Sunday afternoon by staff of The Trustees of Reservations at Norton Point. At the time it was thought the marine mammal was entangled and in distress in Katama Bay.
Sengekontacket Pond was closed to shellfishing for quahaugs and steamers yesterday due to poor water quality tests from earlier in the week. Water samples tested positive for fecal coliform. Fecal coliform itself may not necessarily be harmful to humans in shellfish in a coastal pond, but it is used as an indicator of other possible harmful bacteria. Last Sunday’s heavy rainfall is blamed for the problem. The closure came hours after the state had allowed the pond to be opened for shellfishing.