The Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory has become part of a new long-term program aimed at better understanding ocean ecosystems and climate change.
Keith Moreis of Oak Bluffs was out walking on Long Point Beach on a bitter cold December afternoon when he found a small bottle in a clump of seaweed. The bottle had been released in the fall of 1959 from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Ship Hydrographer.
The ever-expanding pantheon of documented life on earth has welcomed a new creature to its ranks: the Dinochelus Ausubeli, or Ausubel’s mighty claw. The bizarre lobster is rather unexceptional save for one feature: a comically oversized right claw. Although you have to squint to see the resemblance, Ausubel himself — Jesse Ausubel of Vineyard Haven, to be exact — is flattered to be represented by the intimidating creature.
