Sengekontacket Pond is closed to shellfishing for five days because of heavy rainfall received Oct. 1.

Oak Bluffs is one step closer to receiving disaster aid to dredge a channel to Sengekontacket Pond, following informal approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Sengekontacket Pond has been closed to shellfishing for the second time in two weeks due to heavy rainfall. The Edgartown selectmen learned of the closure at their meeting Monday.

The pond, which spans the towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, will remain closed at least until Sunday. It is safe for swimming and boating.

It is the end of the day and the sun hangs low and red over Sengekontacket Pond. The waters of Nantucket Sound are relatively flat due to a southerly shift in the wind earlier in the afternoon, but a few small waves break on the shoreline. Schools of bluefish surface about a quarter mile offshore. Terns follow the schools as they erratically move along.

In a repeat of a presentation given to the Oak Bluffs selectmen last month, the Edgartown selectmen Monday heard serious warnings about reducing nitrogen levels in Sengekontacket Pond.

With members of the Joint Committee on Sengekontacket in attendance, the selectmen heard that based on a thorough review of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project study on the pond, nitrogen levels need to be reduced and removed.