Extreme high tides and storm surge flooding inundated the south side of the Island on Tuesday, washing over coastal dunes, forcing road closures and eroding oversand trails.
The well-kept secret of the Army's experimental base at Katama during the fall and early winter of 1943 is disclosed at last, in this issue of the Gazette.
Ten miles of heavy pipe were delivered, with other equipment, beginning in August, and during the following months five one-mile lengths of pipe were laid in the ocean with the aid of tugs, and welded together into an experimental pipeline under conditions similar to those which would be encountered in laying a gasoline supply line under the English Channel.
James Gutensohn, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM), plated a crucial role in the public effort to save South Beach from private developers.
South Beach in Edgartown was closed Wednesday morning after a hammerhead shark was seen swimming in the water near shore. A biplane pilot confirmed the sighting.
South Beach reopened to swimming Thursday after several Portuguese man-of-war stings forced the town to close the beach to swimming on July 3.
“They are dangerous, they are prolific,” said Edgartown parks administrator Marilyn Wortman Wednesday morning, just hours after two lifeguards were stung and sent to the hospital.
“Don’t go in,” she said, “you’re going to get stung.”
About 20 North Atlantic right whales were spotted south and southeast of the Vineyard on Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed. This is the second report of right whales seen near the Vineyard in a month.
On Feb. 15 six right whales were seen from the air halfway between the Vineyard and Nantucket. On the same day two more whales were seen swimming south of Nantucket.
Several people reporting seeing a shark off South Beach in Edgartown on Saturday, prompting swimmers to evacuate the water and giving at least one person a scary close encounter.
Eva Bradford, 22, of Westport, Me., was swimming about 30 feet from shore at about 7 p.m. when she heard her two cousins screaming. At first she couldn’t make out what they were shouting about, but soon realized they were yelling “shark.”
