Beaches

High Surf, Rip Current Warning in Effect Wednesday

The National Weather Service has issued an advisory Wednesday for high surf and a high risk of dangerous rip currents along ocean beaches on the south coast of the Vineyard.

Concern About Emergency Access to Private Beaches in Aquinnah

With the summer season approaching, the town of Aquinnah is looking to better emergency access to Squibnocket Pond after a recent incident left responders with few options.

New State Regulations Could Mean Fewer Beach Closures

Fewer beach closures are expected this summer due to changes in state regulations governing swimming safety. Under the new rules, water samples will have to show high bacteria counts on two consecutive days before a beach is closed.

Town Will Remove Poor-Quality Sand from Inkwell Beach

Following an outpouring of criticism, selectmen announced Tuesday that the dredge spoils deposited at Inkwell this spring will come off before summer. A small group of protesters had picketed at the site one day earlier.

Dredged Sand Is Cause For Concern

With Memorial Day close at hand, town officials in Oak Bluffs are scrambling to remedy a situation at Inkwell Beach where dark sediment has been deposited as part of a beach nourishment project.

Riptide Warning for South Shore Has Expired

South-facing beaches along Martha’s Vineyard are under high risk for rip currents today, the National Weather Service has announced. The warning will remain in effect through Monday evening.

In response to the warning, The Trustees of Reservations has closed the beach at Long Point Wildlife Refuge. Swimmers are encouraged to use the pond for swimming.

County Awarded Grant for Beach Rehabilitation

The Department of Conservation and Recreation has awarded the county a $75,000 grant to help finance a beach rehabilitation project, Dukes County manager Martina Thornton informed the county commissioners last week. The money will be used to move sand from Eastville Beach in Oak Bluffs to Joseph Sylvia State Beach, which lost a considerable amount of sand during Hurricane Sandy.

The grant will not completely cover the sand transport, but would give the county “starting seed money,” Ms. Thornton said.

Getting Personal With Weather, Cloudmaker Washes Ashore

Just about everything washes up on the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard at some point, from seaglass to messages in bottles. And last December, a few lucky beachcombers up-Island encountered a first: Pieces of a personal weather modification device.
 That’s the formal name. Informally, it’s simply a cloudmaker, a combination science experiment/art project created by Karolina Sobecka, 35, of New York city. Ms. Sobecka designed the cloudmaker as part of her Amateur Human project, which seeks to personalize human relationships with the environment.

philbin

After the Riptide, Fear Still Lingers

Last Sunday, while chasing waves in the Atlantic Ocean at Philbin Beach with my 11-year old granddaughter, I noticed the surf, which had been crashing in, had suddenly disappeared. The ocean I was standing in up to my waist seemed eerily calm. The sandy shore behind me lay perfectly flat, like a sheet of paper. How peculiar.

West Tisbury Special Town Meeting Goes to the Dogs

The long-running debate over dogs on Lambert’s Cove Beach isn’t over yet.

West Tisbury voters, who agreed three weeks ago at their annual town meeting to let residents walk their dogs on the beach on summer mornings, are being asked back to a special town meeting on June 5 to decide whether they want to pay to enforce good behavior by owners and their pets. The warrant is expected to ask voters to back funding for a seasonal assistant animal control officer to patrol the beach, as well as to consider bylaw changes addressing leashes and litter.

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