The pond bottom and shoreline rocks below Rick Karney and Dave
Grunden as they sit, discussing the reasons for this week's
closure of Sengekontacket Pond to shellfishing, are green with weedy
marine growth.

Nearby a duck, which has been feeding on the weed, raises its
tail
and drops another little
contribution of fecal matter into the water.
Right on cue, as if to
underline the point that Mr.
Grunden, the Oak
Bluffs
shellfish constable, has just made.

Most people think of the shark as the ultimate symbol of dread,
giants with cold lifeless eyes who cruise the ocean looking for swimmers
they can tear from limb to limb. The very word itself is used to
describe people in society who prey on others or who engage in deceptive
practices.

There is probably not an animal in the world more despised or feared
then sharks, ranking right down there with snakes and spiders.

Most people think of the shark as the ultimate symbol of dread,
giants with cold lifeless eyes who cruise the ocean looking for swimmers
they can tear from limb to limb. The very word itself is used to
describe people in society who prey on others or who engage in deceptive
practices.

There is probably not an animal in the world more despised or feared
then sharks, ranking right down there with snakes and spiders.

It is a misty Tuesday night in Chilmark, the kind of evening when the Vineyard seems a million miles from the rest of the world.

Sengekontacket Pond will be closed to shellfishing for four months each year in the peak summer season on a permanent basis, as a result of intractable problems with high levels of dangerous bacteria.

From now on the pond, which spans Edgartown and Oak Bluffs and is a popular spot for recreational clammers, will be closed from the start of April until the end of September annually.

The closure does not affect swimmers and boaters.

Lost and Found: World War II Shipmates Reconnect in Chance Internet
Encounter

After 62 years of being out of each other's lives, World War
II shipmates and old friends Ray Ellis and Bill Sprague reconnected to
find that despite the many years gone by, their friendship was still
intact.

Interviews by Kate Brannen

Ray Ellis: "The name of the ship was the USS Corpus Christie.
It was a frigate. They built 55 frigates and had them all manned by the
U.S. Coast Guard. I was the chief quartermaster on board.

Not Too Many Fish in the Sea to Count

By KATE BRANNEN

The Vineyard Conservation Society met Thursday for its annual
meeting and to hear about the Marine Life Census, an ambitious and
inspiring global project that is attempting to catalogue and identify
every life form in the planet's oceans.

The census puts Vineyard conservation efforts into a global context
where scientists around the world are racing to protect marine life.

In the two years before Vineyard House opened, there were two dozen
alcohol and drug-related deaths on the Island. The founders of the
nonprofit sober house never did a formal needs survey - the need
seemed clear enough. There was a cavernous gap in health services
between the hospital's three-day detox and the return to everyday
life.

Barbara Dacey is relieved.

A temporary eleventh-hour agreement last weekend between radio
webcasters and a record industry royalty collection organization ensures
that Internet-based streaming radio stations will operate under existing
royalty fees. Meanwhile, negotiation continues between webcasters and
Sound Exchange, which collects royalties for the Recording Industry
Association of America.

Boatline Labor Contract Collapses Unexpectedly; Union Infighting Is
Cited

By MIKE SECCOMBE

Just as it appeared that four years of difficult negotiations had
finally produced a new workplace agreement between the Steamship
Authority and one of its major unions, the deal fell apart this week,
apparently as a result of a leadership contest within the union.