Tribal leadership maintains it has aboriginal rights to any dead whales that beach along the shores of Noepe — the Wampanoag name for Martha’s Vineyard. Retaining that right has remained a priority for members, who have traditionally made use of whale meat, fat, bones and baleen.
Through candidate forums, voter registration efforts, nonpartisan activism and more, the Vineyard chapter of the League of Women Voters encourages engagement in local governance.
Federal regulators took steps to bring the striped bass population back from the brink last month when the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission voted to approve restrictions on the size of fish recreational fishermen are allowed to keep.
James Pond Preserve, a 13-acre parcel next to Lambert’s Cove beach in West Tisbury, opened last weekend after a long delay due to a state review process.
A recently released article about the Dukes County Wildfire Protection Plan looks to help people become more familiar with the potential for wildfires on-Island, and take appropriate measures to mitigate their impact.
The 3-year-old female whale was seen entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in August 2022, and attempts to free it off Cape Cod last year were unsuccessful, according to the New England Aquarium.
Its scientific name is Codium fragile, but for many beachcombers across the Island the invasive macroalgae goes by a more ominous title: dead man’s fingers.
Scientists have yet to determine the cause of death as of Monday afternoon, but the dead calf represents another blow to the critically endangered whale species, which has dwindled to fewer than 360 individuals in recent years.
