Working Waterfront

Looking backward, moving ahead

I’m just back from an hour’s row on a day that I think may be the first of summer. Clearly I’m hedging here, having experienced the spring, which started and stopped too many times to count. But it’s June 1, the sky’s clear and the sun’s out, the wind’s not… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Local groups funded on Penobscot clean-up

The court-appointed trustee directing work to remediate mercury in the Penobscot River estuary has announced 13 Beneficial Environmental Projects (BEPs) that will receive funding to begin delivering tangible benefits to affected communities and ecosystems. These projects will begin to fulfill a 2022 settlement in which a federal judge approved a… SEE MORE

Barry Goodell examines a piece of wood that was attacked by shipworms in 2022. PHOTO: JODY JELLISON

Working Waterfront

Study uncovers history of shipworm damage

For thousands of years, shipworms—a family of mollusks found in oceans—sank wooden vessels, ravaged wharfs, and shipwrecked sailors. They even devastated the Spanish Armada in the 16th century. Exactly how they have been able to wreak such havoc has remained a mystery, until now. A new study published in the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winter storms highlight value of Sunrise Trail

DOT bid the work May 8 and awarded it six days later to Hanscom Construction of Marshfield for $438,975. Using the finesse required to navigate massive dump trucks safely along a waterside rail bed, and despite tidal delays, Hanscom completed the work more than two weeks ahead of schedule, on June 7. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Without a map, new turf becomes clearer

The trail is long, and my position is regional, which means that I work with many communities throughout Hancock and Washington counties. But I find that this place—this earth, these streams, these blueberry fields, and these fir trees—make it all feel like home. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The comforting sounds of the season

I love the quiet I experience from living on Little Cranberry Island. I remember a visit from Dutch friends when their mouths dropped open upon reaching our house. I asked what stunned them and they replied, “The quiet! There is so little noise!” That’s what I like. I also appreciate… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lobster Institute names new director

Since 1987 the Lobster Institute has been a center of discovery, innovation and outreach at UMaine with the goal of promoting, conducting, and communicating research focused on the sustainability of the American lobster fishery in the U.S. and Canada. SEE MORE

Staff with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute prepare to launch a drifter buoy.

Working Waterfront

Maine Maritime crew will deploy ‘drifter’ devices

When the Maine Maritime Academy training ship State of Maine sailed from Castine May 8 for the start of the annual summer cruise, she carried 202 students, 25 faculty members, and a crew of 20 professional mariners. She also carried a unusual cargo: six high-tech drifter buoys to be launched… SEE MORE

A sign warns visitors away from the shore in Roque Bluffs. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Do ‘fishing, fowling, and navigation’ ring a ‘Bell’?

But what if “fishing, fowling, and navigation” was never intended to be so restrictive? What if the long-abandoned Colonial Ordinance was only ever intended to preserve the public’s right to use the intertidal land in a way that balances the upland owners’ interests in accessing the sea with those same interests shared by the public? SEE MORE

Downed trees in Acadia National Park after the strong winter storms. PHOTO: CATHERINE SCHMITT

Working Waterfront

Storms have lasting impact on coastal forests

At Seawall, crews removed some 700 fallen trees that blocked roads and created safety hazards in a popular picnic and camping area, but otherwise the blowdowns at Otter Point and other locations are being left in place. SEE MORE