Night sky from Cadillac Mountain with the Cranberry Isles in view.

Working Waterfront

Star Party on Cadillac Mountain highlights Annual Acadia Night Sky Festival

The Star Party on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, and continues through 11 p.m. A free “Shuttle to the Stars” departing from Mount Desert Island High School will be offered to carry people to the summit. Participants are invited to drop in at any time… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Demand for groundfish data continues to increase

The Sentinel Survey, now in its eighth year of research, collects data on the status of groundfish populations in Eastern Maine. The survey is conducted by Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, in collaboration with the University of Maine. Fishermen visit a total of 84 survey stations from June to October,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Museum hosts Maine Marine Fare, Sept. 9-10

Maine Marine Fare, a two-day symposium Sept. 9-10 at Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, focuses on what we take from and eat from the sea off the Maine coast, featuring Paul Greenberg as the keynote speaker at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Greenberg, a James Beard Award winner and author of Four Fish and American Catch,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Digging into the data about our marine economy

Look out at Rockland Harbor and you may see a tanker heading up the bay to Searsport, a midwater trawler coming in with a load of herring, or the cement tug and barge heading south. Thanks to a federal ocean planning initiative, those interested in the maritime world can do… SEE MORE

The Margaret Todd obscures the view of a cruise ship off Bar Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Southwest Harbor cool on cruise ships

Bar Harbor is Maine’s top cruise ship port, with 165 visit scheduled this year, bringing 226,846 passengers—up from 121 visits and 159,515 passengers in 2016. On cruise ship days, the waterfront and downtown are packed with visitors tendered in from ships at anchor. Many hop on buses that head to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The tides as one step away from God

Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean By Jonathan White 2017: Trinity University Press Like the tides themselves, this book literally covers the earth. Author Jonathan White gets us started with a dramatic personal story: accidentally grounding his schooner in 1990 in Kalinin Bay, Alaska, in 40-knot winds at… SEE MORE

Houses close to the shore on Moody Beach in Wells

Working Waterfront

Maine beaches remain battlegrounds

A day-long conference devoted to beaches on the coast of Maine, in July, might seem like, well, a day at the beach. In fact, beaches here are at the center of threats and debates. Threats include sea level rise, erosion, and land-based pollution. Debates swirl around development, flood insurance, and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Estuary Beat: Storm surge, stripers, and the oyster trail

Good news about striped bass, salmon All reports indicate that migratory fish had a strong season. Striped bass runs contined in Maine rivers into August, according to Bruce Joule of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Hot striper fishing spots included jetties at Camp Ellis and Wells, Pine Point, Goosefare… SEE MORE

A wooden trap decays on the shore in Corea.

Working Waterfront

A new, plastic threat to ocean health

By Charles A. Kniffen Twenty-five years of kayaking the Maine coast from Brown Cow ledge in Casco Bay to trailing minke whales off West Quoddy Light; one-quarter of a century picking up storm-tossed lobster pot buoys, ragged drapes of seine, wild tangles of beached trap-line, big, rubber mooring buoys, et.… SEE MORE

Rylee Knox of Turner poses for a “selfie” with his mother

Working Waterfront

MMA’s ‘family cruise’ last leg of 90-day journey

There were hugs, handshakes, and smiles as parents, siblings, and girlfriends joined Maine Maritime Academy students aboard the training ship State of Maine in Searsport on July 30. The academy offers this “family cruise” for the last leg of the 90-day training voyage, docking the 500-foot-long ship in Searsport to… SEE MORE