by Mary GriffinOrleans Pond Coalition The return of river herring to their native spawning grounds in freshwater rivers and ponds from the sea is a welcome sign of spring. Orleans Natural Resource Manager Nate Sears says, "Some may rely on the groundhog, but Cape Codders trust only the herring." According to Sears, "The herring run at Pilgrim Lake, like many other runs in the region, is so special because it is only possible with the support of the community. The journey of these fish and the promise of their return seems to inspire and … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere
Water Water Everywhere features articles of interest on the health and history of our Orleans water bodies.
The Orleans Pond Coalition extends its appreciation to The Cape Codder for printing “Water, Water, Everywhere” each month.
Water, Water, Everywhere: An Orleans treasure: 109 Portanimicut
By Karen Back One might think that someone having grown up in a home literally surrounded by water – Cedar Swamp, Paw Wah Pondand Little Pleasant Bay – might become blasé about the wonder of the experience. Not so for 84-year-old, RachiaHeyelman, who has a life lease on 109 Portanimicut Road and has made a personal and financial commitment to keepingthis bay fronted parcel undeveloped, by its transfer of ownership to the Orleans Conservation Trust (OCT.)From her, one is exposed to a wealth of knowledge about this specific site in South … [Read more...]
Water, Water, Everywhere: Gaining New Perspectives on Eco-gardening
By Karen Pierson and Jan Brink Two days before the British-American alliance of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May, fourteen Cape-Cod-based gardeners, mostly master gardeners, arrived in London for an experts’ tour of iconic English gardens. Head gardeners, estate managers, Kew botanical researchers, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) associates and passionate landowners revealed ecological lessons more pertinent to our fragile peninsula than classic garden design. Scorning chemicals (including fertilizer), minimizing resource use by … [Read more...]
Water, Water Everywhere: Women Water Whisperers
By Betsy Furtney As Orleans continues to walk “the long and winding road” to improved water quality, Orleans Pond Coalition would like to remind readers of five very dedicated women who have worked more than 17 years to improve marine and fresh water quality and achieve healthy ponds. You may already know Carolyn Kennedy, Judy Scanlon, Joanne Figueras, Sandy Bayne and Judith Bruce. But if you haven’t met them yet, they are easy to find at Orleans’ Conservation Commission, Marine and Fresh Water Quality Task Force, Shellfish … [Read more...]
Water, Water Everywhere: Remembering an Earlier Time at Lonnie’s Pond
By Pam Herrick My family, adventurers from Colorado, moved to the shore of Lonnie’s Pond when I was 8. The year was 1941. But the adventure really began a bit later, when I climbed into a rowboat for the fist time, figured out how to make the oars move and set off across Lonnie’s Pond to get the mail at our mailbox on Monument Road. Our driveway and road to the tip of Mayflower Point was a two-lane dirt road. If there was any traffic, it came about three feet from our house. My mother bought a Sharpie sailboat we named … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Bridging Jeremiah’s Gutter
By Mon Cochran Dateline: May 22, 2050 Commonwealth engineers met today with the Selectmen from Orleans and Eastham to discuss the design of a Rt. 6 bridge spanning Jeremiah’s Gutter, also known as the Outer Cape Canal. During the past several years the Rt. 6 rotary on the Orle-ans/Eastham line has repeatedly flooded at high tide, caused by sea water flowing from Cape Cod Bay into Town Cove. Scientists predict that the steady annual increases in sea level that have occurred over the past thirty years will continue through the … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: The Seven Sides of Orleans
By Per John Ostman Like many towns of Cape Cod, Orleans is defined by its waters. However, you may never have thought about it this way before - Orleans is surrounded on seven sides by water. If you live in Orleans there are four “sides” you know well, Cape Cod Bay (think Rock Harbor and Skaket Beach), the Atlantic Ocean (think Nauset Beach), Pleasant Bay (think, well, Pleasant Bay) and Nauset Harbor (think Town Cove and Nauset Marsh). But, there are a few not quite as obvious. Now consider all the salt and fresh water Ponds … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Kayaking in the Nauset Estuary
By Cameron Gardella Anyone who has been to Fort Hill in Eastham and looked out over the Nauset estuary just has to be struck by its beauty and diversity. There’s always something new to see whether it’s seasonal changes, wildlife, or shifting dunes. The view is always spectacular. It’s no less spectacular for on-the-water activities. The prominent channel from Town Cove in Orleans towards the ocean cut is well marked and accessible by most boats. But, you’ll need a small boat with a shallow draft to get around many other … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: River Herring and Why We Count Them
By Judy Scanlon A quote from one mother who brings her children to count herring when asked" why do they count herring?" "I do subscribe to the notion that if you learn about something in the natural world, you appreciate and love it, and then that leads to you fighting for it. The Cape is magical but a lot of times it's hard to enjoy the magic because you are running from commitment to commitment, so by signing up (to count herring) we basically carved out time to hang out with Mother Nature, and see what she is up to. … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywgere: Cat Boat Regatta
By Fran McClennen It’s over! The season, I mean. It’s always sad when we have to put the boats away, pull the moorings and hunker down for winter. However, it’s also time to think back and enjoy the memories from the past summer. One of my favorite memories this year is the Cat Boat Regatta sponsored by Arey’s Pond Boat Yard. This year was the 25th year that Tony Davis of Arey’s Pond Boat Yard has invited Cat Boats sailors from all over to join in an informal regatta starting in Little Pleasant Bay and heading south to … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: The Future of Nauset Beach
By Leslie Fields Nauset Beach holds the heart of many seaside enthusiasts, whether they are year-round Cape Codders or occasional summer visitors. The beach is one of the Town’s most important natural assets, supporting nearly 1.2 million visitors each year. It is the only public beach in the Town of Orleans with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean, offering a range of excellent outdoor recreational opportunities and natural scenic beauty. As a public facility maintained by the Town of Orleans, beach goers have access to … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: The Secret of Baker’s Pond
By Per John Ostman There are mysteries in our waters. Some are primal directives that draw us near to contemplate, to revel, to discover and to be. But there’s always more. Some of our waters have more secrets than others. My father always talked about the proper Viking send off upon death - the Valkyrie (handmaidens of Oden) would lift your soul from the battlefield and take you to Valhalla, while your friends would set your body aflame in a boat and send you off on the waters. Per Olof passed away in 2002, and no, we didn’t … [Read more...]
Water, Water Everywhere: The Waters of Cape Cod
The Waters of Cape Cod features photos submitted from our own community members. … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Feed Your Soil, Not Your Plants
By Laura Littlefield Kelley   Did you know Nitrogen is harmful to saltwater ecosystems and Phosphorus is harmful to freshwater ecosystems? The health of our fresh and salt waters depends on the choices every one of of us makes every day. We can all can make a difference by purchasing more wisely, which will create a cumulative outcome of real change. Really, this all starts with you! Do you own property on Cape Cod? Or are you a visitor? Either way, we all have a responsibility to care for the aquifer below us, don’t you … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Uncle Harvey’s Pond — A Profile
By Larry Minear [Part 2 of a two part series] Last month the focus was on the history and deteriorating condition of Uncle Harvey’s Pond, a kettle pond tucked away between Pochet and Barley Neck Roads in East Orleans. This month’s article examines the impact of human activity, negative and positive. “I visited Uncle Harvey’s Pond earlier this spring,” recalls Orleans Pond Coalition President Jim McCauley , “I was amazed at how much I learned about how everything people do affects our waters. Stormwater, fertilizers, invasive plants, … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Meet Uncle Harvey and His Pond
By Larry Minear [part 1 of a 2 part series]   ; Uncle Harvey’s Pond, a six-acre gem nestled between Pochet and Barley Neck roads, is one of Orleans’ best-kept secrets. This article explores the pond’s history and current condition; next month’s illuminates how the problems, created largely by human factors, can also be improved by human action. Uncle Harvey’s last name was Sparrow. He and his wife Betsey lived on the uphill side of Pochet Road overlooking the pond to the south. “They were uncle and aunt to … [Read more...]
Water, Water, Everywhere: The Day the Whales Came In
By William D. Romey The first ones swam up onto the beaches near Eastham at about eleven in the morning, sleek, shiny black pilot whales ten to twelve feet long and weighing half a ton or more. A few newborn calves in the pod swam along beside their mothers. A storm blew ferociously and the new-moon tide rose higher and higher. More than fifty whales lay stranded on the beaches from Sandwich to Eastham. The tide ebbed out from under them. The stranding of pilot whales happens every couple of years in Cape Cod Bay. No one … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Jonathan Moore – An Appreciation
By Larry Minear Jonathan Moore has had a life-long love affair with Cape Cod. Growing up in suburban Boston in the 1940s, he and his siblings spent every possible moment at their family place in Orleans. “We beat a path between our cottage on Town Cove and our grandparents’ home next to Ice House Pond,” Moore recalls. “We lived the Cape’s beauty and bounty firsthand and treasured its magic.” Assignments with the U.S. government, the United Nations, and academia have taken Moore away to Washington and abroad. But he has … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: The Tides They are A’Changin’
By Bill Romey Mill Pond occupies three small basins at the southeast edge of Nauset Harbor. It’s about a half a mile long and connects to the rest of Nauset Harbor by a long, narrow channel through Roberts Cove. On an air photo its outline looks a little like a steamer clam with its neck extended. Farmer Oliver Doane made a stone dam across the narrow opening to the pond in the late 18th century and built a gristmill there to grind his grain. The dam remains there, mostly submerged, with two narrow gaps that allow boats to … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Orleans Ponds – Windows on the Aquifer
By Carolyn Kennedy Orleans has 60 freshwater ponds. Who knew? Some are hidden in backyards known only to salamanders and spring peepers that migrate there each spring to mate and lay eggs. A few lakes are so large that we gather to enjoy swimming, fishing, and kayaking in their waters. Ponds are an important recreational resource for residents and visitors alike. But just like us, our ponds and lakes are aging. Most are over 10,000 years old. Since their birth from chunks of ice left by a retreating glacier, they have … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Ice Fishing
An excerpt from The Innermost Waters: Fishing Cape Cod’s Ponds and Lakes by Peter Budryk The ponds and lakes of Cape Cod, unlike most of the stillwaters in the rest of the Commonwealth, do not always freeze over during an average winter. The salty influence of the Cape’s weather patterns produces milder winters. This difference cuts two ways: 1- the less severe winters mean bigger fish because it results in a longer feeding and, therefore, growing season for the Cape’s freshwater fish; 2- for those who enjoy ice fishing on … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Large Pond Discovered in Downtown Orleans
A large body of freshwater was discovered last week in the heart of downtown Orleans. Town officials confirmed the find yesterday. “I don’t know how we could have missed it all these years,” one was heard to say. ‘”It was ‘hiding in plain sight,’” explained a bystander. Major efforts are now underway to capitalize on its untapped potential. The news item is of course totally fictitious, but the reality is not. Located in the heart of downtown Orleans, Boland Pond is one of the Town’s best-kept secrets. In recent months, however, it has begun … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Drawn and Quartered – Lobsters for Thanksgiving on Cape Cod
By Bill Romey As Thanksgiving approached on Mill Pond a few years ago we were intrigued to see wild turkeys parading through our yard. Having previously become extinct on the Cape, they were re-introduced to the Cape in 1972 when a couple of dozen birds were brought in from New York State, perhaps from the flocks we had seen near our New York house on the edge of the Adirondacks. Since the hunting season for wild turkeys in Massachusetts is limited to four weeks beginning in late April, you can’t get one for a Thanksgiving … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Adult Sailing at Orleans Yacht Club
By Steve Downs The Orleans Yacht Club, Town Cove, Orleans, MA was incorporated in September 1947. The charter reads: “To encourage yacht building and sailing, to promote interest in Yachting and Aquatic sports, as well as social intercourse among its members, and to secure and maintain suitable buildings & equipment to accomplish these purposes”. Well, sixty-seven years later, I believe we have been true to our charter and members, in full filling our sailing and social activities, with the exemption of boat … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Henry Marindin’s Cape Cod
By Graham Giese Some years ago - well to be honest, many years ago (it was in 1956) - I visited the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey office in Washington, D.C., to learn as much as I could about the technical details of a major survey of the outer Cape Cod coast carried out under the direction of Henry Marindin (born Henri Louis Francois Marindin in Lausanne, Switzerland) during the summers of 1887, 1888 and 1889. I was familiar with Marindin’s reports - they were printed in ponderous old government volumes stored on the shelves … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Let’s Celebrate!
By Ann Hanyen This spring and early summer, Orleans citizens were very divided over the issue of wastewater. Despite the strong differences of opinion about what should be done to clean up our waters, no one questioned the importance of our precious water resources to the economic vitality of the town and the special quality of life here. For many of us, the beaches, ponds, lakes, marshes, and saltwater estuaries are the primary reason we came to live or vacation in Orleans. Orleans Pond Coalition and the Town … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Protecting Orleans, Eastham, Brewster and the Cape
By Sandy Bayne for The Association to Preserve Cape Cod IMAGINE Nauset Marsh as a harbor for large ships! IMAGINE this shallow and fragile place needing to be dredged regularly to provide safe refuge! IMAGINE the loss of shellfish flourishing there today! Almost 400 years after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed into this bay, passed over the dangerous shoal he dubbed the “mal barre,” and described the peaceful Nauset Indian village he found there, the Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a plan to dredge the … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Coastal Erosion and Stabilizing the Shoreline
By Seth Wilkinson Harder isn’t always better when it comes to stabilizing your shoreline In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, this is the time to consider our coastal resources and how to best manage them while also protecting coastal property. When it comes to coastal stabilization, engineers, ecologists and coastal geologists often differentiate between hard and soft alternatives. Examples of hard alternatives are stone revetments, wood, steel or vinyl bulkheads, or other similar structures. Soft alternatives usually range from … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: Growing up on Mill Pond
By Holly Johnson I grew up spending summers on Mill Pond in East Orleans with my brother, parents and grandparents. Days were spent chasing crabs, picking up snails, and making sand castles. I practiced my swimming off our beach with my grandpa; he’d tell me to swim to him, slowly backing up as I made forward progress, laughing when I’d raise my head wondering how I was still so far away from him. I fell for it every single time. Other times my brother and I would catch flounder the size of dinner plates off our float. Getting … [Read more...]
Water, Water, Everywhere: The Wonder of Our Waterways
By Anne Hanyen Every morning as I gaze out our windows and look down at Arey’s Pond, I think how incredibly lucky I am to live in Orleans. Orleans is uniquely situated between Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean with miles of coast line and salt water estuaries. Our bays, ponds, lakes, marshes, creeks and beaches are the soul of Orleans. For the third year in a row, the Orleans Pond Coalition is recognizing the wonder of Orleans waterways. Over a fun-filled weekend, visitors to Orleans will be able to find out why those of … [Read more...]
Water Water Everywhere: ‘State of the Birds’ is Mostly Encouraging
By Mark Faherty The results are in and the state of our birds is…not too bad. That’s right – Mass Audubon’s landmark State of the Birds report is not all gloom and doom! And I guarantee you will be surprised by some of the findings. To produce the report, my colleagues here at Mass Audubon have scoured three important citizen science data sets – National Audubon’s 110 year-old Christmas Bird Count, the federal Breeding Bird Census dating back to the 1960s, and Mass Audubon’s two Breeding Bird Atlases, completed in five-year … [Read more...]
Water, Water, Everywhere: The Columbia is A Member of the Family
By Marc Costa “Columbia, gem of the ocean!” Built in 1964 in Provincetown for my dad, Elmer M. Costa, Columbia has been in the “family” since new. Elmer equally loved the sea, boats and fishing. He left high school after eighth grade to fish with his dad on Liberty, a 36-foot-long liner and then, for 37 years, commercially on many of his own vessels. He owned lots of boats, but loved Columbia. Columbia literally came from ashes. In 1963 while my grandfather, John, was towing the “first” Columbia from Rock Harbor to … [Read more...]