Nauset Spit
looking north toward Nauset inlet
Last week I walked along Nauset Spit from Priscilla's Landing to get some exercise and search for birds. The Atlantic beach is about a half mile to the east from the parking lot at the landing. The shoreline can be followed north for about 2 miles to Nauset marsh inlet. Most of the dune and grass area above the high tide mark is posted to prevent dune erosion and protect nesting sites of endangered birds.
Boundary
Permits can be purchased from the Town of Orleans to drive vehicles on the beach toward the inlet. In recent years the inlet has been gradually migrating north due to the natural movement of sand caused by wave action and ocean currents. This had lead to a controversy about who has jurisdiction over the northern portion of the spit. Eastham officials claim that the new section of the spit is now within their town. Orleans selectmen maintain that the northern section should remain under their control at least for the management of off road vehicles. Recently, the National Park Service claims that this section is actually the property of the National Seashore. Currently, there are signs about half way up the spit to prevent Orleans off road vehicles from driving into the Town of Eastham. There continues to be a legal tussle over this stretch of sand.
Coyotes
As I approached the line of dispute, the signs became visible. I also noticed a coyote disappearing into the dune grass behind the boundary. I was curious and in no way surprised. Coyote sightings have become very common on the Cape. Most full-time resident tell stories of coyotes strolling through backyards and there are frequent reports of attacks on pets. In rural areas howling packs can sometimes be heard during late night hours. I heard a pack singing their mournful serenade for the first time in our Harwich neighborhood about a week ago when I awoke at 3 in the morning. The cries made my heart beat faster and sleep returned slowly after the yelps subsided.
coyote disappearing into the dunes
sign at the disputed boundary
I continued to stroll up the beach and after walking for another half mile, I noticed what I first thought was a large dog ahead on the beach. Binoculars, however, showed this to be another coyote.
another coyote in the distance
This guy was reluctant to flee into the dunes. Food was involved. He was trying to drag the remains of a seal to a safer area.
trying to drag his lunch to a protected area
As I approached, he finally decided to slink off.
slinking coyote
After a few minutes, I passed the remains of the seal and continued walking north. After I had gone another 50 or 75 yards, I turned to look back down the beach and saw that the wily coyote had returned to complete his meal. He was closer than before and I snapped a pretty good picture.
return to finish the meal
He is certainly a healthy looking specimen, well-fed and well-groomed. He didn't appear to be overly concerned about my presence but I'm sure he was glad to see me depart. These coyotes must be ecstatic over the property line dispute as they cannot enjoy dodging off road vehicular traffic. Further along the spit many coyote tracks were obvious crossing back and forth between the marsh and the ocean.
In conclusion, there are three government organizations feuding over the north end of the spit, but the real story is that the coyotes have squatting rights and currently have real jurisdiction.
End of the Walk
A huge flock of birds were floating in the sea near the inlet. There were hundreds, mostly black scoter and white-winged scoter with some surf scoter and common eider mixed in.
floating birds (only a section of the flock is shown)
I returned on the marsh side of the spit as the afternoon waned.
late afternoon sun and clouds over the marsh
Another fine Cape afternoon had passed. A great deal had been accomplished. I had burned some serious calories and as a bonus had sighted a huge flock of scoter. Finally, I had acquired a firsthand understanding of the species that has practical jurisdiction over the north end of Nauset Spit, at least until an agreement can be hammered out between the towns and the National Park Service.
sunset from Priscilla's Landing
Great photos! I am posting a link to the SEANET Facebook page for all to see!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing my link.
DeleteTo mark ones territory one needs a nose to smell other markings…& lots to tea to drink. (Think "Never Cry Wolf: http://youtu.be/Izb0ScZSBpk.) I imagine you might have [poorly] marked out some territory on this walk…and that those markings, respected or contested, will not be regularly refreshed. That the human mind feel ownership over shifting sand is a metaphor for our myopia. The ocean owns it. It not only proves this by moving it, it is rising to cover it all…though we, with our CapitalismFail and it's Anthropocene, "pointed the way for [it to follow]."
ReplyDeleteProbably I left markings during my walk but these were unintentional. In the future I will attempt to leave fewer markings (drink less tea) since I have no desire to compete with the coyotes. Those who might drive ORV's, however, will definitely compete for control of the sand if they receive license to use this beach. In the warmer months, dozens of vehicles will erase coyote tracks with tire tracks. You are correct about the ocean. In the long run waves will dominate.
DeleteI'm not sure what "in the long run" means to you, but it is getting shorter. This blog post (http://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/its-all-about-fresh-water-rapid-sea-level-rise-points-to-massive-glacial-melt-in-antarctica/) includes references to a few of the papers concerning Antarctic ice loss dynamics I'd run across recently that adds to the unfolding science revealing just how dire our condition is in the Anthopocene. Like our conversation about the need to plan the replacement of the sewage treatment plant in the Village, Eastham and Orleans selectman might best consider their responsibilities about regulating recreational use of fossil carbon in light of the near-term future that is faced…though not as bad as this: http://geochristian.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/polar-ice-melt.jpg!
DeleteWhile raking leaves yesterday I got to thinking about the Eastern Coyote you're enjoying there. I recall when it again started showing up here about 20 years ago. It was around then that one was killed by a car on the Major Deegan (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/wile-e-coyote-bronx-article-1.1844307). Reading the Wikipedia entry on them it looks like they are interlopers too. I recall that back when we were in high school there were still families here that supplemented their income with trapping. As the suburbanizing integral to CapitalismFail moved these families on, their trapping skills, in an inverse dynamic, became visible.
I went to a talk last week given by a scientist at Woods Hole who is studying the acceleration of glacier flow in Greenland. The message was that the glaciers in the fjords of Greenland are melting from above and below. They have found evidence that Atlantic Storms are pumping warm offshore water into the fjords which accelerates melting from beneath the glaciers.
DeleteCoyote trapping may come back in vogue.
Since the 2005 science of the 2007 IPCC Report, the only not bad news I'm aware of in the subsequent science and observations, as it relates to the trapping of the Cape's coyotes, is that the atmospheric hydroxial radical reservoir seems to be holding its own in the role it plays breaking down this (now–current IPCC Report) 34 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2 into…carbon dioxide. Give the exponential rise in the onslaught of Arctic methane it is faced with (a current estimated 17 tetragrams–global anthropogenic methane is currently estimated as being released at a rate of 14 tetragrams annually), our entrapment of that sand spit's wild Canis breed with rising ocean levels will be slightly less immediate than it otherwise could be.
ReplyDeleteAssuming the Eastern Coyote repopulated Cape Cod by crossing on winter's ice pack, by the time the need to escape that cape becomes apparent, such will require swimming…or risking becoming road kill on the bridges to the mainland (anthro-pious Homo sapiens sapiens daily demonstrate that we are not going to recover from our love affair with the automobile; awaken to our irrational addiction to our apostate religion: CapitalismFail with its Anthropocene).
Through the comforting delusions of motivated reasoning and pragmatism the pleasure of riding traps the joy of walking you blog about. Consequently, if we were rational, the irresponsibly privileged of our species would garner a biological reclassification: Homo sapiens sapiensNOT! Since we can yet reproduce fertile offspring with those we systemically oppress (& particularly the remaining indigenous peoples who may yet be living wisely/sustainably) in the wilds of the automobile's back seat, any attempt at reclassification is futile.
That observed–& ad hominem–resistance is fertile!