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2014 MassBays Annual Report Online
A year of accomplishments in Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay
MassBays has released its 2014 Annual Report (scroll down past the map to find it), which highlights accomplishments in the regions and new habitat assessment and protection resources produced in 2014, including several new tools for resource managers: a coastal stormwater Handbook for Municipalities, a map-based Inventory of Plans and Assessments, and the Estuary Delineation and Assessment Viewer. Meanwhile, MassBays Regional Coordinators provided critical interagency coordination and recruited hundreds of volunteers to conduct surveys, monitoring, stormwater management, and outreach and education, leading to restoration and enhancement of nearly 500 acres of estuarine habitat.
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MassBays Blue Carbon intern John Deane prepares eelgrass samples for analysis. Photo: MIT Sea Grant
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The Next Generation of Coastal Researchers
Summer interns made their mark in the estuaries
Each summer MassBays' Regional Service Providers host both paid and unpaid interns to augment efforts to protect and restore estuarine habitats.
This summer, MassBays and our Regional Coordinators were lucky to host 11 interns. College-bound teens, undergraduates, and graduate-level students, they brought their enthusiasm to a multitude of projects, for example:
- Raising Galerucella beetles to control purple loosestrife in the former Mill Pond (site of a recent dam removal in Hanover).
- Tracking spawning horseshoe crabs in Duxbury Bay.
- Snorkeling around local docks to measure blue mussels.
- Assessing marsh bank erosion.
- Assessing potential for inland marsh migration.
- Restoring dune vegetation.
- Monitoring invasive green crabs.
- Measuring culverts.
- mapping critical habitats.
- prioritizing opportunities for restoring fish runs.
- Working with Salem's artist community and recycling committee to prevent street trash from entering the ocean.
Volunteer and paid interrns who work with our partners learn a lot -- and our estuaries gain even more when the next generation are inspired to continue their stewardship of the coasts.
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Proceedings of the 2015 State of the Bays Symposium
Available in two formats on the State of the Bays webpage, the Symposium proceedings include graphics and summaries presented by expert panelists, who described conditions and trends in weather and climate, habitat, wildlife, and water quality in the Bays. Attendees' insights regarding data gaps and needs are compiled as well.
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