From the Editor

September 2024

COASTAL CONNECTICUT — Happy National Estuaries Week 2024.  An estuary is a partially enclosed, coastal water body where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with salt water from the ocean. Estuaries, and their surrounding lands, are places of transition from land to sea. The Long Island Sound (LIS) is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. The Sound stretches 110 miles from the East River in New York City, along the South Shore of Connecticut, to Block Island Sound. A mix of freshwater from tributaries, and saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound is 21 miles at its widest point and varies in depth from 65 to 230 feet.

Now take the Clinton Harbor region with its three rivers (Hammock, Indian & Hammonasset) emptying into the Sound, you have a smaller Clinton Harbor Estuary inside of a larger Long Island Sound Estuary. Clinton Harbor lies in the Central portion of LIS, Inner Estuary, SB water of inner Clinton Harbor, including mouths of Hammonasset, Indian, Hammock Rivers, and Dudley Creek (includes Esposito Beach), Clinton. The estuary region is rich in commercial shellfish harvesting (where authorized) and shellfish harvesting for direct consumption (where authorized). The Clinton Harbor Estuary is an extensive tidal marsh system with the fisheries and salt marsh network that supports it.

The Hurricane Helene in Florida reminds us that it’s still hurricane season until November. The Cedar Island Hurricane Sandy Gallery (30 October 2012) gives a visual of the destruction that a hurricane leaves behind.  Check out the What to Do Before the Tropical Storm or Hurricane from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Always put together a basic emergency kit.  Check emergency equipment, such as flashlights, generators, boats and storm shutters.

Cedar Island Environmental has a Facebook Page and a Cedar Island Enviro Facebook Group.  There is also a photo Gallery on the website.  The new Instagram account has the best photos and videos. If you wish to receive the newsletter, use any method in Contact Us to subscribe today.  The Intertidal Zone is an electronic publication on local environmental issues and news about the Long Island Sound and its surrounding estuaries including our harbors and rivers.

Happy Autumn Season ’24 

Joe Lanza

Editor, Intertidal Zone 

January 2024

COASTAL CONNECTICUT — Happy New Year 2024 and welcome to the Southern New England winter season. The 12-Month Long-Range Weather Report from the 2024 Old Farmer's Almanac predicted that winter temperatures, precipitation, and snowfall will all be above normal. The coldest spell will run from late January into mid-February, while the snowiest periods will occur in late December, late January, and mid-February. The Connecticut winter prediction gave us a slower start to winter, with warmer-than-average temperatures in December and January. That doesn't mean it will be warm all the time. There will be spells of cold between warm-ups. I think February is the month to watch for colder-than-average temperatures, with a higher risk of cold spilling south.

It's been the winter of deep freeze and first snow in a few years on Long Island. Cold weather means bodies of water may be iced over. Ice is never 100% safe, especially in areas where water levels fluctuate or if there is a current. The minimum guideline for walking or fishing on new, clear ice is 4-inches thick. Check ice thickness before you venture out. Especially after this January thaw.

Cedar Island Environmental started a Facebook Group called Cedar Island Enviro. It’s public and anyone can see who's in the group and what they post. Founded in 2009, the mission of Cedar Island Enviro is to promote others to conserve, improve and protect the natural resources and environment of the Cedar Island community and Clinton Harbor region in Coastal Connecticut. If you wish to receive the newsletter, send an email to island.enviro@gmail.com to subscribe today. The Intertidal Zone is a monthly publication on local environmental issues and news about the Long Island Sound and its surrounding estuaries, harbors, and rivers.

It's never too early to plan a cool summer camp for children. Project Oceanology offers a Summer Camp called the Ocean Explorer Academy. It’s a 1-week day camp (Mon - Fri) for campers entering grades 4 – 6. More information and registration links can be found at: www.oceanology.org/summer-camp

Happy Ground Hog Day ’24.

Joe Lanza

Editor, Intertidal Zone 

August 2023

COASTAL CONNECTICUT —It’s time to talk about the Mission Statement. Founded in 2009, the mission of Cedar Island Environmental (IslandEnviro) is to promote others to conserve, improve and protect the natural resources and environment of the Cedar Island community and Clinton Harbor region in such a manner as to encourage the social and economic development of Cedar Island and Clinton Harbor while preserving the natural environment and the life forms it supports in a delicate, interrelated and complex balance, to the end that the island and harbor community may fulfill its responsibility as trustee of its environment for present and future generations.

It's been the summer of shark attacks on Long Island.  The IslandEnviro website has a Summer of Sharks page that lists the recent shark attacks up to Shark Week in July. It already needs to be updated for a few more since July 23rd.  Check out the 2023 Shark Attack Map for tracking sharks throughout the world.

Cedar Island Environmental provides monthly newsletters via email and online. If you wish to receive the newsletter, send an email to island.enviro@gmail.com to subscribe today. The new Island Enviro Drift contains ocean environment news bits, posts, shares, and newswires.   The Intertidal Zone is a monthly publication on local environmental issues and news about the Long Island Sound and its surrounding estuaries, harbors and rivers. The IZ concentrates on the marine science area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides.

In addition, Cedar Island Environmental provides online links to our environmental neighbors, the green infrastructure, map & data sources, coastal communities, and the local marina directory on the Environmental Directory page. You can download and/or view marine science reports, newsletters, Army Corps New England Quarterly Reports, State Swimming Area Water Quality Reports, CT DEEP Boating news, marine fishing regulations and the Hurricane Awareness brochure on the Resources page. Boating Communities covers Madison to Old Saybrook. That’s 12 miles of coast where there's more than 30 marinas and boatyards spread out over 4 shoreline towns.

Enjoy the rest of Summer ’23.

Joe Lanza

Editor, Intertidal Zone 

July 2023

COASTAL CONNECTICUT — It’s already July with Summer in full swing. And that means the marine life including sharks is in full action for the season. As in the past, a Shark Week special will come out on July 23rd when the event kicks off on the Discovery channel. I started Project Hammohead a few months ago and finally got the Hammonasset Network online as a state park and regional info source.

It's been the summer of bad air quality. The smoke from wildfires over Quebec elevated fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels.  These levels have reached Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) levels for the entire state. The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) also issued guidance and information on protective measures. Ozone levels (smog) reached USG levels in Fairfield and New Haven counties.

I mentioned in my last editorial that there was a 66% chance of El Niño forming by August, according to NOAA. Well that El Niño event has become real and is in motion.  Vermont has gotten hit with so much rain that it duplicated the Tropical Storm (hurricane) Irene effect. I narrowly escaped the Route 4 mudslide in Killington on July 7th only to come home to a closed beach and flotsam debris on our shores. It’s amazing to see how the Connecticut River controls lives in our coastal communities.

The strong influx of rain has closed numerous local beaches across Connecticut and the entire northeast United States. The Clinton Town Beach closed due to high bacteria levels on July 6th and reopened by July 10th according to Clinton CT Parks & Rec. Madison closed beaches due to extensive debris in Long Island Sound resulting from recent regional flooding. No swimming or boat launching was allowed at any Madison Town beach until further notice. This included The Surf Club, West Wharf and East Wharf. But no word from Clinton Town during this crisis. Are they understaffed, new staff or just don’t think it’s worth engaging the public about safety? This must change before our next big storm. Who knows what’s next after my leaked news release.

Joe Lanza

Editor, Intertidal Zone 

June 2023

COASTAL CONNECTICUT — There’s a lot of chatter about El Niño returning in 2023.  Most are probably wondering what is an El Niño and what does this really mean? El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. The term El Niño (Spanish for 'the Christ Child') refers to a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. The low-level surface winds, which normally blow from east to west along the equator (easterly winds) instead weaken or, in some cases, start blowing the other direction (from west to east or westerly winds). El Niño recurs irregularly, from two years to a decade, and no two events are exactly alike. El Niño events can disrupt normal weather patterns in the United States and globally.

But it means less hurricanes — and that’s what we like in Coastal Connecticut. If the anticipated El Niño develops later this Hurricane Season, we could see six fewer named storms, four fewer hurricanes, and less major hurricanes too. During moderate to stronger El Niño events, there is often an uptick in the westerly winds blowing across prime breeding zones for tropical systems. When the systems are early in development, they often have trouble getting organized and strengthening due to the stronger wind shear.

And even if these disruptive winds don't blow the systems apart, they can help steer the tropical systems to the north and eventually the northeast, "recurving" them before they reach land. Now, this doesn't happen to all the storms that try to organize. Hurricanes and tropical storms will still be a potentially serious threat to coastal communities during the hurricane season. But compared to an average non-El Niño hurricane season, we average less activity.

There is currently a 66% chance of El Niño forming by August, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Not all El Niño events are the same in scale, it is still too early to predict how severe any potential event this year would be. But remember, even with less activity than normal, it only takes ONE hurricane or strong tropical storm hitting one of our local communities to make it a bad hurricane season for the southern New England region.

Joe Lanza

Editor, Intertidal Zone 

May 2023

CONNECTICUT —Finally an updated newsletter to kick off the Spring 2023 Season. A new Island Enviro monthly publication Intertidal Zone holds some potentially good news for both New England and Connecticut scientists and environmentalists alike who are bracing for something different. The Intertidal Zone in marine science is the area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides. The intertidal zone is an extreme ecosystem because it constantly experiences drastic changes. 

It's that time of year again — spring migration is here. That means more than 3 billion birds are returning to the United States. You've probably noticed the merry melodies of birdsong outside of your window or seen increased activity in the blooming trees.

Last month at Yale Environment 360, journalist Andrew Lewis explored the possible causes of a recent spate of humpback whale strandings along the U.S. East Coast. Activists are blaming the die-off on seismic testing for offshore wind development. But scientists believe these deaths are likely due to a range of other stress factors affecting the waters off New York and New Jersey, particularly a boom in shipping. Almost all the stranded whales recently found in the region had clear signs of a vessel strike. “This is about a pretty stressed marine environment that we are continuing to stress at increasing rates, while really having a very poor understanding of what the ultimate impacts are,” a scientist tells Lewis. Read the article.

Joe Lanza

Editor

Intertidal Zone