Building on over 25 years of tracking the health of local waters through the award-winning Baywatchers program, the Buzzards Bay Coalition continues to expand its monitoring to new waters whose ecological fates are linked to Buzzards Bay. This summer, the Coalition and partners at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe are undertaking a third year of studying the health of Vineyard Sound and four coastal ponds on the island’s north shore.
One of the Coalition’s main strategies for protecting clean water is to prevent natural land from being developed. The plants and soil on undeveloped land remove pollution from a number of sources, acting as one of the best natural filters for water flowing to Buzzards Bay.
If you’re looking for somewhere new to explore on the coast, leave the beach crowds behind and explore a salt marsh! Search out crabs scuttling between waving green grasses, dig for quahogs, watch for birds, and kayak — or snorkel — waters swarming with fish big and small.