Nature & Science
Humphrey Bogart had more than a few memorable lines.
Though “Here’s looking at you, kid” is likely the most remembered and repeated, Bogart uttered another more obscure line that almost everyone, except a helminthologist, would agree with. In The African Queen, he griped, “If there is anything in the world I hate, it‘s leeches — filthy little devils!”
Helminthologists are those who study worms, and they would likely disagree.
The Vineyard’s woodlands are beginning to undergo that fall change. The oaks are slowly turning a yellow-brown and dropping their leaves. The roads are covered with acorns, as this season has produced a bumper crop. There are many deer tracks amongst the acorns, for the white-tailed deer adores acorns. I discovered another creature that loves the nuts of the oaks, common grackles!
With two weeks left in the 65th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, fishermen are fretting about the weather, which has been unkind to anglers. Wind — lots of it and from every direction — has been the story of September.
There are 2,400 fishermen registered in the derby. Ask any one of them how they are doing and they will likely talk about the wind — the bad wind from the east, the tough wind last week from the north, and tomorrow the forecast for high, gusty winds from the south.
Sport Casting
The Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters
are accepting nominations for their Sportsmanship Award. This annual award honors those who display the true meaning of good sportsmanship during the course of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
Vineyard fishermen have joined a federal lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission over the lack of management of river herring and shad in federal waters. The lawsuit targets offshore industrial large-scale fishing boats working the Gulf of Maine and waters south of the Vineyard as culprits in the sharp decline of the fish.
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Sept. 24 74 57 .00
Sept. 25 75 64 .00
Sept. 26 77 63 .00
Sept. 27 73 61 .05
Sept. 28 73 64 Trace
Sept. 29 77 67 .05
Sept. 30 75 67 .01
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 73º F.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.