The extraordinary beauty, rich geological history and challenges for preservation of the Vineyard landscape were all topics for discussion last Wednesday evening in paleoecologist David Foster’s guest lecture at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury.

Bait fish that were once plentiful in the waters around the Cape and Islands have grown scarce. And recreational fishermen want Congress to step in to help do something about it.

Menhaden, also called bunker, have all but disappeared. Atlantic mackerel had a weak showing this spring. Even squid are down; the commonwealth has extended the spring fishing season into June to help commercial draggers meet the state quota, but the bigger question is what happened to the squid?

A series of wetlands violations in the town of Chilmark underpin drama which is the stuff of a daytime soap opera, complete with tangled relationships, trespassing orders and bitter class divisions.

A fiery public hearing at a recent meeting of the Chilmark conservation commission revealed more than one layer of problems at the Aerie, a mixed neighborhood of seasonal and year-round residents off North Road which has seen turmoil over prolonged construction projects and multiple environmental abuses.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

June 5 64 54 .03

June 6 58 54 .87

June 7 72 54 .00

June 8 78 59 .01

June 9 69 54 Trace

June 10 62 53 .30

June 11 67 56 .51

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 64º F.

Tomorrow night’s gibbous moon appear close to the bright planet Jupiter in the southeastern sky. The two rise in the east well before midnight. Both are in the zodiacal constellation Capricornus.