Jersey Shoreline: Oct. 22

October 23rd, 2015

Jersey-Shoreline

 

The Jersey Shoreline  is a weekly round-up from New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium that scours the Garden State’s press and broadcasters for reports on several key topics related to the consortium’s research and outreach.

This week, a drone pilot captured footage of a young humpback whale feeding near shore in Ocean City and other locations, according to an NJ.com report. But, capturing footage like that may be soon be illegal in the barrier island town. An OCNJ Daily report says that the City Council has approved a ban on drones in the city, voted the Garden State’s Favorite Beach town, in the first of two votes required to pass the ban.

And, she’s back. Mary Lee, the now infamous great white shark, returned to New Jersey waters this week. No one is sure where she might head next. Read all about it at NJ.com.

Here’s the rest of New Jersey’s coastal news:

Coastal Processes & Concerns

Ecosystem Recovery After Dragging Debris, Homes From Waterways — Virginia Rettig, manager of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge noted that her agency removed nearly 2,000 tons of debris left behind from Sandy. The $13 million project overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, involved cleaning up over 30,000 acres of saltmarsh and coastal habitat in areas of Brick, Stafford, Eagleswood, Tuckerton and Lacey. Around 1,900 tons of debris from 22 miles of coastline was removed. Read more at Micromedia Publications.

Young sea turtles take a trip across the Delaware Bay — A Kemp’s ridley turtle and a green sea turtle took a Sunday ferry trip across the Delaware Bay alongside their handler Troy Platt, of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, N.J., from Cape May to Lewes before heading to their final destination near Virginia Beach, Va. Read more at the Cape Gazette.

Bulkhead Blitz Keeps Jellyfish Population at Bay — Over the years Dr. Bologna and his team have swabbed floating docks and bulkheads to analyze for the presence of sea nettle DNA. He says they’ve identified that DNA in dozens of lagoon systems in the Barnegat Bay. The MSU team has also measured the amount of polyps that have grown on settling plates off docks and bulkheads in the bay. Watch the report at NJTV.

Legal battle leads to smaller turbines for A.C. windfarm — The company behind a long-debated offshore wind project, which is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to South Jersey, has reconfigured its plans in order to appease concerns from the Board of Public Utilities after losing its most recent legal appeal. Read more at NJ.com.

Community Resilience & Climate Adaptation

Cleanup under way for Grassy Sound house swept into bay, official says — Salvaging efforts have begun on the Grassy Sound house that fell into the bay during the nor’easter-like storm earlier this month. Read more at NJ.com.

Three years after Sandy, a fight over coastal protection — After Superstorm Sandy left the New Jersey coastline in ruins three years ago, residents and officials were left with two big questions: first, how would the communities rebuild? And second, how would they protect the coastline along the Atlantic Ocean from the next big storm? Read more at Newsworks.

U.S. Senate votes to give new financial help to Sandy victims — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to give business owners and homeowners whose properties were damaged by Hurricane Sandy a new chance to get low-interest federal loans. Read more at NJ.com.

Marine Recreation & Jersey Shore Tourism

NJSGC IN THE NEWS — Helping sea bass survive — When the fish makes the rapid trip to the surface, the decrease in pressure causes the gasses in the swim bladder to expand. The result is that gas builds up inside the body, which may result in the protrusion of the fish’s stomach out of its mouth, distended intestines, bulging eyes and bloated belly. Read more at the Asbury Park Press.

Let Margate’s famed Lucy the Elephant deteriorate? Tusk, tusk say dedicated volunteers — Throughout her 134-year existence, the Margate sands have scoured Lucy the Elephant. Because of the constant abrasions, Lucy the Elephant requires constant maintenance in order to look her best. As a National Historic Landmark and a large part of Margate’s identity, Lucy needs to look her best and not show her age. Read more at NJ.com.

Removing winter dredging ban means business for South Jersey — A longtime ban on winter dredging, designed to protect a fish that isn’t even here in great numbers, has been lifted. Read more at Press of Atlantic City.

Cape man piloted boat in fatal Rhode Island collision, authorities say — A local man was at the helm of a luxury yacht that collided with a smaller boat, killing an elderly fisherman, about a month ago off Rhode Island. Read more at the Press of Atlantic City.

Man rescued off Manasquan jetty was fishing, officials say — A 26-year-old man who was rescued Monday night after he fell off the end of the Manasquan Inlet jetty was fishing, officials said Tuesday. Read more at NJ.com.

Water Resources & Coastal Access

WASTEWATER RULE CHANGE WOULD SPUR DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTALISTS CLAIM — The state’s proposed changes to the planning process for wastewater plants are designed to give more control to local planners. But environmentalists say the measures would just make it easier to develop in environmentally sensitive areas and could devastate already threatened regions like the Highlands and Barnegat Bay. Read more at NJ Spotlight.

Claim of pollution in Barnegat Bay silt plume is ‘false,’ state spokesman says — An ongoing silt plume in the Barnegat Bay generated by a state-operated pump station in Seaside Park is not polluted, a state spokesman said. Read more at Newsworks.