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Help name our new Pumpout Boat!

Our new pumpout boat needs a name

Thank you to everyone who submitted name ideas for Friends of Casco Bay’s New Pumpout Boat! The contest is closed and we will be choosing a winner in the coming weeks.

You can help.

We are looking for a dynamic name for the newest member of our Baykeeper fleet. We invite you to suggest a name (or two or three or more!) using the form below.

After nearly a quarter century of service, we are replacing our old pumpout boat, Wanda [AKA Baykeeper II].  

This spring, we will take possession of the new 26-foot pumpout boat, built by Marine Boat Builders, Inc. of Warwick, Rhode Island. This boat has a 650-gallon holding tank (more than twice our old boat’s capacity), all the latest navigational equipment, and two 250HP outboards.   

Please suggest a name that we would be proud to display on our boat and is fitting for this beautiful Bay. Your suggestions should be fun or inspiring — or both! Clever is good, crass is not. If your suggestion is chosen, you will be our guest of honor at our pumpout boat launch party, win a ride on our Baykeeper Boat, R/V Joseph E. Payne, with senior staff from Friends of Casco Bay, and get some cool swag. The name will be chosen by Executive Director Cathy Ramsdell with a committee of our Board of Directors.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m., Monday, April 15.

Since Friends of Casco Bay launched its Pumpout Program in 1995, our old pumpout boat has kept over 200,000 gallons of raw sewage out of the Bay. Our Pumpout Coordinator Jim Splude services recreational boats at marinas and docks between South Portland and Freeport, pumping out holding tanks and transferring the wastewater to shoreside disposal.

Our pumpout boat and our advocacy helped encourage local marinas to install their own pumpout stations, setting the stage for Casco Bay to become the first federally-designated No Discharge Area in Maine. The EPA requires that there are adequate pumpout facilities before granting this designation, which prohibits boats from dumping treated or untreated sewage.

Before our pumpout boat was on the scene, many local boaters did not have access to pumpout services. At times, raw sewage could be seen floating at popular anchorages. People would say they got swimmer’s rash from being in the water.

Our new boat will be christened at our official launch party on Monday, June 10th. If you are on our email list, you will be invited to the party!

Thank you to everyone who submitted name ideas for Friends of Casco Bay’s New Pumpout Boat! The contest is closed and we will be choosing a winner in the coming weeks.

A call to action before Tuesday: make your voice heard

Photograph by Kevin Morris

Casco Bay needs your help! Please take a few minutes to let legislators know you are concerned about climate change and the health of Casco Bay.

On Tuesday, April 2, at 1 p.m., the Committee on Marine Resources of the Maine Legislature is holding a public hearing on a bill we strongly support: LD 1284, “An Act to Create the Science and Policy Council on the Impact of Climate Change on Maine’s Marine Species.”

The bill will establish a council made up of legislators, scientists, resource harvesters, and other stakeholders, with a mission to evaluate the impacts of climate change on Maine’s marine species and to make statewide policy recommendations.

This bill moves Maine to action on addressing and adapting to climate change, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and other threats to the health of our coastal waters. We believe Maine must act now to protect coastal habitats and marine species.

We ask you to urge the Committee on Marine Resources to vote in favor of LD 1284. Let them know you are concerned about climate change and its impacts on Casco Bay and on all of Maine’s marine resources.

Please email the committee by Tuesday morning, April 2.

Committee Members to email:

For a quick and easy way to share your support click here to email the Committee Clerk at MAR@legislature.maine.gov,.

To email the committee members directly, can copy and paste these into the “to” line of your email. This will work better on some devices and email platforms than others.

MAR@legislature.maine.gov, David.Miramant@legislature.maine.gov, Dana.Dow@Legislature.Maine.gov, Eloise.Vitelli@legislature.maine.gov, Jay.McCreight@legislature.maine.gov, Robert.Alley@legislature.maine.gov, Pinny.Beebe-Center@legislature.maine.gov, Lydia.Blume@legislature.maine.gov, William.Faulkingham@Legislature.Maine.gov, Allison.Hepler@Legislature.Maine.gov, Sherman.Hutchins@Legislature.Maine.gov, Kathy.Javner@Legislature.Maine.gov, Genevieve.McDonald@Legislature.Maine.gov, Will.Tuell@legislature.maine.gov, Michael.Russo@Legislature.Maine.gov, Deirdre.Schneider@legislature.maine.gov

Add an subject, being sure to mention that you support LD 1284.

Here are suggested talking points for your email — we strongly recommend that you put these in your own words. Links below provide more information.

Dear Senator Miramant, Representative McCreight, and Members of the Committee on Marine Resources:

I am writing to you to urge you to vote in favor of LD 1284, “An Act to Create the Science and Policy Council on the Impact of Climate Change on Maine’s Marine Species.”

Maine’s coastal waters are changing and changing quickly. Friends of Casco Bay has been tracking water temperatures for over 25 years. On average, the data show a 2.5° F increase in water temperatures since 1993.

About 30% of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere is being absorbed by the ocean. This is increasing the acidity of our marine waters and reducing the availability of the material (calcium carbonate) that clams, mussels, and other shellfish need to build their shells. Recent data indicate that for nearly half the year, levels of calcium carbonate in Casco Bay are not sufficient for shell-building.

Our marine heritage and economy depend upon healthy coastal waters. The Science and Policy Council that LD 1284 will create will help move Maine forward on addressing and adapting to changes that threaten our marine resources.

Thank you for your time and service to Maine.

Sincerely,

–Your name and town you live in

Once you have emailed the committee, please let us know by emailing me back at keeper@cascobay.org. I will be testifying at the hearing on Tuesday, and it would be great to know that we have your support.

Thank you for making your voice heard for Casco Bay!

 

More information:

We have a wealth of information about the impacts of climate change on Casco Bay: https://www.cascobay.org/climate-change-ocean-acidification-and-you/

LD 1284 was proposed by Representative Lydia Blume (York), who is a member of the Committee on Marine Resources. You can read the official language of the bill here.

LD 1284 has been selected by the Environmental Priorities Coalition, a group of 34 environmental organizations, as one of its five priority bills to address climate change in Maine.

As we shared with you at our Casco Bay Matters event, Governor Mills has proposed an all-encompassing Climate Change Council. Her proposal, which will be considered in separate legislation, will likely incorporate the council created by LD 1284 into a subcommittee of her omnibus council. We support the Governor’s plan and want to be sure that there is adequate focus on the marine environment — which is why it is so important that you make your voice heard on this issue.

Here is the official web page for the Committee on Marine Resources: http://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Committees/MAR.

You can listen live to the hearing on Tuesday by clicking here: http://legislature.maine.gov/Audio/#206

Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, and You

Climate Change Science and Data

  • The climate is changing faster than expected. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are the culprits. The burning of fossil fuels for homes, industry, and transportation releases almost 10,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. 1
  • Carbon dioxide is changing not only our climate, but also the chemistry of the ocean. About 30% of the carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean. 2 In marine water, carbon dioxide decreases pH and increases acidity through a process known as ocean acidification.
  • Excess nitrogen from sewage treatment plants, polluted stormwater, and fertilizers, is also adding carbon dioxide into nearshore waters through a process known as coastal acidification. 3
  • Nitrogen can fertilize massive algal growth in our waters. When the algal blooms die, decomposition depletes the area of life-giving oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, acidifying the water.

The impacts of climate change are evident right here in Casco Bay

Warmer Waters

Friends of Casco Bay has been tracking water temperatures for over 25 years. On average, our data show a 2.5° F increase in water temperatures since 1993.

Sea Level Rise

As water warms, it expands, and the sea encroaches on our coastline. Coastal observers and property owners are reporting an increase in erosion.

Increasing Precipitation

Maine has seen a six-inch average increase in annual precipitation since 1895, further threatening coastal properties. 4

Threats to the Ocean Food Web

More carbon dioxide in our waters means there is less shell-building material (calcium carbonate) for clams, mussels and oysters, as well as for tiny critters at the base of the ocean food chain. The saturation state of calcium carbonate is a key measurement of shell-building material for many organisms. Shell formation becomes more difficult when the amount of available calcium carbonate falls below a 1.5 saturation state. 5 Our recent data indicate that for nearly half the year, levels of calcium carbonate in Casco Bay are not sufficient for shell-building.

What do these changes mean for Casco Bay?

  • Research Associate Mike Doan with our Continuous Monitoring Station. The Station houses a number of instruments that collect data on carbon dioxide, temperature, salinity, oxygen, chlorophyll, and pH, hourly, 365 days a year. This large quantity of data is necessary to accurately track changes in the Bay from climate change, including ocean and coastal acidification.

    As marine waters become more acidic, we can anticipate more pitting or dissolution of the shells of many commercially viable species in Casco Bay.

  • Rising water temperatures are linked with shell disease, directly impacting our lobster fishery and tourism industries.
  • Climate change is bad news for clams because green crabs — which eat juvenile shellfish — thrive in warming waters. 6
  • The distribution and populations of marine species in the Gulf of Maine are shifting. Scientists and lobstermen are documenting the shift in distribution of Maine’s iconic lobsters north and east.
  • Copepods are tiny crustaceans that are the main food source for juvenile lobsters. In laboratory experiments, copepods raised in conditions that simulate the climate changes occurring in the Gulf of Maine were less fatty. With a less healthful diet, young lobsters must divert energy from growth and resisting disease to finding enough food to survive. 7

What is Friends of Casco Bay doing?

  • We helped form the Maine Ocean and Coastal Acidification Partnership (MOCA) to coordinate climate change research and policy change work. MOCA is a diverse coalition of researchers, policy experts, lawmakers, aquaculturalists, and seafood harvesters. We are working to create an action plan for Maine to protect the health of our coastal waters.
  • LD 1284 has been selected by the Environmental Priorities Coalition, a group of 34 environmental organizations, as one of its five priority bills to address climate change in Maine.
  • Our Water Reporter volunteers are recording observations of how the Bay is changing. These observations strengthen our advocacy efforts as these reports are shared with regulators, legislators, and other decision makers, alerting them to conditions in the Bay.

What can you do?

  • Tell your legislators to support LD 1284 to create a science and policy advisory council to address the impacts of climate change on Maine’s marine species.
  • Join Water Reporter. Your observations combined with those of other volunteers around the Bay will provide a better understanding of changing conditions.  

References

  1. T.A. Boden, R.J. Andres, G. Marland, Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions, Research Institute for Environment, Energy, and Economics, Appalachian State University, 2017. https://cdiac.ess-dive.lbl.gov/trends/emis/overview_2014.html
  2. N. Gruber, D. Clement, R. Feely, et al., The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2 from 1994 to 2007, Science, 2019. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6432/1193
  3. J. Weiss, Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press, 2015.
  4. I. Fernandez, C. Schmitt, E. Stancioff, et al., Maine’s Climate Future: 2015 Update, The University of Maine, 2015. https://mco.umaine.edu/pubs/pdf/mcf-2015.pdf
  5. J. Ekstrom, L. Suatoni, S. Cooley, et al., Vulnerability and adaptation of US shellfisheries to ocean acidification, Nature, 2015. http://pacshell.org/pdf/Ekstrom_etal2015.pdf
  6. E. Tan, B, Beal, Interactions between the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenas, and juveniles of the soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, in eastern Maine, USA, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2015. https://downeastinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/tan-beal-2015.pdf
  7. Copepods cope with acidification, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 2018. https://www.bigelow.org/news/articles/2018-04-10.html

King Tides help us see what sea level rise might look like

Did you see the Armed with smartphones, volunteers track Casco Bay king tides as harbingers of sea-level rise article in the Portland Press Herald that covered this effort?
You can learn more about our Water Reporter effort and join here.

A King Tide is an astronomically high tide. A King Tide is a natural, predictable occurrence that happens a few times a year. This provides the opportunity to envision what our coastal areas may experience as sea levels continue to rise. These extra-high tides can help us spot areas that could be most vulnerable to sea level rise. King Tides are also known as perigean spring tides.

Casco Bay will experience a King Tide on Wednesday, February 20th, at 11:18 AM., which is estimated to reach 11.6 feet.  A normal high tide in the Bay ranges from 8 to 10 feet.

We are mobilizing our volunteer Water Reporters to help us document the February King Tide to help our us visualize what sea level rise may mean for our region. Between 10:48 and 11:48 on February 20,  our volunteers will don their rainboots and pull out their smartphones to capture this extreme tide using the Water Reporter app.

Water Reporter is an easy-to-use “Instagram-like” tool that enables our volunteers to document, catalogue, organize, and share observations of the Bay. This information is aiding our collaborations with other scientists, expand our community engagement by sharing observations on social media, and helping with our advocacy, to illustrate changes happening around the Bay to regulators, legislators, and other policy makers.

Are you interested in helping us document this upcoming King Tide? If so, sign up to be a Water Reporter using these instructions.

Maine Day of Service – January 5, 2019

Sea level is rising and we need your help to capture the changes.

Community members have observed the rise in sea level over the years. Coastal communities are experiencing greater storm surges and King Tides (astronomically high tides that occur a few times year). Maine geologists are planning for a three-foot sea level rise along the Maine coast over the next 100 years. The predicted impacts include beach erosion; landslides; loss of wildlife habitats; and drowned infrastructure, causing more sewage overflows, flooded streets, broken pipes, and costly repairs.

Now we need your help to capture these changes.

On January 5th, Maine Day of Service, you can take the first step towards helping Friends of Casco Bay record these changes over time by becoming a Water Reporter.

Your job will be to take photos during a “normal” high tide using your smartphone and the Water Reporter App. It is easy to take part and everything you need to do can be done between 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM. You will download the Water Reporter App, create an account, find a good location, and take a photo of the coast of Casco Bay between 10 AM and 11 AM. Some steps can be completed in advance, and they are noted below.

We will use the images to shine a light on the impacts of sea level rise and support local, state, and national policies to affect positive change.

  1. Join Water Reporter following these instructions: https://www.cascobay.org/water-reporter/.
    We’d love to help you get set up. Call Sarah Lyman at (207) 370-7553. She is happy to help!  Sarah can help you install the app and get set up quickly over the phone. This can be done before January 5th.
  2. After getting set up with Water Reporter, follow these steps to take a sea level rise photo:
    1. Find a good location: beaches, coastal parks, and public access sites along Casco Bay are perfect locations, for example, Back Cove or East End Beach in Portland, Fort William Park in Cape Elizabeth, Willard Beach, Bug Light, and Spring Point Light Parks in South Portland, Mackworth Island in Falmouth, Wolf Neck State Park in Freeport, Graveyard Point Town Landing in Harpswell, any of the islands in Casco Bay, and many many more places.  Make sure you can stay safe!
    2. Plan your arrival time so that you have enough time to get to your location and take a photo, or series of photos between 10 AM and 11 AM on January 5, 2019. High tide is at 10:30 AM in Portland.
    3. Stand at least two strides up from the water line. Take the photo looking down the shoreline. Include some sort of structure or landmark in your picture, such as a pier, jetty, breakwater, building, or dock, for perspective. This will help you and others take images from the same location and angle in the future.
    4. In the Water Reporter App, click on the center icon with the “+” symbol at the bottom of the screen which will bring you to the “Create Post” page.
    5. Click on the camera icon and choose “camera” or “take a photo”. Ideally, you’ll want your picture to catch the wave as it reaches the highest water line. This definitely requires some patience and luck that no one walks through your picture just as the wave hits the highest point! But, even pictures that show the water line and some water from the waves are still very useful.
    6. Stay in the same location as you complete the rest of the steps: confirm your location by clicking on the location pin, allow Water Reporter to access your location while using the app, and make sure the red dot is in the correct spot on the map (where the photo was taken) and click “Set.”
    7. Share your post with Friends of Casco Bay.
      1. iPhone: Click on the icon with the two figures and then also click on the Friends of Casco Bay logo. You will know you clicked the logo because a small green circle will appear next to it.
      2. Android: Under “Share with your groups” click on the toggle next to Friends of Casco Bay, when the toggle is green it means it will be shared.
      3. Troubleshooting: Sometime the tagging a group feature does not work. If this happens to you, skip this step and continue to post your photo. Once it is posted, you can edit your post and share it with the Friends of Casco Bay group.
    8. Describe more about your photo in the comment field, including our suggested hashtag (you may use multiple hashtags): #sealevelrise.
    9. Click “Save” (iPhone) or the send button (Android) to post your photo.

      Note: All times recorded on the map are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

It would be really helpful to obtain photos of high tide impacts or effects of storm surges throughout the year! We invite you to revisit this location during other high tides, including King Tides and during heavy rain events, which can be found here: https://me.usharbors.com/monthly-tides/Maine-Southern%20Coast/Portland%20Harbor/2019-01. King Tides, though naturally occurring, offer a glimpse of what flooding and future sea level rise will look like in our communities.

Thank you Color by Numbers Volunteers!

Thank you to the volunteers who helped fill this map with color!

Image from EyeOnWater website

Sixty-five volunteers have taken 860 color measurements of Casco Bay since we launched our Color by Numbers pilot project last spring. Our volunteers put a modern twist on a century-old oceanographic tool, using their smartphones and tablets to photograph and match the color of the water to the Forel-Ule color scale. This index of 21 colors—from blue to brown—measures color as a revealing indicator of the health of oceans and lakes.

Thank you to everyone involved in the Citclops project for creating, and providing the EyeOnWater app and website we utilized in this project.You can learn more about those involved with the Citclops project here.

Our next steps are to meet with our partners at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Boothbay Harbor and evaluate the measurements collected this year. Then we will be assessing this pilot project over the winter.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this important pilot project!

Water Reporter Volunteers are important to our Baykeeping efforts!

Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca acts as the eyes, ears, and voice of the Bay. She is on or along the water almost daily, but she can’t be everywhere. Ivy says, “We rely on volunteers to report conditions around the Bay. The Water Reporter App really helps those efforts because we instantly receive a photo that records the location and time. We can then use the app to respond and let you know what actions we took.”

Volunteers began signing up as Water Reporters in early August. More than 30 volunteers have signed up around the Bay and have posted many observations with us.

For example, Morrigan shot this image of a gull sitting on a dead harbor sea near Bangs Island. We then promptly shared this information with Marine Mammals of Maine.

In Water Reporter, hashtags are used to categorize images and Morrigan used #wildlife for this image.


In another example, Ivy took photos of an algal bloom in South Portland near Forest City Cemetery, using #algae. These photos add to our understanding of potential sources of excess nutrient loading in the area.


Morrigan provided a close-up of the thick algal mat there.

And we like to get good news, too:

Rick reported new growth of eelgrass beds sprouting along the shoreline of Great Diamond Island.


Mark reported on #wildlife of a great blue heron and egrets taking flight in Maquoit Bay.

The Water Reporter app collects all of our observations in one place in an organized and searchable way. We are so excited about the ability of this tool to record what’s happening around our beautiful but changing Bay—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We are looking for more observers to share photos of things they are seeing on the Bay all year long. If you are interested, you can join our Water Reporter network here.

Identifying the area of the Bay where you took the photo and categorizing the image with a hashtag, such as #algae, #pollution report, #trash, #wildlife, and #erosion, makes it easier for us to search for similar occurrences around the Bay.

Become a Water Reporter and report what you see on Casco Bay

Want to get outside, take photos that may help protect the health of Casco Bay, and connect with other community members?

We invite you to join our new volunteer Observing Network, Water Reporter, an exciting way to share what you see around the Bay.

In 2016 and 2017, we saw a concerning increase in the number and extent of nuisance and harmful algal blooms in Casco Bay. Large mats of algae covered tidal flats, smothering animals underneath the mats, preventing juvenile clams from settling, and increasing the acidity of the sediment.

This summer and fall, we continue to be on the lookout for nuisance, green algal outbreaks—and we need your help!

Join Water Reporter now.

For this project we are asking you to take photos of the Bay to document algal bloom events, water pollution and trash, shoreline erosion, and marine wildlife sightings. Through the Water Reporter app, your photos will be shared with Friends of Casco Bay, as well as with other observers. You will be able to see and comment on others’ posts and get an idea of what is going on around the Bay.

Each submission is displayed on a map and posted to individual, organization, and watershed feeds. To keep you in the loop, you will receive email notifications every time someone comments or takes action on your report.

In order to be a Water Reporter volunteer:

  • You will need a smartphone (iPhone or Android) or a tablet (iPad or Android tablet).
  • Create an account on the Water Reporter app and join the Friends of Casco Bay group.
  • Be willing to take photos of the Bay and share them on the app along with their location.
What you need to know:
  • Each photo you submit will provide a better understanding of conditions in the Bay.
  • Friends of Casco Bay is especially interested in tracking algal blooms as they occur, so if you come across one, be sure to share a photo along with the hashtag #algae.
  • For other reports please use hashtags like #trash #erosion #pollutionreport or #wildlife in the photo caption to improve search and categorization of your report for the community and Friends of Casco Bay.

What’s the big deal with green algae?

In the marine environment, nitrogen jumpstarts the growth of algae and phytoplankton, tiny plants that form the base of the ocean food chain, which in turn nurture zooplankton, clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters, fish, and whales. But too much nitrogen may trigger large blooms of nuisance algae or “green slime,” which can reduce water clarity and lower oxygen levels, making life harder for marine organisms. These nuisance algal blooms may be triggered by excess nitrogen from fertilizers, sewage, pet wastes, and emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks. For more information on excess nitrogen and green algae visit https://www.cascobay.org/our-work/science/nuisance-algal-bloom-tracking/.

We hope you will join our observing network and help us keep an eye on the Bay we all share and love!

Map of Water Reporter Observations

Coastal Cleanup at Bug Light Park for International Coastal Cleanup Day

Join us at Bug Light Park for International Coastal Cleanup Day!

When: Saturday, September 15, 2018, 9 AM – Noon

Where: Bug Light Park

Questions? Email Sarah at slyman [at] cascobay [dot] org

Do you want to help keep Casco Bay clean? Volunteer to help out at our public coastal cleanup!

Trash is an unsightly blight that makes it hard for everyone to enjoy a special place like Casco Bay. Litter and marine debris on our shores come from many sources. Careless beach goers, boaters, fishing vessels, and other ships can leave trash behind. Stormwater washes trash from yards and parking lots into storm drains that empty into Casco Bay.

When you volunteer to help us with a cleanup, you are:

  • Collecting data on the types and size of materials removed
  • The data is then used locally and internationally for marine debris advocacy efforts
  • Making our shores cleaner and safer
  • Ensuring our coast is a place people can go to recreate and relax
  • Helping protect wildlife
  • Supporting the local economy as our coast is part of Maine’s brand; it as an ideal tourist attraction that creates a stream of revenue that supports our community
  • Protecting our quality of life