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On the foggy early morning of May 8, 1978, a strikingly beautiful sailing yacht went hard aground on the rocks just east of Ditch Plain Beach in Montauk.
I recently completed a two-day course to become a C.P.O., a certified pool operator, a person who’s responsible for keeping swimming pools and spas free of disease, injury, and worse. The class was held upstairs at the Montauk Firehouse.
Most of the dozen or so who attended were renewing their certification. I was a first-timer and knew that chlorine had to be kept at a certain level to keep pathogens at bay. What could be simpler?
Time will tell, but it looks like the era of blood-and-guts shark tournaments could be coming to an end. In late July, the Montauk Marine Basin will host a tag-and-release tournament that promises to engage the public long after the fishing stops.
The recreational shark fishery pioneered by Capt. Frank Mundus starting in the late 1950s exploded after the release of the movie “Jaws” in 1975. Shark tournaments proliferated along the East Coast, many of them in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The South Fork Natural History Society has set its sights on establishing a museum at Montauk Point State Park. A 3,000 to 6,000-square-foot building is envisioned, with a small IMAX-type theater and nature exhibits, including a butterfly garden, and perhaps a room where the blind could study natural scents.
The seven-year-old society has wanted to develop a natural history museum for some time. It had explored the potential of Montauk County Park and the Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyac, but agreements couldn't be reached.
