Outdoors

It’s impossible to ignore. Labor Day is upon us. While still technically summer, it’s less than three weeks until fall formally arrives. The early essence of our next season can already be felt in the cooler mornings and more deeply slanted rays of sunshine in the afternoon. Much like a book, the page is being turned.

At their meeting on Monday, the East Hampton Town Trustees discussed a surge in boating activity this year, which they agreed is a consequence of the pandemic. That, they said, means that the two pump-out boats the trustees own and operate are in particularly heavy use this year, especially the one based at the Star Island municipal marina in Lake Montauk. The other boat serves Three Mile Harbor.

Cownose rays? Sounds like a fictional Hollywood B-movie monster manufactured in the mind of a very creative screenwriter. But the reality is that these large-winged creatures, like many people, have found the Hamptons to be quite pleasurable during the summer months.

Several East End scientists are working to dispel the persistent public perception of white sharks, which prevents understanding their importance in the ocean, and their increasing vulnerability.

Like blue-claw crabs, for several years now Menhaden's inshore presence has been abundant. It's been a welcome sight. While their population has exploded on a local level, efforts have been ongoing for several decades to help protect their stocks on a regional level. The menhaden board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided to finally adopt "ecological reference points" for their management.

Tropical Storm Isaias's winds brought about some anxiety as to how my lobster traps were surviving. Being that they were positioned on open bottomland, they were also not protected by any lee of the land.

In today's social media-charged environment where news, fake or not, makes instantaneous headlines, the word that various species of sharks have been seen offshore here should hardly come as a surprise.

The East End of Long Island will be spared the worst of Tropical Storm Isaias. According to the National Hurricane Center, its path is expected to remain well to the west of New York City on Tuesday, passing over Philadelphia and Trenton, N.J.

A lot of people are keeping an eye out, but from all that I've seen and heard so far this summer, the water clarity in the creeks, estuaries, harbors, and bays has been rather good.

A series of recent humpback whale strandings on the East End are evidence of another year of high mortality rates for the species along the Atlantic Coast and particularly in New York, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.

As we enter the apex of the dog days of summer, the fishing scene has shifted into a lower and slower gear. "While some weakfish, porgy, and a few kingfish are around locally, the better fishing now is off to the east where the waters are cooler," said Ken Morse, the proprietor of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor.

This is the sixth large whale stranding in New York this year and the fourth dead humpback reported in 2020, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.