Exploring Maine’s Beaches in the Offseason

For most individuals, “seashore season” is a really particular time of yr in Maine: that luxurious four-month spell of heat climate from June to September when the solar convinces guests to courageous the icy chunk of the Gulf of Maine. For some extra intrepid recreationists, the low season holds promise for browsing as winter swells carry gnarlier waves, daring thrill seekers to don their moist fits and take a look at the boundaries of human chilly tolerance. For me, Maine seashores are worthy of visitation every season, reflecting the modifications within the seasons simply as dynamically as some other Maine panorama. 

Two weeks in the past, with the frosty nip of winter nonetheless within the air, my accomplice Hannah and I set out for Seawall Seashore on the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Space. Instantly adjoining to Popham Seashore, Seawall Seashore has all the time offered extra attract for me as a result of beautiful brief hike in throughout the Sprague River Marsh with the chance for a vista atop Morse Mountain en route. The offseason is much more compelling provided that the parking space is restricted for conservation causes, so a cold day makes for an open seashore. 

Blissful to be having fun with time with my accomplice Hannah on the Maine coast

As a Bates alumnus and a geology fanatic (I minored within the topic, however solely with the intention to prioritize Environmental Research), the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Space has offered unparalleled insights into Maine’s coastal dynamics. The Sprague River Marsh spans greater than 600 acres and supplies the right research location for salt marsh biochemical biking, carbon sequestration, and sediment transport. In the meantime the confluence of the Sprague River, the Atlantic Ocean, and Seawall Seashore make for an exceptional mannequin to trace seashore erosion and deposition over time. Since Bates School bought the conservation space in 1977, greater than 100 publications, theses, and stories have been carried out on the positioning. 

The Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Space can be an exemplar of efficient conservation collaboration, with Bates School, the Small Level Affiliation, The Nature Conservancy, and Maine Audubon working collectively to protect crucial Maine habitat and research vital coastal ecosystems. The endangered Piping Plover has been one of the vital distinguished beneficiaries of those conservation efforts, seeing a marked comeback lately regardless of remaining beneath typical ranges. With solely 2,000 pairs of the small shorebird remaining alongside the jap seaboard, Maine’s efforts to guard mating pairs and their offspring are paramount to the survival of the species. Piping Plovers have lengthy been sufferer to improper seashore utilization by guests as their nests are positioned within the sandy dunes surrounding closely trafficked Maine seashores.  

Piping Plover by David Small

Hannah and I weren’t fortunate sufficient to catch sight of any plovers, however we have been handled by many a gull, a Nice Blue Heron, and a cacophony of peepers inhabiting the vernal swimming pools alongside the path again to the parking zone. To me, the cheerful track of the peepers has all the time been the clearest indication that spring has sprung. 

There may be nothing fairly like the sensation of a cool ocean breeze paired with the nice and cozy rays of a spring solar. Too cool for delayering, however simply heat sufficient for naked toes—the right accompaniment to movement. As Hannah and I strolled, I discovered myself returning to ideas of local weather change regardless of my greatest efforts. With the newest Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change Report simply having been launched and a number of other vital local weather priorities on our legislative docket, it was onerous to flee the data that our prized coastal panorama is altering earlier than our very eyes.  

I’ve all the time been intrigued by the variations between winter and summer season seashore composition: the excessive swells within the winter flattening seashores by erosion and amplifying the distinction between dune and seashore, whereas the softer waves in the summertime permit for sand deposition, smoothing out the seashore and offering a sandy berm for summer season lounging. Nevertheless, as sea ranges proceed to rise and storm patterns turn into extra erratic as a result of local weather change, the size is tilting towards erosion. Based on Maine’s 2020 “Value of Doing Nothing” evaluation, it’s anticipated that Maine’s sea degree will rise 1.6 toes by 2050 and three.9 toes by 2100, ensuing within the lack of 42% of dry seashore space within the state by 2050 and 75% by 2100. Because the identify of the research signifies, these circumstances will solely come up if we fail to curb our emissions and plan for local weather change within the close to time period. 

The seashore on the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Space. Photograph by Josh Caldwell

Sea-level rise can even be catastrophic for salt marshes such because the Sprague River Marsh. Marshes are also known as the “kidneys of the panorama” for his or her capability to filter toxins and pollution, and their carbon sequestration capability is monumental. As sea ranges rise and local weather change provides stressors to the ecosystem, salt marshes start to degrade, releasing saved carbon into the ambiance and perpetuating world warming. Our actions now can be crucial to stopping a cascading impact that will be devastating for coastal and inland ecosystems alike.  

I choose not to consider my visits to locations like Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Space as a “final gasp” to get pleasure from a fading magnificence. Quite, visiting these locations jogs my memory of the immense duty we’ve got to vary course and shield the dwelling methods round us that allow our existence. It’s my hope that the Piping Plover can be considered one of many coastal species and landscapes to rebound within the coming years as our society more and more involves recognition of the worth offered by the world round us. 

—Josh Caldwell, NRCM Local weather & Clear Vitality Outreach Coordinator