MASSACHUSETTS — State recreation officials are warning Massachusetts residents to be careful when venturing outdoors this spring after a particularly rough winter.

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation on Wednesday issued a broad warning for all state-owned trails, greenways and multi-use trails. Hikers may find trails closed due to damage.

“Heavy snow, rains, and wind have attributed to tree falls, bridge and stream crossing damage, and washouts throughout the DCR system. Hazards may include overhead broken limbs and branches, compromised stream and wetland crossings, downed trees and or debris hazards,” DCR said Wednesday.

Just last week, DCR closed the Otter River State Forest after an April storm with high winds knocked down utility poles and left a kiosk damaged. A strong March storm, meanwhile, temporarily closed Skinner State Park, Mount Tom State Reservation, Holyoke Heritage State Park and DAR State Forest in western Massachusetts. Also in March, the Lake Dennison Recreation Area in Winchendon was damaged in a flood caused by an overflow from Birch Hill Dam in Royalston.

MOLINE, Ill. (KWQC) – After four games, the Quad City Steamwheelers find themselves 2-2 overall, and in fourth place in the Indoor Football League’s Eastern Conference, but they are optimistic moving forward.

In last Saturday’s win over the previously undefeated Massachusetts Pirates, the Steamwheelers scored a season-high 54 points. With a ton of new faces on this year’s team, players said their on-field chemistry is growing each week.

“A lot of young guys that we’ve been talking about all year, and so kind of being able to get a better feel for the game, coming inside it’s a lot tighter. So starting to get a better feel for that and getting a better comfort level with Coach Ross’ offense and when the run game comes together like that, ya know, it opens up the pass game a lot,” said Judd Erickson, the Steamwheelers’ quarterback. I” feel like we were good on every aspect offensively and it came all together as a team.”

“We are finally starting to see the field from the quarterback standpoint, and both those guys are gonna have great games. And like I said it’s been tougher and tougher on that side of the ball, but running the football has been great,” said Cory Ross, the Steamwheelers head coach. “Our offensive line has been a great spot for us. They’ve been able to maintain, stay strong and get the packet, the front moving.”

“It’s giving us a lot of confidence, you know, preparing for the next opponent, knowing what we can do, putting it on film just so we can set the bar higher and just achieving what we can do,” said Ivory Scott, a Steamwheelers offensive lineman.

The Steamwheelers will host Tulsa, Sunday, at Vibrant Arena. Kickoff is set for 3:05 p.m.

The first 1,000 kids under 12 get a free youth jersey.

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Cape Cod, Massachusetts-based marine scientists successfully attached a camera tag to a great white shark in waters off the southeastern portion of the U.S. for just the second time.

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) scientist Megan Winton and charter boat Capt. Chip Michalove of Outcast Sportfishing were both working off the coast of South Carolina, when they caught a 9-foot female white shark and attached a camera tag to her dorsal fin. The duo also attached a GPS tag onto the fin, which will transmit the shark’s location in real time for about a year, whenever it breaks the surface of the water.

AWSC said in a press release that it recently updated its “White Shark Catalog” for 2024, which is available for the public to view and includes “the most comprehensive source of photos and information on individual white sharks that have been identified along the Atlantic Coast.”

The organization has been able to grow its catalog to contain over 700 white sharks all documented along the northwestern portion of the Atlantic Ocean.

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The most recent shark to be tagged with a camera and GPS locator will eventually be available for tracking on the organization’s app, Sharktivity.

The camera clamped onto the shark will give researchers a “shark’s-eye” view while also recording data on the shark’s environment and movements with the help of sensors, 10 times per second.

The device will completely detach itself from the shark after about a day, before resurfacing and transmitting its location for researchers to retrieve the camera.

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Researchers plan to use the data to learn why white sharks return to the waters off the Carolinas during the winter and spring months.

“We know from historical records and tagging data collected over the past 15 years that the southeast U.S. is an important overwintering habitat for white sharks,” Winton said. “But we don’t know that much about how they use the area exactly, or what it is they’re doing when they’re there.”

Michalove named the shark he and Winton tagged, Jason Flack, in honor of a Hilton Head, South Carolina, local who died in a hit-and-run crash in February.

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Scientists have successfully attached a camera to a great white shark off the coast of South Carolina. (iStock)

The duo also worked together and tagged the great white shark known as LeeBeth, which gained international attention after she was tracked the furthest west in the Gulf of Mexico than any previously tracked white shark.

AWSC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the latest shark to be tagged.

Still, being able to capture a great white shark and place research technology on it is something the charter captain never thought he would be able to do, all in the name of science.

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“I never thought I’d be holding the dorsal fin of a great white shark and applying this type of technology,” Michalove said. “I’ve been intrigued with these sharks my whole life, and what we’ve learned from their paths has been fascinating.”