DMF's shark research program is underway again this summer. They've already successfully caught and tagged many sharks in both the Kinston and Duxbury sides of the bay.  They've even had some recaptures, including a shark they tracked all the way to Cape Canaveral last winter.

Dubbed 'Sharkira' by intern Jules, this girl has been in the tank for a few days and doing well.

A great night at the Landing. Some of our most important partners and funders joined our friends and members for an evening of paddling, fishing, and good eats. Thanks to everyone who came by.

If you didn't have a few hours to come hang out maybe you have 41 seconds to see who you missed...

We spotted this dragonfly was laying some eggs in the midst of some construction work in Pine Brook...

Our UN-Dam-It project at Wapping Road has created a lot of great discussion.  There are historical, economic, ecological, safety, and other concerns that surround this and all dams.  One of the most common discussion points is about flood control.  People often have the general impression that the function of dams is to protect downstream properties from flooding.  In fact, different dams have different purposes and each one needs to be viewed in its specific context.

Although I have been thinking a lot about this issue anyway, it really hit home when I had a chance to stop by Franklin Falls Dam in NH last week.  I thought I’d use Franklin Falls and Wapping Rd dams to discuss the big differences between run-of-the-river and flood control dams.

Wapping Rd Dam is a “run-of-the-river” dam.  Run-of-the-river dams use the natural elevation drop and flow rate of river in order to generate some sort of power.  This may be in the form of direct power such as a grist mill or indirect power such as a turbine. 

Franklin Falls Dam is a flood control dam.  As the name implies, flood control dams are intended to prevent downstream flooding.  These dams are designed to have a large storage capacity behind them.  When precipitation occurs the impoundment is allowed to fill up.  The stored water is then released slowly over the course of several days.  

Because of their design and function, run-of the-river dams tend to have very little storage capacity and therefore have very little impact on flow rates in a river.  Basically, the river just flows through the power wheel and returned to the river at its natural rate.  In contrast, flood control dams are specifically designed to level out natural fluctuations in flow rate.

Whether designed to store water or allow water to pass, dams disrupt the connectivity and essential ecological functions of a river.   UN-Dam-It!!

Our friendly vernal pool expert Jessica just sent me this little update...

"... We also went over to check out the vernal pools we visited on the walk talk.  The first pool had several green frogs and a couple of bull frogs. The second pool was much shallower but had 11 yellow spotted salamander egg masses. I saw one bullfrog and one very small tadpole. I am thinking the wood frogs have already hatched they have an incubation period of about 3 weeks while the salamanders from a month to two months depending on the temperature of the pond."

Go check it out for yourself!  Just remeber to tread lightly and look-don't-touch,  these critters are at a fragile stage.

EDIT:  Had a nice sunny walk out to the pools today with Sara Grady and Cindy Chu.  Jessica wasn't kidding.  There was a lot of activity including some frogs and beautiful egg masses....