Pleasure Beach is a beautiful, joyful place that magically melts our troubles away. It is a place to relax, tosocialize and to recreate. Every once in a while, it is important to remind ourselves that Beaches are dynamic places that require care and maintenance to preserve. What follows is a brief reminder of nature's creativity, and how we can support natural processes while maintaining our property.
Many organizations and individuals study the ecosystem – the
physical and biological aspects and how they interact – of
Long Island Sound. These people, including Waterford Association
Inc, continuously monitor the coastline and use their observations
to preserve and protect our beaches and their inhabitants.
Coastlines are constantly evolving because of natural forces like
wind and waves, but also from human influences likefoot traffic,
construction and pollution. We have witnessed some of these changes
in recent years:
Pleasure Beach is a barrier beach (sand spit, barrier spit). A barrier beach is a narrow, low-lying strip that runs parallel tothe coastline that is separated from the mainland by a narrow body of tidal wetland. Barrier beaches are formed by the accumulation of sand deposited by water currents. They have recognizable features: beach, dunes, and tidal wetland.
The beach is always in flux. It changes minute to minute. It is width and shape are carved out by the tide and waves respectively. Tides are caused by the moon's gravitational pull. High tide occurs when the moon is closest to us and low tide when the moon is farthest away. There are two tidal cycles daily. You can check to see when today's tides are occurring: visit here. Waves are created by the winds. When the wind is blowing stronger, the waves become more powerful. Powerful waves can cause destruction of beaches by erosion.
A dune is simply a hill of sand. Beachdunes are important because:
Dune vegetation, the plants that grownon the dunes, are important
because their root systems prevent water from washing away the sand
and depositing it somewhere else. Without dunes and dune vegetation,
an intense storm couldwash away the entire beach.
Dunes are constantly changing. If you walk on the beach during the
winter, you have probably noticed that it seems like the beach
has washed away. This is because of the seasonal fluctuations in
wave action that change the shape of the beach. In the spring,
the current returns sand from the offshore sandbars.
Tidal wetland, a.k.a. "The Clam Pond", "The Creek", "Blue-y Land",
"The Crab Pond". Our salt marsh is a birthplace for babies and a
refuge for their parents. Fish, and crabs, and birds – oh my!
There are hundreds of species living on the backside of our beach.
This biodiversity is the foundation of a healthy planet. Naturally,
the Clam Pond is an educational "touch tank" for children and adults
alike. Catching crabs and digging clams is a past time for many. While
we play, it is also important that we respect the marsh and interfere
as little as possible to protect the biodiversity.
The following is a Common Name inventory taken in 1995 of the species diversity present at Pleasure Beach. Further information about each species can be viewed here: MarineBio
Vegetation
American Beachgrass
Asparagus
Autumn Olive
Bayberry
Beach-pea
Black grass
Butter-and-eggs
Coast Blight
Common Blackberry
Common Evening Primrose
Common Saltwort
Common Reed/Phragmities
Dusty Miller
Early Seaside Plantain
Glasswort/Marsh Samphire
Halberd-leaved Oarch
Horseweed
Joe-Pye-Weed
Late seaside Plantain
Poison Ivy
Pokeweed
Salt-marsh Fleabane
Salt-spray Rose
Sassafras
Sea-rocket
Sea-burdock
Seaside goldenrod
Seaside spurge
Sedge
Smooth Sumac
Spike/salt grass
Tree-of-Heaven
Water Hemlock
Wild Morning Glory
Wineberry
Woody Glasswort
Woody Nightshade
Virginia Creeper
Macroscopic Benthic Organisms
Atlantic Horseshoe Crab
Blue Crab
Common Periwinkle
Common Spider Crab
Fiddler Crab
Green Crab
Hermit Crab
New England Dog Whelk
Smooth Periwinkle
Finfish (various)
Minnows
Mummichugs
Shellfish
Common Slipper Shell
Quahog
Ribbed Mussel
Soft-shelled clam
Avian
American Egrit
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Cardinal
Common Crow
Common Grackle
Common Nighthawk
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Double-crested Cormorant
Glaucus Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Herring Gull
House Finch
Laughing Gull
Least Tern
Mallard
Mockingbird
Mute Swan
Osprey
Red-winged Blackbird
Seaside Sparrow
Snowy Egrit
Song Sparrow
Starling
Tree Sparrow
Tree Swallow
Mammals
Deer
Skunk
Raccoon
Field Mouse
Water Rat
Garder Snake
As owners and stewards of this land, we have a responsibility to minimize our environmental impact. What follows is asummary of the current environmental issues at Pleasure Beach and what we can do to help.
Beach Erosion is inevitable, but we continue to
mitigate weather and usage impacts by maintaining healthy dunes.
However, dune vegetation is highly sensitive to foot traffic; if
walked on beach grass will die back.
What you can do to help: Keep off the dunes and
remind others to do the same.
Invasive species are plants and animals that originate
elsewhere and adversely affect their current habitat. One particularly
troublesome Pleasure Beach invasive species is phragmites. All over
New England, phragmites is rapidly displacing native wetland plants,
such as Cattails, which shrinks wildlife habitat and starves birds.
What you can do to help: Do not pick the phragmites;
doing so spreads the seeds and encourages new growth. Systematically
apply herbicide with care to avoid harming native plants, animals and
fish; please research the proper methods before attempting.
Hypertrophication is the detrimental addition of
nitrogen and phosphate to an aquatic system. It causes overgrowth of
algae which suffocates fish and other aquatic wildlife.
Hypertrophication results from sewage contamination and the use of
fertilizers which runoff into the aquatic environments.
What you can do to help: Refrain from applying
fertilizers to your lawns and gardens, especially before it rains.
Keep pets and their waste off the beach. For personal needs, use
the portable toilet in the parking lot.
Sudden Vegetation Dieback (SVD) happens when smooth
cord grass, which grows on top of the peat beds in the Clam Pond, dies.
This leads to the disintegration of the peat beds that provide shelter
for species like crabs, fish and periwinkles. In recent years, the
degradation of the peat beds in the Clam Pond is quiet visible, with
jagged, holey edges where sold walls used to be.
What you can do to help: Unfortunately, the cause
of SVD is unknown. But, we can maintain what is still there. Don't
walk on or jump off the peat beds, and don't pick the sea grasses
that hold the beds together.
Litter and pollution. Human's biggest environmental
impact continues to be pollution, especially from synthetic,
non-biodegradable waste.
What you can do to help: Carry out what you carry
in. Recycle and use trash receptacles.
Dune protection and restoration
http://longislandsoundstudy.net/wp-content/uploads/2004/12/Coastal-barriers-and-beaches.pdf
http://evidence.environment-agency.gov.uk/FCERM/Libraries/FCERM_Project_Documents/FD1924_7426_TRP_pdf.sflb.ashx
https://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=87224&pt=2&p=88900
http://www.whoi.edu/fileserver.do?id=74466&pt=2&p=88638
Connecticut's costal management program & coastal habitat restoration
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2705&q=323536&deepNav_GID=1622
Tidal wetland & habitat restoration
http://longislandsoundstudy.net/wp-content/uploads/2004/12/tidal-wetlands.pdf
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2705&q=323828&deepNav_GID=1654
http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/long_island_sound/coastal_management/twbufferguidance.pdf
http://longislandsoundstudy.net/2004/12/long-island-sound-habitat-restoration-manual/
http://soundbook.soundkeeper.org/chapter_ContentID_208_SectionID_6.htm
http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Millstone-Point-Connecticut/tides/latest
Biodiversity and Marine Species database
http://marinebio.org/oceans/conservation/biodiversity.asp
http://marinebio.org/search/
Human impact on marine environments
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Life-in-the-Sea/Science-Ideas-and-Concepts/Human-impacts-on-marine-environments
Long Island Sound pollution
http://longislandsoundstudy.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/conditionsbybasin.pdf
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2705&q=323566&deepNav_GID=1709
Hypertrofication
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/websites/retiredsites/sotc_pdf/EUT.PDF
http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/eutroupdate/
http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/eutroupdate/mid_atlantic.pdf
Invasive species
http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/invasive_aquatic_plant_program/webfiles/ct_invasive_plant_list_2013.pdf
http://www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc/documents/commonReed.pdf
Sudden Vegetation Dieback
http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/fact_sheets/plant_pathology_and_ecology/sudden_vegetation_dieback_in_conencticuts_salt_marshes_09-02-10.pdf
100+ ways to make a difference
http://marinebio.org/oceans/conservation/local.asp
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