Field Notes
by Peter B Brace
OPEN SPACE OR OPEN USE For those waiting for the Zoning Board of Appeals to hear Priscilla L. Reis' appeal of cease-and-desist orders issued to her for her son Myles Reis, Jr.'s operations on her property at 80 Miacomet Ave. by Zoning Enforcement Officer Marcus Silverstein, Dec. 8 is your day. The ZBA's agenda is public and Reis' appeal is listed without any continuance.

Silverstein alleges that Reis is violating the Nantucket Zoning Code with the open storage of construction materials and vehicles at 80 Miacomet Ave. by not having a special permit from the Planning Board for an expansion of use and that Reis changed the use of his residentially zoned property to a commercial use without getting the proper permits. The ZBA meets at 1 p.m. in the conference room of the Town Annex Building at 37 Washington St.

MAKING SEALS Many of those seals you may have seen drifting by the island's shores this fall or hauled up on remote beaches such as Smith's and Great points and Tom Nevers Head are going to become parents the end of December through the beginning of February. This mass birthing of gray seal pups occurs on Muskeget Island, the southernmost outpost of their East Coast range, used by 1,500 to 3,000 Grey seals for whelping, mating and as a general refuge from human maritime activity.

Bergman and Gore

During the winter of 2005/2006, gray seals on Muskeget gave birth to approximately 2,000 pups.

Considered a non-migratory species, Gray seals seek out isolated, uninhabited shorelines on which to mate and give birth. Their range extends north from Muskeget Island over to Monomoy Island and further north to Sable Island, Newfoundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Prince Edward Island. Worldwide, their population is around 200,000.

You may have flown over Muskeget during the winter months and easily seen the large dark mass of seals on this tiny island. But there is nothing like getting up close and seeing the action.

You can be there to see this wondrous natural sight just offshore in a boat if you sign up for one of several excursions to Muskeget sponsored by the Maria Mitchell Association and Shearwater Excursions, Dec. 26-30 from 1-3:30 p.m.

Along for the ride will be Dr. Bob Kennedy, Maria Mitchell's Director of Natural Science, offering his knowledge of the gray seal lifecycle and a commentary on bird life and natural history in the area.

Call the Maria Mitchell Association at 228-9198 for details and Shearwater Excursions at 228-7037 to sign up for one of these trips to Muskeget.

ACTING LOCALLY ON GLOBAL WARMING Anyone who read Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" knows about the Climate Project, an extension of Gore's message into - he is hoping - all communities around the world, starting with the U.S.

As quoted from http://theclimateproject.org/, "The Climate Project is a movement to educate and challenge citizens and governments into action against the growing crisis of global warming. As a nonprofit group, we work to bring education, community information, research and citizen action programs to communities across the country."

Nantucketers who attend a presentation at the UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station/Grace Grossman Environmental Center on Friday evening will meet Keith Bergman, town manager of Provincetown since 1990. Bergman is one of the first 50 of 1,000 people Gore is training to spread his message about global warming. The presentation is on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. in the main house/dorm/classroom at the field station.

LAST HAZARDOUS WASTE DAY FOR THREE MONTHS

Saturday, Dec. 9 is the last hazardous waste day at the Nantucket Landfill until the second or third week of March, so if you think you need to make room for all the empty paint cans, spent batteries, gallons of used motor oil and domestic, yet toxic chemicals that are going to pile up in your garage over the winter, now's your chance to get rid of what you have and make a little room for this winter's cache.

Hazardous Waste Day is at 188 Madaket Road. from 8 a.m. to 12 noon on Dec. 9. Get there by taking the third entrance to the landfill property coming from the town and the first coming from Madaket. For a complete listing of what you can and can't unload next Saturday, check out www.nantucket-ma.gov/departments/dpw.html, scroll down and click on the link for household hazardous waste or call 228-7244.

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