Field Notes
by Peter B Brace
DIGGIN’ BEETLES THAT BURY Birds you can see flying around alive, but beetles are either squashed underfoot or the target of insecticides in island gardens. How lucky then, the burying beetle must feel being reintroduced to Nantucket with the help of the Maria Mitchell Association and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

In 1989, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service put the burying beetle on its endangered species list, but 17 years later in 2006, this beetle became the first insect ever to be supervised by the AZA Species Survival Plan. On Dec. 26, the AZA announced the reemergence of the burying beetle around the country as one of its 10 wildlife conservation stories for 2006.

We need these beetles, believe it or not, as scavengers in their ecosystem, to consume rotting carcasses in which they lay their eggs.

ON THE WATERFRONT Nantucket’s U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is looking for new recruits to rebuild its ranks. Well, actually, they need volunteers for supporting the mission of the U.S. Coast Guard at Station Brant Point.

Operating safety patrols, rescues, helping Station Brant Point personnel with homeland security, teaching boater safety courses and doing vessel safety checks are what the Coast Guard Auxiliary is all about. If you think this sounds like your kettle of fish and/or you have Web design, information technology, public affairs and administrative skills, Nantucket’s auxiliary is looking for boat crew and coxswains, a vessel examiner, a boating safety class instructor and public affairs people among other volunteers.

Contact Web Ray, Staff Officer of Public Affairs at 228-7345.

To see them in action and for those seeking boating skills, sign up for the Nantucket Anglers Club Boating Skills and Seamanship Course, a two-day class on Jan. 7 and 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Coasties from Station Brant Point and the Auxiliary will teach this course. It’s free for boaters 12-16, but all are welcome. Register by the end of today by contacting the club at 228-2299 or nantucket.angler2@verizon.net.

CORRECTION In the December 20 issue of The Independent, the etcetera item concerning Aaron Markavitch becoming director of the Nantucket Housing Office contained two errors: the employment contract Markavitch was to sign was with the Nantucket Housing Office, not, as reported, Sustainable Development (sic); and it was the Nantucket Housing Office which received a grant from the Community Preservation Committee, not Sustainable Nantucket.

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