A Field Guide to
LONG ISLAND
SOUND
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Lloyd Point, at Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 2
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A Field Guide to
LONG ISLAND
SOUND
COASTAL HABITATS, PLANT LIFE,
FISH, SEABIRDS, MARINE MAMMALS,
& OTHER WILDLIFE
PATRICK J. LYNCH
All illustrations, maps, & photography by
the author unless otherwise noted
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To Susan, Alex, Devorah, and Tyler,
and to the late Noble Proctor,
teacher, mentor, and friend
coastfieldguides.com
Copyright © 2017 by Patrick J. Lynch.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections
107 and 108 of the US Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the
public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Yale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for
educational, business, or promotional use. For information, please
e-mail sales.press@yale.edu (US office) or sales@yaleup.co.uk (UK
office).
Designed by Patrick J. Lynch.
Printed in China.
ISBN 978-0-300-22035-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949697
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Saving the world requires saving democracy. That requires
well-informed citizens. Conservation, environment, poverty,
community, education, family, health, economy—these
combine to make one quest: liberty and justice for all. Whether
one’s special emphasis is global warming or child welfare, the
cause is the same cause. And justice comes from the same place
being human comes from: compassion.
—Carl Safina
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CONTENTS
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
Preface
xii–xiii
Regional map
1
Introduction
25
Physical coast
53
Weather and water
69
Human history
99
Shallows
137
Depths
167
Beaches and dunes
239
Rocky shores
259
Salt marshes
305
Coastal forests
337
Connecticut locations
355
New York locations
377
Bibliography
385
Illustration Credits
389
Index
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Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula)
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ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
During various trips throughout the Long Island Sound region Tom Andersen, Patrick
Comins, Frank Gallo, the late Sally and Fred Richards, Fred Sibley, Bren Smith, and Jeff
Spendelow have shared their time, photography, and expertise with me. Patrick Comins
was particularly generous with his thorough review of the birding and natural history content of this book and in allowing me to use several of his photographs. My sincere thanks
to Jeff Spendelow and Kristina Vagos of the US Fish and Wildlife Service for providing
me with current data on the Falkner Island tern colony. Margaret “Peg” Van Patten of the
University of Connecticut’s Connecticut Sea Grant program was very generous with her
advice on the manuscript. I thank my Yale colleague Michael Marsland for allowing me to
use several of his aerial photos of the Connecticut coast.
I particularly thank Ralph Lewis, professor of geology at the University of Connecticut
Avery Point campus and former state geologist of Connecticut. Ralph went above and
beyond in sharing his expertise on Connecticut’s complex geologic history and in ensuring that the dating of glacial events reflected the most recent geologic research. Professor
of geology J. Bret Bennington of Hofstra University generously gave me permission to use
his excellent digital elevation map of Long Island.
I offer particular thanks to Jean Thomson Black, executive editor for life sciences at Yale
University Press, for her faith in my work over the years and for being my constant advocate at the Press. I also thank the manuscript editor on this project, Laura Jones Dooley,
for her wonderful combination of expertise, supportive advice, and good humor.
Last, and most of all, I thank my teacher, mentor, and friend, the late Noble Proctor, for
his 43 years of wise counsel and for countless days of great birding along many coasts. I
know that I and Noble’s hundreds of friends throughout the world miss his good humor,
sharp eyes, and awesome breadth of knowledge about the natural world. This book would
not exist without Noble’s wisdom and support.
PATRICK J. LYNCH
North Haven, Connecticut
coastfieldguides.com
@patrlynch
https://www.facebook.com/patrick.lynch1
patrlynch1@gmail.com
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x
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xi
PREFACE
This book is written as a general introduction to the natural history of Long Island Sound
and its shorelines. Although my emphasis is on the plants, animals, and physical foundation of the Sound, you cannot write about the natural world these days without constant
reference to the effects of humanity and anthropogenic climate change. We now live in the
Anthropocene Age, where human activity has become the dominant force shaping our
physical and biological environment.
The geologic and human history of our region also reminds us that we live on shifting
ground. Sea level rise and changing coastlines are nothing new, but the accelerating rate
of climate change in the past 50 years has altered both our shorelines and the life around
Long Island Sound. Our lobster fishery ended 20 years ago because the Sound is now too
warm for the Northern Lobster. Many formerly abundant food fish like the Atlantic Cod
have become scarce due to overfishing. Formerly southern birds like Turkey and Black
Vultures are now year-round residents of the region, and the rising waters of the Sound
not only shrink the habitats of beach-nesting birds like the Piping Plover but threaten the
salt marsh meadows that are the breeding habitat for the Saltmarsh Sparrow and other
endangered species.
This guide cannot be an exhaustive catalog of everything that lives in or near the Sound—
such a book would neither be practical as a field guide nor useful to the typical hiker,
birder, kayaker, fisher, or boater. Here I have emphasized the most dominant and common
plants and animals, plus a few interesting rarities like the Snowy Owl and locally threatened species like the Least Tern and the American Oystercatcher. My intent is to show you
the major plants and animals that populate our shorelines and the waters of the Sound, so
that you can walk into a salt marsh or onto a beach and be able to identify most of what
you see, the first step in developing a deeper, more ecological understanding of the unique
and beautiful aspects of the Sound’s major environments.
Useful companions to this guide
For readers interested in more information on the human history and environmental challenges facing the Sound, I highly recommend Tom Andersen’s This Fine Piece of Water as
a companion to this guide. Experienced birders will also want to carry along Sibley’s Guide
to Birds or the Peterson Field Guide to the Birds, since the present guide covers only the
most common birds. Fishers might want to bring along Tom Migdalski’s excellent Fishing
Long Island Sound. See the Bibliography for information on books that might broaden
your understanding of Long Island Sound and its natural and human history.
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xii
LONG ISLAND SOUND REGION
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LONG ISLAND SOUND REGION
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The historic New London Ledge Lighthouse.
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INTRODUCTION
1
Introduction
Double-Crested Cormorants off Plum Island, at the edge of the Eastern Basin of Long Island Sound.
Long Island Sound is an estuary, a coastal area where salt and
freshwater mix. Estuaries are uniquely productive natural
environments, where most of our major shellfish, food fish,
and sport fish species live throughout their lives or spend
their juvenile years before moving into deeper waters. Healthy
estuaries teem with wildlife.
The Sound is an unusual estuary in that it is open at both
ends, in the west at the East River tidal inlet to New York
Harbor and the Hudson River and in the east at the Race, a
swift-flowing channel that opens to Block Island Sound and
the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean water enters the Sound from the
east and mixes with freshwater that enters the Sound primarily from four major Connecticut rivers, the Housatonic,
Quinnipiac, Connecticut, and Thames. These four rivers
contribute about 90 percent of the freshwater that enters Long
Island Sound, and about 70 percent of that combined flow
comes solely from the Connecticut River.
Long Island Sound is bounded to the north by New York
State’s New York City and Westchester County and by the
state of Connecticut. New York’s Long Island forms the
southern shore of the Sound; Fishers Island Sound marks its
northeastern corner; and a series of peninsulas and islands
defines its eastern and southeastern boundaries. The Sound
is 110 miles long from its western border at New York City’s
East River to the Race inlet between Fishers Island and Little
Gull Island at the eastern border, and it is about 21 miles
across at its widest point, between New Haven, Connecticut,
and Shoreham, Long Island. The Sound encompasses about
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2
INTRODUCTION
1,320 square miles of open water and has a coastline of about
600 miles—including all the bays, island shorelines, and
major river mouths within the Sound.
As an almost enclosed body of water sheltered from exposure
to ocean waves, Long Island Sound is a low-energy marine
system, and this lack of strong wave action is reflected in the
nature and size of the Sound’s coastal environments, particularly the beaches, tidal flats, and salt marshes along its shores.
With its low wave energy and sediment-poor north shore, the
Long Island Sound estuary is unique along the Atlantic coast.
Although the Sound has all the familiar salt marsh, beach,
rocky shore, and tidal flat environments, within the Sound
each of these natural areas differs to some degree from its
counterparts on open-ocean coastlines.
The long, narrow shape of the Sound combines with the
natural breakwaters of Long Island and the smaller eastern
islands to limit what oceanographers call fetch, the distance
over which wave-generating winds can blow. Within the
Sound the fetch distances are rarely longer than 15–20 miles,
and this limits the maximum size of waves within the Sound.
However, powerful nor’easter and hurricane winds that come
mostly from the east can generate large, destructive waves
Short fetch distances limit wave
size in Long Island Sound
Predominant winds in:
Summer
Winter
Hurricanes and nor’easters can
produce large waves in the Sound
Low
pressure
storm
Long fetch from
east winds
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INTRODUCTION
3
that travel long distances along the center axis of the Sound
and can do great damage when they finally make landfall.
The geography of Long Island Sound
The Sound is relatively shallow for such a large body of water,
with an average depth of only 64 feet. However, a long, deep
trench that runs roughly parallel to the coast just north of the
North Shore of Long Island reaches depths of over 130 feet.
The Sound’s greatest depth is near the Race inlet just inside
the eastern border, where swift tidal currents have carved a
trench 320 feet deep.
Long Island Sound’s watershed—the land area from which
all the rivers and tributaries drain into the Sound—covers
an area of more than 16,000 square miles and includes parts
of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Vermont, New Hampshire, and even a tiny part of southern
The watershed of
Long Island Sound
The watershed of the Sound
includes all the major rivers and
tributaries that empty into the
Sound. This huge catchment area
drains parts of six states and even
a portion of southern Quebec
Province in Canada. More than
8 million people live within the
16,000 square miles of the Long
Island Sound watershed.
Quebec
Vermont
New Hampshire
Connecticut
River
New
York
Massachusetts
Rhode
Island
Housatonic
River
Connecticut
Thames
River
Long Island
Watershed of Long Island Sound
Sources: EPA Long Island Sound Study, and
Andersen, This Fine Piece of Water, 2000.
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4
INTRODUCTION
Quebec in Canada. This huge regional watershed is inhabited
by more than 8 million people, including the major metropolitan areas of New York City, Westchester County in New
York, Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, New London, and
Hartford in Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts. The
Sound is thus downstream of street runoff and pollutants
draining from those urban areas, as well as the effluent from
more than 100 water treatment plants in New York and Connecticut alone. These treatment plants daily produce about
a billion gallons of treated effluent, all of which enters the
roughly 18 trillion gallons of water within Long Island Sound.
As we’ll see in later chapters, this huge flow of nitrogen-rich
effluent, along with the runoff from developed urban and
suburban areas, creates the most significant environmental
challenges that face the Sound today.
mandritoiu
The Bronx-Whitestone Bridge
crosses the East River near its
eastern end. Finished in 1939, the
Whitestone Bridge and the nearby
Throgs Neck Bridge, completed
in 1961, played a major role in
opening up western and central
Long Island to automobile traffic
in the postwar boom years of
1945–65. The two spans mark the
end of the tidal East River and the
western end of the Narrows Basin
of Long Island Sound.
The Long Island Sound estuary, with its rivers, salt marshes,
and shallow tidal areas, is home to about 120 species of
marine and coastal finfish species, including 50 species that
breed within the Sound. The estuary supports hundreds of
bird species as breeders, as migratory birds in spring and
fall, and as year-round residents. In recent years Long Island
Sound has become a significant wintering territory for five
species of northeastern seals, and dolphins and larger marine
mammals regularly visit the Sound, albeit in small numbers.
The basins of the Sound
Long Island Sound is one continuous body of water, but
in its 110-mile length the Sound has four major regions or
basins with distinctive characteristics. The Narrows and the
Western, Central, and Eastern Basins are general geographic
terms without strict borders, but the terms help scientists,
geographers, and government planners discuss the Sound’s
various regions.
The Narrows
The westernmost area of the Sound is the Narrows, a region
of swift tidal flows that extends east from the Hell Gate of the
East River and expands through the Throgs Neck at the eastern end of the East River, where it gradually widens into the
Western Basin north of the Sands Point area of Long Island.
The East River is not a true river, however, but rather a set of
narrow tidal channels connecting Long Island Sound with
New York Harbor and the Hudson River. The most famous
of the East River channels is Hell Gate, a treacherous area of
swift currents, tidal swirls, heavy commercial river traffic, and
water that can flow at speeds exceeding five knots at peak tide.
Most geographers designate the Hell Gate as the western
terminus of Long Island Sound. Currents are treacherous
here, because a shallow bedrock river bottom and the narrow
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INTRODUCTION
5
straight between Wards Island and Lawrence Point form
a natural bottleneck barrier to larger exchanges of water
between the Sound and the East River. In the photo below the
current is moving so swiftly through the Hell Gate that it is
blurred in this long-exposure photograph.
Although the tidal currents flow swiftly through the narrow
channels of the East River, the total water flows through the
Narrows region are small compared to the much larger volumes of water entering and leaving the eastern outlets where
the Sound meets the ocean and the large flow of freshwater
from the Connecticut River. The Narrows is the most environmentally challenged area of Long Island Sound: the heavy
burdens of street runoff pollutants, routine water treatment
plant effluent, sewage system overflows from stormwater, and
industrial pollutants combine to severely limit natural marine
communities. As a result, the water quality in the Narrows
region is seldom better than fair year-round.
Western Basin
The Western Basin of the Sound is bounded in the west by
the Hempstead Sill, a low, underwater ridge that runs northsouth from the mouth of Hempstead Bay to the New York–
Connecticut border. In the east the Western Basin extends to
a line between Fairfield, Connecticut, and Sunken Meadow
State Park on Long Island.
The Hell Gate
The commonly accepted western
boundary of Long Island Sound
is a small section of the East River
lying between Wards Island and
the Astoria neighborhood of
Queens, in New York City. The Hell
Gate was named by colonial era
boatmen who feared its powerful
five-knot tidal flow and hidden
rock reefs.
mandritoiu
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6
LONG ISLAND SOUND REGION
Springfield
Hartford
Connecticut
Connecticut
River
CENTRAL
VALLEY
WESTERN
UPLANDS
New York
Connec
Rive
Quinnipiac
River
New Haven
West
Haven
Housatonic
River
Norwalk
River
Norwalk
Stamford
Pelham
Bay
Park
East
Flushing
80 ft.
75 ft.
Caumsett S.P.
Shoreham
Port Jefferson
Patchogue
Bellport
Mineola
Great
Oyster
Shinnecock B
Moriches Bay
12 ft.
Babylon
South
Great
Peconic
Bay
Westhampton
Beach
Medford
Great
Neck
Jamesport
Riverhead
Stony
Brook
Huntington
JFK Airport
Jamaica
Bay
130 ft.
Wildwood
S.P.
Sunken
Meadow Smithtown
S.P.
Bay
Northport
Glen
Cove
Greenport
CENTRAL BASIN
Sherwood Island S.P.
E
O
LONG ISLAND SOUND
WESTERN BASIN
45 ft.
THE
NARROWS
Milford Point
Westbrook
75 ft.
140 ft.
Scarsdale
Yonkers
Stratford
Madison
Chaffinch
Island Hammonasset S.P.
Sandy
Point Lighthouse
Point
Milford
Bridgeport
Old Saybrook
Guilford
Branford
South
Bay
Fire Island
Bay
73˚
80 ft.
180 f
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h
INTRODUCTION
7
Massachusetts
Blackstone
River
Providence
Fall River
Warwick
EASTERN
UPLANDS
Rhode Island
Newport
Connecticut
River
Thames
River
New London
Old Saybrook
Madison
Westbrook
Hammonasset S.P.
mesport
pton
EASTERN BASIN
Barn Island
Bluff
Point
S.P.
Rocky
Neck
S.P.
225 ft.
Orient Point
Napatree Pt.
Point Judith
Misquamicut
Block Island
BLOCK ISLAND
SOUND
320 ft.
New Shoreham
45 ft.
Montauk
Point
Gardiners
Island
Gardiners
Bay
RHODE ISLAND
SOUND
Fishers Island
The Race
Plum Island
Orient
Beach S.P.
Greenport
Mystic
Westerly
Stonington
Groton
Niantic
Old Lyme
Sakonnet
Point
Pawcatuck
River
East Ground
Bank
30 ft.
Endeavor
Shoals
Cox
Ledge
Block
Channel
41˚
140 ft.
Sag Harbor
Great
Peconic
Bay
Southampton
0
Shinnecock Bay
y
0
25 Miles
10 Miles
10 KM
25 KM
50 Miles
50 KM
Block
Canyon
80 ft.
230 ft.
ATLANTIC OCEAN
72˚
180 ft.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 7
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8
The salt marsh at Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, on the Western Basin of Long Island Sound.
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INTRODUCTION
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9
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10
RK
YO C U T
I
W
NE EC T
N
N
CO
WESTERN LONG ISLAND SOUND
Hudson
River
S
15
95
Cos
Cob
GREENWICH
Rye
Brook
Cos
Cob
Harbor
Port
Chester
Calf Islands
Rye
St
H
Greenwic
Island
Beach
Great Captains
Island
Harrison
N
CO N
NEW
Glover
Reef
Mamaroneck
Tuckahoe
95
Hen
Is.
YONKERS
Rye
Point
73°40’
Edgewater Point
Rive
r
Mt.
Vernon
son
Hu d
Oak Neck P
Fox Pt.
Matinecock
Pt.
THE
NARROWS
42
33
48
Horseshoe Harbor
Pine Island
53
Hempstead
Sill
Larchmont
NEW
ROCHELLE
33
Porgie
Shoal
Parsonage
Point
Lattingtown
Huckleberry Is.
Davis Is.
Pelham
Bay
Park
Hunter Is.
Prospect Pt.
Twin Is.
Orchard
Beach
Sands Pt.
Hart Is.
City Is.
Wards
Is.
Lawrence
Pt.
Hewlett
Pt.
30
Stepping
Stones
Throgs
Neck
North
Brother Is.
Hunts
Point
East
River
Rikers
Is.
Gu
ard
ia
HELL GATE, East River.
Traditionally the
western boundary of
Long Island Sound.
Kings
Point
23
678
Matinecock
Sea Cliff
Manorhaven
Glen
Head
Plum Pt.
Manhasset
Port Washington
Bay
Greenvale
Great
Neck
Throgs Neck
Bridge
Little
Neck
Bay
Whitestone
College
Point
La
20
Glen
Cove
Sands Point
12
East River
Whitestone
Bridge
Execution
Rocks
Locust
Valley
27
Hempstead
Bay
Barker
Pt.
95
BRONX
Saddle
Rock
Manhasset
Roslyn
25A
495
295
QUEENS
495
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 10
Bayville
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M
N
Fairfield
95
Westport
New Canaan
11
NORWALK
15
7
Penfield
Reef
Sherwood Island
State Park
95
8
Seymour Pt.
12
Peck
Ledge
Darien
Cockenoe Is.
Rowayton
Shea Is.
Chimon Is.
STAMFORD
Plains Is.
Scott
Cove
95
Wescott
Cove
Cos
Cob
Cove
Harbor
65
47
Grass Is.
THE NORWALK
ISLANDS
Sheffield Is.
Long Neck
Pt.
73
16
Green’s
Ledge
73°20’
55
Shippan Pt.
Cos
Cob
Harbor
nds
THE
WESTERN
BASIN
Shippan Pt.
Shoals
Stamford
Harbor
Greenwich Pt.
76
Island
Beach
73°30’
eat Captains
Island
41°
92
94
T IC U
NEC
K
CO N
YO R
NEW
Eatons
Neck Pt.
Eatons
Neck
Huntington
Bay
Caumsett
State
Park
38
Rocky Pt.
Oak Neck Pt.
Bayville
Lattingtown
Mill
Neck
Locust
Valley
Smithtown
Bay
Lloyd
Harbor
Sunken Meadow
State Park
Northport
Bay
Cold Spring
Harbor
Oyster
Bay
Lloyd
Harbor
Centerport
Huntington
Bay
Centre Is.
Cove
Neck
Northport
25A
25A
Oyster Bay
Laurel
Hollow
Matinecock
66
Eatons
Neck
Lloyd Pt.
53
Fox Pt.
105
T
Cold Spring
Harbor
Western Basin
East Norwich
LONG ISLAND SOUND
25A
Glen
Head
NL
NH
OS
FI
BP
N
OP
LIS
S
NR
PJ
GC
Q
495
North
0
0
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
miles
kilometers
Depth soundings in feet at mean low water
Parks
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 11
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12
Central Basin
WEST
HAVEN
Housatonic
River
LONG ISLAND
SOUND
Sandy Point
Bird Sanctuary
Bradley
Pt.
Orange
6
Oyster
River
Pt.
MILFORD
Breakwaters
Merwin
Pt.
95
Welches
Pt.
Silver Sands
State Park
New
Haven
Harbor
Five Mile
Light
Lighthouse
Pt.
East
Haven
Lighthouse
Point Park
Keysey
Is.
Morgan
Pt.
Johnso
Pt.
Southwest
Ledge
Light
39
Pond
Pt.
Charles
Is.
Stratford
BRIDGEPORT
95
Sandy
Pt.
95
Housatonic
River
Quinnipiac
River
NEW
HAVEN
CENTRAL BASIN, LONG ISLAND
Milford Point
Sanctuary
95
Park
Pt.
Lordship
Stratford
Pt.
Long
Beach
Pt.
7
73°
Stratford Point
Sanctuary
Fayerweather
Pt.
Fayerweather
Is. Light
64
73°10’
58
T
T IC U
NEC
K
CO N
YO R
W
NE
Stratford Shoal
82
B r id
Stratford
Shoal
Light
gep
or t
r
- Po
ff e r
t Je
90
130
son
Fe r
ry
41°
BRONX
80
Crane
Neck
Pt.
Old Field
Pt.
Old Field Pt.
Light
37
Mt.Misery
Pt.
29
Miller Place
Port
Jefferson
Mt. Sinai
Setauket
Smithtown
Bay
Stony
Brook
North
0
0
Nissequogue
25A
97
1
H
Shoreham
Sound Beach
25A
2
3
4
5
miles
kilometers
1
2
3
4
5
Depth soundings in feet at mean low water
Parks
25
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W
W
R
Quinnipiac
River
INTRODUCTION
13
7
95
95
95
Madison
Guilford
Branford
Stony
Creek
East
Haven
Lighthouse
Point Park
Morgan
Pt.
Chaffinch
Island Park
Chipman
Pt.
Chipman
Pt.
Indian
Neck
Hammonasset
State Park
Hammonasset
Pt.
Sachem Head
THE THIMBLE
ISLANDS
Clinton
Tuxis Is.
Madison Reef
Johnson
Pt.
Keysey
Is.
Clinton
Harbor
Kelsey
Pt.
Meigs
Pt.
Wheaton Reef
Browns Reef
Falkner
Is.
Falkner Island
Light
73°20’
23
Goose
Is.
Mattituck
Sill
72
41°10’
72°50’
72°40’
72°30’
THE
CENTRAL
BASIN
87
Mattituck
Sill
78
82
Duck Pond
Pt.
Mattituck
Inlet
114
41°
75
Herod
Pt.
Shoreham
Roanoke
Pt.
Wildwood
State Park
25A
Baiting
Hollow
Wildwood
Mattituck
25
Jacob
Pt.
Northville
Laurel
25
Wading
River
25A
NH
FI
BP
N
LIS
S
NR
Jamesport
NL
OS
OP
25
Riverhead
Great
Peconic
Bay
Flanders Bay
PJ
GC
Q
25
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 13
9/7/16 10:03 PM
14
CONNECTICUT
RIVER
EASTERN BASIN, LONG ISLAND SOUND
9
CONNECTICUT
95
Old
Lyme
95
Westbrook
95
Old
Saybrook
Griswold
Is.
Clinton
Madison
Old
Kelsey
Point
Gull
Rock
Tuxis
Is.
Rocky Neck
State Park
East
Lyme
Hammonasset
State Park
Griswold
Point
Chapman
Point
Cornfield
Point
Kelsey
Point
Meigs
Point
Hammonasset
Point
47
B
P
Hatchett
Point
Saybrook
Point
Light
55
80
55
150
Falkner
Island
Light
27
80
71
IC U T
NEC T
CO N
YO R K
NEW
72°40’
72°30’
72°20’
Ori
Po
Lig
LONG ISLAND
SOUND
Orient
East
Marion
Orient Beach
State Park
104
NL
Greenport
OS
Long Beach
Bar Light
Gar
B
FI
BP
N
21
OP
LIS
S
NR
Plum
Gut
132
Eastern Basin
NH
Orient
Point
PJ
Shelter
Island
GC
Southold
Q
Cedar Island
Point
Peconic
Shelter
Island
Sound
54
25A
Mattituck
Inlet
Mattituck
Little
Peconic
Bay
25
33
North
Haven
8
20
Noyack
Bay
Northwe
Harbor
Cutchogue
11
25A
35
Sag
Harbor
Noyack
Laurel
Northville
NEW YORK STATE
25
Great
Peconic
Bay
Aquebogue
Jamesport
21
27
Sagaponack
23
Peconic River
36
Riverside
24
Hampton
Bays
27
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 14
Southampton
9/7/16 10:03 PM
95
NEW
LONDON
Niantic
River
Niantic
95
Block
ry
New London
Ledge Light
er
tF
Watch Hill
Light
North Dumpling
Light
nt
Po
in
D
AN
SL K
R
EI
O D YO
W
NE
Black
Point
Madison Reef
on
–
Or
ie
Hatchett
Point
Latimer Reef
Light
I s l a n d Fe r r y
Fishers Island
Sound
nd
Fishers
Island
Ne
w
Lo
55
Race
Rock
Light
320
80
Little
Gull
Light
The
Sluice
Way
Plum
Island
Light
Orient
Point
300
Great Gull
Island
BLOCK ISLAND
SOUND
279
(Largest tern
breeding colony
on the Atlantic coast)
Plum
Island
Plum
Gut
Orient
Point
Light
52
41°10’
72°10’
72°
214
100
99
39
Orient Beach
State Park
25
26
85
80
Gardiners
Island
Gardiners
Bay
21
84
139
THE RACE
280
150
Napatree
Point
RH
Griswold
Is.
15
Bluff Point
State Reserve
Little
Narragansett
Bay
Harkness
Memorial
37
Fort
Pond
Bay
50
Cedar Island
Point
20
Montauk
Point
Light
67
Tobaccolot Bay
34
Montauk
44
Napeague
Bay
8
Montauk
Point
27
20
Northwest
Harbor
r
12
69
4
41°
68
East
Hampton
ATLANTIC OCEAN
62
27
TE
Barn Island
Wildlife
Management
Area
Stonington
New London
Harbor Light
Niantic
Bay
Rocky Neck
State Park
GROTON
Thames
River
Mystic
Poquonnock
River
86
90
58
North
Sagaponack
0
0
36
2
3
4
5
miles
kilometers
1
2
3
4
5
Depth soundings in feet at mean low water
78
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 15
1
Parks
9/7/16 10:03 PM
16
INTRODUCTION
The Western Basin waters are shallow, with relatively weak
circulation currents and a high load of fine, suspended sediment particles that trap and hold pollutants in the bottom
sediments. The Hempstead Sill ridge acts as a barrier to
circulation, reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the
water in the hot summer months. Only a few small streams
enter the basin from the north or south, adding to this stagnation. On the basin’s Long Island shore are a series of extended
north-south bays that are actually drowned river valleys: Little
Neck Bay, Manhasset Bay, Hempstead Bay, and Oyster Bay.
The New York and Connecticut cities and towns surrounding
the Western Basin are some of the most densely populated
urban areas of North America, and the basin is stressed by
a huge load of treated and untreated sewage, as well as the
polluted runoff from the streets, buildings, parking lots, and
other impervious surfaces that cover well over 25 percent
of the surrounding land. The primary sources of the excess
nitrogen in Long Island Sound are wastewater discharged
from municipal sewage systems, leakage from defective sewer
systems, effluent from home septic systems, stormwater runoff, and leaching fertilizers from suburban lawns.
The Western Basin is the most
polluted area of the Sound, but its
coasts are also home to some of
the most attractive and valuable
shoreline real estate in the United
States, as well as beautiful Soundside parks like New York City’s
Pelham Bay Park (pictured above),
Long Island’s Caumsett State
Historical Park, and Connecticut’s
Sherwood Island State Park.
Because of the heavy load of pollutants, the Western Basin
usually becomes hypoxic (lacking enough oxygen) during late summer and early fall, when the unnaturally high
levels of nitrogen from wastewater and runoff sources cause
excessive growth of marine algae, followed by their death and
decomposition, which uses up most of the dissolved oxygen
in the water, either killing aquatic animals outright or driving
mobile animals like fish from the basin.
Central Basin
The Central Basin is a transitional area, more saline than the
Western Basin (typically 25–30 parts per thousand, or ppt)
and much less vulnerable to hypoxia and pollution due to its
sheer size and depth, its greater tidal currents, and the contributions of the Housatonic and Quinnipiac Rivers.
Compared to the West and East Basins the Central Basin has
a relatively featureless bottom that slopes gradually southward
to a deep east-west trench that runs about five miles north of
the Long Island shoreline. New Haven is the Sound’s largest
and busiest commercial harbor, but otherwise the central
Connecticut coast has only a scattering of small harbors. East
of Port Jefferson and Mount Sinai Harbor, the North Shore of
Long Island has only the single, small Mattituck Inlet harbor.
The eroded edge of the Roanoke Point Moraine forms high
earthen bluffs overlooking narrow, stony beaches that run east
for 45 miles between Port Jefferson and Orient Point.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 16
9/7/16 10:03 PM
INTRODUCTION
Eastern Basin
The Eastern Basin is the smallest, deepest, and most oceanic
of the basins, with salinities averaging about 32–33 ppt in
spite of the considerable freshwater outflows from the Connecticut and Thames Rivers. The Eastern Basin is typically defined as the area of the Sound east of the Mattituck Sill, a low,
north-south rise in the bottom of the Sound that runs roughly
from the Hammonasset area of Madison, Connecticut, to
Duck Pond Point on Long Island’s north shore. The eastern
border of the Sound is formed by Fishers Island Sound and
a chain of islands and peninsulas created by the remnants of
the Orient Point–Fishers Island–Charlestown glacial moraine.
Between Fishers Island and Little Gull Island, a deep trench
called the Race is the Sound’s primary communication with
the oceanic waters of Block Island Sound. The powerful tidal
flows through the Race make the Eastern Basin the cleanest
and most environmentally healthy area of the Sound, but
even in the Eastern Basin small harbors and bays can become
hypoxic at night during the later summer months because of
excess nitrogen pollution.
Types of coastline
The most common natural coastline habitats in Long Island
Sound are:
31%
Salt marshes
31%
Shallow intertidal flats
19%
Cobble, gravel, or stony beaches
14%
Exposed bedrock
5%
Sand beaches
17
The Bridgeport–Port Jefferson
Ferry crosses some of the widest
and (on average) deepest areas
of the Central Basin. A round-trip
ride on the ferry is a great way to
get a feel for the character of the
basin without buying a boat.
These shoreline types are not evenly distributed throughout
the Sound. Salt marshes and bedrock outcrops are far more
common along the Connecticut coast, and stony tidal flats
and cobble or rocky beaches dominate on the Long Island
coast. East of Port Jefferson the north coast of Long Island
is almost entirely cobble or rock rubble beach composed of
glacially derived stones and sand that have eroded out from
the soft earthen cliffs that tower over most of the north shore
beaches. Although both coasts of the Sound have significant
rocky areas, on the Connecticut coast the rocky headlands are
mostly exposed bedrock, and on the Long Island shoreline the
large rocks are all glacial boulders deposited on Long Island
during the most recent glacial period. On the Long Island
coast of the Sound there is no exposed bedrock except for a
small area in northwestern Queens in New York City: all the
large rocks visible on Long Island are glacial boulders, not
bedrock.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 17
9/7/16 10:03 PM
18
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 18
9/7/16 10:03 PM
INTRODUCTION
Sandy beaches on both sides of the Sound tend to be small
and narrow from tidemark to the top of the beach. The north
shore of Long Island has more beaches—thin and stony—because of the sand and cobblestones that continually erode
from the moraine cliffs above. On the Connecticut coast
the primary sources of beach sand are the small glacial river
deltas of sediment that formed at the mouths of meltwater
streams at the end of the most recent glacial period. Along the
north shore of the Sound, the spotty availability of sand and
insufficient wave energy limit the formation of the sandspits,
barrier islands, dune fields, and natural beaches. These sandy
coastal features are common on the nearby ocean-facing
shores of Rhode Island and the south coast of Long Island but
are absent or relatively small within Long Island Sound.
Economic geography
More than 23 million people live within 50 miles of Long
Island Sound, making the region one of the most densely
populated areas in the United States. The Sound has long
played a major role in the development of the New York and
southern New England region, first as a food source for native Americans and early European colonists and later as an
important maritime highway before roads and railroads were
built in the region. Long Island Sound is a major economic
force: the estimated value of all economic activity around the
Sound is $17–$36 billion annually (2015 dollars), with about
$9.45 billion spent on tourism, fishing, commercial marine
transportation, boating, and other recreation activities each
year. Every summer there are more than 60 million day trips
to the Sound’s beaches. More than 200,000 boats are regis-
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 19
19
Opposite:
Race Rock Light, on the far eastern edge of Long Island Sound, at
the northern edge of the Race, the
main tidal inlet for oceanic waters
from Block Island Sound. This view
looks northwest, toward New
London Harbor. Tidal currents
here are the most powerful in the
Sound. Note the tidal bulge in the
foreground, where incoming tidal
waters push up as they pass over
the Orient Point–Fishers Island
Moraine and wrap around the
obstruction of Race Rock. Also
notice the rougher wave area just
beyond the light, where the swift
tidal currents can produce fourfoot chop even on a calm day.
Sandy Point in West Haven,
Connecticut, is one of the few
substantial sandspits along the
sediment-starved Connecticut
coastline.
9/7/16 10:03 PM
20
Glacial boulders on the beach at Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve, Lloyd Neck, Long Island.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 20
9/7/16 10:03 PM
INTRODUCTION
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 21
21
9/7/16 10:03 PM
22
INTRODUCTION
tered in ports around the Sound, and on a summer weekend
day as many as 90,000 of those boats may be out on the water.
The very different geographies of Long Island Sound’s coastlines had a significant effect on the development of towns
and cities. Colonial era settlement of Long Island developed
from west to east, expanding from the New York Harbor area
across the relatively flat terrain of Long Island, with few natural landform barriers. The Long Island terrain is so flat that
the original Long Island Rail Road did not require a single
bridge from New York City east to Greenport. The more
rugged landscape of Connecticut developed in north-south
patterns that followed the major river valleys. Most colonial
era development in Connecticut proceeded north from the
Long Island Sound coast, but the Hartford and Springfield,
Massachusetts, areas were settled early because of the rich,
rock-free soil of the upper Connecticut River region, a legacy
of a giant meltwater lake that formed in the area at the end
of the Wisconsinan glaciation. Because of the major natural
barriers of the Connecticut and Thames Rivers, Connecticut
relied on sailing ships and steamboats for east-west transportation and regional shipping until the late nineteenth century,
when iron bridges finally spanned the major tidal rivers east
of New Haven.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 22
9/7/16 10:03 PM
INTRODUCTION
23
Today we mostly take large river bridges for granted, but in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, wide tidal rivers like
Connecticut’s Thames River were serious barriers to eastwest land transportation and commerce. It was not until the
late 1800s that the New Haven Railroad spanned the entire
Connecticut coast, and it was well into the twentieth century
before all of Connecticut’s major rivers had road bridges.
New London Harbor’s Gold
Star (highway) and Thames
River (railroad) Bridges.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 23
9/7/16 10:03 PM
24
An outcrop of granite gneiss forms a small headland at Guilford’s Chaffinch Island Park in Connecticut.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 24
9/7/16 10:03 PM
ticut.
25
Physical Coast
Long Island Sound’s geologic history begins about 500–300
million years ago, when the process of plate tectonics brought
together most of the world’s ancient landmasses into a supercontinent called Pangaea. As the continents crushed together
to form Pangaea the bedrock that was much later to underlie
southeastern New York, Connecticut, and Long Island Sound
was heated, folded, and faulted into a complex series of northsouth-oriented valleys and hills. This north-south pattern of
hills and valleys would later play an important part in the development of rivers in New England and in the human history
of the region. The enormous heat and stress of the continental
collisions created much of the bedrock we see today along the
northern coastline of the Long Island Sound basin.*
Pangaea existed for about 50 million years as a supercontinent
and then began breaking up in a process that created North
America, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean. As tectonic forces
pulled away the North American plate from what later became
Africa, a narrow ocean strait formed between the landmasses
bordering the early Atlantic Ocean. The rifting (pulling apart)
of Pangaea caused great tension stresses in the bedrock, and
giant cracks (rift basins) formed along the eastern edge of
the North American plate. Today’s Hartford Basin, the great
central valley of Connecticut and western Massachusetts, was
one of those huge tension cracks in the bedrock of the eastern
edge of the North American plate.
As the continental pieces of Pangaea broke up about 250 million years ago, the Appalachian Mountains became the eastern
coastline of the newly formed North American continent,
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 25
A spectacular 10-foot-tall S-fold
in metamorphic rocks along
Route 9 in Higganum attests
to Connecticut’s complex and
dramatic geologic past.
*See Margaret Coleman’s Geologic
History of Connecticut’s Bedrock for
a concise but excellent overview
of the complex 1.1-billion-year
history of the state’s bedrock
geology.
9/7/16 10:03 PM
26
PHYSICAL COAST
Before the Quaternary glacial
periods, New England had a
coastal plain and low, sandy
shorelines that looked more
like what we see along the midAtlantic Coast today. This view
is from Currituck Sound, on the
Outer Banks of North Carolina.
along the developing Atlantic Ocean. At that time the Appalachians were a much taller, more rugged chain of mountains
than we see today, but over the next 200 million years these
once-mighty peaks were eroded by weather and water, and
much of their former substance formed the broad coastal
plains of today’s Atlantic coastline. Off the Atlantic Coast, layers of sand and silt eroded from the Appalachians also form
much of the continental shelf.
Until about 3 million years ago the major forces shaping the
East Coast and coastal plain of North America were the usual
weathering and stream erosion that gradually wore down
the Appalachians. During part of the Tertiary Period, 48–23
million years ago, the sea level was often much lower than it is
today, and during this time river and stream erosion created
the ancestors of today’s great Atlantic coastal bays and inlets:
the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and an inland, streamcarved valley that would later become Long Island Sound.
About the dates in this chapter:
You may notice that the dates
given here for geologic events in
the past 25,000 years are different
from those you might have seen
in older texts. The dates here are
derived from recent geologic
studies that use surface exposure
dating, in which the decay of
radioactive compounds such as
beryllium-10 is used to derive
dates for glacial events that are
much more accurate than such
previous techniques as carbon-14
dating.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 26
The glacial episodes
The past 2.6 million years have been marked by a series of
glacial episodes collectively known as the Quaternary or
Pleistocene glaciations. Long Island displays evidence of four
distinct Pleistocene glacial episodes. Such episodes occur
when a complex set of astronomical conditions (variations
in the earth’s axial tilt and orbital distance from the sun)
combine with other climatic and geologic factors to cause
long-term climate cooling. As the earth grew colder, snows
that fell in winter did not all melt away in summer, and as the
snow accumulated over thousands of years, the ice cap of the
northern hemisphere expanded southward. Today we are in a
relatively warm interglacial period, and our Arctic glaciers are
remnants of the last glacial episode.
9/7/16 10:03 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
ARCTIC ICE CAP
2 5 , 0 0 0 ye a r s a g o
27
Eu ro p e
Peak of the Wisconsinan
Glacial Episode,
25,000 years ago
NA
At l a nt i c
O ce a n
Af r i c a
Baffin Island
South
Am e r i c a
Baffin
Bay
CO R D I L L E R A N
ICE SHEET
Hudson
Bay
PAC I F I C
OCEAN
L AU R E N T I D E
ICE SHEET
Nova Scotia
ME
MA
NY
Cape Cod
Long Island
NJ
MD
AT L A N T I C O C E A N
VA
The most recent glaciation in the Long Island Sound region,
the Wisconsinan Glacial Episode, began about 85,000 years
ago and ended about 15,000 years ago.* The period is called
the Wisconsinan because the first major studies of this glacial
period were conducted in Wisconsin. The continent-sized
glacier of the Wisconsinan Episode is called the Laurentide
Ice Sheet, named for the Laurentide region of northeastern
Canada, where the ice was thought to have originated.
At the peak of the Wisconsinan Episode 25,000 years ago, the
Laurentide Ice Sheet covered New England (see illustration,
pp. 28–29) and reached as far south as the middle of presentday Long Island. In places the ice sheet was thousands of feet
thick, and the landscape resembled that of central Greenland
today. At the peak of the Wisconsinan Glacial Episode so
much of the earth’s water was bound up in glacial ice that the
sea level was 300 feet lower than it is today, and a large area
of dry land extended south of the present-day coasts of Long
Island and New England. This ice-free land resembled the
spruce taiga forests and tundra of northern Canada today and
provided a refuge area—a refugium—where many of the plant
and animal species we see today could survive. These species
began to repopulate the Long Island Sound region when the
ice sheet began to retreat about 24,000 years ago.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 27
The Laurentide Ice Sheet. At
its maximum extent during the
Wisconsinan Glacial Episode
25,000 years ago, the Laurentide
Ice Sheet, a single, massive glacier,
covered most of northeastern,
eastern, and north-central North
America. Ice also covered much
of northwestern North America,
Europe, and Asia. It may be easiest
to think of the Wisconsinan Glacia­
tion as a giant extension of the
polar ice cap.
* When people refer to the Ice
Age in New England, they usually
mean the Wisconsinan Glacial
Episode, 85,000–15,000 years ago,
but the term “Ice Age” is ambiguous. There have been multiple ice
ages in our region over the past
2.6 million years.
9/7/16 10:03 PM
28
LAURENTIDE ICE SHEET
The Laurentide Ice Sheet over New England 25,000 years ago
When you consider how radically different the New England landscape was at the height
of the Wisconsinan Glaciation, 25,000 years doesn’t seem so long ago. This region has
seen enormous changes in geography, sea level, and climate in a relatively short time.
The ice sheet that covered New England, the Laurentide Ice Sheet, is one of the three ice
sheets (Innuitian, Cordilleran, and Laurentide) that covered portions of North America
during the Pleistocene Epoch. The illustration below shows the maximum southern
extent of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.
Geologists call this most recent glacial time period the Wisconsinan Glacial Episode. It
started about 85,000 years ago, reached its peak 25,000 years ago, and ended in the
Long Island Sound region and Connecticut about 16,500 years ago.
The red line shows the modern coastline.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 28
9/7/16 10:03 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
The terminal ice front of a modern glacier.
ALCE
Alex Yago
Taiga evergreen forests in the refugium area
south of the glaciers.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 29
29
Ice fields covered the landscape.
NOAA
YuliaB
Much of the refugium area was tundra, much
like the far north of Canada and Alaska today.
9/7/16 10:03 PM
30
PHYSICAL COAST
The great glacial moraines
The position of a glacier’s ice front is determined by the balance of the rates of ice supply and melting. At a higher rate of
supply, the ice front advances across the landscape. At high
melting rates, it retreats. Where supply and melting rates are
in balance, the ice front is stationary, known as a “still stand.”
If a glacier maintains a still stand position over time, the
glacial conveyor will dump debris along the melting ice front,
creating a pile of till known as an end moraine. The Long
Island Sound region has two types of end moraine, terminal
and recessional.
A terminal moraine marks the farthest advance of the ice
(see green line on illustration, pp. 32–33). In our region,
the terminal moraine of the Wisconsinan ice sheet, the
Ronkonkoma Moraine, formed the backbone of Long Island
as well as Montauk Point, Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard,
and Nantucket.
End moraines that mark melt-back positions north of the
terminal moraine are called recessional moraines (see brown
lines on illustration, pp. 32–33). About 21,300 years ago, a still
stand created the recessional moraine that lies along the north
shore of Long Island and extends eastward through Rhode
Island: the Harbor Hill Moraine is in western Long Island,
and the Roanoke Point Moraine lies along the north shore of
Long Island, east of Port Jefferson, and continues eastward
through Orient Point, Plum Island, Gull Island, the Race, and
Fishers Island. A number of smaller, more recent recessional
moraines also run east-west over what is now the bottom of
Long Island Sound, occasionally emerging above sea level as
the Captain Islands, off Greenwich, and the Norwalk Islands.
One small segment of a recessional moraine makes a pleasant visit at most times of year: Meigs Point at Hammonasset
Beach State Park is part of a recessional moraine formed
about 20,200 years ago during the retreat of the ice sheet.
Glacial ice is nothing like the
clear, clean ice cubes in your
freezer. Glaciers are full of rocks,
giant boulders, sand, and fine
silt. Here two modern glaciers
(top and bottom of picture) on
Washington State’s Mount Rainier
are so full of rock debris that you
can hardly tell where the rock
ends and the ice begins. The
debris in the ice acts like sand
paper, smoothing the underlying
bedrock as the ice moves.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 30
Glacial Lake Connecticut
By 20,200 years ago, the ice sheet had melted back to the Connecticut coast, and as it retreated, torrents of glacial meltwater
filled the valley that was to become Long Island Sound,
gradually creating the freshwater Glacial Lake Connecticut
(see illustrations, pp. 34–35 and p. 36, bottom). A similar
meltwater lake formed just east of the Orient Point–Fishers
Island Moraine, in the area that is now Block Island Sound.
Note that the sea level was still hundreds of feet lower than
it is today, so Glacial Lake Connecticut was a large, inland
freshwater lake situated about 100 miles north of the ancient
Atlantic Coast.
9/7/16 10:03 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
Hundreds of meltwater streams running south from the
receding ice sheet sent large amounts of fine silt into Glacial
Lake Connecticut, settling at the bottom and filling the basin
with deep layers of mud. These extensive lake-bottom sediments account for the relatively shallow average depth of the
Sound, about 64 feet (see illustration, pp. 38–39).
For about 3,000 years Glacial Lake Connecticut occupied the
Long Island Sound Basin, steadily draining through an exit
stream where the Race is today. This stream gradually cut a
channel into the soft sediments of the Harbor Hill–Fishers
Island Moraine. Glacial Lake Block Island Sound had earlier
drained away to the sea through what is now the Block Island
Channel, and the drainage channel through the Race also
flowed through the Block Island Channel south to the sea.
31
Sheffield Island in the Norwalk
Islands is a remnant of the
Norwalk–Old Saybrook Moraine
and is typical of small islands
formed from loose glacial debris,
sand, silt, and glacial boulders. The
soft banks of these earthen glacial
islands erode quickly, leaving a
ring of glacial boulders. Although
Sheffield Island is large enough
to contain a small forest and
salt marsh, it has no permanent
freshwater and supports few land
mammals.
By about 17,900 years ago, the glacial lakes had drained, leaving smaller lakes and river channels at the bottom of a largely
dry basin that was probably transitioning from northern
spruce-fir forest and tundra into woodlands that more closely
resemble today’s central New England mixed hardwood
forests.
The formation of modern Long Island Sound
By 17,600 years ago, the glacial ice sheet had retreated north
of Connecticut and the climate was steadily warming. As the
Wisconsinan Glacial Episode waned, two interrelated and
competing forces affected the beginnings of today’s Long
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 31
9/7/16 10:03 PM
32
REGIONAL MORAINES
Ic
Meigs Point at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut, is a
recessional moraine that you can hike over.
e
m
a
rg
in
,1
8 ,3
00
y
ea
rs
ago
C ONNEC TIC UT
N EW
YOR K
New Haven
Bridgeport
Norwalk
m
Ham
Roanoke P
Moraine
LONG I SL A N D
S OU N D
Norwalk Islands
Captain Islands
New
Rochelle
Port Jefferson
The
Bronx
H ar bo r H
Great Neck
e of the
Th e f a r t h e s t a d v a n c
ill M orai
Roanoke Point M
ne
orai
ne
ne
ma Morai
Ronkonka
ago
0 years
0
0
,
5
2
about
Sheet,
e
c
I
e
d
i
L aurent
Queens
Brooklyn
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 32
a
on
Meigs Point
ne
orai
kM
roo
o
b
y
a
rs ag
ld S
yea
No r
ds–O
,300
0
2
w alk Islan
~
Stamford
Harrison
Madison
Branford
West
Haven
9/7/16 10:04 PM
BOSTON
PHYSICAL COAST
33
MA
Providence
ag
The eroded cliffs of the Harbor Hill recessional moraine at Wildwood State
Park, Wading River, Long Island.
r
Ice m a
, 19
gin
,
rs
ea
0y
50
New
Bedford
R HODE
I SL AND
o
Newport
Madison
m
Ham
d
Le
et–
ass
on
e 20
rain
Mo
d
r
ya
yea
,200
Ab ou
F ishe rs Is .
O r i e nt P t .
to in
tP
ien
Or
Roanoke Point
Moraine
e
rain
n t Mo
Mystic
Fishers Island
Moraine
Orient Point
Moraine
go
ars a
Charlestown
Moraine
go
rs a
New
London
Meigs Point
e
rain
e Poi
B
H
R
er’s
s
arle
Ch
ine
ora
nM
tow
BLO C K
I SL A N D
S OU N D
Rec
s ag
o
Bl o ck
Isl and
Te r
m
Ab o
e s s i o n a l mor ai
ne
aine
mor o
l
a
in
s ag
5,0
ut 2
ear
00 y
ine
ora
am
kom
on
onk
h
Fis
nd
Isla
t 21,300 y
ear
The great regional moraines of
New England and Long Island
The green line marks the southernmost edge of the Laurentide Ice
Sheet that covered New England 25,000 years ago. The terminal
moraine is a huge pile of boulders, rocks, sand, and silt that today
forms part of Montauk Point, as well as Block Island, Martha’s
Vineyard, and Nantucket.
The Laurentide Ice Sheet did not melt at a steady rate. About
21,300 years ago, the climate cooled again, and for hundreds of
years the ice sheet piled up a second massive recessional moraine
system, the brown line on the map.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 33
9/7/16 10:04 PM
34
GLACIAL LAKE CONNECTICUT
The exposed continental shelf south of
modern Long Island acted as a refugium, an
ice-free refuge south of the ice sheet, where
many plants and animals were able to survive
the maximum advance of the ice and then
repopulate Long Island and Connecticut as the
ice melted northward.
nouskrabs
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 34
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
35
Glacial Lake Connecticut
About 20,300 years ago, Glacial Lake Connecticut occupied the same
area and roughly the same shoreline as the current Long Island Sound.
The glacial lake was entirely freshwater runoff from the melting
Laurentian Ice Sheet covering most of Connecticut. The area that
became Long Island was a broad, flat outwash plain between and
south of two major moraines. The area was thinly covered with tundra
and taiga vegetation, roughly the way northern Labrador is today.
The Atlantic coastline was still about 75 miles south of Glacial Lake
Connecticut: much of the world’s freshwater was bound up in glacial ice,
and the sea level was about 300 feet lower than it is today.
Glacial Lake Connecticut. This modern meltwater lake at the foot of a glacier in Iceland approximates how most
of the Connecticut coast looked at the time of Glacial Lake Connecticut.
Photo: bbsferrari
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 35
9/7/16 10:04 PM
36
EVOLUTION OF LONG ISLAND SOUND
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 36
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 37
37
9/7/16 10:04 PM
38
PHYSICAL COAST
Island Sound. The earth’s crust, which had been depressed by
the tremendous weight of the ice sheet over New England,
began to rebound when the ice melted. At the same time, the
melting ice sheet drained into the ocean and sea levels began
to rise (see illustration, pp. 34–35).
For some unknown period of time, these two forces—rising
land and sea levels—competed at the east and west entrances
of the valley that would become Long Island Sound. The land
rose for a time, but finally the sea level rose faster, and by
about 17,900 years ago, the sea had begun to flood the Long
Island Sound and Fishers Island Sound basins, reaching a
level about 130 feet lower than today’s sea level. Long Island
Sound’s life as a brackish estuary had begun (see illustration,
p. 37 bottom).
Over the next 6,000 years, the sea levels gradually rose, filling
the basin to near present levels and creating today’s Long
Island Sound: a relatively shallow, brackish water estuary,
open at both ends, with a rocky bedrock coast on its north
shore and a series of peninsulas, islands, and cliffs composed
of an unsorted mixture of glacially derived sediments along
its southern coastline.
Long Island and the southern coast
Long Island is often described as the work of the Wisconsinan
Glacial Episode, but much of its underlying structure long
Glacial outwash
sediments of
Long Island
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Ronkonkoma
terminal moraine
Glacial outwash
sediments of
Long Island
Roanoke Point
recessional moraine
cliffs of Long Island
Long Island
Cretaceous coastal
plain sediments form
the foundation of Long Island
Cretaceous coastal
plain sediments
South
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 38
Crystalline bedrock
9/7/16 10:04 PM
The b
is alm
from
PHYSICAL COAST
39
predates the Wisconsinan ice, and in many locations the
layers of Wisconsinan glacial debris are a thin veneer over far
older structures.
The bedrock foundation of Long Island is similar to the
schists and gneisses that underlie the southwestern coast
of Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. Large
examples of this bedrock are easy to see along the shoreline
of the Hunter Island and Twin Island sections of Pelham
Bay Park in the Bronx (see illustration, pp. 40–41). From the
northern coast of Long Island Sound the bedrock formation
slopes downward toward the south: it lies 100 feet or more
below the North Shore of Long Island and 2,000 feet under
Fire Island and the southern shores of Long Island. Except for
a small outcrop (a nineteenth-century quarry) near Hallets
Point along the East River in northwestern Queens, there is
no exposed bedrock on Long Island.
The core structure of Long Island consists largely of sediment
layers dating from the Cretaceous Period, 145–66 million
years ago. These sediments, eroded from the Appalachian
Mountains, also make up much of the Atlantic coastal plain
and continental shelf south of New York Harbor. During the
Tertiary Period, 66–2.6 million years ago, multiple changes in
sea level modified these Cretaceous strata in ways that are not
thoroughly understood, but today the strata are well known
The basin of the Sound
is almost filled with layered sediments
from Glacial Lake Connecticut
e
d
LONG ISLAND SOUND
Recent marine
postglacial
sediments form the
current bottom surface
of the Sound
A simplified cross section of
today’s Long Island Sound and
Long Island. Note the steeply
sloping plane of the underlying
crystalline bedrock, the deep
layers of glacial lake sediments
that almost fill the Sound’s
basin, and the extensive layers of
Cretaceous Period coastal plain
sediments that underlie the later
glacial moraine sediments on
Long Island.
Ancient river delta
sediments submerged
in the Sound
Connecticut
River delta sediments
Glacial lake sediments
Crystalline bedrock
l
Vertical scale
exaggerated
Crystalline bedrock
lline bedrock
North
After R. Lewis, in Latimer et al., 2014, and M. Bell 1985.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 39
9/7/16 10:04 PM
40
Exposed granite gneiss bedrock on the shore of Twin Island, Pelham Bay Park, in the Bronx,
New York City. This bedrock formation and similar rock types also lie deep beneath Long Island.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 40
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 41
41
9/7/16 10:04 PM
42
PHYSICAL COAST
to the general public as the primary source of Long Island’s
drinking water. The Magothy, Raritan, and Lloyd aquifers are
water-rich layers of Cretaceous Period sediments that form
Long Island’s foundation (see illustration, pp. 38–39).
An elevation map of Long
Island (below), showing the
two major moraines that formed
the island, the Ronkonkoma
and Harbor Hill–Roanoke Point
Moraines. Note the large, smooth
outwash plains that lie north
and south of the Ronkonkoma
Moraine. The Ronkonkoma is a
terminal moraine, formed at the
southernmost edge of the glacier
25,000 years ago. The smaller
Harbor Hill–Roanoke Point–Orient
Point moraine complex was
formed about 21,300 years ago,
when the ice sheet had melted
back 8–10 miles to the north
and formed a second recessional
moraine.
The steep shoreline cliffs of Caumsett State Historic Park on
Lloyd’s Neck on the North Shore of Long Island are one of the
few places where these Cretaceous Period sediment layers are
exposed on the surface (see pp. 44–45), but the exposed Cretaceous layers in the Caumsett cliffs were probably elevated
by actions of the Wisconsinan glacial ice. The Cretaceous
sediments show as a red-orange band of gravel and clay about
50 feet up the Caumsett cliffs from the beach level.
The glacial outwash plains of Long Island began to form when
the major regional moraines were being created. Meltwater
streams and thousands of years of weathering distributed the
lighter sand, silt, and gravel of the moraines into broad, flat
outwash plains to the north and south of the Ronkonkoma
Moraine (see map below). The Harbor Hill–Roanoke Point
recessional moraine also weathered into outwash plains south
of the moraine, but north of the Roanoke Point Moraine,
the waves of Long Island Sound have steadily cut into the
moraine face, creating the almost continuous line of earthen
cliffs that form the southern shore of the Sound east of Port
Jefferson almost all the way to Orient Point.
The relatively smooth and flat outwash plains of Long Island
Digital elevation map created
by Prof. J. Bret Bennington of
Hofstra University and used with
permission.
Crane
Neck
Point
Eatons
Neck
Point
Lloyd
Neck
Oyster
Bay
Smithtown Bay
Port
Jefferson
Mantinecock
Point
THE PINE
BARRENS
LAIN
O U T WA S H P
“The Necks”
Huntington
H
Drowned
river valleys
HA R
BO
R
L
IL
M
OR
AI N
E
Hempstead
Lake
Ronkonkoma
Dix
Hills
West
Hills
RONKONK
Interlobate
moraine
Kame
delta
O U T WA S
Kame
delta
South
Valley Stream
AI
H PL
MOR
AINE
N
Bellport Bay
Babylon
AIN
O U T WA S H P L
A
OM
O yste
Great
South Bay
r B ay
Fire Island
Jones Beach
Long Beach
The Rockaways
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 42
9/7/16 10:04 PM
THE PINE
BARRENS
PHYSICAL COAST
43
had a significant effect on the colonial era and later development of the island. Long Island developed from the west and
New York Harbor toward the eastern end of the island. The
flat land and rich, sandy soil of the outwash plains favored
farming, dairy, and small livestock operations. Roads and
later railroads were relatively easy to build: the original track
of the Long Island Rail Road did not require a single bridge
from New York City to Greenport on the North Fork, a
distance of almost 90 miles. However, early waterpowered
manufacturing and mill operations were limited by a lack of
suitable streams for damming. Long Island has few streams
longer than five miles, and even the largest, the Peconic River,
flows so slowly that it was unsuitable for driving mills. The
cliffs of the Roanoke Point Moraine also limited the development of fishing and shipping on the southern coastline of the
Sound; there are only two small natural harbors in the almost
50 miles of coastline from Port Jefferson east to Orient Point.
The northern coast
T
RA
IN
RO
N
LAI
SH P
O U T WA
Riverhead
INE
ENS
IN
SH PLA
NE
POI
ANOKE
THE PINE
BARRENS
NT
M
O
IN
Great
Peconic
Bay
THE PINE
BARRENS
O U T WA
LA
SH P
E
E
Orient
Point
Shelter
Island
Gardiners
Island
Gardiners
Bay
Napeague
Bay
Montauk
Point
Little
Peconic
Bay
N
Roanoke
Point
A
RI
NT
Plum
Island
E
K
OMA
ON K
MO
RAI NE
East Hampton
RO
R
O
PO
I
N
MO
Southampton
IN
ort Bay
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 43
9/7/16 10:04 PM
44
PHYSICAL COAST
The wave-cut earthen cliffs of Lloyd Point in Caumsett State Historic Park, Long Island.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 44
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 45
45
9/7/16 10:04 PM
46
PHYSICAL COAST
The northern coast of Long Island Sound has a distinctly
rocky New England look, an abrupt change from the low,
sandy coastlines just south of New York Harbor. Connecticut
has no coastal plain. As in the rest of New England, multiple
glaciations over the past 2.6 million years removed the sediments of the former coastal plain, leaving behind a bare,
rocky shore that has moderated only slightly in the roughly
17,600 years since the glacier melted from the Connecticut
region.
A drowned coastline
As the Wisconsinan Glacial Episode ended and the sea level
rose to fill the basin of Long Island Sound, it drowned the
rough, postglacial coastline of Connecticut, filling the many
river mouths with salt water and creating the modern jagged
coastline of natural harbors and bays between jutting rocky
headlands. The rising sea isolated headlands such as Lighthouse Point in New Haven and Rocky Neck State Park in East
Lyme. Off Branford, a set of low granite gneiss hilltops was
flooded by the rising waters, and those hilltops became the
Thimble Islands.
The Quinnipiac River in New
Haven is a typical tidal river. The
brackish water near the river
mouth rises and falls with the
tides of Long Island Sound.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 46
The flooded river valleys explain the state’s many tidal rivers.
In the Mohegan language of the region, “tuck” and its English
corruption, “tic,” meant “tidal river.” Connecticut itself was
named after the Connecticut River, derived from the Algonquian “quinnehtukqut,” meaning “upon the long tidal river.”
From west to east the Bronx, Hutchinson, Mamaroneck,
Mianus, Norwalk, Saugatuck, Pequonnock, Housatonic,
Quinnipiac, Connecticut, Niantic, Thames, Mystic, and Pawcatuck Rivers are all tidal, as are many smaller rivers. Despite
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
47
Granite gneiss bedrock and glacial boulders at Bluff Point Coastal Reserve, Groton, Connecticut.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 47
9/7/16 10:04 PM
48
PHYSICAL COAST
the name, these tidal rivers usually contain salty or brackish
water only at their mouths on the Sound. Salt water rarely
moves farther than a mile inland in most smaller shallow rivers, making each river’s mouth an estuary. The tidal influence
is transmitted by the flow of river water, moving against the
tide as it comes in, backing up the river and producing a high
tide in the river itself, or flowing easily with the ebbing tide,
lowering the river level. On the Connecticut River the surface
water is largely fresh at the I-95 bridge, and salt water rarely
moves north of that point, at least at the surface. In a large,
deep river like the Connecticut, relatively heavy salt water
may intrude farther upstream, flowing underneath a layer of
lighter freshwater near the surface.
The extensive salt marshes of
Stonington, Connecticut’s Barn
Island Wildlife Management Area
sit on river delta sediments, as do
all the large salt marshes along
the north coast of Long Island
Sound.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 48
A sediment-poor coast
The rocky northern coastline of the Sound is relatively poor
in sand and other sediment. As a result, there are only a few
small sandspits and no true barrier islands; other large, sandy
coastal features are also largely absent. Connecticut’s most
common coastal sediment areas are small river deltas formed
of sand and gravel sediments carried by meltwater streams
flowing off the glacier as it melted. These small, flat delta areas
near the coast were ideal for early farming and later were
perfect locations for small airports. Stratford’s Sikorsky Airport, Tweed–New Haven Airport, and the Groton Airport all
sit on river delta sediments, as do all of Connecticut’s major
salt marshes. Most of these north shore river deltas of fine
sediment are now submerged in Long Island Sound, drowned
when the sea level rose as the Wisconsinan Glacial Episode
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
49
ended (see illustration, pp. 38–39 bottom).
When the ancient bedrock along the northern shore of the
Sound was corrugated into north-south folds by continental
collisions 500 million years ago, it had major effects on the
river drainage patterns along the Westchester and Connecticut shorelines and on the human development of the
northern coast of the Sound. The major New England rivers
that drain into the Sound all run in roughly north-south
valleys originally created by bedrock folding or fault lines. As
you drive east or west along Route 6 or the Merritt Parkway in
Connecticut you experience these giant north-south folds in
the bedrock as a continuous series of rises over hills and descents into valleys, with few flat stretches of ground between
Greenwich and Stonington.
The combination of bedrock ridges interspersed with valleys,
a complex coastline of bedrock promontories, and wide tidal
river mouths made the development of east-west roads and
bridges difficult or impossible for early European settlers on
the northern coast of the Sound. However, the complex coastline offered many natural harbors, and cities like Bridgeport,
New Haven, and New London became major shipping centers
for both local coastal and international trade. In the absence
of coastal roads and bridges, sail and later steamboat traffic
on Long Island Sound were the only practical ways to move
east and west along the northern coast of the Sound. As iron
building technologies advanced in the mid- to late nineteenth
century, railroad and later automobile bridges were finally
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 49
9/7/16 10:04 PM
50
PHYSICAL COAST
built across the wide mouths of the Housatonic, Connecticut,
and Thames Rivers.
The thin, stony soils of Westchester County, New York, and
coastal Connecticut did not favor large-scale farming, and
most agriculture along the northern coast of the Sound faded
as competition from more efficient farmlands in the Midwest
combined with new canal and railroad networks to make
grain and produce cheaper to import than to grow locally.
However, the many small to medium-sized rivers running
swiftly in narrow, rocky valleys favored the development of
waterpowered manufacturing, and many small grain mills
and early factories were constructed along the Connecticut
coastal slope. The north-south pattern of Connecticut’s rivers
also helped settlement and trade: goods were easily shipped
downriver from the interior to the coast for transport on
larger ships.
Mystic Seaport, Connecticut.
The rugged north coast offered
early European settlers many fine
natural harbors that were crucial
for the early colonial development
of the northern coast of the
Sound.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 50
Glacial boulders and erratics
Millions of glacial boulders dot the landscapes surrounding
Long Island Sound, and the shallows of the Sound itself are
notorious among boaters for the hundreds of hidden rock
hazards. Not every glacial boulder, however, is a glacial erratic. Glacial erratics are boulders that have been moved by
ice some distance from their original bedrock sources, so that
the rock type of the glacial erratic does not match the bedrock
underneath it. The Wisconsinan ice sheet rarely moved glacial
9/7/16 10:04 PM
PHYSICAL COAST
boulders more than a few miles from their bedrock sources.
Far more commonly, the glacier loosened large chunks of
rock and boulders without moving them far from their
source. For instance, most of the many glacial boulders you
see at Bluff Point in Connecticut (see illustration, p. 47) are
made of the same bedrock that is exposed at the southern end
of the point.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 51
51
Glacial boulders can range in
size from softball-sized lumps to
towers of rock as big as houses.
In New Haven’s West Rock Ridge
State Park the famous Judge’s
Cave assemblage of large glacial
boulders was served as a hideout
for two of the three regicide
judges who sentenced England’s
King Charles I to death before
fleeing to the New World and
Connecticut. As punishment
to Connecticut for harboring
the regicides, Long Island was
removed from Connecticut colony
and given to New York colony
in 1676.
9/7/16 10:04 PM
52
Fair-weather cumulus clouds over Gardiners Island.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 52
9/7/16 10:04 PM
53
Weather and Water
Sailing off Norwalk, Connecticut. On a summer weekend day as many as 90,000 boats may be out on
Long Island Sound.
The southern New England and Long Island Sound coastal
regions are affected by two major ocean currents: the cold
Labrador Current that flows south from the Arctic Ocean
along the Atlantic Coast and the warm Gulf Stream that flows
northeastward several hundred miles south of Long Island.
Although the Gulf Stream may seem far from Long Island
Sound, the area benefits from its warmth and from regular
warm-water gyre offshoots that come much closer to the
Sound and the Block Island Sound region, particularly in
summer and early fall.
Long Island Sound’s coastal weather is fairly moderate by
New England standards. Summer and fall are typically warm
and relatively dry. In winter and spring the cold temperatures
of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean beyond produce
chilly weather, made more so in spring by the high average
rainfall in March and April. The region’s skies are often cloudy
or filled with fair-weather clouds, with unobstructed sunshine
only 55–60 percent of the time. Long Island Sound’s weather
can be fickle, and conditions can change abruptly. As the old
regional saying goes, “If you don’t like the weather at the moment, just wait a few minutes.”
Wind and water patterns
In summer and fall the dominant wind patterns over the
Sound are from the west and southwest. They bring warm,
moist air up from the south, which helps heat the region
after the chill of a long maritime winter and a slow warming
in spring. These dominant winds from the southwest are the
origin of the famous coastal New England phrase “down east.”
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 53
9/7/16 10:04 PM
54
WEATHER AND WATER
New Brunswick
Saint John
Eastern Maine
Coastal Current
Halifax
Nova Scotia
ME
Portland
Western Maine
Coastal Current
GULF OF
MA INE
Wilkinson
Basin
N o va Scotia
Georges
Basin
MA
Providence
New Haven
CT
RI
NY
The collision and interaction
of the cold waters from the
Labrador Current with the water
from the Gulf Stream to the south
are the major oceanic influences
on local weather around the
Sound. The contrast in water
temperatures can generate thick
fog banks at any time of year,
particularly in the Eastern Basin
and over eastern Long Island.
Browns
Bank
Cu
nt
rre
nt
re
La
br
ad
or
Cu
r
Boston
Scotian
Shelf
Jordan
Basin
Georges Bank
Nantucket
Shoals
ATLANTIC
O CE AN
Sailors followed the prevailing winds from the southwest
to make an easy passage downwind along the coast toward
Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In winter the dominant
winds in New England blow from the northwest (see illustration, p. 2). The main exceptions to these dominant patterns
are low-pressure storms such as hurricanes and nor’easters.
Nor’easters
Nor’easters are storms that typically originate in the Gulf of
Mexico as warm, moist, low-pressure systems that are then
steered northeast across the south-central United States by the
prevailing jet stream winds, eventually tracking north-northeast paralleling the Atlantic Coast. Nor’easters are particularly
likely when a large high-pressure system sits over the Bahamas area, as this forces the storms off their usual eastward
track and toward the northeast. Although a nor’easter can
appear at any time of year, these storms are more common
in the cold months between October and March, when they
can bring devastating winds, large coastal storm surges, and
blizzard conditions to coastal regions of the United States and
the Canadian Maritime Provinces. A large nor’easter can be as
destructive as any hurricane and can cause major changes in
the coastlines of Long Island and Connecticut.
As a low-pressure system, a nor’easter circulates in a counterclockwise motion and can be pictured as a circular clock face
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 54
9/7/16 10:04 PM
WEATHER AND WATER
55
Boston
New York
Warm water gyre
Cold water gyre
Washington, DC
Warm water gyre
Cape Hatteras
Cold water gyre
NASA Earth Observatory
for points of reference (see illustration, p. 57). As the storm
tracks along the coast, the winds circulating from about 5
o’clock to 10 o’clock blow freely across the ocean and pick up
speed and moisture. Observers along the coast will experience
high winds coming onto shore from the northeast direction—
hence the name “nor’easter.” In a powerful nor’easter the
winds off the ocean can pile up large waves and hurricanelike storm surges of up to 20 feet on ocean shores, flooding
coastal communities and causing shoreline erosion. Winter
nor’easters also bring snow. The largest recorded blizzards
along the East Coast were nor’easters, such as the famous blizzards of 1978 and 1996, which both dumped two to three feet
of snow along large sections of the East Coast in just a few
hours. Winter storm Nemo (see illustration, p. 58) in February 2013 was a classic blizzard-generating nor’easter, where
a huge, moist, low-pressure system traveled north along
the eastern seaboard and met another low-pressure system
coming east out of the central United States, triggering a large
blizzard that dumped record amounts of snowfall over New
England. Severe nor’easters don’t just bring snow. The winds
and waves from nor’easters accelerate erosion along the coast
and can make long-lasting changes, particularly in sandbars,
sandspits, and areas of soft marine sediments along the coasts.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 55
This NOAA satellite image
of the Gulf Stream codes water
temperatures from blue (cold) to
very warm (dark red). The rings are
warm or cold gyres, huge circular
areas that cycle off the main Gulf
Stream, and often bring tropic fish
and birds when they drift north
into the waters off Montauk and
Orient Point. Even the Eastern
Basin of the Sound gets some
tropic reef fish every year thanks
to these offshoots of the Gulf
Stream.
9/7/16 10:04 PM
56
WEATHER AND WATER
The average temperature and
rainfall profiles for New Haven,
Connecticut, are typical of the
region.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
96
97
°F
103
100
82
80
77
68
67
60
Average highs
20
66
79
63
48
44
42
42
38
37
31
28
26
25
Record lows
18
17
4
0
-7
4
3
2
1
76
58
48
41
Average lows
Dec
53
51
31
24
Nov
99
74
66
47
40
Oct
81
62
58
38
100
Sep
90
84
69
Aug
91
Record highs
40
Jul
-5
-4
Data for New Haven, Connecticut
Average monthly rainfall, in inches
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are tropical cyclones born as low-pressure systems
off the west coast of Africa that then track westward across
the Atlantic, gaining heat energy and moisture from the
tropical midocean and arriving on our side of the Atlantic
with storm-force winds and heavy seas. As they approach the
Atlantic Coast the north-tracking hurricanes gain additional
energy from the hot Florida Current at the base of the Gulf
Stream, and almost every year these tropical storms hit parts
of the East Coast. In the Long Island Sound region these
summer and fall storms are the warm-weather counterparts
to winter nor’easters and are a major factor in changing and
eroding local coastlines. A single major hurricane can cut
more earth from the coast than a decade’s worth of slow and
steady erosion from the usual weather and waves. In the worst
hurricanes the wind pattern is very similar to a nor’easter:
heavy winds arrive on the coast from the northeast due to the
counterclockwise circulation in these low-pressure storms.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 56
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WEATHER AND WATER
57
Although direct hits from major hurricanes are somewhat
rare on the relatively cool coastlines of New England and
Long Island, over the past 110 years, 69 tropical storms and
hurricanes have tracked over southern New England (see
illustration, p. 59).
Rising sea levels
Waves, winds, and storms have the most immediate visible
effect on the shape and shorelines of southern New England,
and the sea has risen steadily since the glaciers started melting
25,000 years ago. During the last glaciation the sea level was
so low and the ancient shorelines were so far from the modern shorelines that only in the past 3,000 years have the sea
and waves shaped the present shores of Long Island Sound
and its offshore islands.
Rising sea levels are no longer an ancient geologic curiosity.
The recent publicity over global climate change—along with
the acceleration of the long-term trend of rising seas—means
that rising sea levels will have a significant and visible effect
on shoreline residents and visitors over the coming decades.
Experts on climate change predict that Long Island Sound’s
waters will rise by at least a foot by the year 2100, and this rise
will have profound impacts on salt marshes, beaches, coastal
homes, and other coastal business and transportation infrastructure. The more pessimistic scientists who study climate
change see an accelerating trend in rising ocean levels, and
they predict that low-lying areas of the Sound’s coasts could
ME
A nor’easter moving up the
Atlantic Coast, showing a typical
storm track and counterclockwise
wind circulation.
NS
The most powerful winds
come from the northeast
Nor’Easter
MA
Cold air pulled
into the storm
NY
NJ
Jet Stream steers
the storm northeast
The storm gains strength and
moisture as it moves up the
East Coast offshore
Gulf of Mexico
Low
pressure
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 57
High pressure
blocks the normal
eastward track
9/7/16 10:04 PM
58
Image: NASA Earth Observatory
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WEATHER AND WATER
see a rise of three to six feet over the next century; in many
low-lying areas, shorelines could be pushed back several
hundred feet or more (see illustration, p. 60). The sea has
been rising steadily since the end of the Wisconsinan Glacial
Episode, but much of the recent alarm has centered not just
on the higher water levels but also on the increasing rate of
sea level rise.
59
Opposite:
A nor’easter is a winter hurricane,
and can cause even more damage
than summer storms. Here Storm
Nemo (February 2013) approaches
the Gulf of Maine.
Warmer global temperatures push up the sea level in two
ways: land-based polar ice caps and glaciers are melting, and
warm water occupies more volume than cold water.
Wave action
Ocean waves form as wind moves over the surface of the sea,
and the friction drag on the water surface forms ripples that
consolidate into larger waves. The process is largely a matter
of energy transfer: the sun warms the atmosphere and the
solar energy creates winds. The winds move over the ocean,
transferring some of their energy into the surface waters.
On average about 8,000 waves per day hit the exposed ocean
Data from the US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) records of the
tracks of 69 tropical storms and
hurricanes that have passed over
the region since 1900.
H3
H2
H1
Tropical storm
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60
WEATHER AND WATER
High estimate
6.6 feet
SEA LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS
for 2100 A.D.
Intermediate high
4.0 feet
Measurements of sea level with tide gauges
became common after 1880. After 1992 much more
accurate measures have been done by satellite, and
show that the sea is now rising at an eighth of an
inch per year, twice as fast as in 2003.
1500
1600
1700
1800
Low estimate
0.6 feet
1880
2013
–1 foot
Reconstructed from sediment samples
Intermediate low
1.7 feet
2100 A.D.
Observed
Projected
beaches of New England
and Long
Island.
As2013waves reach
Source: National
Geographic,
September,
land, the impact of their breaking creates enough energy over
time to move large quantities of sediment from the coast into
coastal currents. Although the glaciers contributed the earthy
substance of southern New England and Long Island, most
of what you see along the modern shoreline reflects the work
of wave energy eroding and sculpting that raw glacial till into
the regional coast that we see today.
A large storm wave can break onto the beach with a force as
great as two tons per square foot. Over the last few thousand
years even the relatively small waves of Long Island Sound
have removed large amounts of glacial sediments.
The rocky headlands of the Sound’s north shoreline are fairly
impervious to the modest waves of the Sound, but the soft
sediments that form the south shore of the Sound erode much
more quickly. Through a process called wave refraction, waves
tend to smooth out an irregular soft earthen or sandy coastline, attacking softer glacial sediment headlands that jut out
into the Sound along Long Island’s North Shore. Soft earthen
or sand headlands are worn down by the waves, and the
material the waves remove from headlands tends to be spread
along the surrounding coast by local currents that run parallel
to the shoreline. On the southern shore of Long Island Sound
the smooth arc of eroded moraine cliffs that stretches from
Port Jefferson all the way to Orient Point is a testimony to
the power of even the relatively small waves of the Sound to
smooth shorelines over time.
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WEATHER AND WATER
61
Tides and coastal zones
Apart from the moment-by-moment action of waves on the
shoreline, the tides most strongly define the movements of
water on Long Island Sound. Tides are like the slow breathing
actions of the Sound, attuned to the movements of the moon
and the sun and critical for plant and animal life both within
the Sound and along its edges. The tidal movements of ocean
water convey life and nutrients to such shoreline environments as salt marshes, beaches, and mudflats.
Ocean tides are caused primarily by the gravitational pull
of the moon and to a lesser extent by that of the sun. The
gravitational effects of the moon and sun on earth’s waters are
complex, and the shape and depth of local landforms and the
sea bottom further influence the depth and timing of tides.
The moon’s gravity and position relative to the earth are the
strongest influences on the height and timing of ocean tides.
As the moon rotates around the earth once every 27.3 days,
its gravitational pull creates a slight bulge in the ocean surface
closest to the moon. The lunar day—the time it takes the
moon to rotate once around the earth—is 50 minutes longer
than the solar day, and so the tide cycle advances 50 minutes
every day according to our clocks and calendars. These lunar
or astronomical tides are also semidiurnal, rising and falling
twice during each 24-hour-and-50-minute lunar day.
The relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun also modify
tidal height throughout the month. Twice a month, at the
new and full moon cycles, when the earth, moon, and sun
are all in alignment, the combined gravitational pull of the
moon and sun causes higher-than-average tides called spring
tides. These spring tides have nothing to do with the annual
season of spring; rather, they spring up 20–30 percent higher
than average high tides. Each spring tide lasts about four
days. When the moon and sun are completely out of phase,
during the first and last quarters of the moon, tidal ranges are
20–30 percent lower than average, and the resulting unusually
moderate tides are called neap tides.
Roughly 50-minute advance each day
2:00 AM
2:41 AM
Tides don’t occur at the same
times every day because tides
are influenced by the lunar day,
which is 50 minutes longer than
the solar day.
3:25 AM
10 feet
8
6
4
2
Feb 26
12
2
4
6 8
AM
10 12
Feb 27
2
4
6
PM
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 61
8
10 12
2
4
6 8
AM
10 12
Feb 28
2
4
6
PM
8
10 12
2
4
6 8
AM
10 12
2
4
6
PM
8
10 12
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62
WEATHER AND WATER
Tides are also influenced by how close the earth is to the
moon. The moon does not rotate around the earth in a perfect
circle: it rotates in a slightly oval path that puts the moon
closer to the earth twice every 27.3 days. When the moon is
closest to the earth in its oval orbit, it is said to be in perigee.
Roughly twice a year the occurrence of spring tides in the
new or full moon phases will coincide with the moon’s closest
approach to earth in its orbit, and we get extremely high tides,
called perigean spring tides or king tides.
Winds can also affect tide cycles. In shallow waters a strong
opposing wind can temporarily slow or even stop tidal flow.
The nightmare scenario for weather effecting tides is when
a hurricane or nor’easter arrives at the same time as a spring
tide or—even worse—a perigean high tide. The combined
high tides and storm surge can cause terrible coastal flooding.
In April 1940 a nor’easter arrived during a perigean high tide
and drove water 13 feet above the normal high tidemarks,
flooding many New England and Long Island coastal towns
and causing extensive damage.
The shape and depth of bodies of water and the surrounding
landforms also affect the range of tidal movements. The tidal
ranges of ports around Long Island Sound vary greatly. Near
the eastern exits of Long Island Sound they typically vary 2–3
feet. In the Western Basin the funnel effect of the landforms
that narrow the Sound causes higher tides. At Greenwich
Harbor tides typically range to 7.4 feet. It takes about 2.5
hours for a tide to move across the east-west length of the
Sound and about the same time to move from the mouth of
the Connecticut River up to Middletown.
Long Island Sound is what oceanographers call a resonant
tidal basin, and this tidal resonance largely accounts for the
differences between tidal ranges from west to east in the
Sound. In long, narrow bodies of water like the Sound the
daily in-out movements of the tides set up a recurring wave
of momentum or resonance (think of a swing moving back
and forth), amplifying the size of the tidal movements in both
high and low tide cycles. The effect of tidal resonance is most
pronounced in the narrow Western Basin.
Connecticut’s four largest rivers are all tidal rivers. The
Housatonic, Quinnipiac, Connecticut, and Thames—as well
as many smaller rivers along the coast—all rise and fall in
unison with tides in Long Island Sound. The Connecticut
River is tidal as far north as Hartford, where the tidal range
averages just under two feet. In a tidal river the brackish water
of the Sound does not penetrate far upriver. Tidal rivers rise
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WEATHER AND WATER
63
Tide-generating force lines
Lunar gravity
Earth
Moon
Tides spring up when the pull of the moon and sun is aligned
Spring tide
Earth
Sun
Moon
Moon
Tides are lower when the moon is
not aligned with the sun
Earth
Sun
Neap tide
Last quarter
There are two neap tides and two
spring tides each lunar month
Sun
New
moon
Earth
Neap
Spring
Spring
Neap
Full
moon
First quarter
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 63
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64
WEATHER AND WATER
New Haven
Tidal ranges in Long Island Sound
(average range in feet)
6
Bridgeport
New
Rochelle
5
6.9
7.4
2.6
3.5
2.3
2.5
6.4
Norwalk
Stamford
Old Saybrook
Guilford
2.5
5
6.6
Port Jefferson
7.4
Glen Cove
2
The typical open-ocean tidal
range is about 2 feet
and fall because the high tide in the Sound backs up the flow
of fresh river water, temporarily raising the water level of the
river, and then lowers the river during low tide, when the
river flows more easily into the lower Sound waters.
Zonation
All coastal marine environments are organized in vertical
zones. Tide levels and the slope of the land as it meets the water determine the zones of marine life in salt marshes, along
rocky shores, and on beaches, where the difference of a few
inches of tide level or degrees of slope can completely alter the
vegetation and animal life in a zone.
Coastal environments also have horizontal zones. The most
common factors in horizontal zoning are slope and the distance to freshwater. Salinity and freshwater flow also influence
which plants and animals can survive in a particular habitat.
Salt spray is another horizontal zoning factor. Only a few
plant species can thrive in areas that regularly receive salt
spray, so distinct zoning patterns form along coastline vegetation. These zones separate areas that receive a constant spray
or dusting of salt from others that are more sheltered from
wind-borne salt.
Too much tidal soaking can drown some plants and animals
or bring in too much salt. Too little exposure to tides starves
many marsh creatures like fiddler crabs and mussels. For
many species, no tide water means no food. The influence of
tidal salt water is especially obvious in salt marshes. In the low
marsh that is partly submerged twice a day, tall, salt-tolerant
grasses like Saltwater Cordgrass predominate. Higher in the
marsh, where plants are less exposed to salt water, shorter
grasses like Saltmeadow Cordgrass form large salt meadows.
Each section of the salt marsh supports a unique community
of plants and animals with varying degrees of salt toler-
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 64
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WEATHER AND WATER
ance. Tidal water brings nutrients and prey animals into the
marsh at flood tide and removes nutrients from the marsh at
ebb tide, supporting marine environments in deeper water.
Marshes and tidal flow provide important shelter to the young
of many species of fish and marine invertebrates.
65
The vertical zonation of life
on rocky shores is usually quite
visible and is tightly related to the
height of tides and typical local
wave patterns.
Along rocky shorelines, vertical zonation creates distinct horizontal bands of bacterial, plant, and animal life, controlled
by tide levels and by competition among species for the best
spaces on the rocks.
Knowledge of average high and low tidemarks is usually
sufficient for a quick understanding of most coastal environments, but in salt marshes the monthly variation of spring
and neap tides ultimately controls zonation. Luckily, you don’t
need exotic tide tables to see the zones; you just need to look
at the pattern of plants to infer how high the highest high
tides get (the Mean Spring High Water, or MSHW, level). In
a typical Long Island Sound salt marsh, the MSHW level will
be marked by Marsh Elder (also called high tide bush) and
Groundsel Trees, which will grow right to the edge of a salt
marsh but cannot tolerate much direct contact with salt water.
Spot those two bushes, and you’ll know how high the highest
tides get in that marsh.
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66
WEATHER AND WATER
The tide-based vertical zonation
in salt marshes is no less critical
for wildlife but more difficult to
see unless you know the classic
marsh grasses and plants that
grow at certain tide heights.
Marsh Elder (Iva frutescens), also
known as high tide bush, is a good
indicator of the Mean Spring High
Water mark, the highest level of
saltwater flooding in salt marshes,
which happens twice each month.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 66
Salinities and temperatures
Water temperatures in Long Island Sound range widely
with the seasons, with near-surface temperatures averaging
33–45°F in winter and 70–75°F in summer. In January the average water temperature is about 34°F, and in especially cold
winters (such as early 2015), many shallow, brackish inlets
freeze over. Temperatures peak in mid-August at around 75°F,
which contributes to relatively mild fall temperatures along
the coast. For most of the year the Sound’s water temperatures
are fairly well mixed from surface to bottom. In summer,
however, a distinctly warmer layer develops near the surface,
forming a relatively sharp temperature divide between the
surface and the deeper waters.
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WEATHER AND WATER
67
Salinities in the Sound range from an oceanic 32 parts per
thousand (ppt) at the eastern end to a brackish 22 ppt in the
Western Basin. For comparison, average ocean salinity is 35
ppt, and freshwater has a salinity of no more than 0.5 ppt.
There is no strict definition of brackish water (mixed salt and
freshwater). In large estuaries like Long Island Sound and the
Chesapeake Bay, salinities can range from 1–5 ppt near river
mouths to 30–33 ppt near outlets to the ocean.
New Haven
Salinity ranges in Long Island Sound
Old Saybrook
Guilford
(parts per thousand)
Bridgeport
20–22 ppt
Nearly oceanic salinties
25–30 ppt
Stamford
New
Rochelle
32–33 ppt
Eastern Basin
Central Basin
Norwalk
Western Basin
Port Jefferson
33–35 ppt
Glen Cove
Open-ocean salinties
Typical salinities for Long Island Sound
Number of species
Freshwater
species
Marine
species
Brackish water
species
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Salinity in parts per thousand (ppt)
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 67
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68
Mystic Seaport Museum and the whaler Charles W. Morgan.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 68
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69
Human History
Library of Congress
A train of the New Haven Railroad in the 1850s. Railroads opened the Connecticut coast to development
and to commuters from the New York City region.
With the retreat of the glaciers from the Long Island Sound
area around 15,000 years ago, Paleo-Indian–Period huntergatherers probably moved into what was then a fairly harsh,
tundralike landscape. The first radiocarbon-dated evidence of
human activity in southern New England dates from around
10,000 years ago. People likely moved even earlier into the
ice-free refugium areas south of what is now Long Island,
but evidence of those early settlements has long since been
submerged by the Atlantic Ocean.
During this time the climate in the Sound region was rapidly
warming, and the area was transitioning from tundra and
spruce-fir boreal forests into the oak-maple-hickory eastern
deciduous forests of today. When the first European explorers
arrived in coastal New York and southern New England, the
area had approximately 90,000 Native American residents, but
population estimates are imprecise because so many Native
Americans died of European diseases before any practical
census could be conducted.
Most Native Americans in the Long Island Sound area spoke
closely related variants of the Algonquin language and had
distinct territorial areas along the Connecticut shoreline
and eastern Long Island. On the Connecticut coast, tribes
migrated between shoreline settlements in warmer weather
and more sheltered inland locations during winter. The Native
American tribe and place-names that survive were assigned
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70
HUMAN HISTORY
MASSACHUSETTS
Pocumtuc
Massachusett
Nipmuck
CONNECTICUT
RHODE
ISLAND
Tunxis
NEW
YORK
Pequot
Mohegan
Paugussett
Mattabesic
Quinnipiac
West
Niantic
Mashpee
Narragansett
East
Niantic
Cape Cod
Bay
Wampanoag
Nantucket
Sound
Narragansett
Bay
Martha’s
Vineyard
Block
Island
Long Island Sound
Shinnecock
Nauset
Nantucket
Montaukett
Long Island
The Native American tribes of
the Long Island and southern New
England region gave us some of
the most familiar place-names in
our landscape.
*The long, rich history of the
Native American peoples of
southern New England is beyond
the scope of this guide. For more
information, I highly recommend
these two books:
Changes in the Land: Indians,
Colonists, and the Ecology of New
England, by William Cronon,
revised edition. New York: Hill and
Wang, 2003.
Connecticut’s Indigenous
Peoples: What Archaeology,
History, and Oral Traditions Teach
Us About Their Communities and
Cultures, by Lucianne Lavin. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 70
by European settlers who phonetically translated the original
Algonquian names. Those ancient names are some of the
most familiar in the region: Connecticut, Niantic, Quinnipiac, Narragansett, Metacomet, Montauk, Shinnecock,
Hammonasset, and Housatonic are but a few of the Native
American tribe and place-names now famous in the region.
The population density of pre-Columbian Connecticut was
very low by today’s standards, and the hunting, fishing, and
small-scale agriculture the tribes practiced had modest ecological affects on the land or shoreline.*
European explorers and early settlers
Dutch explorer and merchant Adriaen Block was the first
European to describe Long Island Sound in detail. In multiple
voyages through the length of the Sound in 1611–14, Block
surveyed the Connecticut Coast and Block Island (which
bears his name) and traveled up the Connecticut River past
the Hartford area. Maps of the Connecticut coast that Block
helped prepare note a small island off the Guilford and Madison coast, Valken Eylandt, or Falcon Island. Block could have
seen migrating Peregrine Falcons or Merlins (small falcons),
or this could be a mistaken reference to the large Common
and Roseate Tern colonies still seen on today’s Falkner Island.
It might also be a reference to the numerous Ospreys that
once nested on the island. Block also described New Haven
Harbor, East and West Rocks, and the Quinnipiac River
marshes.
Dutch fur traders established a brief settlement near Hartford
in 1623, but the English quickly came to dominate the New
9/7/16 10:04 PM
HUMAN HISTORY
71
York and Connecticut area in the mid-1600s. In 1638, John
Davenport, Theophilus Eaton, and their followers established the Quinnipiack Colony at New Haven, the first major
English settlement along the Connecticut coast, and about the
same time a smaller settlement was founded at Saybrook, at
the mouth of the Connecticut River.
The arrival of Adriaen Block and the Dutch and English
settlers who followed him were a disaster for the Native
Americans of the Long Island Sound region. Contemporary
histories of the time mention regional conflicts such as King
Philip’s War of 1675–76 but rarely describe the devastation
that European diseases caused to Native Americans, who had
no immunity to the new infections. In many areas, up to 95
percent of the population died of smallpox, measles, plague,
and other diseases within a decade of European arrival.
Early Dutch settlers from New Amsterdam (later to become
New York City) began to settle the western end of the area
they named Lange Eylant. Although English from Connecticut established several small communities on eastern Long
Island by the mid-1600s, they did not settle in western Long
Island until after the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam
to the English in 1674. The English settlers on eastern Long
Island considered themselves part of the Connecticut Colony,
but the Duke of York, who resented Connecticut for having
harbored the regicide judges who sentenced his father, King
James I, to death, forced Long Island to join New York in
1676, ending Connecticut’s claim to the island. During the
Adriaen Block’s tiny ship
Onrust (Restless), built by Block
and his men on a beach on
Manhattan Island during the
harsh winter of 1614 after their
original ship burned and sank
in an accident.
Wikipedia: Homan map of 1716
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72
HUMAN HISTORY
Revolutionary War and well into the 1800s, Long Island
remained largely rural and sparsely settled. Settlement gradually moved eastward from New York City, driven primarily by
small farms that fed the growing city.
Long Island Sound and the larger Connecticut tidal rivers
provided a crucial transportation network at a time when
roads between settlements were few and poor. The strong
maritime tradition that persists in Long Island Sound ports
like Stonington, Mystic, New London, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Port Jefferson was founded before canals, railroads,
and highways made routine land transportation possible. The
era of steamships in the early to mid-1800s only increased the
importance of Long Island Sound as a transportation route
between New York, eastern Long Island, Connecticut, Boston,
and the rest of New England.
For more than 50 years in the
nineteenth-century steamships
like this New Haven line vessel
were the primary transportation
on Long Island Sound.
The Long Island Rail Road, which reached Greenport on
the north fork of the Island in 1844, was planned as a faster,
safer alternative to Long Island Sound steamship lines for
passenger traffic and light freight shipping to Boston. Bostonbound New York passengers rode the Long Island Rail Road
east to Greenport, where they took a steamship ferry across to
Stonington Connecticut, and then boarded a train to Boston.
As a financial venture the early reailroad nearly failed, but the
new access route across the island spurred development in
the middle and eastern reaches of Long Island, and ultimately
those new towns proved to be the rail line’s savior. During the
mid-nineteenth century the railroad opened more than 50
stations in (present-day) Nassau County and another 40 in
NE
N E W H AV E N L I N E
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HUMAN HISTORY
73
Suffolk County, creating the foundation for the later growth
of suburbs and industry.
With the opening of the New Haven Railroad between New
York and Boston in 1848, travelers gained a fast, safe alternative to steamboat service, which could be dangerous during
winter. Travel of all kinds increased along the Connecticut
shore. The Connecticut coast became a popular vacation
destination for New Yorkers, echoed today in popular tourist
areas like Mystic and the lower Connecticut River towns. In
the late 1800s the New Haven Railroad and the LIRR also
created another regional staple: the daily commuter. For the
first time, wealthy people could consider living far from their
place of work, and western Long Island and southwestern
Connecticut became distant suburbs of New York City.
The shoreline was a major source of food for Connecticut
and Long Island residents all through the 1700s and 1800s,
and shellfish, finfish, and lobsters supported the growing
population. The still relatively unpolluted Sound supported
large populations of Eastern Oysters, Atlantic Bay Scallops,
Northern Quahogs, and Northern Lobsters.
Early human effects
Late in the colonial period and into the early 1800s Connecticut’s growing industries began to have significant effects
on the Connecticut rivers and shoreline and on the health of
Long Island Sound. On Long Island the population gradually expanded eastward from New York City, but the lack of
streams suitable for damming to support small industry and
grain mills initially slowed settlement there.
N E W HAV E N L I N E
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74
HUMAN HISTORY
Connecticut’s major tidal rivers were once the largest habitat
for anadromous fish, such as Atlantic Salmon, Striped Bass,
Alewife, and American Shad, on the Atlantic Coast. These fish
live mostly in salt water but enter freshwater rivers in spring
to breed. Construction of the dam at Turner’s Falls, Massachusetts, in 1794 largely destroyed the Connecticut River
salmon run. Smaller dams and heavy Industrial Era pollution
finished off fish runs in Connecticut’s rivers until fish restoration efforts began in the 1970s.
Early waterpowered factories
along Connecticut’s smaller rivers
like Norwich’s Ponemah Mills,
though vital to the economic
development of the state, largely
destroyed the indigenous breeding populations of anadromous
fish species, including Striped
Bass, American Shad, and Atlantic
Salmon.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 74
Whaling ports
Whales were once abundant in local New England waters.
Before they became widely hunted—and almost extinct in
New England waters—Humpback Whales were commonly
seen in Block Island Sound and the Eastern Basin of Long Island Sound. In 1799, 200 whales were counted off Stonington,
Connecticut, although the account does not name the species.
Early whalers ventured no farther than the Georges Bank,
Newfoundland, and the Grand Banks, but by 1800, Connecticut whalers needed to travel to the Arctic, the South Atlantic,
and to even round Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean to fill
their holds with whale oil.
North Atlantic Right Whales and Humpback Whales were
the primary targets in early New England whaling because
they are coastal species that are slow swimmers and float
when killed. Fin Whales and Northern Minke Whales were
also abundant in New England waters but were too fast for
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75
early whalers to capture easily and tended to sink when dead.
Sperm Whales were valued for their high-quality oil, but they
live in deep ocean waters and seldom approach the shallow
waters of the continental shelf. Today Sperm Whales are
sometimes seen in the very deep waters along the continental
shelf and Hudson Canyon areas well south and east of Long
Island but never approach the coast unless they are unhealthy.
Whaling became more sophisticated by the 1820s, with large
ships capable of long ocean voyages and with large welltrained crews to chase the fast and strong Sperm Whale,
which yielded the most profitable oils and candle waxes.
Mystic, Connecticut, is famous for its association with Yankee
whaling, but Bridgeport, New Haven, East Haddam, New
London, and Stonington also supported whaling fleets from
the 1830s to the 1860s. New London was New England’s largest whaling port and supported more tonnage of whale ships
than did the more famous Nantucket or New Bedford. More
than 250 whaling ships sailed from New London at the height
of the trade in the mid-1840s. During this time Port Jefferson
developed as a major regional shipping center on the Sound
but did not support a significant whaling fleet.
The Industrial Age
Connecticut’s geography lent itself to small-scale, waterpowered manufacturing, and industry developed there much
more quickly than in the relatively rural, relatively isolated
towns of Long Island. Before the steam engine and the electric
motor, water mills with small dams were used to convert
the power of flowing rivers into energy for factories. Large
tidal rivers like the Connecticut and the Housatonic were
too large to be dammed for waterpowered manufacturing.
The many smaller rivers in Connecticut’s landscape, such
as Norwich’s Shetucket River or the Naugatuck River in the
Western Uplands, were ideal for small-scale manufacturing,
Whaling in the Sound region declined sharply after the Civil War
as the war disrupted the whaling
trade, the world’s whale population fell sharply, and kerosene
from petroleum became the
dominant fuel for home lighting.
Whaling in Connecticut died out
by 1900.
U.S. whale harvest, in thousands of tons
250
War of 1812
Civil War
200
150
100
50
0
1810
1810
1830
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 75
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
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HUMAN HISTORY
and by the 1830s, Connecticut was the center of the American
brass trade. In an era before plastics, brass was the most
widely used material for shaping all kinds of small, durable
household items. Everything from buttons to lamps, cooking
utensils, and candlesticks was made from Connecticut brass.
Using a British process that fused zinc and copper, the factories dumped large amounts of copper residues into the rivers.
By the mid-1800s, Connecticut rivers like the Naugatuck
had serious copper and other metal pollution problems that
persist today, long after the brass factories shut down.
A boom in town and city populations accompanied the explosion of manufacturing in the Connecticut landscape. The state
grew and prospered in the great manufacturing period from
1850 to 1950, but the population strained the environment’s
ability to wash away factory wastes and sewage. By 1900,
many communities along the coast had seen their rivers, salt
marshes, and harbors become dead zones too polluted to
support most aquatic life. Despite the damage to coastal water
quality, most cities along the shore dumped untreated sewage
into their harbors and the Sound well into the late twentieth
century, and a number of towns still release raw sewage during periods of high storm-water drainage. After World War II,
the suburban population of Nassau County exploded, with all
the attendant problems of sewage disposal, automobile pollution, and impervious surfaces such as roads, building roofs,
and parking lots. Only after passage of the Federal Clean
Water Act of 1972 were significant gains made in cleaning up
the region’s waterways, primarily by mandating sewage treatment and through new limits on dumping raw manufacturing
wastes into rivers and Long Island Sound.
Long Island Sound and the Connecticut coast face severe
challenges today from human wastes, lawn fertilizers, and the
polluted runoff of paved areas, but the situation is steadily if
slowly improving. Overall nitrogen pollution rates are down
in many areas due to improvements in sewage treatment
systems.
Oyster and lobster fisheries
The Eastern Oyster has been a valuable human food resource
in our area for at least 5,000 years. Native Americans harvested so many oysters that we can locate their ancient coastal
villages by large mounds of discarded shells. Oysters were
once superabundant along the Connecticut coast. In early colonial times the Quinnipiac River was paved for its last three
miles with a solid bed of oysters, and the giant beds continued
well into New Haven Harbor. This profusion of shellfish was
not unusual—most river mouths and harbors along the Con-
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79
necticut coast had large oyster beds, as well as rich shallows
and mudflats full of clams and scallops. The water was much
clearer than today’s murky green, and the abundant sunlight
supported large beds of Eelgrass.
After the Civil War, the Connecticut and Long Island oyster
fisheries grew rapidly, fueled by the needs of a growing population and aided by the decline of the whaling industry. Many
Connecticut whalers shifted into oystering and lobster fishing
in the Sound. Demand soon outstripped the natural supplies
in local oyster beds, but New Haven’s resourceful oystermen
had discovered that oysters could be transplanted successfully
from their natural riverbeds into the deeper waters of harbors
or even farther offshore. At the peak of oystering in New
Haven in 1850–80, the shallows of New Haven harbor were
filled with oyster beds, as was the landward side of West Haven’s Sandy Point, guarded around the clock against theft. In
Fair Haven, along the Quinnipiac River, oyster houses lined
both riverbanks and employed thousands of workers by the
early 1880s. Along the mouth of the Housatonic, seed oyster
beds ran for several miles. Connecticut was the center of the
nation’s oyster industry.
Amid the prosperity of the 1880s were warning signs that the
Sound’s fisheries were on a collision course with the rapidly
growing population and rampant industrial pollution and
sewage contamination of Connecticut’s rivers and harbors.
Deteriorating water quality forced oyster growers to move
their beds farther and farther out into the Sound. Oysters are
filter feeders, and they were known to absorb contaminants
from polluted water, but the public health dangers of eating
raw oysters harvested in the increasingly murky coastal waters
were poorly understood or willfully ignored.
Lobster landings
(Harvest in millions)
Oyster harvest
(Economic value, millions of dollars)
15
50
CT
NY
CT
NY
40
10
30
20
5
No data
10
0
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
After Sound Health 2012, www.longislandsoundstudy.net
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HUMAN HISTORY
Tom Andersen’s book This Fine
Piece of Water is a useful resource
on the human and biological
history of Long Island Sound, as
well as an examination of its many
environmental challenges.
In his excellent book This Fine Piece of Water, environmental
writer Tom Andersen recounts an incident that shook the
confidence of oyster buyers throughout the Northeast and was
the beginning of the end for the Sound’s oystermen. In 1892,
a group of Wesleyan University students became violently
ill with typhoid fever, and it was learned that the students
had all dined on raw New Haven oysters at a fraternity party.
Investigation showed that the oysters had been bedded in the
Quinnipiac River near a sewage outflow from a neighborhood
with several recent typhoid cases. The link between polluted
water and the oysters was clear. This case was the first of many
incidents along the East Coast where polluted or contaminated oysters sickened or killed those who ate them. In 1924,
1,500 people along the East Coast and in Chicago developed
typhoid fever after eating contaminated oysters from Norwalk
and New Haven. The resulting 150 fatalities were a near-fatal
blow for the shoreline oyster industry.
The Long Island Sound oyster industry is much smaller today,
but the cleaner waters of the Sound and a steady demand for
the flavor of New England oysters have led to a renaissance in
marine aquaculture in the Sound. Firms like Norwalk’s Norm
Bloom and Son, Bridgeport’s Charles Island Oyster Farm,
and others together do about $15 million in annual sales
of excellent-quality oysters, harvesting more than 450,000
bushels per year.
The end of commercial lobster fishing
Connecticut’s lobster fishery was never as concentrated or visible as the more industrial oystering, but it persisted through
the twentieth century largely because of the resilience and
habits of the Northern Lobster itself. Lobsters are bottomdwelling, migratory scavengers that live in deeper waters and
were thus insulated from some of the worst effects of water
pollution during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In
recent years, however, their population in Long Island Sound
has plunged. The primary cause is the warmer temperatures
of the Sound, perhaps exacerbated by chemical pollution that
targets the lobster’s nervous and immune systems or disease
or (quite likely) all of these stress factors combined into a
perfect storm that has overwhelmed the population.
Tom Andersen sees climate change as the key to the lobsters’
decline: “The warmer water is significant because the American lobster is a cold-water species, and Long Island Sound has
always been at the extreme southern end of its inshore range.
In other words, before the Sound’s water started warming, water temperatures in the Sound were about as warm as lobsters
could tolerate anyway.”
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83
About 800 lobster fishers once worked the waters of Long
Island Sound, and under this intense fishing pressure in a
limited geographic area, the Sound’s lobster population was
more like a giant aquaculture farm than a wild fishery. In
the 1980s and 1990s over 90 percent of lobsters in the Sound
were caught within a year of reaching legal size. Many marine
biologists think that the lobster population was maintained at
an artificially high level by all the bait lobster fishers fed them
in the traps. This overpopulation led to yet more stress on the
species. The lobster population of Long Island Sound crashed
in 1999 and has shown no signs of recovery since then. There
are only about 20 commercial lobster fishers in Connecticut
today, and that number is falling.
In 2013, Connecticut passed a law banning two pesticides
that are thought to play a role in the major die-off of lobsters
in Long Island Sound. Methoprene and resmethrin have been
used to help kill mosquitos carrying the West Nile Virus.
Research has shown that lobsters carry a gene very similar
to one in mosquitos, and this genetic similarity may make
lobsters vulnerable to methoprene and resmethrin, but the
link to the lobster die-off is tenuous. Branford commercial
fisherman Bren Smith sees the local problem in more global
terms: “The lobstermen go after things like pesticides because
it’s traditional politics and regulation they understand. It’s
hard to wrap your head around a problem like the Sound
getting too warm. You can get local officials to ban pesticides,
but fighting climate change means you have to do things like
fight midwestern coal plants. It’s too abstract, so they fight
what they can locally, but the core problem is that the
Sound is too warm for lobsters.”
Northern Lobster
Homarus americanus
Connecticut announced a three-month
annual ban on lobstering in 2013 in
response to a federal mandate
to reduce the catch in Long
Island Sound by at least 10
percent, due to the plunging
population of lobsters in the
Sound. There will always be
a few Northern Lobsters in
the deeper waters of the
Sound, and the species
is doing well in the Gulf
of Maine and in Canada,
but Long Island Sound
is now a temperate water
habitat more suitable for
Blue Crabs than for Northern
Photo: Giuseppe Lancia
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HUMAN HISTORY
Lobsters, and Connecticut’s long tradition of commercial
lobstering has ended.
The twentieth century and the urban shoreline
The rapid urbanization and suburbanization of cities and
towns along the Connecticut coast and Long Island North
Shore has had a major effect on the natural systems of Long
Island Sound. The number of homes, stores, and various
kinds of commercial buildings exploded in the century between 1850 and 1950, and this growth was intimately tied to
the development of railroads along the Connecticut coast and
across the length of Long Island.
The newly opened Merritt
Parkway in Connecticut, below,
and Robert Moses’s Long Island
Parkway System were two of the
first US highway projects to take
advantage of the more powerful
cars of the 1930s.
As late as the 1840s, steamboats were the only means of
long-distance travel in the region for both commercial goods
and people. Although the New Haven Railroad opened a line
along the Sound from New Haven to New York in 1848, the
challenges of crossing the Connecticut and Thames Rivers
delayed continuous rail service along the shoreline until the
1880s. Railroads made daily commuting to and from New
York City practical for residents of southwestern Connecticut and southeastern New York, and this accelerated growth
along the Sound’s coasts. Railroads also spurred regional
tourism, particularly along the shoreline, so even towns east
of New Haven saw growth from the new lines. The Long
Island Rail Road made commuting practical from Manhattan
to the Gold Coast areas of Great Neck, Sands Point, and Glen
Cove and drove summer tourism from New York City to the
North Shore.
The primacy of the automobile
In 1914, Henry Ford revolutionized the young automobile
industry by introducing the Model T Ford, the first car that
Photo: Everett Historical
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85
middle-class Americans could afford to own. By 1925, the
Ford Motor Company was producing 9,000 Model Ts a day,
and the increase in automobile ownership in the 1920s led to
the building of improved roads. The first parkways in Long
Island, Westchester, and Connecticut date from the late 1920s
and early 1930s. Along with the roads came commercial
development, leading to a dramatic rise in the percentage of
land covered by impervious asphalt and cement pavements,
parking lots, and building roofs. The new roads created a
demand for faster and more powerful cars. Larger gasoline
engines in turn drove an increase in automobile exhaust, another major source of excess nitrogen in the environment and
in acid rains from the polluted atmosphere. New transportation options allowed the rapid growth of affordable suburban
housing in the 1950s and 1960s. The sprawling new suburban
communities required yet more cars, and all those new lawns
required millions of tons of fertilizer and hundreds of thousands of new sewer connections and septic fields.
In the early 1950s, the Eisenhower-era Interstate Highway
System Committee (dominated by Detroit carmakers) recommended that America’s transportation needs be met almost
entirely by cars and trucks. Construction of the US Interstate
Highway System began with the passage of the Federal Aid
Highway Act of 1956. We are still living with the consequences of this vast expansion of roads and highways at the expense
of mass transit and railroads.
Northeastern residents love to blame midwestern power
plants for air pollution, acid rain, and excess nitrogen in the
air, but in fact, our regional air-quality problems are at least
as much the result of vehicle exhaust fumes that originate
locally in the Connecticut, Long Island, and New York City
metropolitan areas. As raindrops wash pollutants from our
skies, the rain increasingly falls on impervious, man-made
surfaces and quickly runs into local sewers and storm drains.
The excess nitrogen, acids, metals, carbon particulates, and
other pollutants course into rivers and streams that lead into
the Sound. This runoff has severely contaminated our rivers,
harbors, and Long Island Sound.
Along the heavily populated coasts of western Long Island
Sound the filtering and absorptive benefits of natural ground
cover are so diminished that even seemingly small problems
have significant consequences. Pet wastes might not appear
to be a serious pollutant, but in such a densely populated
area many millions of pets produce a large volume of feces
that rarely makes it into the sewage treatment systems and
tends to flow from lawns and streets into tributaries and street
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HUMAN HISTORY
At street level people readily
notice such impervious surfaces
as roads and parking lots, but
building rooftops are also a major
cause of unfiltered runoff into
the Sound.
Photo: Courtesy of Michael Marsland
drainage, which eventually ends up as yet more nitrogen in
the Sound. Along with the burdens of airborne pollutants
and nitrogen, oil and other pollutants washed from streets,
and wastes from sewage treatment plants, the burden of
runoff pollutants washed into western Long Island Sound has
reached critical levels.
Sewage and nitrogen
Sewage is the primary continuing threat to the environmental health of Long Island Sound and Connecticut’s coast,
particularly in the Western Basin. Over the twentieth century
the amount of sewage flowing into Long Island Sound
almost tripled. Every day the 82 sewage treatment plants in
Connecticut and 23 plants in New York empty more than a
billion gallons of partially treated effluent into the Sound and
its tributaries. If combined, the sewage outflow from these
plants would be the fourth largest tributary of the Sound,
behind only the Connecticut, Thames, and Housatonic
Rivers in outflow. Besides the dangers of fecal bacteria and
other biological contamination, the sewage contains large
amounts of nitrogen, which is the root of most of the Sound’s
environmental challenges. The chief culprits in Long Island
Sound are massive outflows into the Narrows and Western
Basin from old and defective sewage systems in Westchester
and Nassau Counties on Long Island and Fairfield County in
Connecticut.
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87
Although most sewage is now at least partially treated before
it enters local waterways and Long Island Sound, sewage
systems are often overwhelmed by heavy rains and emit
untreated sewage after storms. In 2011, Connecticut alone
had 2,505 incidents of raw sewage discharges, totaling almost
1.5 billion gallons. In summer these rain-related raw sewage
discharges often lead to beach closures.
Recent storms have also caused catastrophic flows of sewage
into local waters. In October 2012, the heavy rains and storm
surge of Hurricane Sandy caused the release of more than 11
billion gallons of untreated sewage into the coastal waters of
Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. For comparison, that’s 50 times the volume
of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill or enough sewage to fill
the area of New York’s Central Park to a depth of 41 feet. In
Bridgeport, a single incident during Hurricane Sandy caused
the release of 17.1 million gallons of partially treated sewage
into Long Island Sound.
Nitrogen and hypoxia
Nitrogen is a naturally occurring element and, along with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, a fundamental building block of
life. In natural environments nitrogen is in high demand and
is usually in limited supply and
carefully conserved, particularly in plant physiology.
This growth-limiting role of
.16
scarce nitrogen is especially
.32
important in marine and
estuary ecosystems. When a
.56
.46
large artificial supply of ni.45
trogen—such as sewage—is
.62
.55
introduced into an aquatic
environment, the nitrogen
.79
.93
Nitrogen trade equalization, pounds per day
1.0
.21
75K
Connecticut
New York
2014 goal
50K
.15
.19
.20
.17
Long Island Sound
.83
LIS Point Source Nitrogen Loads
.13
.14
.17
.94
.11 .21
.55
Management zones contributing
to hypoxia in Long Island Sound
(fractal counts of nitrogen pollution)
Things are getting better in recent years
25K
0
Baseline
2000
2002
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 87
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
From: LIS Point Source Nitrogen-Trade Equalized Loads, Long Island Sound Study, 2015
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88
Digging for bait, Sandy Point, West Haven, with New Haven Harbor in the background.
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HUMAN HISTORY
accelerates the growth of simple, fast-reproducing algae,
cyanobacteria, and diatoms, collectively called phytoplankton. Like all green plants, phytoplankton release oxygen as
they photosynthesize, but at night or in low-light conditions
phytoplankton use more oxygen than they release, and in
their overabundance the phytoplankton can rapidly deplete
the dissolved oxygen in polluted waters.
This condition of low dissolved oxygen is called hypoxia,
and hypoxia usually follows large phytoplankton blooms. As
the algae die from lack of oxygen, water conditions worsen
because as the dead algae decompose, their tissues absorb
what little oxygen is left in the water. Hypoxia is stressful
for all marine creatures, and if it lasts too long or dissolved
oxygen levels fall too low, hypoxia is lethal to both the phytoplankton and aquatic animals. Such overfertilized aquatic
environments are said to be eutrophic—fertilized to the point
where the system continually cycles through boom-andbust sequences of rapid algae growth, mass algae death, and
lethal hypoxia. Over the long term eutrophic systems become
aquatic dead zones, where only the simplest phytoplankton
can survive.
In the Narrows and Western Basin, hypoxia peaks in summer, primarily because warm water holds less dissolved
oxygen than cold water. In summer the waters of the Sound
also stratify based on temperature, exacerbating hypoxia. A
warm surface layer forms over a cooler bottom layer, with
little mixing of layers. Oceanographers call this stratifying of
warm-cold layers capping, and although a warm-water cap is
a natural occurrence in waters like the Sound, the nitrogenhypoxia crisis has made capping a problem. The warm surface
waters remain richer in oxygen from the air-water interface,
but the bottom waters gradually become hypoxic, sealing bottom life off from oxygen at the surface.
Frequency of hypoxic areas
1994–2014
0.0 – 0.99
1.0 – 1.99
2.0 – 2.99
3.0 – 3.49
Severe
Moderately severe
Moderate
Marginal
Bridgeport
Norwalk
Stamford
New
Rochelle
New Haven
Guilford
Old Saybrook
LO NG I S L A ND S O U ND
B LO C K I SL A ND
SO UND
Port Jefferson
Glen Cove
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91
Unfortunately, hypoxia isn’t just a problem in the heavily
polluted Western Basin and Narrows. In summer, bays and
river mouths along the eastern Connecticut coast can become
hypoxic at night, when the algae are not photosynthesizing
and producing oxygen, as they do during daylight hours. University of Connecticut researchers Jamie Vaudrey and Charles
Yarish were surprised to find these hypoxic conditions—the
Eastern Basin of the Sound is considered much cleaner and
better flushed with ocean waters than the western end of
the Sound. However, the small coastal bays receive a lot of
nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from local suburbs, mostly
from lawn fertilizers and septic system leakage. These excess
nutrients cause the bays to develop unusually large summer
algae blooms, and at night the algae consume most of the
dissolved oxygen in the bays, which often lack strong currents
to import more oxygenated water. By midmorning the bays
generally return to normal dissolved oxygen levels, but the
phenomenon shows just how at risk even the cleaner areas of
the coastline are to long-term damage from hypoxia.
Excess phytoplankton cause another important problem in
aquatic ecosystems: the algae block sunlight from reaching down into the water column. Before Long Island Sound
became eutrophic, the clearer water allowed large beds of
Eelgrass to thrive in most shallow areas along the coasts, and
the Eelgrass in turn supported a rich community of scallops,
crabs, juvenile fish, seabirds, and other marine life. The murky
green waters we see today in the Sound, particularly in the
Western Basin, now limit the growth of Eelgrass, and a valuable aquatic community has been severely reduced. One study
shows worrisome decreases in Eelgrass meadows. In 2002,
there were approximately 1,980 acres of Eelgrass meadow in
Long Island Sound; by 2009, Eelgrass meadows had declined
to 1,559 acres, a 21 percent loss in just seven years.
Excess nitrogen in the waters of
the Sound produces unnaturally
heavy growth of algae. Like all
green plants, marine algae release
oxygen during photosynthesis,
but at night algae use up oxygen
in the water as they respire. When
algae die, their cells bind up
yet more oxygen as they decay,
creating a downward spiral of
falling dissolved oxygen levels
called hypoxia. Hypoxia is worst
in late summer, particularly in the
Western Basin and Narrows areas
of the Sound.
Salt marshes are a natural coastal buffer that filters and
cleanses water entering the Sound, but the area of marshes
around the Sound also continues to shrink. In 2012, one in
six marshes studied along the Connecticut shore showed
losses, where healthy marsh grasses convert to bare mudflats.
Darien’s Scott Cove marshes lost 17 acres from 1974 to 2004,
while mudflats in the same area added 17 acres. The marsh
loss probably has several causes, but scientists strongly suspect that nitrogen pollution plays a role. Another major factor
is the rising sea level. Even a slight rise in the mean spring
low water level affects Saltwater Cordgrass, which tolerates saltwater immersion for long periods but cannot thrive
when its rhizomes are always submerged. A large area of low
salt marsh just north of the Connecticut Audubon Society’s
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HUMAN HISTORY
Coastal Center at Milford Point has been lost in the past 20
years owing to this combination of higher water levels and
pollution from excess nutrients in the Charles Wheeler salt
marshes next to the Housatonic River.
Toxic contaminants
The Federal Clean Water Act of 1972 helped enormously
in shutting down much of the blatant industrial pollution
that occurred in Connecticut waters from 1850 to 1975.
Unfortunately, many of those Industrial Age pollutants are
long-lasting metals and hydrocarbons that still lurk beneath
the bottom surface of Connecticut rivers, coastal harbors, and
the Sound itself.
The most serious of the Sound’s industrial pollutants are
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). PCBs were widely used
for hydraulic fluids, capacitors and transformers, and
lubricating and cutting oils, as well as additives in pesticides,
paints, adhesives, and plastics. Although PCBs were banned
from industrial use in 1977, they still constitute a serious
environmental problem because PCBs are so long-lasting
and because they are potent biochemical endocrine system
disrupters, which in high concentrations have been linked
to cancers in animals and humans. Because they are organic
compounds, PCBs move easily from the environment into
plant and animals tissues, and they bioaccumulate as they
move up the food chain. A tiny zooplankton animal might
have only a few PCB molecules in its tissues, but a small fish
that eats hundreds of the contaminated zooplankton will
quickly accumulate a much higher concentration of PCBs,
and each step in the food chain brings a manifold increase in
PCB contamination.
Through bioaccumulation as they move up the food chain,
PCBs are often high in the flesh of Striped Bass, Bluefish, and
American Eels and in the hepatopancreas (more commonly
known as the tomalley) of lobsters and crabs. The states of
Connecticut and New York advise restricted consumption
of these species in the Western Basin. Oysters and other
shellfish still show levels of heavy metals and other industrial
contaminants in areas like Bridgeport Harbor and the lower
Housatonic River, particularly near Devon.
In general, toxic chemical pollutants in bottom sediments are
localized to a few known areas of the Connecticut coastline
and the Sound. Most of the older pollutants, including DDT,
are still bound up in bottom sediments of the Sound, rivers,
and harbors, particularly in the Western Basin. Burial in sediments does buffer the Sound from the long-term contaminants, but some areas are periodically dredged to maintain
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93
Bioconcentration in
marine food chains
Apex
predators
Osprey, tuna, eagles
25 ppm
Concentration of
contaminants
jumps enormously
at each level of the
food chain
Larger
predators
Striped bass, bluefish
2 ppm
Smaller
predators
co
nc
en
tra
tes
con
tam
in
ant
s
Killifish, mummichogs,
crabs, lobsters
.5 ppm
Primary and
secondary
consumers
Zooplankton, snails,
squid, mussels
.04 ppm
th
ef
oo
dc
ha
in
Primary
producers
in
Phytoplankton,
algae, sea grasses
.0003 ppm
u
p
p
te
hs
c
Ea
Contaminants like PCBs or mercury,
in parts per million (ppm), example numbers
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HUMAN HISTORY
shipping channels, and the dredged material is dumped at
offshore locations within the Sound, rereleasing the old pollutants to cause new problems. In 2007, the Environmental
Protection Agency ruled that sediments from Bridgeport Harbor are too contaminated for disposal in Long Island Sound,
and Norwalk was forced to cap polluted dredge material from
its harbor with a layer of clean soils to prevent heavy metals
and organic pollutants from entering the Sound’s waters. In
2015, the controversy over dumping harbor dredge spoils in
Long Island Sound returned when the US Army Corps of
Engineers announced plans to renew dredge spoil dumping in
designated areas of the Central Basin.
Mercury continues to be a problem in Atlantic Coast fish
populations, particularly in top predator species like Bluefish
and Striped Bass that bioaccumulate toxins and metals from
their prey. Although strict curbs on industrial mercury disposal have been in place for decades, mercury is a persistent
pollutant that easily enters the food chain. Unhealthy levels
of mercury (more than 0.2 parts per million) persist in most
populations of fish consumed by humans. About 60 percent of
mercury in the Long Island Sound environment comes from
local sources such as industrial activity and the improper
disposal of fluorescent and compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
The other 40 percent comes from airborne sources, primarily
from coal-burning power plant emissions in the Midwest.
Mercury degrades the functioning of the human nervous
system and can cause neurological damage in developing
fetuses. Ironically, you hear less about mercury as a pollutant
because the same species of food fish and game fish with high
levels of mercury also have high levels of PCBs, and the state
and federal warnings about fish consumption tend to center
on the even more dangerous PCBs. The Connecticut and
New York Departments of Public Health advise that pregnant
women not eat fish more than once a month and that healthy
adults eat fish no more than once a week.
Chlordane and mirex, two long-lasting and biologically active pesticides, are also a continuing problem in Long Island
Sound. Although mirex was banned in 1978 and chlordane in
1988, both compounds are so persistent that they still appear
as contaminants in fish high on the food chain like Striped
Bass and Bluefish. Connecticut has also banned the use of the
pesticides methropene and resmethrin, which are potentially
harmful to lobsters and crabs.
Marine debris and ghost gear
Trash in the Sound and along its beaches can have grave
consequences, both for marine life and for the economic
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HUMAN HISTORY
health of towns and businesses that depend on beachgoers
and tourism. Trash is a visible sign of environmental degradation. When people see floating trash or garbage in the wrack
line of beaches, it makes them wonder how seriously the local
community takes its environmental obligations and whether
the trash they can see is just the most visible form of more
dangerous contaminants. As many Long Island communities
discovered in the summer of 1988, even small amounts of
hospital trash or washed-up hypodermic needles can ruin a
beach season.
95
Osprey populations across North
America were devastated by DDT
contamination in the 1960s and
1970s, but since DDT was banned
the osprey populations (and many
other birds of prey) have made
significant recoveries.
Floating marine trash can also be a boating hazard. Styrofoam, plastics, and paper trash can easily foul propellers or
block cooling intakes, potentially causing serious engine damage. Much of the floatable trash comes from sewage outflows,
particularly after heavy rains that overwhelm treatment plants
and cause them to spill unfiltered effluent into the Sound.
Marine trash is much more than a nuisance to shoreline
communities—some common and durable forms of trash can
maim or kill wildlife. Many marine creatures will eat floatable items like plastic foam bits, bags, or other colorful junk,
mistaking them for their normal prey of marine plankton and
jellyfish. The plastic debris can kill an animal by blocking its
digestive tract, causing it to starve to death.
One of the biggest hazards is discarded fishing gear, often
called ghost gear. Each year torn nets, broken lines, old lures,
and other lost or discarded fishing gear kill fish, birds, and
other wildlife in the Sound through entanglement or crippling injuries that lead to death from exposure or starvation.
The Anthropocene Age
It is one of our deepest beliefs that nature is capable of healing itself and that even if we humans make mistakes, simply
stopping the problem behavior will allow natural ecological processes to restore wild communities. This was once
true enough, but it is no longer a rational assumption in the
twenty-first century.
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HUMAN HISTORY
A Great Black-Backed Gull
(Larus maritimus) with a foot
and leg heavily entangled with
monofilament fishing line and
part of a lure. This bird later lost
the entangled foot but survived
the injury and can still be seen
regularly at Sandy Point in West
Haven. Most entangled birds are
not so lucky.
We now live in the Anthropocene Age, where the significance
and extent of human effects on the environment are the most
important factors in the ecology of Long Island Sound, as well
as in the wider global ecosystem. The Anthropocene Age is a
new term, coined in 2008 by atmospheric scientists who point
particularly to the earth’s radically increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as evidence that human activities are
now the most important drivers of climate change. The warming of both the atmosphere and the ocean will profoundly affect all shoreline communities and habitats, bringing changes
in the frequency and severity of storms, altering the species
mix of local wildlife, and literally changing the shoreline itself
as the rise in sea level accelerates.
On a local, practical level, an acceptance of the Anthropocene
Age means that we can no longer hope that nature alone can
heal and rebalance the Sound ecosystems now under heavy
stress from habitat loss and pollution. Our significant lobster
and oyster fisheries are gone now and will not come back
because we declare a brief annual moratorium on lobstering
or don’t harvest oysters in summer. Twenty-five years after
codfish stocks collapsed in New England waters, there is no
sign of recovery despite severe restrictions on commercial cod
fishing. Our shoreline communities are now more vulnerable than ever to severe storms, in large part because we have
destroyed and built over the natural coastal dunes, wild beach
habitats, and salt marshes that once buffered our communities
from hurricanes and nor’easters.
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97
Only active policy changes in sewage and pollution controls,
coastal development restrictions, habitat restoration, and
emergency preparedness will suffice in the Anthropocene
Age. The three recent severe storms—Hurricanes Irene and
Sandy and winter nor’easter Nemo—are collectively both a
warning and a call to action.
Not all bad news
One danger of highlighting the many ecological and governmental challenges facing Long Island Sound is making the
situation seem hopeless—and that is not true. The overall
biological productivity of the Sound as a whole has remained
constant over the past 20 years, in spite of many environmental challenges. For example, although individual species
may flourish or diminish or face the rise of new ecological
competitors due to climate change, yearly surveys of fish
species show that the overall biomass of fish in the Sound has
remained constant.
Long Island Sound and its coastlines remain one of the most
attractive regions on the East Coast, as shown by the number
of annual visitors, bathers, bird watchers, hikers, and boaters
of all sorts. A healthy Long Island Sound is vital to the local
economies of Long Island and Connecticut. Property values
on the Sound—particularly along the western shores of the
Sound in Connecticut, Westchester, and Long Island—remain
some of the highest in the United States. Daniel Webster liked
to call Long Island Sound “our American Mediterranean,” and
clearly many people agree with his appreciation of this unique
body of water. Long Island Sound is a beautiful place, appreciated by millions of people every year, and is certainly worth
the price of keeping it healthy and attractive.
400
Atmospheric CO2 Concentration (ppm)
350
Ice-core data before 1958. Mauna Loa Observatory data after 1958.
300
250
After Scripts CO2 Program, keelingcurve.ucsd.edu
1750
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 97
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
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98
Common Periwinkles (Littorina littorea) on granite gneiss glacial boulders.
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99
Shallows
Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)
Below the low tide lines of Long Island Sound there are four
main aquatic habitats. The subtidal zone and deeper bottom
areas of the Sound, as well as the unique and important habitat formed by Eelgrass beds, are considered here; the deep,
open-water community is described in the next chapter.
The subtidal zone
Zero to 10 feet below the level of the lowest monthly low
tides lies the subtidal zone. At this level life is truly aquatic
(although many crabs visit lower intertidal zones in search
of food, particularly at night). Because these permanently
submerged shallows receive enough sunlight for plant growth,
most seaweeds (macroalgae) live in this zone, as do Eelgrass
and Widgeon Grass. Wave action shapes this environment
both physically through the constantly churning waves
and their resulting shore currents and chemically through
supplying oxygen and nutrients. For sessile (fixed in place)
filter feeders like barnacles and mussels, the constant water
movement is critical to life, ensuring a steady supply of food.
Beyond 10 feet of depth, the algae and sea grass populations
drop sharply owing to the low light levels. Also at around 10
feet, the properties of wave action, superheating in summer,
supercooling in winter, and intertidal species’ depth limits
quickly make the environment more like deeper bottom
conditions.
Border zones between one environment and another, or ecotones, are the most productive environments. As a transition
zone between tidal areas and deeper waters, the subtidal zone
is the most productive area of the Sound. Many open-water
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fish spend early life in the relative safety of shallows, particularly where Eelgrass beds and rocky bottoms with crevices
offer hiding places. Larger predators like Bluefish and Striped
Bass sweep through the shallows for prey, and many wading
and diving birds specialize in picking off unwary crabs, fish,
and shrimp that live in a few feet of water. Ospreys glide high
above, looking for the slightest movements from such favored
prey as small flounders and Menhaden.
The subtidal zone bottom is rocky or pebbled in some areas,
sandy or muddy in others. Although many subtidal creatures
frequent both areas, most plants and animals specialize in
either soft sediments or rocky bottoms.
Plants
Green plants need sunlight to perform photosynthesis, and
light doesn’t penetrate far into water, especially when the water is naturally cloudy with phytoplankton and river silt.The
subtidal zone is thus home to larger marine plants. Most
Striped Bass
(Morone saxatilis)
of these are macroalgae (seaweeds) that attach to the bottom,
in contrast to single-celled algae, which float freely in the
Sound’s waters.
Seaweeds come in three basic varieties, loosely grouped by
their dominant color: green, red, or brown. The most common green species, Sea Lettuce, is the filmy, bright green
algae that is ubiquitous on beaches, along rocky shores, and
at salt marsh edges. Another common green seaweed is
Green Fleece, seen on both rocky and sandy bottoms and in
salt marshes. Green Fleece, which is not native to the United
States, spread from the eastern shores of Asia to Europe by
attaching to the hulls of sailing ships and reached North
America in 1957. The bright green algae that commonly
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covers rocks in both the lower intertidal and subtidal zones
is called Gut Weed. Stone Hair is a finer-grained, shorterstranded algae that also forms bright green mats on intertidal
and subtidal rocks, often in association with the more coarsegrained Gut Weed. Be wary of walking on exposed rocks
covered in algae; even when the surface looks dry, it can be
slippery underneath.
101
The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is
one of the most visible birds that
feed in the subtidal zone. Almost
extirpated in the northeastern
coastal region owing to DDT
contamination, the Osprey has
made a remarkable comeback in
the past 30 years, and populations
are nearing total recovery.
Brown algae are often the most visible and familiar marine
plants in rocky areas. Rockweed and Knotted Wrack are the
two most common species, seen on seaside rocks, docks,
seawalls, or any other fixed structures along the shore. Both
species grow from the low intertidal zone of rocky shores well
into the subtidal zone, down to a depth of about 3 feet. In the
Eastern Basin kelps become more common. Sugar Kelp and
Atlantic Kelp grow in the deeper areas of the subtidal zone,
from 5 to 20 feet or more, using their long stems to keep their
long, flat blades in the well-lit waters near the surface. Kelp
beds are not often easily visible from shore, but kelp fronds
commonly wash up on beaches along the Connecticut shore,
particularly east of the Thames River.
Irish Moss is a common red algae that normally sits right at
and just below the lowest tide line. In some areas of the world
Irish Moss is harvested to extract carrageenan, a jellylike colloid used to thicken and smooth ice cream and other foods.
Subtidal invertebrates and fish
In marine biology, the collection of plants and animals that
live on, under, or near the bottom of a body of water is called
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ALGAE
SEA LETTUCE Ulva lactuca
SEA LETTUCE Ulva lactuca
GUT WEED Ulva intestinalis
GUT WEED, detail Ulva intestinalis
STONE HAIR Blidingia minima
STONE HAIR, detail Blidingia minima
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GREEN FLEECE Codium fragile
103
ROCKWEED Fucus distichus
mochanchan
SUGAR KELP Laminaria saccharina
KNOTTED WRACK Ascophyllum nodosum
IRISH MOSS Chondrus crispus
IRISH MOSS, detail Chondrus crispus
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the benthic community. Subtidal areas with sandy or muddy
bottoms have a rich infauna of animals that burrow into the
bottom sediments for shelter. Most clams and marine worms,
some crabs, and even some fish bury themselves at least
partially as protection in flat bottom areas that often lack rock
or plant shelter. Animals that live primarily on or just above
the bottom surface are called epifauna. These include most of
the familiar shoreline crabs, which welcome rock crevices or
Eelgrass patches as shelter but don’t normally dig burrows in
the warmer months.
Atlantic Surf Clam
Spisula solidissima
Clams
Soft sediment bottoms and tidal flats can look deceptively
lifeless unless you look for the single or paired siphons of
clams buried within them. Northern Quahogs have short,
paired siphons, and the top edge of their shells is rarely buried
more than an inch below the surface. In smooth sand or
mud bottoms look for a figure eight of the twin open siphon
holes. Quahogs prefer a salinity of around 20 ppt or greater,
so they are less common in the soft bottoms of river mouths.
Quahogs are called by a variety of names based on their size,
but little necks, cherrystones, chowder clams, and quahogs are
all the same species: the Northern Quahog. Soft-Shell Clams,
or steamers, have an extremely long, tough pair of siphons en-
Invertebrates in and near the
bottom sediments of the subtidal
zone.
Amphipod
Orchestia sp.
Grass Shrimp
Palaemonetes pugio
Isopod
Philoscia vittata
Clam Worm
Nereis sp.
Soft-Shell Clam
Mya arenaria ..
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 104
Quahog
Mercenaria
mercenaria
Acorn Worm
Saccoglossus sp.
Atlantic
Jackknife
Clam
Ensis
directis
Blood Worm
Glycera sp.
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105
cased in a thick black membrane. The long siphons allow the
Soft-Shell Clams to bury themselves far below other clams,
sometimes 10 inches deep. The Atlantic Jackknife Clam,
or razor clam, has a very short siphon that looks keyholeshaped at the surface. These clams bury themselves vertically
with a short but strong foot on the lower end opposite the
siphon. Atlantic Jackknife Clams sometimes pop up above the
surface, often when disturbed by mud worms probing their
burrows from below. If a Jackknife Clam senses movement, it
disappears in a flash into its burrow.
The largest bivalve in our area, the Atlantic Surf Clam, lives
in sandy bottoms from the subtidal zone down to the deepest
depths of the Sound. This clam is surprisingly long-lived,
living for 31 or more years. Most Surf Clams are harvested at
about 15–20 years, primarily for chowders and fried clams.
Their chief predators are Moon Snails, Horseshoe Crabs, Cod,
and, of course, humans.
One of the most common shelled animals of the subtidal zone
is a sea snail, the Common Slipper Shell, often called a boat
shell. These snails are common in both soft sand and rocky
shallow subtidal areas and on flats and beaches exposed at
low tide. They are filter feeders and typically live in stacks,
with older individuals at the bottom and successive layers of
younger individuals attaching on top of the older shells. A
strong, muscular foot holds each individual in place in the
stack, and when submerged, the foot relaxes slightly to open a
gap through which the snail draws water to filter for plankton.
In places the Common Slipper Shell is abundant. The outer
sandy banks of Milford Point in Connecticut are composed of
millions of empty Slipper Shells, along with millions more of
oyster and clam shells.
Quahog
Mercenaria mercenaria
Soft-Shell Clam
Mya arenaria
Whelks
Whelks are nocturnal sea snails that prey on clams, oysters,
and other bivalves. Channeled Whelks prefer sandy, shallow
subtidal areas, where they can be common. The similar but
typically larger Knobbed Whelk favors deeper waters. In
summer it avoids warm waters by moving to the center of
the Sound, but in spring and early summer, some Knobbed
Whelks migrate into the subtidal zone to feed.
Eastern Oyster
The most famous bivalve mollusk of Long Island Sound—and
the most commercially important in historic times—is the
Eastern Oyster. Oysters are unusual bivalves in a number of
ways. Most obviously, they don’t bury themselves the way
clams do: oysters are epifaunal creatures, and in normal
circumstances they live in large crowds, or reefs, of shells
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Atlantic Jackknife Clam
Ensis directus
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that once carpeted the bottom of every river mouth along
the Connecticut coast. Each oyster shell is uniquely shaped,
probably an adaptation to living in thick crowds of fellow
oysters, where every inch of available space—no matter the
shape—was valuable living room. Elongated, narrow oyster
shells come from soft-bottomed areas, but oysters that attach
to firm surfaces tend toward a more rounded shape. Young
oyster larvae are free-floating plankton, but they are highly attracted to chemicals that oysters give off and so tend to settle
on hard surfaces near other oysters or on the shells of living
or dead oysters. Oysters are unique in that they cannot move
after they settle. Once the young oyster sets on a surface, it
stays there for life.
Channeled Whelk
Busycotypus canaliculatus
Eastern Oyster
Crassostrea virginica
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 106
As outlined in “Human History,” oysters were overharvested
in the nineteenth century and became the victims of polluted
water in the twentieth century. The almost unimaginably large
natural beds of Connecticut oysters have vanished, and those
that survive are often victims of continuing water pollution
and siltation—too much silt in the water smothers an oyster.
Oysters remain a common member of the subtidal community in Long Island Sound and are in no danger of extirpation,
but the days when massive oyster beds dominated tidal river
bottoms along the Connecticut shore are long gone.
Crabs and shrimp
Crabs are some of the most noticeable inhabitants of the
subtidal zone, and they often range onto beaches and rocky
shores, primarily at night. Three of our crab species are active swimmers, although the Green Crab lacks the specialized swimming paddles you see on the legs of Blue Crabs
and Lady Crabs. Blue Crabs, although numerous enough
to be frequently caught by sport fishers, are not yet a major
commercial fishery in Long Island Sound as they are in the
Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, but the recent warming of
the Sound has resulted in an increase in Blue Crabs. With
the crash of Northern Lobster populations in the Sound over
the past 15 years, the Blue Crab may take over the ecological
niche of bottom-dwelling predator-scavenger once held by
lobsters.
Both Blue Crabs and Lady Crabs are active, aggressive predators that will catch and eat just about any kind of animal prey
in the shallow subtidal zone. Both species should be handled
with care to avoid a painful pinch, but the Lady Crab is
particularly well known for its fast reflexes and strong claws.
The Green Crab is an exotic species, one of the first major
instances of a European species that made the jump across
the Atlantic, probably by riding on the mossy bottoms of
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107
sailing ships or in wet ships’ ballast stones dumped overboard
in a Massachusetts port. Since 1817, the Green Crab has
spread along the East Coast from Nova Scotia down to Cape
May, New Jersey. Green Crabs are also voracious predators,
particularly of mussels and Soft-Shell Clams, but because they
are a primarily cold-water species, their local populations may
fade as the Sound continues to warm.
The shells of these common subtidal crab species are often
found along the wrack line of shores in Connecticut, but that
does not mean that many crabs have died or been killed by
predators. Hard-shelled animals like crabs must molt their
old shells to grow, and most crab species molt several times
during the warm months. The molted shells that wash up on
the shoreline are clean, with no organic matter inside, and
carapace and claw shells are generally whole and in good condition. Crabs killed by gulls or herons are smashed and thoroughly dismembered, often on a rock or other hard surface,
and you usually don’t find the remains along the wrack line.
In spite of its intimidating looks, the Spider Crab is a sluggish
and inoffensive member of the deeper subtidal community,
where it feeds on starfish and scavenges the remains of other
bottom invertebrates. Spider Crabs prefer the deeper waters of
the Sound but are also common in shallow Eelgrass communities. They are tolerant of polluted and hypoxic waters and
so are are found in the marginal conditions of harbor bottoms
where other crabs cannot survive.
Knobbed Whelk
Busycon carica
Northern Lobsters, formerly seen in the subtidal zone, are
now creatures of deeper bottom waters (see “Depths”).
The Horseshoe Crab is an unmistakable member of the tidal
and subtidal communities, with its distinct shape, hardleather shell, and menacing-looking (but harmless) long tail.
Horseshoe Crabs are not true crabs at all but members of the
ancient order Xiphosura, which also contains spiders and
mites. They favor sandy or muddy bottoms and normally
live at the deeper end of the subtidal zone, where they plow
through the bottom, feeding on small invertebrates. In May
and June, Horseshoe Crabs travel into the low tidal zone to
lay eggs, often during a spring (unusually high) tide. These
eggs are very attractive to shorebirds, and a good indication that the crabs are breeding is the sight of flocks of birds
avidly picking at the eggs in the surf line. Commercial fishers
harvest Horseshoe Crabs for bait, and the Atlantic Coast
population has fallen sharply over the past 40 years owing to
overharvesting and beach habitat destruction.
Horseshoe Crab blood is the sole source of an important
medical compound—limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL)—used
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108
CRABS
BLUE CRAB
Callinectes sapidus
LADY CRAB
Ovalipes ocellatus
GREEN CRAB
Carcinus maenas
SPIDER CRAB
Libinia emarginata
ASIAN SHORE CRAB
Hemigrapsus sanguineus
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109
to test for the presence of harmful bacterial toxins in human
blood. Drug manufacturers use LAL to test the safety of pharmaceutical and medical devices that contain blood products.
Horseshoe Crabs are not usually killed in harvesting LAL. The
crabs are caught, blood is drawn, and they are returned to the
wild, where most survive the experience.
Environmental groups monitor the population of Horseshoe
Crabs in Long Island Sound, and you may see a round white
identification tag attached to a shell. Please follow the instructions on the tag and report the tag number to the US Fish and
Wildlife Service (http://www.fws.gov/crabtag/). The information is extremely useful in protecting populations of this valuable and threatened member of the shoreline community.
In addition to the Green Crab, two other invasive crab species
now inhabit the Sound. The Asian Shore Crab was spotted in
North America along the New Jersey coast in 1988 and has
since spread rapidly both north and south along the Atlantic
Seaboard. In Connecticut, Asian Shore Crabs are beginning
to crowd out both Green and Blue Crabs on rocky shorelines
in the intertidal and subtidal zones. An even newer invasive
pecies, the Chinese Mitten Crab, is now spreading along the
shores of Long Island Sound. This crab is not yet common in
Connecticut but is moving up the shorelines from the New
York area. Both Asian crab species probably arrived as larvae
in the ballast water of cargo ships that was emptied into New
York or New Jersey harbors.
Horseshoe Crab
Limulus polyphemus
eggs (inset, lower left), baby
Horseshoe Crabs in early summer,
and a tagged Horseshoe Crab
(inset, upper right). If you spot
a tagged crab, please follow the
instructions and report it, as this
research will help protect this
species from overharvesting.
Photos courtesy of Frank Gallo.
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HORSESHOE CRAB SANCTUARY
Milford Point Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary
A new sandspit that developed off the south coast of Milford Point in the past 20 years has created a sheltered lagoon between the sandspit and the south beach, just in front of the viewing
platform at the Coastal Center at Milford Point. The new lagoon is a shallow tidal flat at low tide,
ringed by a small salt marsh in the making. Over the past decade Saltwater Cordgrass stands have
spread along the flats at the beach tide line, and other classic low marsh plants like Sea Lavender
and Glassworts are joining the Cordgrass to form a true low salt marsh, complete with a new
population of Marsh Fiddler Crabs and other low marsh invertebrates.
BLUE CRAB
Callinectes sapidus
MARSH FIDDLER CRAB
Uca pugnax
HORSESHOE CRAB
Limulus polyphemus
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111
The lagoon has also become an important breeding area for one of the Sound’s most familiar
but threatened animals, the Horseshoe Crab. Along with many other shoreline animals, the
once abundant Horseshoe Crab has come under increasing threat owing to habitat loss and
overharvesting. The crabs are particularly vulnerable in breeding season, when they collect on
shallow sandy beach areas in mid-May to mate and lay their eggs. Horseshoe Crabs are valued as
bait by commercial fishers, who sometimes plunder whole beaches of breeding crabs, robbing
the Sound of both the breeding adults and any new generation of crabs that might have matured
from the eggs. As the overharvesting of crabs continued over much of the twentieth century, the
Horseshoe Crab population in the Sound crashed in the 1990s, and efforts began to conserve the
remaining populations before they became extirpated.
WILLET
Tringa semipalmata
GREATER
YELLOWLEGS
Tringa melanoleuca
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Long-Clawed Hermit Crab
Pagurus longicarpus
Flat-Clawed Hermit Crab
Pagurus pollicaris
Two other types of small crustaceans are commonly found in
the subtidal zone: hermit crabs and Grass Shrimp (also called
prawns). Colored a pale, translucent gray, Grass Shrimp are
an important link in the estuary food chain. They feed on
detritus, the remains of salt marsh grasses and other plants
washed into the Sound. The nibbling of millions of Grass
Shrimp breaks down plants into particles that become food
for small zooplankton and bacteria, which complete the
process of turning old marsh grasses into animal biomass.
The shrimp are an important food source for larger predators
such as crabs, the young of many fish species, and birds.
Hermit crabs are important scavengers on the subtidal zone,
feeding on detritus and animal remains. Hermit crabs do not
grow their own shells; instead, they adopt the discarded shells
of snails for protection and shelter. The small Long-Clawed
Hermit Crab is common in both rocky and sandy or muddy
bottoms in the subtidal zone and usually inhabits old snail
shells. The larger Flat-Clawed Hermit Crab prefers deeper
waters with rocky or shell bottoms and usually picks larger
homes such as old Moon Snail shells or small whelk shells.
Sea stars and sea cucumbers
Sea stars (starfish) and sea cucumbers are echinoderms,
a phylum of animals whose bodies are arranged into five
segments around a central axis. Common Sea Stars live in
the subtidal zone and venture into the lower tidal zone in
search of their favorite prey, clams and oysters. Common Sea
Stars are a problem for oyster farmers in Long Island Sound
because of their voracious appetite for oysters; they can infest
and even wipe out entire oyster beds. Sea Cucumbers in Long
Island Sound usually bury themselves in the bottom mud
or sand to avoid predators, leaving only a ring of branching
tentacles visible on the bottom surface.
Grass Shrimp
Palaemonetes pugio
Photo: Brian Gratwicke.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 112
Segmented worms and other bottom infauna
Along with the familiar clams, soft sand and mud bottoms
contain a complex community of segmented worms (polychaetes). Clam Worms and Blood Worms are two of the most
common types of larger worms and are familiar as bait for
sport fishers. Both species move freely through the bottom
sediments in search of small animal prey, including clams
and other worms. Other marine worms are sessile, building
permanent or semipermanent tubes in the mud from which
they project their feeding appendages. Cone Worms, Bamboo
Worms, Amphitrites, and Feather Duster Worms are filter
feeders, using their tentacles to grab plankton or small bits of
organic material from the flowing water. Bottom worms are
very sensitive to any vibration or unusual water movement
near them and will quickly disappear into their tubes under
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113
the surface. The best tactic to observe bottom life is to find a
likely spot in shallow, clear water, approach the area with care,
and wait patiently until the bottom dwellers cautiously return
to normal feeding behavior.
Fish
Small fish such as Atlantic Silverside, Banded Killifish, Sand
Lance, and the young of many larger fish such as Bluefish and
Striped Bass frequent the subtidal zone, particularly where
vegetation or rocks can shelter them from larger predatory
fish. The subtidal zone and Eelgrass meadows are the great
nursery areas of the Sound, providing a wealth of food and
protection for virtually all the major fish species found in the
Sound. Alewife, American Butterfish, American Shad, Atlantic Menhaden (Bunker), Black Sea Bass, Blueback Herring,
Fluke, Scup (Northern Porgy), Smooth and Spiny Dogfish
Sharks, Tautog (Blackfish), and Winter Flounder are just some
of the species that depend on the subtidal zone for a portion
of their lives.
Birds
Many birds feed in the subtidal zone, even ones that you
might not normally think of as seabirds. Long-legged waders such as Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets,
Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and Glossy Ibis all wade in the
shallows of the subtidal zone, picking off crabs, small fish,
and other animals. Feeding Brant geese are most often seen
floating over the subtidal zone, occasionally dipping down to
feed on Eelgrass or Sea Lettuce. Mute Swans are unfortunately
abundant along the shoreline in winter. This introduced swan
species is beautiful to see but has had a generally negative
effect on Connecticut’s environment since
it was introduced to North
America about a century
ago. Belted Kingfishers
are another land species
that commonly dive for
small fish along the shore,
particularly in subtidal waters
that border salt marshes and more
sheltered harbors and river mouths.
Common Sea Star
Asterias rubens
Loons and grebes are diving birds
that feed mainly on small fish in
the subtidal zone but also take
small clams and other bottom
invertebrates. Common and
Red-Throated Loons and the
Horned Grebe are frequent
Photo: Michael Marsland.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 113
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114
FISH
Illustrations not to scale; lengths cited are typical ranges
SCUP (NORTHERN PORGY)
Stenotomus chrysops
13–17 in.
TAUTOG (BLACKFISH)
Tautoga onitis
12–15 in.
BLACK SEA BASS
Centropristis striata
18–24 in.
CUNNER
Tautogolabrus adspersus
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 114
12–15 in.
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115
BLUEFISH
Pomatomus saltatrix
12–30 in.
STRIPED BASS
Morone saxatilis
1–6 ft.
AMERICAN BUTTERFISH
Peprilus triacanthus
6–9 in.
WEAKFISH
Cynoscion regalis
18–36 in.
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116
FISH
Illustrations not to scale; lengths cited are typical ranges
SPINY DOGFISH
Squalus acanthias
18–34 in.
SUMMER FLOUNDER
Paralichthys dentatus
15–20 in.
WINDOWPANE
Scophthalmus aquosus
9–10 in.
WINTER FLOUNDER
Pseudopleuronectes americanus
18–24 in.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 116
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117
AMERICAN SHAD
Alosa sapidissima
18–30 in.
R
ATLANTIC MENHADEN
(BUNKER)
Brevoortia tyrannus
12–18 in.
HICKORY SHAD
15–24 in.
Alosa mediocris
ATLANTIC HERRING
Clupea harengus
15–17 in.
BLUEBACK HERRING
Alosa aestivalis
9–14 in.
ALEWIFE
Alosa pseudoharengus
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 117
10–15 in.
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118
FISH
Illustrations not to scale; lengths cited are typical ranges
SAND LANCE
Ammodytes americanus
4–6 in.
STRIPED KILLIFISH
Fundulus diaphanus
6–7 in.
4–6 in.
ATLANTIC SILVERSIDE
Menidia menidia
AMERICAN EEL
20–40 in.
Anguilla rostrata
LONGHORN SCULPIN
Myoxocephalus
octodecemspinosus
10–14 in.
NORTHERN SEAROBIN
Prionotus carolinus
8–11 in.
SEA RAVEN
Hemitripterus americanus
9–22 in.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 118
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SHALLOWS
ATLANTIC BONITO
Sarda sarda
119
15–20 in.
LITTLE TUNNY
Euthynnus alletteratus
20–30 in.
ATLANTIC COD
Gadus morhua
2.5–6 ft.
DUSKY SHARK
Carcharhinus obscurus
5–10 ft.
5–10 ft.
SAND TIGER SHARK
Carcharias taurus
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 119
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120
SHALLOWS
spring and fall migrants in Connecticut coastal waters. The
tiny Pied-Billed Grebe is a common migrant along the shore
and major rivers in fall. It is less common in spring migration
and is rare in the region the rest of the year.
One of the most abundant birds of the subtidal zone is the
Double-Crested Cormorant, the angular black birds often
seen sunning their outspread wings on docks, pilings, breakwaters, channel markers, and almost any other suitable perch
along the shoreline. Cormorants are powerful underwater
swimmers that feed on primarily on small fish but will also
take crabs when they can find them. In winter the larger and
less common Great Cormorant may be seen, particularly in
the Eastern Basin.
Pied-Billed Grebe
Podilymbus podiceps
Double-Crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
Ospreys and Bald Eagles also feed in the subtidal zone.
Ospreys will pick off fish in waters a few feet deep to deeper
offshore waters if the fish is visible near the surface. Bald
Eagles are more often seen hunting over river mouths and
harbors during winter, particularly near the mouth of the
Connecticut River.
Diving and dabbling ducks
In fall and winter the bird life of the Connecticut subtidal
coast is largely defined by large rafts of duck species that all
dive partially or fully underwater to feed. Dabbling ducks like
the Mallard and the closely related American Black Duck feed
by tilting themselves downward from the surface, rarely fully
submerging their buoyant bodies. Blue-Winged and GreenWinged Teals and the American Wigeon are also common
dabbling ducks along the coast in spring and fall and, to a
lesser extent, in winter. As dabblers, these ducks are limited to
feeding on the immediate shoreline and to shallow, sheltered
subtidal areas like harbors and river mouths, but when they
are not actively feeding, the dabblers often drift well away
from the shore for safety.
The true diving ducks, which fully submerge and swim well
underwater, are the most numerous ducks along the Connecticut coast in fall, winter, and early spring. Greater and
Lesser Scaups, White-Winged and Surf Scoters, Common
Goldeneyes, and Buffleheads are the most common diving
ducks. All these species eat small bottom invertebrates and
aquatic plants like Sea Lettuce and Eelgrass.
Mergansers are diving ducks whose long, thin bills are edged
with toothlike serrations that help them seize their specialty:
small fish and slippery aquatic invertebrates. Red-Breasted
and Hooded Mergansers are common in the cold months but
leave Connecticut to breed in freshwater lakes and ponds in
more northern areas of the United States and Canada.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 120
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121
Gulls, terns, and skimmers
The larger gull species of the region are numerous and aggressive predators along the immediate shoreline. Gulls usually do
not dive below the water surface for food and thus don’t feed
directly in the subtidal zone, but they nevertheless benefit
from the rich pickings of subtidal creatures like crabs, marine
worms, and clams that are at or just below the low tide line.
Gulls are discussed more fully in the chapter on beaches, but
the most common gulls of Long Island Sound are the Herring
Gull and Ring-Billed Gull.
Terns are smaller relatives of gulls and are typically white
with a black cap, long, black-tipped wings, and a long, forked
tail. As its name suggests, the Common Tern is the tern most
frequently seen over subtidal waters, where they dive for small
fish captured at or near the water surface. A number of areas
along the Connecticut coast are protected during nesting
season to help rebuild the population of Least Terns, which
Belted Kingfisher
Megaceryle alcyon
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122
WATER BIRDS
GREAT BLUE HERON Ardea herodias
SNOWY EGRET Egretta thula
kreefax
GREATER YELLOWLEGS Tringa melanoleuca
LESSER YELLOWLEGS Tringa flavipes
PIED-BILLED GREBE Podilymbus podiceps
MUTE SWAN Cygnus olor
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SHALLOWS
MALLARD Anas platyrhynchos
Jim Shane
AMERICAN WIGEON Anas americana
Steve Byland
BLUE-WINGED TEAL Anas discors
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 123
123
AMERICAN BLACK DUCK Anas rubripes
Erni
BUFFLEHEAD Bucephala albeola
Erni
GREEN-WINGED TEAL Anas crecca
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WATER BIRDS
Marco Barone
BRANT Branta bernicla
Karen Popovich
GREATER SCAUP Aythya marila
M. Carter
SURF SCOTER Melanitta perspicillata
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 124
feathercollector
COMMON GOLDENEYE Bucephala clangula
Steve Byland
LESSER SCAUP Aythya affinis
Paul Reeves Photography
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER Melanitta fusca
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125
have been severely reduced over the past century by the loss
or disturbance of their breeding habitat: sandy beaches. Least
Terns also feed on small fish by making shallow dives for
them. Looking for groups of feeding terns is a great way to
spot schools of small fish being chased by larger predators
like Bluefish. Terns will hover over the feeding frenzy, making
quick dives that rarely take them below the surface. The tern’s
quick snatch-and-grab diving method may be a matter of
safety as much as efficient feeding. Hungry Bluefish do not
discriminate between fish and birds, and a surprising number
of terns have lost a lower leg or foot to a voracious Bluefish.
About 35 pairs of the rare and endangered Roseate Tern nest
on Falkner Island off Guilford, Connecticut, which is also
home to one of the largest Common Tern nesting colonies on
the Atlantic Coast. Roseate Terns are most visible along the
coasts of Long Island Sound when they abandon their nesting
sites in August and both young birds and adults wander the
coasts before migrating south for the winter in September
and October. In this late summer season of wandering terns
we also see Forster’s Tern over the Sound and increasingly in
recent years North America’s largest tern species, the showy
but uncommon gull-sized Caspian Tern.
Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
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126
SHALLOWS
The Black Skimmer is a close relative of terns with a spectacular method of feeding—skimmers fly just above the
surface of subtidal waters, skimming for small fish by dipping
their oversized lower bills into the water and snapping them
shut the instant that they hit a fish. A few decades ago Black
Skimmers were an unusual August and September treat for
birders along the Connecticut coast, as skimmers were a more
southern species. As the climate has warmed, Black Skimmers
have become regular late summer visitors, and a few pairs
of skimmers have nested in Connecticut in the recent past,
notably in the bird sanctuary on West Haven’s Sandy Point.
Seals in Long Island Sound
The Harbor Seal is now a familiar sight along the coasts of
Long Island Sound for much of the year, mostly on offshore
islands, exposed rocks, and breakwaters in the Eastern Basin.
You can even occasionally spot seals on isolated mainland
beaches, such as at the Clinton harbor beach just east of the
Cedar Island viewing platform at Hammonasset State Park
in Madison, Connecticut. In past decades, Harbor Seals were
just winter visitors to the Sound, but now small numbers
breed in Connecticut waters, so the seals are here year-round.
Forster’s Tern
Sterna forsteri
15 in.
Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
14 in.
Least Tern
Sternula antillarum
9 in.
Black Tern
Chlidonias niger
(Nonbreeding plumage)
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 126
10 in.
Roseate Tern
Sterna dougallii
15 in.
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127
The larger Gray Seal is now a regular winter resident of the
Sound, more common in the Eastern Basin, but Gray Seals
are also seen regularly in the Norwalk Islands and other parts
of the Western Basin during winter. Naturalists now speculate
that it is simply a matter of time before Gray Seals also begin
to live and breed in the Sound all year, but as of this writing,
no confirmed Gray Seal pups have been spotted in the Sound.
Both seal species are active hunters in the relatively shallow
but food-rich waters of the subtidal zone, but they also hunt
their prey in the deeper waters of the Sound. Seals tend to
prefer fat-rich fish like Atlantic Menhaden, Atlantic Herring,
and Atlantic Mackerel but will also take clams, crabs, and
lobsters.
Caspian Tern
Hydroprogne caspia
21 in.
Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
18 in.
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
20 in.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 127
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128
SHALLOWS
Harbor Seal
Smaller, with a puppylike,
rounded head profile
Gray Seal
Larger, with a thick,
horselike snout
Ice seals
Eastern Long Island Sound, Fishers Island, Plum Island,
and Orient Point are now regularly visited by three species of seals that normally live and winter north of the Saint
Lawrence River off Newfoundland and Labrador. Sightings of
these ice seal species are rare and usually happen only in the
easternmost portion of the Sound, but every year now there
are scattered reports of sightings and strandings of these rare
seals. The Harp Seal and the Hooded Seal have been seen
alive or stranded in the Eastern Basin. The more rare Ringed
Seal is known from scattered observations and strandings. It
is not clear why these northern seal species are more regularly
wandering south of their normal ranges, but most of the individuals spotted or stranded are juveniles, not adults.
Another oddity spotted a number of times in recent years
is the West Indian Manatee, which normally is not seen in
any numbers north of the Georgia coast. However, isolated
individual manatees have been seen in various locations along
the East Coast as far north as Cape Cod. In a 1994 sighting,
a lone manatee (nicknamed “Chessie” by the media) was
spotted a number of times in New York Harbor and along
the Connecticut coast. In August 2010, another lone manatee
was seen in Bridgeport, Clinton, and Mystic harbors before
Photo: randimal.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 128
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129
disappearing. Manatees are known to wander north with the
warming waters in summer and early fall. These rare, isolated
incidents are probably due to the energy and persistence of
individual manatees and do not seem to be related to global
warming or other climate changes. Manatees feed primarily
on sea grass in shallow, subtidal waters, and unfortunately the
remaining Eelgrass meadows of Long Island Sound offer little
suitable food.
Eelgrass communities
Eelgrass beds develop in shallow-water areas with soft bottom
sediments. Eelgrass is widespread all along the coasts of the
North Atlantic Ocean and is the dominant sea grass species
north of Cape Hatteras on the East Coast. Eelgrass is a flowering grass (family Zosteraceae) that has adapted to life in salt
water. It spreads primarily through underground stems called
rhizomes within the bottom sediments. The thick tangle of
Eelgrass rhizomes stabilizes soft sediments and keeps the
plants from washing away.
Plants and animals of Eelgrass meadows
Healthy Eelgrass beds offer both food and shelter to the
young of many fish species, as well as adult fish. Atlantic
Silverside, Spot, Tautog (Blackfish), and Summer Flounder
all find shelter in Eelgrass meadows. The many small fish
Harbor Seals
Phoca vitulina
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130
SEALS AND MANATEE
HARBOR SEAL
Phoca vitulina
Harbor Seal pup
GRAY SEAL
Halichoerus grypus
The pelage colors
and patterns of
young Gray Seals
can vary from
almost pure white
to yellow or gray.
GRAY SEAL
Mark Bridger
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 130
HARBOR SEAL
Wim Claes
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131
HARP SEAL
Pagophilus groenlandicus
Female
HOODED SEAL
Cystophora cristata
Male
RINGED SEAL
Phoca hispida
Manatees are rarely seen north
of South Carolina, but every few
years a single (usually young)
Manatee wanders north into
Long Island Sound.
AL
WEST INDIAN MANATEE
Trichechus manatus
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SHALLOWS
also attract predators: Bluefish and Striped Bass cruise the
meadows in search of prey, and many bird species find food
in the Eelgrass. Dabbling ducks, geese, and swans eat the grass
directly. Diving ducks like the Red-Breasted Merganser and
the Bufflehead pick off young fish, shrimp, snails, and worms
living within the Eelgrass. In shallower Eelgrass areas, longlegged waders like the Great Blue Heron and the Great Egret
stab for fish and shrimp in the meadows. Historically Eelgrass
was the primary food of Brant, a common small goose that
winters in the Sound and along ocean coasts.
Eelgrass is not the only marine flowering plant species in the
Sound. Widgeon Grass also grows in Eelgrass beds and is an
important food source for many diving and dabbling duck
species (a wigeon—slightly different spelling—is a kind of
dabbling duck). The leaves of Widgeon Grass are much more
slender than those of Eelgrass, and they are eagerly sought
by American Wigeons, American Black Ducks, scaup, teals,
and other coastal ducks. Sea Lettuce is usually abundant in
Eelgrass beds as well.
Eelgrass beds are a crucial habitat for the Atlantic Bay Scallop.
The young scallops attach themselves to Eelgrass stems well
above the bottom, and this protects them from predatory
crabs. Eelgrass beds slow the currents of water within and
over them. This calming of currents, and the complex structure created by all the grass leaves, provides valuable shelter
for many small invertebrates. Grass Shrimp are common in
Eelgrass beds, where they form an important food resource
for the many species of young fish that shelter in Eelgrass
meadows. The beds also shelter bivalves like the Northern
Quahog, which are present in large numbers in healthy Eelgrass communities.
Brant
Branta bernicla
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 132
People are often surprised to discover that Long Island Sound
has seahorses, although they are uncommon and are found
only in larger Eelgrass beds at the eastern end of the Sound.
The seahorse uses its long, curled tail to hold fast to strands of
Eelgrass. Our only species, the Lined Seahorse, was probably
more common in the past, but this specialist resident of Eelgrass meadows was a casualty of the great Eelgrass die-off of
the 1930s (described below) and is now listed as “threatened”
by the World Conservation Union. The Lined Seahorse can
reach a length of six inches, but most individuals are smaller.
Seahorses can change color at will, from green to brown to
gray. In this way they can both camouflage themselves from
predators and disguise themselves from the small copepods
and other invertebrates that they eat.
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EELGRASS COMMUNITIES
133
NORTHERN PIPEFISH
Syngnathus fuscus
ATLANTIC SILVERSIDE
Menidia menidia
TAUTOG
Tautoga onitis
ATLANTIC
BAY SCALLOP
Argopecten irradians
BLUE CRAB
Callinectes sapidus
NORTHERN QUAHOG
Mercenaria mercenaria
COMMON SEA STAR
Asterias rubens
LINED SEAHORSE
Hippocampus erectus
ATLANTIC
BAY SCALLOP
Argopecten irradians
Blue Crab: Kim Nguyen;
Horseshoe Crab: Ethan Daniels.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 133
ATLANTIC
HORSESHOE CRAB
Limulus polyphemus
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134
SHALLOWS
The great Eelgrass die-off
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Eelgrass
beds in the Sound came under heavy environmental pressure
from sewage and other excess sources of nitrogen, as well as
direct damage from scallop fishing dredges. The excess nitrogen caused an explosion of phytoplankton and single-celled
algae and blue-green bacteria, which made the Sound’s water
much more opaque, cutting the penetration of sunlight to Eelgrass beds. In high nitrogen conditions, algae will also heavily
coat the leaves of Eelgrass, further reducing the amount of
sunlight they receive. In addition, evidence suggests that
water high in nitrogen directly damages the Eelgrass itself.
The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a
European bird introduced to the
northeastern United States about
a century ago. Although beautiful,
Mute Swans drive native ducks
and geese out of the best nesting
areas, and in the fall and winter
Mute Swans destroy many Eelgrass beds with their aggressive
feeding. Unlike native birds like
Brant geese that just clip the Eelgrass leaves, the large, powerful
swans can rip out whole Eelgrass
plants, as the swan pictured here
has just done off the coast of Old
Saybrook, Connecticut.
All of these pressures weakened the Eelgrass beds, and in
the early 1930s, Eelgrass communities throughout the North
Atlantic were devastated by an outbreak of Eelgrass wasting
disease, thought to have been caused by a combination of
unusually warm winters and summers in the North Atlantic
and an opportunistic infection by a common slime mold
species (Labyrinthula macrocystis). The disease proved fatal
to Eelgrass beds up and down the East Coast, and the massive
die-off changed the ecology of many subtidal areas. As the
grass died, the soft sediments under the grass beds were swept
away, in many places leaving bare rocky bottoms.
With the loss of the Eelgrass, an entire community of marine
wildlife began to vanish. Atlantic Bay Scallops were integral
members of Eelgrass communities, and their numbers plummeted. The population of Brant geese, which fed primarily on
Eelgrass, was decimated by starvation. Luckily, the slime mold
that causes the wasting disease does not survive in water with
low salinity levels, so Eelgrass beds near rivers were able to
survive, and today’s expanded Eelgrass beds are the result of
sprouted seeds from the surviving beds.
Over the past 80 years, both Atlantic Bay Scallops and Brant
adapted to new living conditions, and both species are now
more common again, although their populations have never
fully recovered. In more recent times, the introduced Mute
Swan has become a new threat to Eelgrass recovery, because
the swans now winter along the Connecticut coast in large
numbers and are voracious consumers of Eelgrass. With their
long necks and strong beaks, the swans don’t just clip the
grass leaves but tend to rip the plants out whole, destroying
large patches of Eelgrass beds.
Eelgrass beds continue to be an important environment along
the Connecticut coast and in Long Island Sound, and conservation efforts have focused on helping the Eelgrass communities recover from the threats of disease and excess nitrogen
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 134
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135
in the Sound. In the long term, only a significant reduction
in nitrogen released from water treatment plants around the
Sound will ensure the survival of Eelgrass communities. If
this occurs, excess algae populations will dissipate and the
water will become clearer, thus sustaining more plant and
animal life throughout Long Island Sound.
The shallows off Fishers Island
contain some of the largest and
healthiest Eelgrass beds in the
region.
Red-Breasted Merganser
Mergus serrator
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136
Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix)
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137
Depths
Longfin Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis pealeii)
The deep bottom environments of Long Island Sound are
diverse, ranging from pure sand to a mix of silt and sand,
shells, and small stones to hard, rocky bottoms scattered
with boulders. Each environment supports a different mix
of animals. The softer bottoms, for example, support a rich
infauna of worms and other marine invertebrates that are
largely absent on hard bottoms. The depths lack enough light
for large, attached algae to grow, so there are no plants. Wave
action is also not a factor in the depths, although strong currents can sweep through, particularly near the east exits of the
Sound during tide changes.
Throughout most of Long Island Sound there is good vertical
mixing of surface and deeper waters, particularly in the colder
months, so bottom nutrients are distributed and oxygenated
water from the top layers reaches the bottom community. In
the hottest summer months, however, the relatively shallow
and polluted Western Basin forms a hot but well-oxygenated
surface layer of water over a colder and less-oxygenated
bottom layer. This seasonal layering increases hypoxia in the
Western Basin and becomes a major stress factor for deep
bottom animals.
Soft bottom sediments of clay and silt mixed with fine sand
are more common in the Central and Western Basins. The
bottom types shift abruptly to sand, gravely sand, and rock
bottoms east of the Thimble Islands in Branford, Connecticut,
and Wildwood State Park on Long Island. Gravel sand, rocks,
and exposed bedrock make up the bottom near the Race at
the eastern exit of the Sound. The strong currents there have
long since flushed away any lighter sand and silt particles,
leaving behind heavy stone and the largest sand grains.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 137
Squid photo:
NOAA Photo Library.
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138
DEPTHS
Bottom types
Gravel or bedrock
Gravelly sand
Sand
Silty sand
Sand-silt-clay
Sandy silt
Norwalk
New Haven
Guilford
Old Saybrook
Bridgeport
Stamford
New
Rochelle
Port Jefferson
Glen Cove
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Coastal and Marine Geology
Deep bottom communities
Many of the invertebrates that live in sand or muddy areas of
the subtidal community also inhabit the depths. In particular,
Cone Worms, Bamboo Worms, Blood Worms, and Clam
Worms live in deeper soft bottom areas, as do many clam species familiar from shallower waters. One rapacious predator
of marine worms, shrimp, and small crabs is the Burrowing
Mantis Shrimp. This aggressive shrimp species burrows into
the sand during the day and hunts at night with a pair of
large, jackknife-like claws that fold up much like those of a
terrestrial praying mantis.
Several species of crabs are common in the deep bottom community, including the Spider Crab and the similar-looking
Rock and Jonah Crabs. The Rock Crab is widely distributed
across all bottom types, but the Jonah Crab is more common
on rocky bottoms.
Among the elasmobranchs (boneless sharks, skates, rays),
the common Smooth and Spiny Dogfish are joined by Little
Jonah Crab
Cancer borealis
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DEPTHS
Rock Crab
Cancer irroratus
Skates, Barndoor Skates, and Winter Skates, all of which hunt
clams, crabs, and other bottom invertebrates and small fish
over soft sediment bottoms.
The largest shark that regularly occurs in the Central and
Western Basins is the generally docile Sand Tiger Shark (Sand
Shark). Sand Tigers hunt a wide range of bottom fish across a
variety of bottom types.
The depths of Long Island Sound support a surprisingly varied community of bottom fish species. Winter Flounder and
Windowpanes are common flatfish in the depths. The deep
bottom community also supports a range of oddly shaped
searobin and sculpin relatives, such as the Northern Searobin,
Sea Raven, and Longhorn Sculpin.
Barndoor Skate
Raja laevis
The American Eel is an important and common member of
the deep bottom community. Often thought of as restricted
to soft sediment bottoms, eels are common across all types
of bottoms in the Sound. American Eels are nocturnal. They
hide in crevices or burrow into sand during the day and hunt
at night. The American Eel is our best-known catadromous
fish species (living in freshwater but spawning in salt water).
The eels live in river habitats and the Sound but migrate south
to breed in the deep Sargasso Sea south of Bermuda. After
spawning, adult eels die, but remarkably, their young return
to the same areas that their parents left.
Rocky bottom communities
Scattered rock, bedrock, and coarse gravel bottoms are
more common in the eastern Sound but also occur locally
all along Connecticut’s generally rocky drowned coastline.
On the North Shore of Long Island, much of the bottom is
dominated by large and small glacial boulders and stones that
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Winter Skate
Raja ocellatus
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DEPTHS
have eroded out of the Roanoke Point–Orient Point moraine,
producing a rough, cobbled bottom in many areas. Over rock
bottoms the water is generally clearer and freer of the silt that
can smother many types of marine filter feeders. Jonah Crabs
favor rocky bottoms, but the closely related Rock Crab is also
common. Fish that specialize in rocky bottom areas include
Cunner, Tautog (Blackfish), and Scup (Northern Porgy). The
Northern Lobster is the most famous and economically valuable resident of the Sound’s rocky bottom communities.
Northern Lobster
Thanks to its delicious meat, the Northern Lobster is known
far and wide as a symbol of coastal New England. A decapod
(10-legged) crustacean in the same family as shrimps and
crabs, the lobster shares the same basic body plan, but with
massively enlarged claws and a stretched abdomen with a
powerful muscular tail. The lobster’s large claws are asymmetric: the larger crusher claw is used for cracking the shells
of sea urchins and mollusks, and the finer cutter claw is used
for extracting meat and more delicate maneuvering of prey.
Before they became relentlessly hunted, Northern Lobsters
could live 30 years or more. Today in Long Island Sound a
lobster rarely reaches six years of age before it is caught by the
few remaining lobster fishers. In addition, the population of
Northern Lobsters in the Sound is in a sharp and likely permanent decline owing to climate change and warmer waters.
Northern Lobster
Homarus americanus
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Lobsters can live almost anywhere in the rocky areas of the
subtidal and deep bottoms of the Sound. Because they are
nocturnal and dislike strong light, they are rarely seen in
shallow water. During the day they hide in deep crevices or
burrows dug under rocks. For much of the year, the shallows
of the Sound are too warm for Northern Lobsters, which
hyperventilate at 68°F. Lobsters also avoid wave action, so
the bulk of the Long Island Sound population lives in waters
more than 10 feet deep.
Lobsters roam the rocky bottom areas in the dark, foraging
for and feeding on clams, scallops, sea urchins, and other
living or dead animal material they can find. Lobsters are
powerfully attracted to the scent of fish flesh, which is why
lobster traps baited with chunks of fish work so well, but
lobsters prefer live, healthy food over decaying animals.
Lobsters are very mobile and make long migrations across the
bottom of the Sound as well as in and out of the Sound. Migrating lobsters can travel along the ocean bottom more than
a mile every day, and an estimated 20 percent of Long Island
Sound’s former lobster population once migrated through the
Race each autumn to winter in deeper waters.
Lobster populations in New England
The Northern Lobster is a cold-water crustacean. Although
lobsters live along the East Coast from Labrador to Virginia,
the major populations are in the Gulf of Maine and around
the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Long Island Sound has always
been the southern limit of inshore lobster populations; farther
south, the lobster is strictly a deep-water animal never found
near shore. Lobster populations in Long Island Sound have
undergone a spectacular crash since 1999, even as Massachusetts and Maine catches have broken records for abundance.
The 2012 lobster harvest in the Sound was the lowest ever
recorded, and lobsters are no longer a viable commercial
fishery in the Sound.
Most experts think that the warmer waters of the Sound have
caused a permanent commercial extinction of the Northern
Lobster in Long Island Sound and that disease and pollution
effects are just the most visible manifestations of a simple fact:
the Sound is now too warm to support a significant population of lobsters. Whatever the cause of the Northern Lobster
population crash, the slow death of one of the Sound’s most
iconic animals warns us of the fundamental environmental
changes happening around us.
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142
SURPRISING ANIMALS
SURPRISING ANIMALS FOUND IN LONG ISLAND SOUND
ATLANTIC
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
Tursiops truncatus
LONGFIN
INSHORE SQUID
Loligo pealeii
ATLANTIC MOONFISH
Selene setapinnis
SERGEANT MAJOR
Abudefduf saxatilis
Smaller animals;
images not to scale
SPOTFIN
BUTTERFLYFISH
Chaetodon ocellatus
Dolphins: kaiwren; Squid: lilithlita; Moonfish: NOAA Photo Library; Sergeant Major: kuzeayo; Spotfin Butterflyfish: DJ; Sandbar Shark: Brian
Gratwicke; Sky: Radu Razvan; water surface: adimas.
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DEPTHS
143
Images not to scale
COWNOSE RAY
Rhinoptera bonasus
GREEN SEA TURTLE
Chelonia mydas
BELUGA
Delphinapterus leuca
SANDBAR SHARK
Carcharhinus plumbeus
SAND TIGER
SHARK
Carcharias taurus
Cownose Ray: Juan Aguere; Green Turtle: pipehorse; Sand Tiger Shark: Ralf Hirsch; Beluga: Luna Vandoorne.
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DEPTHS
Open water
The pelagic or open water of Long Island Sound extends from
areas about 10 feet deep to the deepest waters of the central
Sound. It is in these deeper waters that the Sound is most like
the open ocean, and indeed many oceanic fish visit the central
Sound during the year, especially in late summer. Wind and
wave action are at their most intense here, and although the
Sound is sheltered by Long Island and Fisher’s Island, large
storms with easterly winds can build up substantial waves.
There is a marked east-west salinity gradient, with brackish
waters of about 20 ppt in the central waters of the Western
Basin to a near oceanic 30 ppt in the Eastern Basin.
Along with the resident fish populations in the Sound, there
are large annual migrations into and out of the Sound of
marine and anadromous fish species. As every fisher knows,
open-water wildlife have a patchy distribution across the
marine environment. One moment the sea seems to be boiling with predators and prey fish, and a few minutes later all
the fish seem to have disappeared without a trace. In this zone
the most important food sources are plankton and small- to
medium-sized schooling fish such as Atlantic Menhaden,
Sand Lance, Atlantic Herring, and American Butterfish. The
Longfin Inshore Squid is an important food species for both
predatory fish and seals.
In warm months Long Island Sound is one of the most important nursery areas for coastal commercial and sport fishing species. In winter the Sound is a major East Coast refuge
and larder for a large population of wintering waterfowl and
coastal birds.
The open water of the Central
Basin.
In the open waters of the Sound there are two major aquatic
components: plankton and nekton. Plankton are tiny plants
and animals that swim weakly or passively drift with the tides
and currents. Nekton are larger, stronger swimming animals
such as open-water fish species but also include other powerful swimmers like squid and marine mammals. Plankton are
divided into two major groups: phytoplankton and zooplankton. Phytoplankton are single-celled plants that create
biomass through photosynthesis, and zooplankton are tiny
animals, including the larvae of many fish and invertebrates.
The life cycle of most pelagic animals includes both a planktonic and a nektonic phase: they hatch as tiny planktonic
larvae and later mature as freely swimming nekton.
Plankton
Phytoplankton and zooplankton collectively make up the
critical food resource for the whole open-water population of
the Sound. The population densities of plankton are almost
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beyond imagining. At their most dense, in late winter, phytoplankton may be as much as 40 green cells per quart of water.
Zooplankton density is about 200 copepods, or immature
stages, of fish, shrimp, crabs, and mollusks per quart of water
in late summer.
Even though phytoplankton are critical to life in Long Island
Sound, in the past few decades the Sound has often suffered
from too much of a good thing. Algae and other phytoplankton populations are ordinarily held in check by the natural
scarcity of nitrogen, a vital nutrient for plant growth. Today,
however, excessive nitrogen enters the water supply, chiefly
from the 105 water treatment plants that surround and drain
into the Sound. The excess nitrogen encourages abnormal
amounts of algal growth, which in turn depletes dissolved
oxygen. Although algae, like all green plants, emit oxygen as
part of photosynthesis, they also consume oxygen at night
when they are not photosynthesizing. As the algae population
explodes in the warm waters of summer, oxygen levels in the
Western Basin routinely fall and occasionally drop to levels
too low to sustain marine life.
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton are the most numerous organisms in Long
Island Sound. More than 200 species of single-celled diatoms,
dinoflagellates, green algae, and blue-green algae are the
primary nutrient producers of the Sound’s food chain. Most
phytoplankton are diatoms, which have silica shells in complex geometric shapes that are often linked together to make
clumps or chains of individuals. Diatoms are true plankton that drift with currents and tides. Dinoflagellates have
whiplike cilia that allow them to move through the water for
short distances and are most abundant in the early summer
months.
Zooplankton
Zooplankton in the Sound consist largely of minute animals
of various kinds, such as copepods and tiny shrimp, that
spend their whole lives drifting in surface waters with the
currents. Other zooplankton, however, consist of the larvae
of various invertebrates and fish that spend just a portion
of their lives drifting as plankton. Most zooplankton are
too tiny to be strong swimmers, but the zooplankton layer
itself ascends and descends daily in the water column. In the
night hours it rises to near the surface, and during the day it
descends into the relative gloom of deeper waters, probably to
lessen the threat of predators.
Most people don’t normally think of Blue Crabs, starfish,
Eastern Oysters, Northern Lobsters, or barnacles as residents
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146
PHYTOPLANKTON
DIATOMS
Asterionellopsis glacialis
DIATOMS
DIATOMS
DIATOMS
Chaetoceros sp.
Thalassionema frauenfeldii
Odontella sinensis
Not to scale and highly magnified over life size
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All plankton images: NOAA Photo Library.
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ZOOPLANKTON
147
Amphipod
Copepod
Crab larva
Zoea stage
Larval shrimp
Larval squid
Not to scale and highly magnified over life size
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DEPTHS
of the surface waters of the central Sound, but during their
larval stages, these and many other bottom invertebrates are
zooplankton. Many fish species also hatch as larvae before
they reach a size where they can swim effectively. Normally
sessile or slow-moving creatures spread their offspring far and
wide as free-floating larvae that later settle in suitable territories for the benthic, or attached, phase of their lives. The tiny
organisms feed on the rich local supply of plankton. Most of
the trillions of larvae hatched each year don’t live more than a
few days or weeks, instead becoming food for larger plankton
and small fish. In this way, the larvae are a vital link in the
Sound’s pelagic food chain.
Atlantic Sea Nettle
Chrysaora quinquecirrha
Pelagic invertebrates
Larger pelagic invertebrates like sea jellies, comb jellies, and
squid consume large amounts of zooplankton. Comb jellies
(Ctenophores) are simple sea jelly–like animals that are sufficiently different from true sea jellies to be placed in their
own phylum. Their common name comes from the rows of
beating cilia arranged in long lines, or combs, across their
surface, which allow these animals to swim and maneuver.
Comb jellies predate on zooplankton and can consume up
to 10 times their weight in prey each day. Masses of comb
jellies can temporarily deplete the zooplankton of harbors and
bays. Comb jellies are harmless to humans and can be safely
handled because they do not have stinging cells. At night,
comb jellies give off a faint green bioluminescence when
disturbed by sudden water movement.
The Sea Walnut (Leidy’s Comb Jelly) is the most common
comb jelly in Long Island Sound. The Sea Walnut is present
in the Sound year-round but is most common in late summer
and early fall. A less common relative, Beroe Comb Jelly, is
occasionally seen in the Eastern Basin.
True sea jellies (Cnidarians) have a swimming form called a
medusa with a pulsing bell and dangling tentacles equipped
with stinging cells called nematocyts. All sea jellies go
through a complex multistage life cycle, in which free-floating
planktonic larvae settle on fixed bottom surfaces and grow
into a polyp stage that releases small, free-floating medusae
(tiny sea jellies) that then grow into the forms we see swimming in the Sound. All sea jellies should be approached with
caution, particularly until you have confidently identified the
species.
Moon Jellies become common in Long Island Sound in late
spring and become less widespread after mid-July. Their
milky, translucent bells typically reach five to eight inches in
diameter and often wash up on beaches. Moon Jellies have
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DEPTHS
149
stinging cells on their short tentacles, but they are not numerous or strong, and most people have either a mild rash from
contacting the tentacles or no reaction at all. Some people
have strong allergic reactions to any sea jelly venom, however,
so it’s best to avoid handling sea jellies.
The Lion’s Mane Jelly is the large, red-violet, sometimes
dinner-plate-sized sea jelly most often encountered in the
shallow waters off beaches in late summer and early fall. The
Lion’s Mane is widely distributed in the North Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, and in Arctic waters it can grow to a diameter
of seven feet or more, making it the world’s largest sea jelly.
In our area, however, these jellies rarely reach bell diameters beyond 12 inches. The Lion’s Mane Jelly has very long
tentacles with strong stinging cells, so do not approach one
closely in the water, and avoid stepping near any beached bells
with bare feet.
Beroe Comb Jelly
Beroe sp.
The smaller Sea Nettle is less common than other sea jellies
but worth watching out for because its sting is so painful. Sea
Nettles tolerate very low salinities and may be present in river
mouths and harbors in late summer, primarily in the Central
and Eastern Basins. The Sea Nettle’s bell is about the size of
a Moon Jelly’s bell, but the Sea Nettle has much longer, dark
red stinging tentacles trailing the bell, so always give it a wide
berth.
Squid
Although most bathers, sport fishers, and boaters rarely
notice it, the Longfin Inshore Squid is quite common in Long
Island Sound from late spring through early fall. The Sound is
an important nursery area for this widespread Atlantic Coast
species, and these strong open-water swimmers are a major
food resource for Bluefish and Striped Bass, as well as Harbor
and Gray Seals. Like most squid species, the Longfin Inshore
Squid can rapidly alter its skin color and pattern by changing
the size and shape of special pigment cells in its skin.
Most adult Longfin Inshore Squid in the Sound are about
12–16 inches in length. Squid have a relatively short life cycle
for an animal their size; adults live for only about a year. In
the Sound, squid breed primarily from May through September. Each female lays a large bundle of egg capsules, called a
mop, in shallow areas, often attaching the mop to rocks or
the fronds of brown algae for protection. Most eggs hatch in
September, and small, one-to-two-inch squid are abundant
during the fall months.
Fish
Through the year there are major shifts in species diversity
and abundance in the depths of the Sound. More than 120
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Longfin Inshore Squid
Doryteuthis pealeii
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150
SEA JELLIES AND CTENOPHORES
CANNONBALL
JELLY
Stomolophus
meleagris
LION’S MANE JELLY
Cyanea capillata
Seen from above,
as in shallows
or on a beach
Credits– Cannonball Jellies: ymgerman, Sky2015; Lion’s Mane: Greg Amptman, Konstantin Novikov; PMOW: MSNN, sciencepics; Sea Nettle:
Gino Santa Maria; Comb Jelly: John Wollwerth; Moon Jellies: Hans Hillewaert.
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DEPTHS
Portuguese Man o’ Wars are sea jelly–like
animals that appear sporadically in the
Eastern Basin, usually in late summer. These
jellies have a powerful sting and very long
tentacles, so stay well away from them. The
tentacles can sting long after the animal has
died or has washed up on the beach.
PORTUGUESE
MAN O’ WAR
Physalia physalis
MOON
JELLY
ATLANTIC
SEA NETTLE
Aurelia aurita
Chrysaora
quinquecirrha
NORTHERN
COMB JELLY
Bolinopsis infundibulum
(A ctenophore, not a true jelly)
Not to scale
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DEPTHS
species of fish spend at least part of their lives in Long Island
Sound, and 50 species breed in the Sound. Overall fish
abundance is highest in the late summer and early fall, but
groundfish (fish that live on or near the bottom) are more
numerous in the spring and decline through the summer,
whereas pelagic fish increase through the summer and are
most abundant in autumn (see illustrations, pp. 114–119).
In spring the most abundant groundfish species in the Sound
are Winter Flounder, Windowpane Flounder, Fourspot
Flounder, Tautog (Blackfish), Little Skate, Red Hake, Scup,
and Smooth and Spiny Dogfish. The most abundant spring
pelagic fish species are schools of Atlantic Herring. Schools
of Atlantic Menhaden enter the Sound in late spring, as do
groups of such anadromous fish as American Shad, Blueback
Herring, Alewives, and Atlantic Salmon, heading for the
major Connecticut rivers in their sadly reduced spawning
runs. As spring progresses into summer the numbers of
Bluefish, Striped Bass, and other midwater game fish steadily
build. Weakfish move into the Sound in midspring, though in
diminished numbers in recent years.
By late summer Scup and Pelagic Butterfish are the most
numerous fish species in the Sound. Large schools of Atlantic
Menhaden and their predators, Bluefish, roam the Sound. In
the Eastern Basin warm-water and pelagic fish wander into
the Sound through the Race, including filefish, Crevalle Jacks,
Yellow Jacks, Atlantic Bonitos, Little Tunny, Atlantic Spanish
Mackerels, and, lately, Red Lionfish, a troublesome exotic
species that is spreading up the East Coast. Schools of large
Cownose Rays and Bullnose Rays may appear in late summer.
Large populations of smaller fish species build through the
summer. Atlantic Silverside, Sand Lance, and other small fish
species are a crucial link in the estuary food chain and are the
main food species for small gulls, terns, cormorants, skimmers, and many other water birds.
The Sound has only two larger shark species that are seen
regularly. Both are fairly docile unless hooked by fishers. The
Sand Tiger Shark (Sand Shark) is mostly a bottom-dwelling
species and is the most common large (typically 5–7 foot)
shark. The smaller Sandbar Shark (Brown Shark) typically
enters the eastern Sound in small groups in late summer. The
only recorded shark attack in Long Island Sound occurred in
1961, when a Bridgeport-area fisherman was injured while
handling a hooked shark.
In autumn most of the large schools of midwater and deepwater fish leave the Sound as the water cools. By late fall most
Bluefish and other game fish have moved out to deeper waters
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153
farther south along the East Coast. Some Striped Bass linger
in harbors and river mouths until early winter.
Sea turtles
Although they are seldom seen except when injured or dead,
Long Island Sound is regularly visited by four sea turtle
species, usually in late summer or early fall. The Green Sea
Turtle, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, the Loggerhead Sea Turtle,
and the huge Leatherback Sea Turtle sometimes enter the
Sound, albeit in small numbers. Sea turtles likely ride the Gulf
Stream north into New England waters. The closest major
nesting areas for Green and Loggerhead Turtles are found
on Florida’s beaches. The severely endangered Kemp’s Ridley
nests primarily on one small Gulf of Mexico beach in the
Mexican state of Tamaulipas, just south of the US-Mexican
border, and on other scattered locations in Tamaulipas.
The Red Lionfish (Pterois volitans) is an Indo-Pacific tropical fish first observed along the East
Coast by divers in Florida in 1994, probably fish that were released from home aquariums.
Although tropical in origin, the Red Lionfish is remarkably hardy and has quickly spread up the
East Coast. It now lives at least seasonally from Florida to Block Island and Long Island Sounds.
Present in late summer in the Eastern Basin in small but growing numbers, lionfish probably
arrive in our region by riding warm-water offshoots of the Gulf Stream, as do many other Atlantic
tropical fish. Although there seems to be little danger of the lionfish becoming a year-round
resident of the Sound, their presence worries marine biologists because lionfish have a voracious
appetite for small fish. Red Lionfish fins have sharp, poisonous spines that can deliver a painful
wound, so do not handle them.
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DEPTHS
Healthy sea turtles are creatures of the deep ocean and offshore coastal waters, and they normally come close to shore
only to breed. No sea turtles breed in the Sound’s relatively
cool waters and limited sandy beach areas, and a healthy sea
turtle rarely comes to the water’s surface or shows much of its
body out of the water when at the surface. As a result, even
though sea turtles are present every year in the Eastern and
Central Basins, healthy individuals are seldom noticed, even
by experienced naturalists.
Green and Ridley Sea Turtles
Small numbers of mostly juvenile Green and Ridley Sea
Turtles appear in Long Island Sound and in the surrounding
New York and southern New England ocean waters. These
smaller sea turtles feed on bottom crustaceans like crabs
and lobsters, and although the two species are primarily
warm-water animals, the mid-Atlantic Coast appears to be an
important feeding area for the young of both species.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
The Loggerhead is the most common and robust of the
smaller sea turtle species and appears in small numbers
mostly in the Eastern Basin. Loggerheads feed on a wide
variety of bottom crustaceans, lobsters, and crabs. These sea
turtles nest in small numbers as far north as the New Jersey
coast, but most East Coast Loggerhead nesting takes place on
Florida’s Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico coast. Like all
sea turtles, the Loggerhead is endangered, primarily by the
loss of nesting habitat and by nest and egg disturbance. In
Mexico, Loggerhead eggs are collected for food. Sea turtles
also die in large numbers in commercial fishing operations
and, even more tragically, when they are entangled in drifting
abandoned fishing gear and drown because they can’t reach
the surface to breathe.
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Probably because of their large size and distinctive ridged
back Leatherback Sea Turtles are the sea turtle species most
often spotted in local waters. Leatherbacks can reach 8 feet in
length, and a large individual can weigh 2,000 pounds. Off the
ocean coasts of Cape Cod and Long Island deep-sea fishers
and whalewatchers often spot Leatherbacks at the surface.
These powerful swimmers can range over oceans and dive
more than 1,000 feet underwater in search of their main prey,
sea jellies. Leatherbacks are unusual for turtles in that they
are at least partially endothermic (warm-blooded) and can
remain active even in very cold waters.
Leatherbacks and other sea turtles are often killed when they
mistake discarded plastic bags or party balloons for sea jellies.
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SEA TURTLES
155
KEMP’S RIDLEY
SEA TURTLE
Lepidochelys
kempii
25–30 in.
Typically olive
green and very
small for a sea
turtle
GREEN SEA TURTLE
Chelonia mydas
4–5 ft.
Serrated edge of
lower jaw
LOGGERHEAD
SEA TURTLE
5–7 ft.
Caretta caretta
Proportionately
large head
Distinctive back
ridges and long,
pointed flippers
7–9 ft.
LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE
Dermochelys coriacea
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DEPTHS
The plastic clogs the digestive system, and the turtle starves
to death or dies of abdominal infections. Never throw away
plastic bags on a beach or from a boat and never deliberately
release a party balloon because these long-lasting items can be
lethal to many kinds of marine animals, not just sea turtles.
All sea turtle species are on the New York, Connecticut, and
federal endangered or threatened lists and should neither be
approached closely by boat or on the beach nor handled in
any way except by qualified experts.
Birds
The second largest estuary on the East Coast, Long Island
Sound is an important habitat for all kinds of shorebirds
and water birds and even some true seabirds. In summer the
Sound offers birds bountiful food and habitat that is relatively
protected from the stronger winds and higher seas of the
true ocean coasts to the east and south. In other seasons the
Sound remains a rich and varied source of food not just for
overwintering regional birds but also for East Coast migrants
in spring and fall.
Most seabirds that frequent the Sound are really more
shoreline birds—that is, they specialize in feeding along the
immediate shore or the subtidal waters just offshore (see
“Shallows”). The birds considered here regularly feed well
offshore in the deeper waters, although some species such as
cormorants feed in both the shallows and the depths.
Double-Crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
A typical stance while out of the
water, drying its wings.
Cormorants
Over the past 30 years the Double-Crested Cormorant has
expanded its year-round presence along the Connecticut
shore, and this diving bird now breeds in many places along
the shores of Long Island Sound, as well as in inland lakes.
The larger Great Cormorant breeds along the coasts north
of Cape Cod but is a regular if uncommon sight on
breakwaters and other structures on the Sound in winter.
Both cormorant species are expert fish catchers and will
go well offshore to feed on schooling fish or squid in the
central waters of the Sound.
Gulls
Most gulls are shoreline birds and do not typically
wander far offshore. However, the Sound is a body
of water that is small enough for strong fliers such as
gulls to fly just about anywhere over the Sound, from
the low tide line out to the central Sound. Of the common gulls, the Herring Gull is most likely to be spotted
far from shore, where flocks eagerly crowd the air over
fishing boats, particularly when fishers clean their catch
or discard bycatch.
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CORMORANTS
Dark throat,
light belly
GREAT CORMORANT
157
First year
immature
Light throat,
dark belly
Phalacrocorax carbo
First year
immature
DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANT
Phalacrocorax auritus
Adult
Adult
Imm.
Imm.
Double-crested
in flight
Uphill angle
of flight
Great Cormorant
in flight
DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANT
GREAT
CORMORANT
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 157
Double-crested
and Great adults in
breeding plumage
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158
DEPTHS
Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
Herring Gull
Larus argentatus
Terns
Terns (see illustrations, pp. 126–127) feed by making shallow dives on small schooling fish such as Sand Lances and
Atlantic Silversides, as well as the young of many species that
frequent surface waters. Terns follow schools of fish and often
join in the feeding frenzies of Bluefish, snapping up injured
fish at the surface. Many of these school feeding events happen well offshore in deeper waters, particularly in summer
and early fall, when the fish population of the Sound is at its
peak. The most common tern seen in offshore waters is, as
its name suggests, the Common Tern. Summer boaters near
Falkner Island or Great Gull Island may also spot the much
rarer Roseate Tern, which nests there in small numbers. The
other tern species frequently seen along the Connecticut
coast in summer is the Least Tern, but the Least Tern feeds
mostly in the subtidal zone and does not typically wander far
offshore except in migration.
Sea ducks
Long Island Sound hosts large numbers of diving bay ducks
like scaups that primarily feed in the subtidal waters and typically flock within a half-mile of the shoreline (see “Shallows”),
but a few species of wintering ducks routinely venture well
offshore to deeper, rougher waters. These are the most marine
species of ducks.
The Long-Tailed Duck (formerly called Oldsquaw) is known
for the deepest, most sustained dives of any diving duck and
has been known to descend as deep as 200 feet to forage for
the clams and other marine invertebrates it favors, certainly
deep enough to feed anywhere in the open waters of Long
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DEPTHS
159
Island Sound. Although sadly these hardy ducks are now
threatened worldwide, Long Island Sound still has a significant population of Long-Tailed Ducks.
Scoters are large, sturdy, and mostly black sea ducks. They are
powerful underwater swimmers and feed mostly on mollusks.
Three species of scoter overwinter in the Sound and are often
seen well offshore. Our most common wintering scoter is
the White-Winged Scoter, and some Surf Scoters are present
throughout winter.
In the Eastern Basin the Common Eider is seen regularly in
winter, but these very large, Arctic sea ducks are best adapted
to feed on shoals in ocean waters and are the most truly
marine of all sea ducks. Common Eiders occur in small numbers throughout the offshore waters of Long Island Sound in
winter, but to see large flocks of eiders you’ll have to venture
past the eastern edge of the Sound to at least Napatree Point
in Rhode Island or farther east onto the ocean coasts of Block
Island Sound.
Gannets
In the past couple of decades, the Northern Gannet has gone
from a rare sight after late fall storms to a regular winter bird
throughout Long Island Sound. Gannets make spectacular
dives from 50 to 100 feet in the air, folding in their wings
before plunging headlong deep below the surface and raising
Common Eider, male
Somateria mollissima
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160
DEPTHS
a large splash column that can be seen from a mile or more
away. Feeding gannets are unmistakable; no other large, white
seabird makes that kind of headfirst dive into schools of fish.
True seabirds
Deep-ocean bird species like dovekies, murres, razorbills,
shearwaters, and jaegers have all been spotted at the eastern
edges of Long Island Sound, but these truly marine species
rarely come within sight of land, and Long Island Sound is
simply too landbound and shallow to attract such oceanic
birds. Still, expert birders occasionally spot these ocean species within the boundaries of the Sound, mostly while riding
the New London–Orient Point Ferry.
Northern Gannet
Morus bassanus
Marine mammals
There is evidence from historical accounts in the colonial era
of large coastal whales seen in the Eastern Basin. In 1799, 200
whales were counted off Stonington, Connecticut, although
no species was identified. Whaling began in New England
in the late colonial period and expanded rapidly after the
Wars of Independence and 1812. Those first whalers were
small vessels that hunted the two coastal New England whale
species that did not sink when harpooned and killed: the
Humpback Whale and the Northern Right Whale. Within a
few decades both species were nearly extinct in New England
waters, and whalers began to use larger ships on extended
voyages around the world. It is likely that in pre-Columbian
times there were sometimes Humpback and Northern Right
Whales in at least the Eastern Basin, but we have little direct
evidence. Today an occasional stranding of a large whale occurs on the Connecticut coast, the most recent being a small
Humpback that washed up in Stonington in 2012.
Carbonbrain
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SEA DUCKS
Steve Byland
LONG-TAILED DUCK Clangula hyemalis
Paul Reeves Photography
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER Melanitta fusca
Karen Popovich
GREATER SCAUP Aythya marila
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 161
161
Natures Moments UK
LONG-TAILED DUCK Clangula hyemalis
M. Carter
SURF SCOTER Melanitta perspicillata
Ian Maton
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER Mergus serrator
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162
WHALES AND DOLPHINS
LONG-FINNED PILOT WHALE
Globicephala melas
Distinctly hooked dorsal fin
Light saddle mark on older individuals
10–20 ft.
White callosities
on head
Smooth back with no dorsal fin
NORTHERN
RIGHT WHALE
35–50 ft.
Eubalaena glacialis
NOTE: The chance of seeing any
of these marine mammals in the
Sound is slight. Whales are rare in
Long Island Sound.
Distinctive
knobbed head
HUMPBACK WHALE
Megaptera novaeangliae
Adults are large and fast-moving, with little curiosity about boats. Right lower jaw is usually bright white.
Back may show chevron patterns.
FIN WHALE
Balaenoptera physalus
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DEPTHS
Fast, almost dolphinlike surface movements; note the
chevron patterns on the back
163
MINKE WHALE
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
12–30 ft.
White band on the
pectoral fins
Smooth, trailing
edge to the tail,
with fine points
at the end of the
flukes
ATLANTIC
BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN
Tursiops truncatus
7.5–9 ft.
HARBOR PORPOISE
Phocoena phocoena
4–5 ft.
Sometimes
rolls out its tail
before deeper
dives
Small, lumpy dorsal fin
Often rolls out its tail
before deeper dives
Typically 35–45 ft.
Long, mostly white
pectoral fins are unique
Rarely shows its tail above the
surface, and then only briefly
30–70 ft.
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DEPTHS
In the summer of 2015 at least three young Humpback
Whales entered Long Island Sound and were spotted at various locations in the Central and Western Basins. Unfortunately, in October 2015, one of these individuals was found
dead from a probable ship strike in Lloyd Harbor.
Bottlenose Dolphins are seen with some regularity in the
Eastern Basin. In June 2015, a pod of about 25 Bottlenose
Dolphins was seen well into the Western Basin. In 2009, a
group of more than 200 Bottlenose were seen off Hempstead
Harbor and at other locations in the Western Basin. Before
World War II, groups of Bottlenose Dolphin were a regular
sight for commercial fishermen off the North Shore of Long
Island, but in the past 50 years, sightings have become rare.
Although Bottlenose Dolphins sometimes enter shallow water, most groups stay well offshore, where they are not easily
spotted by observers on land.
The seals of Long Island Sound (see “Shallows”) primarily rest
on isolated shore or island locations and feed in the subtidal
shallows.
Climate change in the Sound
Long Island Sound is getting warmer. Most climate scientists
think that the man-made rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide
is responsible for global climate change and the warmer temperatures now recorded worldwide over the past half-century.
The Sound has gained an average of two degrees Fahrenheit
in the past century. Although two degrees might sound like
a relatively slight change, consider how much additional heat
energy it takes to warm every one of the 18 trillion gallons of
water in the Sound, and you get a sense for how significant a
change this is for the Sound’s ecology. The diseases and other
troubles that currently plague Long Island Sound’s Northern
Lobster and Eastern Oyster fisheries are caused in large part
by warmer waters, particularly in the summer months, when
hypoxia is a recurring problem in large areas of the Sound.
Connecticut and New York marine scientists have run regular
research trawls in Long Island Sound for decades, and recent
shifts in the populations of warm-tolerant and cold-tolerant
fish species suggest that climate change is shifting the species
balance in the Sound. The shift in fish populations is not necessarily bad, but we don’t know what it portends for the future
of the Sound ecosystem as a whole. Over the past 20 years
warm-tolerant species like the Scup have seen population
rises, while cold-tolerant species like the Winter Flounder
have declined.
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DEPTHS
70°
Bottom water temperature readings for spring and fall seasons
68°
45°
66°
42°
64°
Spring
Fall
39°
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Fall (degrees F)
Spring (degrees F)
48°
165
62°
Source: Howell and Auster, 2012.
Winter Flounder Abundance
A cold-tolerant species
Scup Abundance
A warm-tolerant species
(Count per research tow)
(Count per research tow)
600
200
150
400
100
200
0
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
0
No data
50
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Source: Sound Health 2012, www.longislandsoundstudy.net
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166
Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge–Milford Point Unit, Connecticut.
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BEACHES AND DUNES
167
Beaches and Dunes
The wild beach and dunes above Sunken Meadow Creek at Sunken Meadow State Park, Long Island.
Beaches and dunes are a dynamic equilibrium among sand,
wind, and waves. Everything on a beach is in constant motion, whether under blazing sun in summer or grinding ice
and tearing waves in winter. Beaches and dunes are rough,
turbulent places, dry as deserts, sprayed with blasts of sand
and salt. If, as Heraclitus said, “No man ever steps in the same
river twice,” the same is true of any beach. The beach you walk
today is not the beach of last year—or even last week. Even
if the place seems the same, every grain of sand you see was
somewhere else just days ago.
Long Island Sound beaches and dune fields are generally
small and thin, particularly when compared to the large
ocean beaches on the south shore of Long Island. There are
two reasons for this: the Sound area has a comparatively poor
supply of sand and sediments with which to build beaches,
and the Sound has low-energy coasts sheltered from large
ocean waves. Long Island, Fishers Island, and Napatree Point
in Rhode Island act as giant breakwaters, shielding the waters
of Long Island Sound from large waves except in the most
violent hurricanes and nor’easters.
Connecticut has a very rocky shoreline, with few headlands
made of the soft glacial till that supplies the vast amounts of
sand seen along the southern coast of Long Island and the
eastern rim of Cape Cod. By comparison, there is no exposed
bedrock anywhere on the North Shore of Long Island. Long
Island’s North Shore sand-and-cobble beaches all originate
from the erosion of soft glacial sediments of the Harbor Hill,
Roanoke Point, and Orient Point Moraines that form the high
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168
BEACHES AND DUNES
earthen banks of the North Shore of Long Island. For thousands of years the waters of Long Island Sound have carved
away at the soft moraine sediment cliffs. As a result, the
classic North Shore beach is a mix of sand and glacial stones
and boulders that have eroded from the moraine cliffs. Much
of the lighter sand and clay from the cliffs has washed into the
deeper waters of the Sound, where they are not available to
build larger beaches and sandspits.
The value of beaches
The recent hurricanes Irene (2011) and Sandy (2012) and the
giant blizzard nor’easter Storm Nemo (2013) have reminded
us that the supposed stability and permanence of our beaches
is a dangerous illusion. Even on a relatively sheltered body
of water like the Sound, the combined powers of hurricaneforce winds, storm surges, and a rising sea level have caused
many millions of dollars in damage to the Connecticut and
northern Long Island coastlines in just the past five years.
Inevitably, the storm damage created calls to stabilize or even
harden our shorelines against future storms. Time and again
these futile and expensive efforts to hold back the sea have
failed all along the Atlantic Coast, and time and again the
political and human costs of abandoning neighborhoods built
too close to the tide lines has overwhelmed common sense.
Ultimately we will live in a wiser and more dynamic balance
with our changing shorelines, if only because rising waters
will force us to.
Opposite:
Before and after pictures of
Sandy Point, Superstorm Sandy.
On October 29, 2012, Superstorm
Sandy struck the Northeast coast
with hurricane-force winds and
an extraordinary storm surge and
high waves, even within Long
Island Sound. At the height of
the storm the winds were from
the east-southeast, and high
waves pushed thousands of tons
of New Haven Harbor sand onto
the sandspit at Sandy Point, West
Haven, Connecticut. The natural
sandspit and salt marsh acted as
a buffer and breakwater, largely
sparing the West Haven neighborhoods bordering the harbor from
wave and surge damage. It was
a similar story in Groton, Connecticut, where the Bushy Point
sandspit saved the Groton airport
and Avery Point areas from major
storm damage.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 168
As the sea level rises and intense storms become more
frequent due to our warming atmosphere, natural shoreline
habitats will play a crucial role in protecting the built environment near the coast. Beaches, dune areas, sandspits, and the
salt marshes behind them act both as mechanical buffers
against storm waves and as giant sponges capable of absorbing and slowing the movement of storm-driven water and
runoff from built areas.
Marine scarps
A marine scarp is a steep earthen slope, formed where waves
and heavy rainstorms have eroded the soft gravel, sand, and
clay deposits left by the glaciers of the last Ice Age about
17,000–20,000 years ago. These steep cliffs of eroded glacial
till are commonly seen above beaches on glacial coastlines
throughout the Northeast, and particularly on the North
Shore of Long Island.
The north coast of Long Island is composed almost entirely of
soft, unconsolidated glacial till that is easily eroded by storm
waves. East of Port Jefferson wave action has eroded any former headlands that once projected northward into the Sound,
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BEACHES AND DUNES
169
October 5, 2012
November 3, 2012
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BEACHES AND DUNES
resulting in an unusually straight coastline of narrow beaches
at the foot of steep marine scarps. The nearly continuous line
of high bluffs and steep scarp faces that line the North Shore
of Long Island are the eroded edges of the Roanoke Point–
Orient Point Moraine, which runs from Port Jefferson east
to Orient Point and Plum Island and then continues across
the eastern end of the Sound to form Plum, Great Gull, Little
Gull, and Fishers Islands (see map, pp. 32–33).
Wave action focuses energy on headlands that project from
the coast, eroding them much faster than the relatively sheltered bays in between. As the wave action removes projecting
headlands, the coastline becomes smoother.
Longshore currents and beach drifting
Sand particles don’t just move straight up the beach as waves
wash in and straight down the beach as the backwash slides
away. Because of the effects of wind and currents, wave sets
rarely meet the beach in perfectly parallel lines. Instead, they
usually come in at some angle to the line of the beach. The
constant angle of waves to the beach has two major effects.
First, the angled waves create a current just offshore of the
beach called a longshore current. Second, the angled waves
in the foreshore and swash zones of the beach move sand
particles along the beach in the direction of the longshore
current, and the longshore current picks up sand particles
carried into waters just off the beach and moves them even
farther down the beach. Typical longshore currents flow at
Wave energy
concentrated
Wave energy
disbursed
Coastal
headland
Wave energy
concentrated
Coastal
headland
Bay beach
Erosion of headlands by waves
Wave action tends to focus energy on headlands that project from the coast, eroding them much faster than the
relatively sheltered bays in between headlands. As the wave action removes projecting headlands, the coastline
becomes smoother.
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BEACHES AND DUNES
two to three miles per hour along ocean shores but are slower
in the Sound. Although the amount of sand moved by one
wave is modest, the accumulated action of thousands of waves
a day is enough to move many tons of sand down the beach
over the course of a year.
BR EA KING WAVES
Scarp face above a beach.
The north coast of Long Island
is composed largely of eroded
glacial sediments. East of Port
Jefferson the high bluffs and
steep scarp faces are the eroded
edges of the Harbor Hill Moraine,
deposited by retreating glaciers
about 21,000 years ago.
Beach sand movement and
longshore current.
Individual sand grains pushed down the beach by each sucessive wave swash
SWASH ZONE
BEACH
Sandbars and sandspits
Where the coastline bends sharply and the water deepens,
such as at the mouth of a bay or end of a peninsula, the longshore current slows suddenly and the sand particles it carries
settle out, gradually forming a sandbar that points in the
171
Net movement of sand down the beach
Wa
ve
s
ets
an
gle
dt
ot
he
sho
rel
in
e
Longshore current driven by angled waves
Predominant seasonal
wind direction
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 171
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BEACHES AND DUNES
Waves move sand “around the corner”
at the end. As water movement slows,
sand deposits in a curl.
Original headland
at the base of the spit
Longshore movement of beach sand by wave swash
Longshore current
Predominant seasonal
wind direction
direction of the longshore drift. Over time this sandbar accumulates more sand and becomes a sandspit above the high
tide level. Each year more sand accumulates at the free end
of the sandspit, further lengthening the spit. Once the sand
is permanently above the high tide level, vegetation moves in
and helps accumulate yet more wind-driven sand grains that
are trapped and held by the leaves and stems, forming sand
dunes on the spit.
On both the Connecticut and Long Island coasts of the Sound
the predominant movement of sand is toward the west,
forming westward-pointing sandspits such as Milford Point
in Connecticut and the Cedar Town Beach sandspit near Port
Jefferson. This westward movement of sediment is driven in
part by nor’easters and hurricanes that bring heavy wind and
waves moving from east to west along the Sound.
Wind and sand
On the upper beach, just out of range of the splash of waves,
sand grains begin to move under the influence of winds.
At low tide the sand dries, and when winds reach a speed
of about 12–15 miles per hour, they are capable of moving
average-sized sand grains across the beach.
Several wind processes transport sand grains. Strong winds
pick up surface grains and transport them in short leaps
across the surface in an action called saltation (from the
Latin for “jumping”). Wind also can shove the grains of sand
directly along the beach surface in a process called surface
creep. As any beachcomber can tell you, wind is quite capable
of moving sand grains well above the surface—to eye level
at least. Windy days move great quantities of sand, but most
beachgoers never see the strong, steady winter winds and
blustery storms that move the majority of sand over the year.
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BEACHES AND DUNES
173
Types of beaches
Although the beaches of Long Island Sound are modest
compared to their eastern and southern neighbors, Sound
beaches have all the classic beach characteristics. The Sound
has four basic kinds of beach, each with particular origins and
features, even if they all share similar marine and shoreline
plants and wildlife.
Most of our beaches are mainland beaches, created by longshore currents that carry sand along the coast and deposit
it at the tide line. Over centuries of deposition sand beaches
build up on shores that are not too steep to hold the sand.
The beaches at Hammonasset State Park in Connecticut and
Wildwood State Park on Long Island are mainland beaches,
with sand and pebbles derived from both river deposition (in
Connecticut) and the erosion of soft, glacial till shorelines (on
the northern coast of Long Island). Cove or pocket beaches lie
between rocky headlands, where a sheltered area accumulates
sand that is eroded from the surrounding areas or washed
by currents into the cove. The curving beach at Rocky Neck
State Park, Connecticut, is a cove beach, and the Connecticut
coast has dozens of other small cove beaches tucked between
the many rocky headlands. Sandspits and baymouth bars are
similar structures, created when longshore drift deposits sand
along a point on the coast where the current slows suddenly,
such as near a harbor entrance, bay, or river mouth. Sandy
Point in New Haven Harbor, Milford Point at the mouth
of the Housatonic River, and the points surrounding the
entrance to Port Jefferson Harbor are all sandspit beaches.
A tombolo is a sand or gravel bar that develops between
the mainland and an island just offshore, usually through
erosion of a former headland. Charles Island just off Milford,
Connecticut, has a tombolo that connects the island to the
mainland and is a passable rocky beach at low tide. The thin
causeway that connects Lloyd Point on Long Island to Lloyd
Harbor is also a tombolo. One common type of Atlantic Coast
2 inches
1
Paths of sand
Wind
Surface creep:
Wind can simply push
or roll sand grains
along the surface
grains
Each grain makes many
rebound leaps across
the sand surface
Saltation:
Wind picks up
sand grains and
transports them
short distances
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 173
Vegetation is crucial
to help build up dunes and
barrier islands by trapping
sand grains carried by
the wind
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BEACHES AND DUNES
A mainland beach, at Hammonasset Beach State Park,
Connecticut.
A cove or pocket beach, at Rocky Neck State Park,
Connecticut.
A sandspit beach, at Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, West
Haven, Connecticut.
A tombolo beach, at Silver Sands State Park, Milford,
Connecticut (Charles Island in background).
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rk,
BEACHES AND DUNES
175
beach that is missing in Long Island Sound is the barrier
island beach, which forms on high-energy ocean coasts with
large amounts of sand, strong currents, and large waves.
Beach sand
Only the hardest grains of minerals survive the grinding
and buffeting processes that produce sand. Most beach sand
is made of quartz and feldspar, two of the most common
minerals on earth, both hard enough to cut glass. The sand on
Long Island Sound beaches today is mostly the product of the
Wisconsinan Period glaciers that covered the Sound region
from about 35,000 to about 16,000 years ago.
The Sound’s beaches are mostly made up of sand and finer
gravels from eroded glacial till that is not very old in geological terms, and this sand has not been exposed to the long
polishing and grinding that create the fine, white quartz sugar
sand of the prettiest beaches to the south. Our young, rough
sands are mostly quartz, but they also contain fragments and
sand-sized grains of other relatively soft and mostly darker
rocks and minerals. Over time the softer minerals will be
ground into silt and washed away, but since this sand was
created so recently, the darker minerals are still mixed into
the beaches, giving them a darker look than the older ocean
beaches of the unglaciated Atlantic Coast south of New York
Harbor, where much of the sand is far older. Also, Long Island
Sound’s low-energy beaches sometimes have muddy areas
or silt-sand mixtures because the currents and waves aren’t
strong enough to wash away the silt particles as they would on
an ocean beach.
Onshore and offshore winds
Beaches are windy for the same reason open waters are
windy: there are no landforms or tall vegetation to break
the force of the wind. Beaches are also windy because of the
The sand of Lighthouse Point in
New Haven isn’t brown because
it is dirty. The sand is brown because it’s a relatively young blend
of many minerals. Viewed close up
(see the inset), the sand is a mix
of brightly colored grains. When
you blend all those colors in your
mind’s eye, you see brown.
lford,
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BEACHES AND DUNES
very different ways that land and sea heat and cool over the
seasons. This differential heating and cooling along the coast
generates onshore winds and their opposite offshore winds,
particularly in summer, when the contrast between land and
sea temperatures is the greatest.
Onshore winds are generated when the land heats up during
the day, creating columns of rising warm air. As the warm air
mass rises, it draws in air from the lower, cooler air over the
water, creating winds that blow in from the sea, usually in the
afternoon and early evening. Although these cool sea breezes
may feel great on land, the onshore winds can be strong
enough to kick up three-to-four-foot seas offshore, creating
a rough ride for small boats on the Sound. Onshore winds
happen almost daily along the Long Island Sound coasts in
summer and early fall.
Offshore winds result when the Sound is warmer than the
land and rising air over the Sound pulls air from the land.
Offshore breezes are most common in late fall, when the
Sound is still warm but the land is cooling quickly as winter
approaches.
Groins, jetties, and breakwaters
In the past, various kinds of hard structures have been built
to stabilize sand beaches and protect them from storm damage. Breakwaters are long rock structures built offshore and
roughly parallel to the shoreline to reflect storm waves and
protect the waters of harbors like Connecticut’s New Haven
Harbor, Bridgeport Harbor, and Stamford Harbor, which are
all shielded by multiple breakwaters.
Jetties are walls built on either side of a harbor entrance to
prevent the navigation channel from filling with sediment
carried by longshore currents, as well as the development
of a baymouth sandbar across the harbor entrance. Milford
Harbor, Port Jefferson, Mattituck Creek, and Mystic Harbor
all employ jetties to protect their harbor entrances.
A Dunlin (Calidris alpina) walking
on the beach at Milford Point,
Connecticut. Note that the beach
surface here is composed almost
entirely of slipper, oyster, and
clam shells.
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BEACHES AND DUNES
177
Groins are stone walls built perpendicular to sandy shores
to help stabilize and widen beaches that are losing sand to
erosion from longshore currents. Groins are no longer considered effective for shoreline engineering, because although
they trap some sand locally along the upstream face of the
wall, they rob downstream areas of their sand supply. Over
time, groins worsen beach erosion.
Beach sediments
The constant action of waves and currents sorts sediments
by size, forming large areas of consistent sediments. Water
sorts sediments into course pebble areas, finer sand areas,
and, finest of all, silty clay sediments. The fine particles of silt
move the farthest and can drift in the water column for years
before settling either deep offshore in the ocean bottom or
as muddy sediments in bays and other protected areas with
slower, more gentle wave action. Sand accumulates along
shores because it is composed of durable minerals like quartz
and feldspar derived from granites, in particles small enough
to be easily moved by ocean waves, but also heavy and longlasting enough to persist along the coastline rather than be
immediately washed into deep water.
Beach profiles
The actions of waves on sandy beaches over the seasons
produce a consistent and predictable beach structure. The
foredune is a raised portion at the back of a beach that is a
transition point from true beach into a vegetated dune. The
foredune is raised because the beach plants there are dense
enough to trap and hold sand, and over time the foredune
rises over the height of the upper beach. The upper beach is
created largely by wind action and is a repository for sand
grains blown up from lower areas of the beach. The upper
beach is typically bare, although it may have a few hardy
beach plants, such as American Beach Grass, Seaside Goldenrod, Beach Clotbur, and Common Saltwort.
On ocean beaches the upper beach is often marked by a distinct step in the beach called the winter berm, created when
large (usually winter) storm waves reach high up the beach
and pull sand away from areas that are normally well above
the high tide line. On Long Island Sound beaches you may
see a winter berm on the widest beaches after a severe storm,
but normally the waves on the Sound are not large enough to
carve a distinct winter berm.
Wrack lines
The wrack line (wet-dry line) marks the average high tide
line. Incoming waves are more forceful than the backwash off
the beach, and as they come in, waves sweep material from
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 177
Northern Moon Snail
Lunatia heros
Atlantic Slipper Shell
Crepidula fornicata
Oyster Drill
Urosalpinx cinerea
9/7/16 10:05 PM
178
BEACHES AND DUNES
Long Island Sound beaches commonly transition quickly to upper
beach or dune areas that are next
to salt marshes on the sheltered
or landward side. Here at Lloyd
Point on Long Island, the sandspit
beach transitions to salt marsh in
less than 200 feet from the high
tide line on the Sound side.
the tidal zone and onto the beach up to the high tide line. This
leaves a collection of plant and animal debris in a line called
the wrack line. On Long Island Sound coasts, wrack lines usually consist of broken stalks of Phragmites (Common Reed)
or Saltwater Cord Grass, crab shells, Sea Lettuce and other
algae, and bits of other floatable debris. Near rocky coasts or
Eelgrass beds you may see fragments of Eelgrass, Rockweed,
Knotted Wrack, and other less common red and brown algae.
East of New London Harbor in Connecticut the wrack line
may contain large strands of Sugar Kelp. Also in the mix may
be clam and scallop shells, egg cases from whelks and skates,
FOREDUNE
BEACH
Seaside
Goldenrod
Switchgrass
Am. Beach
Grass
DUNE VEGETATION
Am. Beach Grass
Switchgrass
Seaside Goldenrod
Wrinkled Rose
Marsh Elder
Northern Bayberry
Eastern Redcedar Juniper
Black Cherry
Poison Ivy
Virginia Creeper
Blackgrass
Phragmites
WINTER BERM
OR WINTER BENCH
Beach forbs
& grass
BEACH VEGETATION
Am. Beach Grass
Red Goosefoot
Beach Clotbur
Searocket
Common Saltwort
Seaside Spurge
Dusty Miller
Beach Pea
SUPRALITTORAL ZONE
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 178
BERM C
UPPER BEACH
Wrack line, or
“wet–dry line”
Berm trough or runnel.
May hold a running stream
of water as the tide moves in or out.
LITTORAL ZO
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BEACHES AND DUNES
179
and the carcasses of various small fish and invertebrates. Most
crab shells you see in the wrack line are not from dead individuals but are the molted shells that crabs shed as they grow.
Wrack lines are inhabited by beach flies, wolf and other
spiders, beach fleas (amphipods), and beetles, all important
food sources for shorebirds. Most wrack line animals are nocturnal, feeding when the beach is cooler and moister. Wrack
line shells and plants are a good indication of what vegetation
and animals are locally abundant just offshore in the subtidal
environment. Dead and partially dismembered Northern
Searobins are common in the wrack line because they are
easily caught by fishers and make good bait for Bluefish and
Striped Bass.
The seeds of many annual beach plants are also mixed into
the wrack line, and the dispersal of those seeds by tides,
wind, and wave action is an important way that these plants
spread along the beach. Seaside Spurge, Common Saltwort,
Red (Coastblite) Goosefoot, and Searocket are annuals that
spread seeds this way. Wrack debris aids a beach by trapping
and holding windblown sand, helping dune formation. Many
foredunes begin as sand trapped in a high storm wrack line
that gradually accumulates enough to support plants.
SUBTIDAL ZONE
BERM CREST
LOWER BEACH
TROUGH
OFFSHORE BAR
“High tide line”
MHW
“Low tide line”
MLW
Berm face
nel.
ream
in or out.
“Swash Zone”
Trough
LITTORAL ZONE
Offshore bar
SUBLITTORAL ZONE
MHW=Mean High Water Line, MLW=Mean Low Water Line
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 179
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180
BEACHES AND DUNES
Many bathing beaches sweep away the wrack line to leave
clean sand. Unfortunately, beach grooming for sunbathers
tends to sterilize the beach, removing the food sources, shelter, and seeds for most plants and animals that use the beach.
Ironically, grooming also makes the beach sand more mobile
and thus more prone to blowing away or being swept away
by tides. Beach grooming is particularly detrimental to two
of Connecticut’s most endangered birds, the Piping Plover
and the Least Tern, both of which nest on the high end of
beaches. The Piping Plover also feeds frequently in the wrack
line where it nests, and beach grooming often destroys Piping
Plover nests.
Storms and spring high tides push water well beyond the
normal wrack line, and you may notice an additional storm
She
ltere
d
bay
Salt
mar
sh
Back
dun
es
She
ltere
& pit d thicke
ch p
t
ines s
Prim
a
seco ry &
nda
dun ry
es
E
SID
BAY
Fine
silt
sedim & clay
ents
Low
mar
sh
High
mar
sh
Fore
& sw shore
ash
zo
Sand
Thin
soils
Sand
Fore
(prim
dun ary)
e
Swa
sh
erm
rb
rm
nte
be
Wi
er
mm
u
S
zone
Trou
g
h
Generalized structure of a sandspit, typical of
sandspits on the Long Island Sound coasts. Areas of salt
marsh form on the more protected inland side of the
sandspit, and if the spit is big enough, small areas of dune
habitat may develop behind the foredune and beach.
Nea
rsho
re b
a
r
Offs
ho
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 180
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BEACHES AND DUNES
181
wrack line pushed well up the beach, into the foredune area or
even beyond. If you are curious about how high the water gets
on a beach in storms or perigean spring tides, look for that
extra wrack line far up the beach.
The lower beach
The lower beach or swash zone is the transition area where
waves meet the beach, swashing up the sand and sliding back
with each new wave set. Farther up the beach a summer berm
typically forms where the relatively gentle summer waves pile
up an accumulation of sand, building the width and height of
the beach. Often the beach becomes steeper on the seaward
side of the summer berm.
Prim
a
seco ry &
nda
dun ry
es
Just below the foreshore area of beaches, below the low tide
line, there is typically a trough in the beach profile where
heavier gravel and shells accumulate, and just beyond that
dip area is a shallow bar area composed of a mix of the coarse
materials and sand brought in from deeper waters. It seems
that every child at the beach makes the surprise discovery
that if you head out into the water and brave the first line of
breakers and the deep trough under them, you’ll suddenly
be in much shallower water when you reach the sandbar
Fore
& sw shore
ash
zone
Nea
rsho
re &
b
Wrack lines provide food and
shelter to many small organisms
on the beach. Beach fleas (amphipods), small crabs, wolf spiders,
many other kinds of spiders,
beetles, and even foxes and
raccoons scavenge in wrack lines.
Wrack lines also trap and hold
windblown sand on beaches.
reak
e
rs
Offs
hore
Wolf Spider
Pardosa sp.
D
UN
E
SID
SO
Offs
hore
bar
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 181
9/7/16 10:05 PM
182
Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge-Milford Point Unit, Connecticut.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 182
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BEACHES AND DUNES
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 183
183
9/7/16 10:05 PM
184
BEACHES AND DUNES
Red (Coastblite) Goosefoot
(Chenopodium rubrum) is one of
the few beach plants that grows
right up to the wrack line.
beyond the breaking waves. Offshore sandbars are formed
when sand pulled off the lower beach by wave swash is pulled
into deeper water just offshore, where wave action below the
surface is less intense. The sand milling in the backwash drops
out of the water column, forming a sandbar just seaward of
the beach trough. On Long Island Sound beaches the normal
wave energy is much less powerful than on an ocean beach,
so both the trough and the offshore sandbar may be small or
even absent.
Plants
Few plants and animals are well adapted to the dry conditions, sandy substrate, and salt spray of beach environments.
No plants can survive below the wrack line except Saltwater
Cordgrass on sheltered beaches, and there is limited vegetation on the first stretch of upper beach behind the wrack line,
primarily because only a few plants can tolerate having their
roots immersed in salt water. Most true beach plants live in
the upper beach area just before the rise of the foredunes
behind the beach, where American Beach Grass begins to
dominate.
American Beach Grass
American Beach Grass is the most common plant found on
the upper beach, and it becomes even more dominant in the
foredune and back dunes areas beyond the upper beach. This
grass has a number of features that allow it to thrive in sandy,
dry conditions, including its leaves’ ability to curl into vertical
tubes and conserve moisture under hot, windy conditions.
Although American Beach Grass can propagate by seed, the
primary way it spreads over a beach is through underground
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 184
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BEACHES AND DUNES
185
stems, or rhizomes, that lie beneath the sand, and roots that
extend deep down—six feet or more deep is not unusual.
Because its rhizomes and roots are safely anchored under the
sand, American Beach Grass can survive storm damage, sand
blowouts, and winter exposure.
American Beach Grass is often the first plant to colonize an
empty stretch of beach or dune. Once its seeds take root, the
grass can extend itself rapidly through its rhizomes, and as the
grass spreads, it begins to build sand dunes or sandspits by accumulating windblown sand particles. As the leaves trap the
sand grains, the sand builds a small mound around each grass
cluster. One of American Beach Grass’s most important adaptations is the ability to grow upward quickly, which keeps the
grass clusters from being overwhelmed by the growing pile
of sand around them. Many other beach plants have the same
vertical growth adaptations for this reason. As American
Beach Grass moves into a beach or sandbar, the grass literally
builds its environment by accumulating and stabilizing the
sand with its roots and rhizomes. The grass does not just
grow on sandspits and dunes—American Beach Grass creates
sandspits and dunes.
Other common plants
Saltwater Cordgrass is one of the few land grasses that can
tolerate having its roots soaked in salt water, and on protected
beaches without much wave action you’ll often see small
stands of Saltwater Cordgrass running right down the beach
to at least the low tide line and sometimes a little beyond.
Two of Long Island Sound’s most
endangered bird species nest in
the upper beach zone: the Piping
Plover and the Least Tern.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 185
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186
BEACHES AND DUNES
Red (Coastblite) Goosefoot is one of the few beach annuals
that grow right in the wrack line. In late summer and fall,
Seabeach Orach lines upper beaches, turning red gradually
as the weather cools. Seashore Orach seeds are highly salttolerant, and they overwinter in the wrack line to start a new
generation the following spring.
Beach Clotbur or Cockleburr
(Xanthium strumarium) seeds are
a common sight on the Sound’s
beaches in summer and fall.
Dusty Miller, Beach Clotbur (Cockleburr), Searocket, Common Saltwort, and Seaside Spurge are all species adapted to
living on beaches and dune faces. They have tough, leathery
leaves that are sometimes also waxy or hairy, all strategies to
prevent moisture loss. Seaside Spurge grows in a flat disc just
above the level of the sand to conserve water by staying out of
the wind. If you look closely at Seaside Spurge plants in late
summer or fall, they seem to grow on top of little mounds. As
with American Beach Grass, the spurge creates the mound
by trapping sand between its leaves and stems and thus must
constantly grow upward or be buried under the pile of sand
captured by its own leaves.
Seaside Goldenrod is one of the most common beach specialists and seems to dominate the upper beaches of the Sound
in the late summer and fall with its showy yellow sprays of
flowers. This hardy perennial goldenrod has tough, waxy
evergreen leaves over a deep set of roots that often stretch two
feet or more underground. Seaside Goldenrod seems particularly resistant to salt spray damage and often grows right up to
the edges of upper beaches.
Wrinkled Rose or Salt-Spray Rose
(Rosa rugosa) often marks the
inner edge of the upper beach
and the transition into a dune
environment.
Farther back on the upper beach, in the transition to dune
habitats, Wrinkled (Salt-Spray) Rose and Beach Pea become
common. Wrinkled Rose is an exotic Asian rose introduced
to the Atlantic Coast in the 1800s for its ability to grow in and
stabilize sand dunes. Wrinkled Rose is the most salt spray–
tolerant shrub and is often the first shrub to appear in the
upper beach area.
Animals
Most beach animals are not visible to the casual observer
because they live within the sand and rarely surface before
nightfall. Much of the subsurface beach life is also too small
to be viewed without magnifiers or microscopes. These tiny
animals, collectively called the meiofauna, live between
the grains of sand in the lower beach area that stays moist
between tides. Mites, ostracods, tardigrades, copepods,
nematodes, and various worms all swarm out of sight within
an inch or so of the sand surface, and they are a valuable food
supply for the larger copepods, shrimp, and beach fleas that
in turn feed the shorebirds. The beach meiofauna have only
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 186
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BEACHES AND DUNES
187
recently been discovered and studied, and we still don’t know
much about the role they play in beach ecology.
Sponges are common subtidal animals that most of us see
only when they wash up on beaches. The Red Beard Sponge is
an invasive species often seen washed up on Sound beaches.
Fresh specimens are bright red, and even when dead and
dried on the beach, the branching fingers of Red Beard
Sponge retain a faded but distinctly red color.
The Atlantic Slipper Shell is a highly specialized snail that
lives in the low tidal and subtidal areas of beaches. Slipper
shells, although they are true snails, do not have a coiled shell
like most snails. Their curved, oval shell has a small shelf or
seat on the inside, leading to their other common name, Boat
Shell. Atlantic Slipper Shells are one of the most common
mollusks in Long Island Sound, particularly in the Central
and Western Basins. Slipper shells live in stacks of adults and
young snails, with the larger adults on the bottom of the stack
and smaller, younger individuals attached to their backs. They
feed by relaxing their attachment muscles while underwater
and filter-feeding through the gap between their own shell
edge and their neighbor’s back just below.
The Horseshoe Crab is a large but harmless creature often
spotted on beaches, unfortunately not always alive, because
these crabs have been overharvested as fishing bait. Only
recently, as their numbers have dwindled, have they attracted
conservation support and research interest. In May and June
in Long Island Sound, often during a spring (unusually high)
tide, Horseshoe Crabs travel up into the low tidal zone to lay
their eggs. These eggs are very attractive to shorebirds, and often the best indication that the crabs are breeding is the sight
of flocks of birds avidly picking at the eggs in the surf line.
Saltwater Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) is a common salt marsh
grass that will also grow right at
the water line on more sheltered
beaches.
Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago
sempervirens) is one of the most
common and noticeable beach
plants all along the northern and
central Atlantic Coast.
Northern Moon Snails and Oyster Drills are predators on
bivalves in the intertidal region of beaches. Both species drill
neat, round holes in shells, usually near the umbo, or hinge
point, of a clam or oyster. Once the snail finds a suitable live
clam, it uses its sharp, toothy radula to scrape a hole in the
clam’s shell as it secretes a strong acid to help dissolve the
shell. When the radula breaks through to the interior of the
clam shell, the snail injects powerful enzymes that digest the
clam’s interior organs and muscle. The snail then sucks up the
dissolved clam through the hole in the shell.
Clam or oyster shells that you find on Long Island Sound
beaches are often riddled with holes from snails but may also
be eaten away into a honeycomb of holes through the action
of Boring Sponges. Boring Sponges don’t prey on clams and
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 187
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188
BEACH PLANTS
AMERICAN BEACH GRASS Ammophila breviligulata
SEASIDE GOLDENROD Solidago sempervirens
BEACH CLOTBUR Xanthium strumarium
SALTWATER CORDGRASS Spartina alterniflora
COMMON SALTWORT Salsola kali
COMMON SALTWORT, detail Salsola kali
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 188
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BEACHES AND DUNES
189
ens
SEASIDE SPURGE Chamaesyce polygonifolia
SEASIDE SPURGE, detail Chamaesyce polygonifolia
flora
RED GOOSEFOOT Chenopodium rubrum
RED GOOSEFOOT, detail Chenopodium rubrum
SEAROCKET Cakile edentula
SEAROCKET, detail Cakile edentula
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 189
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190
UPPER BEACH PLANTS
SANDBUR Cenchrus longispinus
YARROW Achillea millefolium
EASTERN PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS Opuntia humifusa
DUSTY MILLER Artemisia stelleriana
BEACH PEA Lathyrus japonicus
SEABEACH ORACH Atriplex pentandra
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 190
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BEACHES AND DUNES
191
POISON IVY Toxicodendron radicans
VIRGINIA CREEPER Parthenocissus quinquefolia
CATBRIER Smilax glauca
BLACK SWALLOWWORT Cynanchum louiseae
Hilda Weges
WINEBERRY Rubrus phoenicolasius
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 191
JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE Lonicera japonica
9/7/16 10:06 PM
192
BEACHES AND DUNES
oysters directly, but the slow dissolving of their shells is usually fatal to clams if the sponge attacks an occupied shell.
Dead or dying sea jellies often appear in the swash zone
just below the wrack line. Moon Jellies are usually seen as
pale greenish or blueish puddles of gel about six inches in
diameter. The larger Lion’s Mane Jelly is red-brown in color
with patches of lighter colors. Sea Nettles are usually smaller
than Moon Jellies but have long, trailing tentacles. Beware of
approaching a stranded jelly if you are barefoot on the beach.
The stinging tentacles remain viable long after the animal
has died, and the tentacles can spread several feet from the
remains.
Birds
The dominant birds of Long Island Sound beaches are gulls,
particularly the Herring Gull, Ring-Billed Gull, Laughing
Gull, and Great Black-Backed Gull, joined in winter by the
more unusual white-winged Iceland and Glaucous Gulls.
Gulls are intelligent and watchful predators of all small beach
animals (including nestling birds of many species), taking
their prey from the immediate shoreline or from the shallows
near the beach. Their usual prey includes clams, crabs, snails,
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 192
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BEACHES AND DUNES
193
small fish, and any other animals they can capture or scavenge. Gulls generally do not dive for their prey, which limits
their feeding to the shallowest water and areas of the beach
exposed at low tide.
Surprisingly, given that they are now almost synonymous
with shoreline life on the Sound, gulls began nesting in the
region only recently. The first recorded Herring Gull nest in
Connecticut was in 1943; the first Connecticut nest of a Great
Black-Backed Gull was found in 1961. The gull population of
the Sound region expanded rapidly in the mid-twentieth century with the rise of suburban towns using open-air dumps
and the growth of large-scale, offshore commercial fishing.
However, gull populations have contracted substantially as
open-air dumping has become much less common, factory
fishing has declined, and coastal development has reduced
suitable nesting areas. Gulls nest on offshore islands along the
coast or on the rare isolated sandspits that still exist.
In summer, terns may be seen off most beaches along the
Sound’s coasts, particularly when the adults and newly
fledged young wander the shorelines and coastal waters in
late summer in flocks before they migrate south. Terns look
like small, delicate gulls with long, swallowlike tails. They
hunt tiny fish such as Atlantic Silversides, Blueback and
Atlantic Herring, and Sand Lance by diving into schools of
Least Sandpipers
Calidris minutilla
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 193
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194
BEACHES AND DUNES
Sanderling
(winter plumage)
Calidris alba
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 194
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BEACHES AND DUNES
195
fish near the water surface. Historically terns nested both on
offshore islands and along beaches and sandspits on the Connecticut and New York coasts of the Sound. As beaches were
developed or became summer playgrounds, terns (except for
Least Terns) were largely driven off mainland nesting sites,
and now the only large colonies of Common and Roseate
Terns in our region are on Falkner Island off Guilford, Connecticut, and on Great Gull Island at the far eastern end of the
Sound. About 2,900 Common Tern pairs and 25–30 Roseate
Tern pairs nest on Falkner Island each year. The much larger
Great Gull Island tern colony hosts about 9,000–10,000 nesting pairs of Common Terns and about 1,400–1,800 pairs of
the endangered Roseate Tern.
Bird migration through the Sound
The Long Island Sound coastlines are an important migration
way station for most of the common shorebird species on the
East Coast, particularly in fall. The extensive tidal flats of New
Haven Harbor attract tens of thousands of Semipalmated
Sandpipers, Black-Bellied Plovers, and Dunlin that feed on
the invertebrate life there at low tide. On the West Haven side
of the harbor, Sandy Point is particularly good for watching
such wading birds as the Great Egret, Snowy Egret, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, which are drawn to the small salt
marsh pools sheltered by the point. Hammonasset Beach State
Park’s extensive grassy parking fields and shallow pools are
the best places in Connecticut to appreciate the sheer range of
fall migrants, particularly shorebirds on the beach and fields
and hawks overhead. On Long Island, the outer harbor areas
of Port Jefferson and Stony Brook Harbor are excellent locations to study both fall and spring shorebird migrants.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 195
Falkner Island, three miles south
of Guilford, Connecticut, is one
of the most important seabird
breeding areas on the US Atlantic
Coast. In addition to about 2,900
pairs of Common Terns, the
island hosts 25–30 pairs of the
endangered Roseate Tern. The
island is a glacial drumlin made
up of mixed glacial till deposited
about 19,000 years ago as part
of the Hammonasset-Ledyard
Moraine.
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196
BEACHES AND DUNES
Sanderlings (Calidris alba) feed
in the swash zones on most Long
Island Sound beaches during both
spring and fall migration.
Brant (Branta bernicla) are smaller
cousins of Canada Geese that migrate into the Sound in the colder
months. Small flocks of Brant
appear in most harbors along the
coasts of the Sound in the midautumn, and many overwinter in
the shallows and beaches.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 196
The Sound’s coastlines lie within the Atlantic Flyway, a major
spring and fall migratory route. In spring, warm fronts
with winds from the south and west sweep migrating birds
northward and toward the coastline. Most birds are reluctant
to fly over large bodies of water, where the warm thermal
updrafts that help keep them aloft are scarce. This reluctance
to cross the central Sound funnels large flocks of northbound
birds along the Connecticut and Long Island North Shore
coastlines. Most songbird migration occurs at night, and in
the morning coastal forests will be loaded with thousands of
traveling songbirds needing to rest and feed. Wooded promontories along the coast like Bluff Point in Connecticut and
Caumsett State Park on Long Island draw large numbers of
spring migrants. The bulk of spring migrants continue north
and eastward along the New England coast, but many birds
move from the Sound area up the major north-south river
valleys in Connecticut. The Housatonic, Quinnipiac, Connecticut, and Thames Rivers are all significant routes for both
spring and fall migrants.
In autumn large numbers of southbound songbirds, shorebirds, and hawks migrate along the coasts of Long Island
Sound. The Atlantic coastline and the major river valleys
along the Connecticut coast all contribute to the southbound
flow. As the birds move along the Sound shorelines, they tend
to collect at coastal promontories like Bluff Point, Lighthouse
9/7/16 10:06 PM
BEACHES AND DUNES
197
Point, and Milford Point in Connecticut and Port Jefferson
and Stony Brook Harbors on Long Island. The coastal forests
of Caumsett, Sunken Meadow, and Wildwood State Parks also
draw large numbers of migrating songbirds in both spring
and fall.
Our endangered beach-nesting birds
Two beach-nesting birds are among North America’s most
endangered species owing to the almost total loss of their
former nesting grounds. The Least Tern and the Piping Plover
both nest in lightly vegetated upper beach and dune areas—
precisely the areas that today are largely buried beneath
coastal houses or have been converted to recreational beaches.
In recent years both species have received more attention and
protection of their nesting grounds in Connecticut locations
such as Sandy Point in West Haven, Milford Point, and the
eastern margins of Hammonasset Beach State Park. On the
North Shore of Long Island there are protected beach-nesting
areas at Sunken Meadow, Wildwood, and Orient Beach State
Parks. If you visit Long Island Sound beaches with reserved
nesting areas, please obey the posted signs and stay away
from the fenced-off areas, and never let a dog on the beach
(with or without a leash) during the late spring and summer
months when birds are nesting. Minor accommodations to
these beach-nesting birds have made a real difference in their
nesting success rates over the past decade.
Other less common birds also nest on or near the Sound’s
beaches. Willets, Black Skimmers, and American Oystercatchers nest in thinly vegetated beach and dune areas, often
in the sites now protected for Piping Plover and Least Tern
nesting.
The classic winter birds of
beaches, dunes, and open grassy
areas throughout the Long Island
Sound area. When winter sets in,
look for mixed flocks of Lapland
Longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus),
Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax
nivalis), and Horned Larks
(Eremophila alpestris).
Snow
Bunting
Horned
Lark
Lapland
Longspur
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 197
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198
BEACHES AND DUNES
Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) are so well camouflaged that
they are easy to miss even when
you are looking for them. Their
nests on the upper beach are even
easier to miss, so please stay out
of marked beach bird nesting
areas to avoid inadvertently
harassing these endangered birds
or destroying their nests.
Steve Byland
Beaches in winter
Birding on beaches in winter can be very productive and interesting. Many northern species come south to winter along
the Atlantic Coast, and for species used to the wide expanses
of Arctic tundra, beaches must seem like familiar territory.
Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, and Horned Larks are
all small songbirds that nest in the high Arctic and winter on
open fields, beaches, and marshes near coastlines.
Almost every winter a few spectacular Snowy Owls visit the
marshes and beaches of Long Island Sound, but usually not in
large numbers. In the winter of 2013–2014 and again in the
winter of 2014–2015, however, many dozens of Snowy Owls
were spotted throughout New England and the Atlantic Coast
area, probably due to cyclical increases in the population of
their lemming prey in the Arctic. In the breeding season of
2013 and apparently again in 2014, so many young Snowy
Owls survived to fledge that many juvenile and young adult
birds drifted far south of their normal wintering grounds in
search of reduced competition from their peers and adult
owls for food. Snowy Owls gravitate to open coastal beach
and marsh areas that are similar to their normal tundra
habitat. Snowys are solitary creatures in winter, and they can
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 198
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BEACHES AND DUNES
199
be difficult to spot against clumps of snow and ice. On winter
beaches and salt marshes these large, white owls will often
take an exposed perch on a driftwood snag, post, or rock,
looking for small mammals. Unlike their nocturnal cousin
the Great Horned Owl, Snowy Owls are primarily daytime
hunters that locate their prey by sight, although they can also
hunt at night.
Snowy Owl
Bubo scandiacus
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 199
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200
ANIMALS AND ALGAE
Kevin Knuth
HORSESHOE CRAB Limulus polyphemus
Eddie Kidd
MOON JELLY Aurelia aurita
BORING SPONGE DAMAGE Cliona sp.
Mandy Rogers
LION’S MANE JELLY Cyanea capillata
helgidinson
SEA NETTLE Chrysaora quinquecirrha
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 200
RED BEARD SPONGE Microciona prolifera
9/7/16 10:06 PM
BEACHES AND DUNES
201
Anatolij
ATLANTIC SLIPPER SHELLS Crepidula fornicata
WOLF SPIDER Hogna carolinensis
GREEN FLEECE Codium fragile
SEA LETTUCE Ulva lactuca
ROCKWEED Fucus distichus
KNOTTED WRACK Ascophyllum nodosum
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 201
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202
SHELLS
NORTHERN MOON SNAIL
Lunatia heros
RIBBED MUSSEL
Geukensia demissa
KNOBBED
WHELK
Busycon carica
ATLANTIC BAY SCALLOP
Argopecten irridans
BLUE MUSSEL
Mytilis edulis
ATLANTIC SURF CLAM
Spisula solidissima
CHANNELED WHELK
Busycon canaliculatus
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 202
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BEACHES AND DUNES
BLOOD ARK
Anadara ovalis
203
ATLANTIC
SLIPPER SHELL
Crepidula fornicata
ATLANTIC
JACKKNIFE
CLAM
Ensis
directus
COMMON
PERIWINKLE
Littorina littorea
EASTERN
MUDSNAIL
Ilyanassa
obsoleta
COMMON JINGLE SHELL
Anomia simplex
EASTERN
OYSTER
Crassostrea
virginica
SOFT-SHELL
CLAM
Mya arenaria
NORTHERN
QUAHOG
Mercenaria
mercenaria
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 203
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204
GEESE
Branta canadensis
CANADA GOOSE
Common goose of coastal waters, inland ponds, bays, and marshes. Widely used as an
ornamental goose for ponds and other freshwater habitats. These introduced birds are
difficult to separate from the true wild and migratory Canada Geese. Introduced birds are
more often than not the large subspecies called the Common Canada Goose (length typically
45 in., 111 cm), whereas wild Canada Geese, which migrate south in fall and return north
to nest in spring, are usually a mix of smaller races (length typically 36 in., 91 cm). Found
throughout United States and Canada. On East Coast, range extends to northern Florida and
expands south each year. Length: 36–45 in. (91–111 cm). Wingspan: To 60 in. (1.5 m).
Common
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J
A
S
O
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D
Branta bernicla
BRANT
Small coastal and offshore goose resembling a small Canada Goose. However, back is darker
brown to almost black, and black neck color extends down to a sharp cutoff mark on lower
breast. Instead of the Canada Goose’s bold chinstrap, the Brant has a small necklace of
white lined with black. Bill is small and black. Breeds in the far north above Hudson Bay
and migrates to coastal waters for fall and winter. Principal winter grounds range from the
New England coast south to the northernmost coast of Georgia. There are scattered inland
records and increased sightings farther south along the East Coast and on the Gulf Coast.
Length: 26 in. (66 cm). Wingspan: 42 in. (107 cm).
Note: In the 1970s and 1980s the Brant population was in serious decline because its favorite
food, Eelgrass (Zostera), was decimated by a fungus. Fortunately, the birds gradually altered
their diets and now they feed on the marine algae Sea Lettuce (Ulva lactuca) and the fresh
shoots of Saltwater Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), and the Brant population of the East
Coast has begun to recover.
Spring & fall
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BRANT at Meigs Point, Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Connecticut.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 204
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BEACHES AND DUNES
205
CANADA
GOOSE
Sexes are alike in
all plumages
BRANT
Sexes are alike in
all plumages
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 205
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206
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
Larus marinus
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
A common bird of harbor areas and shorelines. Of all the
large inshore gulls, this species will follow boats out to sea the
farthest. The Great Black-Backed Gull is gradually extending
its range down the Eastern Seaboard toward Florida.
Description: The largest gull of the shoreline. Jet-black back
contrasts sharply with pure white underparts. White border
shows from wingtips along rear edge of wings when in flight.
Heavy yellow bill with red spot. Flesh-colored legs. First-year
immatures can usually be told by massive size and by pale
head and rump contrasting with brown back and underparts.
Length: 30 in. (76 cm). Wingspan: 65 in. (1.7 m).
Habits: Aggressive and territorial with other birds, but often
nests peacefully in mixed-species colonies with other gulls.
Found throughout northeast Atlantic Coast all year north
of North Carolina and in winter south to northern Florida.
Casual to Gulf Coast.
Similar species: Superficially similar to the Herring Gull in
plumage, but much larger, and note the much darker back,
massive bill, and bulkier profile. The uncommon Lesser
Black-Backed Gull also has an almost black back but is a bit
smaller than a Herring Gull.
Common
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Great Black-Backed Gull
Massive
dark bill
Herring Gull
First winter
Checkered effect of highcontrast plumage pattern
First winter
Dull brown
mantle lacks
contrast
Smaller bill,
light at the
base
Length: 30 in.
Length: 25 in.
Comparison of young Herring and Black-Backed Gulls,
often seen in mixed flocks on beaches
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 206
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BEACHES AND DUNES
207
GREAT BLACKBACKED GULL
Third
winter
The stark blackand-white contrast
of the adult is
often the best field
mark at a distance
Adult
winter
The largest gull in
North America
First
winter
Second
winter
Third
winter
Heavy bill at
all ages
First
winter
Adult
breeding
Pale pink
legs at all
ages
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 207
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208
HERRING GULL
Larus argentatus
HERRING GULL
Description: An abundant bird­—the gull most people think
of when they think of a seagull. Large, with gray back and
black wingtips with white spots. White head and underparts.
Flesh-colored legs. Yellow bill with blood-red spot on lower
mandible. Yellow eye. In winter plumage, head is streaked
brown with a dark eye line, giving the face a stern appearance. First-year immatures are chocolate brown with lighter
speckles. Herring Gulls reach full adult plumage after four
years. Plumage may be distinguished by year of age until adult
plumage is reached. Length: 25 in. (64 cm). Wingspan: 58 in.
(1.5 m).
Habits: An aggressive, opportunistic bird, readily adapting to
both natural and man-made environments from well inland
to miles from shore at sea. Will follow fishing boats well away
from land. On the coast will often pick up shellfish and crabs
and drop them from a height to crack their shells. Ranges
along the entire East Coast in winter and from Maritime
Canada to the Carolinas year-round.
Similar species: The similar-looking Ring-Billed Gull is
smaller, with a more delicate bill. See also the comparison of
first-year birds, p. 206.
Abundant
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Great Black-Backed Gull
Length:
30 in.
Herring Gull
Length:
25 in.
Ring-Billed Gull
Length:
18 in.
The larger white-headed gulls are superficially similar but separate
distinctly by size. The Great Black-Backed Gull is a much more massive bird
than the Ring-Billed Gull.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 208
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BEACHES AND DUNES
209
HERRING
GULL
Dull brown
mantle and
lighter brown
breast lacks
contrast
First
winter
Adult
Second
winter
Third
winter
Gray central
mantle and
partially gray
wings
Similar to adult
winter, but with
darker head
and tail
Second
winter
Adult breeding
First
winter
Pink legs at
all ages
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 209
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210
RING-BILLED GULL
Larus delawarensis
RING-BILLED GULL
Description: A sleek, medium-sized gull of harbors, shore-
lines, and shopping center parking lots. Adults easily identified by distinct ring around bill. Very common in our area
during the colder months. Gray back. Greenish yellow legs.
Black wingtips spotted with white; black color extends along
fore edge almost to wing bend. Reaches full adult plumage
after three years. Length: 18 in. (46 cm). Wingspan: 48 in.
(1.2 m).
Habits: A flexible, opportunistic species that has done very
well in adapting to human development of the coastline.
Mixes with other gulls in harbors and in large flocks resting
on breakwaters and sandy shores. Will follow boats, hanging
in the wind just astern and looking for handouts. Found
throughout Long Island Sound. Ranges along the entire
Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the colder months. Breeds mostly
in north-central Canada in summer.
Similar species: The Herring Gull is the most similar (see
below and pp. 208–209). If you get a chance to see the two
species side by side, note the much smaller, lighter body and
more delicate features of the Ring-Billed Gull.
Abundant
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Herring Gull
Diffuse, dark
bill tip
Ring-Billed Gull
First winter
Length: 25 in.
Mottled brown
back
First winter
Length: 18 in.
Much gray in
the back
Well-defined
black tip
Comparison of first-winter Ring-Billed and Herring Gulls
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 210
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BEACHES AND DUNES
211
RING-BILLED
GULL
First
winter
A more
contrasting
pattern on
mantle than firstwinter Herring
Gulls
Adult
breeding
Second
winter
Gray mantle,
showing
minimal or
no brown
remnants
Tail lighter
than the similar
second-winter
Herring Gull
First
winter
Relatively small
bill at all ages
Adult
winter
Bill ring
Adult
breeding
Yellow legs
at all ages
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 211
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212
LAUGHING GULL
Larus atricilla
LAUGHING GULL
Description: A trim gull, with black head and deep gray back.
Blood-red bill and legs. No white in wingtips. Note broken
white ring around eye. In winter plumage, hood fades to dark
patch at back of head. Immature shows a black band at end of
tail feathers. Length: 17 in. (43 cm). Wingspan: 40 in. (1 m).
Habits: This abundant gull’s laughing call is a familiar sound
from the mid-Atlantic Coast southward, and the Laughing
Gull is becoming more common in the Northeast as the
climate warms. Will follow inshore boats, hanging above the
stern in search of handouts. Ranges along entire East Coast
in the warmer months and from Cape Hatteras south yearround.
Similar species: Bonaparte’s Gull also has a black head in
breeding plumage but is much smaller and more ternlike, and
Bonaparte’s Gull rarely mixes with Laughing Gulls.
Common
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Herring Gull
Ring-Billed Gull
First winter
Length: 25 in.
First winter
Length: 18 in.
Laughing Gull
First winter
Length: 17 in.
Comparison of immature Ring-Billed, Herring, and Laughing Gulls
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 212
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BEACHES AND DUNES
213
LAUGHING
GULL
Adult
breeding
First
winter
Shows
brown in
wing mantle
Heavy
terminal
band
Black
wingtips
Second
winter
Very light
terminal
band
First
winter
Adult
winter
Dark bill
Legs dark gray
Dark red
bill
Legs dark gray
Adult
breeding
Legs dark red
in breeding
plumage
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 213
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214
BONAPARTE’S GULL
Larus philadelphia
BONAPARTE’S GULL
Description: A small, almost ternlike gull. Very buoyant
when sitting on the water. Black head in breeding plumage.
Wings in all plumages show a distinct white wedge on outer
edge. Blood-red bill, deep pink legs. In winter plumage, black
hood is reduced to a black smudge behind eye. Length: 13 in.
(33 cm). Wingspan: 33 in. (84 cm).
Habits: A fall-through-spring visitor to Atlantic and Gulf
Coasts. At times found well offshore, where it mixes with
true oceanic birds. Bonaparte’s is a small gull that doesn’t
often mix with the larger gull species, preferring to stand
apart from mixed flocks on beaches and sandbars—a useful
tip for spotting small flocks of these gulls. Ranges in winter
throughout Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and lower Mississippi
River Valley.
Similar species: The small size and delicate bill separate it
from the more common and much larger Laughing Gull. The
small size, rounded, almost dovelike profile, and delicate beak
are distinctive.
Spring & fall
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M
A
M
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J
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O
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D
Laughing Gull
Winter (nonbreeding)
Length: 17 in.
Bonaparte’s Gull
Winter
Length: 13 in.
Comparison of winter Bonaparte’s and Laughing Gulls
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 214
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BEACHES AND DUNES
215
BONAPARTE’S
GULL
White wedge
near wingtips
Dark wingtips
with light band
First
winter
Dark wing
bars
Tail
band
First
winter
Adult
winter
Cheek spot
Delicate bill
Adult
breeding
Red legs
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 215
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216
NESTING BIRDS
Sterna dougallii
ROSEATE TERN
Pale gray to almost white. In breeding plumage, breast has a faint pink cast. Black bill with
a deep red base. Long tail feathers form a deeply forked tail. In flight, wings are a clear, very
pale gray. Feeds in inshore waters. An endangered species, common only around its few
remaining breeding colonies. Length: 15 in. (38 cm). Wingspan: 29 in. (73 cm).
Rare & local
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O
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Sternula antillarum
LEAST TERN
The smallest tern. White forehead mark is present even in summer. The only local tern with
a yellow bill, tipped with black. Immatures have especially noticeable dark leading edges on
upper wings. An inshore bird; nests on beaches. Uncommon except near colonies. Length: 9
in. (23 cm). Wingspan: 20 in. (51 cm).
Uncommon
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F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Charadrius melodus
PIPING PLOVER
Very pale. Plain face without dark cheeks. In breeding plumage, black bar across forehead
and black collar around neck. These fade to pale buff in winter. Often sneaks away when approached, stopping and looking over its shoulder, relying on its sandy color for camouflage.
Call “peep-low.” Length: 7.5 in. (19 cm). Wingspan: 19 in. (48 cm).
Uncommon
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M
A
M
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J
A
S
O
N
D
Sterna hirundo
COMMON TERN
Gray back and upper wings, white belly and underwings. Black cap extends down nape.
Orange-red bill with black tip. In flight, gray wedge at center of back and darker wingtips. In
winter plumage, white forehead and front half of crown. Common near nesting colonies and
in early fall migration. Length: 14 in. (36 cm). Wingspan: 30 in. (76 cm).
Common
J
F
M
A
M
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J
A
S
O
N
D
Haematopus palliatus
AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER
A large black-and-white shorebird with an unmistakable bright orange bill. No other shorebird in the area has a similar bill. It is flattened like a knife blade and inserted into bivalves
such as oysters to pry open their shells. Length: 18 in. (46 cm). Wingspan: 32 in. (81 cm).
Uncommon
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F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rynchops niger
BLACK SKIMMER
A medium-sized relative of gulls and terns, with a unique, long lower mandible used to skim
surface waters for small fish. Dark, almost black back; white underparts. Large, bright red
bill with black tip. Most often noticed skimming across the surface of shallow coastal waters.
Very rare nester near the Sound. Length: 18 in. (46 cm). Wingspan: 44 in. (1.1 m).
Uncommon
J
F
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 216
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9/7/16 10:06 PM
BEACHES AND DUNES
217
Not to scale
Black bill with
deep red at base in
breeding season
ROSEATE TERN
Very white
overall
Slimmer body than
the very similar
Common Tern
LEAST
TERN
Long tail projects
well beyond
folded wings
PIPING
PLOVER
Tiny; only local
tern with yellow
bill
Bright redorange bill
COMMON
TERN
AMERICAN
OYSTERCATCHER
BLACK
SKIMMER
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 217
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218
WADING BIRDS
Ardea herodias
GREAT BLUE HERON
Our largest heron is common in both freshwater and saltwater marshes and visits beaches
and tidal flats throughout the Sound area. Immatures have streaking on throat and upper
chest, lack long head plumes, and are a more uniform gray all over. Common in fresh and
saltwater wetlands and tidal flats. Length: 46 in. (1.2 m). Wingspan: 72 in. (1.8 m).
Common
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Tringa flavipes
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
Lesser Yellowlegs often occur in mixed flocks with Greater Yellowlegs, making it much easier
to tell them apart. The Lesser Yellowlegs is more delicate-looking than the Greater Yellowlegs. When seen alone, separation is difficult. Call: a single “tsip” or double “tu-tu.” Common
on beaches, on tidal flats, and in salt marshes throughout the Northeast coast. Length: 10.5
in. (25 cm). Wingspan: 25 in. (64 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Tringa melanoleuca
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
Larger and less delicately proportioned than Lesser Yellowlegs. Upper part brown flecked
with white. Underparts show heavier barring on flanks than Lesser in breeding plumage.
Often feeds running about with its bill in water swinging from side to side. Call: a loud “teu
teu teu.” Found across United States in migration. Winters in Southeast from Virginia south
to Florida and Gulf region. Length: 14 in. (36 cm). Wingspan: 28 in. (71 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Tringa semipalmata
WILLET
In flight the large white wing stripes are unmistakable. Grayish brown with distinct back and
underpart barring in breeding plumage. Very vocal, calling its name repeatedly: “pill-willwillet!” Favors protected shoreline and upper beach areas for feeding and nesting and is also
found in salt marshes. Length: 15 in. (38 cm). Wingspan: 26 in. (66 cm).
Uncommon
J
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M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
GREAT BLUE HERON
in flight
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 218
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BEACHES AND DUNES
219
GREAT BLUE
HERON
LESSER
YELLOWLEGS
Breeding
Delicate bill,
about as long as
width of head
Fall and
winter
More substantial
bill, longer than
width of head
GREATER
YELLOWLEGS
Breeding
plumage
WILLET
Fall and
winter
Large white
wing stripes
Not to scale
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 219
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220
SHOREBIRDS
Calidris alba
SANDERLING
Anyone who spends time at the beach is familiar with these small sandpipers chasing the
waves in and out like tiny wind-up toys. In winter plumage, very white-looking with gray
back and jet black legs. In breeding plumage, rich cinnamon red around head and neck.
Length: 8 in. (20 cm). Wingspan: 17 in. (43 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Charadrius semipalmatus
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER
Black collar around neck, black mask through eye, and white forehead. Bill yellow with black
tip. Legs yellowish orange. In flight shows black-tipped tail with white sides. Call: a sharp
“chu-wee.” Length: 7.5 in. (19 cm). Wingspan: 19 in. (48 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Calidris alpina
DUNLIN
Rusty red back, black underbelly. Long bill curves down at tip. In nonbreeding plumage
changes to nondescript brown-gray plumage on back, head, and chest with paler underparts.
Length: 9 in. (23 cm). Wingspan: 17 in. (43 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Calidris minutilla
LEAST SANDPIPER
A small sandpiper that prefers muddy areas toward the rear of the beach and pool edges with
grass rather than the sandy beach itself. Crown and back are brownish rather than grayish.
Adopts a crouched posture as it feeds. Length: 6 in. (15 cm). Wingspan: 13 in. (33 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Pluvialis squatarola
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
Breeding plumage boldly marked black and white. Underparts mainly black, with mottled
light gray back that runs up neck to white cap. Short, black, heavy bill. Nonbreeding plumage
predominantly gray, but may show areas of black on underparts. Call a distinctive mournful
“pee-ooo-wee.” Length: 11.5 in. (29 cm). Wingspan: 29 in. (74 cm).
Spring & fall
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Charadrius vociferus
KILLDEER
Two black neck bands, full white collar, and white at bill base and over eye. Long, tapered
body, brown on back and white below. Common in most open environments, beaches,
grassy fields, and fields near marshes. Length: 10.5 in. (27 cm). Wingspan: 24 in. (61 cm).
Uncommon
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Common
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
Calidris pusilla
Relatively short, dark bill, and dark legs. We tend to see them mostly in migration, where
the plumage is often a dull, nondescript gray. Spring birds in breeding plumage show much
more rusty red tones on back and breast and have more contrast in dark patterning of back.
Length: 6.5 in. (17 cm). Wingspan: 14 in. (36 cm).
Late summer & fall
J
F
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 220
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A
M
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J
A
S
O
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D
9/7/16 10:06 PM
BEACHES AND DUNES
Rufous breeding
plumage turns
gray in winter
SANDERLING
221
Not to scale
SEMIPALMATED
PLOVER
Bill droops
noticeably
at tip
White belly in
winter plumage
DUNLIN
LEAST
SANDPIPER
Generally rufous
back and flank
BLACK-BELLIED
PLOVER
KILLDEER
SEMIPALMATED
SANDPIPER
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 221
Short ,dark bill,
dark legs, dull gray
in fall and winter
(nonbreeding
plumage)
When you approach a
Killdeer nest, the birds will
often do a broken wing
display, pretending to be
injured to draw you away
from the nest.
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DUNES
Dunes
There are no true dune environments along the shores of
Long Island Sound, at least not when compared to the square
miles of dunes on Cape Cod or the smaller but substantial
dune areas on the southern coast of Long Island. The few
dune environments on the Sound are really more like extended upper beach areas, primarily because the limited supply of sand—as well as the intense human development of the
Long Island Sound coastlines—keeps the overall size of dune
fields small. The Sound’s dune environments are limited to a
few sandspit areas such as, in Connecticut, Stratford’s Long
Beach, Milford Point, Sandy Point in West Haven, and Bushy
Point in Groton, and, on Long Island, Mount Misery Point in
McAllister County Park at Port Jefferson, the long sandspit at
Lloyd Point in Caumsett State Park, and the eastern stretches
of Sunken Meadow State Park. The small upper beach and
sandspit areas on the Sound’s coasts are not sheltered enough
from salt spray to permit growth of mature Pitch Pine,
Bearberry, Broom Crowberry, and Beach Heather dune swale
communities seen in large northeastern coastal dune fields.
The Sound’s small sandspit areas are also overwashed in
storms too regularly to allow mature dune swale communities
to develop.
Despite this, virtually all of the classic northeastern coastal
dune plant and animal species occur along the shores of Long
Island Sound, and these sand plain communities just inland
from the beaches form a distinctive environment that bridges
the gap between the upper beach and coastal woodland and
thickets or the edges of salt marshes.
Dunes occur naturally along sandy beaches. Just beyond the
wrack line where salt spray kills all but a few plants, vegetation becomes more dense and the stems and leaves of American Beach Grass, Beach Clotbur, Searocket, and other plants
begin to trap windblown sand. As the sand piles up around
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223
the plants, they respond by growing upward, and soon a foredune forms at the top of the beach. Foredunes don’t attract
plants; the plants themselves create the foredune and give the
dune stability through their roots and rhizomes. On the upper
beach, look for “sand shadows” next to beach plants. As the
windblown sand meets a plant on the upper beach, the wind
slows, dropping grains of sand on the leeward side of the
plant. Soon a stretched oval shadow of piled sand forms next
to the plant. In this way plants build the dune environment by
collecting sand around them and growing upward to stay on
top of the sandpile.
Wind is a constant factor in dune environments. With little
physical shelter, the dune plant community is exposed to
strong northeast winds in winter and hot, drying southwesterly winds in summer. Wind constantly shifts the surface sand
grains, exposing dune plants to low-grade sandblasting every
day.
Dunes are a very dry environment even in a relatively moist
climate like the Sound. Rainfall quickly drains into the porous
sand toward a groundwater table that may be 6–10 feet or
more below the surface. Although salt spray can damage
plants without tough leaves, it brings mineral nutrients to
an environment where most soil nutrients are washed away.
Nitrogen is especially limited in dune areas, contributing to
the poor soil productivity.
Dune environments receive intense light and heat under the
summer sun, increasing evaporation. The dry, light-colored
sand of bare dunes can act like a parabolic reflector in dune
swales, concentrating the sun’s rays and bringing heat levels
Salt spray damage on an Eastern
Redcedar Juniper after Hurricane
Irene. Coastal trees must be able
to withstand constant low-grade
exposure to wind-blown salt
water, as well as occasional major
storms.
Sand shadow around a Common
Saltwort. Note the pile of sand
downwind of the plant, in the
upper right.
Sand shadow
behind and under
the plant
Predominant wind
direction
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DUNES
A small dune area on the sandspit at Milford Point, Connecticut.
In this foredune community
Seaside Goldenrod, Red Goosefoot, American Beach Grass, and
Switchgrass are all visible.
well above that of the open beaches nearby. On more mature
and stable dune fields farther from the shoreline, larger
bushes and small trees such as Northern Bayberries, Black
Cherries, and Eastern Redcedar Junipers provide shade and
act as windbreaks. In eastern Long Island you may see small
areas of the classic dune ground-cover communities of mixed
Bearberry, Broom Crowberry, Bear Oak, and some Beach
Heather, but these heathlike dune ground covers are mostly
absent from Connecticut sandspits.
Dune plants
The leaves of dune plants must be tough and flexible to
withstand the mechanical strain of whipping in the wind, as
well as waxy or hairy to limit moisture loss. Many dune plants
such as American Beach Grass have leaves that curl in high
heat, limiting evaporation.
Rhizomes permit many perennial dune forbs and grasses
to spread aggressively. Through these rhizomes, plants can
swiftly cover the ground and avoid burial in shifting sand
through rapid upward growth.
Eastern Redcedar Junipers
(Juniperus virginiana) are the
most common evergreen on the
Sound’s coasts and are very common throughout the northeastern
Atlantic shoreline.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 224
Many dune plants, like most beach plants, are annuals.
Annual plants invest their reproductive energy into seed
production, and they are most common in constantly
changing or disturbed environments, where their seeds can
rapidly germinate when conditions are favorable. With no
permanent stems or roots to protect during the harsh winter
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BEACHES AND DUNES
months, annual plants spread their seeds widely, placing their
evolutionary bets on next year’s seedlings. Given that annual
plants like Seaside Spurge, Common Saltwort, and Searocket
are so common on beaches and dunes, this strategy has been
successful.
Foredune communities
Foredunes are simply a higher continuation of the upper
beach and are usually the first zone with significant vegetation. Foredune plants are largely the same plants you’ll see
scattered on the upper beach—American Beach Grass, Seaside Spurge, Common Saltwort, Seabeach Orach, Searocket,
Seaside Goldenrod—but now are more numerous. Other
dune community plants that begin to appear on the foredune
include Dusty Miller, Beach Pea, and Umbrella Sedge, a
grasslike plant. The Wrinkled Rose is the hardiest and most
salt-resistant of the dune shrubs and is common on foredunes
and sandy areas throughout the Connecticut shoreline. Many
common land plants and wildflowers are also hardy enough
to live on foredunes, well back from the beach: Common
Yarrow, Evening Primrose, Switchgrass, Virginia Creeper, and
Poison Ivy.
Dune communities
Reduced exposure to salt spray is the main element that distinguishes true dune environments from the saltier foredune
communities. All the foredune plants mentioned above are
also present on dunes, but in true dune environments there
are also shrubs and stunted trees. Wrinkled Rose, Winged
(Shining) Sumac, Northern Bayberry, Beach Plum, and Black
Cherry are all common dune shrubs. Black Cherry is also
a common forest edge tree that can grow quite tall, but on
dunes the salt spray and lack of water keep Black Cherries
small and shrublike. Quaking Aspen appears on dunes that
are well away from salt spray, and if present, the aspens are
often the tallest trees in the dunes. Black Locust trees will tolerate the dry conditions of beaches, as seen in the small grove
of Black Locusts at Sandy Point in West Haven. The Sound’s
only cactus species appears in dunes as well as rocky shores.
Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus is intolerant of salt spray or salt
on its roots and is usually found well back from the high tide
line in areas sheltered from salt spray by shrubs or on rocky
headlands near the coast. Along with the ubiquitous American Beach Grass, additional dune grasses and sedges include
Switchgrass, Downy Chess, Nutsedge, and Umbrella Sedge.
In more sheltered dune areas well back from the beach,
ground-cover plants like Bearberry, Broom Crowberry, and
Beach Heather may form small, heathlike carpets, especially
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225
Dune Shrubs
Marsh Elder
Iva frutescens
Groundsel Tree
Baccharis halimifolia
Northern Bayberry
Myrica pensylvanica
Beach Plum
Prunus maritima
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina
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DUNES
Eastern Redcedar
Juniper
Beach Plum
Bayberry
Marsh Elder
Dune community shrubs:
Juniper, Beach Plum, Bayberry,
and Marsh Elder, surrounded by
American Beach Grass.
Pitch Pines (Pinus rigida) are
common in sandy coastal areas
of Long Island but less so on the
rockier coast of Connecticut.
when sheltered from wind and salt spray by small trees and
shrubs like Bayberry, Black Cherry, Bear Oak, and Beach
Plum. In these dune heath areas you may also see a few
distinctive nonflowering plants: Reindeer Lichen and British
Soldier Lichen thrive on sandy soils, and you may also see the
Earth Star fungus on bare patches of sand, especially after a
rainstorm. Two conifers are common on dunes: the Eastern
Redcedar Juniper is the most common evergreen along shoreline environments, and well away from the beach there may
be Pitch Pines, particularly in areas that transition from dune
into coastal forest on the Long Island coast of the Sound.
Dune swales
Dune swales are low areas in dunes that are more sheltered
from the wind and have moister soils. These moist areas may
contain a variety of the shrubs and small trees mentioned
above but may also contain salt marsh plants like Glasswort,
Sea Lavender, Spike Grass, and Saltmeadow Cordgrass (see
“Salt Marshes”). Additional dune swale plants include such
typical salt marsh border shrubs and grasses as Marsh Elder,
Groundsel Tree, and Switchgrass. In many areas of the Sound
the very small dune fields are often next to salt marshes on the
landward side of sandspits, so salt marsh and dune environments often intermix. You can see this mixing of marsh and
dune environments on Meigs Point at Hammonasset Beach
State Park, on the sandspit at Milford Point, on the Bushy
Point sandspit at Bluff Point Coastal Reserve in Groton, at
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BEACHES AND DUNES
Lloyd Point in Caumsett State Park, and at the eastern end
of Sunken Meadow State Park, where the sandspit meets the
Nissequogue River.
Animals
Most beach animals and birds frequent dunes, particularly
if they nest on beaches. Our two most endangered beach
nesters, the Piping Plover and the Least Tern, both sometimes
use the adjacent dune areas as nesting sites, particularly if the
vegetation remains low and grassy and is not too thick. Other
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227
Bushy Point in Groton, Connecticut, is one of the few places
along the coasts of Long Island
Sound where you can see a fairly
mature beach dune environment,
with all of the challenges and
limitations that come with being
only a few feet above the high
tide line. Much of Bushy Point was
overwashed by Hurricane Sandy,
burying or killing many older
shrubs and low trees.
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DUNES
Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus
(Opuntia humifusa) is an indication
of a mature dune environment,
fairly sheltered from direct salt
spray. This native cactus thrives in
the dry, sandy conditions of dune
and upper beach environments,
such as the large sandspit at Lloyd
Point in Caumsett State Historic
Park on Long Island.
birds that nest in the transition areas from beaches to dunes
include the Black Skimmer, American Oystercatcher, and
Willet. Many inland birds also nest in dune areas, particularly
the Northern Mockingbird, Common Grackle, American
Robin, Song Sparrow, and, in marshy swales, Red-Winged
Blackbird.
In the shadows of dune plants small animals prowl, including
large wolf spiders, Seaside Grasshoppers, field crickets, and
(unfortunately) several species of ticks that mostly parasitize
wild mammals such as White-Footed Deer Mice, Meadow
Voles, Raccoons, and Red Foxes. Always wear long pants
when you explore away from trails in sandspits and dune areas, and apply a DEET-based insect repellent on your clothes,
socks, and shoes. Dune and beach vegetation often harbors
the main carrier of Lyme Disease, the Black-Legged (Deer)
Tick. The common Lone Star Tick can also carry diseases, so
be sure to check your clothing and any exposed skin when
you exit wild shoreline environments.
The beaches of Long Island Sound are some of the best places
to observe migrating insects in fall. On a clear September
or October day with a brisk northwest wind sweeping them
down to the coastline, hundreds of migrating Monarch
Butterflies, Green Darner Dragonflies, and Black Saddlebags
Dragonflies move along the shores of Long Island Sound,
often using the dune vegetation for rest and shelter. Unfortunately our gorgeous flocks of migrating Monarchs may be a
thing of the past. Over the past decade scientists have seen a
Opposite– Lone Star Tick: Melinda Fawver; Black-Legged Tick: Sarah2
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BEACHES AND DUNES
major decline in the number of migrating Monarchs, which
overwinter in just a few valleys in northern Mexico. Those
Mexican valleys are now fairly well protected as conservation areas, and researchers are looking at the increased use
of glyphosate herbicides by farmers since 2003 as a possible
factor in their decline. Monarch Butterfly caterpillars feed on
milkweeds, and the major decline in milkweeds (particularly
in the midwest farming areas) is suspected in the 59 percent
drop in overwintering Monarch populations in Mexico in
2012. So appreciate these black-and-orange beauties while we
have them, because they may be less common in the future.
As in other environments, most animal activity in the dunes
is at night, where the Raccoon, Virginia Opossum, Striped
Skunk, Meadow Vole, and Eastern Cottontail rabbit are all
common. Two less common dune specialists are Fowler’s
Toad and the Eastern Hognose Snake. Fowler’s Toad is the
only amphibian typically found on beaches and dunes, where
it will bury itself in sand under shrubs to escape the heat of
the day. Hognose Snakes are nonpoisonous and harmless
but will sometimes perform an elaborate rearing and hissing
display if startled. Hognose Snakes are very reluctant to bite
humans, even if handled (but please don’t handle them), and
are more likely to roll over and play dead if you approach the
snake quietly.
229
Lone Star Tick
Amblyomma americanum
Black-Legged Tick
or Deer Tick
Ixodes scapularis
FALL COASTAL MIGRATORY INSECTS
Black Saddlebags Dragonfly
Tramea lacerata
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Common Green Darner Dragonfly
Anax junius
Monarch Butterfly
Danaus plexippus
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230
DUNE PLANTS
BLACKGRASS Juncus gerardia
BLACKGRASS, flowers Juncus gerardia
SWITCHGRASS Panicum virgatum
BEARBERRY Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
COMMON REED Phragmites australis
WILD YELLOW INDIGO Baptisia tinctoria
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BEACHES AND DUNES
BROOM CROWBERRY Corema conradii
BEAR OAK Quercus ilicifolia
BEACH HEATHER Hudsonia tomentosa
BEACH HEATHER Hudsonia tomentosa
231
Jenny Webber
REINDEER LICHEN Cladonia rangiferina
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BRITISH SOLDIER LICHEN Cladonia cristatella
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232
DUNE PLANTS
STAGHORN SUMAC Rhus typhina
SHINING SUMAC Rhus copallina
NORTHERN BAYBERRY Myrica pensylvanica
BEACH PLUM Prunus maritima
WRINKLED ROSE Rosa rugosa
AUTUMN OLIVE Elaeagnus umbellata
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BEACHES AND DUNES
BLACK CHERRY Prunus serotina
MARSH ELDER Iva frutescens
GROUNDSEL TREE Baccharis halimifolia
COMMON JUNIPER Juniperus communis
PITCH PINE Pinus rigida
BLACK OAK Quercus velutina
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234
DUNE PLANTS AND ANIMALS
Sirena Designs
HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY Vaccinium corymbosum
AMERICAN HOLLY Ilex opaca
SHADBUSH Amelanchier canadensis
RED MAPLE Acer rubrum
BLACK LOCUST Robinia pseudoacacia
SASSAFRAS Sassafras albidum
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BEACHES AND DUNES
Blackday
lnzyx
SEASIDE GRASSHOPPER Trimerotropis maritima
BLACK FIELD CRICKET Acheta assimilis
SEASIDE DRAGONLET Erythrodiplax berenice
FOWLER’S TOAD Bufo woodhousei
Vibe Images
EASTERN HOGNOSE SNAKE Heterodon platirhinos
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235
Lisa Hagan,m Shutterstock
VIRGINIA OPOSSUM Didelphis virginiana
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236
DUNE ANIMALS AND BIRDS
Geoff Kuchera
RACCOON Procyon lotor
STRIPED SKUNK Mephitis mephitis
Creative Nature
Wild Geese
MEADOW VOLE Microtus pennsylvanicus
EASTERN COTTONTAIL Sylvilagus floridanus
Pim Leijen
Gerald Kraus
RED FOX Vulpes vulpes
WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
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us
s
BEACHES AND DUNES
237
Proedding
RED-TAILED HAWK Buteo jamaicensis
OSPREY Pandion haliaetus
Steve Byland
COMMON GRACKLE Quiscalus quiscula
SONG SPARROW Melospiza melodia
GREAT EGRET Ardea albus
SNOWY EGRET Egretta thula
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238
Branford, Connecticut’s Thimble Islands, once a series of granite hilltops.
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239
Rocky Shores
Brant (Branta bernicla) on the rocks, Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Connecticut.
Rocky shores are relatively high-energy coasts, even in the
normally placid waters of Long Island Sound. About 8,000
waves a day wash over the rocks of the Connecticut coast and
the rock-cobbled beaches of outer Long Island, constantly
threatening to pull away or damage an organism that isn’t
very sturdy and firmly attached. Hard stone does little to
dampen or absorb the energy of waves, and shoreline rocks
reflect much of the wave energy that hits them. The resulting turbulence often limits the survival of both plants and
animals near the rocks.
Plants and animals in rocky intertidal areas face hours of
submergence in salt water and further hours of dry exposure
twice every day, a tough regime even in places that are more
protected from wave action. Every plant and animal you come
across on our rocky shores has made remarkable adaptations
to survive the physical demands of rocky coasts, the presence
of predators, and the complex competition with their fellow
residents of the rocks.
A note about safety on rocky shores
Shoreline rocks can be very slippery, even when they look
dry. The thin coating of bacteria or algae that covers shoreline
rocks at or below the splash zone can look dry on the surface
and still be very slippery underneath. When you walk on the
portions of rocks that are submerged at high tide, use great
caution, and stay off them entirely if possible. You won’t just
increase your own safety, you’ll likely save the life of many
rocky intertidal plants and creatures that could easily be
crushed or damaged by a careless footstep.
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ROCKY SHORES
Vertical zones
All marine environments show vertical zoning of habitats
based on the degree of exposure to saltwater tides. On rocky
shores this zonation is plain to see, from the bands of dark
cyanobacteria to the barnacles and periwinkles, mussels, and
various types of algae down to the wettest zone just above the
low tide level. The zones of plants and animals are not just
a matter of water—they also represent the results of fierce
competition among the various organisms for space on the
rocks at tolerable levels of moisture and temperature for each
species. Rocky shore areas on the Sound’s coasts show a predictable sequence of vertical zones from dry rock down to the
permanently submerged areas of the subtidal zone: the splash
zone, the high, mid-, and low intertidal zones, and intertidal
pools. On Long Island there are no bedrock outcrops along
the shore, but you can still see vertical zonation on the larger
rocks and glacial boulders, particularly on the rock-andcobble North Shore beaches east of Port Jefferson.
Splash zone
The splash zone extends from the average high tide line
upward across rock faces that regularly receive some splashed
water from waves at high tide. Above the splash zone on
rocky shores that don’t receive much foot traffic you may
see various lichen species. The lichen Verrucaria erichsenii
(no common name) appears as a rough black crust, often in
cracks and crevices of rocks as well as on exposed surfaces.
The common light green to gray Green Shield Lichen also
appears on coastal rocks, but not as close to the splash zone as
Verrucaria. In many shoreline parks this dry lichen zone has
often been worn away by foot traffic, particularly on horizontal rock surfaces.
On almost all of Connecticut’s shoreline rocks the lower
splash zone and high intertidal zone is marked by a prominent black band of cyanobacteria (Calothrix sp.) that grows in
a strip one to two feet tall. The exact height of the black-zone
cyanobacteria band depends on the tidal range for the area—
in the Sound tide heights can range from under two feet near
the Rhode Island border and Orient Point to more than seven
feet in the Western Basin ports and inlets. This thin coating
of cyanobacteria is an important food source for rock-grazing
snails like the Common and Rough Periwinkles.
High intertidal zone
The high intertidal zone of rocky shores is a marine environment, but just barely so. This zone is covered by tidal water
for just a few hours each day, which severely limits feeding
opportunities for filter feeders like barnacles. This zone is hot
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ROCKY SHORES
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241
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242
ROCKY SHORES
in summer, with temperatures that can easily top 100 degrees
Fahrenheit on exposed surfaces, and winter brings both bitter
cold and grinding sea ice.
Barnacles
Barnacles are relatives of shrimp that spend most of their
lives in a highly specialized shell cemented to a hard surface.
The nineteenth-century biologist Louis Agassiz said that a
barnacle was “nothing more than a little shrimp-like animal,
standing on its head in a limestone house and kicking food
into its mouth.” We normally see barnacles at low tide, when
their shells are tightly closed to conserve moisture. Once
immersed in water, barnacles open the beaklike center plates
of their shells and project their feathery legs into the currents,
filtering plankton and other small bits of nutrients from the
water.
Northern Rock Barnacle
Semibalanus balanoides
In this photo taken in April,
young, newly attached barnacles
coat every available surface,
including the shells of Blue
Mussels and older, established
barnacles. By fall most of the
young barnacles will be worn
away, shrugged off by the mussels
and older barnacles.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 242
Barnacles have a complex life cycle that includes a planktonic
stage, which allows young barnacles to spread widely and to
cover nearly every hard surface along the coast with tiny barnacles each spring. Barnacles mate in fall but retain their eggs
within the shell and release the planktonic larvae in winter.
About four to six weeks later the young barnacles begin to
settle out of the water column on any available solid surface.
In Long Island Sound in late February or early March a massive wave of mature barnacle larvae are ready to settle out of
the water column. Docks, boat hulls, shoreline rocks, mussels,
and even slow-moving animals like Horseshoe Crabs become
covered in a gray haze of tiny new barnacles. The larvae
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ROCKY SHORES
243
are attracted to groups of other barnacles, so existing rocky
shoreline communities get a new crop of young barnacles
settling over them every spring. Barnacles are aggressive
competitors against other barnacles, and by late fall most of
those young barnacles will have been displaced or grown over
by older, established barnacles.
The high intertidal zone is dominated by the Northern Rock
Barnacle, which is well adapted to harsh conditions here but is
less well adapted to compete with Blue Mussels and algae for
living space in the lower intertidal zones. A second, smaller
species of barnacle, the Little Gray Barnacle, is much less
common than the Northern Rock Barnacle. The Little Gray
Barnacle is no match for the highly competitive Northern
Rock Barnacle, and the Little Grays are usually forced to occupy the highest, least desirable portions of the high intertidal
zone.
Common Periwinkle
The most common snail in the Sound’s intertidal areas is the
Common Periwinkle. This snail can be incredibly abundant:
on some rocky shores and stony cobble beaches the density of
Common Periwinkles can reach 1,000 individuals per square
yard. Unlike the region’s two other periwinkle species, the
Common Periwinkle has a planktonic development stage,
allowing it to spread quickly and populate new areas in vast
numbers. Periwinkles feed on the thin coating of algae and
cyanobacteria found on rocks in the intertidal zone.
When you examine the high intertidal zone you’ll see a range
of shapes and sizes in the Common Periwinkle, from small,
darker juvenile snails to larger, usually lighter and smoother
adults. Although the Rough Periwinkle is also a common high
intertidal species, it is often difficult to separate the Rough
Periwinkle’s shells from the very similar shells of juvenile
Common Periwinkles. To complicate matters, both species
show a range of shell colors and shapes. Rough Periwinkles
are more often found high in the high intertidal zone or
even in the splash zone, but firmly distinguishing them from
juvenile Common Periwinkles would require dislodging and
closely examining many snails, and that would be very disruptive for the snails. By sheer numbers the odds are simple:
the small, rough-shelled, gray-brown intertidal snail you are
looking at is almost certainly a Common Periwinkle.
Common Periwinkles (Littorina
littorea) nestle in a rock crevice to
retain moisture during low tide.
The Common Periwinkle was long thought to have been
introduced from Europe by immigrants who settled in Nova
Scotia, and it is still often listed in books as an exotic invader
of the New England coast. In 2001, scientists looked at the
DNA of New England Common Periwinkles and discovered
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244
LICHENS, ALGAE, AND ANIMALS
VERRUCARIA Lichen Verrucaria erichsenii
GREEN SHIELD LICHEN Flavoparmelia caperata
CYANOBACTERIA Calothrix sp.
BLUE MUSSELS Mytilis edulis
NORTHERN ROCK BARNACLES Semibalanus balanoides
BARNACLE SETS, detail
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ta
ROCKY SHORES
COMMON PERIWINKLES Littorina littorea
COMMON PERIWINKLES Littorina littorea
GUT WEED Ulva intestinalis
GUT WEED, detail Ulva intestinalis
STONE HAIR Blidingia minima
STONE HAIR, detail Blidingia minima
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246
ALGAE AND ANIMALS
ROCKWEED Fucus distichus
ROCKWEED, detail Fucus distichus
SEA LETTUCE Ulva lactuca
SEA LETTUCE Ulva lactuca
GREEN FLEECE Codium fragile
KNOTTED WRACK Ascophyllum nodosum
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247
EASTERN MUDSNAILS Ilyanassa obsoleta
IRISH MOSS Chondrus crispus
WHIPWEED Chordaria flagelliformis
ATLANTIC SLIPPER SHELLS Crepidula fornicata
Brian Gratwicke
GRASS SHRIMP Palaemonetes pugio
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COMMON SEA STAR Asterias forbesi
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ROCKY SHORES
that they are genetically distinct from European periwinkles
and have had a separate lineage for at least 10,000 years. In
the last Ice Age, the Common Periwinkle found refuge from
the glaciers in the Nova Scotia region and almost certainly
along the shores of the broad coastal plain that existed well
south of present-day Long Island when the sea level was more
than 350 feet lower than it is today. We now know that the
expansion of the Common Periwinkle from the Nova Scotia
area south to Cape May, New Jersey, over the past 150 years
is a native species reclaiming its former range, not an invasive
species displacing native snails.
Horse Island, in Branford,
Connecticut’s Thimble Islands.
The islands have a core of granite
gneiss, the same bedrock typical
on the mainland, and most are
also ringed by glacial boulders.
What little soil the islands have is
mixed glacial debris of rocks, sand,
and clay. Note the eroding bank
of soil at the right of the photo,
cut back several feet by Hurricane
Sandy in 2012.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 248
Algae
The most common algae of the high intertidal zone is Gut
Weed, which typically grows in large, bright green mats on
rocks and in tidal pools. Gut Weed has long, translucent green
strands that hang like mats of wet hair at low tide but float
when immersed because the strands are actually hollow tubes
filled with gas that stand erect in the water like underwater
grass at high tide. Stone Hair Algae is a similar-looking bright
green algae that lives in the same areas as Gut Weed. As the
name implies, Stone Hair has a very fine, hairlike structure,
much finer and shorter than the coarser texture of Gut Weed.
Note that both Stone Hair and Gut Weed patches are very
slippery, even when they look dry on the surface, so avoid
stepping on any intertidal algae.
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ROCKY SHORES
249
Mid-intertidal zone
The mid-intertidal zone is a milder area than the high intertidal zone, with greater water exposure for longer periods, less
heat stress, and more planktonic food wafting in on the tidal
waters to support filter feeders like barnacles and mussels.
Because it is such a desirable location for sedentary creatures,
space is at a premium in the mid-intertidal zone, and species
competition over rock space is fierce—the lowest spaces in
the zone are the most desirable. On rocky shores, the Blue
Mussel most characterizes the mid-intertidal zone, where it is
best adapted to compete for space against the barnacles above
and the Rockweed algae below. Like their chief sessile, filterfeeding competitor the Northern Rock Barnacle, mussels
survive their intertidal existence by trapping seawater within
their shells and waiting out the four to five hours of dryness,
occasionally gaping their shells slightly for gas exchange.
Blue Mussel
Blue Mussels are most often a violet blue, but their shells may
also look brown or gray-violet and even show subtle stripes of
lighter color. Healthy, young Blue Mussel shells have a paperthin, blue-black periostracum, or external coating, that often
has partially worn away on older specimens. In the spring
Blue Mussels high in the intertidal zone are often covered by
gray young barnacles that obscure the mussel’s native colors.
Adult Blue Mussels are sedentary creatures that do not usually
move unless they are accidentally detached from their rocky
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250
ROCKY SHORES
Blue Mussel beds at Milford
Point, Connecticut.
Photo courtesy of Frank Gallo.
Blue Mussels
Mytilis edulis
substrate. However, young Blue Mussels about half an inch
or smaller are surprisingly mobile. They use their attachment
byssal threads to rope-climb over rocks to achieve better
positioning for their final homes, particularly when they can
join other mussels in tight groups.
Blue Mussels are filter feeders, opening their shells to expose
their incurrent and excurrent siphons, filtering various forms
of plankton and vegetation debris from the waves washing
over the rocks. Mussels are very efficient at filtering water: A
classic school demonstration starts with six to eight live Blue
Mussels in the bottom of a jar of murky coastal water. Within
an hour, the jar of water is completely clear.
Northern Rock Barnacles and Blue Mussels can thrive
anywhere from the high intertidal to the subtidal zone, but
competition with other intertidal algae and animals restricts
both species to particular vertical zones where they are better
adapted than competing species. Mussels outcompete barnacles for desirable rock space in the mid-intertidal zones but
cannot withstand as long and hot a dry period as barnacles.
The mussels push the barnacles out of the best mid-intertidal
spaces, relegating them to the less advantageous high intertidal zone, even though there is less food there and climate
conditions are harsher.
Blue Mussels can live well in the lower intertidal zone, but in
there they are more exposed to predators like the Oyster Drill,
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ROCKY SHORES
251
the Common Sea Star, and crabs, so Blue Mussels thrive best
in the mid-intertidal area, where the sea stars and oyster drills
find conditions too dry.
Rockweeds
Below and mixed in with Blue Mussels are several Fucus
Rockweed species that compete with mussels for space and
often dominate the lower, more desirable portions of the
mid-intertidal zone. All three Fucus species found in Connecticut are called Rockweed. In the mid-intertidal zone, the
two most common Rockweed species are Fucus distichus and
F. spiralis. Fucus distichus is the most common Rockweed
along the Connecticut shore, covering the rocks at Lighthouse
Point, for instance. The very similar F. spiralis has blades that
are distinctly twisted instead of lying flat, but F. spiralis is less
common. Neither F. distichus or F. spiralis has paired float
bladders along its blades like our third Rockweed species, F.
vesiculous, which often appears at a lower intertidal level than
the other Rockweeds.
The Smooth Periwinkle is common on rocky shores in Connecticut but is less visible than the Common Periwinkle owing to its habit of hiding in Rockweed branches at low tide to
avoid drying. To find Smooth Periwinkles, examine and move
aside the branches of Rockweed patches, and you’ll usually
spot the very smooth and shiny shells of Smooth Periwinkles.
Although Yellow Periwinkle is an alternate common name for
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 251
Rockweed
Fucus distichus
In the Sound the lowest range of
the intertidal zone is dominated
by Blue Mussels (Mytilis edulis) and
Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus), a red
algae. In this springtime photo,
the mussels and rocks are covered
with barnacle sets, or young
barnacles. Most of the spring sets
will have washed away or died by
the following winter.
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ROCKY SHORES
Tide pools are miniature worlds,
outside the normal bounds of vertical zones on rocky shores. Many
algae and animals that would
perish high above the low tide
line can survive between tides in
such pools. Here Rockweed, Sea
Lettuce, Irish Moss, and Common
Periwinkles find a refuge well
above their normal low intertidal
zone.
Green Fleece
Codium fragile
the species, the colors of Smooth Periwinkles are variable and
range from greenish brown to a brighter greenish yellow.
Sea Lettuce is one of the most common algae species on the
Connecticut coast, growing everywhere from subtidal sandy
beaches to salt marshes, and it is always plentiful on rocky
shores, appearing in the mid-intertidal through subtidal
zones. Populations of Sea Lettuce rise sharply in areas that
receive an excess of nitrogen, the most generally troublesome
of all pollutants in the Sound today, so the superabundance
of Sea Lettuce along the coast is a constant warning about the
health of the Sound. Green Fleece algae is another indication
of excess nitrogen, but Green Fleece is an invasive species
that was accidentally spread through oyster aquaculture along
the East Coast. Found along most of the Long Island Sound
coastline, Green Fleece is more common in sheltered areas
like harbor zones or behind sandspits or breakwaters.
Knotted (Bladder) Wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) is one of
the largest and most beautiful algae of the intertidal algae.
Common on most rocky shores, and often mixed with the
Fucus species, it may be absent in areas with stronger wave
action.
Look carefully among the algae in the mid intertidal zone for
the Atlantic Oyster Drill, which looks like a miniature whelk
shell. As their name implies, oyster drills prey on oysters by
drilling a hole into their shells, but oyster drills also prey on
Blue Mussels in the lower intertidal areas. Atlantic Oyster
Drills are usually not found in the drier areas of the upper
intertidal zone but might be hidden within or under masses
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 252
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ROCKY SHORES
253
of Rockweed. In rocky beach areas that also have mudflats,
the Eastern Mudsnail is common on the flats at low tide.
Low intertidal zone
In many ways the lowest intertidal areas are the most desirable for filter-feeding mussels, but the low intertidal zone is
also full of mussel predators like crabs, Atlantic Oyster Drills,
and sea stars, so the lowest intertidal areas are in many ways
a mixed blessing. With the benefits of more food comes the
curse of more competitors and a host of potential predators.
At a glance the defining organism of the low, rocky intertidal
zone is Irish Moss, the most common large algae there. When
you see Irish Moss, you’re looking at the lowest reaches of
the intertidal zone. Nominally a red algae, the thick, bushy
patches of Irish Moss can range in color from deep violet or
almost black to a bright brick red, and Irish Moss is often
bleached by sun to an ivory color at the tips of its blades. Irish
Moss is most abundant in shallow, rocky subtidal areas but
also enters the lowest intertidal areas.
Irish Moss
Chondrus crispus
The long, dark brown strands of Whipweed (Chordaria
flagelliformis, also called Devil’s Whip or Brown Spaghetti)
are common along rocky beaches, intertidal rocks, and on
stretches of sand beach between rocks.
The Atlantic Slipper Shell is one of the most abundant
mollusks along the Connecticut coast, as evidenced by the
hundreds of thousands of slipper shells that line the beaches.
Although the shell is clamlike, the Atlantic Slipper Shell is a
very specialized snail that forms clusters of individuals that
grip tightly to rocks in the lower intertidal and subtidal zones.
Slipper shells are filter feeders. When underwater, Atlantic
Slipper Shells feed by relaxing their grip to open a small gap at
the edges of their shells where they draw in water to filter out
plankton and other nutrients.
Especially in rocky shore areas, the low intertidal zone is
hardly distinguishable from the shallow subtidal zone, especially at night, when subtidal creatures like crabs climb onto
the rocks and rocky beaches seeking mussels and other prey.
Rock Crabs are rocky shore specialists, and the ubiquitous
Green Crab is also common. In recent years two invasive crab
species have entered Connecticut’s rocky shore environment.
The more established invader is the Asian Shore Crab, which
was first noticed on New Jersey beaches in 1989 and has since
spread both north and south along the Atlantic Coast. The
Asian Shore Crab competes directly with native Rock Crabs
but ironically is also dominating an older invasive species, the
Green Crab, a European crab that became established on New
England’s coast in the 1800s. In the past few years another
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 253
Whipweed
Chordaria flagelliformis
Green Crab
Carcinus maenas
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254
ROCKY SHORES
invasive crab species, the Chinese Mitten Crab, has appeared
in the New York Harbor area. Mitten crabs have since been
spotted in rocky areas of the western shores of Long Island
Sound and have been found in Greenwich, Connecticut. The
Chinese Mitten Crab is not common yet, but it is expected to
spread north and east along the coast over the next decade.
Both Asian crab species are thought to have arrived on US
shores accidentally, probably as planktonic larvae in discarded
water ballast from ships traveling from Asian waters.
The Common Sea Star is sometimes abundant offshore in
subtidal and deeper waters and is occasionally found along
the low tide line of rocky beaches, particularly those with
large patches of Blue Mussels. Sea stars prey on clams, oysters,
and mussels and can be a serious nuisance for commercial
oyster operations in Long Island Sound. Research has shown
that northeastern sea star populations fluctuate dramatically
over decades, and currently we seem to be in a low period for
sea star populations in Long Island Sound.
Intertidal pools
In many ways the vertical habitat zoning in rocky shore environments is straightforward, with barnacles and cyanobacteria at the highest levels and Irish Moss and crabs at the lowest.
Intertidal pools are the exception that adds complexity and
interest to the scheme, allowing low intertidal or even subtidal
organisms to survive in higher and drier areas. The pools and
even rock crevices that retain moisture provide cool, damp
refuges during low tide and thus are always worth investigating. There are no unique animals or plants in tidal pools—it’s
the same cast of shoreline characters outlined above—but you
may find crabs, sea anemones, or even small fish and shrimp.
Striped Killifish
Fundulus majalis
Sheepshead Minnow
Cyprinodon variegatus
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 254
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ROCKY SHORES
255
Small subtidal fish are often trapped in intertidal pools by
the retreating tide. The fish will panic and streak about as
you approach the pool, but wait a minute or two and the fish
will calm down and begin to school normally again. Striped
Killifish, Sheepshead Minnows, Atlantic Silverside, and small,
white-gray Grass Shrimp are all frequently found in intertidal
pools.
Sea anemones are fairly common in the rocky subtidal zones
of the Sound, but they are rarely seen by beachcombers except
in tidal pools. The Frilled Anemone and Lined Anemone both
occur in larger intertidal pools. When disturbed, anemones
retract their tentacles into the body and may only show as
brown to pale gray clumps of tissue, usually in the more
secluded and protected areas of an intertidal pool. Wait a
few minutes for the creatures to adjust to your presence,
and a surprising range of animals may come out of hiding.
It’s always worthwhile to check dark overhangs and crevices
around tidal pools for Rock Crabs and Green Crabs, but do
not disturb them; handling is traumatic and often fatal for all
shoreline creatures.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 255
Common Periwinkles (Littorina
littorea) cover the bottom of a
small pool in the intertidal zone.
The red coating is Rusty Rock
Algae (Hildenbrandia rubrum).
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ROCKY SHORES
Purple Sandpiper
Calidris maritima
Black-Crowned Night-Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
Birds
Mention rocky shorelines to Long Island Sound birders, and
the first bird you will likely hear about is the Purple Sandpiper. Many of the region’s coastal birds visit rocky shores,
but the Purple Sandpiper is rarely seen anywhere else. Purple
Sandpipers winter along the northeastern coasts, and most
experienced birders can tell stories of suffering through terrible winter conditions while watching tiny Purple Sandpipers
nonchalantly picking over coastal rocks for invertebrates,
apparently unaware of the frigid weather. Willets mostly nest
in salt marshes but can often be seen picking over shoreline
rocks for the small invertebrates and crabs they feed on. Brant
geese are vegetarians that feed on Sea Lettuce and Eelgrass.
Brian E Kushner
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ROCKY SHORES
257
They are often seen standing on or floating around offshore
rocks, probably an indication that there are algae or grass
beds in the local subtidal area.
A few other bird species are often seen along rocky shorelines, stone breakwaters, and offshore rocks. Black-Crowned
Night-Herons seem to specialize in searching the nooks and
crannies of rocky shores for crabs and other small animals. As
their name suggests, it’s best to look for these night-herons in
the twilight hours of dawn and dusk. Black-Crowned NightHerons will often tuck into niches in stone breakwaters just
above the water line, waiting patiently for a crab to make the
mistake of moving within their sight. Double-Crested Cormorants often sun themselves on rocks along the shoreline or
just offshore. Although cormorants are excellent divers, they
lack the wax glands that other water birds like ducks use to
waterproof their feathers, and so cormorants must literally
hang their wings out to dry by extending them and letting the
wind and sun dry the feathers. Ornithologists think that the
spread-wing stance may also be a territorial or mating display
to fellow cormorants.
Immature
Peregrine Falcon
Falco peregrinus
Peregrine Falcons are primarily
seen during the fall migration
season in Long Island Sound, but
may appear in almost any season
along our coasts. Peregrines can
appear over any coastal habitat. If
you see a sudden panicked flurry
among shorebird flocks, watch
the sky for a hunting Peregrine.
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258
Barn Island Wildlife Management Area, Stonington, Connecticut.
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259
Salt Marshes
The salt marsh at Sandy Point, West Haven, Connecticut, along the southwestern edge of New Haven
Harbor. The marshes act both as a natural filter for harbor pollutants and as a buffer zone during major
storms, helping to prevent flooding and property damage in coastal neighborhoods.
Salt marshes are North America’s most productive ecosystem—their productivity is equaled only by tropical rain forests. Marshes provide a significant source of nutrients to the
Long Island Sound estuary and are the coastal nursery ground
for almost every important commercial and sport fish in our
waters. More than 170 fish species and 1,200 invertebrate species live in Long Island Sound during at least part of the year,
and most of those species use the salt marshes at some point
in their life cycles.
Salt marshes play an important role in the cycling of atmospheric gasses that have increased because of human activity.
Marshes also act as sinks for the excess nitrogen that runs off
our highly developed modern landscapes, and they absorb a
large amount of the excess carbon generated from the burning of fossil fuels.
Salt marshes are natural water treatment facilities, cleaning
the coastal waters through filtering by marsh grasses and filter
feeders that live in and around the marsh, as well as through
the activities of the large detritivore community within
marshes themselves. The natural salt marsh food chains have
a large capacity to absorb and convert dissolved forms of organic matter into grass and animal biomass, cleaning coastal
waters and adding vital nutrients to the larger Long Island
Sound ecosystem.
Marshes also act as natural buffers and sponges in stormy
conditions. They protect the coastline against storm surges
and break the full force of storm waves and flooded rivers.
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SALT MARSHES
The productivity of salt marshes
Although few animals feed directly on marsh leaves, marsh
grasses shed all their leaves during fall and winter, and this
major source of vegetable matter is broken down by bacteria
and fungi into fine detritus that is carried out into the estuary
by ebbing tides. Salt marsh grass provides a rich source of
energy for tiny planktonic animals, filter feeders like clams,
oysters, scallops, Grass Shrimp, amphipods, and other small
animals. In turn, these small animals become food for larger
predators and scavengers such as crabs, lobsters, fish, birds,
and mammals.
Marshes around Long Island Sound produce around 29
ounces per square yard of organic material each year, and that
enormous productivity comes from three fundamental marsh
components:
1. Mud algae, diatoms, and seaweeds at the marsh surface
2. Phytoplankton in the marsh water
3. Large salt marsh plants, especially grasses
Salt marshes are a unique form of grassland in that the
entire annual growth dies back in winter, leaving only the
underground rhizomes to renew the marsh in spring. Ninety
percent of a marsh’s annual productivity is realized at the end
of the growing season in October, when the grass leaves die
off, decompose, and wash into the estuary through tidal flow
over winter and early spring. In these tons of dead grass leaves
Live marsh grasses
Dead marsh grasses
Salt marsh in
growing season
Salt marsh
in winter
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 260
Primary breakdown
by microfauna
Small vertebrates
and invertebrates
Larger predators
(sport sh, crabs)
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SALT MARSHES
261
Comparative production rates
Tons of organic matter per acre per year
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.33 tons
0.5–1.5 tons
1.5–5 tons
5–10 tons
0.5–1.5 tons
0.33 tons
Desert
Dry agriculture
Moist agriculture
Salt marshes & estuaries
Coastal waters
Open ocean waters
After Teal and Teal, Life and Death of the Salt Marsh
per acre, much of the productivity drains from the marsh as
an organic soup of plant detritus to be consumed by bacteria,
fungi, and other tiny planktonic animals. Although these microscopic decomposer organisms are not particularly visible
to us, they are critical to the estuary food chain, because their
activity makes the bounty of the salt marsh grasses available
to the rest of the food chain.
Animals in the next link of the marsh food chain are detritivores such as fiddler crabs, Salt Marsh Snails, Grass Shrimp,
and marsh amphipods that consume the partially decomposed grass, turning it into animal biomass. Other partially
decayed marsh detritus is swept out with each high tide into
the estuary waters, where it is consumed by filter feeders such
as mussels, barnacles, and clams.
Snails, clams, mussels, and other detritivores and filter feeders
form the base of the food chain of predatory animals. Small
marsh fish such as killifish and sticklebacks feed on detritivores like amphipods and Grass Shrimp, as do such crabs as
the Green and Blue Crabs. The Diamondback Terrapin, crabs,
and even such birds as the American Black Duck all feed on
the abundance of Salt Marsh Snails. Smaller marsh predators become food for larger animals such as Bluefish, Striped
Bass, herons, and Ospreys. Although the productivity of the
salt marsh may be hard to see directly, marshes are the largest
contributors of biological wealth in the Long Island Sound estuary and are the base of the food chain for most of the birds,
fish, and other more visible wildlife along our coasts.
Energy conversion
Marshes capture and convert about 6 percent of the sunlight
that falls on them during the year. This figure may sound
modest, but the salt marsh compares very well to other plant
communities. A farm field of corn captures about 2 percent
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262
SALT MARSHES
of the sun’s energy; coral reefs capture about 3 percent. On
average, an East Coast salt marsh creates 5–10 tons of organic
matter per acre every year, with the warmer southeastern
marshes at the higher end of the productivity scale. Most
heavily managed farm crops only produce about half that tonnage per acre per year.
Marsh ecosystems depend on tidal flow as well as rivers
and streams to deliver raw nutrients along with the mud
and sediments washed from inland areas down to the coast.
Because marsh vegetation largely dies back each fall and
winter, marshes are quick to convert nutrients into organic
matter available to estuary and marine animals. In contrast to
forests, where much of the annual productivity is bound up
in the wood and roots of trees and other perennials for many
years, marshes release almost all of their annual production
when the grasses die back and are washed into the estuary to
be broken down and gradually converted into microscopic
animal biomass at the base of the food chain.
Long Island Sound salt marshes
Salt marshes on the shores of Long Island Sound are relatively
small because our coastline is so young, and so rocky, with
relatively few large areas of tidal flats and coastal sediment
beds that form the foundation for salt marsh growth. Most
current Long Island Sound salt marshes are less than 3,000
years old, and many are much younger. The salt marshes that
certainly existed on the shores of the southern New England
coastal plain up to about 25,000 years ago were obliterated by
the Laurentide Ice Sheet as it covered the region. Although
the ice sheet began to retreat 20,000 years ago, the slow recovery to temperate climactic conditions and the rapidly rising
sea level combined to limit the growth of marshes in our
region until relatively recently. Before that time the ocean was
rising at too fast a rate to permit the long-term development
of mature salt marshes. On the older unglaciated coasts to our
south the shoreline has had millions of years to accumulate
the sandy barrier islands that protect the shore from wave
action, and the rich deep silt flats that nurture the vast salt
marshes of the southeastern Atlantic coastline.
The region’s largest salt marshes are located where rivers meet
Long Island Sound, because as the river water slows to meet
the Sound, sand and clay particles fall out of the water column
and settle, building the tidal flats that form the foundation for
marsh growth. The mouth of the Connecticut River is lined
with salt marshes, primarily on the less developed eastern
bank in Old Lyme. The Quinnipiac River flows through an
extensive salt marsh just north of New Haven. Salt marshes
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SALT MARSHES
Bluff
Point
CONNECTICUT
Lighthouse
Point
NEW YORK
Chaffinch
Island
Hammonasset
S.P.
Milford
Point
Sunken
Meadow
Barn
Island
The Race
Orient
Point
Montauk
Point
LONG ISLAND SOUND
Sherwood
Island
Caumsett
Rocky Neck
S.P.
263
Mattituck
Port Jefferson
Wildwood
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
Salt marshes
also form on the leeward side of coastal sandspits and rocky
points, as in such Connecticut locations as Hammonasset
Beach State Park, Bluff Point State Park, and marshes of the
Charles Wheeler Wildlife Management Area behind Milford
Point. In all three areas, a sandspit or rocky point combines
with river sediments to create and protect large areas of
mature salt marsh. On the North Shore of Long Island salt
marshes are scattered and small because Long Island’s rivers
are scattered and small. Modest marsh areas exist in Oyster
and Northport Bays, along Sunken Meadow Creek, and on
the Nissequogue River. In the past, the sheltered harbors and
necks certainly hosted more salt marsh areas, but shoreline
development has destroyed or buried most of them.
What makes a salt marsh?
Salt marshes occur on sheltered, low-energy shorelines
protected from direct wave action, where slow currents allow
mud or fine sand sediment to build up in shallows, providing a support for salt-tolerant grasses and other plants to
take root. Locations around the mouths of rivers that meet
Long Island Sound, peninsulas, and sand banks all shield salt
marshes from direct exposure to waves.
The major salt marshes in the
Long Island Sound region. Most
of the Sound’s salt marshes are in
central and eastern Connecticut,
where river deltas from the glacial
era and sediments from modern
rivers and streams provide the
underlying platform for marsh
development. On the North Shore
of Long Island there are far fewer
rivers and thus far fewer salt
marsh areas. The North Shore is
dominated for most of its length
by the shoreline cliffs and narrow
beaches of the Harbor Hill–
Roanoke Point Moraine, which
are unsuitable for salt marsh
formation. The large salt marshes
on the south shore have formed
behind barrier islands.
Marsh structure and diversity are largely determined by two
factors: tides and salinity. Because so few plants can survive
the constant exposure to salt water and anoxic (oxygen-poor)
soils, salt marshes are relatively simple environments with
a few dominant species. Northeastern and mid-Atlantic
coastal salt marshes exist largely because of two grass species:
Saltwater (Smooth) Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and
Saltmeadow Cordgrass (S. patens).
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SALT MARSHES
High summer in the salt marsh
at Hammonasset Beach State
Park, Madison, Connecticut. In the
foreground a shallow marsh pool
is lined with tall Saltwater Cordgrass. Across the middle distance
lies one of Long Island Sound’s
best high marsh areas, between
Meigs Point Trail at the right and
the Cedar Island Trail at left. Both
trails run along the high ground
of two small recessional moraines,
formed when glaciers retreated in
this area about 18,000 years ago.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 264
Origins
Salt marshes typically form when seeds or rhizomes of Saltwater Cordgrass colonize shallow tidal flats. As the cordgrass
shoots develop, they further slow the movement of water,
leading to more sediment deposition and limiting erosion
during storms and high tides. As the tidal flats grow into a
more mature marsh platform, tidal creeks develop that drain
the marsh during low tides. The movement of tidal water acts
almost like a breathing mechanism for the marsh, bringing in
fresh nutrients and sediment on the flood tide and draining
away wastes and detritus on the ebb.
Marsh grasses propagate primarily by rhizomes—spreading
underground stems that both expand the size and area of the
original shoot of grass and help bind and stabilize the tidal
mud beneath them. Rhizomes also allow marsh grasses to
store energy underground for the next growing season.
As the grasses take root, the tangle of rhizomes and stems
traps more sediments and sand, gradually building up a tough
platform of dense roots, covered by sticky surface mats of
blue-green algae that are resistant to normal currents and
tides. Once this platform reaches above the mean high tides,
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SALT MARSHES
265
the marsh begins to stratify into a lower marsh area that
floods twice a day with the tides and an upper marsh platform
that floods only a few times a month during spring high tides.
Winter ice is a major limiting factor in northeastern salt
marshes. Sharp, heavy plates of ice often cover the surface of
the upper marsh and line the banks of marsh creeks in winter.
These ice plates effectively shear off the stems of taller plants,
so trees and bushes that might tolerate the salty water cannot
gain a foothold in the upper marsh. The marsh grasses survive
the ice shearing because their rhizomes and roots are safe
under the mud and peat surface, ready to send up new green
shoots in spring. Marsh environments experience a wide
range of temperatures as well as rapid temperature changes, as
the exposed marsh heats during low tides in warmer months
and then cools rapidly when high tides flood the marsh.
Tidal movements, rainwater runoff, and the variable flow rate
of rivers all affect the salinity of the water around marshes.
Evaporation during low tides increases the salinity of shallow
pools and open pannes in the salt marsh, sometimes to levels
well above the salinity of ocean water. However, Long Island
Sound is an estuary with average salinities well below those of
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266
Low salt marsh in autumn, Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York.
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 266
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SALT MARSHES
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267
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268
SALT MARSHES
Winter in the salt marsh. Willard
Island, Hammonasset Beach State
Park, Madison, Connecticut.
the open-ocean. About 470 cubic meters (120,000 gallons) of
freshwater enter Long Island Sound each second, with 70 percent of that flowing from the Connecticut River alone. Marsh
plants and animals must be able to tolerate salinities ranging
from 33 to 37 parts per thousand (as in open-ocean waters)
to almost freshwater (<5 ppt). Salt marshes occur primarily
where salinity ranges from 20 ppt to 30 ppt, as in much of
Long Island Sound.
MARSH BORDER
HIGH MARSH
• Rare tidal flooding
• Dry, non-saline soil
Switchgrass
Marsh
Elder
• Floods twice a month
• Moderate soil salinity
• Soil always moist, except
in salt pannes, which may dry out
Seaside Goldenrod
MARSH CREEK
Blackgrass
Marsh Elder
Groundsel Tree
Northern Bayberry
Switchgrass
Seaside Goldenrod
Saltmeadow Cordgrass
Spike Grass
Blackgrass
Glassworts
Saltmarsh Aster
Dwarfe
Creeks lined with tall
Saltwater Cordgrass
MSHW=Mean Spring High Water Line,
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SALT MARSHES
269
Patterns and zonation
The structure of a salt marsh is a direct reflection of area tide
levels. Its patterns of vertical zonation are so consistent that
you can determine local tide levels simply by looking at the
marsh plants, because each zone has characteristic vegetation.
There are four major zones of the salt marsh:
Lower marsh
The area between the mean low water (MLW) line and the
mean high water line (MHW). The lower marsh is dominated
by a single grass species, Saltwater Cordgrass, which tolerates
flooding at high tides but cannot thrive where its roots are
permanently underwater.
Upper marsh
The marsh area above the MHW and below the mean spring
high water line (MSHW), the highest of the monthly high
tides. This area is dominated by Saltmeadow Cordgrass (Salt
Hay), which can tolerate the twice-monthly flooding of spring
high tides but otherwise must grow above the normal high
tide level.
Salt pannes
Shallow, water-retaining, open areas within the marsh, usually with a bare, muddy bottom and a sparse collection of
plants. At low tide salt pannes may dry completely to a hard
mud surface dotted with caked salt crystals. Pannes are very
high in salinity owing to the evaporation of brackish water.
The thin vegetation of salt pannes is usually dominated by
especially salt-tolerant plants, including Spike Grass, Glass-
Low salt marsh is defined by Saltwater Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), which grows especially tall
where there is a big tidal range, as
in the Western Basin.
LOW MARSH
Subtidal
• Floods twice a day
• Highly saline soil, dense mud
with very poor aeration
• Soil always very wet
ut
SALT PANNE
Spike Grass
Dwarfed Saltwater Cordgrass
Sea Lavender
Glassworts
Saltwater Cordgrass
Saltwater Cordgrass
Sea Lavender
Glassworts
MSHW
MHW
Only
Saltwater
Cordgrass
MLW
MSLW
Spring High Water Line, MHW=Mean High Water Line, MLW=Mean Low Water Line, MSLW=Mean Spring Low Water Line
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 269
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270
SALT MARSH STRUCTURE
Beach Plum
Prunus maritima
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Northern Bayberry
Myrica pensylvanica
Saltwater Cordgrass
also lines the banks of
salt marsh creeks
Groundsel Tree
Baccharis halimifolia
Unconsolidated glacial
sediments from outwash
plains (typical of Long
Island) or glacial river
deltas (commonly in
Connecticut)
Marsh Elder
Iva frutescens
Saltmeadow Cordgrass
Spartina patens
Blackgrass
Juncus gerardia
High
Marsh creek
Ma
rsh
p ea
t la
yer
Salt marsh die-off damage
to the low marsh
Blue Crab
Callinectes sapidus
Marsh Fiddler
Uca pugnax
Atlantic Silverside
Menidia menidia
Three-Spined Stickleback
Gasterosteus aculeatus
Striped Killifish
Fundulus majalis
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 270
Salt ma
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SALT MARSHES
271
Habitat types, plant species, and animal species in the salt marsh are
tightly correlated with tide heights. Just an inch or two of increased tide
height can radically change the species mix in a marsh, one reason that
sea level rise and climate change deeply worry biologists who study salt
marshes and their inhabitants.
As sea levels rise in the Long Island Sound area, we may lose many of our
salt marshes—and the creatures that live in them or depend on them
for food. We’ll also lose the powerful benefits that marshes provide in
protecting the coastlines during storms and in filtering pollutants that
enter the Sound from streams and rivers.
Saltmeadow Cordgrass
Spartina patens
Salt marsh panne
Saltwater Cordgrass
Spartina alterniflora
High marsh
Low marsh
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272
SALT MARSHES
worts, Sea Lavender, and sometimes a low-growing form of
Saltwater Cordgrass.
Marsh borders
The higher ground surrounding the marsh, above the mean
spring high water level, where flooding is rare and less salttolerant plants can survive. In most Connecticut salt marshes
you can spot the marsh border quickly by looking for Marsh
Elder (High Tide Bush) and Groundsel Tree, two shrubs that
normally line the border.
Salt pannes are low, muddy areas
of the marsh with no grass cover.
Pannes often flood during spring
tides. The water they contain is
often far more salty than seawater,
owing to evaporation.
Salt on Saltwater Cordgrass leaves
(Spartina alterniflora)
The lower marsh
In Connecticut salt marshes the lower marsh vegetation is
composed almost exclusively of Saltwater Cordgrass stands.
Besides tolerating saltwater immersion of its roots and rhizomes, Saltwater Cordgrass has a range of other adaptations
to living between the low and high tide lines. The waterlogged
soils of salt marshes and tidal flats are poorly oxygenated, and
all plant roots require oxygen to do the work of transporting
nutrients throughout the plant. Saltwater Cordgrass has a
special honeycomblike air circulation tissue called aerenchyma within its stems, rhizomes, and roots that allows the
plant to grow on waterlogged soils and still oxygenate its
roots. Its leaves also have special salt glands on their surface
that excrete excess salt absorbed through its roots. If you look
closely at a living cordgrass leaf, you’ll see tiny white crystals
of salt, excreted by the salt glands, all along the blade.
Although we normally look at the characteristic strengths of
a dominant species like Saltwater Cordgrass in adapting to
harsh conditions, it’s always important to consider the competition a species faces from other plants. Saltwater Cordgrass
is well adapted to life in marshes between the average low and
high tide lines, but it is a poor competitor with grasses above
the high tide line. The Saltmeadow Cordgrass that dominates
the high marsh has tough, aggressive roots and rhizomes that
prevent Saltwater Cordgrass from spreading into this zone. So
in a sense Saltwater Cordgrass lives its life trapped between
the low and high tide lines, well adapted to life there but unable to spread beyond that ecological niche.
A handful of other plant species can exist at the margins of
the lower marsh. Sea Lavender will grow just below the high
tide line, as will Glassworts. Spike Grass is the most salt tolerant of all the marsh grasses but is sparse below the high tide
line. A few marine algae species are found in the lower salt
marsh. Sea Lettuce is common in the lower marsh, as is the
nonnative Green Fleece. Knotted Wrack and Rockweed will
also grow in salt marshes if they can find stable attachment
points. Often you’ll see Rockweed and Knotted Wrack around
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SALT MARSHES
273
drainage culverts and gates in the marsh or growing on large
boulders on salt marsh creeks.
Under the lower marsh
Marshes develop in protected shore waters where sand and
silt collect into tidal flats that are at least partially exposed
above the low tide line. The underlying silty soil in marshes
is always soaked with water and is poor in oxygen. Anaerobic
bacterial decomposition of organic matter in the soils leaves
hydrogen sulfide as a by-product, giving marshes their characteristic rotten egg smell. The burrows of marsh animals like
fiddler crabs and marsh crabs help somewhat to aerate the
marsh soils, but the anaerobic conditions prevent all but a few
plants from taking root. The thick, sticky mat of blue-green
algae, green algae, and bacteria on the surface of marsh mud
is an important contributor to the overall biological productivity of the salt marsh. The algae mat also helps stabilize the
mud and prevent erosion, and traps new silt particles brought
in with each new high tide, helping to build the marsh.
Glassworts (Salicornia sp.)
often grow in the highly saline
conditions of salt pannes.
In the lower marsh, solid attachment areas are at a premium
for animals like Atlantic Ribbed Mussels and barnacles,
which attach to the bottom of grass stems and rhizomes of
Saltwater Cordgrass. In this transition zone between the open
water and creeks and the lower marsh, the byssal threads
and other excretions of Ribbed Mussels help bind the loose
silt sediments to the complex of mussel shells and Saltwater
Cordgrass rhizomes, both protecting the lower marsh from
washing away and slowly building the marsh by trapping sand
and silt sediment particles. The tight intertwining of Ribbed
Mussels and Saltwater Cordgrass roots and rhizomes is mutually beneficial: the rhizomes give the mussels a firm anchor
point in an environment that offers few places to attach,
and the mussels increase soil nitrogen around the rhizomes,
stimulating growth.
Much of the productivity of the lower salt marsh is created
by blue-green and green algae, which attach to the stems of
Saltwater Cordgrass and the mud surface in the lower marsh.
If you look closely at the cordgrass stalks just above the water
line or mud level, you will often see the tiny, coffee bean–like
shells of Salt Marsh Snails, which feed on the film of algae
that grows on the base of cordgrass stalks. These air-breathing
snails avoid immersion at high tide by climbing the stalks to
stay above water level.
Invertebrates of the lower marsh and marsh creeks
In the intertidal zone of salt marshes you’ll see many of the
common species that also inhabit rocky shores, tidal flats, and
beaches. The Eastern Mudsnail, Common Periwinkle, and
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 273
Ribbed Mussels (Geukensia
demissa) play an essential role in
the low salt marsh, binding the
marsh sediments to resist erosion
from tides and storms.
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274
GRASSES AND RIBBED MUSSEL
SALTWATER CORDGRASS Spartina alterniflora
SALTWATER CORDGRASS Spartina alterniflora
SALTMEADOW CORDGRASS Spartina patens
SALTMEADOW CORDGRASS, cowlicks
High marsh ditch with both Saltwater Cordgrass (in
ditch) and Saltmeadow Cordgrass (surrounding)
SALTWATER CORDGRASS AND RIBBED MUSSELS
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a
USSELS
SALT MARSHES
MARSH ELDER Iva frutescens
RIBBED MUSSELS Geukensia demissa
SPIKE GRASS Distichlis spicata
SWITCHGRASS Panicum virgatum
BLACKGRASS Juncus gerardia
BLACKGRASS, flower detail
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275
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276
PLANTS AND ALGAE
GLASSWORTS Salicornia sp.
GROUNDSEL TREE Baccharis halimifolia
ERECT SEA BLIGHT Suaeda linearis
SEA LETTUCE Ulva lactuca
GREEN FLEECE Codium fragile
ROCKWEED Fucus distichus
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SALT MARSHES
SEA LAVENDER Limonium carolinianum
SEA LAVENDER, basal rosette
SEASIDE GOLDENROD Solidago sempervirens
MARSH ORACH Atriplex patula
PERENNIAL SALTMARSH ASTER S. tenuifolium
COMMON REED Phragmites australis
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278
SALT MARSHES
Rough Periwinkle are all frequently found on mudflats and
creek banks within the marsh. The snails eat algae and other
organic material on the surface of the mudbanks and tidal
flats.
On the creek mudbanks, usually near the top just under the
upper layer of grasses, you may see groups of holes and small
heaps of freshly dug mud. These are made by one of the two
species of fiddler crabs that inhabit Connecticut marshes.
The constant digging of fiddler crabs is important for marsh
grasses, because these burrows bring oxygenated water and
nutrients into the silty marsh soils. The most common fiddler
crab in Connecticut salt marshes is the Mud Fiddler Crab,
but the Red-Jointed Fiddler Crab is also common. Both fiddler crabs feed on the rich layer of algae, bacteria, and plant
detritus on the surface of marsh mud.
Salt Marsh Snails (Melampus sp.)
on a Saltwater Cordgrass stem
(Spartina alterniflora).
Marsh Crabs are about the size of a fiddler crab but are dark
violet to black in color and have a more square-shaped body.
Marsh Crabs are less common in Connecticut marshes than
fiddler crabs and are less visible to the marsh visitor because
they are active primarily at night. Although they will prey on
fiddler crabs, Marsh Crabs are primarily herbivores that feed
on the stalks and leaves of Saltwater Cordgrass. In healthy
lower marsh environments, the feeding of Marsh Crabs has
little effect on the abundance of Saltwater Cordgrass, but recently these crabs have been implicated in the die-off of lower
marsh grasses in sections of many New England salt marshes.
In marsh die-off syndrome, the local population of Marsh
Crabs eats away large patches of Saltwater Cordgrass, leaving
bare, muddy creek banks. Research by Brown University
professor Mark Bertness and his graduate students has shown
that marsh die-off tends to occur in areas where sport fishing
has depleted the number of predatory fish and Blue Crabs
that normally prey on Marsh Crabs. Released from predation
pressure, the enlarged population of Marsh Crabs damages
the salt marsh by eating far more grass.
Within the marsh creeks the beautiful Blue Crab is the
characteristic salt marsh crab. Blue Crabs are frequent targets
of human crab fishers as well as the larger herons and so are
wary of any movements around their area. If you are patient
and stand still by a marsh creek for a few minutes looking
carefully under the surface, you will often be rewarded with
spotting a Blue Crab or the smaller Green Crab, also common
in salt marsh creeks.
Grass Shrimp (also called Prawns, Palaemonetes sp.) are also
common in salt marsh creeks and play an important role in
the salt marsh and estuary food chains. Grass Shrimp are
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SALT MARSHES
detritus feeders that break down larger bits of dead grass
leaves. Bits of the reduced leaves that are not eaten by the
shrimp become food for filter feeders like clams, mussels, and
barnacles. The Grass Shrimp in turn are eaten by larger fish
and birds that move into the marsh creeks at high tide.
Fish of the lower marsh and marsh creeks
Salt marshes are important nursery areas for many fish and
are also rich in species that spend their lives in and around
marshes. Small salt marsh fish eat algae, detritus from the
breakdown of marsh grasses, amphipods, copepods, isopods,
shrimp, marsh snails, and insects. Mummichogs and killifish
are important predators on mosquito larvae, helping to limit
populations of marsh mosquitos and other biting insects.
279
Salt marsh die-off, at Stony
Creek, Branford, Connecticut.
Here almost all of the low salt
marsh grass, Saltwater Cordgrass
(Spartina alterniflora), has been
chewed away, leaving large brown
banks of exposed marsh peat that
erode easily in storms.
If you quickly approach a salt marsh creek in summer or fall,
you’ll see an explosion of tiny, panicked fish darting in every
direction. The fish are small and fast-moving, and most are
a nondescript brownish color, but if you wait until the fish
settle down and look closely, you can identify a few species.
The Common Mummichog is the most abundant fish in the
lower marsh and marsh creeks. Mummichogs can grow as
long as seven inches, but most individuals in marsh creeks
and shallows are one to two inches long. Tiny flashes of silver
are usually from the Atlantic Silverside, a fish that also ranges
into the coastal and deeper waters of Long Island Sound.
Striped Killifish and Sheepshead Minnows are other common
residents of salt marsh creeks. Young Winter Flounder use
the shelter of salt marsh creeks to grow before venturing
into deeper waters, but the flounders are a favorite target for
Ospreys, as are the schools of silvery Atlantic Menhaden and
Blueback Herring that also enter tidal creeks in the marsh.
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280
SMALL CREEK FISH AND CRABS
STRIPED KILLIFISH
6–7 in.
Fundulus majalis
2–4 in.
THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK
Gasterosteus aculeatus
1.2–2.5 in.
SHEEPSHEAD MINNOW
Cyprinodon variegatus
COMMON MUMMICHOG
3–3.5 in.
Fundulus heteroclitus
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SALT MARSHES
281
RED-JOINTED
FIDDLER CRAB
Uca minax
MUD FIDDLER
CRAB
Uca pugnax
Carapace
0.8 in. wide
Carapace
(shell)
0.7 in. wide
Carapace
1 in. wide
MARSH CRAB
Sesarma reticulatum
BLUE CRAB
Callinectes sapidus
Carapace
7–8 in. wide
Color ranges from
bright green to graygreen to brown
GREEN CRAB
Carcinus maenas
Carapace
3–3.5 in. wide
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282
SALT MARSHES
Larger species of coastal fish range into the marsh at high
tide. Smaller Bluefish and Striped Bass enter for the rich pickings of small marsh fish and crabs in tidal creeks. These larger
predatory and sport fish species are important to salt marsh
ecology because they limit the populations of plant-eating
prey that might otherwise damage the marsh.
Diamondback Terrapin
Diamondback Terrapins are turtles native to brackish and salt
marshes ranging from Cape Cod south to the Florida Keys
and the Gulf Coast. Their common name derives from the
diamond patterns of the shell carapace, the details of which
are highly variable but are always in a bold geometric pattern.
The name “terrapin” is derived from the Algonquian word
“torope,” which the Native Americans used to describe the
Diamondback.
Terrapins are shy and are fast, strong swimmers with large
webbed feet and strong jaws for crushing their favored prey
of small fish, clams, mussels, periwinkles, and mud snails.
To see them, approach salt marsh creeks slowly and scan the
water for swimming turtles as well as the water’s edge along
the mudbanks for basking turtles. In early summer, check
roads near marshes for female turtles seeking out nesting
sites. Terrapins can survive in the wild from 25 to 40 years,
making them one of North America’s longest-lived animals.
Diamondbacks are also unusual in that they can survive in
a variety of water salinities, from freshwater (<5 ppt salt) to
ocean water (32 ppt), but they prefer the brackish water of salt
marshes (15–25 ppt). Special lacrimal glands near their eyes
Diamondback Terrapin
Malaclemys terrapin
5–7 in.
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SALT MARSHES
283
allow terrapins to drink salt water and then excrete the salt
as tears.
Diamondbacks mate in late spring and lay egg clutches in
June and July. The females prefer to lay their eggs in sand
banks but will also dig nests under vegetation in the high
marsh. Females often wander long distances from the marsh
to find suitable nesting areas, making them vulnerable to
cars and domestic animal predation. Young turtles emerge
from eggs in August and September and are a favorite food of
herons, Bluefish, and Striped Bass. Diamondbacks overwinter
by hibernating in deep marsh creeks under mud bottoms or
high marsh vegetation, but the Diamondback’s winter biology
is not well understood.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Diamondback Terrapin was nearly hunted to extinction for its
meat, then used in a fashionable soup. As the popularity of
turtle soup faded in the early twentieth century, Connecticut
populations of Diamondbacks recovered somewhat. Today
the main threat to terrapins is habitat loss. Biologists estimate
that almost 75 percent of terrapin marsh habitat has been
eliminated since colonial times. Accidental death owing to
human activity is another problem: terrapins are often caught
and drowned in crab pots and nets or hit by boat propellers
or cars. In Connecticut, the Diamondback Terrapin is not on
the state’s endangered or threatened lists, but terrapins are
considered endangered in Rhode Island and threatened in
Massachusetts.
Another common turtle that often enters salt marshes is the
Snapping Turtle. Snapping Turtles are readily distinguished
from terrapins by a larger head, lack of strong linear patterns
on the shell, and generally darker overall color. Adult Snapping Turtles (up to 18 inches long) are also much larger than
adult Diamondback Terrapins (usually 5 to 7 inches long).
Snapping Turtles are almost exclusively aquatic. They are
more noticeable in late spring and early summer, when female
turtles wander into the upper marsh or uplands near marshes
to lay their eggs.
Birds of the lower marsh
The lower salt marsh offers a wide variety of animal and
vegetal food sources to ducks, wading birds, and aerial divers
like terns and Ospreys. Water is deeper in the low marsh, so
long-legged wading birds like the Great Blue Heron, Great
Egret, and Snowy Egret are a common sight there in all seasons except winter—and there is enough food in salt marshes
that some Great Blue Herons even hang around in winter.
Wading shorebird species are other frequent marsh visitors,
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284
SALT MARSHES
particularly in spring and fall migration seasons. Greater and
Lesser Yellowlegs and Glossy Ibis are very common in water
less than a foot deep, and Willets both feed and nest in many
marsh sites along the coastlines.
lightningboldt
Snapping Turtle
Chelydra serpentina
American Black Ducks and Gadwalls are year-round residents
of Connecticut salt marshes, and the salt marsh habitat is
an important breeding environment for these ducks, which
have lost much of their former nesting habitat to coastal
development. Other duck species use our marshes primarily
in migration and in winter, when the marsh offers food as
well as shelter from human activity and the weather. Given
the relatively shallow water, the low marsh is used most
intensively by dabbling duck species like Mallards, Gadwalls,
Green-Winged and Blue-Winged Teals, American Wigeons,
and Wood Ducks. Deeper water near the marsh attracts the
nonnative Mute Swan, as well as such diving ducks as the
Hooded and Red-Breasted Mergansers, Greater and Lesser
Scaup, Common Goldeneyes, and Ruddy Ducks. DoubleCrested Cormorants also frequently dive for fish in or near
salt marshes and can often be seen perched on docks, pilings,
and other nearby structures.
Coastal diving birds like terns depend intensively on the
health of our salt marshes. Terns feed on small fish species
such as Mummichogs, Silversides, Sand Lances, and Sheepshead Minnows, which they take in shallow dives at the water
American
Black Duck
Anas rubripes
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SALT MARSHES
285
surface. All of these small fish either live entirely in or around
salt marshes or depend on the protection of marshes early in
their lives. Connecticut’s Common Terns nest primarily in
colonies on offshore islands like Guilford’s Falkner Island and
feed all along the coast and in the central part of the Sound,
but their prey fish are all nurtured in salt marshes. The endangered Least Tern takes small fish directly from salt marsh
creeks and from shallow coastal waters near marshes. Black
Skimmers also hunt more open waters near marshes for the
same small fish species taken by terns.
Along creek banks in the lower marsh look for the secretive
Clapper Rail in early morning or evening twilight hours.
Scanning the same areas of marsh creeks will often turn
up a Black-Crowned Night-Heron or the less common but
similar Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron. All three birds hunt
for fiddler crabs, snails, and other small marsh invertebrates.
The night-herons will also take larger crabs and fish from the
marsh creeks.
The upper marsh
The upper marsh, or marsh platform, is the area of salt
marshes above the typical high tide line (MHW) but below
the level of the high water in monthly spring tides (MSHW)
(see illustration, p. 289). Although the upper marsh is above
the average high tide, it is flooded twice monthly by spring
high tides, and thus the plants in the upper marsh must also
Black-Crowned
Night-Heron in flight
Yellow-Crowned
Night-Heron in flight
Yellow-Crowned
Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Black-Crowned
Night-Heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
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286
WATER BIRDS
GREAT BLUE HERON Ardea herodias
GREAT EGRET Ardea albus
SNOWY EGRET Egretta thula
WILLET Tringa semipalmata
Glenn Young
LESSER YELLOWLEGS Tringa flavipes
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 286
GREATER YELLOWLEGS Tringa melanoleuca
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a
SALT MARSHES
GLOSSY IBIS Plegadis falcinellus
Steve Byland
BLUE-WINGED TEAL Anas discors
287
MALLARD Anas platyrhynchos
Steve Oehlenschlager
GADWALL Anas strepera
pstclair
MUTE SWAN Cygnus olor
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 287
CLAPPER RAIL Rallus longirostris
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288
SALT MARSHES
Common Salt Marsh
Border Shrubs
Marsh Elder
Iva frutescens
Groundsel Tree
Baccharis halimifolia
Northern Bayberry
Myrica pensylvanica
Beach Plum
Prunus maritima
Black Cherry
Prunus serotina
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 288
be able to tolerate regular immersions in salt water. As with
the lower salt marsh, the upper marsh owes its existence to a
single dominant grass species, in this case Saltmeadow Cordgrass. Saltmeadow Cordgrass (Salt Hay) is the low-growing
grass that forms the open meadowlike expanses most people
think of when referring to salt marshes. It is brilliantly green
from late spring to early fall and has a peculiar growth habit
of not usually growing fully upright. The grass stalks tend to
lean over against their neighbors, giving Saltmeadow Cordgrass meadows their typical cowlicked appearance.
In northeastern salt marshes Saltmeadow Cordgrass is joined
by scatterings of Spike Grass. Spike Grass is not competitive
enough with Saltmeadow Cordgrass to dominate most marsh
areas, but in areas of the upper marsh where the soil has been
disturbed or is particularly salty, Spike Grass may occur in
pure stands. Spike Grass is the most salt tolerant of all high
marsh grasses and will also grow in salt pannes in the upper
marsh, where because of evaporation the underlying mud
is often much saltier than pure seawater. In typical mixed
marshes Spike Grass is not easy to spot among the more
common Saltmeadow Cordgrass, but from September on, the
distinctive white flowers of Spike Grass are visible, making the
overall distribution of Spike Grass in the marsh more obvious.
In raised areas of the salt marsh or along the upland rim of
the marsh, Blackgrass (Black Rush) mixes in with Saltmeadow
Cordgrass and Spike Grass. Areas of the marsh dominated by
Blackgrass have a different visual texture and color, because
Blackgrass leaves are spiky and erect as well as a darker shade
of green in summer. In the spring Blackgrass is the first marsh
grass to turn a brilliant spring green, and in the fall Blackgrass
leaves turn the very dark brown or black color that gives the
rush its name.
In the less salty conditions of the upper marsh more plants
are able to tolerate the occasional baths of salt water. Two
herbaceous plants are very common in the upper marsh:
Glassworts and Sea Lavender. Glassworts have a distinctive
twig and leaf structure adapted to conserve water and resist
salt spray. The leaves are much reduced and hug the fleshy
stems, but Glassworts are true flowering plants. Unless you
are a botanist the three Glasswort species are difficult to distinguish, and botanists themselves do not always agree over
which is which, so we’ll just call them Glassworts. Luckily,
Glassworts are so distinctive that once you know what they
look like you can easily spot them in the marsh, particularly
in the fall, when Glasswort stems turn a brilliant red against
the green of the marsh grasses around them. When in bloom
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SALT MARSHES
Marsh border
High salt marsh
Low salt marsh
Tidal flat
289
Subtidal zone
Marsh Elder
Groundsel Tree
Switch Grass
High marsh
MSHW
Saltmarsh Cordgrass
Blackgrass, Spike Grass
Sea Lavender, Glassworts,
Saltwater Cordgrass
Typically less than a foot in
height within Long Island Sound
Tides within Long Island Sound
range from 2.6 ft. in the east
to 7.4 ft. in the west
Low marsh
High salt marsh primarily exists
within this narrow range
MHW
Low salt marsh can survive
across a much broader tidal range
Saltwater Cordgrass
MLW
Tidal flat
MSLW
Subtidal zone
in the summer and early fall, Sea Lavender adds a beautiful
violet haze to the waterside edges of the upper marsh. Sea
Lavender is particularly tolerant of salt water on its roots and
will even grow slightly below the high tide line.
Scattered through the upper marsh grasses you’ll see a
number of other flowering plants. In the late summer and
fall, the golden flowers of Seaside Goldenrod are unmistakable, and even before they flower, the fleshy, tough leaves of
this perennial stand out in the upper sections of salt marshes.
The much less conspicuous Common Orach and Perennial
Saltmarsh Aster are also common along the upland rim of the
high marsh.
White flowers make Spike Grass
(Distichlis spicata) easy to spot in
the fall months.
Invertebrates of the upper salt marsh
As in the lower marsh, the most visible invertebrates of the
upper marsh are the small Mud Fiddler and Red-Jointed Fiddler Crabs that scurry into holes or under grasses before you
as you walk through the marsh. However, by sheer number
the dominant invertebrate of the upper marsh is the Salt
Marsh Snail, sometimes called the Coffee Bean Snail because
of its size and glossy brown color. These tiny snails are the
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SALT MARSHES
most abundant invertebrate in the high marsh, occurring in
densities of hundreds per square yard in healthy marshes. Salt
Marsh Snails start their lives as aquatic larvae in nearby estuary waters, but as adults the snails are air-breathing and avoid
immersion in water by climbing grass stems during high
tides. Salt Marsh Snails are an important link in the salt marsh
food chain. They feed on algae and grass debris on the surface
of the marsh and in turn are eaten by American Black Ducks,
Diamondback Terrapins, and other larger marsh animals.
Inspection of the grass and underlying mud surface will show
other upper marsh invertebrates, although not in the same
numbers as fiddler crabs and Salt Marsh Snails. Saltmarsh
Isopods and Saltmarsh Amphipods are small, pillbuglike
crustaceans that feed on decomposing salt marsh grasses and
algae from the surface of the marsh soils. Wolf spiders are
a common upper marsh predator of small insects. Meadow
Grasshoppers, Salt Marsh Grasshoppers, and Ground Crickets
are generally easy to spot in summer and early fall as you walk
across the marsh. You won’t have to look for one unfortunately common insect—if they are present in the marsh, the biting
Greenhead Flies will find you. Fortunately, the Greenhead
Fly is not as common in Long Island Sound marshes as it is
farther northeast on Cape Cod and nearby islands.
Greenhead Fly
Tabanus sp.
The various species of salt marsh mosquitos are other pests
you’ll come across in the summer and fall months. It’s always
wise to bring a DEET-based repellent along for any trip into
a salt marsh in summer or early fall, both to avoid the annoyance of insect bites and to prevent more serious problems
that can come from insect- or tick-borne diseases. Marsh
mosquitos can carry West Nile virus, although the chances
of catching the disease from the average mosquito bite is
extremely low. A much more serious problem is the presence
of ticks in the salt marsh. Even if it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit on
a sunny summer day, never enter salt marsh borders or upper
marsh areas without long pants sprayed with a DEET-based
repellent. There are just too many shrubs and long grass stems
in the marsh to risk wearing shorts, and long pants will also
protect you from other common problems like Poison Ivy
in marsh border areas. Both the Black-Legged (Deer) Tick
(Ixodes scapularis) and the American Dog Tick are common in salt marshes. The Black-Legged Tick is the vector for
the Lyme disease spirochete bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.
American Dog Ticks can carry diseases like Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, but luckily that disease is rare in the Northeast.
Photo: Roman Ivaschenko.
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SALT MARSHES
Birds of the upper marsh
These days the most emblematic bird of the upper salt marsh
is the Osprey, which both nests and hunts over salt marshes
throughout Long Island Sound. The return of the Osprey as
a common coastal bird is a wonderful environmental success
story. After World War II the widespread use of the insecticide DDT devastated American populations of Ospreys,
because DDT and its organochlorine breakdown products
readily enter the coastal food chain and become concentrated
in top-level predators like the Osprey. The DDT-based chemicals made the eggshells of birds of prey like the Osprey too
thin to hatch successfully, and in the postwar decades Osprey
populations plunged in the northeastern United States. After
the use of DDT was banned in the United States in 1972, the
Connecticut’s Osprey population began a long, slow recovery.
Today the Osprey is once again one of our most populous
coastal hawks, and Osprey nests are a common site on the
coasts.
In spring and fall migration and over the winter, Northern
Harriers (formerly called the Marsh Hawk) and Short-Eared
Owls hunt over the Sound’s salt marshes. Sadly, in recent
decades the Short-Eared Owl population has been reduced
owing to the loss of both freshwater and saltwater marsh
habitats, and today the sight of the Short-Eared Owl’s low,
tilting flight over the marsh is an unusual moment to treasure.
Northern Harriers tell a happier story. Once devastated by
the same DDT eggshell problems as the Osprey, harriers are
now a common sight all along the Sound’s coasts in every
season except the height of summer. The nearly ubiquitous
Red-Tailed Hawk commonly hunts Meadow Voles in the salt
marsh, and you’ll sometimes see American Kestrels perched
on dead snags with a good view of the marsh or hovering over
the marsh hunting for their prey of larger insects and small
mammals.
The larger heron species are usually the most visible birds
within the upper marsh, hunting along natural tidal creeks
and the straight, artificial mosquito ditches for crabs and
small fish. The Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, and Snowy
Egret are the most often spotted, but the smaller Green Heron
is also common, if less visible owing to its size and more
secretive habits. The even shyer Clapper Rail both feeds and
breeds in the upper marsh but is rarely seen because of its
retiring nature and activity during dawn and dusk hours.
Black-Crowned Night-Herons prowl marshes at twilight but
also commonly fly and feed during daylight hours. Willets
often nest in or near the upper marsh, and if you are near
a nest, the Willet pair will circle you, calling loudly and
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291
Lone Star Tick
Amblyomma americanum
Black-Legged Tick
(Deer Tick)
Ixodes scapularis
Carrier of Lyme disease
American Dog Tick
Dermacentor variabilis
Photos: Melinda Fawver,
Sarah2, photobee.
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SALT MARSHES
Salt marsh, Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme, Connecticut.
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SALT MARSHES
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SALT MARSHES
Salt marsh creeks make rich
fishing grounds for the Osprey
(Pandion haliaetus), the most
visible bird of prey in Long Island
Sound salt marshes.
displaying their bright white wing stripes as they fly or land
nearby. If this happens, please retreat from the area, because
a close approach to the nest stresses both the adults and eggs
or nestlings.
Our common gull species also frequent salt marshes in search
of food. Besides the birds themselves, you will often see the
footprints of Herring and Ring-Billed Gulls in salt pannes and
creek banks of salt marshes, where the gulls particularly relish
eating fiddler crabs and the larger crab species.
Small songbirds are a major part of the bird life of the upper
marsh. The Seaside Sparrow and the Saltmarsh Sparrow are
salt marsh specialists and are rarely seen in other environments. These marsh sparrow species cling precariously to the
tops of marsh grasses while singing their territorial songs but
can also behave almost more like mice than birds, running
head-down and low through grasses to avoid detection.
Marsh Wrens are the third of the classic salt marsh songbird
species around Long Island Sound and are common and
cacophonous residents of our marshes.
Mammals of the upper marsh
The upper platform of salt marshes is a dry enough habitat
to attract mammals, at least as a food resource, and a few
smaller mammals live in the marsh itself. Although you won’t
often see them, Meadow Voles are common in the upper
marsh, and it is these voles that attract Northern Harriers,
Red-Tailed Hawks, and other predatory birds to the upper salt
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SONGBIRDS
SWAMP
SPARROW
Melospiza georgiana
295
SONG
SPARROW
Melospiza melodia
SEASIDE
SPARROW
Ammodramus
maritimus
MARSH
WREN
Cistothorus
palustris
SALTMARSH
SPARROW
Ammodramus
caudacutus
NELSON’S
SPARROW
Ammodramus
nelsoni
The Saltmarsh Sparrow is one of North
America’s most endangered species, owing
to the loss of high marsh areas through sea
level rise and habitat destruction.
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SALT MARSHES
The Green Heron (Butorides
virescens) is the smallest of the
herons in Long Island Sound
marshes. This heron can be either
stealthy and inconspicuous
or remarkably tame and
approachable. Either way,
the Green Heron is a versatile
predator of large insects, small
fish, frogs, and worms and is
common in both freshwater and
saltwater wetlands.
marsh. Muskrats are common in brackish salt marshes that
are near freshwater wetlands, such as along the Connecticut
River north of the I-95 highway bridge, where the marshes
gradually transition from brackish to freshwater as you travel
north toward Middletown. Northern Raccoons are clever
and versatile omnivores that frequently enter the upper salt
marsh in search of mussels, crabs, and other small animals.
Raccoons are chiefly nocturnal, so you won’t often see them,
but you can find their tracks in salt pannes or creek banks in
the marsh.
Although the Eastern Cottontail rabbit rarely grazes in the
upper marsh, Cottontails are very common in our coastal
parklands with grassy areas next to salt marshes.
Salt pannes
Salt pannes are a common microhabitat in the upper marsh,
and where present they form a break from the usual vegetation patterns. Pannes (pronounced “pans”) are pretty much
what they sound like: shallow, open, muddy areas that often
fill with tide- or rainwater. The vegetation pattern in salt
pannes is different because of very high salinity—through
the evaporation of brackish tidewater, salt pannes typically
become even saltier than pure seawater (>32 ppt salt). Only a
few salt marsh plants can survive the harsh conditions of salt
pannes: bone dry for days, flooded by salt water several times
per month at least, with wildly varying soil temperatures and
salinities. One moment the salt panne water may be intensely
salty with 100 degree Fahrenheit soil temperatures, but a sud-
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297
den, heavy rain can turn the water almost fresh for hours and
lower the soil temperature 30 degrees or more.
In salt pannes a stunted form of Saltwater Cordgrass grows
to only a foot or two in height. The adaptations of Saltwater
Cordgrass to poorly aerated soils and high water salinity also
help it compete in salt pannes. Spike Grass is the most salt
tolerant of all the marsh grasses and will often form almost
pure (if sparse) stands within salt pannes. Glassworts and Sea
Lavender will also colonize salt pannes.
Salt pannes in the upper marsh usually originate when strong
storms dump wrack line material onto the upper marsh,
killing the grasses underneath the wrack and leaving an
unvegetated area as the wrack debris eventually disintegrates.
Salt pannes can also form when the upper marsh is disturbed
by human activity, such as heavy foot traffic through a section
of marsh, by digging or heavy machinery traffic that kills the
grassy surface, or through poor salt hay harvesting practices.
Once a salt panne forms, it is self-perpetuating, with salt
levels so high that no marsh plant can survive in the center of
the panne.
The upper borders
Four dominant border plants allow you to see the marsh
border above the maximum high tide line. Marsh Elder is
the classic high tide bush and the most visual marker for the
salt marsh border. Once you can identify Marsh Elder, you
will be able to read the marsh quickly, because Marsh Elder
typically grows in a narrow band right up against the mean
spring high water line, where it must tolerate some salt water
in storms, but Marsh Elder is not competitive enough with
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randimal
Eastern Cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
A shallow salt marsh panne with
stunted Spike Grass (Distichlis spicata), Glassworts (Salicornia sp.),
and Saltwater Cordgrass (Spartina
alterniflora). The highly saline
water in pannes, plus the harsh
temperature regime of hot, dry
low tides followed by cold, wet
high tides, stunts the few plants
that can survive in salt pannes.
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SALT MARSHES
more terrestrial shrubs and grasses to spread far beyond
the MSHW line. Switchgrass joins Marsh Elder along the
marsh border but also spreads into more upland areas along
the marsh border, and Switchgrass is also common in other
coastal environments. Groundsel Tree is another shrub that
grows near the MSHW line, but it is usually found on ground
a bit higher and farther back from the marsh edge. The fourth
highly visible marsh edge plant is Seaside Goldenrod, which
is sparse in the high marsh but becomes very common in the
marsh border area. See “Coastal Forests” for more information on the transition zones among salt marshes, beaches, and
coastal forests.
The invasion of Phragmites
Along virtually all Connecticut and Long Island salt marsh
upper borders there are stands of the invasive Eurasian subspecies of the Common Reed (Phragmites australis australis),
often simply called Phragmites. Phragmites is particularly
well adapted to disturbed ground that is a little saltier than
average, although this reed species is so adaptable that it can
live in just about any kind of wetland area except true salt
marshes, where it inhabits the marsh border.
Biologists differ on the ecological value of Phragmites as
a food source. For decades the environmentalist’s view of
Phragmites was that it was a cancer on the landscape, driving
out native plants while supplying little nutritive value to wetland ecosystems. More recent research on Phragmites’ impact
has provided a more balanced view, showing that Phragmites
does contribute useful primary productivity and biomass to
coastal and wetland ecosystems, albeit not to the same degree
that the displaced native plants formerly did.
Eastern Redcedar Junipers
(Juniperus virginiana) are one of
the most common trees along
the borders of salt marshes and
at the seaward edges of maritime
forests.
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Salt marsh conservation
Thanks largely to the modern environmental movement,
there is now a broader societal understanding of the ecological importance of wetlands and the economic and practical
value of natural coastal habitats. However, there isn’t a square
inch of Long Island Sound’s shorelines that hasn’t been heavily influenced or thoroughly modified by human activity, and
over the past 300 years, more than half of the Sound’s salt
marsh habitat has been lost to filling and development. The
story in our region is not unique—there were approximately
220 million acres of salt marsh in North America in preColumbian times, and today only about 104 million acres of
marshes remain intact.
In the past 40 years the importance of protecting both
inland and coastal wetlands has driven both state and federal
legal protections for wetland areas, but coastal salt marshes
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SHRUBS AND TREES
BLACK CHERRY Prunus serotina
COMMON JUNIPER Juniperus communis
WINGED SUMAC Rhus copallina
STAGHORN SUMAC Rhus typhina
NORTHERN BAYBERRY Myrica pensylvanica
BEACH PLUM Prunus maritima
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SALT MARSHES
The ubiquitous and
troublesome perennial wetland
grass Common Reed, often called
simply Phragmites. Common Reed
comes in two forms, a benign
native subspecies, Phragmites
australis americanus, and a highly
invasive nonnative subspecies
from Eurasia, P. australis australis,
introduced by European settlers
of the New World.
The nonnative form of Common
Reed aggressively competes with
native wetland grasses such as
cattails in freshwater wetlands
and drives out marsh edge
grasses and shrubs at the borders
of salt marshes. Common Reed
offers poor nutrition for native
wetland animals and reduces the
biodiversity of habits it invades.
Unfortunately, Common Reed is
very common throughout Long
Island Sound wetlands.
coninue to face a host of threats beyond potential burial
under new shoreline construction projects. Owing to both
long-term climate change and the more recent acceleration of
global warming and sea level rise, salt marshes on Long Island
Sound are now in a dangerous period where the accelerating
rise in sea level may be too fast for our existing marshes to
adapt.
In more than 500 years, from 1300 to 1850, the average rate of
sea level rise was approximately 0.04 inches per year. The rate
in the twentieth century rose to 0.09 inches per year, and the
trend has now accelerated to just above 0.12 inches per year.
Climate scientists estimate that because of global warming the
rate could rise as high as 0.24 inches year or more over the
next century. Owing to the melting of glaciers and the polar
ice caps, each 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) rise
in average global temperature will raise the earth’s sea level
by approximately three feet. Even if salt marshes could shift
landward as fast as the sea rises, in most areas coastal development has cut off their path of retreat. Ringed by coastal
houses, roads, railroads, and the rocky Connecticut landscape
itself on their landward sides, these salt marshes simply have
no place to go as the sea level rises.
In many places along the Connecticut coast you can see the
remains of former salt marshes along what are now becoming
beaches, rocky shores, or tidal flats. Large, dark chunks of
salt marsh peat from former marshes lie surrounded by new
sand and mud; the peat gradually washes away in storms, and
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SALT MARSHES
301
any trace of the former marsh vanishes. In the Long Island
Sound region the sea level has risen about seven inches over
the past 300 years. The recent hurricanes Irene and Sandy tore
away large chunks of Connecticut salt marsh in places like
Greenwich Point, Guilford’s Chaffinch Island Park, and the
western edges of the Barn Island Wildlife Management Area
in Stonington. On the North Shore of Long Island the few
surviving salt marshes tend to be situated in more protected
bays and inlets and suffered less damage in recent storms,
but they face the same ultimate challenges—the marshes are
ringed by roads and houses, and as the sea rises, there is no
room for the marshes to retreat.
Change comes slowly in salt marshes. The mosquito control
ditches that were cut into most of the region’s larger salt
marshes in the mid-1930s are still there, still open after 80
years. The ditches were carved out during the Great Depression as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps program. The
goals were twofold: to drain marshes for increased salt hay
production and to decrease local mosquito populations.
Ironically, the ditching accomplished neither goal, but the
ditches exist to this day as reminders of how even such a productive ecosystem as the salt marsh may not be able to repair
itself and adapt within human time scales.
The threats to our coastal marshes may be less visible today
than in the past, but they are no less real. Although salt
marshes have a significant capacity to absorb and process
nutrients, we are overwhelming all the environments of Long
Island Sound with excess nitrogen in the 1 billion gallons
of wastewater we dump into the Sound every day. Much of
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 301
Eroding marsh, Chaffinch Island
Park, Guilford, Connecticut. Aerial
photos from the 1930s show that
this small bay was entirely filled
by salt marsh 80 years ago.
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SALT MARSHES
The reality of salt marsh loss on
Long Island Sound. At Greenwich
Point, Connecticut, the small salt
marsh shown at the top in 2008
was entirely washed away in 2013
(bottom photo). A combination
of steady sea level rise and recent
storms proved fatal for this small
marsh, and the same process now
threatens our larger salt marshes
as well. Photographs by Patrick
Comins, National Audubon Society
Connecticut.
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SALT MARSHES
303
this wastewater dumping occurs in or near salt marshes. Salt
marshes historically were nitrogen-limited environments,
where the competitive relationships among marsh grass species were caused in part by tolerance of low nitrogen levels.
The artificially heavy loading of nitrogen in the salt marsh
environment (called eutrophication) is one of the reasons that
the invasive Common Reed (Phragmites) is changing the mix
of grasses in so many upper salt marsh areas.
The health and resilience of Long Island Sound’s salt marshes
are crucial to the health of our coastlines. Our future challenges will be to develop conservation strategies that recognize the economic and ecological benefits of our marshes,
to develop better wastewater treatment strategies that will
reduce the nitrogen levels threatening all our coastal environments today, and to give coastal marshes enough space for
them to respond over time to the rising seas.
The Meadow Vole (Microtus
pennsylvanicus), the most
common small mammal in
area salt marshes. When you
see Northern Harriers (Circus
cyaneus), Red-Tailed Hawks (Buteo
jamaicensis), and Short-Eared
Owls (Asio flammeus) coursing
over the marshes and eyeing the
grasses closely, this is the little
guy they are hunting.
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304
Bluff Point State Coastal Reserve, Groton, Connecticut.
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305
Coastal Forests
The Fresh Pond, coastal woodlands, and the Western Basin of Long Island Sound beyond, at Caumsett
State Historic Park Preserve, Lloyd Neck, Long Island.
On the bluffs and marine scarps of the Long Island coast of
the Sound, and on Connecticut’s rocky coastal headlands,
the relatively modest sandspits, narrow beaches, and small
salt marshes quickly transition into low bramble and shrub
areas along the inland margins of beaches and marshes, and
then into maritime forests on drier ground. These maritime
forest areas contain a distinct assemblage of trees, shrubs, and
bramble species that can tolerate some salt spray and withstand the dry, sandy soils near the coast. The coastal forests on
Long Island’s North Shore are well developed where they have
been preserved, in areas like Caumsett, Sunken Meadow, and
Wildwood State Parks. In Connecticut there are particularly
good maritime forest areas in the Willard Island and Cedar
Island sections of Hammonasset Beach State Park, the Bluff
Point Coastal Reserve in Groton, and the Barn Island Wildlife
Management Area in Stonington.
These maritime forests have two distinct elements:
• A transitional edge dominated by low shrubs, bramble species,
and tree species stunted by salt spray or very dry conditions
• True forest areas dominated by taller trees and a forest understory, still under the influence of some salt spray
Transitional beach, dune, and marsh edges
The upper marsh and beach border is often a prickly tangle of
shrubs, vines, and pioneer plants that specialize in transitional
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COASTAL FORESTS
areas and disturbed ground. Marsh Elder, Groundsel Tree,
Northern Bayberry, Black Cherry, Eastern Redcedar Juniper,
and Shining (Winged) Sumac are common native shrubs in
areas that are near salt water and regularly receive salt spray
and occasional soakings with salt water in major storms.
In more sheltered border areas, Staghorn Sumac and Smooth
Sumac will join the mix of shrubs, and particularly in areas
recently disturbed by human activity, the invasive sumac
look-alike Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven) may be abundant.
Aside from Black Cherries that manage to grow beyond bush
height, the most common small trees are Eastern Redcedar
Junipers, a species that is common in all Long Island Sound
coastal environments from rocky shores to coastal bluffs and
sandspits. Junipers are remarkably tough, but hurricanes Irene
(2011) and Sandy (2012) battered many marsh and shoreline
junipers near the coast. These junipers still show the effects
of severe salt spray damage, where the windward side of the
tree (usually the side that faces the Sound, or the southeast)
has a lot of dead or salt-burned foliage. Pitch Pines are also
common coastal evergreens, although in Connecticut they are
less common than Eastern Redcedar Junipers. Many regional
coastal parks, such as Connecticut’s Hammonasset Beach
State Park and Sherwood Island State Park, are planted with
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
(Setophaga coronata) on Northern
Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica)
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COASTAL FORESTS
the very tough Japanese Black Pine, a near look-alike to Pitch
Pine that has needles in pairs rather than the three-needle
bunches seen in Pitch Pines.
The shrubs and stunted trees of the beach and marsh margins
support a dense tangle of bramble species, vines, and small
softwood trees like sumacs. Poison Ivy, Virginia Creeper,
Wild Grape, Dewberry (Rubus sp., often collectively called
“wild raspberries”), Catbrier, and the very similar Bullbrier
can form bramble hedgerows so thick and thorny that few
animals can pass through them. Unfortunately, much of the
Sound’s coastal area has been disturbed by human activity
many times over the past several centuries. Farming, road
building, dredge spoil dumps, salt marsh filling, and other
activities destroy natural plant communities and allow invasive nonnative species to move in and dominate the disturbed
ground. Asiatic Bittersweet, Multiflora Rose, Japanese Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive, Wineberry, Ailanthus, and Japanese
Knotweed are all nonnative species that are commonly seen
in salt marsh, beach, and maritime forest border areas.
Maritime forests
The maritime forests that surround Long Island Sound are
a distinct assemblage of tree and understory species, where
such trees as Sassafras, Smooth Serviceberry (Shadbush),
American Holly, American Linden (Basswood), Quaking
Aspen, Red Maple, and other species are more common than
you would see in inland forests. Many of the maritime forest
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307
A small grove of Sassafras trees
showing their characteristic
twisted trunks. Sassafras is one of
the most common hardwoods in
coastal forests.
(Continues on p. 320)
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308
COASTAL FORESTS
Main trail, Bluff Point State Park and Coastal Reserve, Groton, Connecticut.
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COASTAL FORESTS
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309
9/7/16 10:09 PM
310
FOREST EDGE PLANTS
POISON IVY Toxicodendron radicans
VIRGINIA CREEPER Parthenocissus quinquefolia
BEAR OAK Quercus ilicifolia
CATBRIER Smilax glauca
FOX GRAPE Vitis labrusca
JEWELWEED Impatiens capensis
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lia
COASTAL FORESTS
311
DEWBERRY Rubus sp.
WINEBERRY Rubrus phoenicolasius
ASIATIC BITTERSWEET Celastrus orbiculatus
BLACK SWALLOWWORT Cynanchum louiseae
JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE Lonicera japonica
AILANTHUS (TREE OF HEAVEN) Ailanthus altissima
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312
FOREST EDGE PLANTS
JAPANESE KNOTWEED Fallopia japonica
COMMON REED Phragmites australis
AUTUMN OLIVE Elaeagnus umbellata
MULTIFLORA ROSE Rosa multiflora
FIELD BINDWEED Convolvulus arvensis
BLACK LOCUST Robinia pseudoacacia
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COASTAL FORESTS
313
MARSH ELDER Iva frutescens
GROUNDSEL TREE Baccharis halimifolia
SWITCHGRASS Panicum virgatum
NORTHERN BAYBERRY Myrica pensylvanica
HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY Vaccinium corymbosum
EASTERN REDCEDAR JUNIPER Juniperus virginiana
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314
FOREST EDGE PLANTS
BEACH PLUM Prunus maritima
BLACK CHERRY Prunus serotina
QUAKING ASPEN Populus tremuloides
STAGHORN SUMAC Rhus typhina
SHINING SUMAC Rhus copallina
JAPANESE BLACK PINE Pinus thunbergiana
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a
COASTAL FORESTS
SASSAFRAS Sassafras albidum
BLACK OAK Quercus velutina
NORTHERN RED OAK Quercus rubra
EASTERN WHITE OAK Quercus alba
AMERICAN HOLLY Ilex opaca
RED MAPLE Acer rubrum
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315
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316
FOREST PLANTS
SMOOTH SERVICEBERRY (SHADBUSH) A. canadensis
COMMON APPLE Malus pumila
UMBRELLA SEDGE Cyperus strigosus
AMERICAN LINDEN (BASSWOOD) Tilia americana
HACKBERRY Celtis occidentalis
PITCH PINE Pinus rigida
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mericana
COASTAL FORESTS
FLOWERING DOGWOOD Cornus florida
317
MOUNTAIN LAUREL Kalmia latifolia
KPG Payless2
MAPLELEAF VIBURNUM Viburnum acerifolium
SPICEBUSH Lindera benzoin
COMMON MILKWEED Asclepias syriaca
DEER-TONGUE GRASS Panicum clandestinum
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318
WILDFLOWERS AND GRASSES
YARROW Achillea millefolium
ORCHARD GRASS Dactylis glomerata
ORCHARD GRASS, flowers
FOXTAIL GRASS Alopecurus sp.
WILD GERANIUM Geranium maculatum
PINK AZALEA Rhododendron periclymenoides
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des
COASTAL FORESTS
319
GOLDENROD Solidago sp.
WRINKLED ROSE Rosa rugosa
PASTURE ROSE Rosa carolina
SWAMP ROSE MALLOW Hibiscus moscheutos
WHITE WOOD ASTER Eurybia divaricata
LATE PURPLE ASTER Symphyotrichum patens
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COASTAL FORESTS
trees are what ecologists call early successional or pioneer
species, species that specialize in moving into disturbed
grounds or marginal habitats. These fast-growing, relatively
small trees are gradually replaced in mature oak-hickorymaple hardwood forests but tend to persist in areas right next
to the coast. The presence of these pioneer trees also reminds
us that the coasts of Long Island Sound have been heavily
modified by human activity and that even our best-protected
coastal forests are relatively young. A century ago most of
what is now coastal forest was open farmland or logged-out
woodlots that were gradually abandoned as coal and oil
replaced wood for winter heating and better transportation
systems made midwestern farms far more competitive than
New England and Long Island farms.
Many inland birds of forest
and field are also common in
maritime forests. As a transitional
edge habitat near beaches and
salt marshes, coastal forests are
often rich with small animal life,
and that abundance attracts top
predators like the Great Horned
Owl (Bubo virginianus).
The most common broadleaf tree in the maritime forests of
Long Island Sound is Sassafras, with its distinctively twisted
trunks and (mostly) mitten-shaped leaves. Young Sassafras
trees often line coastal woodland hiking trails. In the spring,
the many Smooth Serviceberry trees (locally called Shadbush
because they blossom in spring when the shad are running in
local streams) are white with blooms, joined by a few Flowering Dogwoods, as well as by Common Apples that survive
from abandoned coastal fruit orchards. In more mature
maritime forests White, Black, and Red Oaks and mature
Red Maples are the largest trees. Often these large maples and
oaks predate the rest of the maritime forest and were once
field trees growing along farm walls and roadways. You can
often see the remains of old stone walls that once marked the
Megan Lorenz
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COASTAL FORESTS
borders of farm fields but now run through coastal forests
that grew up when these coastal farms were abandoned about
a century ago.
The understory growth at the edges of maritime forests is a
combination of marsh and beach edge species plus common coastal thicket plants. At marsh and beach edges Marsh
Elder, Groundsel Tree, Bayberry, and Black Cherry trees
predominate. The invasive shrubs Autumn Olive and Japanese
Honeysuckle and the invasive vine Black Swallowwort are
unfortunately very common, driving out native species that
have more food value for small animals. All three common
sumac species, Shining, Smooth, and Staghorn, occur along
the paths that receive some direct sunlight, and all produce
valuable fruit and seeds for migrants. In open areas along the
paths and in small clearings Common Milkweed and DeerTongue Grass are common, although open fields shift in plant
composition from year to year. For example, Jewelweed may
dominate the open areas in some years but will fade back to
a secondary role in others. Switchgrass, Orchard Grass, and
Foxtail Grass are often the most common grasses, along with
Umbrella Sedges, with their distinctive flowers that look like
short bottlebrushes.
321
Black-Crowned Night-Herons
(Nycticorax nycticorax) are stocky,
short-legged herons that are fairly
common in most wetland environments and along the shores of
Long Island Sound. Night-herons
are versatile predators of just
about any kind of animal life, and
they favor crabs and small fish
in salt marshes, on beaches, and
on rocky shorelines and offshore
breakwaters. As their name
suggests, night-herons are most
active in the twilight hours and
at night.
Transition to mature inland hardwood forest
The region’s maritime forests share almost all the same tree
species as inland forests, but with a much higher percentage
of smaller pioneer species. The transition from maritime forest to inland forest, therefore, is often subtle, especially if you
look only at the trees. Often the most noticeable transitions
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COASTAL FORESTS
into inland forest are in the understory trees and shrubs.
Classic eastern forest understory species such as Mountain
Laurel, Spicebush, and Mapleleaf Viburnum are uncommon
in maritime forests and become dominant forest species only
when well away from salt spray or saline soils. Most ferns are
similarly uncommon in maritime forests, growing into lush
ground cover only in upland forests far from salt spray.
lukicarbol
Long-Eared Owl
Asio otus
Animals
Many of the birds and mammals that feed in the upper marsh
shelter and nest in the adjacent coastal forests. Great Horned
Owls, Long-Eared Owls, and the tiny Northern Saw-Whet
Owl all hunt in woodlands and forest margins but spend the
day roosting in the nearby coastal forest, as does that versatile
predator of all coastal habitats, the Black-Crowned NightHeron.
Spring migrant birds
In the spring maritime woods attract a wide variety of
migrating woodland birds. Beginning in March, Red-Winged
Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Northern Cardinals, and
Marsh Wrens announce the coming of warm weather. Noisy
gangs of boreal songbirds heading north to the Canadian
woods move through the trees, including Golden-Crowned
and Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, Black-Capped
Chickadees, and White-Throated Sparrows.
On a moist, early May morning, with warm-front winds from
the southwest, large groups of songbirds will move through
the woodlands surrounding Long Island Sound, including
Red-Eyed Vireos, Veerys, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-Rumped
Warblers, American Redstarts, and Common Yellowthroats.
Carolina Wrens, Marsh Wrens, and Song Sparrows move
through as migrants but also remain to breed in the Connecticut and Long Island coastal woodlands.
Brown Creeper
Certhia americana
Fall migrants
In the fall many of the same woodland species move south
again, but fall migration also brings large flocks of Blue
Jays, Tree Swallows, and all of the common blackbird species. Often the flocks flow over the Sound’s coasts, heading
southwest in a continuous stream across the sky. But if the
flocks do drop into the trees, the experience can be amazing,
as 300–400 noisy Blue Jays suddenly blast a riotous mix of jay
calls and blue-and-white blurs across the treetops.
All the songbirds in the trees draw down migrating hawks,
particularly forest bird hunters like the common SharpShinned Hawk. Watch for these sleek, short-winged pursuers
as they fast-cruise through the forest canopy, looking for an
unwary songbird to pick off.
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COASTAL FORESTS
323
In the fall the woods can be full of blackbirds, wood warblers,
and Cedar Waxwing flocks. Palm and Yellow-Rumped
Warblers are common in both spring and fall migration. The
thickets along the wood edges draw Gray Catbirds, Northern
Mockingbirds, and a range of sparrow species. Later in the fall
Ruby-Crowned and Golden-Crowned Kinglets move through
park woods and some linger well into winter, joining gangs of
Black-Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and Brown Creepers in winter foraging flocks.
In winter it’s worthwhile to scan clusters of Eastern Redcedar
Junipers and other dense conifers along the edges of the
woods for roosting Northern Saw-Whet Owls.
Fall hawk-watching
The Connecticut coast has been a destination for regional
birders interested in migrating hawks for decades. As
knowledge of the unique advantages of the Sound’s shoreline
promontories for hawk-watching became more widespread,
many shoreline locations such as Lighthouse Point in New
Haven, Stratford Point, and Hammonasset Beach State Park
in Madison became known as places to see virtually all the
Red-Winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
Northern
Saw-Whet Owl
Aegolius acadicus
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324
SONGBIRDS
GOLDEN-CROWNED
KINGLET
Regulus satrapa
L 4 in.
WS 7 in.
RUBY-CROWNED
KINGLET
Regulus calendula
L 4.25 in.
WS 7.5 in.
RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCH
Sitta canadensis
WHITE-BREASTED
NUTHATCH
Sitta carolinensis
L 5.75 in.
WS 10.5 in.
L 4.5 in.
WS 8.5 in.
L 5.25 in
WS 8 in.
BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEE
Poecile atricapillus
L 11 in.
WS 16 in.
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BLUE JAY
Cyanocitta cristata
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COASTAL FORESTS
325
WHITE-THROATED
SPARROW
Zonotrichia albicollis
L
L 6.25 in.
WS 8.25 in.
6.75 in. WS 9 in.
SONG
SPARROW
Melospiza melodia
WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROW
Zonotrichia leucophrys
L
7 in. WS 9.5 in.
GRAY CATBIRD
Dumetella carolinensis
L
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8.5 in. WS 11 in.
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326
BIRDS
CAROLINA WREN
Thryothorus ludovicianus
L 5.5 in.
WS 7.5 in.
MARSH WREN
Cistothorus palustris
L 5 in.
WS 6 in.
HOUSE
WREN
Troglodytes
aedon
L 4.75 in.
WS 6 in.
NORTHERN
CARDINAL
Cardinalis cardinalis
L
8.75 in. WS 12 in.
NORTHERN
MOCKINGBIRD
Mimus polyglottos
L
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10 in. WS 14 in.
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COASTAL FORESTS
327
EASTERN
SCREECH OWL
Megascops asio
L
8.5 in. WS 20 in.
SHARP-SHINNED
HAWK
Accipiter striatus
L
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11 in. WS 23 in.
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COASTAL FORESTS
major hawk, falcon, and eagle species, sometimes in a single
day. Hawks also migrate over Long Island’s North Shore but
tend to be more scarce there both because fewer hawks make
the flight across the Sound on their way south and because
those hawks that do make it to eastern Long Island tend to
fly across the island and then move southeast along the south
shore barrier islands before crossing the mouth of New York
Harbor to head south along the New Jersey coastline.
New Haven’s Lighthouse Point
Park, the premiere fall hawkwatching site on Long Island
Sound, owes its reputation to the
geography of the site. Surrounded
by the Sound (right of photo) and
New Haven Harbor (bottom of
photo), the point acts as a funnel
for westward-bound hawk flights.
The large, open field at the center
left of the photo affords the fall
hawk-watchers a 360-degree view
of the migration.
Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven owes its reputation as
the Sound’s best hawk-watching site to its geography. The
point sits at a sharp angle at the east side of the mouth of New
Haven Harbor. As migrating hawks and other birds channel
down the Connecticut coast, flying from east to west, they
encounter Lighthouse Point and are faced with a difficult
decision. Do they brave the three-to-four-mile flight west
across New Haven Harbor or try the even more daunting 20mile flight across Long Island Sound? Indecision often causes
the birds to mill about over Lighthouse Point, perfect for the
bird watchers who congregate there from late August through
mid-November to enjoy one of Long Island Sound’s greatest
and most accessible wildlife experiences.
As the sun heats the landscape, the warm ground heats the air
near the ground, and that warm air forms columns of rising
air called thermals. Most migrating hawks circle in these
thermals to gain altitude and then glide relatively effortlessly
on their way, instead of having to use active flapping flight to
travel the thousands of miles from northern North America
to the southern United States, Central America, and South
Photo courtesy of Michael Marsland
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HAWKS
329
Rusty red breast; wing linings
more white than in the
Red-Shouldered
BROAD-WINGED
HAWK
Buteo platypterus
L
15 in. WS 34 in.
Broad white
bands in the tail
Large, evenly spaced
dark-light bands on tail
RED-SHOULDERED
HAWK
Buteo lineatus
Thin white
bands on a
dark tail
L
17 in. WS 40 in.
Tail dark with thin
white bands
Rusty red breast and
underwings
RED-TAILED
HAWK
Buteo jamaicensis
Dark
“belly band”
Brick red tail
L
19 in. WS 49 in.
Brick red tail in the adult;
note “belly band”
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COASTAL FORESTS
America. Warm thermals form over solid ground but not over
the relatively cold waters of the Sound. Hawks are understandably reluctant to fly out over water, where they get no
assist from rising thermals and must actively flap across the
water to the next piece of land.
Start in the early morning to get the best views of migrating
songbirds and hawks moving low over the point and forests.
These early hawks will often be looking for a breakfast of
songbirds, so a morning walk through the maritime woodlands on any of the Sound’s coasts will often be rewarded
with views of Sharp-Shinned and Cooper’s Hawks rocketing
through the woods below treetop level, looking for breakfast.
Later in the day the movement of soaring groups of hawks
becomes harder to view, because the thermals rising above the
coastline bring the hawks so high that they become difficult to
spot even with binoculars.
Soars with wings held in a
shallow V dihedral angle
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
Black Vulture
Coragyps atratus
Soars with relatively flat wings;
note the light wingtips
Black Vultures
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COASTAL FORESTS
331
American Kestrel
Falco sparverius
Male
Female
Resident birds
The breeding maritime woodland birds are the common but
beautiful residents of most woodlands and forest edges of the
Atlantic Coast. Song Sparrows, American Goldfinches, Baltimore Orioles, and Northern Cardinals inhabit forest edges.
Birding in bramble areas will often yield White-Throated
Sparrows, Eastern Towhees, and the tiny but gorgeous Common Yellowthroat. Overhead in the crown foliage of the trees,
look and listen for Red-Eyed Vireos. This vireo is the most
common bird in the deep woodlands during the summer, but
it is heard more often than seen because it favors the treetops
for feeding and nesting. Watch the trees for flashes of crimson
from American Redstart warblers, common but not easy to
spot high in the trees. Forest edges and marshes ring with the
calls of Red-Winged Blackbirds from mid-March until they
depart southward in late fall.
Both of our region’s vulture species can be seen over Long
Island Sound’s coasts, but they are particularly common over
rocky headlands and coastal bluff areas, where they get more
lift from the warm air rising over the land. Both the Turkey
Vulture and the smaller Black Vulture are formerly more
southerly birds that have moved steadily up the Atlantic Seaboard as the climate has warmed over the past 50 years. The
Black Vulture is the newer arrival, with the first recorded nest
in Connecticut in 2002.
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332
BIRDS
Charles Brutlag
CEDAR WAXWING Bombycilla cedrorum
Paul Reeves Photography
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT Geothlypis trichas
EASTERN TOWHEE Pipilo erythrophthalmus
Rachelle Vance
AMERICAN ROBIN Turdus migratorius
Gregg Williams
DOWNY WOODPECKER Picoides pubescens
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 332
MOURNING DOVE Zenaida macroura
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COASTAL FORESTS
333
Mammals
Maritime forests are usually home to the same range of forest
mammals as more inland forests. Most forest and coastal
edge mammal species are nocturnal or active only at dawn
and dusk, so you won’t often see such common residents as
White-Tailed Deer, Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, or Flying
Squirrels. The structural height complexity of woodland edges
(dense foliage from ground level all the way up to the treetops), the diverse range of plant species, and the shelter that
dense bramble provides all make coastal woodlands particularly attractive to small mammals—and to the animals that
hunt them. White-Footed Deer Mice, Eastern Chipmunks,
Raccoons, Gray Squirrels, American Red Squirrels, and Flying
Squirrels are all common. Red Foxes were once more common in Connecticut coastal forests, but with the rise of the
Eastern Coyote population in the past 20 years, foxes are now
a bit less common. White-Tailed Deer thrive in edge habitats
with a rich supply of shrub-height plants and thus are common in coastal woods, though they are not often see by casual
hikers. Eastern Cottontail rabbits and Groundhogs are very
common in maritime woodland edges, in open meadows, and
along grassy roadsides near bramble thickets, where they can
quickly retreat from predators.
White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus
virginianus) drink from the brackish water of a salt marsh on Long
Island’s North Shore.
Gerald Kraus
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334
MAMMALS
Nicolase Lowe
WHITE-TAILED DEER Odocoileus virginianus
DMM Photography Art
WHITE-FOOTED DEER MOUSE Peromyscus leucopus
Orhan Çam
GRAY SQUIRREL Sciurus carolinensis
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 334
hkuchera
RACCOON Procyon lotor
elharo
EASTERN CHIPMUNK Tamias striatus
Anterovium
AMERICAN RED SQUIRREL Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
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onicus
COASTAL FORESTS
Tony Campbell
NORTHERN FLYING SQUIRREL Glaucomys sabrinus
Josef Pittner
EASTERN COYOTE Canis latrans var.
Mario Beauregard
WOODCHUCK (GROUNDHOG) Marmota monax
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335
dannytax
RED FOX Vulpes vulpes
mandritoiu
EASTERN COTTONTAIL Sylvilagus floridanus
hakoar
LONG-TAILED WEASEL Mustela frenata
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336
Groundsel Tree in flower, Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme, Connecticut.
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337
Connecticut Locations
Trail to Meigs Point, Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Connecticut.
Connecticut offers an amazing variety of shoreline habitats in
a relatively small area. With rocky shores, salt marshes, small
coves and beaches, brackish tidal rivers, and a range of island
types, the shoreline offers both human and wildlife visitors a
wealth of marine habitats to explore. Connecticut also benefits from its location along the Atlantic Migration Flyway for
birds, and streams of migrant birds and (in the fall) migrating
insects course over its shores. Connecticut’s coasts and tidal
rivers also draw migratory fish like Bluefish and Striped Bass
that move up and down the Atlantic Coast with the seasons,
and there are recovering populations of anadromous fish such
as Alewives and herring that come from the ocean and swim
up its rivers to breed in freshwater.
I chose these nine locations in Connecticut and the four locations in the next chapter on New York parks with two major
factors in mind: easy year-round access to the public at a reasonable price and each location’s strengths in various aspects
of natural history. Long Island Sound offers some of the most
beautiful coastal habitats in the United States.
Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
over New Haven Harbor, Connecticut.
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the Sound’s coasts
are available to the general public, because they are either
privately held or town parks that are aggressively managed to
exclude nonresidents, particularly in summer. However, the
information in this field guide applies well to all the natural
shores of Long island Sound and every kind of park, not just
the locations mentioned in these final two chapters.
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338
CONNECTICUT LOCATIONS
High salt marsh and coastal
woodlands on the Sherwood
Millpond coast of the park.
The New Creek marshes on the
northeastern coast of Sherwood
Island contain a wide variety of
wildlife and draw many migrating
waterbirds.
Sherwood Island State Park, Westport
Sherwood Island State Park is a 235-acre coastal island now
connected to the mainland by the Sherwood Island Connector and a smaller bridge on Sherwood Island Lane. Because
it is the only coastal state park in Fairfield County, the park
is heavily used by beachgoers in summer. Sherwood Island
is also Connecticut’s most heavily manicured coastal park,
consisting mostly of mowed fields with small clusters of
woodland and no natural shoreline habitat on the Soundfacing side.
However, in the fall, winter, and spring Sherwood Island is
excellent for birding and coastal hikes, particularly in the
marshes on the inland-facing side of the park, and for scanning the Sound for ducks from the point in front of the main
park pavilion. Although relatively small in size, Sherwood
Island’s salt marshes are vibrantly healthy and contain both
low marsh and high marsh areas, as well as many salt marsh
creeks that draw in wading birds. The adjacent Sherwood
Millpond and Compo Cove are both excellent for bay ducks
and other waterfowl, particularly in the spring and fall migration seasons. There is also a small area of coastal woodland at
the western end of the park that draws lots of migrant songbirds in the spring and fall. The large mowed fields of the park
are not good for wildlife but do make for excellent visibility in
the fall hawkwatching season.
Information
Park phone: (203) 226-6983
Address for GPS or online maps:
412 Sherwood Island Connector, Westport, Connecticut 06880
Entrance fee: Fee for cars during summer months
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CONNECTICUT LOCATIONS
339
Milford Point, Milford
The Milford Point area is composed of the Connecticut
Audubon Society’s eight-acre Coastal Center at Milford
Point, the private property of a dozen houses and surrounding land, and Milford Point itself, which is part of the Stewart
B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. Milford Point is one
of Connecticut’s most important coastal bird breeding areas
and migration feeding and resting areas, and it is also one of
the top birding areas of the state. In 2011, Milford Point was
voted Connecticut’s top birding site by Connecticut Magazine.
The point is ideally located at the intersection of the east-west
Connecticut coast flyway and the north-south Housatonic
River valley flyway, and it is particularly rich in bird life during the fall migration season.
Milford Point provides access to many coast habitats within
a relatively small area. In about a mile of level hiking you can
see coastal sandspits and the beginnings of a new salt marsh,
as well as one of the most extensive coastal dune areas in
Connecticut. Milford Point also adjoins Connecticut’s largest
unditched salt marsh, the Charles Wheeler Salt Marsh and
Wildlife Management Area. The 840-acre Wheeler Marsh is
unique in the state as a very large salt marsh that was never
crisscrossed with the mosquito ditches that were cut in the
1930s in a misguided attempt to control mosquito populations.
A flock of Dunlin (Calidris
alpina) courses over the extensive
tidal flats that make Milford Point
Connecticut’s best location for
shorebird watching.
Information
Phone: (203) 878-7440
Address for GPS or online maps:
1 Milford Point Road, Milford, Connecticut 06460
Entrance fee: None, although donations are appreciated
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 339
The Audubon Sanctuary at
Milford Point contains one of the
Sound’s few Horseshoe Crab sanctuaries, where you can see the
crabs laying eggs in late spring.
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340
CONNECTICUT LOCATIONS
Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, West Haven
Sandy Point is famed for its excellent birding and fishing, for
its wide, harborside beach of fine sand, and for the hundreds
of terns and other shorebirds that use the point throughout the year as a breeding area in summer and migration
waystation in spring and fall. The point is home to one of
Connecticut’s largest nesting colonies of Least Terns and has
nesting Piping Plovers, an endangered species with just a
handful of nesting sites on the Connecticut coast. In 2012,
Sandy Point was officially designated as a Connecticut refuge
for Horseshoe Crabs, one of only three such refuges on the
Connecticut coast.
Sandy Point projects deep into
the center of New Haven Harbor,
making it an ideal setting for
coastal birding and hiking.
The point is a crucial nesting area
for one of Connecticut’s most
endangered beach-nesting birds,
the Piping Plover. In spring and
summer PLEASE stay well away
from the roped-off nesting areas
on the point.
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The Sandy Point area offers a variety of coastal habitats within
a relatively small area. Sandy and Morse Points have healthy
if small patches of beach and dune vegetation, and although
the salt marsh habitat at Sandy Point is not large, the strategic
location of the point at the mouth of New Haven Harbor
virtually guarantees good migration season birding, excellent
fishing, and fairly good winter birding.
As a classic coastal sandspit Sandy Point’s vegetation is a mix
of beach and dune plants, supplemented within the lagoon
and on the sheltered northern shores by low marsh vegetation. Uncrowded except on summer weekends, Sandy Point
is an ideal place to study the classic beach and upper beach
vegetation of Long Island Sound.
Information
Address for GPS or online maps:
44 Beach Street, West Haven, Connecticut 06516
Entrance fee: Parking fee during the summer beach season
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Lighthouse Point, New Haven
Lighthouse Point has been one of New Haven’s most popular
parks since the late nineteenth century. From the early 1970s,
Lighthouse Point has also become the site of an annual fall
hawk watch that has grown in size and renown, making the
park one of the best-known hawk-watching sites in New England. The park features rocky shores, coastal woodlands, and
excellent views of harbor and Long Island Sound wildlife, and
it even offers a bit of salt marsh creek habitat along its eastern
edge at Morris Creek. The lawn areas at the center of the park
primarily support summer recreational picnicking and sports
activities, but in the fall this relatively open landscape plays
host to hawk watchers because it affords a 360-degree view of
the sky above the point. Lighthouse Point is also a great place
to watch for migrating butterflies.
Lighthouse Point Park offers some of the best publicly accessible rocky shoreline habitat on Long Island Sound. Fall is a
great time to visit the western flank of the park along the New
Haven Harbor coastline because the rocky shore flora and
fauna will be well developed after the summer season, but
any time of year offers interesting things to explore among
the rocks. Try to time your visit as near as possible to low tide
for the day. At low tide the outcrops of granite gneiss are interspersed with small coves of sand beach, making it easier to
explore the lower sections of the rocks for intertidal creatures.
The rocky shore habitat
at Lighthouse Point is very
accessible, particularly at low tide.
Information
Address for GPS or online maps:
10 Lighthouse Road, New Haven, Connecticut 06512
Entrance fee: Parking fee during the summer and fall seasons
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In mid-September the point
is host to a weekend festival
of hawk-watching, wildlife
crafts, and wild hawk and owl
demonstrations.
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Chaffinch Island Park, mouth of the West River in Guilford, Connecticut.
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A lone Hackberry (Celtis
occidentalis) presides over the
small headland at the western end
of the bay.
Chaffinch Island Park, Guilford
This 22-acre jewel of a park is a compact distillation of all the
environments of the Long Island Sound coast: rocky shores,
salt marsh, a sandy beach, and a surprisingly interesting mix
of coastal plants, many of them unusual along the shoreline.
The park is not literally an island but almost one—the short
causeway that links the park to the mainland passes over a
salt marsh creek that once separated the high ground of Chaffinch Island from the mainland. The concentration of planted
Hackberry trees makes Chaffinch Island especially attractive
to the small group of emperor and snout butterflies that live
particularly on and around Hackberries, so the unusual butterflies coupled with the interesting plant mix make Chaffinch
Island more attractive to naturalists than the average small
coastal town park.
Unfortunately, Chaffinch Island also shows the classic damage
signs of sea level rise, in the small bay between the rocky
headlands. The bay shoreline is odd: you don’t normally see
a marsh forming the shoreline, with a sandy beach behind.
This is because the marsh is rapidly eroding and the beach is
actually storm-driven sand that has been pushed up and over
the old high marsh. Aerial photos from 1934 show that onethird of the bay—what is now open water today—was once
salt marsh, with a thin line of sand at the water’s edge. About
a third of the Chaffinch Island salt marsh has vanished in the
past 80 years.
Information
Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are
common over the park except
in winter and nest in nearby
marshes.
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Address for GPS or online maps:
39 Chaffinch Island Road, Guilford, Connecticut 06437
Entrance fee: None, although the limited number of spaces available may
make parking difficult on a summer weekend after 9:00 a.m.
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Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison
Hammonasset Beach State Park is the keystone of Connecticut’s coastal park system. It is the largest and most heavily
visited shoreline park, drawing more than 1.8 million visits
per year, mostly by beachgoers and campers in the summer
months. Hammonasset is also the most ecologically important and comprehensive coastal reserve in Connecticut, encompassing large salt marshes, breeding areas of endangered
coastal species, extensive lawns and open grassy fields, coastal
forests, sandy dune areas, and rocky coastline. In its sheer
size, beauty, and complexity, Hammonasset is the essential
Connecticut coast experience, and the park draws naturalists
and birders from all over the country to appreciate the wilds
of the Long Island Sound coastline.
The park’s Meigs Point is a mile-long section of the larger
Hammonasset–Ledyard recessional moraine that formed
about 17,500 years ago. The large boulders along the Meigs
Point Trail and beach were plucked from various places in
the Connecticut hills to the north, were swept down from the
hills to the Hammonasset area by the south-flowing glacial
ice, and then melted out of the glacier in a long line that runs
from under Long Island Sound, across the end of Meigs Point,
and out into Clinton Harbor as a line of massive boulders,
before going under the Clinton Harbor mouth and reemerging at Kelsey Point on the eastern side of Clinton Harbor and
traveling east-northeast across eastern Connecticut.
The Cedar Island trail through
the high marsh provides excellent
birding during spring and fall
migration seasons and is beautiful
at every time of year.
Information
Phone: (203) 245-2785
Address for GPS or online maps:
1239 Boston Post Road, Madison, Connecticut 06443
Entrance fee: Fee for cars during summer and certain other times of year
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The Hammonasset shore
regularly attracts unusual and
interesting birds, such as the
Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus
histrionicus).
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Meigs Point Trail, Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Connecticut.
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Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme
Rocky Neck has a split personality: the gently sloping cove
beach and rocky headland that gave the park its name are
separated from the salt marsh and upland woods by the Amtrak railroad line that carves through the southern end of the
park. This awkward juxtaposition of rail line and beach also
creates another split, separating the often crowded and hectic
beach areas from the salt marsh and surrounding forested
hills, so that even at the height of summer traffic most of the
park is peaceful and an excellent habitat for local wildlife. The
raised railroad bed also protects the extensive wetlands from
the kind of storm wave damage that has eroded many other
Connecticut marshes, creating a unique, shallow brackish
marsh that is one of the best places in the state to see groups
of migrating dabbling ducks that feed in shallow waters.
The east and west upland ridges
that lie on either side of Bride
Brook are covered with a coastal
forest that quickly grades into
a mature upland forest with an
extensive understory of Mountain
Laurels, which is unusual for a
park so close to the shoreline.
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Bride Brook drains to the Sound through the outlet sluice
channel that goes under the railroad bed. This connected but
also removed aspect of the Bride Brook salt marsh makes
it unique on the Connecticut coast—a true salt marsh with
the feel of a more inland brackish marsh. Bride Brook is a
major breeding area for Connecticut’s threatened Alewife
population, a saltwater fish that breeds in freshwater rivers
and streams. The culvert at the east end of Rocky Neck beach
allows the fish to swim under the railroad bed to reach the
marsh and river beyond.
Information
Phone: (860) 739-5471
Address for GPS or online maps:
244 West Main Street, East Lyme, Connecticut 06357
Entrance fee: Fee for cars during summer and certain other times of year
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Bluff Point State Park and Coastal Reserve, Groton
Bluff Point is a 1.8-mile-long north-south peninsula that projects into Fishers Island Sound and is bounded on the west by
the Poquonock River and to the east by Mumford Cove. Most
of the coastal reserve is mature coastal woodlands, but the
park also contains Bushy Point, the largest natural beach and
dune area in Connecticut, and also has a geologically interesting rocky headland area at the southern end of the point.
The main trail through the park is a spacious unpaved road
that offers beautiful views of the woodlands as well as the
banks of the Poquonock River, a brackish tidal stream with
many small beach areas just off the main trail that give an
excellent overview of estuary plants and animals. As the trail
nears the southern end of the park, you can either follow it up
onto the Bluff Point headland for great views across Fishers
Island Sound or detour onto the natural beach and dune areas
of Bushy Point.
Birders call the northwest corner of Bluff Point the “hot
corner” because of all the migration action seen there in
both spring and fall. Bluff Point offers inviting woodlands for
migrating birds, but as a peninsula it’s a dead end. As the migrating flocks double back to the north end of the peninsula,
the northwest corner becomes a whirl of activity. On a good
spring or fall morning thousands of birds pour through the
“hot corner,” making this spot one of the best areas in Connecticut to watch songbird migration.
The main trail through Bluff
Point takes you through some
of the best-preserved coastal
woodlands on Long Island Sound.
Information
Address for GPS or online maps:
50 Depot Road, Groton, Connecticut 06430
Entrance fee: None
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The Bluff Point marshes attract a
wide variety of shore and wading
birds, including the Willet (Tringa
semipalmata).
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Banks of the tidal Poquonock River along the main park trail, Bluff Point State Park, Groton, Connecticut.
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ecticut.
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Barn Island Wildlife Management Area, Stonington
With more than 1,300 acres of marsh and coastal woodland,
Barn Island is Connecticut’s largest and most diverse wildlife
management area and one of the best locations in New England for enjoying coastal salt marshes and their inhabitants in
spring and summer.
A Great Egret (Ardea alba) lifts
off from the high marsh at Barn
Island.
Migrating Monarch Butterflies
(Danaus plexippus) were once
a common sight along the
marsh edges of Barn Island and
throughout the Connecticut
coast in the fall months, but their
numbers are now sadly depleted
owing to use of herbicides
that have sharply reduced the
populations of milkweed plants
on which the butterflies depend
for breeding.
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The large salt marshes are the glory of Barn Island, and this
is the best place in Connecticut to see the range of plant and
animal life of the marshes. The dikes that form the main trail
from the entrance road east across the islands of hardwood
and the impoundment areas give you a high but close vantage
point over the marsh grasses and creeks. This viewpoint is
great for the long distances of bird-watching, but the trail and
the areas around the culverts also afford close looks at life in
the creeks.
The main trail through the Barn Island marshes brings you
through a series of hardwood islands, upland areas just high
enough above the high tide level to support trees and shrubs
that cannot grow in the marsh itself. The smaller hardwood
islands are true coastal forest, with a mix of tree species a bit
different and more salt tolerant than the classic Connecticut
oak-hickory-maple forests. The marsh border is also a distinct
community of plants adapted both to forest borders and to
the semibrackish conditions found at the edge of salt marshes.
Information
Address for GPS or online maps:
240 Palmer Neck Road, Stonington, Connecticut 06379
Entrance fee: None
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Marsh creek, Barn Island Wildlife Management Area, Stonington, Connecticut.
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Shining Sumac in autumn, Lloyd Point, Caumsett State Historic Park, Lloyd Harbor, Long Island.
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New York Locations
Song Sparrow in the marsh at Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York City.
The New York locations suggested here present two very different aspects of the shores of Long Island Sound.
The northern coasts of the Sound along Westchester County
and the Bronx are essentially a continuation of the pattern
of alternating bedrock headlands and small bays or marshes
found along the Connecticut coast.
In contrast, because of its origins as mixed glacial till with no
exposed bedrock, the North Shore of Long Island is mostly an
extended series of earthen bluffs—the storm-cut face of the
Harbor Hill and Roanoke Point glacial moraines that define
the southern edge of Long Island Sound. The westernmost
section of the North Shore is a series of peninsulas, the
famous necks of Great Neck, Kings Point, Glen Cove, Lloyd
Point, and Eaton’s Neck. The bays between these headlands
of glacial till are drowned river valleys. As the glaciers melted
away they created torrents of meltwater that ran off the higher
ground of central Long Island, creating steep river valleys in
the soft glacial till. As the sea level gradually rose and formed
Long Island Sound, these short but deep river valleys filled in
and became the series of bays and necks that characterize the
western portion of the North Shore.
East of Port Jefferson and the Mount Sinai Harbor the North
Shore is a 50-mile series of high, steep earthen bluffs, with
only one natural harbor at Mattituck Inlet. The roughly
100-foot-high rugged cliffs are a natural barrier to beach
access, and in only a few places—such as at Wildwood State
Park—do natural low points allow access to the narrow, stony
beaches of the eastern stretch of the North Shore.
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Great Blue Herons (Ardea
herodias) are common in brackish
wetlands and shorelines throughout Long Island Sound.
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Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York City
At 2,766 acres, Pelham Bay Park is New York City’s largest
recreation area, with two golf courses and the large Orchard
Beach recreation complex. Yet Pelham Bay Park also contains
a wide variety of natural habitats, including almost 800 acres
of coastal woodland, freshwater marshes, coastal meadows,
and western Long Island Sound’s largest areas of undisturbed
high and low salt marsh. In 2005, the National Audubon Society designated Pelham Bay Park as an Important Bird Area in
recognition of its significance to both local forest and wetland
breeding birds and to migrating and overwintering waterfowl.
In winter, watch the small offshore rocks and islands for wintering Harbor and Gray Seals, which often rest on these rocks,
particularly at low tide.
Crab Apples (Malus coronaria) in
the fall on the trail to Hunter and
Twin Islands.
The most interesting sections of Pelham Bay Park for naturalists and hikers are the Hunter Island and Twin Island areas at
the eastern edge of the park. The rocky coasts of both islands
are part of a granite gneiss formation that slopes down to
the south, under the Sound, and continues hundreds of feet
under the surface of Long Island. Scattered over the large expanses of granite bedrock are glacial boulders. Although most
of the boulders are the same granite gneiss as the underlying
stone, many are true glacial erratics—large chunks of stone
that were moved many miles from their original bedrock
sources by the glaciers covering the area from about 26,000
years ago to about 18,000 years ago. The deep grooves in the
granite gneiss shields in the park were made by rocks dragged
over the bedrock’s surface by the mile-thick sheet of ice.
The Twin Island shore presents excellent views of the Narrows
area of the Sound and is particularly good for fall and winter
birding for sea and diving ducks and other waterfowl. The
Kazimiroff Nature Trail through Hunter Island (under two
miles, or about 45 minutes of casual hiking) affords excellent
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On the Kazimiroff Nature Trail, Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York City.
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Two Trees Island, on the tip of Twin Island, Pelham Bay Park.
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views of the coastal forest. The unusual beauty of the Hunter
Island forest is the result of a fortunate history. The island was
once part of several large, private estates whose landowners preferred to keep most of their land in unmodified, wild
condition. As a result, many sections of the island woods
are composed of trees far older than you would see in most
coastal forests, which typically have been clear-cut for building or firewood several times since the colonial era.
The deep grooves in the rocks
along the southern shore of Twin
Island were carved by glaciers as
they passed over the area from
about 26,000 years ago to about
18,000 years ago.
At the eastern tip of Hunter Island there is a boardwalk across
a small area of high salt marsh, one of the few remaining
such marshes in the western reaches of Long Island Sound.
The marsh area also offers a lesson in climate change and
sea level rise. Notice the long, straight line of boulders that
runs eastward across the center of the marsh—this was once
the boundary marker between two nineteenth-century farm
fields. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the sea level was
about two feet lower than it is today, and what is now salt
marsh was once coastal farm fields.
Information
Park phone: (718) 430-1891
Address for GPS or online maps:
Entrance Road: 10 Orchard Beach Road, Bronx, New York
Pelham Bay Park is an important
regional fall hawk-watching site.
The park is located at the point
where large numbers of migrating
hawks, eagles, and Ospreys
flow down the Connecticut and
Westchester County coasts before
cutting across the Narrows of the
Sound to continue their journey
south.
Entrance fee: Fee for cars during summer
Red-Tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Paul Reeves Photography
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High salt marsh at the eastern tip of Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park.
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Caumsett State Historic Park, Lloyd Harbor, Long Island
Caumsett State Historic Park is one of the largest and most
important natural preserves along the North Coast of Long
Island. The park protects more than 1,200 acres of mature upland oak–tulip tree–maple forest, as well as significant areas
of salt marsh, natural beach, and coastal grassland habitat.
Although Caumsett contains many natural treasures, the current project to preserve and extend the native coastal grasslands within the park may be the most ecologically important,
as grasslands of all kinds are one of the most endangered
habitat types along the Atlantic Coast. Many grassland birds
such as the Savannah Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and
Bobolink have become much less common owing to loss of
their natural meadow breeding areas, and the project seeks to
restore this crucial habitat.
Caumsett contains an extensive
motor vehicle–free path and road
system, as well as many hiking
trails through the large tracts of
coastal forest.
Formerly a dairy farm, Caumsett was created in 1921 by Marshall Field III as a personal estate and hunting preserve. The
estate, including a mansion, stables, and a road system, was
acquired by New York State in 1961 to create the current park.
Aside from the restored meadows, the key highlights for the
naturalist and hiker are the extensive tracts of mature upland
and coastal forest, the salt marsh behind Lloyd Point, and the
natural beach and small dune area of Lloyd Point itself. The
100-foot-high bluffs along the Sound are visually spectacular
and geologically interesting: the red band midway up the cliffs
is composed of Long Island’s oldest exposed sediments dating
from the Cretaceous Period (see photograph, pp. 44–45).
Information
Park phone: (631) 423-1770
Native Prickly Pear Cactus
(Opuntia humifusa) on the sand
spit at Lloyd Point, an extensive
natural beach and dune area.
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Address for GPS or online maps:
25 Lloyd Harbor Road, Huntington, New York
Entrance fee: Fee for parking in the park
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363
Caumsett’s Fresh Pond (middle distance) sits on a bluff above Long Island Sound (far distance).
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Mixed goldenrods and other native grasslands in the restored natural coastal meadow area at Caumsett.
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msett.
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The endangered Piping Plover
nests on the beach at Sunken
Meadow, as do small numbers of
Least and Common Terns.
Above:
Ospreys nest in the local salt
marshes and are a common sight
over Sunken Meadow and the
Nissequogue River.
Sunken Meadow State Park, Kings Park, Long Island
Sunken Meadow State Park offers a variety of coastal habitats
to explore, from coastal and inland forests to natural beach
and dune habitat and the salt marshes of Sunken Meadow
Creek and the Nissequogue River on the park’s eastern border. The beach and dune portions of Sunken Meadow State
Park are on a long, eastward-pointing sandspit that lies at the
mouth of the Nissequogue River. A larger upland portion of
Sunken Meadow contains a golf course and extensive areas of
coastal forest with hiking trails. Although most of the roughly
three miles of beach is manicured for summer bathing, the
beach area at the eastern end of the park is natural. On the
western end of the beach there are high bluffs formed by part
of the Roanoke Point Moraine. With only a tiny headwater
stream at its base, Sunken Meadow Creek is not a true creek
for most of its length; it is more like a tidal inlet behind the
beach sandspit. This brackish salt marsh habitat is particularly
rich with wildlife.
The beach boardwalk gives you good elevation to scan the
Sound for seabirds, diving ducks, and other waterfowl, and
the salt marsh areas along the creek are excellent for birds,
fish, crabs, and other marsh wildlife. In spring and summer
the endangered Piping Plover and Least Tern have small
nesting colonies on the beach. Please obey the signs and fencing that mark off nesting areas, because human disturbance
endangers the birds and their vulnerable chicks.
Information
Park phone: (631) 269-4333
Address for GPS or online maps:
Entrance road: Sunken Meadow Parkway, Fort Salonga, New York
Entrance fee: Fee for cars during summer and certain other times of year
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The brackish Sunken Meadow Creek, with tidal flats and low salt marsh along its banks.
Robert Cicchetti
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The small but beautiful dune environment at the eastern end of Sunken Meadow State Park, Kings Park.
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Park.
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Wildwood State Park, Wading River, Long Island
Wildwood State Park takes advantage of a narrow notch on
the high bluffs of the eroded Roanoke Point Moraine to allow
access to the beach without requiring a steep climb down the
bluffs. The primary feature of the park is the close views of the
bluffs (marine scarps), which rise 50–100 feet over the narrow
beach, which is pebbled with quartz and quartzite stones
eroded from the bluffs above and scattered with much larger
glacial boulders.
Wildwood is home to one of the
few maritime American Beech
(Fagus grandifolia) forests on
the Atlantic Coast. Beeches are
particularly easy to spot in winter
because they retain their dead
leaves long after other forest trees
have lost theirs.
Opposite:
Glacial boulders—massive
chunks of bedrock embedded
in the beach at Wildwood. These
rocks have eroded from the cliffs
above as normal weathering
and storms cut away the face of
the Roanoke Point recessional
moraine.
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The bluff plant community is unique in the Long Island
Sound area, for in addition to the usual Black Cherries,
sumacs, oaks, and maples, the bluff area contains an unusual
number of American Beech trees, forming one of the few
maritime beech forest communities on the East Coast. In late
fall, winter, and early spring the American Beeches are easy
to spot because they retain many of their tan-orange leaves
long after other deciduous trees have shed their leaves in the
late fall. These maritime beech forests are found only where
north-facing bluffs provide some shelter from wind and salt
spray. Even with that shelter, many of the beeches have been
stunted by the combination of salt spray and very dry, welldrained sandy soil.
The bluffs were formed about 18,000 years ago when the retreating glaciers halted and deposited the high Roanoke Point
Moraine that forms most of the North Shore of Long Island.
Over thousands of years, weathering and erosion from coastal
storms cut steep bluffs into the soft, earthen moraine deposits.
As the soft moraine erodes, sand, silt, pebbles, and larger
glacial boulders fall onto the narrow beach below. The beach
remains narrow because of its relatively sheltered location
on the Sound. Strong shore currents or big ocean waves are
needed to sweep eroded sand back onto the beach, forming
the large beaches and sandspits found on Long Islands’ south-
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Glacial boulders on the beach at Wildwood State Park, with Roanoke Point in the distance.
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facing ocean shores. Here, storms and rain wash much of the
sand and silt into the water, where it settles and stays put.
Erni
Long-Tailed Ducks (Clangula
hyemalis) seem to particularly like
the roughly cobbled rocky bottom
off the Wildwood beach. Look
for individuals or small groups of
Long-Tails in fall, winter, and early
spring.
Most of Wildwood’s 600 acres is maritime and upland forest.
Hiking trails along the bluff edge afford sweeping views of the
Central Basin. The beach is good for waterfowl birding in the
fall, winter, and spring, but the lack of nearby wetlands, tidal
flats, or salt marshes tends to limit the range of waterfowl. In
late spring and summer the forests of Wildwood are full of
nesting songbirds, and because the park is far out on eastern
Long Island, the summer crowds tend to be moderate even on
weekends, which makes for great birding and forest hiking.
Note that Wildwood’s beach area is used for nesting by small
numbers of the endangered Piping Plover and Least Tern, so
please honor the signs and warning fences around the nesting
areas. In the summer heat, scaring the parent birds off their
nests for even a short period can prove fatal to nestlings.
Information
Park phone: (631) 929-4314
Address for GPS or online maps:
6361 North Wading River Road, Wading River, New York
Entrance fee: Fee for cars during summer and certain other times of year
The most common birds on the
Wildwood beach are Herring Gulls
(Larus argentatus). Here a first-year
immature wears its speckled
brown plumage. Herring Gulls
take four years to mature to the
pure white head and gray back
of adults.
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375
Most of Wildwood’s 600 acres are pristine coastal hardwood forests.
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Great Egret (Ardea alba), common throughout the coasts of Long Island Sound.
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Bibliography
Books about Long Island Sound
Andersen, T. 2002. This Fine Piece of Water: An Environmental History of Long Island Sound. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
Bell, M. 1985. The Face of Connecticut: People, Geology, and the Land. Bulletin 110. Hartford: State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut.
Buckles, M. P. 1997. Margins: A Naturalist Meets Long Island Sound. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. 1977. Long Island Sound: An Atlas of Natural
Resources. Hartford: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Koppelman, L. E., P. K. Weyl, M. G. Gross, and D. S. Davies. 1976. The Urban Sea: Long Island Sound. New
York: Praeger.
Latimer, J. S., et al., eds. 2014. Long Island Sound: Prospects for the Urban Sea. New York: Springer.
Long Island Sound Study. 2006. Living Treasures: Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound.
http://longislandsoundstudy.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/LivingTreasuresBlue_Full_Lores.pdf.
Patton, P. C., and J. M. Kent. A Moveable Shore: The Fate of the Connecticut Coast. 1992. Durham, NC:
Duke University Press.
Weigold, M. E. 2004. Long Island Sound: A History of Its People, Places, and Environment. New York: New
York University Press.
General coastal and regional environments
Alden, P., and B. Cassie. 1998. National Audubon Society Field Guide to New England. New York: Knopf.
Alden, P., and B. Cassie. 1999. National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States. New York:
Knopf.
Amos, W., and S. Amos. 1985. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. New York: Knopf.
Bertness, M. D. 2007. Atlantic Shorelines: Natural History and Ecology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Bulloch, D. 1991. The American Littoral Society Handbook for the Marine Naturalist. New York: Walker.
Dreyer, G. D., and M. Caplis. 2001. Living Resources and Habitats of the Lower Connecticut River. Bulletin
37. New London: Connecticut Arboretum.
Finch, R. 1996. The Smithsonian Guides to Natural America: Southern New England. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Books–Random House.
Hammerson, G. A. 2004. Connecticut Wildlife: Biodiversity, Natural History, and Conservation. Lebanon,
NH: University Press of New England.
Hay, J., and P. Farb. 1982. The Atlantic Shore: Human and Natural History from Long Island to Labrador.
Orleans, MA: Parnassus.
Jorgensen, N. 1978. A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide to Southern New England. San Francisco: Sierra Club
Books.
Kaufman, K., and K. Kaufman. 2012. Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of New England. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin.
Keatts, H. 1995. Beachcomber’s Guide from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. Houston, TX: Gulf.
Lippson, A., and R. Lippson. 1984. Life in the Chesapeake Bay: An Illustrated Guide to Fishes, Invertebrates,
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
and Plants of Bays and Inlets from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press.
Lippson, A., and R. Lippson. 2009. Life along the Inner Coast: A Naturalist’s Guide to the Sounds, Inlets,
Rivers, and Intracoastal Waterway from Norfolk to Key West. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press.
Olmstead, N., ed. 1978. Plants and Animals of the Estuary. Bulletin 23. New London: Connecticut Arboretum.
Perry, B. 1985. The Middle Atlantic Coast: Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Proctor, N., and P. Lynch. 2005. A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Safina, C. 1997. Song for the Blue Ocean. New York: Henry Holt.
Safina, C. 2011. The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World. New York: Henry Holt.
Shumway, S. 2008. Atlantic Seashore: Beach Ecology from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras. Guilford, CT:
Falcon Guides.
Sterling, D. 1978. The Outer Lands: A Natural History Guide to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket,
Block Island, and Long Island. New York: W. W. Norton.
Thomson, B. 1977. The Changing Face of New England. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Thurston, H. 2012. The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History. Vancouver, BC: Greystone Books.
Weiss, H. M. 1995. Marine Animals of Southern New England and New York: Identification Keys to Common Nearshore and Shallow Water Macrofauna. Bulletin 115. Hartford: State Geological and Natural
History Survey of Connecticut.
White, C. 1989. Chesapeake Bay: A Field Guide. Centreville, MD: Tidewater.
Beaches and dunes
Dean, C. 1999. Against the Tide: The Battle for America’s Beaches. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kaufman, W., and O. H. Pilkey. 1983. The Beaches Are Moving: The Drowning of America’s Shoreline.
Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Leatherman, S. P. 2003. Dr. Beach’s Survival Guide: What You Need to Know about Sharks, Rip Currents,
and More before Going in the Water. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Neal, W. J., O. H. Pilkey, and J. T. Kelley. 2007. Atlantic Coast Beaches: A Guide to Ripples, Dunes, and
Other Natural Features of the Seashore. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press.
Shumway, S. 2008. Atlantic Seashore: Beach Ecology from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras. Guilford, CT:
Falcon Guides.
Zim, H. S., and L. Ingle. 1989. Seashore Life: A Guide to Animals and Plants along the Beach. New York: St.
Martin’s.
Birds
Crossley, R. 2011. The Crossley ID Guide. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Devine, A., and D. Smith. 1996. Connecticut Birding Guide. Dexter, MI: Thomson-Shore.
Dunn, J., and J. Alderfer. 2011. National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. 6th ed.
Washington, DC: National Geographic.
Dunne, P., D. Sibley, and C. Sutton. 1988. Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Raptors. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
379
Endicott, J., and D. Tipling. 1997. Seabirds of the World: The Complete Reference. Mechanicsburg, PA:
Stackpole Books.
Gallo, F. 2017. Birding in Connecticut. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Mackenzie, L. 1961. The Birds of Guilford Connecticut: An Annotated List. New Haven: Yale Peabody
Museum of Natural History.
O’Brien, M., R. Crossley, and K. Karlson. 2006. The Shorebird Guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Olsen, K., and H. Larsson. 2003. Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Peterson, R. T. 2010. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. 6th ed. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Proctor, N. 1978. 25 Birding Areas in Connecticut. Chester, CT: Pequot.
Richards, A. 1988. Shorebirds: A Complete Guide to Their Behavior and Migration. New York: W. H.
Smith.
Rosgen, D., and G. Billings. 1996. Finding Birds in Connecticut: A Habitat-Based Guide to 450 Sites. Norfolk, CT: Gene Billings.
Sibley, D. 2014. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. 2nd ed. New York: Knopf.
Zeranski, J., and T. Baptist. 1990. Connecticut Birds. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
Coastal forests
Jorgensen, N. 1978. Southern New England: A Sierra Club Naturalist’s Guide. San Francisco: Sierra Club
Books.
Wessels, T. 1997. Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England. Woodstock, VT:
Countryman.
Fish
Boschung, H., et al. 1986. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fishes, Whales, and Dolphins. New York: Knopf.
Coad, B. 1992. Guide to the Marine Sport Fishes of Atlantic Canada and New England. Toronto: University
of Toronto Press.
Gilbert, C., and J. Williams. 2002. National Audubon Society Guide to Fishes. New York: Knopf.
Migdalski, T. 2010. Fishing Long Island Sound: A Guide for Beach and Boat Anglers. Ithaca, NY: Burford
Books.
Robbins, C., and C. Ray. 1986. A Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes of North America. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin.
Thomson, K. S., W. H. Weed, and A. G. Taruski. 1971. Saltwater Fishes of Connecticut. Bulletin 105. Hartford: State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut.
Geology
Bell, M. 1985. The Face of Connecticut: People, Geology, and the Land. Bulletin 110. Hartford: State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut.
Coleman, M. E. 2005. The Geologic History of Connecticut’s Bedrock. Special Publication 2. Hartford: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jorgensen, N. 1977. A Guide to New England’s Landscape. Chester, CT: Pequot.
Sirkin, L. 1996. Block Island Geology: History, Processes and Field Excursions. Watch Hill, RI: Book and
Tackle Shop.
Sirkin, L. 1996. Eastern Long Island Geology, with Field Trips. Watch Hill, RI: Book and Tackle Shop.
Sirkin, L. 1996. Western Long Island Geology, with Field Trips. Watch Hill, RI: Book and Tackle Shop.
Skehan, J. W. 2008. Roadside Geology of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press.
Van Diver, B. B. 1985. Roadside Geology of New York. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press.
Human history of Long Island Sound and the region
Brouwer, N. J. 2014. Steamboats on Long Island Sound. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.
Cantele, A. M. 2012. Connecticut: An Explorer’s Guide. 8th ed. Woodstock, VT: Countryman.
Cronon, W. 2003. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. Rev. ed. New
York: Hill and Wang.
Dolan, E. 2007. Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America. New York: W. W. Norton.
Galpin, V. 1989. New Haven’s Oyster Industry, 1638–1987. New Haven: New Haven Colony Historical
Society.
Lavin, L. 2013. Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us
about Their Communities and Cultures. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Virga, V., and D. R. McCain. 2011. Connecticut: Mapping the Nutmeg State through History. Guilford, CT:
Globe Pequot.
Weigold, M. E. 2015. Peconic Bay: Four Centuries of History on Long Island’s North and South Forks. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Insects
Borror, D., and R. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects of North America North of Mexico. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Dunkle, S. 2000. Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Klots, A. 1951. A Field Guide to the Butterflies of North America, East of the Great Plains. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Mammals and other land animals
Conant, R. 1958. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States East of the 100th Meridian.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
DeGraaf, R. M., and M. Yamasaki. 2001. New England Wildlife: Habitat, Natural History, and Distribution.
Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
Kays, R., and D. Wilson. 2002. Mammals of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Marine algae
Taylor, S., and M. Villalard. 1972. Seaweeds of the Connecticut Shore: A Wader’s Guide. Bulletin 18. New
London: Connecticut Arboretum.
Van Patten, M. S. 2006. Seaweeds of Long Island Sound. Bulletin 39. New London: Connecticut Arboretum.
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381
Marine environments
Bertness, M. D. 2007. Atlantic Shorelines: Natural History and Ecology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Day, C. H. 1987. Life on Intertidal Rocks: A Guide to Marine Life of the Rocky North Atlantic Coast. Rochester, NY: Nature Study Guild.
Newell, G., and R. Newell. 1973. Marine Plankton: A Practical Guide. London: Hutchinson Educational.
Waldman, J. 2013. Hearbeats in the Muck: The History, Sea Life, and Environment of New York Harbor. Rev.
ed. Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press.
Watling, L., J. Fegley, and J. Moring. 2003. Life between the Tides: Marine Plants and Animals of the Northeast. Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House.
Zim, H. S., and L. Ingle. 1989. Seashore Life: A Guide to Animals and Plants along the Beach. New York: St.
Martin’s.
Marine invertebrates and shells
Abbott, R. 1968. Seashells of North America. New York: Golden.
Bachand, R. 1994. Coastal Atlantic Sea Creatures: A Natural History. Norwalk, CT: Sea Sports.
Gosner, K. 1978. A Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore from the Bay of Fundy to Cape Hatteras. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Kurlansky, M. 2006. The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell. New York: Random House.
Mienkoth, N. 1981. The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashore Creatures. New
York: Knopf.
Morris, P. 1975. A Field Guide to Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Marine mammals and turtles
Boschung, H., et al. 1986. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fishes, Whales, and Dolphins. New York: Knopf.
Katona, S., V. Rough, and D. Richardson. 1993. A Field Guide to Whales, Porpoises, and Seals from Cape
Cod to Newfoundland. 4th ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Kinze, C. 2001. Marine Mammals of the North Atlantic. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Leatherwood, S., and R. Reeves. 1983. The Sierra Club Handbook of Whales and Dolphins. San Francisco:
Sierra Club Books.
Perrine, D. 2003. Sea Turtles of the World. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur.
Reeves, R., B. Stewart, P. Clapham, and J. Powell. 2002. Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. New York:
Knopf.
Reeves, R., B. Stewart, and S. Leatherwood. 1992. The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. San
Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Riedman, M. 1990. The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Safina, C. 2006. Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earth’s Last Dinosaur. New York: Henry Holt.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Salt marshes
Dreyer, G. D., and W. A. Niering. 1995. Tidal Marshes of Long Island Sound: Ecology, History, and Restoration. Bulletin 34. New London: Connecticut Arboretum.
Olmstead, N., ed. 1974. Tidal Marsh Invertebrates of Connecticut. Bulletin 20. New London: Connecticut
Arboretum.
Roberts, M. F. 1971. Tidal Marshes of Connecticut: A Primer of Wetland Plants. Reprint Series 1. New
London: Connecticut Arboretum.
Teal, J., and M. Teal. 1969. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh. New York: Ballantine Books.
Warren, R. S., J. Barrett, and M. Van Patten. 2009. Salt Marsh Plants of Long Island Sound. Bulletin 40.
New London: Connecticut Arboretum.
Weis, J. S., and C. A. Butler. 2009. Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History. New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers University Press.
Trees, plants, and wildflowers
Brockman, C., and R. Marrilees. 2001. Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York:
Golden.
Brown, L. 1979. Grasses: An Identification Guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Cobb, B., E. Farnsworth, and C. Lowe. 2005. A Field Guide to the Ferns and Their Related Families. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Del Tredici, P. 2010. Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press.
Dreyer, G. D., and C. Jones, et al. 2014. Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of Connecticut Checklist.
New Haven: Connecticut Botanical Society.
Little, E. 1980. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York:
Knopf.
Martin, A. C. 1972. Weeds. New York: St. Martin’s.
Peterson, R. T., and M. McKenny. 1968. A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Shuttleworth, F. S., and H. S. Zim. 1967. Non-Flowering Plants. New York: St. Martin’s.
Sibley, D. A. 2009. The Sibley Guide to Trees. New York: Knopf.
Silberhorn, G. M. 1999. Common Plants of the Mid-Atlantic Coast: A Field Guide. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Stuckey, I., and L. Gould. 2000. Coastal Plants from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press.
Tiner, R. W. 2009. A Field Guide to Tidal Wetland Plants of the Northeastern United States and Neighboring Canada: Vegetation of Beaches, Tidal Flats, Rocky Shores, Marshes, Swamps, and Coastal Ponds.
Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
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383
Sheffield Island, in the Norwalk Islands off Connecticut.
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United States Coast Guard Barque Eagle, New London Harbor, Connecticut.
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Illustration Credits
All photography, artwork, diagrams, and maps are by the author, unless otherwise noted
with a page credit and this listing.
Additional photography credits
Images used by permission. All images are copyright 2016, by each source listed here. All rights
reserved.
J. Brett Bennington, Hofstra University: 42–43, Long Island digital elevation map; Patrick
Comins: 304, Greenwich Point salt marsh; Frank Gallo: 109, Horseshoe Crab photos, 264, Milford
Point mussel beds; Brian Gratwicke: 112, 247, Grass Shrimp, 156, Sandbar Shark, Wikimedia;
Hans Hillewaert: 165, Moon Jellies, Wikimedia; Library of Congress: 79, New Haven Railroad,
1850s; Map Resources: 6–7, 34–35, map incorporates Connecticut Relief Map CT-USA-942239,
©Map Resources; NASA Earth Observatory: 27, Barnes Ice Cap, 55, Gulf Stream, 58, Storm Nemo;
NOAA Photo Library: 28–29, Ice field, 137, Longfin Inshore Squid, 142, Atlantic Moonfish, 146,
Diatom-Asterionellopsis, Diatom-Chaetoceros, Diatom-Thalassionema, Diatom-Odontella, 147,
amphipod, copepod, crab larva, larval shrimp, larval squid; Michael Marsland: 86, New Haven
aerial, 113, Common Sea Star, 328, Lighthouse Point aerial; Wikipedia: 71, Homan 1716 map of
New England, 143, Cownose Ray, Juan Aguere, 143, Sandbar Shark, Brian Gratwicke.
Images used under license from Dollar Photo Club
Copyrights held in each photographer’s name, Dollar Photo Club, 2016.
4, Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, mandritoiu; 28–29, Glacier face, ALCE; 28–29, Taiga forest, Alex Yago;
28–29, Tundra, YuliaB; 34, Tundra, nouskrabs; 34–35, Ice lake, bbsferrari; Sugar Kelp, mochanchan;122, Greater Yellowlegs, kreefax; 123, American Wigeon, Jim Shane; 123, Bufflehead, Erni;
123, Blue-Winged Teal, Steve Byland; 123, Green-Winged Teal, Erni; 124, Brant, Marco Barone;
124, Common Goldeneye, feathercollector; 124, Greater Scaup, Karen Popovich; 124, Lesser
Scaup, Steve Byland; 128–129, Harbor Seals, randimal; 142, Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins,
kaiwren; 142, Longfin Inshore Squid photos, lilithlita; 142, Sergeant Major, kuzeayo; 142, Spotfin
Butterflyfish, DJ; 143, Green Sea Turtle, pipehorse; 143, Beluga, Luna Vandoorne; 148, Atlantic
Sea Nettle, Gino Santa Maria; 149, Beroe Comb Jelly, Evan Travels; 151, Portuguese Man o’ War,
top, MSNN; 151, Atlantic Sea Nettle, helgidinson; 160, Northern Gannet, Carbonbrain; 161,
Long-Tailed Duck in flight, Steve Byland; 191, Wineberry, Hilda Weges; 200, Horseshoe Crab, Kevin
Knuth; 200, Moon Jelly, Eddie Kidd; 200, Lion’s Mane Jelly, Mandy Rogers; 234, American Holly,
Sirena Designs; 235, Black Field Cricket, lnzyx; 235, Eastern Hognosed Snake, Vibe Images; 236,
Raccoon, Geoff Kuchera; 236, Striped Skunk, Jimmy; 236, Meadow Vole, creativenature; 236, Eastern Cottontail, Wild Geese; 236, Red Fox, Pim Leijen; 236, White-Tailed Deer, Gerald Kraus; 237,
Red-Tailed Hawk, proedding; 237, Song Sparrow, Steve Byland; 256, Black-Crowned Night-Heron,
Brian E. Kushner; 284, Snapping Turtle, lightningboldt ; 286, Greater Yellowlegs, Glenn Young;
287, Blue-Winged Teal, Steve Byland; 287, Gadwal, Steve Oehlenschlager; 287, Clapper Rail,
pstclair; 290, Greenhead Fly, Roman Ivaschenko; 291, American Dog Tick, photobee; 299, Eastern
Cottontail, randimal; 320, Great Horned Owl, Megan Lorenz; 322, Long-Eared Owl, lukicarbol;
332, Robin, Rachelle Vance; 332, Downy Woodpecker, Gregg Williams; 333, White-Tailed Deer,
Charles Brutlag; 334, White-Tailed Deer, Nicolase Lowe; 334, Raccoon, hkuchera; 334, White-
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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
Footed Mouse, DMM Photography Art; 334, Eastern Chipmunk, elharo; 334, Gray Squirrel, Orhan
Çam; 334, American Red Squirrel, Anterovium; 335, Northern Flying Squirrel, Tony Campbell; 335,
Red Fox, dannytax; 335, Eastern Coyote, Josef Pittner; 335, Eastern Cottontail, mandritoiu; 335,
Woodchuck, Mario Beauregard; 335, Long-Tailed Weasel, hakoar.
Images used under license from Shutterstock.com
Copyrights held in each photographer’s name, Shutterstock.com, 2016.
5, Hell Gate, mandritoiu; 83, Northern Lobster, Giuseppe Lancia; 84, Merritt Parkway in 1930s,
Everett Historical; 124, Surf Scoter, M. Carter; 124, White-Winged Scoter, Paul Reeves Photography; 130, Gray Seal, Mark Bridger; 130, Harbor Seal, Wim Claes; 133, Blue Crab, Kim Nguyen; 133,
Horseshoe Crab, Ethan Daniels; 143, Sand Tiger Shark, Ralf Hirsch; 149, Longfin Inshore Squid,
Jiang Zhongyan; 150, Cannonball Jelly, left, ymgerman; 150, Cannonball Jelly, right, Sky2015;
150, Lion’s Mane Jelly, left, Greg Amptman; 150, Lion’s Mane Jelly, right, Konstantin Novikov; 151,
Portuguese Man o’ War, bottom, sciencepics; 151, Northern Comb Jelly, John Wollwerth; 161,
Long-Tailed Duck, Nature’s Moments UK; 161, White-Winged Scoter, Paul Reeves Photography;
161, Surf Scoter, M. Carter; 161, Greater Scaup, Cosmin Manci; 161, Red-Breasted Merganser, Ian
Maton; 201, wolf spider, Anatolij; 229, Lone Star Tick, Melinda Fawver; 229, Black-Legged Tick,
Sarah2; 231, British Soldier Lichen, Jenny Webber; 235, Seaside Grasshopper, Blackday; 235, Virginia Opossum, Lisa Hagan; 291, Lone Star Tick, Melinda Fawver; 291, Black-Legged Tick, Sarah2;
317, Spicebush, KPG Payless2; 332, Eastern Towhee, Charles Brutlag; 332, Common Yellowthroat,
Paul Reeves Photography.
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Herring Gull, Wildwood State Park, Wading River, Long Island, New York.
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Twin Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York City.
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Index
Page numbers in bold italics indicate images.
Ailanthus (tree of heaven), 307, 311
Striped Bass, 100, 113, 115
Alewife, 113, 117
Basswood (American Linden), 307, 316
algae, marine
Bayberry, Northern, 225, 232, 288, 299, 313
algae on rocky shores, 248–249
beaches, 166–237
Green Fleece algae, 103, 201, 246, 252, 276
animals, 186–187
Gut Weed algae, 101, 102, 245
beach profiles, 177, 179
Irish Moss algae, 101, 103, 247, 253
beach sand in Long Island Sound, 175
Knotted Wrack algae, 101, 103, 201, 246, 252
birds, 192–199, 204–221
Rockweed algae, 101, 103, 201, 246, 251, 276
lower beach, 181
Rusty Rock algae, 255
sediments, sorting, 177
Stone Hair algae, 102, 245
types of, 173, 174, 175
subtidal zone, 100–101
Whipweed (algae), 247, 253
value as storm buffers, 168
Bearberry, 225, 230, 306
amphipod (plankton), 147
Bindweed, Field, 312
amphipods, 104
Bittersweet, Asiatic, 307, 311
Anthropocene Age, 95–97
Blackbird, Red-Winged, 322, 323
Appalachian Mountains, 25
Blackfish (see also Tautog), 114
Apple, Common, 316, 320
Block, Adriaen
Aspen, Quaking, 225, 307, 314
asters
explorations in region, 70–71
ship Onrust, 71
Late Purple Aster, 319
Blood Ark (clam), 203
Perennial Saltmarsh, 277
Blueberry, Highbush, 234, 313
Saltmarsh Aster, 268, 277, 289
Bluefish, 99, 113, 115, 125, 136
White Wood Aster, 319
Bluff Point State Park and Coastal Reserve,
Groton, CT, 15, 47, 304, 308–309, 349, 350–351
Atlantic Migration Flyway, 337
automobiles and coastal development, 84–85
Azalea, Pink, 318
Barn Island Wildlife Management Area,
Stonington, CT, 258, 352–353
barnacles
boat shell (Common Slipper Shell), 203
Bonito, Atlantic, 119
Brant (goose), 113, 124, 134, 196, 204–205, 239
breakwaters, 176
Bridgeport–Port Jefferson Ferry, 17
Bronx–Whitestone Bridge, 4
Little Gray Barnacle, 242–243
Broom Crowberry, 225, 231
Northern Rock Barnacle, 242, 244
Bufflehead (duck), 120, 123
bass
Black Sea Bass, 113, 114
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 389
bunker (fish, see also Menhaden, Atlantic), 113,
115
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INDEX
Butterfish, American, 113, 144
Connecticut
Butterfly, Monarch, 228, 229, 352
bedrock geology, 48–49
Butterflyfish, Spotfin, 142
coastline geology, 46–51
park descriptions, 337–353
Cactus, Eastern Prickly Pear, 190, 225, 228, 362
carbon dioxide, atmospheric, 97
Cardinal, Northern, 326
Catbird, Gray, 323, 325
Catbrier, 191, 307, 310
Caumsett State Park Historic Reserve,
Lloyd Harbor, Long Island, 42, 305, 354, 362–365
Fresh Pond, 363
rivers and human settlement patterns, 50
Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center at Milford
Point, CT, 339
Connecticut River, 1, 22
copepod (plankton), 147
cormorant
Double-Crested Cormorant, 120, 156–157, 257
Great Cormorant, 120, 156–157
glacial boulders on beach, 20–21
Coyote, Eastern, 335
restored grasslands, 364–365
crabs
shoreline cliffs, 44–45
Asian Shore Crab, 108, 109
Central Basin, 12–13, 16, 301
Blue Crab, 106, 108, 110, 133, 270, 281
Chaffinch Island Park, Guilford, CT, 12, 24,
342–343, 344
Chinese Mitten Crab, 109
Charles Wheeler Salt Marsh, Milford, CT, 339
Cherry, Black, 225, 233, 288, 299, 306, 314
Chickadee, Black-Capped, 324
Chipmunk, Eastern, 334
Chlordane pesticide, 94
Civil War, effect on whaling industry, 75
clams,
Atlantic Jackknife Clam, 104, 105, 203
Atlantic Surf Clam, 104, 105, 202
Blood Ark, 203
Northern Quahog, 105, 132, 133, 203
Soft-Shell Clam, 104, 203
climate change in the Sound, 95–97, 164–165
Clotbur, Beach, 186, 188
coastal plain, 26
Cod, Atlantic, 119
Codium algae (Green Fleece), 103
comb jellies (ctenophores)
Beroe Comb Jelly, 148, 149
Leidy’s Comb Jelly, 148
Northern Comb Jelly, 151
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 390
crab larva, in plankton, 147
Green Crab, 106–107, 108, 253, 281
Hermit Crab, Flat-Clawed, 112
Hermit Crab, Long-Clawed, 112
Horseshoe Crab (not a true crab),
109, 110, 187, 200, 339
Jonah Crab, 138, 140
Lady Crab, 106, 108
Marsh Crab (Purple Marsh Crab), 281
Marsh Fiddler Crab, 110, 281
Mud Fiddler Crab, 281, 289
Red-Jointed Fiddler, 278, 281, 289
Rock Crab, 138, 139, 140
Spider Crab, 107, 108, 138
Creeper, Brown, 322
Cunner, 114, 140
cyanobacteria, on shoreline rocks, 240, 241, 244
Deer, White-Tailed, 236, 333, 334
Dewberry (wild raspberries), 307, 311
dogfish
Smooth Dogfish, 113, 138, 152
9/7/16 10:14 PM
INDEX
Spiny Dogfish, 113, 116, 138, 152
391
Common Eider, 159
Dogwood, Flowering, 317, 320
erosion of headlands by waves, 170
Dolphin, Atlantic Bottlenose, 142, 163, 164
estuary, 1, 4
Dove, Mourning, 332
dragonflies
Falcon, Peregrine, 257
Black Saddlebags Dragonfly, 229
Falkner Island, 13, 14, 70, 125, 195
Common Green Darner Dragonfly, 229
Federal Clean Water Act of 1972, 92
dragonfly migration, 228–229
ferry, Bridgeport–Port Jefferson Ferry, 12, 17
Seaside Dragonlet, 235
ferry, New London–Orient Point, 15, 160
drowned coastline
rivers in Connecticut, 46–48
duck
American Black Duck, 120, 123, 284
fetch distances in the Sound, 2
Fishers Island, 135
on Eastern Basin map, 15
flounder
Blue-Winged Teal, 120, 287
Summer Flounder (Fluke), 113, 116, 129
Gadwall, 284, 287
Windowpane (flounder), 116, 152
Green-Winged Teal, 120
Winter Flounder, 113, 116, 152, 165
Harlequin Duck, 345
fluke (see Flounder, Summer)
Long-Tailed Duck, 158, 161, 374
Fly, Greenhead, 290
Mallard, 120, 123, 287
foredunes, 235
dunes, 222–237
dune animals, 227–228, 235
dune communities, 225–226
forests, coastal, 305–335, 307
mammals, 333
Fox, Red, 228, 236, 333, 335
dune plants, 224–235
Dunlin (shorebird), 176, 220–221, 339
Gadwall (duck), 284, 287
Dusty Miller, 186, 190
Gannet, Northern, 159, 160
Gardiners Island, 52
Eagle, Bald, 120
Earth Star fungus, 226
East River, 4
Eastern Basin, defined, 14–15, 17
Eel, American, 118, 139
eelgrass
map, 15
geese
Brant, 113, 124, 132, 134, 196, 204–205, 239
Canada Goose, 204–205
geology
general geology, 25–51
communities, 129, 132–135
Geranium, Wild, 318
die-off in the 1930s, 134–135
ghost gear (discarded fishing tackle), 95, 96
meadows, 113
glacial boulders, 50–51
egrets
glacial episodes, 26–29
Great Egret, 113, 237, 286, 352, 376
glacial erratics, 50–51
Snowy Egret, 113, 122, 237, 286
Glacial Lake Connecticut, 30–31
eider (duck)
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 391
map, 34–35, 36
9/7/16 10:14 PM
392
INDEX
Glassworts, 273, 276,
Hackberry, 316
Gold Star Bridge, 23
Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, CT,
Goldeneye, Common (duck), 120, 124
13, 14, 345, 346–347
Goldenrod (mixed species), 319
salt marsh, 264–265
Goldenrod, Seaside, 186, 187, 188, 277
Harbor Hill Moraine, 30
Goosefoot, Red, 184, 186, 189
Hartford Basin, 25
Grackle, Common, 237
hawk
Grape, Fox (wild grape), 307, 310
Broad-Winged Hawk, 329
Grass Shrimp, 104
Red-Shouldered Hawk, 329
grasses
Red-Tailed Hawk, 237, 329, 360
American Beach grass, 184, 188, 225
Sharp-Shinned Hawk, 322, 327, 330
Blackgrass, 230,
hawk-watching, fall, 323–329
Deer-Tongue Grass, 317, 321
Heather, Beach, 225, 231
Foxtail Grass, 318, 321
Hell Gate, 5
Orchard Grass, 318, 321
Hempstead Sill, 5
Saltmarsh Cordgrass, 268, 269, 270–271, 274,
herons
288–289
Black-Crowned Night-Heron, 256, 257, 285
Saltwater Cordgrass, 185, 187, 188, 272
Great Blue Heron, 113, 122, 218–219, 286
Spike Grass, 289
Green Heron, 296
Switchgrass, 225, 230, 313, 321
Grasshopper, Seaside, 228, 235
Great Gull Island, 13, 158, 170, 195
grebe
Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, 285
herring
Atlantic Herring, 117, 127, 152
Blueback Herring, 113, 117, 152
Horned Grebe, 113
Holly, American, 234, 307, 315
Pied-Billed Grebe, 120, 122
Honeysuckle, Japanese, 191, 307, 311, 320
Green Fleece algae, 103, 201, 246, 252, 276
Greenwich Point, 10, 302
groins, 176
Groundsel Tree, 225, 233, 276, 288, 313, 320
Gulf Stream, 53, 55
gulls, 206–215, 156
Bonaparte’s Gull, 214–215
Great Black-Backed Gull, 96, 192, 206–207
Herring Gull, 121, 158, 192, 208–209, 374, 387
Laughing Gull, 192, 212–213
nesting in Connecticut, 193
Ring-Billed Gull, 121, 192, 210–211
Gut Weed algae, 101, 102, 245
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 392
Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary at Milford Point,
110–111, 339
Housatonic River, 1, 339
hurricanes, 56–57
historic tracks through New England, 59
Irene (2011), 168
Sandy (2012), 168
Hypoxia, 16
ibis
Glossy Ibis, 113, 287
Ice Age, 27
Indigo, Wild Yellow, 230
Interstate Highway System, 85
9/7/16 10:14 PM
INDEX
intertidal zone, rocky shores, 240–241
Irish Moss algae, 101, 103, 247, 253
393
lionfish
Red Lionfish, 152, 153
isopods, 104
Lloyd Point, Caumsett State Park, ii, 11, 178
Ivy, Poison, 191, 307, 310
lobster
commercial lobster fishing, 82–84
Jay, Blue, 323, 324
decline in Long Island Sound, 82–83
jellyfish (see also sea jellies) 150–151
lobster landings, 79
jetties, 176
Northern Lobster, 83, 140–141
Jewelweed, 310, 321
populations in Long Island Sound, 141
Jingle Shell, Common, 203
Locust, Black, 225, 234, 312
juniper
Long Island
Common Juniper, 233, 299
aquifers, 42
Eastern Redcedar Juniper, 224, 298, 306, 313
formation of, 38–45
geologic map, 42–43
Kestrel, American, 331
outwash plains, 42–43
Killdeer (shorebird), 220–221
Long Island Rail Road, 22, 43, 72–73
killifish
Long Island Sound
Banded, 113,
average depth, 3
Striped, 118, 254, 270, 280
basins of, 4
Kingfisher, Belted, 113, 121
bottom types, 138
kinglets
Central Basin, 12–13
Golden-Crowned Kinglet, 322, 324
climate change in the Sound, 95–97, 164–165
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, 322, 324
Eastern Basin, 14–15, 17
Knotted Wrack algae, 101, 103, 201, 246, 252
economic geography of, 19
Knotweed, Japanese, 307, 312
formation of, 31–38, 36–37
general geography, 1, 3, 6–7
Labrador Current, 53, 54
geology of, 25–51
Lapland Longspur (songbird), 197
habitat types, percentages, 17
Lark, Horned, 197
Industrial Age pollution, 75–78
Laurentide Ice Sheet, 27
Narrows area, 4, 10
map, 27, 28–29
lichens, 240, 241
watershed, 3
Western Basin, 5, 10–11, 16
British Soldier Lichen, 231
longshore currents on beaches, 170–171
Green Shield Lichen, 244
loon
Reindeer Lichen, 231
Verrucaria Lichen, 240, 241, 238
Red-throated Loon, 113
Lyme Disease, 228
Lighthouse Point Park, 12, 341
hawk-watching, 323, 328–339
Linden, American (basswood), 307, 316
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 393
mackerel
Atlantic Mackerel, 127
9/7/16 10:14 PM
394
INDEX
macroalgae (seaweeds), 100–101
Mallow, Swamp Rose, 319
Narrows area of the Sound, 4, 10
Manatee, West Indian, 128–129, 131
Native Americans, 69–71
Maple, Red, 234, 315, 320
Maps, Long Island Sound and region
regional tribes, 70
New Amsterdam, 71
Regional map, xii–xiii, 6–7
New Haven Railroad, 69, 73, 84
Long Island Sound, Central Basin, 12–13
New Haven Sharpie oyster boat, 80–81
Long Island Sound, Eastern Basin, 14–15
New London
Long Island Sound, The Narrows area, 10
Long Island Sound, Western Basin, 10–11
Marsh Elder, 66, 225, 233, 288, 306, 313, 320
Mean Spring High Water mark (tides), MSHW, 66
Meigs Point, 14, 345
moraine, 30, 32–33
Menhaden, Atlantic (bunker), 113, 117, 127, 144,
152
merganser (duck)
Common Merganser,
Hooded Merganser, 125,
Red-Breasted Merganser, 135, 161
Merritt Parkway, 49, 84
Methoprene pesticide, and lobsters, 83
Milford Point Sanctuary, 12, 224, 339
Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary, 110–111
Milkweed, Common, 317
Minnow, Sheepshead, 254, 280
Mirex pesticide, 94
Mockingbird, Northern, 326
Moonfish, Atlantic, 142
moraines, 30–31
map of major moraines, 32–33
Roanoke Point–Orient Point Moraine, 140
Morgan, Charles W., whaleship, 68, 77
Mouse, White-Footed Deer, 334
Mummichog, Common, 280
mussels
Blue Mussel, 202, 242, 249, 250, 251
Ribbed Mussel, 202, 273
Mystic Seaport Museum, 50, 68,
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 394
bridges, 22–23
harbor, 22–23, 384
nitrogen
and hypoxia, 90–92
pollution from sewage, 86–92
nor’easter storms, 2, 54–55, 57, 58
Norwalk, 53
Norwalk Islands, 383
nuthatches
Red-Breasted Nuthatch, 324
White-Breasted Nuthatch, 324
oak
Bear Oak, 231, 310
Black Oak, 233, 315, 320
Eastern White Oak, 315, 320
Northern Red Oak, 315, 320
Olive, Autumn, 232, 312, 320
Onrust, Adriaen Block’s ship, 71
Opossum, Virginia, 229, 235, 333
orach
Marsh Orach, 277
Seabeach Orach, 190
Orient Point, 14, 15, 33, 35, 43
Orient Point–Fishers Island Moraine, 19
Osprey, 237, 294, 366
bio-concentration of pollutants, 93
feeding in subtidal zones, 101, 120
populations and DDT pollution, 95
owls
Eastern Screech Owl, 327
9/7/16 10:14 PM
INDEX
Great Horned Owl, 320
atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), 97
Long-Eared Owl, 322
automobiles, 84–85
Northern Saw-Whet Owl, 323
bio-concentration of pollutants, 92, 93
Snowy Owl, 199
fishing gear, discarded, 94–95, 96
395
Oyster Drill, 177, 187, 252
impervious surfaces and urban areas, 86
Oystercatcher, American, 216–217
marine trash, 94–95
oysters
nitrogen loads on Long Island Sound, 87
Eastern Oyster, 78, 81, 105, 106, 203
PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, 92
current oyster harvests, 82
pet wastes, 85
oyster industry, 78–82, 80–81
sewage and nitrogen, 86–87
oyster shack, historic, 81
stormwater runoff, 85
oysters, harvests in Long Island Sound, 79
pollution and oysters, 82
urbanization, 85–86
Poquonock River, 350–351
porpoise
Pangea, 25,
Harbor Porpoise, 163
Pea, Beach, 186, 190
Portuguese Man o’ War, 151
Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York City, 8–9, 16,
356–361, 358–359
Quinnipiac River, 1
Hunter Island salt marsh, 266–267, 357, 361
Kazimiroff Nature Trail, 357
Twin Island, 358–359, 388
Periwinkle, Common, 98, 203, 243, 245, 255
Phragmites (see Reed, Common),
230, 298, 277, 300, 312
pines
Japanese Black Pine, 314
Pitch Pine, 233, 316
plankton, 144–148
Rabbit, Eastern Cottontail, 229, 236, 297, 335
Raccoon, 228, 236, 334
Race, the, 1, 3, 18, 19, 31
map, 15
Race Rock Light, 18, 19
Rail, Capper, 287
Redstart, American, front page v, 322
Reed, Common (Phragmites), 230, 298, 277, 300,
312
crab and squid larva, in plankton, 147
Resmethrin pesticide, and lobsters, 83
diatoms, 146
river deltas, Connecticut, 48–49
phytoplankton, 145
Roanoke Point Moraine, 16, 30
zooplankton, 145–149, 147
plovers (shorebird)
map of, 32–33, 42–43
Robin, American, 332
Black-Bellied Plover, 220–221
Rockweed algae, 101, 103, 201, 246, 251, 276
Piping Plover, 185, 198, 340, 366
Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme, CT, 14,
292–293, 348
Semipalmated Plover, 220–221
Plum, Beach, 232, 288, 299, 314
Plum Island, 15
pollution
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 395
rocky shores, 239–251
vertical zonation, 240–241
Ronkonkoma Moraine, 30
9/7/16 10:14 PM
396
INDEX
rose
Multiflora, Rose, 307, 312
Pasture Rose, 319
Wrinkled (Salt Spray) Rose, 186, 232, 319
Rusty Rock algae, 255
salinity of Long Island Sound, 66–67
salinity ranges, 67
salmon
Atlantic Salmon, 74, 152
salt marshes, 259–303
birds, 291–296
crabs, 281
definition of, 263
energy conversion, 261–262
erosion, 301, 302
fish, 279, 280, 282
in Long Island Sound area, 262–263
lower marsh, 269
origins of Long Island Sound marshes, 264–268
productivity of salt marshes, 260, 261, 262
and river delta sediments, 48–49
salt marsh die-off, 279
structure of a typical salt marsh, 270–271
tides, 289
upper marsh, 268
winter, 268
zonation of salt marshes, 268–269,
salt panne, 269, 272, 273, 296–297
salt spray damage to plants, 223
Saltwort, Common, 186, 188, 225
sand, movement in wind, 173
Sand Lance, 113, 118, 144
sand shadows around beach plants, 223
sandbars and sand spits, 171, 172, 180–181
Sandbur, 190
Sanderling (shorebird), 194, 196, 220–221
sandpipers
Least Sandpiper, 192–193, 220–221
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 396
Purple Sandpiper, 256
Semipalmated Sandpiper, 195, 220–221
Sandy, superstorm (hurricane)
hanges to Sandy Point Sanctuary, 168, 169
Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary, West Haven, 6, 12, 19,
79, 88, 259, 340
Sassafras, 234, 307, 315, 320
scallops
Atlantic Bay Scallop, 132, 133, 134, 202
scarps, marine (shoreline cliffs), 168–170, 171
Scaups (ducks)
Greater Scaup, 120, 124, 161
Lesser Scaup, 120, 124
Scoters (ducks), 159
Surf Scoter, 120, 124, 159, 161
White-Winged Scoter, 120, 124, 159, 161
Sculpin, Longhorn, 118, 139
Scup (Northern Porgy), 114, 140, 165
sea anemones, 255
Sea Blight, Erect, 276
Sea Cucumber, 112
sea jellies (jellyfish)
Atlantic Sea Nettle, 148, 149, 151, 200
Beroe Comb Jelly (ctenophore), 148, 149
Canonball Jelly, 150
Lion’s Mane Jelly, 149, 150, 192, 200
Moon Jelly, 148, 151, 200
Portuguese Man O’ War (not a true sea jelly),
151
Sea Walnut (ctenophore), 148
Sea Lavender, 277
Sea Lettuce, 102, 201, 246, 252, 276
sea level rise
and Long Island Sound, 57–58
scenarios for future, 60
Sea Raven (fish), 118, 139
sea star (starfish)
Common Sea Star, 112, 107, 113, 133, 145, 247
seahorse
9/7/16 10:14 PM
INDEX
Lined Seahorse, 132, 133
seals
Smooth Serviceberry (shadbush), 234, 307, 316
snails
Gray Seal, 127, 128, 130
Common Periwinkle, 203
Harp Seal, 128, 131
Eastern Mudsnail, 203, 247
Hooded Seal, 128, 131
Northern Moon Snail, 177, 187, 202
Harbor Seal, 126, 128, 130
Salt Marsh snail, 278
Searobin, Northern, 118, 138
Snake, Eastern Hognose, 229, 235
Searocket, 186, 189
Snow Bunting (songbird), 197
seaweeds
sparrows
types of, 100–101
Nelson’s Sparrow, 295
Sedge, Umbrella, 316, 321
Saltmarsh Sparrow, 295
Sergeant Major (fish), 142
Seaside Sparrow, 295
shad
Song Sparrow, 237, 295, 322, 325
American Shad, 113, 117, 152
Swamp Sparrow, 295
Hickory Shad, 117
White-Crowned Sparrow, 325
White-Throated Sparrow, 325
Shadbush (Smooth Serviceberry), 234, 307, 316,
320
Spicebush, 317
sharks
Spider, Wolf, 181, 201, 228, 290
Dogfish, Smooth, 113, 138, 152
splash zone, rocky shores, 240, 241
Dogfish, Spiny, 113, 116, 138, 152
Sponge
Dusky Shark, 119
Sand Tiger Shark, 119, 139, 143
Sandbar Shark, 142–143
Sheffield Island, Norwalk Islands, CT, 383
397
Boring Sponge, 200
Red Beard Sponge, 187, 200
Spurge, Seaside, 186, 189
squid
shells, common beach shells, 202–203
larval squid, in plankton, 147
Sherwood Island State Park, Westport, CT, 11, 338
Longfin Inshore Squid, 137, 142, 144, 149
shrimp
Squirrels
Burrowing Mantis Shrimp, 138
American Red Squirrel, 334
Grass Shrimp, 247
Gray Squirrel, 334
larval shrimp in plankton, 147
Northern Flying Squirrel, 335
Silverside, Atlantic, 113, 118, 129, 133, 270
steamships, on Long Island Sound, 72–73
skate
Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge
Barndoor Skate, 139
Milford Point, 166, 182–183
Little Skate, 139
Stickleback, Three-Spined, 270, 280
Winter Skate, 139
Stone Hair algae, 102, 245
Skimmer, Black, 126, 127, 216–217
Stratford Point Sanctuary, 12
Skunk, Striped, 229, 236
subtidal zone (shallow water areas), 99–135
Slipper Shell, Atlantic, 105, 176, 177, 187, 201,
203, 247
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 397
invertebrates, 104
Sugar Kelp, 101, 103
9/7/16 10:14 PM
398
INDEX
sumac
spring tides defined, 61, 63
Shining (Winged) Sumac, 225, 232, 299, 314,
354
tidal ranges in Long Island Sound, 64
Smooth Sumac, 321
vertical zonation, 65
Staghorn Sumac, 232, 299, 314
Sunken Meadow State Park, Kings Park,
Long Island, 366–369
Sunken Meadow Creek, 167, 367
Swallowwort, Black, 191, 311, 321
Swan, Mute, 113, 122, 134, 287
Switchgrass, 225, 230
Tautog (Blackfish), 113, 114, 129, 133, 140, 152
teals (ducks)
Blue-Winged Teal, 120, 123
Green-Winged Teal, 120, 123
terns, 121, 125, 158, 193–194
timing of tides, lunar day, 61
zonation and marine environments, 64–65
Toad, Fowler’s, 229, 235
Towhee, Eastern, 332
turtles
Diamond-Back terrapin, 282–283
Green Sea Turtle, 143, 153, 154, 155
Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, 153, 154, 155
Leatherback Sea Turtle, 153, 154–156, 155
Loggerhead Sea Turtle, 153, 154, 155
Snapping turtle, 283, 284
urbanization of the Long Island Sound region,
84–86
Black Tern, 126
Caspian Tern, 125, 127
Viburnum, Mapleleaf, 317
Common Tern, 125, 126, 158, 216–217
Vireo, Red-Eyed, 322
Forster’s Tern, 126
Virginia Creeper, 191, 307, 310
Least Tern, 126, 185, 216–217
Vole, Meadow (mouse), 229, 236, 303
Roseate Tern, 125, 126, 216–217
vultures
Royal Tern, 127
Terrapin, Diamond-Back, 282–283
Black Vulture, 330, 331
Turkey Vulture, 330, 331
Thames River, 1, 22–23
The Race, 1, 3, 18, 19, 31
map, 15
Thimble Islands, 13, 238
ticks
warblers
Yellow-Rumped Warbler, 306
Yellow Warbler, 322
wave fetch, 2
American Dog Tick, 291
Waxwing, Cedar, 323, 332
Black-Legged tick (deer tick), 228, 229, 291
Weakfish, 115
Lone Star Tick, 228, 229, 291
Weasel, Long-Tailed, 335
tidal rivers, 46–48
weather
tide pools, 252–253, 254, 255
average monthly regional temperatures, 56
tides, 61–65
regional weather patterns, 53–57
effect of moon and sun, 63
Western Basin, 5, 10–11
neap tides defined, 61, 63
whales, 160, 162–163
resonant tidal basins, 62
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 398
Beluga, 143
9/7/16 10:14 PM
INDEX
Fin Whale, 162–163
Humpback Whale, 74, 76–77, 162–163, 164
ice sheet, 31
moraines of, 30, 32–33
Long-Finned Pilot Whale, 162
Woodchuck (ground hog), 335
Minke Whale, 163
Woodpecker, Downy, 332
Right Whale, 74, 76–77, 162–163
worm
Sperm Whale, 75, 76–77
Bamboo Worm, 112, 138
whaling ports, 74–75, 76–77
Blood Worm, 104, 112, 138
whelks
Clam Worm, 104, 112, 138
Channeled Whelk, 105, 106, 202
Knobbed Whelk, 105, 107, 202
399
Cone Worm, 112, 138
Feather Duster Worm, 112
Whipweed (algae), 247, 253
wrack lines on beaches, 177–178, 181
Wigeon, American, 120, 123, 132, 284
wrens
Widgeon Grass, 132
Carolina Wren, 326
Wildwood State Park, Wading River, Long Island,
NY, 13, 33, 370–375
House Wren, 326
Marsh Wren, 295
American Beech Forest, 370
Roanoke Point Moraine, 370, 372–373
Willet, 111, 218–219, 286
wind patterns in the region, 2, 53–54
onshore and offshore winds, 175–176
Windowpane (flounder), 116
Yarrow, 190, 318
yellowlegs (shorebird)
Greater Yellowlegs, 111, 113, 122, 218–219, 286
Lesser Yellowlegs, 113, 122, 218–219, 286
Yellowthroat, Common, 322, 332
Wineberry, 191, 307, 311
Winter Storm Nemo, Feb. 2013, 58
Wisconsinan Glacial Episode, 27–47, 49
LONG ISLAND SOUND BOOK.indb 399
9/7/16 10:14 PM