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WINTER 2017
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
(continued next page)
Resiliency Institute of Jamaica Bay
be pushing to fill in Jamaica Bay’s
borrow pits, especially Grassy Bay?
Was the sudden resurrection of The
Thing That Refuses to Die just a co-
incidence, or is something else going
on that prompted this? A few days
after the Jamaica Bay Task Force
meeting, there was an op-ed in
Crain’s New York Business that sup-
ported expanding area airports, in-
cluding extending JFK’s runways
further into Grassy Bay. The op-ed
piece also referred to a study put out
by the Regional Plan Association a
few years ago that also mentioned
extending the runways into Grassy
Bay.
We are very, very concerned about
this. Jamaica Bay is a very special
place, but it is also quite fragile.
Some of the stakeholder groups in-
volved with the Institute told them
that filling these pits for any reason
was a really bad idea. NRPA will not
hesitate to join with and support the
stakeholders.
We will be monitoring this situation
closely and keeping everyone in-
formed about further developments.
GOTHAM WHALE
By Paul L. Sieswerda
A team of scientists from Gotham
Whale, Staten Island’s first marine
mammal research organization, is
conducting an experiment to deter-
mine the role of sound in the feeding
behavior of humpback whales.
Humpbacks have been returning to
NYC waters to feed on menhaden,
locally known as bunker. How do
they locate the “bait balls’ in waters
too murky to see more than 3 me-
ters? They don’t appear to use their
noses, and they do not echolocate
like toothed whales and dolphins.
Join NRPA today
See page 5
Gotham Whale believes they hear a
sound produced by the fish.
Studies on herring, a closely related
species, show that they will emit
bubbles when under attack by pred-
ators. Dr. Ed Gerstein, of Florida
Atlantic University will record the
“bait balls” to determine if a sound is
produced that the whales could
hear. Gotham Whale is crowdfund-
ing to bring Dr. Gerstein and his
acoustic equipment to NYC and
charter a boat to conduct this experi-
ment. While playing on the whimsy
of “fish flatulence”, the results will be
critical to analyze the importance of
this acoustic clue in an environment
that is getting noisier and noisier as
the ships get bigger and bigger in
the busiest port on the eastern sea-
board.
Lorraine Sorge, fought for common
sense in our planning process.
The beach is on the southern por-
tion of Lemon Creek Park.
There were several people casting
for snapper (young) bluefish. Also
someone had vandalized the water
fountain to make the water run con-
tinuously, like a fish cleaning station.
At first glance, there didn't appear to
be much garbage, but looks can be
deceiving.
There was a garbage bag on the
beach, partially opened. I took the
contents and re-bagged them, caps,
applicators, cigarette butts and pack-
aging, coffee cups, bait packaging,
and more.
There was more debris upland, in-
cluding more cigarette butts and
straws, single use plastic bags, tam-
pons and fishing line.
The refreshment containers were
varied and numerous, we gathered
about 60 cans and bottles for recy-
cling.
There was a hidden cove, that had
been created from driftwood and
rocks that was amazing.
Additional debris included two tires,
a large Styrofoam dock float, a plas-
tic basketball stand, a large piece of
shed flooring, shoes, sneakers, a
shirt, snapper popper fishing rigs,
Shimano tackle case, a sweater, a
used heparin injection device and
glassine drug envelopes.
The intertidal creek at the Mt. Loretto
property that feeds the pond had a
multitude of banded killifish swim-
ming around. We heard and saw
several terns trying to hone in on
silversides and peanut bunker.
Special thanks to Chuck Perry and
Richie Chan, Elaine Croteu, Dominic
Durso, Howie, Mike, Heather and
every one for organizing and execut-
ing the cleanup project.
Humpback lunge feeding through a “bait ball”.
Credit : Dennis Guiney/ Gotham Whale
LEMON CREEK PARK
CLEANUP
By Jim Scarcella
In late September, NRPA and the
Protectors of
Pine Oak
Woods,
teamed up to clean the
Sharrot Avenue (Dorothy Fitzpatrick)
fishing pier beach at Princes Bay.
Ms. Fitzpatrick was head of Commu-
nity Board 3 and along with the late
AMAZON SMILE
By Richie Chan
Do you shop on Amazon? How
about signing up for Amazon Smile?
There is no cost to you and all pur-
chases under Amazon Smile can
qualify for a 0.5% donation of your
purchase to the Natural Resources
Protective Association.
Each time you sign in, log into
/, check to
see if Natural Resources Protective
Association is selected then start
shopping. It’s a great way to help us
out at no cost to you, so thank you in
advance!
