Winter Sightings and Surprises
This winter, spurred by an interest in understanding the habits of resident river otters, Vinalhaven Island's Regional Steward Kirk Gentalen has discovered that there is still much to be learned about MCHT's Basin Preserve. As Kirk recently commented, "Time in the field is always worth it, as it increases the likelihood of observing cool nature stuff." Talk with any MCHT Regional Steward and you'll get stories of tracking on the preserves, the status of a local Bald Eagle nest, or hear someone's lament over the summer of 2009 - aka the summer of the slime molds! In short, one just cannot help but come across something intriguing while visiting an MCHT preserve.
This winter's discoveries on Vinalhaven have been aided by a group of four high school students that has now been affectionately dubbed the 'Otter Crew.' Always ready to go exploring, the 'Otter Crew' has been active in the island's land trust activities for years, having risen up the ranks of the Vinalhaven Land Trust's Outdoor Explorer's adventure program. Through the years, they have done all kinds of discovering, including: vernal pools, salamander migration, whale watching, and owling overnights. The 'Otter Crew' has yet to find an outdoor adventure not to their liking. When they got wind of a project to track Vinalhaven's river otters, it was a no brainer; they were going to help.
An Otter Superhighway
The quest to learn more about Vinalhaven's river otter population centered on a handful of areas, including Folly Pond, a place where tracks and trails have been seen for years. Kirk and the students have visited the area twice this winter. On the second trip they followed an otter trail from Vinal Cove, at the head of Winter Harbor, across Folly Pond, up and over a hill to the west, and then down onto MCHT's Basin Preserve property. One of the crew members proclaimed, "It's an Otter superhighway!" The otter using the trail clearly moves at a steady pace, as the route was essentially one big, beautifully purposeful slide. At just under 1.5 miles, most of it over land, the trail eventually ran along Long Pond and into the Basin itself. The otter did not stray or stop along the trail, other than a brief pause at the old beaver lodge along the pond. And who can blame him for checking out the lodge?
The only other place where the trail was interrupted was at an opening into the ground through some exposed roots along the Long Pond outlet. The crew quickly recognized this area as an active otter den. Why else would an otter go into the ground? Feeling honored to be the steward of a preserve that was home to one of the island's top predators, Kirk and company paused for a moment after realizing the distinct possibility that their new furry friend may actually be at home. This was only the second den Kirk has found on Vinalhaven and to find it along a connector trail linking two sides of the island made the day well worth celebrating.
He had no idea at the time, but this was the start of something even more special. Over the next 11 days Kirk would end up finding 3 more otter dens, 2 of them on the MCHT Basin Preserve. One was found along the southeastern Basin shore itself and one along the northern shore of Old Harbor Pond. The den in the Basin was beautiful with entrances through duff and sphagnum into the root system of a huge spruce tree along a creek bed. Seems like the river otter population in the Basin is doing quite well these days.
An Otter's Winter Home
There is much more to the Basin than just the otters of course and another recent sighting of note illustrates this point perfectly. While the past winter was one that left many feeling somewhat shortchanged as far as snow is concerned, there was a series of frigid, windy days (great days to be a turbine) where shallow, tidal water froze up in many of the coves around the island. Kirk spent one of those days snowshoeing (yes, there were a few snow storms on the island) through the Basin Preserve. Upon arriving at a frozen saltwater cove where Long Pond feeds into the Basin, he stopped to take a few photos of the sun reflecting off the ice. There, Kirk noticed a less familiar looking seal on the ice a few hundred feet from the closest edge. It turned out to be a harp seal, the first one ever recorded at the Basin. MCHT has been supporting an ongoing wildlife survey for the area and while it is not unusual to spot harbor seals in the area, catching a glimpse of their more northern neighbors is indeed special.
This harp seal likely made its ways to Vinalhaven from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. They are an ice loving bunch (Harp Seals that is) and are the only species in the Genus (Pagophilus), which is translated as "lover of ice." The Harp Seal's range extends from the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the North Atlantic and along the Arctic Ocean shores of Scandanavia and much of Russia. Harp Seals regularly venture down into the northern Gulf of Maine and most tend to be young seals referred to as "Beaters." Their fur is mostly white with distinct black pots. If there is no ice, they will readily haul out on beaches and they were spotted on several beaches around the island this winter. The Harp Seal was seen just that one time in the Basin, even with a handful of return visits.
This spring and summer, Kirk is planning to lead a number of field trips on Vinalhaven and to the Basin Preserve. More information about these and other adventures will be available on our website in the weeks ahead. If you can find the time, take the one hour and fifteen minute ferry from Rockland and join Kirk on one of his nature walks. Who knows what critter will be lurking around the bend?
