Happy New Year! We are excited to begin our first year as a nonprofit and have some exciting projects and research planned. Our biggest goals and projects are as follows:
1) Dasysiphonia aerial study: In conjunction with the University of New Hampshire, we are looking to conduct a drone study mapping seaweed inundations along Popponesset’s coastline and comparing them to other New England coastlines being impacted by invasive seaweeds. This project will involve using drone footage to create 3D models of these coastlines and measure seaweed coverage from said models.
2) Jellyfish studies: Last summer, our focus was the jellyfish and we connected with researchers from several institutions to investigate both our local Moon Jellies and the Atlantic Bay Nettle that made their presence known. Two summers ago, we crowdfunded a study to genetically barcode our Moon Jellies, which had been exhibiting some unusual characteristics compared to the common native Moon Jelly, Aurelia aurita. The barcoding was complete last summer and the results were surprising and have warranted a larger, further investigation. In conjunction with the University of California Merced, we will be working on an ambitious, large-scale jellyfish study this summer with the goal of gaining a greater understanding our local jellyfish populations.
3) Jellyfish sting kits: The jellyfish sting kit program will be continuing this summer and feature new, redesigned cases. We will be fundraising for these in the spring and are gauging interest in whether to expand this program outside of Popponesset.
4) Setting Plates Program: More to come on this program but, in conjunction with Save our Barnegat Bay in NJ, we are looking to create “settling plates” for volunteer docks around Popponesset for dock owners to see what marine life may be growing on their dock. This could be a critical piece in understanding the life cycle of our local Atlantic Bay Nettle.
5) Continuation of existing programming: We will be continuing our nutrient water testing, revamping our “Ecotour” program, and looking to expand our teacher workshops.
While some of our goals are ambitious, I am optimistic about the coming year. All of our projects, however, are going to require funding. We have set up a donation page on our website for tax deductible donations that go towards general funds for our organization (link is below). We will also have 4 major fundraiser “days” themed towards 4 environmental “holidays”: World Water Day in March, Earth Day in April, World Oceans Day in June, and World Jellyfish Day in November.
Thank you everyone again for your support, kind words, and all the help as this nonprofit has become a reality.