Each year there seems to be a “seal island” on one of the sandbars by Coast Guard Beach or Nauset Beach. The seals pack themselves together and enjoy that little bit of time until the tide comes in again. (Click blog link to see other photo.)
The 2nd photo is of “seal island” not zoomed in. It is pretty far away from shore.
When we took a ride to Nauset Beach last week, we were surprised to see how much work was being done to the parking lot and the sand dunes. They have brought in huge amounts of sand to build up the dunes. (There are additional photographs at the end of the blog.)
They have also taken some of the parking lot away to make room for the extra sand as the ocean keeps moving inward.
The first photograph is of the restrooms. You can see there is only a small strip of sand dune between the building and the beach. The ocean looks mighty close. In the next 2 photographs you can see where the parking lot has been dug out and sand piled on. It is an amazing work in progress.
We’ll keep you posted as they work on ever popular Nauset Beach before the summer. Amazing, don’t you think?
Nauset Beach, a very popular beach in Orleans and part of the National Seashore, got hit by two huge Nor’easters last winter and lost Liam’s, its famous Clam Shack as well as a huge amount of dune sand.
They have brought in an unbelievable amount of sand this past month to build up the dunes. You can see the new sand, as it’s a much lighter color than the original sand. With the new sand, the dunes are now 15-20 feet high. You can also see where they have put in some fences and planted some beach grass, hoping to contain the dunes. We’ve been lucky so far this winter. I’m sure everyone has their fingers crossed.
Gorgeous beach, don’t you think? Have you ever been to Nauset Beach?
Boat Meadow Creek has frozen over in the past few days. When we were driving by yesterday morning we saw something large on the ice and we had no idea what it was. I got out of the car to investigate (hope you enjoy the whole story with photographs).
It was a Harp Seal that was resting on the ice. According to volunteer Andrea Spence, soon to be an intern at IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), Harp seals migrate from the Arctic and are very comfortable on ice and ice packs. As long as they are moving and stretching, they are fine. This seal was doing both. It must have made its way up the creek from Cape Cod Bay, maybe before it was frozen over. (We’ve kayaked this part of Boat Meadow Creek in the summer and this is a long way up the creek from Cape Cod Bay.)
“IFAW is a global non-profit organization that protects animals and the places they call home.” Andrea is based out of IFAW in Yarmouth Port, MA and helps to monitor marine mammal rescue and research. She was very informative as I clicked away.
You can see by the photos that this guy was quite at home on the ice. I especially like the photo where his back flippers form a heart.
Quite a surprise for a Sunday morning as you can see me photographing the seal from the bridge! Have you ever seen a Harp Seal?
If you want to see a really cool train exhibit made of Gingerbread Houses and replicating The Chatham Bars Inn, check out the front lobby at The Chatham Bars Inn. It is really amazing!
Each unique building is made of gingerbread. I was most impressed when I saw that the roofs were made of Necco wafers as I knew they were taken off the market recently due to decreased popularity. We used to love them growing up, especially the pink ones!
Pretty cool, don’t you think? You can even push the button and watch the train go around!
I love this new Christmas tree on the town green in Eastham. It is perfect for Cape Cod!
Wishing you all a Cape Cod Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!
