MAR 355 – Fire Island Lighthouse; Oct 1, 2021

Figure 2: The new lighthouse, taller and better than the first. At 168 feet tall, it is more than double the height of the old one. The base of the new lighthouse was made using the stones of the old lighthouse, Connecticut bluestone. The black-white-black-white stripes helped sailors and navigators identify their position and the area as Fire Island.

Figure 3: The view from the top of the new lighthouse. As far across the ocean you can see ships, they too can see you. The closer a ship has to be to a lighthouse, the more dangerous it can be for the ships thanks to sandbars. At 74 feet, ships would be in danger of running aground before they could see the old lighthouse.

by Samantha Aplin

I have always had a special connection with butterflies. Perhaps it could be from running around in my backyard catching them in my net when I was little, or that I now view them as signs from people who are no longer with me. Regardless I view butterflies as beautifully unique, so when Dr. Bretsch said we were going to Fire Island to see the Monarch butterflies migrate south for the winter, I was excited. He discussed how in previous years there were so many butterflies that they would land on students, however, we went a couple of weeks early, so there were not as many butterflies. As we walked towards the lighthouse on the boardwalk, a few flew past me, but I was not quick enough to get a picture. When we finally arrived at the beach, Dr. Bretsch told us all about the Monarch butterfly.

Regarding their life cycle, they first start out as eggs, and within four days of being laid, they hatch open. At this phase in their life, the caterpillars eat lots and lots of leaves and gain most of their mass. About two weeks after they hatch, the caterpillars enter the chrysalis phase. When the caterpillar hatch from its chrysalis, it will have transformed into a beautiful Monarch butterfly. Monarchs are special as only the super individuals, who are lucky enough to live 6-9 months get to undergo a seasonal migration. This means that every winter they fly all the way down to Central Mexico and spend the winter months there. At night monarch butterflies roost in the tops of trees, so due to deforestation in the Northeast of the United States as well as in Central Mexico. This is unfortunately causing a decrease in monarch butterflies. Right after Dr. Bretsch finished the talk about Monarch butterflies, one flew right by my ear. Overall, it was a great day!

If you are lucky maybe you will come across some deer just as our class did, as seen in the attached photo. Though deer are exciting to come across they are not actually native to Fire Island, having swam across the Bay after being pushed off mainland Long Island as it became more developed. Because of this there are no natural predators to keep their populations in check, which has led to some problems. For one, they have caused a lyme disease issue over on Fire Island because of the ticks they carry. This issue is being solved by setting up feeding stations that are set up in such a way that when deer rub against it to reach the food, they get anti-tick medication which helps to kill off the ticks and fight against the spread of lymes. Furthermore, the deer like to eat the grasses that help to stabilize dunes, which is an issue because without these grasses the dunes will erode and will not be able to protect the shore from the flooding that big storms and hurricanes bring. Therefore, it is important to stay off the dunes when visiting here (or any beach for that matter) since they are important in protecting our shorelines. Overall, I would say that if you are able, I would recommend taking a trip to Robert Moses State Park and take advantage of the serenity it has to offer.

by Erin Hwong

This week, we went out to Fire Island and visited the Fire Island Lighthouse. One thing we learned about was the mechanics inside of the lighthouse and its moving parts. We were shown the lamps of the lighthouse, beginning with the single circular wick Argand lamp which then developed into the multi-wick lamp. These multi-wick lenses were used in the Fresnel lenses of the lighthouse. In 1881, a four-wick lamp was used and had the brightness of about 400 candles. The Fresnel lens then turned that light into eight beams, each of the brightness of 65,000 candles.

We also learned about the hydraulic oil reservoir, which was responsible for storing the night’s oil. The watchman of the lighthouse would have to work through the night and switch out the oil every 4.5 hours, which seems like a very physically and mentally tolling task. The hydraulic oil reservoir also controlled the pressure needed to force oil further up through the lamp.

Image 1: This is the original multi-wick lamp that was used in the lighthouse. Under the IOL (Incandescent Oil Lamp) bulb is the hydraulic oil reservoir (golden barrel).

Another mechanism we looked at was the clockwork, which controls the rotating lens to produce a periodic flash of light. Each lighthouse has a unique flash that helps to differentiate it from other lighthouses, something that was critical to sailors at night to determine which area of land they were near. The Fire Island Lighthouse clock rotates the lens every eight minutes to produce a 5 second flash every 55 seconds.

Image 2: This is the original clockwork, which was based off the standard pendulum clock that was then further modified for rotating Fresnel lenses.

Based on the size of the lens, Fresnel lenses are categorised into multiple orders. The lens used in the Fire Island lighthouse is a first order lens.

This lens is 16 feet high, and allows the light of a 4 inch flame to reach about 22 miles out at sea. Most first order lenses have a focal length of 0.92 m. Many lighthouses made before the invention of Fresnel lenses were not able to accommodate the large and heavy lenses, forcing the reconstruction or modification of many old lighthouses. Though costly and time consuming, the new ability of lighthouses to reach far offshore was an extremely important investment, especially in areas such as Long Island where ships must be able to reach important ports safely.

 

This is an example of a fourth order lens. Though it’s focal length is only 0.25 meters, it’s light can reach up to 17 miles away. Though much smaller than the first order lenses, they still allow a much larger visibility range than regular lenses.

Fresnel lenses are still used today in various situations. Car lamps and magnifying glasses designed for reading are a few examples. If you want to find these lenses used around you, look out for their trademark “ripple” like pattern!

Image 2 is a picture taken at the top looking towards the northwest. We were very fortunate to have spectacular weather during this trip and the New York skyline can be seen in the distance. Uptown is towards the right and downtown towards the left.

Image 3 is an awesome photo taken by Stephen Mastrorocco with perfect timing. He was able to photograph a bolt of lightning next to the lighthouse right when the light was facing his direction.

Fire Island was also a hub for Rum Runners during Prohibition. There is a funny local story about a captain of a fishing boat out of Babylon village dock. During the day he took out fishermen. At night he ran his boat to the Coast Guard territory line to a large ship just outside the coast (3 miles) to buy liquor and haul it back to Babylon to sell. One night, he was about to be boarded by the Coast Guard and he had the money to buy the liquor. When he saw them coming, he put the money in the toilet. They did not find it. In the Fire Island town of Lonelyville, there is an abandoned track that was used to haul booze from the ocean side to the bay side for shipping to the mainland.