Riverhead Foundation and Big Duck
by Valerie Sabatasso
This week, Stony Brook’s Southampton Semester by the Sea students visited the Riverhead Foundation and the Big Duck of Flanders, New York.
Our first stop this Friday was the Riverhead Foundation. This organization focuses on rescuing and rehabilitating marine mammals and sea turtles. Throughout the year, many animals wash up on the beach and are suffering in some way, typically related to a human activity. The Riverhead Foundation rescues these creatures and decides whether they can be re-released upon recovery. Many turtles experience ‘cold-stunning’ and need to be warmed up and sent south, but this little guy to the left suffered a worse fate. A boat propeller hit this loggerhead turtle three times. Two breaks within the shell can be seen in this picture. The third strike hit the end of his shell and broke some of it off. The holes have created an air pocket that causes him to float. He is working on a full recovery at the Foundation and hopefully one day will be able to be released.
The Riverhead Foundation often rescues seals as well as turtles. Although none were present at this time (which is a good thing), we still learned about the treatments. The picture to the left is one of the tanks the foundation uses to house recovering seals. Here, the water has jets to keep it flowing and create a current that allows the seals to practice natural swimming patterns. There is also a ledge for the seals to sleep and eat on. Unlike turtles, seals prefer colder water. The temperature is preset in every tank so that it will be ready for whatever animal may need it.
After we left the foundation, we released we had a bit of extra time and decided to stop at the nearest beach. It was incredibly windy, but completely beautiful. The waves were rough and frequent and the wind seemed to bite at your skin. Still, we took some group pictures and chatted about the fuel stop located just offshore (not pictured). It’s always a good time to go to the beach.
Our final stop was at one of Long Island’s most famous pieces of architecture –the Big Duck. Although it is hard to see it in the picture here, the duck had big red eyes, meant to reflect car lights on the dark road (creepy!). The duck was built by a duck farmer in 1931 during the recession and was originally used to sell eggs and ducks. The economy was hit hard during this time, but Long Island actually did better than the city. Duck became a popular dish and many people were able to make money off of farming and selling ducks. We couldn’t go inside because it was closed for season, but just sitting next to a giant duck while eating lunch was a very interesting way to end the day.
The Riverhead Foundation
by Becky Reigle
Part of this week’s cultural trip was spent at The Riverhead Foundation. It is a not for profit organization that rescues and rehabilitates marine mammals and sea turtles. The foundation is housed within the Long Island Aquarium, but it is a separate entity. While we were in the part of the foundation that is open to the public we were able to look around a lot of information, videos of seal and sea turtles releases, bunches of fishing line and netting that was actually taken off of a seal that they rescued, and even a cute Green sea turtle named Chester.
This is one of the great areas of information for the general public in the Riverhead Foundation. The large board tells you what kind of animals we are likely to see in our waters that the foundation will take care of. We mainly see four different species of sea turtles; the Atlantic Green, Loggerhead, Kemp’s Ridley, and the Leatherback. We also see five different species of seals; the Gray, Harp, Ringed, Harbor, and Hooded. The foundation has worked with dolphins, porpoises, and whales as well, but sea turtles and seals are the two kinds of marine life that the organization has in the hospital the most.
This is Chester. He is one of the foundation’s non releasable sea turtles. Chester was cold stunned and struck by a boat which may have been the cause of his buoyancy issue. Chester has a hard time swimming like most sea turtles do because of an air pocket that can be seen on his carapace. The biologists that work for the foundation don’t want to release this sea turtle because they fear that the buoyancy could make it hard for Chester to feed or lead to other problems, such as another boat strike. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a good picture of the carapace to show the bump, but Chester can be seen in the Riverhead Foundation with its story and other facts posted by the tank.
Our class was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at the hospital of the Riverhead Foundation and we were able to see another sea turtle that they recently rescued. This is a Loggerhead Sea Turtle that was also struck by a boat. You can clearly see the two cuts in the carapace. Right now this turtle also has a buoyancy issue, but the biologists are hopeful that it will get better as the wounds from the boat strike heal. The Loggerhead doesn’t have a name, like Chester does, because they are hopeful that they will be able to rehabilitate it and release it back into the wild when the water is warm enough for it to survive.
Iron Pier Beach and the Big Duck
by Jodi Chan
After the tour around the Riverhead Foundation, we stopped by the Iron Pier Beach. It was
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How rocky is this beach?!
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ferociously windy and the waves were at high tide, giving us little room to walk along the beach. Here, we were able to truly see the difference between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island, which resulted from the island’s glacial and geological history. The Iron Pier Beach is located in Jamesport, an area just north of the Great Peconic Bay. The North Fork is home to many more farms and open space in comparison to the South Fork and the beaches are much rockier and less sandy. There is much more wave energy on the south shore, which carries away larger sediment, while softening the shoreline. This results in the smoother, sandier beaches of the South Fork. This beach was covered in cobbles, stones, and broken branches, but it was still a lovely place to be and we were able to act like kids again on the playground!
Have you ever driven through the hamlet of Flanders and seen a gigantic replica duck just sitting on the side of the road? After travelling to the Midwest and seeing an inn the shape of a boot, a duck farmer built the “Big Duck” in 1931 to bring attention to local businesses. During this time, ducks were a popular trade; in fact, there were over 300 duck farms in Long Island in the 1930s! Today, there is only one duck farm left because of pollution left from the nitrogenous wastes. Although ducks and duck eggs are no longer sold out of the Big Duck, it is still a historic symbol of Long Island and serves as the location of many farm stands, flea markets, and community events. In less than a month, there will be an annual lighting of the Big Duck, where the Duck will be donned with a big wreath and duck carols will be sung. Just don’t be frightened if you drive through the area and see glowing, ominous red lights; the Big Duck’s eyes are made from old taillights of a Model T Ford!
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The front of the Big Duck!
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The back of the Big Duck doesn’t look very duck-like…
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