Divers go deep in search of life – and find it – in the crystal-clear waters off Plum Island

Divers who surveyed the waters off Plum Island earlier this month found only a fishing line, a bottle cap, or any sign of plastic pollution plaguing most of the waterways in the world. world.

They saw plenty of northern anemones and star corals in the crystal-clear waters surrounding the 800-acre island which has only been accessible to a small number of researchers at the USDA Animal Research Center since 1954. .

The dive, which ran from August 2-6, was conducted by the New York Natural Heritage Program and sponsored by the nonprofit Save the Sound through donors. Albany’s InnerSpace Scientific Diving was hired to do the job.

Divers spent five days exploring the underwater world one square meter at a time at depths ranging from 10 feet to 30 feet.

“It’s not surprising, but whatever is available for space is pretty much filled with life, whether it be animal or plant life,” said Dan Marelli, one of the four divers. scientists who have explored the area. “Then we get into mud flats and go a little further and it’s muddy sand. People consider this stuff to be lifeless, but there is actually a lot of life there under the layer. of surface.”

The August exploration spans a smaller 2019 dive. Cornell Cooperative Extension in Suffolk County conducted a separate dive this month to inventory eelgrass beds closer to shore.

Scientists will analyze the heritage data and program, and Save the Sound will release a report that calls for hope can be used to support efforts to permanently conserve the land mass.

As federal officials prepare to move USDA operations to a new facility in Manhattan, Kansas, the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, made up of 116 groups and individuals from New York, Connecticut and nationwide, are working on efforts conservation.

A report released by the coalition in 2020 recommended that the island become a wildlife sanctuary, army fort preservation, with added tours, an educational facility on the east side of the island, and a research center on the west side.

Most of Plum Island has not been disturbed by humans since the deactivation of Fort Terry in 1949 after World War II.

“About 600 acres of Plum Island have been truly, underdeveloped, unfettered for over 70 years,” said Louise Harrison, New York’s natural areas coordinator for Save the Sound, which coordinates the Preserve Plum Island Coalition.

A diverse habitat, which can generally support more types of life than just an environment, is another part of biological diversity, Harrison said. The island is where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Long Island Strait and Gardiners Bay. The island’s relatively sandy south side is juxtaposed with boulders deposited by glaciers to the north, she said.

“We believe this information will go a long way in convincing people who need to be convinced that we need to preserve Plum Island in perpetuity,” Harrison said. “Natural resources are part of our cultural heritage.

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 and covers the cities of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. Originally from Long Island, she reported on East End issues for 10 years.