Duxbury Shark Hunt

A whale carcass washing around has drawn even more Great White Sharks to Duxbury Beach. Dead whales to sharks are like a Golden Corral, or however one spells that.

Helicopters from emergency (our photographer says Coast Guard, our author is thinking State Police...the photographer is widely regarded by those who know both of us as being the smarter one) services spotted a GWS, then a slew of boats started pestering pretty much the last thing in the ocean that you want to pester.

I'm not expecting any Quint shark-killing action today, but we will keep an eye on the sea for you.

Will Dorian Impact Massachusetts?

Hurricane Dorian is whipping up on the Bahamas as we write this. Afterwards, where it goes is the subject of some debate.

After her dance with the Bahama Mama, Dorian looks to move towards Florida. However, forecasters are now calling for the storm to take a hook and move north up the coastline.

Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia would be next on the menu before the storm moves out to sea. The "moving out to sea" section of the forecast is the tricky part, with the New England implications.

Is Massachusetts going to get it?

We'll do our best to give you the If, When, Where and How Bad.

Please note, while freaking out about that one track with the Bourne landfall, that Bourne is about 1 of 100 places that the spaghetti calls a shot for. 99 other pastas take it out to sea nowhere near Massachusetts.

You don't need a direct hit from the hurricane to inflict massive damage to the coastline. However, every move to the east with this storm as it nears us gets us a little further from the truly dangerous stuff.

While the out to sea spaghetti forecasts have been moving closer to Cape Cod, even now we are only in an area of "10-30% chance of sustained >39 mph winds." The South Coast and Cape Cod are in the more ominous 40-50% range.

30% means that it is more than twice as likely that we don't get tropical storm force winds. That's the good news.

The bad news is that previous forecasts didn't even give it that much of a chance over the weekend. The trend is becoming more Massachusettsish.

Just made up a word there...

While the trend is not aiming towards a direct hit, it is moving us closer to some interaction with this powerful storm. That can make for a very bad scene.

Dorian is presently forecast to be in our area later Friday and Saturday.

We will not be getting 185 mph, Category 5 Dorian. Presently, we are not forecasted to have a direct hit from a Category 1 version of Dorian. Even a weakened Tropical Storm Dorian most likely will pass south and east of us.

Nothing is set in stone, however.

We do all of this warning-you stuff just to make money keep you informed in case the forecast takes a turn for the worse.

New England is unique with hurricanes in that we might look doomed as the storm approaches, but then it does a turn to the east and we instead get golfing weather.

This could break that way. If someone offered a blood money bet on this or any storm, bet on that.

Just keep part of your brain open to the possibility of something like this:

We'll be back later in the week with more updates. Stay dry.

Shark Sighting Closes Duxbury Beach To Swimming

Duxbury had a confirmed Great White Shark sighting by the third crossover.

Police closed the beach for swimming indefinitely.

We'll be back with an update if need be.

Sharks, Sunfish and Whales Off Duxbury Beach

Duxbury Beach is Coastline Crazy today as several benthic beasties are in action just off the shore.

Duxbury Beach was closed to swimming after a confirmed Great White Shark sighting. A source tells me that there may be two sharks. The confirmed sighting was down around the third crossover.

A whale carcass is floating near Brant Rock, and porkers like to feed on them. We could end up with more than two sharks if someone doesn't tow that ish out to sea.

The good news is that, with unlimited whale meat handy, the sharks will have full tummies and should have little interest in devouring humans.

A sunfish added to the confusion. Apparently unaware of the apex predator at the third crossover, he was flopping around about 20-100 yards off the Public Stairs.

When looking at this weak picture I took of him, understand before complaining that this was the best of the dozen that I took.

None of these creatures are unusual for the area.

Duxbury closed the beaches to swimming indefinitely. Cape Cod generally shuts down for just an hour for a sighting, but Duxbury:

 1) is not as accustomed to GWS sightings as Wellfleet is,

and

 2) unlike somewhere along the lines of Eastham, Duxbury isn't dependent on tourist dollars.

We'll be back with an update if need be.

Hang in there!

Helen of White Horse

Helen of White Horse

I.

Where beach plums waxen green and swell,
‘Till rich October ripes them well,
And Cape Cod Bay her sand dunes reach,
Heaps high along White Horse Beach,
Far back in thick old Plymouth fogs,
Love blossomed as flowers bloom in bogs.

II.

But not as plums were good to eat,
In Plum Glen where lovers meet—
Where Helen keeps with Roland tryst,
And lips have touched in love and kissed,
For it was August, and the growth
Of fruit and love lacked much in both.

III.

The fruit lacked purple mellowness,
And love lacked cleric hands to bless;
For Helen’s father would not bear
To give his child to Roland’s care,
And Helen could not bear to part
With all there was in her one heart.

IV.

And so she told her father so;
And every evening she would go
And meet with Roland on this road
Tradition tells Myles Standish trode;
This sunken road that used to run
Between two homes, once meant for one.

V.

Where the Alabama cot now stands,
The dune is one sharp ridge of sands
Protected by the tops and roots
Of beach-peas, grasses and the shoots
Of barberry bushes, and woodbine,
And thickets all along the line.

VI.

Below your feet, a deep down dell
Is red with roses, sparrows dwell
Secure on ground and bough;
Eludes the searcher’s half day quest.
Poor Helen’s home was near this spot,
Between the neighboring pond and cot.

VII.

 And this is Beach Plum Glen! The sea
Sounds in the dell incessantly;
One bounds this rugged height out o’er
The sparrows feed along the shore,
And towards the Gurnet’s double light
The White Horse Beach is full in sight.

VIII.

The Twenty-fourth of August dawns,
‘Twas young in ages long agone,
And Helen’s love was young and strong,
And life is love and love is long;
Young Roland must to sea again
And meets bride Helen in the glen.

IX.

His jaunty cap and sailor dress,
His bearing high, his manliness,
Were much to lose and sail from shore,
Poor Helen thinks, “Forevermore.”
And she must bear her father’s pride,
Her own loved Roland far awide.

X.

She warns her father yet again,
That he will grieve, but warns in vain;
The night shuts down and it is dark,
The midnight comes; the parents hark;
They listened once before to-night
And thought they heard before; were right.

XI.

Her bed had not been occupied,
The father could not find the bride;
The white horse was not in stall,
The saddle, bridle gone and all.
He hurries, shouting, to the beach;
The white horse swims her out of reach.

XII.

“Come back, my daughter!” loud he cries;
“I will no more oppose!”—but dies
The cry upon the sounding sea;
The white horse moves out steadily;
And Helen nevermore returns,
Nor beacon light for Roland burns.

XIII.

Where Beehive Cottage stands beside
The road that leads down to the tide,
But out to sea, a massive block
Has long been called “The White Horse
Rock.”
The horse that trusted Helen’s hand
Fled here and saw no more the land.

XIV.

But love will let no loves die;
And oft in all these years gone by,
Upon her steed, and late at e’en,
Bride Helen on this rock is seen
Looking for Roland through the mist
Until he joins her keeping tryst.

TIMOTHY OTIS PAINE
Elmwood, Mass

New Bedford Seagulls

Seagulls are ever present around SE Massachusetts.

We shared some Little Caesars with a dozen New Bedford gulls. I know that pizza crust isn't their ideal meal, but we were out of herring.

We couldn't get one to eat out of our hand, even when we held a crust out and pretended to be preoccupied. Those little sky rats can smell a camera.

Rough Surf This Week As Storm Passes SE Of Massachusetts

A tropical system passing South and East of us should send waves at Massachusetts coastal regions this week.

An area of thunderstorms off of the Florida coast should organize into a tropical depression today or tomorrow, and it could evolve into a tropical storm as it moves along the coast into development-friendly waters off of the Carolinas.

It is expected to move more NE than N, which will take it out to sea before it can start thinking "Cape Cod." Her closest pass to us should be a few hundred miles SE of Nantucket.

That means No Tropical Storm For Us. However, the storm can still touch us from far away.

A storm like this will churn up some rough surf. The South Coast will get it first, as the storm gets closer North to us, then the Outer Cape gets the waves as the storm pushes East.

This is great for surfers and surf-watchers, as the coast will get hit with slow rolling swells. A persistent East wind will help things along.

Added bonus: While we could pick up bands of moisture from this storm, it is also within the realm of possibility that you could have some tasty waves hitting on an otherwise sunny beach day. Tropical storm fun without the actual tropical storm.

There could also be bad rip currents, so swim all careful-like.

Unless something else forms quickly, the system will be Erin if she attains named storm status. Dorian is further South, sizing up the Caribbean. We'll keep an eye on both storms for you, and let you know if anything Massachusetts develops out of them.