SUMMER CUT PLANNED!

The question on everyone’s mind seems to be whether or not there will be a summer cut of Edgartown Great Pond. Edgartown Shellfish Constable, Rob Morrison, confirmed today, that EGP will be cut to the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, July 20th! EGP is 3.71 feet above mean sea level as of Wednesday. Let’s all hope for an excellent cut and flush of EGP!

Summer cuts are so fun to see and explore, but the consequences of an ill-timed cut are severe and may outweigh the fun. During a successful cut, the Pond must drain and then it must become tidal to flush all coves and corners of EGP with cool, clean, clear, salty, and oxygenated seawater. If the Pond is cut and drains but the tidal flush does not occur, the Pond would be shallow and heat up, reducing the water quality and endangering all the life within it.

Effective pond cuts in EGP tend to have at least 9-11 days of tidal cycles to flush the entire pond. A lot of factors weigh into the Town of Edgartown’s decision to cut the Pond. We are very lucky that the Town’s decision rests on the capable shoulders of biologist and Shellfish Constable, Rob Morrison. Rob uses all the scientific tools and data at his disposal and tends to look towards moon tides to optimize the effectiveness of a cut.

Stay tuned on the success of the cut!