Heard on Main Street: Welcome to our summer neighbors.
Did you see that “warmer waters seem to be shrinking Nemo”? As ocean temperatures rise, some fish, like the orange and white clownfish, are responding by getting smaller. They were seen to shrink in 2023 when waters heated up. “They’re actively changing their size and making themselves into a smaller individual that needs less food and is more efficient with oxygen,” said Theresa Rueger, senior lecturer in tropical marine sciences at Newcastle University, England, according to BBC News.
The research recorded clownfish living on coral reefs slimmed down drastically when ocean temperatures rocketed in 2023. Scientists say this discovery was a surprise, and could help explain the rapidly declining size of similar fish in the warming water of the world’s oceans.
A growing body of evidence suggests animals are also shape-shifting to cope with climate change, including birds, lizards, and insects.
I don’t often get off-Island these days. Besides the very dark clouds traveling with us overhead, I did notice the remarkable bright green of roadside trees nearly bursting with new leaves.
I just returned home from a trip to see my granddaughter Fiona Mayhew graduate from high school. Unfortunately, it was raining, only lightly, but it was a large class! We didn’t know how they decided; rain was predicted. It was lovely being there because a week with my son’s family is always a good time.
“‘Jaws’ 50th at the M.V. Museum” has ticketed activities celebrating the 50th anniversary of “Jaws,” scheduled from June 19 to 23.
Our V.H. library celebrates Amity Week with a back-to-back author talk and cartoon workshop by graphic novelist Ira Marcks, author of “Shark Summer,” set on Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 1974. The book tells the story of a young aspiring documentarian and her new friends, who want to film a documentary about the Island’s secret history just as a Hollywood film crew arrives. The talk is on Tuesday, June 24, at 6 pm at the Cornell Theatre, with books for sale by Edgartown Books.
On Wednesday, June 25, from 3:30 to 5:30 pm, Marcks will lead a hands-on workshop for teens and tweens. They will learn a process for designing a cartoon face, and adapting the features to create emotional expressions for storytelling. This workshop is free, but attendance is limited, at the community room on the lower level of the Tisbury EMS Facility on Spring Street.
Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out to Laurel Mayhew. Brian Flanders, and James Gould-Lamont on Sunday. Happy birthday on Tuesday to Claudia Nelson and to Cody Chandler.
Heard on Main Street: It is a fact that the second mouse gets the cheese.
If you have any Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Kay Mayhew, tashmoorock@gmail.com.
