orthof CapeCod, the coasts of northernNew Englandare geologically young createdby the glaciersof Flm~4- the lastice age and constantly changing sea levels. The coastalregion consists primarily of rockheadlands, coves, %hen jjs 8 SAX an ESTUARY~ bays,estuaries, islands, and sand beaches. Estuaries,the meetingplaces of freshand salt waters, arecommon along the northernNew England coast. Most, 8AV: An inletof thesea or otherbody like the lower PenobscotRiver, are river valleys "drowned" bythe risingocean. of waterusually smaller than a gulf;or a Because estuaries are a mixture of fresh and salt smallbody of waterset offfrom the main water,they enable anadromous fish, like shad, alewives,and Atlantic salmon,to makethe body. p, ~ difficul transition from salt to fresh water. In addition,the salt marshes alongthe estuaryshorelines provide ESTVARV:A semi-enclosedbay where productiveenvironments as tidal salt water meets a current of fresh uide to nurseriesfor youngfish and water at the lower end of a river. shellfish. The marshes produceabundant grasses Estuaries are natural collectors of nutri- that decayand fertilize the marshbottom, estuary ents,which are brought in boththrough the waters, and the ocean saltwaterwedge and through the freshwa- itself. ter runoff from land. More than half the fish Tidal flats are found In both estuaries and andshellfish harvested in the U.S.spend a shelteredbays, where sediments washed down from majorportion of theirlives in estuaries. upstreamsettle out of the calmer waters. Althoughsand beaches are somewhatrare in Maineand represent In i 984,Casco Bay off of Portland,Maine, recorded onlyone percent of the state'sshoreline, the highestlevels of lead,the third highest levels of silver, theyare more prevalent in NewHampshire and andthe fifth highest level of zincin fishlivers in a surveyof southernMaine. A fewof the largerbeaches in the region contaminants in U.S, fish. Elevated metal concentrations OldOrchard, Reid, and Popham! were formed from eroded werealso detected in musselsfrom Penobscot Bay in the soilsbrought down by the Saco,Kennebec, and other rivers. late1970s, and again in the t980s. >kN ,.-. Comparedto similarbodies of waternationwide, most To maintaina healthyfuture for the region'sbays and Vew& ' of the baysand estuaries of northernNew England are estuaries,people who live and work in the bays and the relativelyunpolluted. However, in the mostpopulous areas watershedshave joined forces to preventdegradation of the of the regionthe magnitudeof pollutionand contaminants is coaxalresources. Citizen volunteer projects, supporled in of some concern. partby the Maine/NewHampshire Sea Grant Program, have Theloss of eelgrassbeds in NewHampshire's Great beenmonitoring northern New England's waters since the Bayhas been linked to pollutionfrom the surrounding areas, mid-1980s. andto a natural"wasting" disease. Without the eelgrass to SeaGrant in northernNew England also helps support trapsoil particles, small fish and other organisms that form NewHampshire's Great Bay Watch, the CascoBayKeeper, the bottomof the aquaticfood chain have declined, resuiting the PenobscotBay Network, and the MaineClean Water in a less productiveestuarine ecosystem. Program.

THE SOUTHWEST COAST ~ Saco Bay, Maine Notonly had many of thecostly dredging operations SacoBay is the largestsand beach system in northern been unnecessary,but dredgedsand had been dumpedin Manyof the beachesin northernNew England NewEngland and the largestsalt marshsystem in Maine. thewrong location. By following their recommendations, the fromsouthern New Hampshire rorth to Cape Everythree to fiveyears, the estuarieson boththe northern researcherssay the community can save at least$i million Elizabeth,Maine, are defined by rockycapes and southernends of the beachsystem are dredgedat a perdecade in dredgingcosts. separatedby crescent-shapedbays with sandy costof approximately$1 million, beaches.Old Orchard Beach on SacoBay is the Jettiesthat were built in the pastto protectthe river THE SOUTH-CENTRAL COAST largestsand beach in thisregion. Major estuaries mouthsfrom incoming sand are interfering with the overall includeGreat Bay, York River, Wells Harbor, supplyof sedimentto the beachesand exacerbating erosion Thecoast from Cape Elizabeth to PortClyde, MousamRiver, Kennebunk River, and Saco andshoreline retreat. On one section of the beach Camp includingCasco Bay, consists of bedrock River. Ellis!,erosion has caused dozens of housesto fall intothe peninsulasseparating long, narrow bays. The sea. lowerKennebec River is the largestestuary in this ~ GreatBay, New Hampshire section.Maquoit and Middle bays. and the New Often consideredto be New Hampshire'shidden V Sea Grantresearchers from the University of Maine, Meadowsand Harraseeket rivers are typical coastline,Great Bay is the heartof an estuarythat includes MaineGeological Survey, and Boston University con- embaymentsih thisregion arid are important eightrivers and Little Bay. Located several miles inland, the structeda sandbudget for thebay by evaluatingthe shellfishgrowing areas. i 7-square-mileGreat and Little bays interact with the Gulf of sourcesand sinks for sand, and they determinedthat sand J Mainevia the PiscataquaRiver. Their twice daily cycle of movedin the oppositedirection from what engineers had ~ CascoBay, Maine thought. emptyingand filling causes currents of overfour miles per CascoBay extends from Cape Elizabeth north to hour in the narrowparts of the river's channel. HarpswellNeck and is typifiedby Iong,narrow estuaries GreatBay's strong tides control circulation in the bay, separatedby peninsulas.Due to economicgrowth in resuspendingsediments and distributing nutrients. The bay southernMaine, the CascoBay area has undergone containsa rangeof productiveand important habitats, increasingcommercial and residential development, In includingits waters,shellfish beds, subtidal eelgrass beds, recentyears, many year-round and recreational homes have intertidaland subtidal macroalgae, mudflats, salt marshes, been built on the bluffs facingthe bay's estuaries. channelbottoms, and rocky intertidal areas, Whenthe colonists arrived over 200 years ago, they deforestedthe coastal region for timberand agriculture. V Recent SeaGrant research conducted in GreatBay Coastalerosion probably accelerated at thistime due to the includesa studyof the roleof theestuary as a nurseryfor lossof vegetationon the bluffs.This shoreline retreat juvenilesof severaicommercially important marine species continuesto the present,and most bluffs with houses on top anda studyof theways lobsters make use of theestuary. have seawalls to slow down erosion. SeaGrant also supported a feasibilitystudy of the commercialoyster fishery in the estuary,an effortthat V SeaGrant researchers are studying the isotopic looksvery promising and that is movingforward. compositionof leadfound in CascoBay. By analyzing bottomsediment cores and water samples from two sites in the bay,they will be ableto findthe source s!of the metal.