Last Friday a science team marched to Wells Harbor and began a rapid assessment of marine invertebrates on and around the dock. The taxonomic specialists from MIT, Sea Grant, and the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Program were joined by Reserve research director Michele Dionne and associate Jeremy Miller, who facilitated the Wells Harbor survey.

Wells was one of nine stops in two days ("scrape, collect, bag, see ya!" — J. Miller) for the rapid assessment team, which is establishing baseline data and investigating biological invasions in coastal waters throughout the Gulf of Maine. Their work has been ongoing for several years, but this was the first time they stopped in Wells.

More information

• Earlier blog article describing Wells Reserve research on fouling organisms
• Portland Press Herald story July 31 [dead link]
• Boston Globe story July 27
• Casco Bay Estuary Project resource page (2004) on Maine's marine invasives [dead link]