Casco Bay MIMIC volunteers are on a quest for life forms most folks hardly notice. They have been visiting tide pools and floating docks at up to 12 locations in and around Casco Bay for several summers now, searching for tunicates, bryozoans, crustaceans, and other organisms that coat or cling to underwater surfaces. It's part of a broader effort to keep watch in the Gulf of Maine for unwelcome arrivals. 

The recently issued sixth edition of the State of Casco Bay holds a section on marine invasive species authored by Casco Bay Estuary Partnership Director Curtis Bohlen, USEPA Environmental Scientist Matthew Liebman, and the reserve's Jeremy Miller, who coordinates the MIMIC program in Maine. It's a brief but thorough look at the status of marine invasive species in the bay.

Download Casco Bay Marine Invasives Fact Sheet

Source

From State of Casco Bay by the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, accessed December 16, 2021:

Every five years Casco Bay Estuary Partnership takes a step back and a close look at the current condition of Casco Bay. This scientific assessment of the health of Casco Bay uses the best available data and includes information on stressors, changes over time, drivers of changes and what all this data means to anyone who works, lives or plays on or near the Bay.

The State of Casco Bay 6th Edition Report contains 19 interrelated Indicators which provide a framework for understanding the causes and outcomes of change in the Bay and for implementing effective solutions. The report and Indicators are available for on-line reading and as PDFs to download. 6 regional Fact Sheets will be available in late 2021. If you would like to receive a paper copy of the report, send an email request to cbep@maine.edu.