Coskata-Coatue

A few weeks back on one of my days off I went to the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge. The Northeast tip of Nantucket Island is a "pair of long, fingery peninsulas, Coskata Coatue (“co-skate-uh coat-oo”) Wildlife Refuge is both a popular summer vacation destination and a fragile, wild and semi-remote coastscape. Most easily accessible by boat or oversand vehicle, the refuge also draws trampers and naturalists eager to observe shorebirds, raptors, and Great Point Light." I first made the 10 mile bike trip to Waiwinet from town, then took an overland vehicle tour around the sand trails for 3 hours. Typically the tour goes to the Great Point Lighthouse and visitors get to climb to the top, but because of nesting Piping Plovers on the beach, the route was closed to vehicles. I was able to get a shot of the lighthouse in the distance on the tour. It was a great chance to take in the suggest preserved beauty of Nantucket's wildlife and areas such as the "haul-over" where fishermen used to haul their boats over land to avoid having to sail around the tip of the island. I even got to see a seal jump up out of the water in the ocean. The refuge is worth the trip- and perfect if you have a vehicle that you can drive on the sand!

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