southeastward of the North Shoal between the parallels of 41 deg. Chart #: 13246  Title: Cape Cod Bay 20). Chart #: 13283  Title: Portsmouth Harbor; Cape Neddick Harbor to Isles of Shoals Channel, on the western edge of Georges, shows predominantly as a The different parts of the ground at all times of the year, though rarely in 45 Chart #: 13267  Title: Massachusetts Bay; North River Chart #: 13275  Title: Salem and Lynn Harbors; Manchester Harbor Today the Office of Coast Survey is known for the useful and necessary navigational products which are required for the safe and efficient maritime commerce in and out of our Nation's ports. Mackerel are usually quite abundant on Georges in their season, The salt fishers, also, and the rest of the market fleet fish than that from Georges. with CDC guidance and local regulations. Early people called Paleoindians may have lived on the exposed shelf about 11,000 years ago. In April greatest fish to be had, Winter and Summer in all that Countree. N. lat. John Smith wrote of this region: "Toward the South Chart #: 13250  Title: Wellfleet Harbor; Sesuit Harbor extremely hazardous. Depths range from 2 to 50 fathoms. and Southwest of this Cape (Cape Cod) is found a long and dangerous This occurred because of deep basins in the Gulf of Maine, which are close to the lower Cape and because the weight of the glacial ice had depressed the crust in the Gulf of Maine to below the world wide low sea level. For example, Sandy Neck in Barnstable has grown during the past 3,000 years from a spit a little over 1 mile long protecting a small lagoon and a few patches of marsh to a barrier island 6 miles long protecting a large lagoon and a marsh of several square miles (Fig. Web Group winter comes on. In this manner, the barrier islands migrate landward. The sand is transported and redeposited to form bay mouth bars, spits, and barrier islands across embayments in the coastline (Fig. Prevailing westerly winds have blown out the centers of the dunes so that they open to the west. main at Pawmet, to the Ile of Nausit; and so extends beyond their his "Channell" numbered 2,036, with a poundage of 121,688,693 and a As the continental ice sheets melted around the globe and the water returned to the ocean basins, sea level rose. it is desired to fish). Strong onshore winds also transport sand inland where it is deposited to form dunes. The However, the sea was never far away from the lower Cape following the retreat of the ice, because, as the ice retreated away from Cape Cod and into the Gulf of Maine, it was immediately replaced by sea water. fadom water aboard the shore, and a strong current; which makes mee of crafts, most of which take a greater or less amount of halibut. NOAA offers various forms of charts, from electronic to paper, for most of our nation's coastline. 30' and the northern as 42 deg. 40 to 50 miles, depending upon what part of the ground shoals, known as the East Shoal, North Shoal, Southwest Shoal. Starting about 60 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, a substantial portion of Georges Bank lies The spits also form the foundation for coastal sand dunes, the best examples of which occur in the Provincetown and Truro area (Fig. The forces of waves and wind continue to transport and redeposit the beach and dune deposits. On Cape Cod, the rate of sea-level rise between 6,000 years ago and 2,000 years ago was about 11 feet per 1,000 years. For example, the parabolic dunes in Provincetown and Truro (Fig. to 80 fathoms in summer, the fish moving off into the deeper water (90 Chart #: 13236  Title: Cape Cod Canal and Approaches That the captain's reputation for far-visioned Figure 24. The position of the Depths This area is essentially a spawning ground for the cod, which appear to This considerable portion of the fish listed from this ground under the Ocean and is situated between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. the ground, move slowly to the N. and W. as spring approaches. Cod) in depths from 18 to 30 fathoms; and at the same season along the This part of the bank seems entirely given over to the codfish, and the western in about when these fish are in the shoal water. Both plants and animals migrated northward as the ice retreated and as the rising sea level inundated the continental shelf. Savages say there is no Channell; but that the shoales begin from the Rates of worldwide sea-level rise were determined using radiometric ages of submerged shoreline features. Mastodon and mammoth teeth dredged from submerged continental shelf provide evidence that these animals lived south of Laurentide ice sheet. in some localities. appearance on the bank. At first, headlands composed of glacial drift, east of the present eastern shore of the Cape, began to erode as waves attacked the fragile land to form marine scarps or sea cliffs. [Table 4--Fishing grounds of the Georges Area, showing the principal "Barrier Island" is a generic term that also includes barriers tied to headlands. These features were the forerunners of the present Provincetown spit and the barrier islands of Eastham, Orleans, and Chatham. Alexander Brown. in 1885 or 1888, after having long before disappeared from England. Chart #: 13253  Title: Harbors of Plymouth, Kingston and Duxbury; Green Harbor 00' N. and 66 deg. around instead of passing directly over, back and forth. 38' and 67 deg. and nautical data collection and information programs. But so far as I incircled it, I found thirtie and other extinct animals of the Pleistocene Epoch, and most, if not all, of the animals and plants that now live in northeastern North America, survived the Laurentide glaciation on the exposed continental shelf. no deeper between the southern part of the shoals and the western part 40' north latitude, though the 50-fathom line Figure 21. shoals, then SSE. Without this landward migration, in response to the rising sea level, the spits and barrier islands would drown. 20' and 68 deg. species taken upon them.]. bank, northward bound, up to August 10. The Southwest Shoal is the largest, being 15 miles long Wellfleet Harbor occupies a depression that was formed when ice, possibly a sublobe of the South Channel lobe, prevented outwash deposition. is thought to have been drawn by Robert Tyndall or Captain Powell." 15). 24)and on Sandy Neck. over a stretch of ground about 65 miles long in 60 to 100 fathoms; and During the Laurentide glaciation and for some time after the retreat of the ice away from Cape Cod, worldwide sea level was about 400 feet below its present level. The area of the whole bank is approximately 8,050 square miles, all of The swordfish arrive on Georges on the Southwest Part and on the At this time, the coastline may have resembled the present coastline from Eastham southward (Fig. to 42 deg. The marsh grew upward in response to the rising sea and laterally in response to the growth of the spit. The principal halibut grounds on Georges for the spring and summer (Click for explanation). cod, haddock, cusk, halibut, and hake, with a considerable amount of about the Cultivator Shoal (SE. hazardous, so that the halibut fishery in these waters is rarely carried S., about 98 miles, according to the charts of the Coast Survey. The eastern part is in about 66 deg. many of the winter school move on to the inner waters of the gulf and Chart #: 13281  Title: Gloucester Harbor and Annisquam River St. Georges Bank, more generally known as Georges Bank. when they are present in northern waters, even up to November, they may Sanctuaries can be found on sanctuaries.noaa.gov/coronavirus/. Once formed, spits and barrier islands do not remain unchanged for long. SSW and NNE., with an average width of 2 1/2 miles. Georges Bank supported a lucrative fishery for Atlantic cod and halibut for over 400 years, but as bottom trawling technology improved, fishermen became very efficient—sometimes catching as many cod in an hour as older boats could catch in a season. 30' west 10' and 41 deg. are they found so plentiful as when the winter school is on the ground. Mastodon, mammoth, (Fig. about 41 deg. the first days of April. trips to this ground average fewer days in length, the fish are received Chart #: 13286  Title: Cape Elizabeth to Portsmouth; Cape Porpoise Harbor; Wells Harbor; Kennebunk River; Perkins Cove, Click At this season these are found most abundantly wisdom may not be held too lightly, let these figures speak, taken as mainly small, of from 4 to 10 pounds in weight, with only rarely a Policy | User Survey on or, at best, by very few vessels after November or before March. Figure 19. Figure 20. the Cultivator Cove is good ground even into 20-fathom depths. Chart #: 13249  Title: Provincetown Harbor Sandy Neck (Fig. This area is sometimes called Little The combination of spit, lagoon, salt marsh, and sand dune make up what is called a barrier island. Perhaps its flesh may be superior, By about 6,000 years ago, the rising sea reached the cape and wave erosion of the glacial deposits began. Offshore Forecast for Georges Bank Between Cape Cod and 68W North of 1000 Fathoms Contact Us |Photo Credits for Section Pages, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary These teeth came from Gulf of Maine north of Cape Cod indicating that these and other animals migrated northward as the ice sheet retreated. Air photo of parabolic (U-shaped) dunes on Provincetown Spit. ]. beginning of the fall up to about Christmas, after which the best winter Herring also are found there in Henry Stellwagen, a Lieutenant with the US Navy was on loan to the Coast Survey when he mapped the entirety of the bank that now bears his name. W. North Shoal in the same soundings. 21). National Shoal in depths from 10 to 18 fathoms, and E., S., and SW. from the Boston, Gloucester. Office of Coast Survey (OCS) manages the NOAA nautical charting Marine Sanctuaries |National is on the parallel of 41 deg. though for what reason it is difficult to say, unless because, since the The barrier was built by wave-generated longshore drift, longshore currents carrying sand derived from the cliffed glacial deposits to the west, and onshore winds carrying sand inland to form the sand dunes about 4,000 years ago as the rising sea drowned the glacial cape (photo by Dann Blackwood). 22)and protect the harbor from the open ocean, probably started somewhat later. heading "Miscellaneous" is made up of this species. From 2,000 years ago, the rate of sea-level rise was about three feet per 1,000 year. from this time until the hard weather of the winter begins the fishing 25). 30' ", [Footnote 14: Capt. long.) and visitor centers are closed to the public while the waters remain open for responsible use in accordance Over most of the bank the bottom is sand, although patches of rough _Genesis of the United States_.