CHATHAM – Salt marshes are a nice spot to catch minnows or fiddler crabs, a great location for birdwatching or for a lazy kayak trip. They’re also a prime place to learn about topics like sea level rise, carbon storage and storm wave attenuation.

 Speaking at last week’s annual meeting of the Friends of Chatham Waterways, Natural Resources Director Greg Berman said salt marshes are widely known for providing important habitat for juvenile fish and other species, but their role in storm protection is sometimes less appreciated.

 “I don’t know if you may have gone out during a storm, but sometimes in these marshes, you’ll see bubbles coming up as the floodwaters come in,” he said. “It’s capturing the floodwaters, and it then allows it to drain more slowly after the storm surge has faded. So marshes do an amazing service,” he said. Several research projects are currently underway in Chatham’s marshes, Berman noted.

 The Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies, working under contract with the Chatham Energy and Climate Action Committee, is studying four salt marshes along Nantucket Sound to consider areas in need of protection. 

 “We’re looking to see what areas are vulnerable and what activities might be able to help these marshes in the future,” either by helping them migrate to adapt to rising sea levels, or by stabilizing them in place. Researchers there have been flying drones to map the marshes with high-resolution LIDAR systems, measuring the exact elevations of the marsh, which dictate what kinds of vegetation will grow in certain areas. Scientists are also using core samples to learn about the history and structure of the marshes and are employing “sediment traps” to determine how silt and sand move through the marsh at various times of the year. 

 Also ongoing now is a study by Old Dominion University, working with the U.S.Geological Survey, to see how carbon is exported as salt marshes degrade. 

 “So carbon that goes into the atmosphere has a very quick negative effect,” Berman said. “If it goes out into the ocean, it can be sequestered a little bit longer.” As part of this study, researchers have installed stations in the marsh behind Harding’s Beach to measure meteorological conditions and other variables. 

 Using state grant funds, the town is also conducting a similar salt marsh analysis at Muddy Creek, where stabilizing the salt marsh is necessary to preserve the town landing at Jackknife Harbor. The study involves encouraging a “living shoreline” that will stall erosion of the marsh bank while allowing the system to keep growing in response to rising sea levels. Researchers considered a variety of possibilities before opting for “shell bags” that will be used to stabilize the bank using live shellfish. The project is still in the permitting phase, after which the town will seek grant funds to build it.

 “We’ve been doing some testing. We’re not using oysters, we’re using ribbed mussels,” he said. “Because if you used oysters, people might come along and collect and eat them. Oysters are delicious,” he quipped. 

 Meanwhile the Division of Marine Fisheries is doing its own research on eelgrass off Chatham in a bid to counteract the loss of eelgrass in state waters. “They want to see the viability of potentially transplanting,” Berman said. “So they go to a donor bed and then they plant areas that used to have eelgrass on them.” The work is being conducted in the waters south of South Chatham.

 Recognizing his leadership as a board member for more than 20 years, the Friends of Chatham Waterways named Frank Messina as its 2024 Captain’s Award winner last week. A key organizer of the Chatham Water Watchers, Messina helped gather the data that’s being used to protect the town’s water quality. Flanked by his wife, Joan Ellen, and his son, Joseph, Messina accepted the award to a standing ovation.