BIOLOGICAL REPORT 31 



Buzzards Bay supports a wide variety of coastal 

 habitats including tidal wetlands, eelgrass beds, tidal 

 flats, barrier beaches, rocky shores, and tidal rivers 

 and streams. In addition, the joining of Buzzards 

 Bay and Cape Cod Bay via the Cape Cod Canal 

 provides the potential for mixing of semi-tropical 

 and arcadian species, making the bay a unique area 

 for study of marine organisms. The ecological vari- 

 ety of the bay itself as well as its proximity to a 

 number of different marine environments (bay, 

 sound, open ocean) inspired the location of several 

 major marine research institutions in the village of 

 Woods Hole, near the southeastern end of the bay 

 (Fig. 1 .2). The Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- 

 tution and Marine Biological Laboratory are well- 

 known marine research facilities that have taken ad- 

 vantage of the unique range of environments found 

 in this region, as have branches of the National Ma- 

 rine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanographic 

 and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the 

 U.S. Geological Survey. Near the head of the bay, 

 the Massachusetts Maritime Academy trains men 

 and women in the merchant marine field. The qual- 

 ity of the marine waters led Spencer Baird in 1 97 1 

 to seek establishment of the U.S. Fish Commission 

 (now the National Marine Fisheries Service) in 

 Woods Hole adjacent to Buzzards Bay. when many 

 other mid and north Atlantic coastal areas were 

 showing evidence of pollution from cities or high 

 turbidity from sediment input. 



The watershed area of Buzzards Bay is divided 

 among 1 coastal towns located from Westport on 

 the west to Gosnold on the east (Figs. 1 .3 and 1 .4) 

 and 8 noncoastal towns, which either completely 

 (Carver, Rochester, Acushnet) or partially (Fall 

 River, Freetown, Lakeville, Middleborough, Ply- 

 mouth) lie within the watershed boundary. The 

 drainage basin encompasses 1 ,1 04 km- compared 

 with 550 km 2 of bay surface (Table 1.1). Buzzards 

 Bay is a moderate-sized estuary compared with 

 other systems such as Chesapeake Bay, San Fran- 

 cisco Bay, or even Delaware Bay with watersheds 

 1 50. 140, and 30 times the area, respectively, and 

 21,2.3, and 3.4 times the water surface, respec- 

 tively, of Buzzards Bay. Buzzards Bay differs some- 

 what from other major estuarine systems in that the 

 water surface represents a large portion, almost one- 

 third, of the total area of the bay plus watershed. 

 This potentially decreases the role of in- 

 puts from the watershed compared with other 

 large estuarine systems where the bay area is 

 generally less than 10% of the total system 



Fig. 1.2. Aerial photograph of research institutions in 

 the village of Woods Hole, Falmouth, Massachusetts 



Fig. 1.3. Towns of the Buzzards Bay watershed 

 region. 



