148 



appears to be near Crab Cove in 1981, but this vegetation could not be 

 found by boat in the summer of 1985. 



Along the Marion shore, eelgrass forms nearly a continuous 

 subtidal band among rocks and boulders. Eelgrass is abundant in Marks 

 Cove, around Cromset Neck, and into the Weweantic river. The upper 

 extant of eelgrass in the Weweantic was not determined, but at least 

 extends to the bridge near its mouth. The beds in Marks Cove were not 

 sampled, but eelgrass was more continuous and denser than on the shoal 

 south of Long Beach Point (bed WAGNl) . 



Eelgrass is very abundant around the rocky shallows that make up 

 Little Bird Island. The beds are densest adjacent to the Island and on 

 the sand spit that meanders northwest of the Island. Sparser cover 

 continues to the south and west. The deeper areas to the north and east 

 of the island do not support eelgrass. The beds around Great Hill Point 

 contain considerable algal covered rock fields. 



Great Neck Wareham to Pocasset, Bourne (Figs. 17 + 18) 



The map of eelgrass beds between Great Neck and Pocasset were 

 based on aerial photographs, taken in 1971, 1975, 1974, and 1981 and 

 field surveys in 1985 and 1986 around Buttermilk Bay and areas south to 

 the Canal. 



This region is dominated by shallow, protected embayments, with 

 good water circulation, in part due to water exchange through the Cape 

 Cod Canal. Most of the shallow coves have extensive eelgrass cover 

 making this region and the adjacent south shore of Great Neck have the 

 highest total coverage of any area in this study. 



