149 



Buttermilk and Little Buttermilk Bays are typical of the shallow 

 embayments in this area, and eelgrass grows densely in each (<1.5 m MLW 

 and <1.2 m MLW respectively). Dense beds also occur in Onset Bay and 

 around Great Neck and Point Independence. The vegetation indicated in 

 the upper reaches of some of these coves, for example, bed B0TI5 at 

 Toby's Island, bed B0AP2 at Mashnee Island, as well as the beds 

 northwest of Shell Ft., and in Broad Cove probably contain considerable 

 amounts of drift algae and possibly Ruppia. 



Among the interesting features in this region are the eelgrass 

 beds surviving on the Canal flood deltas south of Taylor Pt. and 

 Mashnee Island. These beds occupy a region of high current velocity and 

 have a very distinct striated pattern. 



Between Little Bird Island (Map 7A) and Stony Point, a shallow 

 shelf covers hundreds of hectares with a depth of 1.8 to 3.0 m; much of 

 it covered with eelgrass, forming some of the largest eelgrass beds in 

 Buzzards Bay. Water transparency is better here than at Longbeach 

 because water clarity improves with increasing distance from the Wareham 

 River toward the canal, and eelgrass grows to at least 3.0 m. Like the 

 Longbeach Point shoal, this area probably contains considerable volumes 

 of Codium as well. Because a large percentage of bed area grows near 

 the depth limit of Zostera growth, any decline in water transparency 

 will result in loss of large areas of eelgrass, making this an 

 ecologically sensitive area. 



On the shore east of the entrance to Little Harbor, eelgrass grows 

 in the troughs of sand waves, creating a distinct banded pattern 



