Menunketesuck Island | |
|---|---|
  Menunketesuck Island | |
| Coordinates: 41°15′50″N72°27′52.14″W / 41.26389°N 72.4644833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Connecticut |
| County | Middlesex |
| Town | Westbrook |
| Elevation | 3 ft (1 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 0 |
Menunketesuck Island, also known as Menunketesuck Point, is an island in Long Island Sound located in the town of Westbrook in Middlesex County, Connecticut, US.
Menunketesuck Island consists of approximately 4.6 acres [1] of land, though the actual acreage varies according to the tides. Although the elevation of the island reaches as much as 8 to 10 feet towards the center, the island perimeter consists largely of tidal flats, shoals and sandbars which are exposed at low tide and submerged during high tide.
The narrow island measures approximately 2,100 feet long and 170 feet wide during high tide; length increases to roughly 2,700 feet during low tide, with some portions of the island growing up to 270 feet wide.
During high tide, the northern end of the island lies approximately 700 feet from the shoreline. The distance from the mainland decreases to between 100 and 200 feet during low tide as expansive sandbars and tidal flats are exposed. The island is separated from the mainland by exceptionally shallow water during low tide, such that it can easily be accessed on foot. During high tide, the depth of the water increases to approximately 5 to 8 feet deep.
Menunketesuck Island is part of the Salt Meadow Unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge and was designated by the National Audubon Society as an "Important Bird Area", as it hosts populations of water birds including the least tern, American oystercatcher, great egret, glossy ibis, Black-crowned night heron and various gull species. [2] Ground nesting birds like terns and oystercatchers nest directly on the island's shore in the sand and rocks. Their nests are especially susceptible to disturbance by predators, domestic cats, domestic dogs, and humans. The long-legged wading birds, such as egrets and ibises, use the island's trees to nest and raise their young. The surrounding waters, mudflats and nearby marshes constitute a tremendous ecosystem for birds like these to find food, shelter and space.
Since becoming a National Wildlife Refuge, Menunketesuck Island has been closed to visitors. In addition, dogs, kites and drone flights are strictly prohibited. [3]
Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) is a national seashore located on Padre Island off the coast of South Texas. In contrast to South Padre Island, known for its beaches and vacationing college students, PINS is located on the north end of Padre Island and consists of a long beach where nature is preserved.
Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and part of the Everglades Headwaters NWR complex, located just off the western coast of North Hutchinson Island in the Indian River Lagoon east of Sebastian, Florida. The refuge consists of a 3-acre (12,000 m2) island that includes an additional 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of surrounding water and is located off the east coast of Florida of the Indian River Lagoon. Established by an executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 14, 1903, Pelican Island was the first National wildlife refuge in the United States. It was created to protect egrets and other birds from extinction through plume hunting. The oldest government wildlife refuge of any kind in North America is the Lake Merritt Bird Refuge in Oakland, California. Oakland Mayor Samuel Merritt declared it a wildlife refuge for migrating birds in 1869. In 1870, the state of California designated Lake Merritt a state game refuge.
The Mud Islands reserve is located within Port Phillip, about 90 km (56 mi) south-west of Melbourne, Australia, lying 10 km (6.2 mi) inside Port Phillip Heads, 7 km (4.3 mi) north of Portsea and 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Queenscliff. The land area of about 50 hectares is made up of three low-lying islands surrounding a shallow tidal 35-hectare (86-acre) lagoon connected to the sea by three narrow channels. The shapes and configuration of the islands change over the years due to movement of sand by tidal currents.
Plum Island is a barrier island located off the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, north of Cape Ann, United States. It is approximately 11 miles (18 km) in length. The island is named for the wild beach plum shrubs that grow on its dunes, but is also famous for the purple sands at high tide, which derive their color from tiny crystals of pink pyrope garnet. It is located in parts of four municipalities in Essex County. From north to south they are the city of Newburyport, and the towns of Newbury, Rowley, and Ipswich.
Haystack Rock is a 235 ft-tall (72 m) sea stack in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is often stated locally to be the third-tallest such intertidal structure in the world, but there are no supporting credible references for this claim. A popular tourist destination on the Oregon Coast, the monolithic rock is adjacent to the beach and accessible by foot at low tide. The Haystack Rock tide pools are home to many intertidal animals, including starfish, sea anemone, crabs, chitons, limpets, and sea slugs. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.
Foulney Island is a low-lying grass and shingle area 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south-east of Roa Island, off the southern tip of the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria, England. Foulney Island is one of the Islands of Furness in Morecambe Bay, northern England. For local government purposes the island is in the borough of Barrow-in-Furness. It has an area of about 40 acres. In earlier times it was known as Fowle Island.
The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LSNWR) is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System. It is located in southeastern Dixie and northwestern Levy counties on the western coast of Florida, approximately fifty miles southwest of the city of Gainesville.
The Marin Islands are two small islands, named East Marin and West Marin, in San Rafael Bay, an embayment of San Pablo Bay in Marin County, California.
The least tern is a species of tern that breeds in North America and locally in northern South America. It is closely related to, and was formerly often considered conspecific with, the little tern of the Old World. Other close relatives include the yellow-billed tern and Peruvian tern, both from South America.
The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge is a 950-acre (384.5 ha) National Wildlife Refuge in ten units across the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge spans 70 miles (110 km) of Connecticut coastline and provides important resting, feeding, and nesting habitat for many species of wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds and terns, including the endangered roseate tern. Adjacent waters serve as wintering habitat for brant, scoters, American black duck, and other waterfowl. Overall, the refuge encompasses over 900 acres (364.2 ha) of barrier beach, intertidal wetland and fragile island habitats.
The Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located offshore from St. Petersburg. The 64-acre (0.26 km2) refuge was established in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve nesting colonies of native seabirds and wading birds. The Passage Key Wilderness Area is part of the refuge, and consists of 36.37 acres (0.1472 km2) of its total area. It was established in 1970, to protect native birds and serve as a breeding ground for them.
Calf Island, between 27.5-acre (111,000 m2) and 31.5-acre (127,000 m2) island about 3,000 feet (910 m) from the Byram shore of Greenwich, Connecticut in Long Island Sound. It is connected at low tide to the Greenwich Land Trust's Shell Island. The size of the island is a best estimate as different sources cite different sizes for the island; while the oldest estimates put it at around 20-acre (81,000 m2) the GIS system puts it at 31.5-acre (127,000 m2) The island is open for visitors; although, as of the summer of 2006, it was getting relatively few of them.
The Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge encompassing 965 acres (3.91 km2) located in the California coastal community of Seal Beach. Although it is located in Orange County it is included as part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It was established in 1972.
Wassaw Island is one of the Sea Islands. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia and is within the borders of Chatham County. The island and its surrounding marshlands are part of the Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge, which has a total area of 10,053 acres (40.68 km2) of marsh, mudflats, and tidal creeks, including approximately 7 miles (11 km) of undeveloped beaches. The land mass is 76 percent salt marshes and 24 percent beaches, dunes, and maritime forest. The refuge is a part of the Savannah Coastal Refuges Complex.
The Norwalk Islands are a chain of more than 25 islands amid partly submerged boulders, reefs and mudflats along a six-mile (10 km) stretch and mostly about a mile off the coast of Norwalk, Connecticut, and southwest Westport, Connecticut, in Long Island Sound.
Glenn Martin National Wildlife Refuge includes the northern half of Smith Island, which lies 11 miles (18 km) west of Crisfield, Maryland, and Watts Island, which is located between the eastern shore of Virginia and Tangier Island. Both islands are situated in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
Sandy Point Island is a 35-acre (14 ha) island in Little Narragansett Bay, lying mostly in Westerly, Rhode Island and partly in Stonington, Connecticut. Once an extension of Napatree Point, Sandy Point is now a one-mile-long (1.6 km) island that serves as an important nature preserve and recreation site. Sandy Point is the westernmost piece of land in the state of Rhode Island.
Deveaux Bank is a horseshoe-shaped sand spit island encompassing a 215-acre (87-hectare) bird sanctuary at the mouth of the North Edisto River in Charleston County, South Carolina. It is located on the Atlantic Coast between Edisto Island, South Carolina and Seabrook Island, South Carolina. Its average elevation is three feet. It has approximately 2.75 miles of sandy beaches on four sides and a tidal dragon on the side facing the mainland.
Beatrice Islets are pair of islets in the Australian state of South Australia located in Nepean Bay on the north coast of Kangaroo Island about 4 kilometres east of Kingscote. The islets and adjoining intertidal areas are notable as habitat for bird life. The islet pair has enjoyed protected area status since 1909 and since at least 1972, have been part of the Beatrice Islet Conservation Park. During either the 1960s or the 1970s, the islets were extensively damaged by an exercise to remove an infestation of South African boxthorn.
Charles E. Wheeler Wildlife Management Area is a 625-acre (253 ha) brackish tidal marsh, nature preserve and hunting area owned by the state of Connecticut located in Devon (village), Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut.