OPET was founded in 1995 after a group of residents of the Oyster Pond watershed area met to consolidate the work of the Pond Watchers and the Oyster Pond Trust through a new organization called the Oyster Pond Environmental Trust, Inc. Members and donors received a mailing in December 1994 reporting on the election of directors who represent the concerned residents of the watershed and include leaders of both efforts. Today the organization continues to work toward the health of the pond and protecting the watershed.
photo by Birgit Rose

The History of Oysters at Oyster Pond

In K. O. Emery's book "A Coastal Pond Studied by Oceanographic Methods," available through OPET and also at amazon.com, talks about Oysters being found in abundance at Oyster Pond, hence its name. However, the book also goes on to say that the oysters began to disappear "due to overexploitation or diseases" (p. 6) between 1767 and 1773. The book said, "Although the reports of the committees are unrecorded, it is possible that the major factor was closure of high enough salinity to support oysters [22 to 32 parts per thousand...], the pond must originally must have been open to the entrance by seawater. Growth of a baymouth bar during the late 18th century may have closed off the pond and caused it to become too fresh for oysters" (p. 6). Today in the 21st century there are no oysters in Oyster Pond because the water is too fresh.

Page 9 of the book states: "Oyster Pond is about 1050 meters long and is oriented north-northwest almost at right angles to the shore of Vineyard Sound. The maximum width of the pond is 400 meters, but because the the shores are very irregular the average width is about half that figure. Its total surface area is km2 (62 acres).... The south end of the pond was formerly a sand and gravel bar which separated it from the sound, but a railroad embankment and a highway fill built along the north side of the bar and atop an adjoining marsh now limits the pond. An extension of the marsh has developed on washover fans produced by high waves of hurricanes. Between the railroad and the highway are several small, shallow (0.5 meter deep) marsh lagoons, which extend 350 meteres southwest of the pond. The pond drains into the first marsh lagoon through a conduit under the highway at the southwestern corner of the pond, and the marsh lagoon in turn connects with the open sound through another conduit under the railroad and a trench through the bar 200 meters southwest of the pond."

Page 12 states: "The bottom contours of Oyster Pond accord with the glacial origin of the pond inferred from the topography and geology of the surroundings. The pond's northeast basin is a glacial kettle within the Buzzards Bay terminal moraine and contains a partial fill of lake sediment."

Much more information about the history, topography, geology, human occupation of the Oyster Pond area, sediments, water, and animal life are in the book. OPET has republished the book and it is available for $10 plus $2.50 shipping and handling.

This page updated October 1, 2006