OPET's founding Board member John Dowling is a neurobiologist interested in how vision works. He bought his house on Oyster Pond in 1981, a time when the pond was teeming with white perch. White perch are very useful donors for the culturing of retinal neurons of the eye, so John began to fish his back 'yard', the Oyster Pond. Assured by a fisheries expert that culling the white perch could only be beneficial for the pond, he took up to 300 fish at a time to his lab at Harvard University. But in the late 80's white perch disappeared at an alarming rate. John wondered "why?" and took an interest in the health of the pond. When Alan White of WHOI began the Falmouth Pond Watchers (FWP) program in 1987, John agreed to help take measurements on Oyster Pond. To this day, John remains 'pond captain' for FPW with Julie Rankin. By 1990, White perch totally disappeared from the pond, barnacles grew on the rocks; oxygen measurements showed that 80 % of the pond was anoxic (without oxygen). This led the scientists directing the Pond Watch program to propose reducing salinity of Oyster Pond to improve its health. In a first step, the town was asked to stop dredging out Trunk River, Oyster Pond's link to the ocean, and by the summers of '93-'94 the pond had become fresher and the oxygen levels improved. The next step was to construct a weir at the efflux end of Oyster Pond to better control the influx of salt water, and finally to repair the jetties of the Trunk River. Thanks to OPET's initiative and persistence, these steps were financed and completed by the town. White perch have made a comeback since 1996, and Oyster Pond is getting healthier! Although John has since moved on to another fish species for his research, he can't resist fishing for white perch in Oyster Pond.
By Erika Hahn
OPET's website, www.opet.org, is online. All the OPET Watersheds are there with color photos, you can find info about OPET, board members, and additional photos. Soon detailed postings of student projects results will be featured. The website has a site search engine. (In the past 12 months, people who searched the site searched for "oyster"!). Over 1300 visitors have been logged. Len Kreidermacher is the OPET contact for the website phone 508- 548-5560 or e-mail serene@capecod.net
Mrs. Margaret Spohr passed away in February 2001. People who have enjoyed the flowering gardens on the estate for years have wondered what will happen to the property. Cam Gifford, Trustee of the Margaret K and Charles Spohr Trust, said the house on the property will be rented in the future, but that the land and gardens will be held in trust in perpetuity for all to enjoy. By Erika Hahn
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