A new virtual tour of Nantucket’s Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge can now be enjoyed from anywhere. Created by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees). This immersive resource constructed by Above Summit Media combines bird-eye views of the entire refuge with audio narration from knowledgeable staff, drone footage, time-lapse videos and on the ground photography. The virtual tour is a great way for long-time visitors to Great Point and Coatue or Nantucket newcomers to see this beautiful refuge like never before while learning from a distance about the importance of these remote barrier beach properties.
Access to the refuge over soft sand roads and beach driving is often at risk due to stronger storms and more frequent high tide events. “Beaches are dynamic landscapes that naturally shift with tides, storms and seasons,” notes Cynthia Dittbrenner, Trustees Director of Coast and Natural Resources. “But what we are seeing is an increase in erosion rates at many of our beaches as a result of sea level rise and increasing intensity of storms. We are working with NCF to identify the most vulnerable areas of the Refuge and think about how to balance short-term intervention to protect dunes and beaches with a long-term shift in how we manage for public access in the future.”
The virtual tour of Nantucket’s Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge allows users to access the refuge even on the stormiest of days and hear Trustees and Nantucket Conservation Foundation staff discuss the natural history context and ecological significance of the work they do.
Cormac Collier, President and CEO of Nantucket Conservation Foundation, commented “This state- of-the-art technology is an extraordinary way for users to see and hear directly from our dedicated team about what we do, what is at stake, and how we are protecting and understanding the fragility of Coatue.”
To find out more about this digital resource you can access the tour through this link. To learn more about the ongoing work to adapt and prepare the refuge to the effects of climate change, visit the website of each organization (Nantucket Conservation Foundation and The Trustees).
Founded in 1963, the mission of the Nantucket Conservation Foundation is to assist in the preservation of Nantucket’s character by permanently conserving, maintaining, and managing natural areas and habitats and to encourage an appreciation of and interest in the Island’s natural resources. For more information visit www.nantucketconservation.org.
For more than a century, The Trustees has been on the ground in communities like Nantucket and across Massachusetts, working to protect special places, providing loving care of our reservations, building creative new programs to engage people, and sharing our expertise with neighbors and partners across the state. For more information visit https://thetrustees.org/