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The Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation this month committed to funding $630,000 in grants to a range of initiatives dedicated to the health of Nantucket Harbor and its marine ecosystems. This cycle’s recipients span a diverse array of causes, including coastal resilience, research, remediation and education and scholarships.

We were thrilled to bring our Harbor Health Symposium to the community to hear from scientists, environmental leaders, and local residents to deepen our understanding of the fragile marine ecosystems that define Nantucket and the broader Atlantic coast. Our audience included a special visit from State Representative Thomas Moakley who was on hand to add support where needed.

In Nantucket, violet-hued sunsets are a stunning natural spectacle, most often seen from the island's western beaches. The colors are caused by a phenomenon known as atmospheric scattering, where airborne particles and atmospheric conditions filter sunlight as it passes through the earth's atmosphere.

This plan was produced by the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, in cooperation with the Town of Nantucket and the Nantucket Land & Water Council. Funding for this report was provided by the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation. View the full plan below: Executive Summary Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) plays an important role in shaping coastal ecosystems of Nantucket by stabilizing sediment, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and serving

As part of Cause & Affection: A Water Quality-of-Life, Rita Leduc, with Oika, immersed herself in the eelgrass ecosystem to collect visual data that reflected the many sensations of relationality she felt at different levels from the sea floor.

In a demonstration of commitment to our mission, the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation has this month distributed its semi-annual grants to support a range of initiatives driven by our island partners.

Victoria Stanton created this acrylic painting on canvas depicting a tube of sunscreen, cleverly reimagining SPF as "HPF 96" (Harbor Protection Factor 96).

The Board of the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation is pleased to announce that Christine Bell has been chosen as the Foundation’s new Executive Director effective November 1, 2024.

GHYCF partnered to fund the Harbor Monitoring Project. This project is a collaboration led by the Maria Mitchell Association. We partnered with MMA, Remain Nantucket Fund at the Community Foundation for Nantucket, the Osceola Foundation, Sociable Weaver Foundation, and the Town of Nantucket's Harbormaster.

GHYCF partnered to fund Nantucket Land & Water Council’s Nantucket Stormwater Sampling Program. Nantucket Harbor is classified as an impaired water body due to historic trends in water chemistry and, more specifically, excessive nutrient pollution.

Tara Riley, TON Shellfish and Aquatic Resources Manager, and her team at the Brant Point Shellfish Hatchery have successfully been using our first gifted bioreactor to feed their shellfish seed with its controlled algae production system.

The Foundation has proudly funded several educational endeavors so far for Nantucket students of all ages attending Nantucket Public Schools. We support science oriented field trips, including trips to the New England Aquarium for 4th graders.

GHYCF engages with the youth of Nantucket and our community at large in many ways. We are continually expanding reach.

Nantucket Harbor watershed mapping was last done in 1990 - a lot has changed since then. Mapping the harbor will help identify watershed boundaries, groundwater nutrient sources, and groundwater flow paths into Nantucket Harbor.

The goal of the Harbor Breach Study is to identify what would happen if the Harbor were to breach at the Haulover or Coskata Pond.

Our goal is to control stormwater runoff and erosion at Pocomo Point parking lot area and help limit sediment entering the Harbor.

The goals of this plan are: Build an inventory of existing eelgrass and shellfish populations, sentinel monitoring stations, and develop a restoration plan Protect existing eelgrass and future degradation through adopting regulations that will guide resource managers Advance our understanding of eelgrass populations on Nantucket Restore and increase the abundance of eelgrass Next steps: Continue eelgrass and shellfish surveys/ monitoring in Nantucket Harbor and expand survey

The goal of this plan is to understand how sand moves through the harbor and identify potential re-use possibilities. This project will help determine Nantucket Harbor dredging projects for the next decade or more.

GHYCF gifts the photobioreactor to TON NRD Brant Shellfish Hatchery in January of 2023. This unit, produced by Industrial Plankton, was installed in the Brant Point Shellfish Hatchery on January 17th, 2023.