May 23, 2019

The Center for Coastal Studies today announced the Massachusetts Bay Conservation and Climate Change Partnership, a new initiative involving three major air and sea passenger companies. The businesses that have come together to launch the program are Cape Air out of Hyannis, Massachusetts; Boston Harbor Cruises, and Bay State Cruise Company, both operating ferry service between Boston and Provincetown.

The initiative’s founding partners — all businesses that depend on the health and well-being of Cape Cod Bay — have joined forces with the Center for Coastal Studies, an organization that plays a key role in protecting this vital environmental resource. The partners will contribute funds based on passenger ridership to support the Center’s research and rescue operations.

For over 40 years, the Center for Coastal Studies has been at the vanguard of marine conservation efforts for Massachusetts Bay. These waters are of paramount importance to a vast array of marine life, from great whales, porpoises and sea turtles, to microscopic plankton that forms the foundation of the rich food web that characterizes the Bay. Yet this incredibly abundant resource is subject to an ever increasing onslaught of threats, the most ominous of which is climate change, which is progressing at an unprecedented rate.

Rich Delaney, President and CEO of the Center, said “The Center for Coastal Studies, as the foremost rescue, research and education organization engaged in protecting regional marine resources, has integrated the matter of climate change in all its programming, in order to hasten local solutions to a global problem. As a collaborative organization, the Center sees an opportunity to join forces with entities whose interests are deeply intertwined with the health and wellbeing of the waters of Massachusetts Bay, and whose concerns about climate change are equally powerful.”

Monies raised through the partnership will specifically go to:

  • Right whale and humpback whale research
  • Marine animal disentanglements
  • Water quality monitoring in Cape Cod Bay
  • Sea level rise and storm tide pathway mapping, and
  • Development of state and federal marine policies affecting Massachusetts Bay.

“This is exactly the kind of win-win partnership that advances both the interests of the companies involved and the health and welfare of our environmental resources,” said Dan Wolf, Founder and CEO of Cape Air. “We are excited to be a part of the original partnership and look forward to assisting its expansion,” he noted.

Alison Nolan, Principal and General Manager of Boston Harbor Cruises said, “An important part of our mission is to promote the health and responsible activation of local waterways. By partnering with the Center for Coastal Studies at the ground level of this unique initiative, as well as with other similar-minded non-profits, we hope to play a role in making these far-reaching “blue” practices a reality in Massachusetts Bay.”

Mike Glasfeld, Owner and President of Bay State Cruise Company said, “We are excited to be one of the founding partners of the Massachusetts Bay Conservation and Climate Change Partnership. When we put the fare add-on option up on our ticket purchase website earlier this month, and it immediately began attracting donors, we knew we had made a great decision to join in this initiative. Our company and our passengers share a similar point of view on protection of our marine environment.”

Says Delaney, “We anticipate expanding the Massachusetts Bay Conservation and Climate Change Partnership to include other businesses and services around Massachusetts Bay and Nantucket Sound that value the integrity of the ocean resources adjacent to our shoreline. The Center invites inquiries from those that want to become directly involved in protecting the ocean resources that we all depend on.”

For additional information contact:
Rich Delaney, President & CEO, Center for Coastal Studies, 617-851-4510
Alison Nolan, Boston Harbor Cruises, 617-480-5855
Mike Glasfeld, Bay State Cruise Company, 617-721-0840

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