Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Announces Green Crab Week

August 1, 2025

NANTUCKET, MA— Join the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA), Nantucket Land and Water Council (NLC), and Sustainable Nantucket (SN) for the Sixth Annual Nantucket Green Crab Week! The MMA,  NLC, and SN will be offering fun daily events August 3 to August 9 to learn about and take action against invasive European green crabs on Nantucket. 

 

European green crabs were first introduced to North America in the 1800s, likely traveling in the ballast water of merchant ships from Europe. This invasive species is now abundant on Nantucket, threatening crucial aquatic resources, including eelgrass beds, shellfish populations, and native crab communities. Together, as a community, it is possible to help prevent green crabs from destroying the natural resources that make Nantucket’s waters so special! Please come join us during Nantucket Green Crab Week to learn more. 

 

MMA Green Crab Identification Workshop and Derby Information Session

Registration Link: https://112458a.blackbaudhosting.com/112458a/Nantucket-Green-Crab-Identification-Workshop-and-Info-Session-04Aug2025 

Monday, August 4, 3:45 PM – 4:30 PM Price: FREE 

Location: MMA Aquarium, 32 Washington Street 

Join Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium staff to learn how to identify the European green crab (Carcinus maenus), an invasive species that threatens Nantucket's native species and habitats! We will compare these species to local crab species and determine their biological sex. This is a great chance to learn about our annual Nantucket Green Crab Derby and all its events! 

 

 

MMA Nantucket Green Crab Survey: Seine Method 

Registration Link: https://112458a.blackbaudhosting.com/112458a/Nantucket-Green-Crab-Survey-Seine-Method 

Tuesday, August 5, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM Price: FREE 

Location: Hither Creek Beach Access (Beach Access #52) 

Join Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium staff on a survey for invasive European green crabs! This survey will be a part of the MMA Nantucket Green Crab Community Science Survey that you can do yourself at any time. In this session, we will be using a seine net. 

 

Annual Green Crab Fertilizer and Bait Pickup 

Registration Link: https://112458a.blackbaudhosting.com/112458a/Annual-Green-Crab-Fertilizer-Workshop-with-the-Nantucket-Land-Council-07Aug2025 

Thursday, August 7, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 

Price: FREE 

Location: MMA Aquarium, 32 Washington Street 

Join Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium staff to pick up green crabs for free, fun, and exciting ways to help control the population of the invasive green crab, while creating environmentally friendly fertilizer for your garden or bait for your fishing! Registrants can drop by the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium at 32 Washington Street on Thursday, August 7, between 10am and 12pm to pick up a take-home green crab fertilizer kit or bait crabs! Kits will include green crabs and instructions on how to make your own green crab fertilizer – you will need your own white vinegar. 


Nantucket Green Crab Survey: Wading and Hand Net 

Registration Link: https://112458a.blackbaudhosting.com/112458a/Nantucket-Green-Crab-Survey-Wading--Hand-Net-08Aug2025 

Friday, August 8, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM 

Price: FREE 

Location: The Creeks/Harbor Flats, 99 Washington Street Ext 

Join Maria Mitchell Aquarium staff on a survey for invasive European green crabs! This survey will be a part of the MMA Nantucket Green Crab Citizen Science Survey that you can do yourself at any time! In this session, we will be wading and using hand nets. 

 

Annual Green Crab Derby 

Registration Link: https://112458a.blackbaudhosting.com/112458a/Annual-Green-Crab-Derby-09Aug2025 

Saturday, August 9, 12:00 AM – 4:00 PM 

Price: $10, Groups of Up To 4 Persons Can Compete 

Help the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Land Council fight the green crab invasion by participating in the annual Nantucket Green Crab Derby! Participate in a team of up to 4 to help us maintain healthy marine habitats and for a chance to win prizes! Rules and prize details are detailed in the reservation process. Green crabs can be caught between 12am – 4pm and dropped off at the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium between 12pm – 4pm! 


 The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, and a research center, in addition to preserving the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages. For more information on the Maria Mitchell Association’s environmental work and initiatives, please visit www.mariamitchell.org. 


 The Nantucket Land and Water Council is a 501(c)3 environmental advocacy organization – protecting and preserving open space, harbor, pond, and groundwater, and advocating for the environment at Select Board, Planning Board, and Conservation Commission meetings. The Nantucket Land and Water Council also hosts the State of the Harbor Forum and Oysterfest each year to educate residents on the state of our water resources, and what we can all do to help maintain this critical resource. For more information on the Nantucket Land and Water Council, please visit www.nantucketlandcouncil.org. 

 

Founded in 2000, Sustainable Nantucket’s mission is to preserve the community character of Nantucket while sustaining its economic and environmental vitality. Sustainable Nantucket (SN) is a grassroots, local, non-profit organization that is building a more locally-based and self-reliant food system on-island through education, advocacy, training, and partnerships which include farmers, fishermen, local food producers, schools, restaurants, and other community stakeholders. For more information on Sustainable Nantucket, please visit www.sustainable-nantucket.org. 

 

 

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For Immediate Release

August 1, 2025

Contact: Grace Kotchen

marketinginterns@mariamitchell.org

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A Good Chair

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 18, 2026
A repost from long ago – because I still like a good chair. Quite awhile ago, I wrote about some of my collection addictions, including pottery shards, 19 th century kitchen mirrors, and of course, enamelware. Well, here is another one for you. I love chairs. Yes, this is another collection addiction of mine. But not all chairs – chairs from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Typically, I like plain, simple wood chairs with a horizontal piece or two of wood for the back and a plain, thick wood seat. Simple, not a lot of turns to the wood, and not a lot of decorative features or paint. Several years ago, I had a meeting at the home of the leader of a group I was working with. She owned the Obed Macy house, very much untouched and quite a remarkable house. Yes, Obed was the Nantucket historian (among other things), as well as the son of island entrepreneur Judith Macy, and the nephew of the island “she-pirate” Kezia Coffin. We met outside on the side porch which was a late 19 th century addition to the house and one that certainly reflected what life was like in the period it was added to the house. The owner had brought out every chair in her home. I was on a chair high (not a highchair!) – here I had my choice of nineteenth chairs to sit on. Since I was one of the first to arrive, I took my time picking out which chair I was going to sit on – I kid you not. I was like Goldilocks − though I was grown-up enough not to sit on every chair to decide which one I was going to claim for the meeting! I went on and on and likely on and on about all these lovely chairs to her. Unfortunately, the day came several years later when she was faced with having to sell her beloved home to move off-island. She called me. She wanted to know if I wanted any of her chairs since she remembered how much I went on and on about them. It was a mixture of emotion because losing this island resident was a loss for the island and for its history and historic architecture. I went to her home a few days before she was going to have her sale and helped her move items from the house out onto the lovely 19 th century side porch where I first reveled in her chair collection and also out into the large, simple backyard that looked like it too had not been touched since the 19 th century. She told me to take whichever chairs I wanted as she wanted me to have them. Depressing. I told her I would not take but that I would buy. We had a little back and forth but she finally relented. Then, I had to choose and it was quite agonizing. Not wanting to be a chair hog, I limited myself. I now have two matching and two others sitting around my dining room table made from salvaged Nantucket pine floorboards. We refer to them as “Helen’s chairs” – their previous owner. She likely found them here on Nantucket; one or more may have even come with the house when she bought it. We eat every meal sitting in them, spend time with our family in long discussions and laughter sitting in them, and each time I sit, touch, dust, or move them, I think of Helen and the house these chairs once sat in and the conversations and people they must have witnessed over the many years. A simple wood chair – a witness to history and time. JNLF

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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 11, 2026
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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 4, 2026
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