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There are many stories about our bluff, woodlands, and wetlands at Camp DeWolfe. We will tell three short ones tonight.
There is the story of how the bluff came into being from a geological standpoint.
It took its most recent form during the last Ice Age, approximately 12,000 years ago.
At that time, the Harbor Hill Moraine, a hilly ridge that extends west along the north shore of Long Island, deposited
along the beach glacial erratics (boulders) and stones of many sizes, compositions and textures that
illustrate for us today the story of how the glacier pushed the earth from the north. This
summer, our campers will learn
about specific rocks and formations
that are characteristic of Wading
River and the Harbor Hill moraine
region -- gneiss, schist, quartz, quartzite, basalt, and granite, to name a few.
Part
of the camp property on the
north side is wetland area.
Good examples of wetlands are
also found at the Wading River
beach and inlet. Campers
will learn that wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. An immense variety of microbes, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, and mammals are part of our wetland ecosystem.
Wetlands also
provide great volumes of food that attract many animal species. They
are home or a temporary stopping
place for a substantial part of NY State’s threatened species.
The wetland food chain includes: dead plants break fowl particles of rich, organic material which feed small aquatic insects, shellfish, and fin fish.
These creatures are in
turn, food for large predatory creatures.
Migratory shorebirds and water fowl also use coastal wetlands as resting, feeding, breeding, or nesting grounds for at least part of the year. Wetland areas also function as natural sponges that trap and slowly release surface water, rain, snowmelt, ground water, and flood waters.
Wetlands have important filtering capabilities for intercepting surface water runoff from higher, dry land before it reaches open water. As the runoff passes through, the wetlands retain excess nutrients and some pollutants and reduce sediment that would clog waterways and affect fish and amphibian egg development.
Herring, bluefish, founder, and striped bass are among the more familiar fish that depend on coastal wetlands like those found in
the Port Jefferson / Wading
River area
Shrimp, clams, and crabs likewise need these wetlands for food, shelter and breeding areas.
The great egret, black sea bass,
silver sides, eelgrass and rock crab
are commonly found in wetlands.
Will we
also learn about the role of the Pine Barrens preserve, a 52,000 acre preserve in the highest section of Long Island, extensive source of fresh water which is now protected from development.
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