Cape Cod sand dunes. Photo/C. Danko © 2001-2011
Cape Cod is an ever-changing peninsula, although now technically an island, with boundaries and an ecosystem that are altered significantly by man and nature even within a single lifetime.
It was formed about 25,000 years ago by the run-off of a giant melting glacier. Although now hard to imagine, the summer vacationland was once home to arctic creatures such as woolly mammoths. When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, the land was covered, not with giant sand dunes, but with forests. The white settlers clear most of the forests, and with the exception of some sections in Provincetown, the strip was nothing but sand-covered plains by the early 19th century. Wind then whipped the sand into the large dunes you find today.
In the past century, Cape Codders have taken great efforts to re-establish the old ecosystem and slow the rate of beach erosion by planting beach grass and trees, as well as by blocking off the sand dunes from human feet. The natural rate of erosion is estimated at 3 feet a year, but without special efforts, erosion can occur at a much higher rate.
Cape Cod, with its fragile ecosystems and rapid rate of change, is one of the more interesting areas for learning about natural history, and the Cape Cod Natural History Museum in Brewster is an excellent resource for doing just that. Exhibits inside the museum explore plant life, local birds, sea life, the old whaling industry, the impact of erosion, and geological changes. They include photographs of damage caused by the sea, and stories of homes, and even a once-thriving community, that are now lost to the sea.
The museum offers a host of other activities for learning more about the natural environment outside of the museum's walls. A nature trail walk, led by one of the guides, covers a little over a mile and extends through woods, marsh, and beach sands. Other programs, which may require an extra fee and reservations, include a two-hour seal cruise, overnight trips to Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Monomy Wildlife Refuge Cruise, kayaking trips, and whale watches.