2026-2027 Events Calendar
CCOM’s 6th ANNUAL SUMMER SOIREE
WHEN: Thursday, July 16th | 6-8pm (No Rain Date)
WHERE: Gurney’s Resort | 290 Old Montauk Hwy., Montauk, NY
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!!! DOOR TICKETS WILL NOT BE SOLD.
Please Note: Tickets are non-refundable.
July 19th, 2026 Beach Cleanup
WHEN: July 19th, afternoon, time TBD
WHERE: Meet at CCOM Office (6 S. Elmwood Ave. MTK)
All materials provided for cleaning up our beaches!
Annual Citizen Science Eelgrass Monitoring with Peconic Estuary Partnership
WHEN: TBD
WHERE: Lake Montauk Inlet near Inlet Seafood
Email cnewman@preservemontauk.org if you are interested in volunteering. Training is required.
About the Event:
Seagrasses are a species of special concern not only to the State of New York, but to the Peconic Estuary as well. In the Peconic Estuary, the dominant seagrass is currently eelgrass (Zostera marina). It is estimated that there were around 8,700 acres of eelgrass in the Peconic Estuary in the 1930s. Recent aerial mapping from 2024 has revealed that this value has dropped to just 785.5 acres. There is monitoring in other places on the East End and Peconic Estuary, but currently none in Montauk. We need volunteers to monitor the eelgrass we have left! The importance of this is the PE only has so much eelgrass remaining.
The historical loss of eelgrass has generally been attributed to declining visibility, which limits the amount of light available for the plant to photosynthesize. Despite recent improvements in sewage treatment and watershed management, the resource has continued to decline. Rising water temperatures have been identified as a key driver of eelgrass losses across the East Coast and now in the Peconic Estuary.