Contact:
Dave White, New York Sea Grant, Recreation and Tourism Specialist, P: 315-312- 3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu
Watertown, NY, November 19, 2020 - We all have cabin fever after our long year of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, so people are making plans this winter to get out - ice fishing and snowmobiling are two popular activities.
NYSG's Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White, who spoke with Makenzie Piatt of WWNY-TV7's News This Morning, sounded a note of caution for people headed outdoors this winter.
Ice anglers, he noted, can’t socially distance inside their shanties.
“We’re sitting right next to other people. There’s no way to socially distance in an ice shanty, so that’s where we have to think about COVID," said White.
So he’s encouraging people to have masks and hand sanitizers at the ready - and that’s also true if you’re a snowmobiler.
The issue with snowmobiling, Dave said, is that people like to stop to warm up, maybe get a drink or a bite to eat. So you should carry a mask and sanitizer with you.
One final note: if you watch the video above, you’ll see White is wearing what he calls a “float suit.” Basically, it’s a life jacket, something he recommends for ice fishermen for obvious reasons and also for snowmobilers, in case they end up in the water.
White's NYSG "Boating and Marine Trades" content can be found at www.nyseagrant.org/marina. He also has information on Great Lakes shipwrecks at www.nyseagrant.org/shipwreck.
Since April 2006, New York Sea Grant specialists have been bringing the coastal program's "message" to the morning masses at WWNYTV 7, a Watertown-based CBS-affiliate, during one of the highest rated TV blocks in the "wake-up hours," the 6:30-7 am stretch.
Sea Grant's 'five minutes of fame' - which potentially reaches around 10,000 viewers in New York's Jefferson and Northern Oswego Counties - has featured topics over the years such as boating safety, aquatic invasive species, diving in search of sunken wrecks, the dune and Salmon River stewards program, shoreline land issues, tourism, and marine safety.
More Info: New York Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University
and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based
programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
National Sea Grant College Program.
Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated
research, education and extension services promoting coastal community
economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness
and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists
and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based
information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries,
federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers,
educators, the media and the interested public.
The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office
in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook
University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative
Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly. Our program also produces an occasional e-newsletter,"NOAA Sea Grant's Social Media Review," via its blog, www.nyseagrant.org/blog.
