WELLFLEET – An epic battle against a “biblical” mosquito plague takes place in the rough land between Duck Harbor and Bound Brook Island.
Cape Cod National Seashore has granted special permission to the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project to apply larvicides to a large area of stagnant water created by tidal waves on the nearby coast that has created a huge nursery for the flying bloodsuckers.
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The population boom is causing residents along the Hering River basin to think twice about doing something outside.
“It’s a horror movie,” said Wellfleet’s Jodi North Birchall, who has lived in a nearby swamp for 41 years. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”
Mega mosquitos have deterred Birchall from riding their horses in their favorite spots, making gardening and barbecuing a survival activity.
With approval in hand, the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project has been sending crews to the affected area since the beginning of July.
A team led by Assistant Superintendent Bart Morris injected granular larvicide into a watery, scruffy thicket on the west end of Bound Brook Island on Tuesday. The air was full of mosquitos, hundreds to be seen at a glance.
Just getting out of a vehicle seemed like an act of bravery – or maybe stupidity.
“This is about as bad as I’ve seen it,” said Morris, who estimated the watery washover area could be up to 40 acres, with some places almost inaccessible. He called the swarm of mosquitoes “biblical”.
“I hope it gets better,” he said. “I have a lot of friends in Wellfleet.”
Brian Carlstrom, National Seashore Superintendent of Cape Cod, believes the flooding in the area “could certainly be a factor” in what he called “an odd year for mosquitos around Wellfleet.”
The unusual circumstance led Seashore to grant special permission to the area for the first time in over 40 years, Carlstrom said.
“We haven’t had access to this place in years,” said Gabrielle Sakolsky, director of the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project. “It’ll take us a while to get this under control.”
Generally drier conditions over the past year have kept mosquito populations manageable in other parts of Cape Cod, allowing mosquito control staff to maintain pressure in Wellfleet, Sakolsky said.
But Sakolsky, who has worked for the organization since 1993, said she has never seen a mosquito population boom like the one in Wellfleet.
“Our highest hopes are that you will see a drastic reduction in a few weeks,” she said. “Every time we go in there, we go a little further.”
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