Part 1: Life on a (polluted) sandbar

Cape Cod is a beautiful and fragile place. When the glaciers retreated thousands of years ago, they left a sandy peninsula shaped like a bent arm off the coast of our continent that is reshaped each day by wind and water. Ocean breezes float from sand dunes and grasslands to the broom crowberries on the heath lands and through pitch pine forests. Nearly 900 freshwater ponds are deep enough to connect to the groundwater, which is the only source of drinking water for Cape Cod residents.

With a footprint just slightly larger than that of New York City, the Cape is small but popular. From 2019 to 2024, 20,000 people moved to Cape Cod. More than 232,000 residents live there year-round, and many seasonal residents are staying longer than in the past. Each year a whopping 5.5 million tourists visit.