SOUTH BOSTON, Mass. — If you’re the type of person who associates lobster with big, celebratory events, then you’re in luck. With prices lower than they’ve been in decades, something as simple as — well, a Tuesday night can be reason to celebrate.
 
It’s 6 a.m. at Medeiros Dock in South Boston. The sun is just coming up as lobsterman Steven Holler gets his boat, the November Gale, ready for a day at sea. He steps into his bright orange bib pants, slips on his galoshes and then effortlessly glides his boat to the bait dock.
 
He loads $700 worth of fish on to the deck. And by 6:15, Holler and his crew of one set off to haul lobster traps in the waters off Boston’s Harbor Islands.
 
Lobsters, lobsters everywhere
 
In 35 years in the business, Holler says he’s never seen a lobster season quite like this one. It all started this spring.
 
“We came out to haul that gear expecting to get 30 or 40 pounds and what we saw was just totally off the charts. Something we’ve never seen before. There were just lobsters everywhere,” he says.
 
Plentiful catches came early, flooding the lobster market up the East Coast. And since it was May, there weren’t enough tourists to eat them up.
 
And if there’s one thing we all learned in economics class: Surpluses make prices plummet.
 
Lobstermen in the Boston area are getting $3 - $3.50 a pound right now. Retail prices are a bit higher at around $5, which means that the price is running pretty equal to a bologna sandwich.
 
“I looked at a slip from last year and it was anywhere between $4.50 - $4.75 per pound,” says Holler. "The price we’re getting is something like you’d get in the '80s — mid-'80s. And we’re paying 2012 fuel prices, bait prices and labor prices.”
 
The problem in a nut lobster shell
 
Lobster is even cheaper further north: The Wall Street Journal reports that some lobstermen in Maine are getting as low as $1.25 a pound. And it doesn’t seem to be going up anytime soon, because now there’s another factor dragging prices down: soft-shells. Those are lobsters that have just shed their shells and are growing into new, bigger ones.
 
The shedding process usually doesn’t start until mid-July, but lobstermen this year have been catching soft-shells since May.
 
“A soft-shell lobster is veal in the lobster world,” says Holler. “It is tender. It is sweet.”
 
Sweet, but fragile — too fragile to ship long distances, which puts even more lobsters in the Northeast supply chain.
 
A solution: Eat up
 
“The public has to know: there’s a lot of lobsters out there,” says Holler. “So the more lobster people buy, hopefully it will be better for the industry and hopefully that trickles down to the fisherman.”
 
There’s one more big factor playing in this perfect storm: Canadian processing plants, which usually buy up any extra lobsters, aren’t. They had strong catches this season too and already have their own backlog of lobsters.
 
Still, Holler says he will keep setting his traps, even if it means catching too much of a good thing.
 

Shark sightings: reason to smile? (@ChathamShark/Facebook)

 
BOSTON — Maybe you've seen the photo or video: a kayaker just 100 feet off the shore of Orleans, Mass. … followed by a fin. And yet the recent shark sighting appears to be triggering more excitement than fear. We asked some experts to explain the phenomenon.
 
The business perspective
 
Paul Pronovost, editor-in-chief of The Cape Cod Times, said the tourism industry was doing its best to capitalize on the interest.

"A lot of merchants have T-shirts and hats and books and little souvenirs — all shark-related because that's what people are coming in and looking for," he said. "It's been fascinating, people coming down to the shorelines, some even brave enough to put their toe in the water, some putting even more than their toes in the water, and really being into this phenomenon — it's created quite a buzz on the Cape."
 
He didn't see any unusual rise in Cape tourism due to the fascination with sharks but he did think vacationers already there were heading to beaches where sightings have occurred.
 
The science perspective
 
While the shark sightings are fascinating to beach bums, they're even more exciting for marine scientists. Technology like acoustic and satellite tags are helping scientists track sharks and better understand the animals' behavior.
 
"Historically, all we really knew about white sharks was based on sightings," said John Mandelman, a researcher at the New England Aquarium. "But now with this new technology we're starting to learn a lot more about where these sharks are going … and that's very exciting, because [for] the Atlantic there's been an absence of information on white sharks, whereas other areas around the world have been able to gain a lot of information about their population."
 
Does climate change have anything to do with sharks swimming close to our shore?
 
"Theoretically, climate change will have an effect on various levels, not just on the sharks … I think in this case, though, sharks are still coming up here based on water temperature," Mandelman said. "I don't think anything is going to happen in a 4- or 5-year period that could be attributable to climate change."
 
Marine scientists think the warmer water temperature is why we have more seals appearing on our beaches and it's those seals … not kayakers … that are attracting the hungry sharks looking for their next meal.
 
The shark's perspective
 
We've heard what the experts say. But what does the shark think? What drove him to pursue that particular kayak? Well, the shark — and June's Massachusetts celebrity animal, the black bear — has taken to social media to explain what he's all about ... without the intermediaries. Here's a rundown.
 

 
BOSTON — Advocates rallied in Post Office Square outside a hearing of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on the morning of June 7 to protest the relicensing of the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant. 
 
Janet Domenitz, executive director of liberal-leaning think-tank Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, was among the protesters.
 
"Pilgrim is not safe. Nuclear power is expensive, it is unsafe to the public health and to the environment and we need to find alternatives," she said. "The idea that the NRC has just given this aging plant another 20 years of life shows that they are not paying attention. And we are. And we are calling for a reconsideration of that decision."
 
Meanwhile, Pilgrim is embroiled in a labor dispute that has resulted in a lockout. Unionized plant workers were also at the rally to protest Entergy management.
 
Kelly O’Brien, a locked-out engineer at Pilgrim, said the replacement workers weren't qualified to run the plant, potentially compromising public safety.
 
"The fact of the matter is, you look at the people here, the majority of us have anywhere from 20 to 40 years of experience in that plant," he said. "The workers that are coming in would not be familiar as well as we are with respect to the intricacies of what that plant is and how it's operated."
 
As for the safety question, he said, "The safety of the plant — well, when we're there we're keeping an eye on it."
 
About 20 protesters attended the rally.

BARNSTABLE, Mass. — State energy regulators visited Barnstable the evening of May 23 to hear Cape Codders — and others — talk about NStar's proposal to buy and sell more than a quarter of the electricity anticipated from the Cape Wind project — the 130-turbine wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound.
 
More than 125 people attended the public hearing about the merits of a 15-year contract that would have NStar buy nearly 28 percent of Cape Wind's power.
 
NStar would pay about 19 cents per kilowatt hour — more than double the current market price. The utility says the increase works out to about $1.08 more per month for the average residential customer.
 
The wind farm supporters

Advocates gather outside the Cape Wind hearing. (Sean Corcoran/WGBH)

Falmouth resident Bill Eddy said it's a price he's willing to pay for renewable energy.
 
"Every single one of my living costs has increased dramatically over the years," Eddy said. "I'm paying more for food, for gas, for just the insurance on my home. Paying $12 more a year for changing how America looks at its energy future seems to be a small price to pay."
 
Falmouth resident and Boston College student Annie Myer, 19, said she's been hearing about Cape Wind since she was 10 years old, and she's ready to see the turbines in the water.
 
"I will look at the turbines and smile," Myer said, "because though they are man-made, they harness renewable resources, and that's where our brighter future lies."
 
The opposing view
 
While supporters testified that Cape Wind would provide emissions-free electricity and reduce America's reliance on fossil fuels, opponents such as David Moriarty said it would jeopardize the Cape's two primary industries: fishing and tourism.
 
"This is no joke," he said. "This is our economic engine. This is the only thing we have to support our families. Do you understand that? This is our livelihood. This is everything. That is why we fight so hard for this."
 
Cape Wind received federal approval in April 2010, but it's had some setbacks. Last year a federal judge tossed out a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration, ordering regulators to take another look at the project's potential impact on air traffic. The project also failed to receive a federal loan guarantee, which could make it more difficult to attract investors.
 
Still, Cape Wind officials expect construction to begin by early next year, and they say having NStar and National Grid both on board to buy Cape Wind power is a significant step toward having turbines spinning in Nantucket Sound.
 

John Clarkson sits in his apartment in Nantucket. (Sean Corcoran/WGBH)

 
NANTUCKET, Mass. — Nantucket is getting ready for summer — a busy time not just for vacationers but for the island's labor force. But there's a serious side to island living, especially for those residents who aren't employed all year round: a gap in health insurance that leaves some people without crucial coverage.
 
A $500 gap
 
The refrigerator in John Clarkson's small, one-bedroom apartment is adorned with magnets and to-do lists, while the cupboard above it is a virtual medicine cabinet.
 
"I got five different pill medications; my insulin, which is Atlantis; and another one for high sugar level; it lowers it real quick," Clarkson said. "That I don't have to take very often. I can't pronounce these names of the pills, but there are five different ones."
 
Even if he can't pronounce the names, Clarkson knows how much they cost — just under $500 a month. And that's a lot of money for a man who was out of work for nearly 2 years. When he got a job last December, Clarkson paid for his medicines out-of-pocket as he moved off unemployment insurance and on to the state's Commonwealth Care program.
 
"My biggest concern was my medication," he said. "I need my medication to stay alive."
 
Clarkson is 56 years old, and he grew up on Nantucket. He worked as a nurse's aide and then 5 years at a lumberyard before being laid off when construction slowed down. Clarkson put aside some money for retirement when he was making 19 dollars an hour at the lumberyard. But he said he can't afford too many more $500-a-month gaps in insurance coverage. 
 
"As I said, I was a year and 10 months looking for a job and I couldn't find one. I couldn't find one. I finally had to settle for working at Stop and Shop. Which is, it's work I guess. But I still don't have enough to pay rent. I still have to fall back on my savings," he said.
 
On Nantucket, where the labor force more than doubles from winter to summer, folks are going several weeks — and in some cases months — without health insurance as they switch from one government program to another.
 
The application process — and delay
 
Kathy Butterworth and Alex Rosenberg are health care advocates at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. They assist islanders as they navigate the various state and federally sponsored health insurance programs. They say the state is failing to live up to its goal of "health care for all," as coverage gaps of weeks or even months are common when people move from unemployment insurance to the state's Commonwealth Care programs.
 
"Oftentimes what happens is, people who are on unemployment, say they get a job. That unemployment insurance, that medical employment insurance plan, runs out like that. Snap. It just is gone," Butterworth said. "And suddenly the person is like, 'oh my goodness, I have no health insurance.' They come in to do an application. Those applications have taken as many as 68 days this year to be processed. They're a little bit quicker now, but over the winter, the time frame was somewhere between 60 and 68 days for many of our applications."
 
If coverage is approved, applicants like Clarkson must then meet strict deadlines or face more weeks of delay.
 
"Now you have to make a phone call that says, 'Yes, I do want that insurance.' You have to send in a payment. That takes another month, maybe two, depending upon how quickly you do that," Butterworth said.
 
The government perspective
 
Stephanie Chrobak is the director of program management at the Health Connector, the agency responsible for state-sponsored health insurance programs. Chrobak said she isn't surprised there are gaps in coverage. What surprised Chrobak was the length of time Nantucketers reportedly are without coverage.
 
"To me, the times you quoted seem to be much, much longer than I expect," she said. "Have I heard in general that there are these times when a member may be caught with a gap? Yes, I have. And certainly we currently try to minimize that, and I think the most important thing to know, as we move forward with federal reform — as we plan for federal reform in 2014 — there's a lot of work there to eliminate those gaps."
 
It's hard to say just how many Nantucket residents are experiencing month-long delays in insurance coverage. Unemployment ebbs and flows with the seasons on Nantucket, swinging from a low of about 3.4 percent in July to nearly 15 percent in the winter. Butterworth said it's often the same clients experiencing the same types of delays over and over again.
 
"This week we've probably both gotten at least 60 phone calls so far," she said. "At least. And we're busy. And part of the reason we're so busy is because we live in a community where people's jobs come and go constantly."
 
Months on insurance, months off
 
Miriam Lemus is a Nantucket mother of two young children, and she works 8 months of the year at a landscape company. She said she is constantly submitting pay stubs and paperwork, making phone calls and waiting for coverage to start.
 
"In December, I had to fight with them that they don't take it off, but they took it off," she said. "And now I have to do it again. I have to fight again for them to give it back to me. It's kind of hard for me, you know. Right now I think it's like 3 months already without insurance."
 
Rosenberg said she was helpless as she watched Lemus and other clients follow the state's procedures and do everything they can to get back on the Commonwealth Care program, but still experience months of costly delay.
 
"I sort of describe it as like they are both pointing at each other — so that when you're receiving benefits from one place to the other, they are both saying, 'Oh, no, sorry, I can't cover you. There are other federal or government or state-based funds that are supposed to cover you at this time period,'" Rosenberg said. "It seems to me you could combine them into one area that is health insurance and cover people who don't have other options for health care."
 
State officials said short coverage gaps as people move from unemployment insurance to the Commonwealth Care plan was a problem across the Commonwealth. But federal changes coming in 2014, they said, offer another opportunity to address coverage gaps and ensure continuous health care for all.

 
HYANNIS, Mass. — Summer on the Cape means beaches, boating and sun. It's a boon for Cape businesses — but a hassle for everyone getting there, with traffic from Braintree to Bourne and beyond. An influx of tourists each summer doubles the Cape's population to 215,000.
 
Transportation officials expected to launch a new weekend train service from Boston to the Cape this summer to help ease that congestion. But with the MBTA facing its most significant budget crises in its history, the service is now on hold — and not because it would cost the MBTA money. It wouldn't. But with fare hikes and budget cuts on the table, launching a new train service to the Cape could be a political blunder.

 
A man, a plan
 
The plan was to spare weekend visitors from traffic by having a commuter rail train leave South Station bound for Hyannis on Friday evenings, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. Passing through Middleboro Station, it would travel over Cape Cod's most-forgotten bridge: a railroad bridge in Bourne. Today, it's used only a few times a week by a seasonal dinner train, as well as by what's called the "trash train," because it hauls away the Cape's garbage.
 
This new service is known informally as the "tourist train." It would travel along state-owned tracks before arriving at the Hyannis Train Station and Transportation Center, where buses idle in the parking lot before heading to Boston … in the same traffic as cars.
 
On an upper floor of the transportation center is the office of Tom Cahir, the head of Cape Cod's transit authority and the person who first proposed the tourist train. He said a recent study concluded there's a demand for rail to the Cape. With the bridges handling 130,000 vehicles per day, people are looking for a car-free option.
 
"Quite frankly," Cahir said, "our plan was to have the plan commence Memorial Day weekend this year, 2012, and we told the folks doing the study that was our objective. And the guys came back to us with a report saying we could perhaps meet that objective."
 
All the necessary maintenance and repairs could be completed to meet the deadline and run the train safely this summer. But the report raised concerns about the MBTA's financial troubles — concerns Cahir shared.
 
"It does appear as though this service ... would be an expansion of the MBTA," he said, "at least that's how I would look at it, and I think the citizens of Massachusetts would look at it: ''What is the MBTA going to Cape Cod for when they haven't gone to Fall River and New Bedford yet, and they have all this debt and are raising fares?'"
 
To spare the MBTA any public perception problems, Cahir decided to put off the tourist train until next year, and in the interim to move forward with the maintenance issues the study identified.
 
"I should be very clear," Cahir said. "The MBTA never said, 'Tom, this might appear like expansion.' This is just from my knowledge, and I don't want to create any further headaches for them."
 
Budget politics
 
Politically, launching a weekend service during the MBTA's budget crises could be a mistake. But the irony is … the tourist train wouldn't cost the cash-strapped agency any money. Cape transit officials said no new equipment would be needed, and they estimated the train would attract more than 16,000 riders each summer at a fare of $20 each way. Combine that with parking revenue along the route and some federal dollars, and Cahir said the service will pay for itself.
 
"So it really would be a windfall for the MBTA rather than an expense," Cahir said.
 
Acting MBTA general manager Jonathan Davis said he relied on the judgment of Cape Cod officials as to when to begin the service. "However, we have the reality of having a budget deficit and we need to concentrate on what we're providing today. But I also think we should look at providing ways to expand service," he said.
 
Try again next year
 
Cahir was optimistic the tourist train will begin Memorial Day weekend 2013. But still, with projections indicating the service will bring more than $1 million in new tourist spending to the Cape, Chamber of Commerce director Wendy Northcross told WGBH News that she was disappointed with the delay.
 
"It is doubling frustrating when you look at the delays we're potentially suffering from bridge construction and bridge repairs and Massachusetts Department of Transportation repairs," she said. "It would just be nice to have that alternative to put up for the people, that you can get here without your car."
 
Cape transportation officials also are considering launching service between Hyannis to New York City in the coming years. By easing traffic congestion and including bicycle transportation on the trains, both plans are designed with the environment in mind. With train service, supporters say, there's no reason for a Cape Cod vacation to begin and end in traffic.
 

Trudie Hall disappeared in 2010. (Facebook)

WOODS HOLE, Mass. — Law enforcement officials on Cape Cod have identified a body found in a remote area of woods in Falmouth on April 19 as Trudie Hall, a Nantucket resident who went missing in July 2010.

Officials are giving few details surrounding the investigation and the condition of Hall's body, beyond saying she was shot multiple times. Barnstable County District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said a person walking their dog found the body in woods adjacent to Falmouth Country Club and the Crane Wildlife Area — an area police had not previously searched.
 
"Last Thursday, skeletal remains were found in the town of Falmouth, and we indicated those remains would be analyzed by experts at the office of the medical examiner, including a forensic anthropologist and a forensic dentist," he said. "The medical examiners' office late yesterday, has identified the remains as Trudie Hall."
 
Hall, 23, was reported missing in July 2010 by her mother after Hall had traveled from Nantucket to Cape Cod, where she spent the night in a Yarmouth motel and rented a car. The car later was found in a commuter lot, with blood and bullet casings inside.
 
O'Keefe would not identify any suspects, but investigators had previously interviewed a Centerville man with a criminal record and seized some of his property during the investigation. That man has not been charged. O'Keefe indicated that anyone involved in the crime should step up now, saying, "There may be a possibility that someone knowingly or unknowingly aided the killer of Trudie after the fact, and we want that person to contact us."
 
Hall was approximately four months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, and O'Keefe said it was unclear whether a second murder charge for the unborn baby would be appropriate. He also would not confirm multiple media reports that Hall was married to more than one person at the time of her death, and may have been involved in an immigration scam.
 
"Some of the things that you have reported about Trudie that may or may not be true with respect to these immigration issues, not withstanding all that, she was a 23-year-old woman who had a family that loved her very much," he said.
 
While providing few details, O'Keefe said the location and condition of Hall's body provides law enforcement officials with some key information, and officials are confident that whomever was involved in her murder will be brought to justice.
 
 

 
BOSTON — Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed an appeal challenging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to go ahead with hearings to grant a new 20-year license extension for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth.
 
> > WGBH NEWS SPECIAL COVERAGE: Power Struggle: The Fight over Pilgrim Nuclear
 
Coakley said an independent expert has concluded that the risks of operating Pilgrim are greater than originally thought and that certain improvements should be made to the plant before a new license is granted. “There should be better and longer backup power systems, or there should be instrumentation to verify the cooling systems are functioning properly. Or to make sure there are improved valves and containment to reduce pressure on the reactor,” she said.
 
The goal, Coakley said, is to guarantee that the NRC considers the environmental and public safety implications of the 2011 Fukushima accident while allowing a meaningful opportunity for public comment.
 
State Sen. Dan Wolf (D-Harwich) agreed, saying that lessons learned from Fukushima should be explored in an open, public process and applied to the Pilgrim relicensing process, particularly in regards to on-site storage of spent nuclear fuel rods.
 
The appeal was filed on April 4 in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

> > READ: More from Coakley's office on Pilgrim

> > Are you concerned about climate change? Comment on this story, let us know on Facebook or tweet @wgbhnews with the hashtag #climatide.

Part One: Warm Winter, Big Questions

Scientists predict that Massachusetts could have the climate of the Carolinas by late this century if global warming continues unabated. With temperatures several degrees above average, this winter has brought a taste of what may be to come. And some wonder if that’s really such a bad thing. In the first installment of our four-part series, we explore the disparity between the scientific consensus and public opinion on climate change.

Web Extra: The psychological impacts of climate change

Part Two: Fisheries in Hot Water

Lobstermen in the Gulf of Maine have posted record harvests in recent years. But in the waters just south of Cape Cod, the situation is dramatically different. Lobster populations there crashed a decade ago and have not recovered, leaving lobstermen to face the potential closure of their fishery. We take a look at one of the most dramatic examples of how climate change is affecting New England’s fisheries.

Web Extra: A warming world? See for yourself

Part Three: The Rising Seas

In part three of this week's series on climate change, we look at the threat rising ocean levels pose to the state's coastline — and to the policymakers who will be forced to face tough questions. But does it have to be bad news?

Multimedia: A three-dimensional animation of sea level rise.
Web Extra: Cape Cod's disappearing dunes

Part Four: Mitigation and Adaptation — the Birds' Lessons for Us

In the final installment of our series, we take a look at state officials' attempts to find the right balance between stopping climate change and preparing for it, with guidance from the avian kingdom.

Web Extra: With global warming, new birds in our skies
Massachusetts' clean energy and climate plan for 2020 (pdf)

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has agreed to sign off on a merger between NSTAR and Northeast Utilities, removing a major roadblock from the $17.5 billion deal. The state had been holding off while the utilities negotiated a side deal to buy renewable power from the controversial Cape Wind project.

Patrick, who's a big supporter of Cape Wind, applauded the deal at the State House on Wednesday.

"What we have today is a landmark agreement for customers. It will protect ratepayers from rate increases now into the future and it passes on the savings from the merger directly back to the customer," he said.
 
Until now, NSTAR had refused to buy Cape Wind power, saying it was too expensive. And it was widely speculated in op-eds and newspapers that the Patrick administration was holding up the merger in order to compel NSTAR to buy Cape Wind Energy.

But state energy secretary Richard Sullivan downplayed Cape Wind's significance:

"When you stack out what the time was spent on over the past year, a very small percent was spent on Cape Wind," he said. "I think this agreement shows that while Cape Wind has been a priority, it has not been Cape Wind at any cost.”

Under the new agreement, the new utility would freeze its rates for the next four years, and would provide customers with a one-time rebate of about $12 to $15 for the average ratepayer. And it would sign a long-term contract for 27.5 percent of Cape Wind's electricity. Another utility, National Grid, last year, signed a deal for half the project's output at above-market prices. Long-term contracts are seen as essential for Cape Wind's viability.

The merger must still be approved by Massachusetts and Connecticut utility regulators.

BOSTON — On Monday, Massachusetts lawmakers will be holding an oversight hearing on prescription drug shortages. The public health committee plans to hear from doctors, patients, hospital and pharmaceutical industry representatives at the hearing. Lawmakers say the shortages of prescription drugs have been increasing in recent years and are having a direct impact on patient safety.
 
On Feb. 14, the legislature’s MBTA caucus plans to discuss the T’s funding crisis. The MBTA faces a $161 million budget gap in 2013. T officials are warning of severe cuts in service or rate hikes or both. In the past, lawmakers have considered a gas tax, or placing a toll near the New Hampshire border on I-93 to help shore up the T’s finances and fund other transportation projects around the state. Lawmakers on the caucus say they’re looking to find any solution and everything’s on the table.
 
And state and federal environmental officials are continuing to hold public meetings on plans to invite offshore wind developers to build wind farms in a vast stretch of federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Federal regulators originally proposed a bigger area but protests from some groups, including fishermen who would be affected by fields of turbines, forced them to cut the area by more than half. The meetings will be held in Martha’s Vineyard, New Bedford and Boston.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.