Sarah Island is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Hingham Bay

Hingham Bay

Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the United States state of Massachusetts. It lies east of Quincy Bay and is met at the southwest by...

 area of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor of Boston, Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of islands, together with a former island and a peninsula, many of which are open for public recreation and some...

. The island has a permanent size of just under 5 acres (20,234.3 m²), and is composed large outcroppings and ledges of roxbury puddingstone together with glacial till which rises to a height of 30 feet (9.1 m) above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

. The ledges, beaches and mudflats make the ideal nesting place for gull

Gull

Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...

s.

The island was purchased by John Langlee in 1686, later passing to John R. Brewer, at the time the owner of nearby World's End. Today it is managed by the town of Hingham

Hingham, Massachusetts

Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...

 and access is by private boat only. Access by humans is discouraged during the nesting season

Nesting season

The nesting season is the time of year during which birds and some other animals, particularly some reptiles, build nests, lay eggs in them, and in most cases bring up their young. It is usually in the spring....

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