Penfield Reef

Penfield Reef is a partially submerged reef extending about a mile into Long Island Sound from the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut. Once a peninsula, it was gradually worn down over centuries into a series of islands and eventually a shoal, a process hastened by the removal of sand and stone from the reef for use as ship ballast. Cattle once grazed on the peninsula, and two groups of rocks on the reef are still known as the Cows and the Calves in reference to that history. Despite the Penfield Reef Lighthouse, the reef remains one of the more dangerous areas of Long Island Sound for boaters, while also serving as a popular fishing spot for bluefish, flounder and striped bass; it was also the site of the first civilian helicopter rescue.