Editing Aquinnah, Massachusetts (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Gay Head.jpg|thumb|right|''Gay Head'' (1860); Engraving by [[David Hunter Strother]].]]
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|40.8|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|5.4|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|35.4|sqmi|km2}} (86.85%) is water.  Aquinnah ranks 334th in area out of 351 communities in the Commonwealth, and is the smallest town by land area on the Vineyard.  To the north and northwest is the [[Vineyard Sound]] and Devil's Bridge. the latter an underwater rock reef most noted for causing the wreck of the [[City of Columbus]] in 1884. To the east is the town of [[Chilmark, Massachusetts|Chilmark]], its only land border. To the south and west is the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. Within viewing distance to the west is the chain of [[Elizabeth Islands]] and [[Nomans_Land_(Massachusetts)|Nomans Land]].  

Aquinnah is separated from the town of Chilmark by Menemsha Bight, [[Menemsha Pond]], and Squibnocket Pond. The only road into Aquinnah lies between the ponds. (Squibnocket Beach, which lies between the ocean and Squibnocket Pond, also connects to the town, but is often washed out during storms. No road crosses it.) Squibnocket Point, just east of this beach, is the southernmost point on Martha's Vineyard.  Aquinnah has four accessible beaches for residents and the public: Philbin and Moshup (public) Beaches off Moshup Trail; Lobsterville Beach on the northern shore at Dogfish Bar, and Red Beach on Menemsha Pond. Other stretches of beach remain under private ownership.

Aside from Aquinnah's famed clay cliffs, the landscape is noted for its rolling terrain, coastal heathlands, deciduous woods, high sand dunes and beach roses. At the 'head' of the island is the Aquinnah Headlands Preserve which provides sweeping coastal views for walkers.

Aquinnah's geography also lends itself to outdoor activities including [[surf fishing]] at Lobsterville Beach and Dog Fish Bar, [[surfing]] off the beaches of Moshup Trail, and jogging and cycling the State Road and Moshup Trail loop.

Aquinnah is rare in that it is one of the few western-facing coastlines on the east coast. Even so, it still faces the challenge of [[coastal erosion]] like the rest of Martha's Vineyard, Chappaquiddick, and nearby Nantucket. Dunes are fortified with healthy grasses but the southwestern shoreline has faced an annual reduction in its beaches for decades. The cliffs have also faced higher and stronger seas, leading to a 129 foot inland move of the [[Gay Head Light|Gay Head Lighthouse]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/gay-head-lighthouse-move-feat/index.html#:~:text=Instead%2C%20the%20lighthouse%20in%20Aquinnah,later%20than%20Sunday%2C%20he%20said.|title = Historic Gay Head Lighthouse on the move|website = [[CNN]]| date=May 28, 2015 }}</ref> in 2015.