With the start of the youth programs only a few days away, the Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay crew has been working around the clock in preparation. Today I tagged along with the Senior Marine educators to get a glimpse firsthand of the work they’ll be doing this summer.
Our day started off at Blacks Creek in Quincy, Massachusetts where parents came to sign their children up for the Harbor Explorers program that we’ll be running this summer Monday and Wednesday from 8:30 to10 and 10-11:30, and Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-11 and 11-12:30. With this program, children ages 7+ will have the opportunity to crab, catch minnows, participate in scavenger hunts, and conduct water quality experiments along the harbor.
In order to stir interest among the kids waiting to sign up for rowing and sailing classes we brought along a few friends – including hermit crabs and green crabs! Program and Staff Assistant Michelle Palermino taught the watching kids a few facts about the crabs on display.
“Can you guess what the name of this crab is?” she asked one of the kids. “I’ll give you a hint – what color is it?” Green crabs are among the different types of marine animals you’ll find in Blacks Creek, but their name can be deceptive—sometimes green crabs will actually be orange.
“If it’s orange, you can tell if it’s a green crab by counting how many spikes it has next to its eyes. Green crabs have five spikes like G-R-E-E-N,” she taught a future harbor explorer.
Later in the day we drove out to Long Island (Massachusetts, not New York!) to check out Camp Harbor View and the pier we will be fishing off of this summer. This program is designed for older kids, mostly ages 11 to 14, to teach them how to catch lobsters and other fish.
All of the youth programs will start up on July 5th – it looks like it’s going to be another exciting summer for the Save the Harbor staff and all of the new explorers!
Katie
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