Crabbin' Like Nobody's Business!

I am happy to report that the Boston Harbor Explorers Programs are in full swing at the Piers Park Sailing Center (East Boston) and the McDonough Sailing Center (Southie). It’s only been 2 days and already the kids at both sites are crabbing like pros! At Piers Park, with just a handful of hauls, we managed to catch 20+ green crabs and red rock crabs of various sizes (including a few egg-bearing females)!

Looking for bait to use in our crab traps

The girls show off their new crabby friends, "Teenie Weenie" and "Smallie Ollie"

Over at the McDonough Sailing Center, crabs were being caught by the minute with multiple crab traps being hauled in simultaneously. By the end of the day we had a bucketful of medium to large sized green crabs and spider crabs. In addition to the above water fun, we attached our nifty underwater camera to the inside of one of the crab traps so the kids could actually see the crabs entering the traps and going after the bait. Excitement was had by all! And, of course, no day of crabbing is complete without a final crab race back to the water!

Southie kids show team work: the boys monitor the trap via
underwater camera and the girls haul up the trap

Striking a pose with a spider crab

Can't wait to see what else we can catch this summer!

-Sarah C