Discoveries on the Shoreline

Showing off one of his magnificent finds!

Every Friday, we'll be working with kids from the South Boston Neighborhood House over at Carson Beach. We'll have kites, sand art, giant volleyball, excursions down to the shoreline to look for critters, and a really awesome long-term art project. The kids are working with Save the Harbor's amazing artist in residence, Olga, to create a design that will be eventually painted onto a rowboat!

When we arrived at the beach, we noticed that the tide was waaaaaay out, leaving a lot of the beach exposed. The first thing anyone notices when running into wet sand at Carson Beach is that it feels more like silty goo than sand...and it's awesome. Apparently clams think so too, because if you dig deep enough in just the right spot, you may be able to find a clam! You have to be quick, though, because clams can dig, and they're speedy, so looking for clams is almost like racing them through the wet, gooey sand.

Look at how big that clam is!

Grace, Rish, and I helped a few kids hunt for clams down on the shoreline, but as time went on and we discovered more and more clams, we attracted quite the crowd! Soon close to twenty kids were up to their ankles in sand goo, using rakes and their hands to look for clams. Together they found clams of all shapes and sizes - they have a knack for this!

Eventually the tide came back in, and we unfortunately couldn't find any more clams. We did, however, find a whole collection of sea critters. I was running up and down the beach as more and more kids called me over to show me the cool new discoveries they made and help them identify it. The kids found razor clam shells, mollusks, green crabs, hermit crabs, periwinkles (a very cute but invasive kind of sea snail), the remains of some spider crabs, and an amalgam of rocks and shells. At the end of the day we had quite the collection!

Unfortunately, our day was cut short due to rain, but I'm looking forward to spending more time on Carson Beach this week!

Sandily yours,
Melissa