The Bare Bones of Black's Creek

This week was the perfect way to start off my summer working with Save the Harbor. Thankfully, due to America's birthday, we started off with a three day week, which was lovely as it allowed me to slowly get back into working full time after having some time off since graduation. The first two days were beautiful, as the weather was around 80 degrees, meaning it was warm and sunny, but not hot enough to dampen the mood. Black's Creek is a beautiful place, and I enjoy being able to watch the cormorants sunning themselves, and the egrets hunting on the rivers edge. It might be strange to say, but estuaries are one of my favorite ecosystems, so I am glad to be able to spend large amounts of time in it this summer!

Two girls exploring for crabs on the bottom of the creek. 

So far, we've had many faces come through our program, and I am glad to get the chance to meet each individual child and see what they are interested in. I know many will be coming back for more, and I look forward to building those relationships and spreading knowledge about the harbor. These children are eager to learn about the animals, and I love to see their excitement at every instance a crab is caught. In our first group on the first day, as soon as the kids were brought over, it was a flurry of excitement with kids grabbing nets and splashing into the water to try and catch crabs. We had to reel them back in, and do some introductions, and play a couple of getting to know you games first, but I liked the enthusiasm!

There was one girl who was especially interested, and would run from one side of the beach to the other if she even heard the word crab. Her sister found a discarded crab exoskeleton, which they thought was a dead crab. I taught them about how crabs molt, and that their skeleton is on the outside of their body. Later on, a reporter came to write an article about the programs Save the Harbor is doing(keep your eyes out for that one folks! Yours truly was interviewed!), and I directed the reporter to the young girls I spoke to earlier, as they were very outgoing and would be talkative for the article. Unsurprisingly, when asked what her favorite part of the day was, the girl said the crabs, which seemed to be the common sentiment. However, I was surprised when, upon being asked why, she said that it was because their skeletons are on the outside of their body. Here's a girl of about six years old, who truly took something I had told her to heart. It was a great reminder of why we are doing this, and a positive way to start off my summer. 

Until next time,

Zach