"Share the Harbor" Cruises See Unprecedented Demand

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's new "Share the Harbor" initiative of free public cruises to the Boston Harbor islands has seen unprecedented interest from the public. The September 29th cruise to Spectacle Island had nearly 1000 people sign up within three days of opening registration.

"This year we piloted a new program with the help of Mass Humanities to host more than a dozen free cruises and each one has been more popular than the last," said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy and Communication for Save the Harbor.

After setting up a waitlist for the 29th cruise, reservations continued to climb, reaching nearly three times the capacity of the boat before the registration form was closed.

"We've been hosting a couple of free cruises to the Boston Harbor Islands each year for more than a decade and we've never seen this many people sign up for a single cruise," said Berman. "But we've always known there was this level of demand for opportunities to visit the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, and we're glad to be able to help meet much of it. We'll be hosting another Spectacle Island cruise on October 20th."

In the meantime, those who aren't able to make it on the boat on the 29th can still enjoy Boston Harbor just a short way away in South Boston. Save the Harbor, along with our partners at the City of Boston, Boston Parks and Recreation Department, Greenovate Boston, Boston Harbor Now, The Trust for Public Land, the Boston Circus Guild, Piers Park Sailing Center, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation at Discover Moakley from 10AM-3PM at Moakley Park and the Edward J. McCormack Bathhouse at Carson Beach in South Boston!

"It is going to be a terrific event," said Chris Mancini, Vice President for Programs and Operations at Save the Harbor, "with fun in the park and on the beach featuring free kayaking instruction, art on the shore, fishing, clamming, and our terrific troupe of performing pirates, as well as aerialists, acrobats, hula hoopers and jugglers from the Boston Circus Guild."

The next free "Share the Harbor" trip to Spectacle Island is scheduled for October 20th. This trip is being planned in partnership with the National Park Service, The Department of Conservation and Recreation and Boston Harbor. There is still plenty of room on that trip, but it is sure to fill up fast. Make your reservation for our October 20th trip to Spectacle Island today using this form. 

Visitors will have the opportunity to join Save the Harbor and Park staff for fishing and crabbing on the pier, kite flying on the North Drumlin, and tours of the island including hunting for seaglass on Treasure Beach. Visitors can also explore the island on their own, relax to live jazz music, or join in the fun of a heart healthy hikes, scavenger hunt, tour of the island, and junior ranger swearing in ceremony.

Save the Harbor's "Share the Harbor" sunset cruise to Boston Light, has similarly hit high registration numbers in a short time. More than 1000 people have registered for the cruise in a week, and interested attendees are being placed on a waitlist at this time. 

Share A Coke With Save The Harbor/Save The Bay

Dear Future Boston,

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is teaming up with Coca-Cola Northern New England to call on young change makers committed to bettering the city of Boston. Last Wednesday and Friday Save The Harbor/Save The Bay staff were able to participate on the ground at University of Massachusetts Boston in an exciting collaboration with Coca-Cola Northern New England’s Dear Future Boston Challenge.

Boston's challenge question displayed at UMASS Boston pop-up hub.

Coca-Cola is challenging 18-24 year olds in 15 different cities across the United States to submit innovative ideas to improve their community. The Dear Future Boston Challenge is calling on young adults to share ideas on how to encourage and improve recycling in the Boston area, help protect coastline and marine life and give recyclable packaging a second life. Applicants must submit their ideas in 100-300 words and can include a video or pictures. But that’s not even the best part! One chosen idea will receive a $30,000 grant awarded by Save The Harbor/Save The Bay, and the change maker will receive mentoring from Save The Harbor/Save The Bay, Coca-Cola Northern New England, Coca-Cola scholars, and other community leaders to bring that idea into reality.

A student discussing ideas with STHSTB and Coca-Cola staff.

As the community partner on this project, Save The Harbor/Save The Bay got the fun opportunity to talk to young change makers in Boston face-to-face, brainstorm ideas, encourage conversation about recycling, and promote participation in the challenge by setting up shop on UMASS Boston’s campus. Our role on campus was to help students talk through their ideas and how they could be executed. The hub provided by Coca-Cola was made out of recycled materials, and offered free coke products and places to sit down for discussing ideas.  Those who wanted to submit their ideas right away could use the provided laptops, while those who wanted to submit their idea later could take a recycling survey and send themselves challenge information with a provided iPad. 

Two students write and submit their $30,000 ideas.

Our staff on the ground were inspired by the enthusiasm of the students to stop and talk about this challenge question. We heard so many creative solutions spanning from changes in recycling pick-ups, recycling education programs, compostable utensils, and many more. Although there will only be one chosen winner, the Dear Future Boston Challenge has left no doubt that Boston is in bright and capable hands.

Submissions will be accepted by October 15, 2018 and more info can be found at www.coke.com/dearfuturecommunity

All smiles for a great partnership, stay tuned for the winning idea!

Save the Harbor and BCBS of Massachusetts Clean Up Carson Beach!

On Friday, September 21st, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff teamed up with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), as part of BCBSMA’s 8th annual Service Day for a clean-up at the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)'s Carson Beach in South Boston.

Stretching for nearly three miles from Pleasure Bay to the McCormack Bathhouse, Carson Beach is one of the cleanest urban beaches in the country. Save the Harbor and BCBS of Massachusetts have held clean up events here for more than a decade.

“Service Day is an important part of our year at Blue Cross Blue Shield,” said Ryan O’Donnell, Vice President of Operations at BCBSMA. “It’s part of our overall mission to ensure healthy communities in the places where we work and live, including making sure that all of our members have access to great recreation spaces and high quality beaches. I used to live about a mile away, and I always appreciated how clean the beaches were. I spent many happy days with my wife and kids here, and we’re excited to play a small part in making sure all of our members have the same opportunities.”

Nearly 40 employees from BCBS of Massachusetts started bright and early to fan out the length of the beach and get to work on various projects. About half of the volunteers went to Pleasure Bay at the north end of Carson Beach. Starting there and working southward, one group painted the shade structures over benches that line Carson Beach and Columbia Road. They were accompanied by a landscaping crew working to remove large plants that grow along the boardwalk and, if left untamed, can grow through and damage the boardwalk.

“It was was a very productive day on the beach, thanks to our partners at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts,” said Chris Mancini Vice President for Programs and Operations at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “In just one day we covered miles of beach, completing maintenance projects that otherwise might take weeks of staff time.”

Another group started the day at the McCormack and worked their way north raking and removing high tide wash up as well as litter and debris from the beach. In addition to the beach work, a small group spent the morning at the South Boston Neighborhood House's preschool, "the Ollie" helping with a deep clean of two classrooms, including sanitizing as many toys as possible in advance of cold and flu season!

“Carson Beach is really a gem not only for Bostonians but for the region as a whole,” said Chris Mancini, Vice President of Operations and Programs at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay who led the group. “We’re incredibly grateful to our partners at Blue Cross Blue Shield for their commitment to stewarding this beach and recognize the role it plays in helping our region's residents live happy, healthy lives.”

Save the Harbor and Boston Consulting Group Work Together to Clean Tenean Beach!

On Thursday September 20th Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff teamed up with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as part of BCG's Service Day 2018 for a clean-up at the Department of Conservation and Recreation's Tenean Beach and Finnegan Park in Dorchester.

Tenean Beach, in the Port Norfolk neighborhood, is a swimming beach with a playground and tennis courts located at the mouth of the Neponset River where it opens into Dorchester Bay. Finnegan Park, a short walk away, is a relatively new DCR park having been converted from industrial to recreational use in 2017 after undergoing rehabilitation.

On Thursday the group of 50 employees from Boston Consulting Group helped to make both of these properties cleaner and more accessible by removing two tons of debris, weeds, and wash up over the course of the day. Volunteers working on Tenean Beach scoured the sand, green areas, and parking lot to pick up debris, and raked storm wash up from the beach. Another team removed weeds from the seawall and sidewalk. In the afternoon volunteers swept sand that had blown onto the sidewalks back onto the playground.

The group at Finnegan Park spent the day removing phragmites, an invasive sea grass, from the shoreline and cutting a strangling vine that was overtaking the local flora. Volunteers also combed the park removing plastic trash and debris from the green spaces.

“It was a very productive day on the beach, thanks to our partners at Boston Consulting Group,” said Chris Mancini Vice President for Programs and Operations at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “In just a few hours we removed two tons of waste, something that might take a week of regular staff time during the fall season, freeing up DCR staff to take on other projects on beaches and parks around the area.”

This day of service was part of Save the Harbor's stewardship program, a collaboration with DCR and our corporate partners to help preserve, maintain, and improve the region's spectacular waterfront resources. This summer, in addition to Boston Consulting Group, we've also partnered with Boston 25 News at Carson Beach, Boston Properties at Victory Road Park and Hines at Squantum Point Park. Particularly after the winter's wicked strong storms, these beaches and waterfront parks saw an increased need to remove debris, rebuild pathways, and restore sand. Save the Harbor is proud to work with our partners as we prepare these beaches for the fall and winter season.

"Clamity" on Revere Beach, as thousands of juvenile surf clams wash ashore.

Late this summer beach lovers in Revere discovered first thousands and then tens of thousands of dead juvenile surf clams decaying on the southern portion of America's oldest public beach.

By September, there were hundreds of thousands of dead clams south of the Markey Bridge, and on hot days with easterly winds, the smell of the sea was replaced by the stench of decay.

"The smell was awful," said Rep. RoseLee Vincent of Revere, who Co-Chairs the Metropolitan Beaches Commission for the Legislature. Vincent contacted the Department of Conservation and Recreation, who buried the clams in trenches to mitigate the smell.  However, despite their efforts, the dead clams keep coming.

According to Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's spokesman Bruce Berman, there appears to be a "surfeit of surf clams" in the shallows on the southern portion of Revere Beach this year. While there are tens of thousands of dead clams washed up on the beach at the high tide line, there are tens of thousands of clams still in the sand which appear to be thriving.

According  to Berman, Atlantic surf clams can grow to eight inches, and are delicious in chowders, though clamming is prohibited on Revere Beach. This species of clam is particularly sensitive to water temperature and salinity, which may explain the situation. "We had a very stormy summer, with several sustained heat waves with temperature of nearly 100 degrees," said Berman. "It is likely that strong surf from north east winds pushed the quarter sized clams into the shallows, where some of them were stressed by high temperatures and fresh water from the torrential storms causing this clam kill, though there are other possible causes as well. We hope to know more about this event soon, and will continue to keep the public informed."

This week state scientists gathered samples of the clams for analysis, and DCR's crews returned to the beach to bury yet anther wave of dead clams.

The Commonwealth's parks and environmental agencies have been very responsive, working to both understand the problem and mitigate the impacts on residents and beach goers. "This has been a great example of inter-agency cooperation and coordination," said Berman. "It is a frustrating situation for beach goers and residents, but DCR staff have been a big help."

"The gulls are doing their part in the cleanup," said Berman. "I expect that the next wave of high tides will wash the remaining dead clams out to sea. Fortunately the event is confined to the southern portion of the beach, so beach goers can enjoy the last days of summer on this great public beach."

According to Berman, this is not the first time that large storms have tossed clams onto Revere Beach. "During the wicked winter of 2015 we saw waves of hard shell clams of all sizes tossed onto the beach by the stormy seas," said Berman. "But they were alive and healthy when they hit the shore, though they eventually froze solid in the bitter cold."

For more information about this event, or to learn more about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the work they do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor, Mass Bay, the Boston Harbor Islands and the region's Metropolitan Beaches from Nahant to Nantasket, visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Free Fall "Share the Harbor" Cruises

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will be hosting free “Share the Harbor Cruises” this fall to Spectacle Island, Georges Island, and Boston Light for kids and families from across the city and around the region.

“These free trips have introduced a whole new audience to Boston Harbor’s storied past,” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy & Communications at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “They give all Bostonians and the region’s residents the chance to enjoy the recreational and educational opportunities that come with clean water and the success of the Boston Harbor Islands State and National Park.”

Though these cruises are free and open to the public, reservations are required.

The first is a “Treasures of Spectacle Island” excursion on Saturday September 29th, featuring performing pirates, a treasure hunt and songs and stories of the sea. This cruise is currently accepting standby reservations here.

The “Treasures of Spectacle Island” include sea glass, pottery and historic artifacts which help illustrate the story of the transformation of the island from the city dump to the most popular destination in the Boston Harbor Islands State and National Park.

Save the Harbor is also accepting reservations for a sunset cruise to Boston Light, site of the first lighthouse in the country, on Monday October 1st. During the cruise, author Eric Jay Dolin will lead a wheelhouse narration based on his best selling book “Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse”!

Reserve your space on this sunset cruise today here.


Save the Harbor’s “Share the Harbor” cruises are funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Save the Harbor's free youth environmental education and family programs are made possible with Leadership Grants from Bay State Cruise Company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Distrigas/ENGIE.

Save the Harbor is grateful for Partnership Grants from Boston Properties - Atlantic Wharf, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., Fan Pier - The Fallon Company, John Hancock Financial Services, The HYM Investment Group, LLC, The Llewellyn Foundation, Massachusetts Bay Lines, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Port Authority, National Grid Foundation, P&G Gillette, Lawrence J. and Anne Rubenstein Charitable Foundation, William E. & Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, Vertex, and The Yawkey Foundation.

Save the Harbor also appreciates Stewardship Grants from The Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, Forrest Berkley & Marcie Tyre Berkley, Blue Hills Bank Foundation, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Camp Harbor View Foundation, Circle Furniture, Comcast, Copeland Family Foundation, Inc., The Cricket Foundation, Cronin Group, LLC, Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation, The Daily Catch Seaport, Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Charitable Trust, Enbridge, Tom & Lucinda Foley, Foundation for Sustainability & Innovation, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Lovett-Woodsum Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General's Healthy Summer Youth Jobs Program, Mass Humanities, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Nicholson Foundation, RMR Real Estate Services, Clinton H. & Wilma T. Shattuck Charitable Trust, Skanska, South Boston, Community Development Foundation, Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, and Tishman Speyer.

Save the Harbor would also like to thank our Program Funders 3A Marine Service, Andus Baker & Rowan Murphy Family Fund, The Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation, Beacon Capital Partners, LLC, Boston Bruins Foundation, Andrew J. Calamare & Marianne Connolly, CannonDesign, Circle Furniture, Kevin & Dee Colcord, Dark Horse Capital Partners, Diversified Automotive, Eversource, Tom & Lucinda Foley, Fort Point Framers, Goulston & Storrs PC, Highland Street Foundation, Legal Sea Foods, Miss Wallace M. Leonard Foundation, George Lewis - Haven Trust, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Mass Bay Credit Union, Massachusetts Marine Educational Trust, National Park Service, Randy Peeler & Kate Kellogg, SKW Partners, Inc., Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, Storm Duds, Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, UDR, Kyle & Sara Warwick, West End House, A.O. Wilson Foundation and Winthrop Parks and Recreation.

Special thanks as well to the hundreds of individual donors for their generosity and to our partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Metropolitan Beaches Commission, the Boston Centers for Youth and Families and the YMCA of Greater Boston for their support.

Welcoming new Policy Intern Donna!

Hello everyone! My name is Donna, and I will be working at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay as an environmental policy intern for the Fall. I come all the way from Los Angeles, California, and I am a senior at Boston University studying for my B.S. in Health Science. While growing up along the Pacific Coast, I have constantly been surrounded by the ocean and its neighboring natural beauties. I have witnessed the increase in pollution in the ocean and beaches, and I have participated in various clean-ups surrounding the coast.

After moving to Boston for school, I began to dive deeper into problems and solutions surrounding environmental policy and health. My experience varies from my research on the water quality of the Charles River to campaign organization at the Environmental Voter Project, also located in Boston. After graduation, I hope to pursue graduate school for Environmental Health and Policy. I look forward to familiarizing myself with the various communities and beaches surrounding Boston while also participating in projects held by Save the Harbor!

Welcoming new intern Mike!

Hello Everyone!

My name's Mike, the new business development intern. I will be working with Trevor Etheridge to find new potential supporters. I am originally from Sandwich Massachusetts, a small town at the start of Cape Cod. I spent my childhood at some of the many beaches that Cape has to offer. Whether it was surfing, skim boarding or just swimming with friends, I was always the first one in and the last one out. I moved to Boston four years ago for school and had a hard time with the transition. When I first got here I struggled finding a beach to spend my time at, I really didn't think I'd find one. I finally found Nantasket beach where I continue to spend some weekends. This internship provides me with the perfect opportunity to give back and to hopefully help families find some of the great beaches that Boston has to offer.  I am currently a senior at Emmanuel College pursuing a degree in Economics with a concentration in Environmental and a minor in photography. Economics is a very broad subject to study and when I took my first environmental economics course I knew that it was a match. I am so excited to start this internship with Save the Bay / Save the Harbor and I look forward to seeing some of you around!