Boston Consulting Group Spends Service Day 2019 At Tenean Beach With STHSTB

On Thursday September 26th Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s staff teamed up with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as part of BCG's Service Day 2019 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, a group of roughly 50 employees from BCG helped to make of these properties cleaner and more accessible by removing debris, weeds, and trash over the course of the day. Volunteers working on Tenean Beach scoured the sand, green areas, and parking lot to pick up trash, and another team removed weeds from the seawall, sidewalk and grassy open areas. In the afternoon volunteers swept sand that had blown onto the sidewalks back onto the playground and raked the grassy areas for leaves and debris.

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 and fences. Volunteers also combed the park removing plastic trash and debris from the green spaces.

This day was part of BCG’s Service Day 2019 where they partner with different organizations around Boston for a day of community service. This was the second year in a row that BCG chose to work with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay at Tenean Beach and Finnegan Park. Save the Harbor is proud to work with our partners as we prepare these beaches for the fall and winter season.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay Team Up for Service Day 2019

With temperatures in the eighties last Friday, it was a perfect day to spend at the beach for Blue Cross Blue Shield’s 9th annual Service Day: One Community. One Blue. On September 20th more than 3,000 employees volunteer at 52 different sites across Massachusetts. More than 40 of those associates chose to join Save the Harbor/Save the Bay at the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Carson Beach in South Boston to help clean up the beach and the surrounding green space.

The morning started at the McCormack Bath House with an introduction to Save the Harbor’s mission from Vice President Chris Mancini complete with a sea chanty promoting teamwork to set the tone for the day. Representatives from DCR introduced the tasks that needed completing, and after that the groups were on their way.

The next three hours were spent hard at work picking up trash along William J. Day Boulevard, painting shade shelters along the boardwalk, removing sand from the sidewalk behind the sea wall, and landscaping at the nearby South Boston Neighborhood House. During this time, the teams made up of Save the Harbor Staff, Blue Cross Blue Shield employees, and DCR staff took the time to get to know one another. Everyone involved was friendly and talkative, and the tasks at hand allowed each group to unite around a common goal.

After a delicious lunch provided by BCBS, the morning groups joined together for the final push to remove the sand from the sidewalk and return it to the beach. Wielding brooms and shovels, the group quickly moved across the miles of beach until the sidewalk was clear for pedestrians and cyclists alike.

It is truly amazing how much one group of people can get done in a short period of time when they are motivated and unified around a common goal. The teams really dove right in on getting the work done efficiently and thoroughly so that they accomplished an immense amount in a few short hours despite the grueling heat and sun.

Thank you to everyone who took part in this great event on the cleanest urban beach in the country. All of us at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay appreciate having Blue Cross Blue Shield as our partners on their service day, and we thank them for their continued support, hard work and dedication to our mission and our community.

Hundreds enjoy a fall cruise to Boston Light with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

It was a true sunset cruise Monday night as nearly 700 people joined us on the Bay State Cruise Company’s flagship Provincetown II for our Share the Harbor Boston Light cruise to take in the sights and sounds of Boston Harbor at dusk.

Nearly 700 people were aboard Provincetown II for the September 16 Boston Light Cruise.

It was shaping up to be a picturesque autumn evening, and the forecast did not disappoint as the cruise departed the World Trade Center dock. The sun was setting behind the city as we reached the lighthouse, which provided picture-perfect opportunities for all on board.

Boston Light at sunset during the September 16 Share the Harbor cruise.

As we motored past the harbor islands, commentary was provided by Boston Harbor historian David Coffin, whose entertaining charisma captured the attention of everyone on board. He told tales of the golden age of piracy around Boston Harbor and shared history of the harbor as we passed, including the great environmental success story of the Boston Harbor Cleanup.

We were then treated to his rendition of the hymn Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, about the lights from towns onshore guiding ships into port.

Also, aboard the Provincetown II was special guest Dr. Sally Snowman, the 70th keeper of Boston Light and first female light keeper in its long history. She spoke about her daily life and duties on Little Brewster Island. Guests were captivated by her description of the crashing waves, passing boats, beautiful sunsets, and marine life that she experiences. With her, she brought photos from the island’s past and the evolution of the Boston Light and the keeper’s house since 1716.

Harbor Historian and narrator David Coffin, and current Boston Light keeper Sally Snowman.

As the sun made its final descent, a member of the Coast Guard played the bugle to mark the end of the day, as is customary at sunset in the Coast Guard.

At nightfall, our fun filled cruise came to an end with Boston’s skyline lighting up the water around us. People flooded to the bow to take in the beautiful sights and to capture it on their cameras.

People capture photos of the Boston skyline at sunset.

According to Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay’s Vice President Chris Mancini, these free trips are part of the new Share the Harbor initiative that was launched in the spring.

“So far this year nearly 5,000 people have taken part in this great new program,” said Mancini. “The best way we know to ‘Save the Harbor’ is to ‘Share the Harbor’ with the public through free events and programs on the Harbor, the beach, the waterfront and the islands.”

There are still opportunities to get out on the harbor with us! Click here (http://blog.savetheharbor.org/2019/04/ten-free-share-harbor-cruises-in-2019.html) to sign for our next Share the Harbor cruise on September 29 to Spectacle Island.

To stay up-to-date on the work we do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor visit www.savetheharbor.org and like or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Save the Harbor's free Share the Harbor Cruises are made possible with Leadership Grants from Cronin Development, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Bay State Cruise Company.

Save the Harbor is grateful for Leadership Grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Exelon Generation, and John Hancock Financial Services.

Save the Harbor is also grateful for Partnership Grants from the Boston Bruins Foundation, Boston Properties – Atlantic Wharf, Boston Properties—200 Clarendon, The Daily Catch Seaport, Davis Family Charitable Foundation, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., Engie, Fan Pier - The Fallon Company, Highland Street Foundation, Hood Business Park, The HYM Investment Group, LLC, IR+M Charitable Fund, The Llewellyn Foundation, Massachusetts Port Authority, National Grid Foundation, P & G Gillette, Lawrence J. and Anne Rubenstein Charitable Foundation, William E. Schrafft & Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, Clinton H. & Wilma T. Shattuck Charitable Trust, and Vertex.

Save the Harbor also appreciates Stewardship Grants from the Camp Harbor View Foundation, Circle Furniture, Comcast, Copeland Family Foundation, The Cricket Foundation, Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation, Davis Family Charitable Foundation, Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Charitable Trust, Dorr Charitable Foundation, Enbridge, Tom & Lucinda Foley, Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation, The Kershaw Foundation – Cheers for Children, George Lewis - Haven Trust, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Lovett Woodsum Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, MarineMax Russo, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Nicholson Foundation, Pabis Foundation, REI, RMR Real Estate Services, Rockland Trust Pavilion, Skanska, Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, and Tishman Speyer.

Save the Harbor would also like to thank our Program Funders Andus Baker & Rowan Murphy Family Fund, MA Attorney General’s Office Healthy Summer and Youths Jobs Program, The Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, Beacon Capital Partners, LLC, Andrew Calamare & Marianne Connolly, Cell Signaling Technology, Diversified Automotive, Legal Sea Foods, Miss Wallace M. Leonard Foundation, Mass Bay Credit Union, Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, UDR, and Kyle & Sara Warwick.

Save the Harbor would also like to extend our gratitude to our Supporters 3A Marine Service, The Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation, Cresset Group, Massachusetts Marine Educational Trust, Randy Peeler & Kate Kellogg.

Special thanks as well to the hundreds of individual donors for their support 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.

To stay up-to-date on the work we do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor visit www.savetheharbor.org and like or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

New Intern - Sebastian Belfanti

Sebastian Sailing in Boston Harbor

Sebastian Belfanti started last week as one of our newest class of interns here at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. Originally from Newark, NJ Sebastian attended high school in upstate New York where he was a captain of the school rowing team and worked with researchers at Columbia and Stanford Universities. Sebastian attended college at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA where he received his BS in geology, a minor in history, and used geochemical analysis to identify the source of gold deposits in the Chandalar Mining Region of Northern Alaska. Sebastian just recently completed his MSc studying the granites of Yosemite National Park, CA, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. During his studies he completed fieldwork in 11 U.S. States, as well as South Tirol and Elba in Italy, and developed a new methodology for imaging of granitic minerals.

 (Top) Sebastian on the summit of Johnson Peak and (Bottom) Cathedral Peak, a portion of his field site in Yosemite National Park, CA

He is now looking to expand into a career where his work will have a more immediate impact, and he joins us at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay to gain experience working in policy, advocacy, and to gain exposure to non-profit work generally. He looks forward to contributing a strong scientific background, and learning as much as possible over the next few months with us.

Comcast Foundation Grant To Strengthen Job Readiness Skills For BPS Students Employed At Save The Harbor

The Boston high school students employed by Save the Harbor/Save the Bay next summer will have the opportunity to develop new ways to strengthen their leadership and job readiness skills thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Comcast Foundation.

The 20-25 Boston Public School students, who help lead Save the Harbor’s Youth Environmental Education Programs, develop these skills by participating in a suite of career-focused, technology training projects while employed during the summer months. Next year, with support from the Comcast Foundation grant, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will incorporate skills training across all areas of their Youth Programs aimed at increasing the teens’ confidence in dealing with the evolving tech industry, and introducing them to potential pathways to careers on Boston Harbor that require increasing levels of technological literacy.

These new technology and leadership training sessions begin during a week-long orientation and are further developed at eight additional sessions throughout the summer. In addition to strengthening the leadership, communications, and technology skills of the teens, these trainings will also empower them with skills necessary to present the organization’s mission and programs to the public, with an objective to develop the youth to be competitive candidates in today’s workforce.

“Save the Harbor is proud to continue and deepen our partnership with Comcast and the Comcast Foundation,” said Chris Mancini, Vice President of Operations & Programs. “Their support over the years has helped provide laptops to our youth, iPads that enhance the efficiency and professionalism of our programs, and Internet Essentials to people from around the region.”

This grant represents great new potential for Save the Harbor’s programs and participants, who will have the opportunity to build and pilot underwater drones at Youth Environmental Education sites like Carson Beach in South Boston, Piers Park in East Boston, and public events from Nahant to Nantasket.

Each year Save the Harbor/Save the Bay sees increased confidence in their youth staff as they learn to communicate and educate others and that newly developed skill sets translate into success in their chosen fields. The leadership, communications, technology, and workforce readiness skills learned in this program play an important role developing the teen’s skills and experiences needed to make them competitive prospects in a changing marketplace.

Join Save the Harbor on Two Free “Share the Harbor” Cruises in September

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is hosting two free “Share the Harbor” cruises to the Boston Harbor Islands from the Seaport this month, and wants you to know that there is plenty of room for you and your friends and family on the boat!

Harbor is hosting two free “Share the Harbor” Cruises in September.

Join us on Monday, September 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. for a free sunset cruise to Boston Light with wheelhouse narration by our harbor historian David Coffin, who will share songs and stories of the sea. Sally Snowman, the 70th Keeper of Boston Light, will also be on board dressed in period garb, to answer your questions about her life on Little Brewster Island.

The public is also invited to join us on Sunday, September 29, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for a free trip to explore the Treasures of Spectacle Island, which has been transformed from a landfill into the most popular destination in the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park.

You can spend your time on Spectacle Island exploring Treasure Beach with Save the Harbor’s BayWatcher Bruce Berman, hiking to the top of the North Drumlin for a spectacular view of the city, or fishing from the pier with our Youth Environmental Education program staff.

Both cruises depart from the World Trade Center ferry terminal on Seaport Boulevard in South Boston on Bay State Cruise Company’s flagship Provincetown II, which can easily accommodate 1000 passengers.

Though there is plenty of room for you and your friends and family on the boat, reservations are required. Make your reservation today for one or both of these free Share the Harbor cruises at www.tinyurl.com/SharetheHarbor2019.

According to Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay’s Vice President Chris Mancini, these free trips are part of our new Share the Harbor initiative that they launched in the spring. “So far this year nearly 5,000 people have taken part in this great new program,” said Mancini. “The best way we know to  “Save the Harbor” is to “Share the Harbor” with the public through free events and programs on the Harbor, the beach, the waterfront and the islands.”

Save the Harbor's free Share the Harbor Cruises are made possible with Leadership Grants from Cronin Development, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Bay State Cruise Company.

Save the Harbor is grateful for Leadership Grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Exelon Generation, and John Hancock Financial Services.

Save the Harbor is also grateful for Partnership Grants from the Boston Bruins Foundation, Boston Properties – Atlantic Wharf, Boston Properties—200 Clarendon, The Daily Catch Seaport, Davis Family Charitable Foundation, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., Engie, Fan Pier - The Fallon Company, Highland Street Foundation, Hood Business Park, The HYM Investment Group, LLC, IR+M Charitable Fund, The Llewellyn Foundation, Massachusetts Port Authority, National Grid Foundation, P & G Gillette, Lawrence J. and Anne Rubenstein Charitable Foundation, William E. Schrafft & Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, Clinton H. & Wilma T. Shattuck Charitable Trust, and Vertex.

Save the Harbor also appreciates Stewardship Grants from the Camp Harbor View Foundation, Circle Furniture, Comcast, Copeland Family Foundation, The Cricket Foundation, Cruise Industry Charitable Foundation, Davis Family Charitable Foundation, Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Charitable Trust, Dorr Charitable Foundation, Enbridge, Tom & Lucinda Foley, Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation, The Kershaw Foundation – Cheers for Children, George Lewis - Haven Trust, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Lovett Woodsum Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, MarineMax Russo, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Nicholson Foundation, Pabis Foundation, REI, RMR Real Estate Services, Rockland Trust Pavilion, Skanska, Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, and Tishman Speyer.

Save the Harbor would also like to thank our Program Funders Andus Baker & Rowan Murphy Family Fund, MA Attorney General’s Office Healthy Summer and Youths Jobs Program, The Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, Beacon Capital Partners, LLC, Andrew Calamare & Marianne Connolly, Cell Signaling Technology, Diversified Automotive, Legal Sea Foods, Miss Wallace M. Leonard Foundation, Mass Bay Credit Union, Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, UDR, and Kyle & Sara Warwick.

Save the Harbor would also like to extend our gratitude to our Supporters 3A Marine Service, The Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation, Cresset Group, Massachusetts Marine Educational Trust, Randy Peeler & Kate Kellogg.

Special thanks as well to the hundreds of individual donors for their support 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.

To stay up-to-date on the work we do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor visit www.savetheharbor.org and like or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Brown Algae Bloom

 There have been a number of recent reports of an algae bloom in Boston Harbor and elsewhere around the region which has stained the water a chocolate brown.

 

Staff from the MWRA, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the MA Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) have collected and analyzed samples of the bloom and determined that the culprit is a naturally occurring algae, Karenia mikimotoi, and that similar blooms have recently been reported elsewhere in the Gulf of Maine.

 

The culprit: Karenia Mikimotoi, is a naturally occurring nuisance algae.

 Though the drop in dissolved oxygen levels caused by the bloom can affect fish and shellfish, DMF reports that Karenia  mikimotoi  is NOT a public health concern, and that the water is safe for boating, fishing and swimming.

"Algae blooms like this one are fairly common" said Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Director of Strategy and Communications Bruce Berman, who has been working closely with the MWRA to monitor the situation. "This one has lasted longer and is more extensive than most we have seen in the region in recent years. "

"Though it doesn't pose a threat to human health like the recent blue green algae bloom in the Charles River, we are concerned that blooms like this may become more common as a result of warmer water caused by climate change" said Berman. "We are glad that the MWRA and state agencies are working together with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and other stakeholders to understand and address the situation."

The MWRA is keeping a close watch on the bloom and dissolved oxygen levels in the harbor, and will be conducting additional surveys after the storm.

For more information please contact Bruce Berman at berman@savetheharbor.org, or on his cell at 617-293-6243.