My Week at Carson Beach!

    I spent this week at Carson Beach exploring the different wildlife around the area. We used traps on the pier in order to catch three crabs. On the rocks near the pier at low tide, we were able to find small green invasive crabs in the area and try different variations of traps including a two-person held net where two people would walk through the water perpendicular to the shore in order to catch wildlife and handheld nets. We also made art by raking the sand into different shapes creating large sand murals. On Wednesday, we spent our day at Spectacle Island where we learned that it used to be a landfill and burned for 10 years straight afterward, now it is the largest island in the harbor and is transformed into a day trip experience for visitors. We were able to look at all kinds of remains from the landfill including sea glass and pieces of porcelain plates that were broken down and are used today in many artworks. Afterward, we hiked up to the top of the hills and witnessed the view of multiple shores in Massachusetts, then we went down to go into the water. 

    One wildlife that we found were gulls, one, in particular, was herring gulls. They were first found nesting in Marthas Vineyard, many categorize them as seagulls, although the name seagulls is not a name for any type of bird. They are around 24-26 inches in length and weigh around 2-3 pounds. They can be found throughout the North Atlantic and are around coastal North America during the winter. Their habitat is usually close to an open water source and includes marshes, beaches, mudflats, docks, fishing areas, and plowed fields. Herring Gulls eat usually on marine fish and invertebrates along with other birds, eggs, garbage, and carrion. Although their population is decreasing they are in the least concern category of conservation and are found throughout Massachusetts.

    Also, we had found many small green crabs. They are an invasive species that were introduced to the Western world in 1800 on stowaway ships and have become a delicacy to eat. They grow to be around 3 inches in length and are now found. They can be found on beaches and marshes and in the Pacific Northwest can be found in muddy shoreline habitats like salt marshes. Green crabs feed on many organisms including clams, marine worms, small crustaceans, oysters, and mussels.

    

  

This was an example of one of the green crabs that we had caught.

                    An example of the variety of things that you can find on Spectacle Island.

Credits:

https://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/wildlife-research-conservation/statewide-bird-monitoring/breeding-bird-atlases/bba2/find-a-bird/(id)/1880 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/08/06/cracking-secret-green-crabs/aOlLPKvLdh3O17sZGdHC8N/story.html

https://wsg.washington.edu/crabteam/greencrab/