Great time at the Aquarium and seeing the smallest SeaHorse!

I enjoyed this week i had a fun time exploring the aquarium with all the groups and team leaders also got the chance to see one of the tiniest sea horses in the world. There was a tank that was in the shape of a cylinder that had spiral stairs as we were going up we saw different types fishes, turtles and the fishes in the other tanks and showed description about them and the types of water they survive in. we also saw the penguins and learning more about the sea lions around the world, the things that are happening to them and watching the sea lions do cool tricks. The SeaHorses were so tiny that you have to go up close to the tank to see them move around and their called the Pygmy Seahorse their so small and vulnerable causing them to have predators in their environment having them to camouflage within the corals and plants.

Pygmy Seahorse 

 The pygmy seahorse is both tiny and well camouflaged. It is very difficult to spot amongst the sea grasses, soft corals, or gorgonians that it inhabits. Other distinctive pygmy seahorse characteristics include a fleshy head and body, a very short snout, and a long, prehensile tail. With their short snouts, they have the appearance of baby animals. Pygmy Seahorses can grow up to 14 to 27 millimeters long from the tip of the tail to the end of the snout, so that their vertical height while swimming is still smaller and an adult seahorse can be small as 13 millimeters long. Pygmy Seahorse have morphological markers, other seahorse don't have a single gill opening on the back of the head like pygmy seahorses and the others had two on side, males produce babies in a pouch by their trunk and lastly, males and females are distinguished by openings at the bottom of the trunk: females have a tiny, raised round pore for extruding eggs and males have a fore-and-aft slit for accepting them.

If you guys like Jelly then you will love Jellyfish!

I am going to talk about to two different types of jellies today. They all have their own way of being identified and all have many adaptations for their own way of life. For now we will talk about the things many jellies have in common. For starters, many people ask this question, " Do Jellyfish have brains?" Well the simple answer is no! Jellyfish still can swim and even hunt but they do it with no brain. They do this because the Jellyfish still have neurons in its body capable of moving the body and also "feel" with its body as well. In other words it has a central nervous system that can be similar to a brain but it not one. All jellyfish are also made of three layers of gel like substance. The first layer is called the epidermis the middle thick layer is called mesoglea that is the "jelly" part of the jelly fish, and the last layer is the gastrodermis or the inner layer. All Jellyfish have tentacles that are used for collecting plankton to even catching small fish. Some also are very venomous while other are harmless to humans. They are also invertebrates meaning they have no back bone or even bones at all!

Lions Main Jellyfish

This Jellyfish is also known as the Giant Jellyfish. Its scientific name is Cyanea capillata (say that three times)It is the largest Jellyfish every discovered and can grow up to 120 feet long and be 20 inches in diameter. They are found in colder waters like here in the Boston Harbor. They are also found in the Artic and north Pacific oceans. They eat fish larvae and other creature eggs, tiny crustaceans like small crabs and snails, small fishes, and other jellies. This particular Jelly is actually dangerous to us humans. They are not known to kill but have a very painful sting and you will need to consult a doctor for a remedy.

Lions Main Jellyfish

Box Jellyfish

The scientific name fore the Box Jellyfish is Cubozoa. They can grow up to 8 inches along each box side and be up to 12 inches in diameter the the tentacles can grow up to 10 feet long. They are transparent so they can be very hard to see under the water. They are found in warm costal waters like in Florida and parts of the Caribbean. Box Jellies are carnivores that eat Shrimp, fish, worms, and other jellies. How they catch their prey is by the tentacles. They have 5,000 stingers on each tentacle and are super venomous. They are powerful enough to kill adult humans. The tentacles attaches to the skin which have little needles that then pump the venom into the skin. The venom is filled with nematocyst that causes a lot of pain. Remember how I said they are hard to see, well this is why humans sometimes get stung in shallow waters because even when they die the stingers still are on and can kill. So if you are to go to global water be careful for those Jellies.

 

Box jellies


 

Sting of Box Jelly

Week 4 and Squantum's Core

This week, we went to the aquarium, Quincy shore, and Pleasure Bay for the beach event. On Tuesday, every group took a trip to the aquarium. It was a really great experience getting to spend time with everyone all at once since we haven't since orientation. My favorite part was observing the giant tank from above when stingrays and other fish came to the surface and the divers jumped in and out (what an amazing job!) On Thursday, Syan, Grace, and I spent the day at pleasure bay working the beach event. We had a female lobster and crab, and I learned so much about them and their habitats. I leanred that lobsters turn blue when theyre out of the water for too long, that the smaller claw is their dominant hand, and that they pee out of their face! It was extremely fun sharing these facts with the kids because I saw their faces light up with excitement and confusion, eagar to learn more. On Wednesday, we started at Wollaston Beach and eventually migrated towards the Squantum Marshes. Walking through the trail, my group and I read a plaque about the history of Squantum that really piqued my interest. The plaque read,  "Moswetuset Hummock." I recalled that Moswetuset, or "hill shaped like an arrowhead," is believed to be the origin of the name, Massachusetts. Immediately, I knew these marshes had significance to the history of our native Americans. 

        Moswetuset Hummock received its name from the seatholder, Chickataubut, who governed the Indians in this part of the land. He had his rule on a small hill containing around an acre and a half southward of Boston. This hill is in the shape of an Indian's arrowhead, which in their language are called "mos,' or "mons," as a hill in their language is "wetuset." Therefore, the sachem's decided to name this his tribal area Moswetuset, signifying the hill in the shape of an arrowhead, and his people, the Moswetuset Indians. Later, with a small variation of the word, it became Massachusetts.  A hummock is a geological term; a piece of forested ground rising above a marsh, less than fifty feet in height. Earth hummocks, in contrast to ice hummocks, are known as small rounded knolls, mounds of land, or hillocks. Hummocks are believed to be formed by colder conditions when permafrost was likely present in the ground. 

   These marshes were home to the native Americans during the spring and summer, as the wetlands and soil provided them nutritious and necessary foods including shellfish, fish, waterfowl, and migratory birds. Their tribe would send small hunting parties toward the Blue Hills in order to hunt other necessities for their diet other than fish, including deer, rabbits, and a different variety of birds. The land and area we were exploring gained significance nearly 8,000 years ago when Black's Creek's estuary, a place where the tide meets the river, started to form. Chickataubut was visited by Captain Myles Standish and the Indian guide Squanto in 1621 in order to negotiate. In 1617 an epidemic, probably a disease brought on a visiting European ship, ravaged the native population here and along the New England coastline. Estimates are that 80% of the people died. By the time of King Philip’s War, 1675-77, little presence of the Moswetuset tribe remained in the town.

In 1970, Modertuset Hommuck was formally recognized and added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts. It was recognized by the United States National Register and Native American descendants, the Ponkapoag people. Located on East Squantum Street, the northern end of Wollaston Beach, Quincy Bay, it is now a great little place to visit. It offers spectacular views of the water and has a nice, relaxing trail to hike along. It is accessible by car and by walking if you live in the Quincy Bay area. 

Beach Bash:

  Moswetuset Hummock:

Jellyfish, Crabs, and Lobsters, Oh My!

The jellyfish at the New England Aquarium

This week, we went to the aquarium on Tuesday, which was pretty fun. My favorite animals there were the penguins and jellyfish. I learned that jellyfish are not classified as fish since they are invertebrates. Instead, they are the member of the class Scyphozoa. It was mesmerizing to see how they swam. They used their tentacles to help them swim, but then they floated for a while until they reached the bottom of the tank. Then, they would swam back towards the top. I learned that the the fuzzy pinkish that trails away from the jellyfish along with its tentacles are the oral arms. It was interesting to see the other types of jellyfish that the aquarium had.

On Wednesday, my group went to Wollaston Beach in Quincy, where we learned about bivalves. Bivalves are a group of sea creatures with a shell that have two valves that they use to filter water and food into and out of their shells. Their shells have a hinge plate with "teeth" that interlock to hold the shell closed.

On Thursday, we went to a beach bash at Pleasure Bay, and a lobster and a crab to a bunch of children. It was pretty fun, and a lot of kids were interested. Although some kids were afraid to touch them, I was surprised by how many kids did. One interesting fact that I learned was that lobsters pee out of their faces to communicate with other lobsters and they can recognize each others' scent for up to a year.

Lobsters are crustaceans that scavenge for dead animals. They also eat live fish, bottom-dwelling invertebrates, including small mollusks, and seaweed. Lobsters are red, because their diet mostly consists of red things. They have a rigid abdomen, and a flexible tail that enables them to swim backwards. (they cannot swim forward.) They have two claws, one is large, and it is use for crushing things, including its prey, and its smaller claw, which is its dominant claw, is used for precision.

Didn't enjoy this week

    This week was definitely one of the most fun weeks have had so far this summer! The thing that I appreciate about this job is that we rarely have to sit down and do actual work. It's all about having fun and making friends. Going to the aquarium with all of the groups on Tuesday was really exciting because I haven't been there since elementary school. It's a lot smaller than I remember it being but there were alot of really cool animals there. I especially liked seeing the sea lions do their tricks. Seeing that makes me wanna be a sea lion because of how cool it would be to be able to swing the way they can. The Jelly fish tank was also super cool. Seeing them reminded me of that part in Nemo when they had to go through a whole hoard of Jelly fish while they were getting stun a bunch of times.

    The next day my group and I started and finished our deliverable. We ended up doing a rap to the beat of a rap song that I forget the name of. It was challenging having come up with lyrics that matched the beat but were also related to the theme of bivalves. We had our group mate Roy rap the song and then we made a little music video to go with it. You should definitely go check it out sometime. MaryKate, Grace and I were tasked with running the Save the Harbor table at the Beach Bash event with Maya and David. I thought that it would be difficult since there was only 3 of us and usually you would have 2 groups for the beach bash but it ended up being super fun. I got to hold a lobster and a crab for the first time.

    Now onto some fun facts about lobsters 🦞and crabs 🦀! Back in the colonial times lobsters were not seen as a delicious commodity. People rarely ate them and lobsters were mostly fed to livestock like pigs and goats. When food is scarce lobsters will also feed on other lobsters. Although lobsters are often depicted as red they are never really red until they are cooked. In the wild they are green or yellow. When out of the water for long periods they will start to turn blue. New England is one of the best places to hunt lobster because its rocky shores give them lots of places to hide. 

    Crabs can be found all over the world with there being over 6,700 species of crab. One of those species, the Japanese Spider Crab, can grow up to 13 feet in length. Female crabs can lay 1000 to 2000 eggs. The crabs that are born from those eggs will each have 10 legs since crabs are decapods. Most crabs have pinchers that they use to hunt for food. They mostly eat things like algae, mollusks, and worms. They sometimes even eat other crustaceans. 

Week 4 - Going to the Aquarium and Learning How to Bike!

This week was quite a memorable one. We started off the week by going to the New England Aquarium and I haven't been to the aquarium since elementary school. Looking back, I remembered that the penguins were the first animals introduced and the huge column of saltwater fish and coral reef that was in the middle of the building. I saw so many fish that my family has kept over the years, but they were so much bigger and living in massive tanks. In one of the tanks, there was supposed to be a fish called the longhorn cowfish. It is a yellow boxfish that has long horns pointing out of its forehead. I consider this one of the most unique and fascinating fish I have ever kept. It's also one of the most passive and adorable fish I have ever had. Albert and I tried multiple times to spot this fish, but we did not find a single one. This tank also consisted of a different variety of tangs and one of my favorites, the Emperor Angelfish. Overall, this tank was definitely the highlight of the Aquarium. 

Since my group was going to the Charles River this week, we thought about biking, but I was one of the few people in my group that didn't know how to bike. This created the ultimate opportunity for me to learn how to ride a bike. At first, it was a struggle because my sense of balance was horrible, but eventually it clicked and now I am trying to stay on the bike for as long as I can. Unfortunately, our group was not able to bike together, so hopefully we can do it at another site.

Everyone's Favorite Insect: Mosquitos

Culicidaes, better known as mosquitos have to be one of my least liked animal species on this wonderful vast lucious earth, I can't stand them. They are annoying, aggressive and flat out pestering insects, that seem to appear out of thin air. All just to ruin any sort of enjoyment you're having while being out in nature. There are 52 different species of mosquitos in the state of Massachusetts, all having similar physical qualities, making it difficult to distinguish the varying types from the naked eye. To most people a mosquito is simply a mosquito, doesn't matter the species they all do the same thing. 

I am here to talk about mosquitos because over the past few weeks my group has made a few trips to marshes in places like Revere, Nahant and Quincy. We all enjoy walking around the marsh to see the different unusally seen plants and just the make-up of the area itself. But we always contemplate whether it will be worth it knowing that no matter how much Off Mosquito and Insect Repelent we put on, we will still get absolutely harrassed and attacked by everyone's favorite insect: mosquitos. The minute you step foot in the marsh they swarmed us like bees to honey and we ended up leaving with a minimum is 3 bites, all in varying locations. After leaving frustrated and annoyed I had to find out why they acted in such a beligerent way, and from my research I found a few interesting things. 

In my findings I came across an article that quoted Jeffery Riffell, the lead author on a paper on mosquitos, who said, "the entire mosquito has evloved to indentify us and bite us. They are especially sensitive to temperature, to the water vapor from our sweat, to our body odor, and to the carbon dioxide from our breath, so their entire sensatory systems are geared towards locating us." He later went on to say that even if an adult mosquito had spent its entire life around dogs and cattle if there was a human in that herd it would gravitate directly to the human even without having ever had an encounter with one. Quite interesting how their entire existence is predicated on another mammal's blood. 

When it comes to insect repellents I found that those typically bought repelents only work for certain types of mosquitos, and because there are over 52 different species in the state of Massachusetts alone it will rarely be effective. A female mosquito produces aproximately 300 eggs in its 8-10 day lifespan and can redproduce in just about any environment, inside or outiside. Mosquitos have been around since the beginning of the first mammal and from the information I found I have come to the conclusion that mosquitos will probably be around after we are gone so we might as well suck it up, like mosquitos do, and deal with them. 

Signing off this week as,

Mosquito Hater 

Out on the Charles river

This week we went to the Charles River where me and my team study for population and events that take place over in the Charles River. What I learned was that the population of Boston is roughly about 684,379 people. The demographics of it is that they have about 52.82% of whites which make up the majority of the population and 25.23% of African Americans and 7.56% of Asian backgrounds. Aside from that Boston is known for their transportation which consist of trains, buses , boats and commuter rails and 9.68% of people take public transport 2.4% ride bikes to and from work, 38.9% drive or carpool like Lyft or Uber to get to their destination. The main transportation between these areas are I-28 which can take you to back bay, downtown, Fenway, and over near the Charles town area. A few fun facts about Boston is that Revere was Boston’s first public beach. Another one is that custom built America’s first subway in 1897 And the last one is that there was no Christmas in Boston between 1659-1681. That week my group was Also able to go on and all aces trip with other groups too we got to go to spectacle with different camp groups and we got to actually catch fish with them. 

Charles River

 We went to the Charles river and we walk all around the area, my group and I stopped at some parks near by and played. We played cards too. We visited MIT and we stopped at a pizza place at the Charles river. I studied geese, swans and ducks. We watched the kids from sailing camp sail. We spotted some swans and her babies along with a line of geese 

Boating and Floating Through Week 3!

 Hello! This week was definitely my favorite so far. Tuesday, our group leader was out sick. So, Syan, Ruben, and I were assigned to different groups. I had the great opportunity to tag along with Jason's group and I had an amazing time. My group has gotten really small, especially last week, so it was so fun being in a bigger group. Jason's group and I spent the day in Quincy. We began the day at Wollaston Beach and fished off the piers. We caught a few crabs, and I learned a ton about fishing from Albert, who is their group's Ruben (fishing expert)! We spent the rest of the day wandering through the water and finding organisms to learn about. On Tuesday, I also saw the office for the first time which was really cool! We finishing up for the day and headed home. On Wednesday, I was back with my group, which was only me, Syan, Ruben, and Anna! So small! We spent the day in East Boston and had the amazing opportunity to spend a few hours with a Park Ranger, from whom I learned so much. I realized I have been overlooking all of the amazing organisms on every inch of every beach! East Boston's beach was beautiful and so cool and I loved how close the planes were. After the park ranger finished up, we went home and got ready for our fishing trip on Thursday. I think my favorite part of this job is when I branch out and meet different people from different groups, so I was extremely excited for Thursday. We spent the day with Jason's group and had a beautiful day on the water. We ended up catching roughly 45 fish! We caught black sea bass, sea robins, ocean perches, and even a sand shark! I learned how to attach a flounder hook, put on worms and squid (not my favorite part), and learned all about different types of fish in our harbor. We listened to music and danced, had great conversations, and I created bonds with people that I didn't have the week before. Throughout Thursday, my group and I decided to make a TikTok for our deliverable. We went through how to attach a flounder hook, how to put on a worm, and showed them all the fish we caught. This made me realize that a Save The Harbor Tik Tok could be a really great resource for us to reach out to people in our generation who have the same interests as us. On Friday, we edited the TikTok and created a pamphlet to go along with it in order to educate everyone about the animals in our harbor. I was very excited and proud of our deliverable this week! Here are some pictures of our week:

Week 3! Wowee!

 Week 3 with Team Jason was a blast! Although we didn't get to spend very much time in Quincy like we planned, it was more than made up for by our fishing trip and our day at Spectacle Island. The one day that we did spend in Quincy was at Wollaston Beach, where we did some light fishing and ended up catching a few crabs! Though it was our only day in Quincy, we got to spend our time working on our deliverable and tearing through out snack bag, so It was still a great time. 

On Wednesday, we decided to help take groups to Spectacle Island, where we got to catch even more crabs. Over there, our group decided to try some hiking, and we got to see some spectacular views at the top of the North Drumlin. 

The Highlight of the week, however, had to have been our fishing trip on Thursday, where we boarded the Belle and went fishing. Getting to practice rigging rods and hooking bait was an enjoyable learning experience, but the real fun was in actually catching the fish. Most fish we caught were black sea bass, but we also got a look of some really weird and pretty species, and Reuben even managed to catch a shark! It was just an all-together great time on the water, and we got some pretty killer pictures on the boat.

Overall, a pretty good week! Maybe even our best one yet!

Charles River Week

 Hi everyone, 

This is my third blog and our location for this week is the Charles River. On our first day at Charles River, we explored Charles river and looked at the different places you can find around the area. On the second day, we went to spectacle island and we helped kids and other programs out. On Thursday we started doing our deliverables and we all researched things about the Charles River. My part of the deliverable was Charles River fishing and I learned a lot of things I did not know about the Charles River. One thing that I researched is that the Charles River is an 80-mile long river in eastern Massachusetts and is a great place for people to go fishing.

    The Charles River has over twenty-five different species of fish that live in the river and one of the most popular fish that is caught and eaten is the largemouth bass. Before you can fish you have to have a license which will cost you $27.50 a year and to fish you would need to be over 15 years old. Once you have figured out the things necessary for fishing in Massachusetts you would need to find a good fishing area that can be found along the riprap of the southern shoreline as well as the rock walls lining the edges of the river. Then when you do catch a fish you have to make sure the fish is at least 24 inches fork length which is the right size to keep the fish.

Cruising Through Week Three!!

            Hey y’all!!

The top of the Drumlin!!

            Welcome back! This week my team and I explored water quality and harbor island history. What better way to explore that than going out to THEE Spectacle Island itself?! On the island, we made sure to get around to the Drumlin hiking trail. We were able to see and feel how high we are at the top of the island as we went around. This tied in well to our weekly exploration because, ironically, Spectacle island used to be lower until it got taken over with trash. After the trash burned for ten years, the island got cleaned up, and they added a sandbar, it became the tallest and most well known island in the harbor! It felt super rewarding to make it to the top and get the best view of the entire harbor!

            Backtracking to Tuesday, my group and I explored the water on Wollaston beach. We noticed a water drain with lots of debris and seaweed there, gross! Nevertheless, the water was very nice and we caught a bunch of green crabs as we fished there. It was interesting to see the difference in water quality just from a change of sites each week. While it is still the harbor, the distance between each site changes the quality of the water and the inhabitants that we catch.

I hope to see you again next week!! SEA ya! :)

Spectacle day!!

Aleena Mangham

Another summer

 I’m so glad to be back at Save The Harbor Save The Bay, I can’t wait for another fun filled summer with making new friends and having more opportunities to be out on the harbor and to have great new memories also. This past school has been interesting with it beeping online so I’m so relieved to be working in person and being around other people. This week was really fun meeting my team whom I will be spending this summer with. On the first day of the week, we went to Short beach in revere where we picked up trash and walked on the beach which had a ton of seaweed on it. Aleena (one of my teammates) found squid eggs on the beach. We didn’t know what it was at first, then we looked it up and found our answer. Then we walked to revere beach to meet with a national park ranger to talk to us about the different kinds of plants and animals in the ocean. The next day we were back at revere beach. We went in the water and we all stood in a circle and played volleyball. Then we walked on the beach looking for things that caught our eye and the kinds of people went to the beach we ate and went in the water then we went home. The next day we were at a marsh. I forgot the name of it but there were a ton of mosquitoes and we saw a hawk eating an animal but we kept walking around the marsh and found a convenient store. I got a spider-man popsicle then we went back to revere beach some of us were playing with a frisbee. Albert and Alex found a hole and made it deeper and soon after all of us came and dug the hole we made it so six of us can fit in it and we built a wall and decorated it then we soon realized it was time to go home. And that was my week at save the harbor, see you in the next one Ari:) .

Henry Burns - introduction and first week

 My name is Henry Burns this my first year at save the harbor.  I'm 16 and I'm going to be a junior in high school.  for my first week my team was at revere and our focus was on biodiversity.  our first day we did a survey about bivalves witch are basically the clam and oyster shells, and another survey about invasive species.  the next day was walking around on a nice beach, but we were also looking for what types of animals or plants were there and if they were invasive or not.  the third day was going to a marsh witch didn't last long we got some pictures and then ran away from all of the bugs.  After that we went back to the beach and started work on what our project on biodiversity is going to be.  In my opinion this is a great job you are usually close by a beach or water, you are learning about the environment and also teaching people about it.  

Back at it! Year 3 Im ready Im ready:)

  

      Whoop whoop!! I’m back for yet another year with Save the Harbor. I should probably introduce myself, I’m Jasmine and this is my third year with SHSB and I’m super excited for it. This year I have the amazing opportunity of being a part of an amazing group and this past week we were at Revere beach, short beach, and . We started off the week at a short beach which was very interesting because the beach was full of rocks and a lot of flies and there was a huge amount of seaweed on the beach and the smell wasn’t super pleasant. From there we moved to Revere beach where we walked along the beach looking for bivalves and looking at different animals we could find along the shoreline. We found crabs, clams, we even saw a group of ducks swimming and diving in the water. As we continued to walk along the beach we even had the opportunity to watch a seagull throwing a clam from high up in the air in an attempt to get it to open up so that it could eat the insides. We also had the opportunity to go to a marsh, although I’ve got to admit it looked like something picked out of a horror movie. As we walked through the marsh we were being attacked by mosquitos looking for any opening to our skin, we then saw what looked like an eagle and it was eating a squirrel. We got to experience all of this but the best part of it all was getting to know my group. Even though some of us just met I feel like we connected and created such a fun environment rather quickly. It is never a boring moment among these amazing people and I’m glad that I’ll have the opportunity to get to spend the summer with them and get to know them more. I’m glad to be back and I’m ready to make the most out of this summer!

week 2 the seaport and something else

     so for this week we were at the north end and the seaport witch was great, I spent 5$ on a pizza.  our topic for that week was sea level rise and gentrification.  it took me half of the week to figure out that gentrification means, when you develop the land to make better housing but it is too expensive for most people living in the area, I think that's right.  

    

    the first day was basically the same as last week figure out what our topic is and how we were going to show it.  the second day we were in the s
eaport and while walking along the water one of my team members accidently gave his glasses to a fish.  this means that they fell off his head and landed in the water.  so the next time you see a ladder going in to the water don't take a video of your self pretending to climb out of the water like you just went for a swim.  the best part about that is after they fell off he went in after them and couldn't find them, but by that point we were all laughing about it.  sadly I don't have the video of that so your going the have to imagine it from my bad story of it.  Thursday we finished up all of the work that we started yesterday.

    on Friday we were working on something called a beach bash.  it was basically just makin Shure no kids got hut or went missing but surprisingly I learned a lesson.  the lesson is never trust people in my grout with anything sharp.  we were at the fishing station and one of the lines got tangled so I asked someone to hold the rod so I could untangle it.  I realized I was never untangling it so I went to cut the hook off so we could use it on another rod. then the hook studently went up along with my finger.  it wasn't a bad cut but my group has 8 people in it and 2 of them got hooked including me by 2 other people in my group.  besides that it was a great day.  

    my first week I only put a short paragraph so I needed to make up for it by taking 2 random things and turning them in to a full paragraph, and I also didn't take any pictures so I need to make up for that also.  

Fun in the Sun!

Seabass caught on trip!

            Hello and welcome back friends!! This week we kicked off the fun with a trip to the North End, followed by exploring the Seaport, Save the Harbor’s home itself! It was our goal to study rising sea levels; this encompassed ideas like greenhouse gases, the green new deal, thermal expansion, and coastal flooding. Greenhouse gasses actually contribute to the greenhouse effect (sun being trapped in the lower part of the atmosphere) by soaking up infrared radiation. Coastal flooding encloses the idea of sea level rise: the constant elevation of water to land. All of these topics were really interesting to explore while keeping Boston in mind, because it proves to us and our neighbors that this change is happening right outside of our doorstep.

In the middle of the week, I went on a fishing trip on our favorite boat, The Belle! There, we caught over 20 fish, all different types and sizes! The most common fish we caught were sea bass, a black species of marine ray-finned fish, regularly found in the Boston Harbor. Not only did we explore some parts of the Harbor that we haven’t seen yet, but we all bonded over our love of fishing; that was really shown through all of the fish we caught!

To end the week off with a bang, my group and I helped facilitate the Beach Bash at Constitution beach. We were all super excited to be able to fish, have a touch tank, play sports, and enjoy some face painting, things we don’t always do everyday. Being out on the beach and hosting such a welcoming, fun, and much needed bash was the best way to end off a week of hard work around the seaport. SEA you next week for some fun in Quincy!!

Until next time,

Aleena :)

Team Jason taking on the beach bash!

Second Summer on the Harbor

Hey y'all!

I'm McRae (she/her pronouns), a member of team Jason, and this is my second summer as a JPA at Save the Harbor. I was also a winter intern during the 2020-21 school year. I just recently graduated from the O'Bryant School in Roxbury and will be attending Penn State - University Park in the fall as a student in the Schreyer Honors College with an intended major in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. If it wasn't obvious from my major, I'm hoping to become a veterinarian (small animal, to be specific). Save the Harbor, with its biological and ecological focuses, has been a great summer job and learning opportunity for me and I'm looking forward to another great summer out on the Harbor.

Me and Ari (teammates for two years in a row) in front of Rumney Marsh

For our first week, team Jason went to Revere to visit Short Beach, Revere Beach, and Rumney Marsh. Short Beach was our first stop of the week; it was small and empty, covered in rocks and kelp, scattered with trash, and rather strange-smelling. In short, it wasn't exactly a pleasant beach and we left after a few hours to meet a representative from the National Parks Service at the edge of Revere Beach. The parks rep led us through two surveys of the shoreline: one for bivalves (mussels and clams and such), one for invasive species (mostly bryozoans and tunicates). On our second day, we went back to Revere Beach (much nicer than Short Beach) and spent the whole day there, bonding as a team and coming up with ideas for our deliverable. Then, on our last day in Revere, we went to visit Rumney Marsh, a large salt marsh a little ways away from Wonderland, where we got eaten up by mosquitos. We weren't able to observe too much in the marsh other than a hawk and a very unfortunate squirrel because, in looking for a better place to enter the marsh, every person we asked told us not to enter the marsh (apparently there are coyotes in there). So we headed back to Revere Beach to finish off our week and get a couple of team pictures before moving on to a new site next week.

Team Jason at Revere Beach

Peace out y'all :)

McRae

Year 4 on the Shore!

Crab caught on Spectacle

             Hey everyone!!! My name is Aleena Mangham (she/her/hers), and by now, you’re probably used to seeing me here! I’m born and raised in Boston, and I graduated from Boston Latin School in 2020. Currently, I’m a college student entering my sophomore year at Howard University studying Criminology and Political Science. My hopes are to work for the Equal Justice Initiative or the Innocence Project, aiding those who are often silenced and put into the system. In my free time I love listening to music and catching up with friends. 

Kayaking in the Charles!

     Coming back for my 4th year, I’m super excited to be with Save the Harbor again, if you couldn’t tell! It was exciting to see familiar faces, and make a ton of friends just on the first fishing trip! I can’t wait to explore more of the local neighborhoods with my team, and build an even better understanding of the place I call home: Boston. Each year, I am excited to refresh my mind of all of the wonders of the Harbor.

        While last year was completely different, and a bit difficult to navigate, I’m happy that we are returning to a semi-normal summer. Seeing faces and getting back outside to the Harbor Islands, even if it’s minimal, is a step in the right direction. 

Fishing trip 2019!!

SEA you soon, 

Aleena Mangham

Another fun filled week

Hey guys this week i was on a harbor walk in the seaport and the north end. I had a fun second week, we talked about the sea level rising and we found a basketball court and we were playing around and having a ton of fun. We also walked to a park to talk about and articulate that we had read about the plans to change downtown and the north end and how long that will take. Then the next day we went to the sea port and walked around some more and made our TikToks for are deliverable and we also stopped by the office where most of us have not been (including me). It was very spacious but when walking there it smelled like fish but that’s mostly it was at a fish pier but it was really nice. Then on Thursday we went back to the north end where we went to a different park and made more TikTok. Then we went back to the basketball court where we finished our TikTok and played with the basketball that Jasmine had brought and Albert climbed over the fence to look at the sand and water and I tried to but that wasn’t working out. We were supposed to meet with Francheska’s team but things were just in the way. We walked over to Faneuil Hall and on our way there we stopped at a 711 and got snacks. I got ice cream and we also stopped but some sprinklers. When we got there we went into the croc store and then called it a day. On Friday we had to help with a beach bash where I got to see other people from other teams and got to build sand castles and teach little kids to fish and show them crabs we found in the water. The last day was very hectic and crazy but really fun.

See you next time on the water - Ari

a week of everything

 This week my group was in Quincy.  Our topic was the harbor islands and water quality.  We were told that on Thursday we were going to be on a fishing trip, so on our first day we had some fishing rods with us to make Sure everyone knew how to fish. The first day for me is not as fun as the rest of the days because that's the time when we're all trying to figure out how we are going to show the topic and sometimes that isn't easy.  Then on Wednesday we were asked to go to spectacle island.  Considering our topic was harbor islands, going to one was better than being in Quincy.  That day I mostly remember waking up and not knowing if we were going to be virtual or go to Quincy, but we ended up going to spectacle.  

And now for the fishing trip day.  We were told that on one of the other trips that they did last week there were so many fish that it was a new record for them.  There were a lot of them and we were catching a lot of them.  My team leader ended up catching the same fish twice.  We caught a little sand shark.  The weirdest thing was I hooked it and I didn't even know because someone else pulled it up.  It was only until I noticed my line was going left and the hook was in the fish.  So even though I did not work, I'm still very proud of that.  I think that that was the last fist that we caught before we went back.  When we got back my team leader's first words were “we got back early alright back to the office”.  The reason was we had to fill up our snack bag and the office was right there.  The problem is the office is in the middle of the fish pier so you have to hold your breath to get there.  We got there, filled up the bag and left. It was definitely worth smelling dead fish just to fill the bag up. That was a great day, we caught some fish and got some food for next week. 

 

A fun filled week

Hey guys so this week we were located in Quincy and we went to wollaston beach. We first meet at Quincy station at first Aleena and I were lost because our group was at the other side of the station then we were at. We also had MaryKate as a honorary member of team Jason, when we met up with the rest of our team Bridget drove us to the beach in groups of four, and Jason rode his bike there. When we got there we went fishing and Alex ,McRae, Jason, and I walked in the water and was looking at the shells. I of course cut my foot on a shell and then we started to go see what was in our snack bag and we ate most of our snack bag. Then we decided what to do for our deliverable. We decided to make a guide to the Boston Harbor Islands. Then we walk to Walgreens and got drinks and took a picture then called to a day and went home. Then on Wednesday  we went to spectacle island with Francesca’s team and Caroline’s team. It was a last minute trip we went with All access and I was with Hope and Aliyah they were in Francesca’s group and Carolina’s group. We ate and I was hanging out with people from the other two teams and we fished for a little. My team hiked up the hill there was a tons of mosquitoes and we took pictures and then went back to the water to swim and we swam until it was time to go back on to the boat. I had to go back to the office to drop off the supplies we brought with us. I saw Aidan eat and popsicle and i wanted one and before i left to go home i took another one, because they were really good.

On Thursday we went on fishing trip with Anna’s group and and met the rest of Anna’s group i already met MaryKate and i knew Ruben from last summer because we were on the same team. I learned how to set up a fishing line and at first it was boring because the fish weren’t biting so the captain Charlie moved the boat to a new spot and people started to catch fish. Charlie was going to move the boat and we had to a reel up the lines but I couldn’t reel mine up. I had to have Ruben help me and a fish came up! I was so happy I took and gave the fish to Ruben to unhook the fish and put it back in the water. We moved and everyone was getting lucky and getting fish. I caught my last fish then moved to another side of the boat and then I headed people yelling because Ruben caught a shark and it was really cool. After that my team went to the office it fill up our snack bag up once we got to the office we got popsicles and filled our snack bag and we were all leaving and when we were at the lobby and Jason wasn’t there so we were trying to sneak downstairs to the other lobby but he caught up to us then we all went home. That was my week it was filled with adventure.