See ya Spectacle!

 For one last time, Hello Boston!

Max giving a final crab talk

Jaiden teaching proper fishing technique

It is with a heavy heart that I write about my last week on Spectacle Island! Thursday we made one final trip out to the island for the summer. Max and I orchestrated fishing and welcomed families that were joining us for the day. We met so many lovely people who were extremely grateful for the opportunity to fish and try things they had never done before. In true Spectacle Island fashion, we caught a good amount of crabs. One luck boy caught 3 in a row! The kids and adults had a fantastic time hanging out on the pier with us, playing with crabs, and perfecting their side casts. Once fishing came to an end, we took one last plunge into the cold water. Even though the water seemed colder than usual, we welcomed the chill and appreciated our final swim all together.

Qalid and Vince at the Dorchester Beach Festival

This Saturday was also my last event through Save The Harbor/Save the Bay. I attended the Dorchester Beach Festival to complete one more round of fish printing. We set up next to a shark sand sculpture and greeted children as they arrived with their families. Although we faced a few reluctant people, we talked everyone who passed us into printing a fish. We had some pretty creative outcomes including polka dots and rainbow fish.

This summer has been an incredible one to say the least. I have learned so much about Boston and the harbor, I have tried new things almost daily, and I have met some very wonderful people. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is an amazing program and I am grateful to have been a part of it. 

A great summer team!

I will be on George's Island for the last week of the summer so stop on by!

I really do hope I sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

L Street Night

Hello Boston!

Ray, Preston, and Daynaja waiting for kids to arrive

Yesterday, I got to represent Save the Harbor/Save the Bay at the L Street Night event at the Curley Community Center. The L Street Night event was put in place to raise money for a playground that will be built in the area. This event was catered to families and children, which made it a perfect place to fish print! When we arrived, there was a band playing and fresh popcorn being popped for all of the guests. Our table was located in the sand so we slipped off our shoes and began to set up.

The sun sunk lower in the sky as families began to arrive. As our table was in the middle of the event, it was hard to miss. Soon enough, we had children running up to our table to learn more about fish printing. Younger siblings would make a print and then dart around to collect their older siblings to make one as well. A few kids were too excited to just stop at one fish print. Because we had a flounder and a fake flounder, we had quite a few kids who chose to do one of each. I don't think I will ever get over the shock in people's faces when they see that we have a real fish on the table.

Hanging the fish prints out to dry

 Many adults at the event were very interested in learning more about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and all the work that we do for the community. I invited them all to join us for our free days at George's Island next week! I saw one family from the event on Spectacle Island today. This event was a great way for kids to make some amazing art, learn about flounder, and learn more about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

Don't forget to sign up for our free days on George's Island!

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

Moony Monday

Hello Boston!

This Monday I worked at Piers Park for the first time. I was very eager to experience a new site and see another side of Save the Harbor's programming. When I arrived at Piers Park, I was greeted by a group of happy, curious, and engaging kids. These kids were very smart and extremely interested in learning more throughout the day. We began by playing name games until we had been introduced to everybody. Then, after a few safety instructions, we suited up into life jackets and took to the dock!

Letting the girls steer the kayak

At Piers Park, we have two crab traps and a fish trap. The kids took turns pulling up the traps and marveling at their contents. We caught a few crabs and one small fish.
Once the traps were pulled up, I decided to take a couple kids kayaking around the dock. I hoped into a long yellow kayak with two talkative little ladies. At first, the girls were determined to paddle us all around the water and examine every inch of it. Unfortunately, their arms grew tired very quickly. I soon took over steering our kayak and started teaching them the history of the harbor. We noticed that there was a bit of debris in the harbor so I took this as an opportunity to teach the girls about how dirty the harbor once was and how Deer Island now keeps our water clean. We talked about all types of sea creatures and the science behind the tides as well. These girls told me that they wanted to be engineers one day and I informed them that understanding science and conservation was a great place to start!

Safety first! Solar glasses for the eclipse

After my arms were weak from kayaking, it was time for lunch. As we ate lunch, we discussed the science behind the solar eclipse that would soon be taking place above us. The kids had a lot of great questions about how the moon blocked the sun and how to properly view the eclipse. We had a few pairs of special viewing glasses available and took turns observing the neat event as it occurred.

I had a great time at Piers Park and thoroughly enjoyed meeting new kids who wanted to learn about the harbor. Although it was a nice change of pace, I look forward to getting back out to my favorite place, Spectacle Island!

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiedecker

Festivals and Tidepools

Hello Boston!

Holding the bass at the Seafood Festival, no fish kisses mom!

This weekend was one I had been waiting for for a long time! On Sunday, August 13th, the Fish Pier served as the location for the Boston Seafood Festival. My mother was visiting from California and I knew this was an excellent opportunity for her to see Save the Harbor in action and enjoy some amazing seafood. Once we entered the festival, our first stop was the Save the Harbor tent. Our tent was filled with everything needed for fish printing! My coworkers were hard at work helping children paint a flounder as well as a large bass. Colorful prints hung from the top of the tent showing just how popular this activity had been throughout the day. My mother and I worked together on a print of the flounder as I explained to her all of the cool flounder fact I learned while working here. My mom was even able to meet Tony the pirate and here a few harrowing tales from the sea. Of course, we did not miss out on the delicious food at the festival. I enjoyed a sushi burrito while my mom ate a few shrimp tacos. This event superseded my expectations and I was proud to show off all the neat things Save the Harbor is a part of.

Lots of life living beneath this rock

On Monday, all of the staff at Save the Harbor enjoyed staff day on Lovell's Island. I had never been to this island before and was eager to cross another one of my list. Unlike Spectacle Island, Lovell's Island was thickly forested and the walking paths were lined with delicious blackberry bushes. As we walked across the island, we all plucked a few berries to snack on. We started our day by tidepooling; one of my favorite activities! As an avid tidepooler in California, I was very interested to see what I would find in these East Coast tidepools. Once we all scattered around the large rocky shore, we began to find interesting critters. Patrice flipped over a large rock and revealed a plethora of life beneath it. There were bryozoa, tunicates, crabs, barnacles, and sponges. We found crabs of all shapes, sizes, and stages of molting. At one point, I found a tube made of small pieces of sand and shells and I knew it must have belonged to some sort of sea worm. I referred to my guide book and discovered that it in fact belonged to an Ice Cream Cone Worm, one I have never encountered before.

After we completed our tidepool adventures, we learned about types of snails on the island and hypothesized about the fate of some snails that had been found under a tree. We scoured the island in search of possible tree snails and clues that would enlighten us on a snails life on the island.

Lovell's Island was interesting indeed was a great new experience to add to my time here in Boston.
Hopefully I will get to check out at least one more island while I am here.

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

A Courageous Sail

Hello Boston!

This week ended just as spectacularly as it began. On Thursday, I played sports at George's Island. A few boys were eager to play football with us while other groups were happy to bounce a kickball around in an attempt to keep it off the floor. After a while, we took a break to explore the dark tunnel again. Although there was no sighting of the Lady in Black, we did get scared by a few creepy campers.

Team sports at George's Island

Fitted in my life vest before sailing

On Friday, I had a bittersweet last day at the Courageous Sailing Center. Myself, Vince, and Qalid celebrated our last day by being part of a sailing race! I have never sailed before and was a little nervous about being hit by the sail or capsizing all together. I got placed in a small boat with five young boys and a sailing instructor. The boys were in second grade and full of questions! They wanted to know everything I could tell them about the harbor, the sea life, my life, and what its like in California. They taught me quite a bit too. It was fun to watch the boys scurry around the boat and working together to race through the harbor. When I wasn't ducking and avoiding the main sail, I was learning about how to steer the boat with the rudder. I also picked up on terms like "jibing" and "tacking." Those boys definitely knew a lot about sailing at such a young age. We came in third in the race but it was such a rush to glide with the wind through the harbor.

I am sad to say goodbye to the Courageous Sailing Center, but I made friends there and learned way more than I imagined I could.

Now I am off the check out the Seafood Festival!

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

Touring the Harbor

Hello Boston!

This week was filled with variety and excitement. On Monday, I spent the day fishing at Camp Harbor View. Our first pull of the crab trap produced a small, algae-covered spider crab and two hermit crabs. The kids loved playing with the hermit crabs on the table; encouraging hermit races. Some of the more courageous children held the small, fluffy spider crab. Our little friend was content nestling down into the children's palms and staying put. As far as fishing went, we lost a good amount to bait to some strong nibbles, but were not able to catch a fish fully.

Vince teaching these young girls about crabs

On Tuesday, we returned to George's Island. I was in charge of fishing on the island, but was once again overrun with crabs! Every time we pulled up the crab trap, we caught another handful of multi-sized crabs. There were large red rock crabs and snappy, small green crabs. The kids kept catching crabs on their lines as well. It was entertaining to watch them reel in a crab, bring it over the dock, and then scream whilst chasing it all over the floor. Once the kids felt comfortable holding the crabs, they would not put them down. It was almost a struggle to get the kids to release the crabs back into the ocean. They all wanted to know why they couldn't take them home in their bags.

An all girl team on the fishing derby

On Wednesday, we had the wonderful opportunity to take part in a fishing derby. Our staff was split among a multitude of fishing vessels and were able to partake in some serious tournament fishing. Myself, Kharliyah, Kimberly, Patrice, and Marly were on a boat together with Captain Tim. The captain and his assistant taught us how to bait a line that would be used to catch blue fish and striped bass. We released the lines and watched as they trailed behind our moving boat. We passed through schools of fish flopping at the surface of the water. This, it was explained to us, was a sign that larger fish were below the surface causing these small fish to panic where we could see them. Although we did not catch any fish, we did get to see a harbor seal and have an excellent tour of the harbor from the back of a beautiful boat. I learned a lot about fishing and the Boston Harbor and I can't wait to return to the islands to test out my new fishing skills.

Front row view of the beautiful harbor

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

Finally Fish!

Our first skate and the lucky fisherman

After a crab-filled summer at Spectacle Island, this week finally broke our fishless curse! I was in charge of managing fishing on Thursday when our luck changed. The first group to fish was filled with energetic kids ready for anything to bite the hooks. After just a few minutes, one young man started shouting that he thought he caught something. I ran over to help him reel up a skate! We got the skate up and onto the pier where Kharliyah and Patrice carefully removed the hook from the spiky skate's mouth. A lot of the children did not know what type of fish this was or confused it with a stingray. After everyone had a chance to see our pokey pal, we sent him back into the ocean. 

When the next group arrived to fish, I told them they had some big shoes to fill after the previous group's achievements. Within a matter of moments, a camper from Tricklin Falls Camp claimed that he had caught something as well. We expected another fish, but instead we discovered that he caught an old and forgotten crab trap. The trap was filled with a few small green crabs, a tiny spider crab, and even a few little fish! One crab had a baby flounder clutched in his claws. When we removed this crab from the trap, he waived his baby flounder around proudly as if he was showing off his own catch. I managed to free the founder from the crab's grasp and gently plopped it back into the water. We let the other little fish go and kept the small crabs in the touch tank for other kids to enjoy. 

Catching crab traps

Baby spider crab

After our first two eventful groups, we continued to catch plenty of crabs left and right. At one point, Patrice pulled up a line to reveal that she had snagged a pregnant crab in the process of giving birth! As she was in the middle of releasing her eggs, we quickly let her return to sea to ensure that her babies had a safe delivery. 

A crab and his flounder friend

I think this has been my most successful day of fishing ever! We encountered so many interesting creatures and it really boosted the kids spirits to see that they could find such cool things in the ocean. I hope this is just the beginning of a bountiful summer.

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

Catching Cutlery

This Monday, I got to spend the afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum. The sun was shining and many families were out and about enjoying the nice weather. Little kids were shocked to see crabs scuttling around in our touch tanks and had a hard time believing they were real. One child had never even seen a fishing pole in real life! He ran up in amazement and asked me "is this what a fishing pole looks like?" I told him that this was indeed a real fishing pole and he could actually use it if he wanted to. He could not contain his excitement and begged his mother to let him try it. I baited their fishing pole and taught him how to carefully side cast into the water. He listened very carefully and followed every instruction I gave him, "I'm fishing, I'm fishing!" he cried out. He waited patiently for something to bite and after only a few minutes, he claimed he felt something pulling on the line. I told him to reel it in and he started to pull it up slowly. It did appear to have something on it, but I could not believe caught something that quickly. As he hoisted his catch over the railing, his face clouded with confusion as it appeared that he caught a plastic fork. At first he was disappointed, but I quickly stepped in to tell him what a cool catch he actually had. Upon further inspection, he had caught a few creatures on that plastic fork. On one side, there was a cluster of tunicates. On the other side, there was a small mollusk secured tightly. The little boy was fascinated and instantly proud of his first-timers luck and touted his fork proudly.

A freshly caught fork

The next few days of the week were spent at Spectacle Island. For sports we played football, volleyball, frisbee, and kickball. On Wednesday, we pulled up the crab trap up from the water and learned that we had caught a large number and variety of crabs overnight. We even had two small spider crabs. All of the children laughed at how strange looking the spider crabs were, but I reminded them that spider crabs are very neat and I am sure we look strange to them. Hopefully we keep up the good work with the spider catching and we get a fish soon!

Splayed out spider crab

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker

Wind and Rain and Scary Tunnels

Hello Boston!

Periwinkles and Asian Shore Crabs

Wind and rain can't stop our invasive species hunt!

This Monday was a soggy one for sure! I spent my Monday at Camp Harbor View where the wind was blowing strong, the rain was coming in sideways, and the chill went straight through you. Our first group learned about invasive species and helped us gather Periwinkle Snails and Asian Shore Crabs from the beach. We tried to hide our next group from the wind as we played What You Can't See Under the Sea on a covered pathway. As the weather progressed, we took our last group up to the fort on the island. This was my first time exploring the fort and the kids were excited to give me a spooky guided tour. At the end of the day, we had a slow and bumpy, yet heated,
boat ride back to Boston.

The perfect spiral

On Tuesday, I got to visit George's Island for the first time. Although it was still a little cold, it was not nearly as wet as Monday. When we got to George's Island, my group forced me to go into the dark tunnels that line the forts there. They definitely got a good laugh as I screamed and shuffled through the completely dark stony path. After one walk through the tunnel, I had experienced enough scary dark places for one week. I spent the remainder of my time on the island playing sports with the kids. I am quite proud to announce that my football throwing skills are getting better each day! Though I probably will not be a quarterback any time soon. I am looking forward to spending the rest of the week on George's Island and learning more of the history there.

Sea you out there,

Jennifer Leiendecker