Belle and the Castle (A Very Fishy Tale!)

     This week my group was stationed at Castle Island in South Boston. Between the constant roaring of planes taking off from nearby Logan Airport and the clanks of metal shipping containers coming from the shipping facility next door our group was able to discuss our topic of the week, fisheries! I myself, starting out this week asked the question, what in the world is a fishery? However, I have learned that a  fishery is the area in which fish are caught or processed and sold consumer markets.  When I heard this week’s theme my first thought was “Michael must be really excited to talk about fishing” as Michael, our staff expert on fishing, and I have had many conversations about fishing in New England. 

Our team hard at work preparing and baiting the hooks, we used Flounder and Sea Bass Hooks with Squid as bait! 

        As someone who is by no means an expert at fishing, I was excited this week to learn as much as possible about fishing, as it is something that I want to do more in my spare time. This week I was able to learn about the types of fish in Boston. The most common fish caught around Boston Harbor are Black Sea Bass, Skates, Flukes, Flounder, and Stripers. I did also learn that Flukes or Summer Flounder often eat other fish like the Black Sea Bass, which I thought it would be the other way around!

First catch of the day! I caught a Black Sea Bass, watch out for that razor sharp spine!

    We were pretty lucky to have our fishing trip scheduled for this past week! We got to take a few hours to take a tour on Charlie’s fishing boat “The Belle”. Charlie and I got the chance to talk about the parts of the fishing rod (who knew there were so many parts?). He also showed me a technique to catch Black Sea Bass by moving the rod up and down once the weight hits bottom, and I ended up with the first catch of the day! All in all we had a great week catching fish (and some rays) as a team! 

The team catching some rays on the way back to shore! We had to take a silly picture on the bow of The Belle!

Our group is excited for our final week of the season next week so stay tuned (or tuna-ed!) 

Stay salty, 

Caroline

Shaking things up!

Hello again!

This week was a little bit different, due to the changes in staffing for our normal daily routine at Blacks Creek and the Curley Community Center. We lost Che and Damani, but Flo and Sebastian were put on site with Tessa, Aidan and me. It was a good to shake things up a little bit and see fresh new faces excited to take on Blacks Creek and the Curley.

Every morning, we start off at Blacks Creek. We have two sessions: 9-10:30am and 10:30-12pm. During these sessions we have at most 15-20 kids, but in other sessions we have as little as 4 or 5. Blacks Creek is a unique site because we are able to really get to know the children we are working with. We have created relationships with the kids and at some other sites they do not see the same kids enough to do that. I worked at the Curley Community Center all throughout high school, so I am used to becoming close with the kids and seeing trust grow between myself and the kids throughout the summer. We have been able to watch the kids grow more comfortable with holding crabs and identifying the sex of the crabs. We have seen the kids become more confident in their time in the water and their knowledge of the sea creatures they have continued to catch each week since camp began. It has been a rewarding experience working at Blacks Creek, and because this is our last week at the creek, I will definitely miss the working environment there.

The Curley Community Center is a bit different working environment than Blacks Creek. I am very familiar with many of the staff members, including two of my sisters, two cousins, and many long time friends. Because I am a part of the South Boston community, and had worked at the community center throughout high school, I am also familiar with many of the campers as well. Because of this familiarity, it was a much easier transition than Blacks Creek was in the respect of having immediate authority and control over the kids. Working at the Curley can definitely be stressful because we are teaching kids how to overhead cast fishing rods on a beach where people sometimes swim, and the kids are constantly running around and may not being paying as close attention as they should be around fishing rods. It is consistently a challenge to remind the kids to make sure they are being as safe as possible and mindful of what the consequences may be if they are not. The kids are very responsive and continue to improve in their casting skills each day we are there.

I was also able to work two great events this weekend: the Beach Bash on Friday and the Seafood Festival on Sunday. They were both great events that I had a great time working. It is so much fun being able to work with the staff that I normally don't get to see on a daily basis-- and sometimes I even get to spend the day with my sister, Kathleen, if I'm lucky.

Me and a wonderful family I had the chance of meeting at the Seafood Festival on Sunday!

My sister, Kathleen (an SHE), on the right, and me on the left having a great time serving hot dogs at the Carson Beach Bash! 

The summer is flying by, and now I only have 3 weeks left of working!

Catch you on the flip!
Maggie

The Return of Eric Joseph

It has been a while since I have written for you! Remember me?  There are a lot of you who are new, so I shall be introducing myself again. Well to start it off, my name is Eric Joseph I am from Dorchester, where I have lived for my entire life. I have attended  Madison Park Technical Vocational High School for two years. I am an avid lover of doing things outside, exploring, and fishing. And all three of those things are included in working here, so no wonder I like working here so much!

My prized 30 inch bass caught at Fan Pier

This year, just like last year I will be working as a JPA (Junior Program Assistant) and last year a lot of things happened such as my many many eventful days as at Blacks Creek and the Children's Museum and the fishing derby at fan pier where I caught a 30 inch Striped Bass, the biggest one caught that day.

Pirate Eric striking a pose with a fan.

I also did a lot of bonus work on breaks that were really fun, For example on April 21 I went to the Marine Mammal Safaris, where me and a few other people boarded a cruise ship and all looked for seals and porpoises but little did the people boarding the boat know that I would be dressed up as a pirate! So Pirate Eric would walk around the ship talking to the passengers while I also encouraged them to look for the sea animals. The people were amused by my performance and I had a lot of fun!                                                                                                                                                                







Here's to another great summer!

 ~Eric Joseph