Wollaston Beach Discovery Day 7/13

The Department of Conservation and Recreation hosted Wollaston Beach Discovery Day this past Saturday on July 13th. They provided informational material about testing water quality at Wollaston and even provided a water quality test kits for kids to use. Friends of Wollaston Beach and the Aquarium also had informational tables and touch tanks available. The kids learned how to test the amount of bacteria and oxygen in the water.

Annie Adams from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay testing the water quality at Wollaston Beach

Informational Poster about Water Quality by Emily Ostroff from DCR

Despite the overcast weather, Quincy community members brought their families to the beach and enjoyed building sandcastles, throwing frisbees, and hula hooping. They had the opportunity to see the animals that live in the ocean water, what types of shells are commonly found in the sand, and how to keep their beach clean and healthy. It was not a bad way to spend a cloudy Saturday afternoon. 

Until the next Better Beaches event stay sandy,
Iris Ayala

Aquarium Visit

On Monday, we had our Staff Appreciation day. After some delicious hot dogs, blue fish, and grilled peppers, we headed over to the New England Aquarium. As soon as we got in, we headed straight for the "Sharks and Rays" exhibit we've heard so much about. As I've seen dozens of advertisements every day on my way to Harbor Explorers at Piers Park, I was very excited by what we were going to see. It turned out I was not disappointed. The aquarium had set up an enormous touch-tank, featuring animals like southern stingrays, bamboo sharks, and guitarfish (the "link" between sharks and rays). The rays felt really strange - it was almost like touching a jellyfish, except less squishy. Touching the sharks, on the other hand, was like petting sandpaper. Although a few kids around us were a bit scared to be touching "dangerous" sharks, they were all very tame and didn't seem to notice us petting them at all. We weren't able to stay for too long, however; the exhibit was extremely popular and many more people wanted to get to the tank and touch the animals for themselves. What an awesome way to spend a rainy day!

-Pat