Staff day, Chaff day

 I enjoyed staff day the most out of all the days that week because we were allowed to wind down and relax with each other for the day. I went into the field at the top of the hill for the first time on spectacle island and I played an intense game of frisbee with my staff, such as Luke, Bridget, Amy, Kristen, Ian, Amanda, Ary, etc. We wanted to hit a streak higher than the one before and the highest we got to without dropping it was 25. It took a long time but we were determined to do it before lunch time. Or else no lunch (jk).

After lunch we went to the beach to go swimming, the water was freezing, it must've been high tide since the water was super deep. I took like five steps and it was already up to my shoulders. The waves weren't crazy that day and everyone got in. The water felt really cold but also really refreshing since I was on the hill roasting in the sun earlier. I certainly got to know more staff and socialize with them and I'm much more comfortable with everyone than I was at the beginning of the summer.

All Summer 16

Kharliyah Ortiz

The “Simply Marble-ous” Treasure Hunt

 

Save the Harbor’s “Simply Marble-ous” Treasure Hunt:
Just like Pokemon Go, with real treasure and real flights from JetBlue!

If you find a 1 inch frosted blue marble on one of the Boston Harbor’s public beaches
from Nahant to Nantasket between now and Halloween it could be your lucky day.

Just post a picture of yourself with your marble on the beach @savetheharbor on
Facebook or Twitter and you could win two round trip JetBlue flights to any domestic
destination they serve from Boston’s Logan Airport as part of the 5th Annual “Simply
Marble-ous” Treasure Hunt for JetBlue Flights.*

Save the Harbor interns Jennifer Barrack and Eileen Dalessandro
helped "release" 30 pounds of marbles on the region's public beaches.

The JetBlue “Simply Marble-ous” Treasure Hunt began in 2012 on the beaches of
South Boston with a beach clean up sponsored by JetBlue’s crew members in
partnership with Save the Harbor. In just a few short hours, more than 100 people did 5
weeks worth of work cleaning up the beaches in South Boston. At the end of the day,
the participants released blue marbles on the beach for beach-goers to find, starting a
tradition that continues to bring fun to beach goers and treasure hunters alike.

"Many of JetBlue's crew members volunteer for Save The Harbor/Save The Bay each
year. It's just one way we highlight our commitment to the city of Boston," said Ronda Ivy
McLeod, Manager of Regional Marketing, Northeast, JetBlue. "The Simply Marble-ous
Treasure Hunt is a favorite among crew members. It's a live example of our fun value in
action."

“In the five years since we began this event with our friends and partners at JetBlue,
Save the Harbor and our corporate and community partners have removed more than
150,000 pounds of trash and debris from our beaches,” said Save the Harbor’s
spokesman Bruce Berman. “To celebrate we have “released” 150 pounds of blue
marbles on DCR’s beaches in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South
Boston, Quincy and Hull, and at Treasure Beach on Spectacle Island. Find one and you
could be this year’s winner.”

According to Berman, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will be releasing 30 pounds of
blue marbles this year to celebrate Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s 30 th Anniversary at
30 free “Better Beaches” program events that include summer concerts in Lynn, the
sand sculpting festival in Revere, beach festivals in Winthrop, East Boston, South
Boston, Dorchester and Quincy, and at the Harbor Illumination Festival in Hull.

You can download a calendar of this year's events here.

“Like Pokemon, the marbles are not easy to find, but that’s part of the fun,” said Berman. “If you need a hint, ask Mary Read the Pirate or one of our 34 our youth program staffers for help at one of this year’s free beach events. If you still can’t find one, don’t despair. You can buy a
“Virtual Marble” online for just $10 so you can join in the fun.”

*Though the fun is unlimited, some restrictions apply. To find out more about the
“Simply Marble-ous” Treasure Hunt and Save the Harbor and DCR’s Better Beaches
Program, follow @savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org.

Babies!

I think it's fair to say I have the best summer job ever. I don't even work, I explore. I'm low key Dora the Explorer because there's different things to do every day and new things I learn about. Last Friday at children's we had the pleasure of catching a pregnant female crab! The amount of eggs she had were uncountable. There were probably like thousands. If you've ever watched Finding Nemo, at the start of the movie you see all the fish eggs, they literally look like those in microscopic size. It was a spider crab and she was a lot more gentle than I thought she would be. She was not as overprotective and allowed us to open up and see all her babies. It was quite a catch, everyone who came up to the touch tank was amazed. We soon released her back into the ocean for her safety and for the safety of her eggs.

 

 Not only was that the first time seeing a pregnant crab but this weekend was my first time at the sand sculpting festival at Revere Beach. We set up a station for fish printing and after that I was able to walk around and look at all the pretty sculptures. What job allows you to have fun as working? Mine! I took lots of pictures and my snapchat story was so long. Bella and I got lit as we sat in the model cars from Chevrolet bumping loud music. I enjoyed some fried dough while admiring the sculptures and ice cream. It was a day well spent. My time is never wasted at work. Until next time, can't wait to see what's coming up.

All summer 16

Kharliyah

East Boston Camp fire & Kick Ball

Thursday, we all went to Constitution beach for the Eastie Campfire! We had a beach walk which we were finding clams and showing kids how to find them! The kids were all bringing us a bunch of clams and they were super excited to do it. There were also delicious marshmallows toasted over the fire!

Kickball was awesome!! My team took the win with the score at 7-3. It's was great seeing the kids smile about winning. They were all so excited to kick and pitch the ball.

That was all for the end of the week! Hope everyone enjoyed the week! Till next time from Mauricio! 

2013 Beaches Report Card

On Memorial Day weekend, 2013 Save the Harbor / Save the Bay released its second annual Beaches Water Quality Report Card on the Boston Harbor Region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket that are managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

The report card is based on an in-depth analysis of thousands of samples taken by the DCR and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) in 2012. The samples were collected at 34 testing sites on public beaches in 9 communities including Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.

The report card is based on methodology developed by the Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Beaches Science Advisory Committee (BSAC), Co-Chaired by Dr. Judy Pederson of MIT’s Sea Grant Program and Dr. Jim Shine of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Here is a snapshot of the results.

“2012 was a good year for most of the Boston Harbor region’s public beaches, with more than half earning either an A or an A plus,” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy, Communications and Programs at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, which produced the report. 

• Overall Beach Safety on theses beaches increased from 88.82% in 2011 to 92.90% in 2012.
• South Boston’s beaches once again topped the list of beaches tested daily, at 98.17%, followed by Pleasure Bay at 93.86% and Wollaston Beach in Quincy at 93.20%.
• Beaches in Revere and Winthrop, which are tested weekly, scored 100% in 2012,
  followed closely by Nantasket Beach in Hull at 98.33%.
• King’s Beach in Lynn and Swampscott scored 86.40% in 2012, up from 73.20% in 2011, while Tenean Beach in Dorchester scored 81.82% in 2012, up from 79.50% in 2011.
• Constitution Beach in East Boston scored 88.60% in 2012, down from 93.20% in 2011. Malibu Beach and Savin Hill Beach in Dorchester scored 88.89% and 88.24% respectively, a slight decrease from 2011. Nahant Beach scored 89.29%, a slight increase from 2011.

2012 was also a dry year, which explains most of the changes we saw from 2011.
Bacterial pollution is often caused by storm water discharges that accompany summer showers, squalls and storms, so less rain means cleaner water.

In addition to drier weather, other factors have affected the results as well. In 2012, there were changes in the testing procedures at King’s Beach on the Lynn-Swampscott line and at Pleasure Bay in South Boston, where daily tests and new testing sites have given us a better picture of the water quality situation on those beaches.

In 2012, officials in Lynn and Swampscott identified and corrected illegal connections and broken pipes. They have agreed to meet this summer to discuss ways in which they can work together to address the persistent pollution problems at King’s Beach on the Lynn-Swampscott line.

There have also been efforts to address the outstanding water quality challenges at Tenean Beach in Dorchester, where Boston Water and Sewer has identified and corrected illegal connections that may improve water quality this season.

Beach Flagging and Posting Accuracy

Overall flagging accuracy improved somewhat in 2012, as a direct result of DCR’s continuing efforts to develop more accurate models for beach management on a beach-by-beach basis.

While specificity (blue flag accuracy) is fairly high on many beaches, sensitivity (red flag accuracy) continues to be problematic, with less than 50% of the red flags posted correctly on some beaches in 2012. 

Beach testing, posting procedures and flagging accuracy continue to be a challenge on these beaches, as they are elsewhere across the Commonwealth and the country.  This issue needs to be addressed if we are to protect both the public’s health and their right to enjoy the benefits of our region’s pubic investment in clean water and better beaches.

In 2013, Save the Harbor will continue to work with the Metropolitan Beaches Commission (MBC) and the DCR, MWRA, EPA, DEP, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Beaches Science Advisory Committee to develop more accurate models to better predict when to post or flag a beach. 

“At Save the Harbor/Save the Bay our goal is clean water and not simply better models or faster and more accurate test results. We are working towards the day when there is no need for flags at all,” said Berman.

 You can download the 2013 Beaches Report Card, see the data
and learn more about the methodology on which the report card is based at www.savetheharbor.org/Content/beachesreportcard

For more information on Save the Harbor / Save the Bay’s Beaches Report Card,
 contact Bruce Berman on his cell at 617-293-6243 or email bruce@bostonharbor.com

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay would like to thank Dr. Jim Shine and Dr. Judy Pederson, Co-Chairs of our Beaches Science Advisory Committee, Dr. Andrea Rex and Kelly Coughlin of the MWRA, DCR’s Gary Briere, and Save the Harbor’s Staff Assistant for water quality Jacqueline Sussman for their help with this report.

"Look at what I found!"

"Look at what I found!!!" This is the fun phrase I heard about 50 times in 45 minutes as I treasure hunted with kindergartners from Braintree on Wednesday. It was a nice cool day, perfect for all activities on the island, and I had the opportunity to experience them all with fun kids from all over Boston.

When we arrived at Spectacle Island the faces of all the kids on the Provincetown II lit up as they saw all the fun things they could do on the island. It was fun to hear them plan their adventures as they waited to depart the boat. Most were excited to go swimming and were practically stripped down to their swim trunks before they got off the boat. Some were complaining about their growling bellies and much to their delight, lunch was first on the list of things to do.

In a single file line the excited kids made their way to the visitors center on the Island. It was a cool sight to see all the benches on the island filled with kids. After our delicious lunch, everyone went in the direction of their interest whether it be flying kites, swimming, or treasure hunting. My favorite activity is to treasure hunt so I ended up on the treasure beach with the kindergarten class from Braintree After School Enrichment program. Immediately, the kindergartners went diving for sea glass and their excitement was apparent when they came back to the display board with about 3 or 4 pounds of glass.

Seeing all the things collected I decided I wanted to know specifically what they were looking for so I often asked the question "what special color of sea glass are you looking for?"Most just responded with the color green, probably because it was the first color they saw. So I explained to them that there are more than one color of sea glass. From there we went on a hunt for the colors of blue, yellow, and red. It was fun to see them running up to whomever and show what color they found or what weird object they found.  By the time 45 minutes passed the kindergarteners had the entire display table covered with treasures they had found.

By the time the day was over and it was time to cruise on back home, the entire boat of kids and I were exhausted from a full day of exploring the island. It was a fun adventure and I hope to experience another wonderful day of All Access Boston Harbor with Save the Harbor / Save the Bay.

Liz Allen
Events/Communications Intern

A Good Week :)

This week has been fun. I was on the island this week. Spectacle Island it was! On Thursday, Manny and I went to the top of the hill to fly kites with the kids, but the kites didn't work at all! Some of the kids were upset but we made the best out of it. Manny and I had to come up with something to do with the kids, so we decied to play what the kids call "fishy fishy cross my ocean". That game was so fun and funny, the kids were running everywhere. We finished the first game and the kids wanted to play again so we played again. After the second Manny and I took the kids to the beach.

-Diana