Ummmm.... Tautog?

Our staff is already as awesome as they can come, but when my groups SHE Sam Schreiber noticed two Tautog Fish also known as Black Fish, at, Courageous Sailing Center, we knew that today was a new day. The first to ask me what type of fish we were looking at was another younger camper that also attends, Piers Park named Isiah. Our Monday was just getting better and better! Sam explained to us that we had to be careful in our attempt to score the fish. He informed Isiah and I that these fish were like no other, and their teeth were unique and could CRUSH BONE!

After being informed that they mostly eat crab, you could guess what the mission was....

Isiah caught a crab!

In our strongest efforts, we could not obtain the two beautiful Tautog. Isiah was not upset, he had hope and asked if they were at the dock a lot, then Preston who works the Courageous Sailing Center more than Sam and I told us that they have been around for a week. Despite the Tautog not being caught we all had a great day with catching crabs, and learning new ways of setting up rigs with Sam! Its been a successful first half of the week, and cannot wait for the rest! Logging Out

-Ahmed M. Hassan

Miracle happened at the last day.

   
      Hi readers!

  Welcome back at save the harbor save the bay blog. Last Friday was our last day at community Boating and it was the last day of Sarah my senior educator marine and I was sad because she had to live. Annie was with us at Community Boating for the last day and try a new recipe for the fish and the recipe works.We have flour mixed with sugar and we add some water then rolled it make it shape like a ball your result will be fish doughnut.

Ready to cook

 
 Any who, I passed all my time at Community Boating and Courageous without catching any fish. Those fishes are smart they ate my bait but they don't let me catch them. I never catch  a fish at those site never.. Well, Guess what.. a miracle happened at Community Boating I caught a fish at the last day and it was a sun fish.After catching that fish, I see so many of them come near to my line in the surface of the water, I didn't want to hurt them so I keep making fish doughnut and threw it in the water.They all eat and it was the last day we see each other and say good-bye to the fish at Community Boating.
 

My first fish.

Courageous is one of my favorite site even though I haven't caught  any fish there since the beginning but I have a chance to play with kids talk to them, teach them about the ocean and how to protect it. I also have chance to cut bait because I am good at cutting bait.The kids love fishing and also love pulling up the crab trap to hold the green crabs lobster and starfish.

good times

  Thank you all for having a great summer learning with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff we will still be here next summer so you could join us and have fun with us.

  -Keeping on fishing.
                                                                                 Myriam.

My last Week at STH/STB

In just one short week I will have to leave my STH/STB family and travel to the great beyond that is New York to attend Graduate School. In the 8 short weeks that I have been working here at STH I have had the great opportunity of not only getting to teach, fish, and play with the amazing kids of Boston, but I have also had the good fortune of working with some of the most incredible people I have yet to meet. This has not just been a summer job opportunity, but one that has been eye opening to say the least. I will be obtaining my Masters in Marine Conservation and Policy and this job has certainly helped point me in the right direction as to what I would like to focus on in Graduate School come this fall.

The First Fish Dissection

 I would be remiss if I did not talk about my dedicated co-workers in the post. With the majority of my time spent at Community Boating on the Charles River and Courageous Sailing in Charlestown, I have been very fortunate to have had a steady rotation of Junior Program Assistants that I have been able to get to know and learn a great deal from. From putting up with my horrible sense of direction by getting lost on a weekly basis, to putting up with my demands and high expectations, these JPA's have truly made my summer. With unwavering dedication and their daily flexibility, the work ethic that I have observed from my co-workers is inspiring, and I am confident as they head back to high school or college in the fall that they will be incredibly successful in their endeavors.

The Whole Group

Now on to the Senior Marine Educators, Lead Harbor Explorers, and the rest of the office staff that keep this place running on a daily basis. I have never walked into a job and felt so welcomed right off the bat. They have the amazing talent of making all who enter the doors of the STH/STB office feel comfortable, not to mention having the greatest sense of humor and being able to constantly keep the staff in high spirits. It is not often that you find yourself, after a day of working with the same people, that you want to leave work and continue to spend time with your co-workers. This has been one of those jobs.

Senior Program Staff and Lead Explorers

Lastly I want to talk about the reason why I took this job in the first place: to teach the kids of Boston more about the City and the ocean that I love. Every day held a new experience, filled with kids eager to learn, explore, pull traps, and fish the waters in the City of Boston. My goal for this summer was to spark interest in at least one kid and to have them leave from the program and have a desire to continue to learn more about the ocean or rivers that make Boston so unique. I would like to think that each kid that participated in the STH/STB program learned something about the ocean or river that they had never known before, or had an experience that they have never had, whether it was kayaking the Charles, catching their first fish, or holding a lobster for the very first time. Because of this I can say that I have completed my goal.

Saying Goodbye

 I feel that I can leave this position and head to Graduate School knowing that this summer I have helped make a difference, by thinking locally and acting globally, I pass the torch to the future generation of Harbor Explorers in the City of Boston. And as always- take chances, ask questions, get messy!-Sarah Bailey

Taking a Moment to Appreciate the View

Today marked the start of our third week here at Courageous Sailing in Charlestown and before greeting our new group of kids for the SSS or Sail, Swim, Science class I took a moment to look around and admire my surroundings. Being from the suburbs of Boston I spent the majority of my free time these last two weeks getting lost in the City while attempting to drive from different STH/STB sites and still be on time. Before working for STH the extent of my knowledge of Boston was driving to Back Bay to spend the day on Newbury or taking the green line to Fenway Park. These past three weeks I have been able to immerse myself in all things Boston and have been able to come away with a deeper understanding of the city I call home.

Haley looking Boston Strong in front of the TD Garden

After living in California the last two years anytime someone would ask the inevitable "where are you from?" the answer was always "Boston and proud of it", although home is actually Natick, MA. After the these last couple of months with all the trials and tribulations that Boston has gone through I have felt a little guilty about saying that I am from Boston without knowing too much about Boston itself. Today I was proudly able to drive from the STH office to Courageous without getting lost, a huge feat that I didn't believe was possible a mere two weeks ago. Upon arrival at Courageous today I was able to take a look around the pier and point out where the TD Garden, North Station, East Boston, and the STH office were all located, another impressive accomplishment I could add to my Boston resume. With the help of Thi Tran I was even able to navigate the unknown waters of the Red Line and get myself home after a long day in Quincy. These last couple of weeks working for STH/STB have not only been fulfilling by being able to teach kids about the ocean that I love, but has also been able to open my eyes to all parts of my beautiful city.

A Boston Staple: Duck Tours

I can now proudly and with confidence say I am a Bostonian. Need to directions to get to North Station? No problem! Need a new place to park now that the Longfellow Bridge is under construction? Let me know and I can point you in the right direction!

And as always-take chances, ask questions, get messy! Sarah B

Yesterday and today were the best days ever. We tried a lot of new activities with the kids that got them excited to learn more about the ocean around us.
   
Yesterday at Courageous in Charlestown, we didn't catch any fish, but we were fortunate enough to catch crabs and starfish. Sarah, the junior program assistants, and myself created activities for the kids that allowed them to have a better understanding about fish, the ocean, and how we impact our local environments. The kids learned how to reduce pollution by not throwing trash and other materials that don't decompose into the ocean.  They also learned what they can do to protect our ocean in order to keep it clean and beautiful for future generations to enjoy.
 

how to protect our ocean

     Today at Charlestown, we talked about adaptations that fish develop to live and survive in their environments. This included talking about the different types of fins and mouths that fish have. It was fascinating to learn that you can tell where a fish feeds and what it eats just by looking at where its mouth is located on its head. The kids were excited to apply this new  knowledge of fish adaptations by creating their own fish to then present to the rest of the kids.

Teach them adaptation of the fish.

Feel free to come anytime for fishing at Charlestown and Charles River. We would like you to know more about the creatures under the sea and how to protect them.
     
Thank you!!

Surviving a Heat Wave!

Whoa was it hot today! With temperatures reaching a staggering 91 degrees today the STH/STB had to get creative with our activities to try to minimize our exposure to the intense heat! At Community Boating this morning we were greeted with a surprise when we discovered that the Rozalia Project had set up and brought their Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle, or ROV, to teach kids the importance of cleaning up marine trash.

Top Ten Pieces of Marine Trash

 Rachel, the director at Rozalia, had the kids guess what the top ten most abundant types of marine trash were. The kids were surprised to realize that the majority of trash are items that would come from a picnic, things like wrappers, plates, and utensils. The kids all enjoyed taking turns helping the ROV remove trash from the bottom of the Charles River and taking those pesky pieces of plastic that when left in the ocean/river take up to 450 years before they degrade!

Chalk animals!

We spent our afternoon at Courageous in Charlestown and we all learned about invertebrates! All week we have been pulling up our lobster pots that are full of sea stars, crabs, lobsters, and mussels without knowing much about these incredible organisms. We sat as a group and named all the invertebrates we could think of and then placed them into categories based on defining characteristics. Then we broke into groups and drew our very own invertebrates with chalk and had to categorize our invertebrate into echinoderm (spiny skin), mollusc (soft body), arthropod (jointed limbs), cnidarian (stinging cells), porifera (sponges), or annalid (segmented body).

Of course with all this learning we had to take a break- so when a game of jump rope was started, we had to join.

Stellar Jump-Roping Skills

What a full day it was out on the river and harbor, and we look forward to tomorrow to continue to have fun, learn and play in the middle of the heat wave.

And as always- take chances, ask questions, get messy!- Sarah B

Run River!

What a fantastic way to start the week at Courageous Sailing in Charlestown. As we got to Courageous we set up our lobster traps, baited our hooks, and prepared a special activity for the kids! The activity, known as "Run River" is all about raising environmental awareness when discussing how we get our fresh water, food, and dispose of our waste here in Boston. The kids were divided into three groups and given a white board with a mountain, river or island setting and were given the instructions to create your own town, making sure to include a fresh water source, food source, waste disposal, energy source, and of course a creative town name!

Discussing Run River

After all the towns were created, each group was given the additional task of presenting their town and fielding questions by their peers in regards to their town. As the kids discussed desalination plants, wind turbines, and solar power all the Save the Harbor staff was truly impressed with the incredible ideas being thrown around. After the last of the presentations we collected all the white boards and laid them down next to each other to reveal that all of the towns were connected by one river!

All of our Towns Connected

We then were able to discuss how we all affected one another, especially when it came to the disposal of our waste. Several of the towns "upstream" had disposed of the waste down the river and we talked about how it would then pollute the fresh water source for the other towns, and eventually end up in the ocean. We then talked to the kids about how our waste used to be dumped in Boston Harbor, but was now pumped to Deer Island for treatment, then safely released nine miles off shore as a way to clean up our harbor. As we wrapped up our activity by discussing ways to improve our towns that we had created, the STH/STB staff was impressed and touched when Hannah, part of the island community, suggested a great idea. She suggested that the very top community of the river build a pipe that lead through each of the other communities to bring the waste to the island, where they would build a treatment plant to treat all the waste water to be disposed of safely and responsibility. It was incredible to see each kid participate and problem solve, and it was evident that we all learned something new about our Harbor and how important it is to keep clean and conserve it for future generations.

And as always-take chances, ask questions, get messy! Sarah B

Making the Most of a Rainy Day

At Community Boating on the Charles this morning, we met the kids and ran eagerly to the eel trap that had been left soaking all night with several smashed clams inside. Slowly the trap was pulled up, and just as the trap reached the surface it was clear that it teeming with living things bubbling around inside! Within a matter of minutes we had filled our bucket with a dozen american eels and we were the hit of Community Boating! A new game of "grab-an-eel" was played, and even the sailing instructors got in on the action as the squirmy eels were covered in a coat of mucus making it near impossible to catch. The kids described the bucket as "a bucket of moving spaghetti and only a few victors emerged from this new game.

Lively game of Grab-An-Eel

Finally a victor, our very own Andy!

Soon after the rain began to fall and we quickly made our way indoors, where we were able to talk about the anatomy of a fish, and even got to play a little hangman with our newly formed vocabulary words (lateral line was a favorite!). As the rain let up we headed on over to Courageous Sailing and were very happy to see the sun! The highlight of the day was pulling up the lobster traps that had been set out overnight to find them full to the brim with several types of crabs, a lobster, and tons of sea stars.

We even put some sea stars on and pretended to be Sheriffs of the Dock!

Helen demonstrating that many hands make light the work

At the end of the day our arms were exhausted from pulling up trap after trap when Helen got a bunch of kids together and thought it would be a good idea if we worked as a team to pull up the last of the traps. It worked like a charm and we all realized that the more people that helped the easier lifting the traps became! I can't wait to see what other lessons we will learn as the summer continues!

Week One and Done

Hi, my name is Myriam Annie Desir, and I am from Save the Harbor, Save the Bay.  Yesterday, Sarah, others staff members, and I went fishing with kids.

lifting the lobster trap with kids

making differences between the green the others crabs. <3

The kids enjoying fishing, talking, asking questions and touching the creatures that we caught earlier; beautiful starfish, different kinds of crabs, different types of fish, and lobsters. We helped the kids by showing them how to fish as well as identifying the different types of fish and crabs that were caught. At some point, we knew that the kids liked fishing and they also liked spending time with us. Anytime you all want to come enjoy fishing with us do not hesitate to come.
   

crabs race

                               
So far, we caught 25 crabs in the crab trap which the kids called Crabs Reunion, including 1 big crab whom the kids named Mr. Crabs. We proposed a crabs race between the green crabs and the red rock crabs, each kid picked up one crab to enter in the race, and the winner was determined by which ever crab made it from the dock to the ocean first. It was a close one, but the green crabs made it to the water for his freedom.
   

fishing with the kids

so far, it was a great summer fishing with kids .We hope you stop by and fishing with us.
see you there!

Thank you bye.

  Myriam Annie Desir.

So Many Fish, So Little Time

We started off our day bright and early with a visit to Community Boating located on the Charles River.  Soon after our arrival we baited our eel trap and baited our hooks and waited patiently to see what the day had to offer. Before no time the white and red floaters on the fishing lines soon began to bob feverishly up-and-down, the tell tale sign of something on the other end. Within 30 minutes we had already caught 6 fish, mostly sunfish but with a surprising catch of a small, largemouth bass.

Might look small, but put up quite a fight

As we pulled up our eel trap to our amazement there were no eels to be found, yet sunfish the size of silver dollars had managed to get caught in our trap and it was a perfect opportunity to talk about the different eating times of our chosen prey. After discussing the nocturnal habits of the eels, the kids decided it would be best to let our eel trap soak over night in hopes that tomorrow morning the trap will be bubbling full of eels!

Tiny sunfish caught in our eel trap

As we moved to our afternoon site at Courageous Sailing our luck fishing continued and we caught to chogies right away. After baiting 4 of our lobster traps we let them sit while we took turns fishing and using different types of bait that we had found, from mussels to invasive crabs much fun was had by all to see which type of bait was most successful (it was mussels!). At the very end of the day we decided it was time to pull the lobster traps to check them for any interesting marine critters. As we pulled up our first trap the excited squeals of "We got a lobster!" echoed down the pier. Affectionately named "Robert Lobster" by the kids, we could not help but take some pictures with our first lobster of the season at Courageous.

Trying to give the lobster a smooch!

After such a lucky day on the water, as we all left for the night we couldn't help but dream about what tomorrow, and the rest of the summer, will hold.

LOBSTER LOBSTER LOBSTER

Courageous Sailing in Charlestown has been THE place to catch lobsters. We caught the biggest one I had ever seen and after I realized it was a male I finally took the leap and decided to take him home.
I named him Freddy, placed him in a paper bag with ice and took him home with me. I was a little worried because the commute home on the T was hot and crowded but Freddy made it home safe and sound.
I placed Freddy in my fridge to relax and headed out to purchase a lobster pot, a nut cracker and itty bitty forks. I bought a 16 quart red pot for $30 at my local Homegoods and headed home. I checked on  Freddy & let him hang out in the lid while I boiled the water.

Freddy getting ready to go for a hot swim

While I was waiting for the water to boil, I gave myself a pep talk. I had never caught, cooked and cracked a lobster in the same day and I had to make sure I could do it. I had tried to place a lobster in a pot of boiling water before, but I wimped out. Before I knew it, the water was boiling and I had to say goodbye to Freddy. I made sure to plop Freddy into the water quickly to ensure he would die quickly and not to splash myself.

A quick 11 minutes later Freddy was bright red and ready to be cracked. I let Freddy cool for a few moments and then began to crack  him open.  When I was younger, my Dad had always tried to have me crack my own lobster, but I always refused. With Dad no where in sight, I was on my own. I started with breaking off the claws and slowly  but surely made it to the tail and finally the legs. I ate a few pieces with butter but saved the rest of the delicious meat for a fierce lobster salad. 

It was a day filled with new adventures and there is nothing like eating a lobster fresh out of the Harbor!!

Freddy and I  :) 

:) Ali Hurney 

Lobster Salad Recipe:

This is the lobster salad recipe I tried and it was amazing! A few ingredients and a couple minutes later I had a delicious lobster salad that lasted minutes (!!) at a family party. Enjoy :)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dennies-fresh-lobster-salad/

Learning through exploration!

The Harbor Explorer program really jumps into the most beautiful parts of our city and grabs a hold of our kiddo's hands. The kids get to see the ocean in their backyard as a resource for them, whether they tell their little brothers and sisters everything they learned about crabs that day, or ask their parents to go down to the water.

A very special part of the Harbor Explorers program is what is going on at Courageous Sailing this summer. The Summer Learning Project, which features  rising fourth grade children from Boston Public Schools, have been taking advantage of all that can be learned about the ocean. The children are in a hybrid program that focuses on making sure there is no "summer slide", but education is continuing throughout the summer.

Life cycle of our favorite sea creatures!

 The Summer Learning project applies the concept of inquiry based learning, which fits in perfectly with the goals of Save the Harbor Save the Bay. 

Sara from Courageous is spearheading this program specifically at the Charlestown Sailing, and the Save the Harbor Save the Bay staff is on hand to help!

Anthony helping with the life cycle!

 Sara teaches the lesson of the day, as we stand by to help, and then we all go down to the dock for some hands on learning!

It's a wonderful program that makes sure that our kids from Boston not only get to explore the ocean, but they get that extra push over the summer break.

Sara instructing the children!

:) Ali Hurney 

Lots of Lobster with Rozalia!

Today at Courageous Sailing Center, the campers pulled up lobster traps that not only had lobsters in them, but one was absolutely humongous! The lobster was male and estimated to be about 8-10 pounds. The other two lobsters caught were about 1-2 pounds.

Also today at CSC, all the Harbor Explorers enjoyed meeting all the members of the Rozalia project and learned about marine debris. To my surprise, many items that wind up in the ocean take a very long time to degrade in the ocean, and even though it looks like they are gone, they still exist in the water. For example, plastic breaks up into little tiny pieces called micro plastics, which take upwards of 20 years to eventually be completely gone. So anything that was thrown into the ocean that was plastic when I was only two years old, has finally been completely corroded away.

The Rozalia project helps clean out many of these horrible things in our harbor and disposes of the waste properly. They do lots of beach clean ups and also use their boat, The American Promise, to collect the trash. What the Harbor Explorers enjoyed seeing put to use was the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), which dives down to the bottom of the bay and picks up pieces of trash from the bottom. This is particularly useful in areas where the sediments might be too toxic to dredge.

It was an exciting day for the Harbor Explorers and I am happy to be with them at Piers Park and Courageous this week. See you all soon!

Annie

Brave Boys at Courageous Sailing

Nate at Courageous Sailing is one of the most fearless children I have had the pleasure of meeting so far. Nate spends most of his time sailing at Courageous but when I do get to see Nate, he is always thrilled to go explore on the dock. His partners in crime on one particular afternoon were Logan and Alex. We pulled up every lobster trap, baited them, added underwater creatures to our floating tank.

Logan helping to bait all the traps!

The boys pulling up the traps!

Alex, Nate, & Logan investigating the mussels colonies 

Often when we get to Courageous Sailing it is a hectic and exciting time. The sailors are finishing up lunch, Save the Harbor staff are applying our third layer of sunblock and chugging our remaining water. We gather our equipment and announce we're heading down to the dock to investigate and explore. The frenzy officially starts with kiddos finishing their lunches and running to grab life jackets. It is within these moments ideas are formed, and lives are changed.
Why are these children so excited to investigate the traps? What did we catch today? Why are we catching more lobsters than usual? Why aren't we catching more fish? All these questions can be answered through exploration. Exploration allows critical thinking skills to be developed and the process of questioning to be validated as a young person grows up. These hands on experience can not be compared  or replicated to classroom learning. While classroom learning has it's own benefits, the memories occurring with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay can not be replicated. I'm grateful to be a part of the process and memory making with STH.

:) Ali Hurney

Stormy Weather

The view of the Zakim bridge looks like on a typical day.

Afternoons at Courageous Sailing Center are usually filled with sunshine, creatures that live in the depths of the Boston Harbor, and excited children.

 One particular afternoon we did have bits of sunshine, but the majority of the afternoon was cloudy, wet, and was spent creatively brainstorming ways to distract ourselves and our young sailors from the ominous clouds above.

Before we knew it, the sky was gray  and the dock was rocking ferociously. Adult sailors were frantically moving to secure the sailboats, while the Save  the Harbor Staff and Sarah were in a tent teaching our young students how to tie appropriate sailing knots; hoping they didn’t notice the thunder.

View of the stormy weather

Eventually, we moved to the larger tent where every staff member and child were waiting out the storm. Marine life animals were crafted out of clay, knots were made, songs were sung, and books on aquatic life were read.

It seemed that the adults were more nervous about the impending storm, our sailors and explorers were very content playing with clay.

  

Silas showing off  his clay creation!

Overall, another exciting day with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. Even in the depths of tornado warnings, children are being made aware of the impact of the ocean!

:) Ali Hurney

How many lobsters?

Some words come to mind when one thinks of New England. The Patriots, colorful foliage, The Cape, long winters, Dunkin Donuts,The Boston Red Sox,  and seafood, are a few off the cusp thoughts. 
One image that is  especially present  is lobster. Bright red pots filled the brim with boiling water. Lobsters moving about in murky tanks in nice, and not so nice restaurants. A freshly toasted hot dog bun filled with lobster meat with a side of cole slaw.

Well, these are my personal  visuals. One visual that did not come to mind is pulling up a trap with a lobster thrashing about. Or placing the bands on a lobster's claw to ensure no fingers would be harmed. Definitely not holding a live lobster in each hand on a dock in Charleston.

Well, guess what I did today? I pulled up traps with lobsters in them. I placed bands on their claws so little fingers wouldn't get harmed in the touch tank. I held TWO lobsters, one in each hand, and one of each gender.

Lobster #1. 

I did not believe such things were possible.
And then they happened!

We had an incredible day at Courageous Sailing, complete with lobsters, and showing children how to hold, and identify parts of the lobster.

My friend William holding the catches of the day!

Best Day.

:) Ali Hurney

Carnivals and Cunners

Hello avid blog-readers,

This week was very exciting because instead of going to All Access (Spectacle Island this week), I've been working at Piers Park in East Boston in the morning and Courageous Sailing Charlestown in the afternoon with the Harbor Explorers. While All Access is and always will be my favorite thing to do, it's been fun to switch it up and meet new campers from all over the city.

Even though Wednesday dawned gray and cloudy, my spirits were brightened immediately upon arriving at Piers Park. Since this was the last week STH/STB ran Harbor Explorers with the sailing program in the park, we had a carnival to celebrate the great summer. In between playing Uno, eating snowcones, and decorating collages, some staffers even had time to get their faces painted.

The past two afternoons at Courageous in Charlestown have been very eventful. On Wednesday, we caught 3 cunners named Hooky, James Jr., and Lost and Found. Apparently cunners really like mussels, since that's we were using as bait! Today, we didn't have as much luck on the fish front but found a huge starfish in one of our many lobster traps.

One of the cool parts about working at Courageous is that we Save the Harbor staffers sometimes get to go sailing in the early part of the afternoon. Today, I went on a boat with Jeremy from Charlestown and Shannon from West Roxbury, with their counselor Anthony. It was really windy, so we spent most of the trip around the harbor heeling on our side so that I was almost in the water!! A big thank you to Skippers Anthony, Jeremy, and Shannon for getting me back on land safely!

There's a jam-packed weekend ahead of Save the Harbor with two big beach events at M Street Beach in South Boston (stop by!) and the last week of programing ahead of us, summer is slowly but surely winding down -- look for a closing blog post coming soon!

Til next time,

~Carolyn

This Just In!

Today we caught two fish at Courageous Charlestown! Woohooo! More details to some soon!