Thanks

It's that time--seven weeks flew by so fast, I'm writing this from my desk up at school, taking a quick break from outdoor leadership training, which I jumped right into--the day after I finished Harbor Explorers. I'm falling back into my island routine here, waking up early to jump off the dock into the Atlantic! But I have to say I miss the bustle of the Boston Harbor: the days at castle island where we were among hundreds, if not thousands of harbor-enthusiasts, walking, biking, swimming, crabbing--all enjoying the resource together, getting refreshed by the water, and building on the collective excitement of hundreds of people sharing one special place. I am happy to be back, among my marine bio-cohorts--but I'm returning with a renewed sense of wonder that I think I contracted from the kids we worked with this summer. After I finish this post I need to sit down and try to hammer out a senior project proposal--which of course has me thinking about all the issues I've worked on these past three years: climate change, hunger--the list goes on... It's a little overwhelming to think about tackling any one of these. But having spent a summer working on and in a success story like the Boston Harbor--a place where communities really came together, employed national legislation and local passion to protect our planet and support our neighborhoods--has reminded me again of Margaret Mead's truism: "never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the word; indeed, it is the only thing that ever had," and inspired me to keep on working, even when it looks like the odds are against us.

I want to thank everyone who made this possible: Jen, Lindsay, Bruce, Patty, everyone else in the office, our tremendous staff, all our partners, and most of all the kids I got to spend my summer with. I have learned so much from all of you.

In parting, I'd like to offering you a few images of my summer--pictures of what the natural world really has to offer us, if only we'll do our best to pick up after ourselves, and teach our children to do the same.

~Emily

Marveling at tunicats ("una familia grande")

youngest angler of the day

Science is serious business: crab measurements in Charlestown

"Hey, we found a really big snail!"

(I was thinking periwinkle when I strolled over to these Harbor View campers, at the end of a very hot day--only to be presented with a full-out 3" carnivorous MOON SNAIL)

LaToya's first fish!

Rockstar CIT and starlet camper with our first lobster

"FREEEEEDOMMMMMM!!!"

(that's what the kids at black's creek liked to shout as they released our daily catch from the bucket)

A shout-out to the grown-ups!

Looking back, I've noticed that my blogging naturally reflects the focus the work we do: the kids! And I try not to embarrass the junior staff too much by singing their praises too loudly—but you can see from their own blog posts how much they do here, and I bet you can imagine how much fun they are to work with—not only that, but as the summer wears on I find (as Michelle and Jen have written), that they take on ever-more leadership and provide real support for the campers, for each other and for me. But I realize another, less visible relationship that’s critical to the work that we do: the interactions with partner organizations peppered through each day. Let me give you a few glimpses. The counselors at “Let’s Get Moving” got so into our name-games that the kids (who they have much longer-term relationships with than we do) couldn’t even begin to be shy—the result was lots of laughter, and some of the best sea-animal impressions I’ve ever seen! After helping us on the Green Boat at the beginning of the week, one sailing instructor told me she’s been passing on the knowledge she gained to the adults she teaches in the evenings—and that they are almost as interested as the campers! One stormy day this week one of the counselors at Courageous came up just to tell me how much the kids and counselors appreciate the lunch-hour harbor explorers program we run in Charlestown—he said some of the kids are as excited about exploring the marine life on the docks as they are about sailing off of them! The kids are why I come to work each morning, but the grown-ups who support them—my co-workers included—definitely brighten each day and remind me why it matters.

~Emily

Family Reading Night!

This event only lasted an hour and a half, but it was packed with some of my favorite moments and images from the summer: families started to line up a half hour before the doors opened, as they came the (wonderful:) reading nights volunteers handed out free books and T-shirts. Kids quickly pulled on their shirts (our "better beaches" shirts were very popular!), and took off to make the rounds at all the tables set up in the pavilion--book-mark making station, free pop-corn, chalk-murals, beach-games, and our own touch tank table! Kids flocked to the touch tank, eager learn how to hold to crabs, and sketch sea critters in the tank. Our staff were fantastic, getting so into the event that we actually joined in some of the games ourselves! We closed the night with a story--what a beautiful night...

Father & Daughter show off their Better Beaches Tshirts

Dancin' on the Beech!

First Time Holding a Crab!

Artist at work...

Save the Harbor staff Alex and Tee join in the fun:)

~Emily

Last Day :(

Today was my last day of work which I spent at Courageous Sailing Center Dorchester.
I spent most of my time playing football with the kids. The only part that wasn't really any fun was getting the ball thrown into the water, but it was eventually retrieved.
I had a great time throughout the summer at many different sites, and I appreciated the help some more experienced staff gave to me. I learned not only about the harbor, but about the kids, which to me is the most important part. Even on my first day I had no trouble fitting in with the staff. Today was my last day of this summer, but I hope I will have the chance to have many more Save the Harbor days!

-Tim Grogan

"What happens to shells after the animal gets eaten?"

This question lead to a great conversation about the calcium cycle. Calcium is an element (like hydrogen, or oxygen): there's a certain amount of calcium on the planet--you can't really "make" new calcium, but animals can sequester it in different ways. You might know that one of the reasons kids are encouraged to drink their milk is because it contains calcium--which is the element that strengthens bones, especially for growing kids. Bones are a lot like shells--though our bones are on the inside of our body, they're made of similar stuff and serve a similar purpose--they provide "structural support" (which just means they keep us from being blobs:). While people get our calcium from our food, crabs and other animals with shells sequester little particles floating in the water column to build their shells with. Once a crab dies (or molts), the shell will decompose, releasing little calcium particles into the water to be sequestered by some other animal. The kids were fascinated with this cycle--"that's just like recycling!" one of them exclaimed. "I think the crabs are better at it then we are," observed one of the campers, gesturing at a plastic cup left on the beach. "I'm not gonna get beaten by a crab!" her friend replied, snatching the trash off the beach. Walking back, we talked about how different families and neighborhhods practice recyling, and the kids were eager to brainstorm ways to do an even better job--talk about learning from the environment!

~Emily

To learn more visit this link here.

Scientific Illustration at Piers Park!

Last week we brought crayons and markers to Piers Park, to give the kids an opportunity to use their creativity but also to really hone their observational skills. We gathered all the critters we caught and added them to our make-shift touch-tank (a big clear Tupperware filled with sea water!), taking turns catching and drawing. Some were impressively detailed works of natural history, others were a bit more imaginative--one girl drew a mermaid in the Boston Harbor (but I know they're not real, she assured me). All in all, the kids were just as excited to catch critters to for a real purpose (to be models!) as they were to document their catches (to take home and show off!). They let me borrow the picture to scan so that I could share them on the blog, and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did.

~Emily

"EEEWWWW-what's that piece of goo stuck to the lobster trap?!"

For a moment, I was just as mystified as the campers: the dark, slimy lump attached to the lobster trap looked very little anamone diagrams I've studied. We all examined the mysterious blob, and then I had it! The kids didn't believe me when I told them I thought the that the blob was in fact, a real-live SEA ANEMONE! Contracted becasue it was out of water, and being passed around by squeeling 12-year-olds. We put it in a seperate bucket while we went to pull up the rest of our traps and when we returned, our mysterious blob had unfurrled to reveal itself and confirm my hypothesis! We smiled in disbelief to watch the elegant tentacles waving gracefully in the water. Talk about tranformations...

~Emily

Green Boat Discoveries: Arctic Terns in the Boston Harbor!!

After the lunch-hour madness (20+ kids power-walking—“we’re not running!” they assure me—up and down the dock, pulling up lobster traps, testing water quality, measuring and counting crabs, showing each other how to cast fishing lines, asking a million questions a minute!) at Courageous Sailing Center in Charlestown, we’re ready for a slightly calmer (though no less exciting) afternoon. And we’re all in for a treat, because afternoons at Courageous quickly became one of the best parts of my summer (and I a real highlight everyone on the boat). After lunch, the kids split up into teams, known as “steps”: step 2 for beginners, step 3 for more experienced sailors (these kids can sail without a counselor!); step 4 for competitive sailing and racing. Our partnership with the courageous has resulted in an in-depth environmental education component “step” integrated into the step 3 program: “step GREEN,” where we take a small group of campers aboard the “green boat”(no, it’s not literally green;)to explore the ecology of the harbor they spend their days sailing in.

This week, we searched for Arctic Terns – and watched them swooping down to capture herring from the water, then tracked them back to their nesting grounds. The kids were enchanted, eyes-glued to binoculars as we circled the nesting grounds. Once they became eye-witnesses, they were ravenous for information! Here’s a sampling of just a few of the questions we talked about:

How old do they get? Average of 20 years, but up to 30.

How far do they migrate? From the Arctic! Massachusetts is the southern-most end of their range.

Are they really endangered? What does that even mean? This question lead to a pretty sophisticated conservation discussion – we talked about how organisms are designated (as either endangered or threatened) under the Endangered Species Act, and the different kinds of protection that can provide. We compared federal and state-level protection (which is what the Arctic Terns have—they’re listed as a Massachusetts “species of concern”), and talked about local populations—what it means for Arctic terns to be “endangered” in Massachusetts but still plentiful in the arctic.

What will happen to the terns if the ice caps melt? While we’ve made tremendous strides to protect this species nesting grounds, habitat loss in their winter home is raising higher alarm bells—scientists are concerned that temperature changes associated with global warming may be the next big threat confronting this recovering species.

~Emily

You can find more information here.

This Week's Highlights

A great week overall—I felt like I’d really gotten into the swing of things for the Piers Park/

Courageous -Charlestown rotation, and it was great to be able to build on last week and enjoy the beautiful weather we had for most of the week with bright, enthusiastic campers!

A couple of highlights:

-Three lobsters at courageous!

-The Boston Fire Department’s FIREBOAT made a visit to Piers Park on Wednesday! Harbor Explorers joined the sailing campers to listen to the firefighters explain the workings of the boat, and talk about some of the fires they put out. The kids were excited to see the demo, and even more excited to get to try the salt-water fire hose!

-My first morning at the Children's Museum was a flying success -- as the morning progressed Connor and Timmy helped kids with rods and crab traps, quickly filling our touch tank with fish, crabs, mussels, & sea-squirts -- a huge hit with passing families!

-I got to practice my very rusty and VERY limited high school Spanish with some very patient campers at Piers Park; I remembered that fish is pez (pezcado, once it’s cooked) and learned that crab is cangerojo. These conversations got me thinking even more deliberately about how to communicate science most effectively, and reminded me to supplement my narratives with non-verbal teaching tools to better engage people from all back-grounds—native speakers included!

-We had several successful afternoons on the Green Boat @ Courageous – stay tuned for a post devoted to these adventures!

-A terrifically popular "Science Wednesday" collecting data on crabs and water quality!

I’m sad to leave these sites, but excited to experience the last two: Courageous-Dorchester and Southie!

Enjoy you’re weekend—and try to get out on the harbor!

Emily

Reflecting along the Fort Point Channel

Today started out beautifully, as I walked along the Fort Point Channel from South Station to the Boston Children's Museum. Along the walk I made time to stop and observe my surroundings. It was low tide and I could see the bottom of the channel was filled with seaweed, pilings, rocks and odd pieces I could not make out. I started to wonder when the Tea Party Museum would start construction, so I could give the participants of Fishing 101 a better time frame. The Boston Tea Party Museum will be a great addition to the Fort Point Channel.

After a rather short reflection on the Channel, I quickly moved myself to set up for fishing 101 at the Boston Children's Museum. I was rather early to the site today, which allowed me some time to observe the pier before it became crowded. A businessman on his laptop, a mother with her son chasing the gulls, and a Boston Children's Museum staff member who helps me every morning. This gentleman is always excited about our work and stays involved with our daily catch. This morning we had some time to reflect on the marine life and Fort Point Channel progress and future. He always has advice for me about the fish!

Once the Save the Harbor Staff arrived I knew today was going to be a success. Although no live worms were available, we had Bologna and bagels to bait our traps and hooks. Unfortunately I could not stay for the Fishing 101 excitement today, but I knew Emily, Conor, and Tim would hold down the fort.

As I walked away from the Fort Point Channel, I hope for a touch tank full of surprises. A few hours later I was informed of a fish filled day at the Museum. Crabs and cunners were the stars of the day and no worms were needed. Great Job everyone and lets do it again on Monday.

- Jennifer Last

“A whole menagerie!”

That’s what one counselor exclaimed at the Courageous Sailing Center today when the kids excitedly showed them what we’d pulled up in the lobster trap: several Red Rock Crabs, two big American Lobsters, a Northern Sea Star! I guess canned Tuna (I used Atlantic Skipjack, since it is one of the most plentiful species—unlike Atlantic Bluefin, which have been severely over-fished in recent years) really does the trick—thanks Bruce and Jen for the tip J. We used it for the first time on Friday, and over the weekend the “living room” (the area in a lobster trap where the animals get stuck) filled with ocean critters! Not only had some of the kids never held a starfish before, but our own (fantastic) intern Aruna had never held one either! We passed it around so that everyone got a turn, along with the lobsters—comparing feeding mechanisms; lobsters use their claws and mandibles (mouthparts) to bring bits of food to their mouth, while starfish bring not only their mouth, but their entire stomach to their food by climbing on top of their prey and then literally ejecting their stomach and digesting externally, sucking it back in only once they’ve finished the meal. It was great to be able to compare and contrast the different organisms. We wondered together if the starfish, like the lobsters, had been attracted by the tuna or if it had just ended up in the trap randomly today. We decided to test it out with more Tuna and see what comes back next time. I’ll have to pick up some more tomorrow. Stay tuned to see what else this fantastic new bait turns up…

~Emily

“The cutest thing!!”

Not a panda bear, or a dolphin. Not a clown-fish or a seal. Nope. This comment was exclaimed—and echoed by the Harbor Explorers at Pierce Park this morning when we found—wait for it.... a tunicate colony?

Mostly regarded as pests, these small invasive critters resemble slime-mold more closely than they do a marine mammal or a teddy bear. Tunicates are usually seen as fouling organisms: small animals that attach to moorings, docks and boats—rotting the wood, getting in the way, and even slowing down boats (think about how some runners shave all there hair off before races—every little thing sticking out can slow you down, just a little bit). Hardly cuddly. What’s to love? These little animals are not lonely clumps of slime they appear to be, but actually clusters of hundreds, if not thousands, of individual organisms all related and living “colonially”—basically an enormous family, brothers and sisters clustered together, forming stars and patters imperceptible to most grown ups, but visible and “ADORABLE!” to the sharp-eyed Harbor Explorers at Pierce Park this week. Maybe this proves the truism: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure; As one camper put it, these pesky critters can also be seen as: “una familia grande!!”

~Emily

Kid-powered science!

Thanks Michelle for the project info--I too am very excited to work with Dr Judy on this citizen science project!

Our refractor seemed to have a bit of a grudge against us today: the line indicating salinity level simply refused to appear –though the kids were happy to pass it around peering in and trying to diagnose the problem (though I think we may need to seek expert advice).

Our secchi disk tests were a bit more successful; The kids were excited to help with a real-world project, and eager to take turns lowering the disk into the water. In fact, the later group got discouraged: why bother measuring the same thing again and again? This frustration turned into an unexpected opportunity to talk about the margin of error, and the power of multiple samples—a concept I wasn’t exposed to until college! But the kids got it instantly: if one of us is exaggerating, or needs glasses, or is impatient and stops too early—we could mess up the data! So having multiple samples helps us check each others accuracy.

The three groups got the following results:

Piers Park

Group 1: 4.5 (lengths)

Group 2: 4 (lengths)

Group 3: 4 (lengths)

Courageous

Group 1: 3.5 (lengths)

Group 2: 3.5 (lengths)

These measurements prompted some great questions: why would water clarity change from day to day? What are the human and environmental factors that influence water quality? Is everything that makes the water murky actually "bad"? I look forward to exploring these any many other questions as we continue with the project throughout the summer.

~Emily

Lobstah!

Friday was my last day at Camp Harbor View (at least for the next few weeks). I was sad to say goodbye to the place, especially the campers. The loyal members of the fishing club were good sports in the heat, but when invited to tromp down to the floating dock to help me haul a lobster trap (which had so far attracted nothing more exciting than a few small Asian Shore Crabs), only two die-hards volunteered. We bundled life-vests on-top of already-sweaty T-shirts, and tromped down the long ramp, while the remaining campers lingered on the dock, teasing us: “give it up, man—we’re never gonna get a real lobster in there”. The three of us pulled the line up, up, up—and then we saw it! As soon as we got the trap out of the water there was a bit of redish brown, not quite the right shape for a crab. Then we started shouting: "we got one!! We got one!! You’ll never believe it WE GOT ONE!!" When we opened the trap, we discovered that we had caught not just one, but TWO American Lobsters (aka “Maine Lobster”)—a medium-sized adult, and a six-inch baby! We brought the whole trap up to the pier to show off our catch, and immediately the kids were propelled out of the heat haze, running towards the trap, learning how to hold them and then transferring them to the big tubberware we use as a touch tank.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH THEM NOW?" The kids wanted to know. “What do you think we should do with them?” I have to admit I already had a plan in mind: juveniles are required by law to be released, but I wanted to keep both long enough to show the other groups for the rest of the afternoon. The kids were right on the same track—we should throw the baby back, they said thoughtfully. How come? After a few minutes they arrived at the same conclusion it took regulators decades to decide on: "because he needs to grow up!" Because they need to have babies, so there will be more lobsters to catch next year. And also: because everybody should get a chance to grow up and spend some time in the seaJ

Emily

It's a rock, it's a plant, it's a BARNACLE!

One of the most frequent questions I got in my first week at Camp Harbor View was: what are those yellowish things on the rocks? Guesses ranged from "baby rocks" to "dried fungus" to the "real" answer: "they're barnacles-DUH!!". Many kids were incredulous to find out that the gnarly little calcareous (made of calcium carbonate, a chalky substance found in some rocks) dots studding the rocky coastline and covering dock posts and moorings actually contained living animals! They wanted to know more, and I was surprised and excited to find in the campers were just an enthralled by the natural history of the barnacle as I am:) Barnacles start their life as planktonic larvae, teeny tiny babies floating in the ocean. When they are ready, they use special chemical sensors to find a good place to settle on -- this is important, because once, they settle down, they're stuck there for life! The baby barnacle attaches by literally cementing its head to the rock with a special glue. Finally, they build the calcareous armor we recognize as white dots on rocks and moorings to protect themselves from predators and keep their small bodies moist when the water-level sinks and leaves them exposed on dry rocks. At high tide, they open up to feed using a fancy structure called "cirri" that look like little fans to scoop plankton out of the water. Curious what they look like when feeding? Check out this video from the Marine Ecology Center to see what they do when we can't see them: http://bit.ly/car8PM

~Emily

"If you're trying to 'save the harbor' how come we're killing crabs?!"

A punchy question from a couple of very sharp campers at Camp Harbor View one hot afternoon this week prompted a thoughtful conversation about the marine ecosystem, and the role we humans play its management. Our (terrific!) veteran college assistant Tom was quick to explain that the crabs we used for bait are not only plentiful, but invasive: Green Crabs (from Europe) and Asian Shore Crabs (from Japan) arrived on the east coast recently—at least in evolutionary terms—and quickly gained competitive advantage over our native species (primarily Red Rock Crabs), monopolizing food sources and taking over our shoreline. While the couple dozen crabs we used for bait may have been a more symbolic exercise than a substantive step towards population control, it raised the question: what is our role in this ecosystem? Can we just “let nature do her business” or do we need to play a more active role? To me, the history of the Boston Harbor cleanup indicates the latter, but I decided to give the kids as much information as I could, and let them choose: most were delighted to hunt, capture, stomp on, and stick the unlucky invaders onto their hooks; a few preferred to sit on the shoreline marveling at bright clusters of orange tunicates—teeny tiny colonial organisms that live on rocks and moorings: living slime! At the end of the day, I was glad to see the different ways the campers were able to thoughtfully and enthusiastically engage with the harbor.

~Emily

(Another) new face on the BLOG!

Hi! My name is Emily Postman, and I am excited to join our wonderful team this summer as a Senior Marine Educator for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. Exploring the intertidal and discovering the plants and animals that inhabit the marine ecosystem was a highlight of my own childhood that I am eager to share; in fact, when my parents first took me to the aquarium, I rooted myself to the touch tank and refused to go any further! About 15 years later, I am really looking forward to using an inquiry-based approach to help kids get their hands and feet wet on our local docks and beaches this summer.

This fall, I will be a Senior at College of the Atlantic--a small interdisciplinary
college on an island about 270 miles north of the sites we'll be working on this summer, where I study Human Ecology--and jump in the ocean as often as possible (sometimes between classes!). I am excited to apply my classes in Marine Biology, as well as some of my more abstract coursework in fisheries policy and public commons theory.

Most importantly, I have always loved working with kids! Everyday will be as different as the personalities, questions and energy they bring to the group--but at the end of the day I know that I'll go home tired and happy.

Here's to a fabulous summer!

Emily