Crab Week

Fog

This week was crab week at All Access Boston Harbor and I couldn't have been happier. It is only our third week of programming and the amount of crabs we caught this week was incredible. There wasn't a day that went by where we did not have a single crab in our touch tank. The best part of it all was that most of our crabs were caught while fishing! Do you understand how happy it makes someone to catch something while patiently waiting for a bite? It's as happy as winning a special prize. My prize was seeing the kids' faces light up with surprise and joy.

GIANTS

It all started on George's Island. It was a cool summer day, fog greeted the edges of the island in every direction you looked. There was nothing within eyesight anywhere except the precipitation looming in the air. Fishing was off to a quiet start; the kids sat there patiently waiting for a bite. "AHHHHH", a loud scream interrupts the silence as everyone hops onto their feet to see what all the commotion was about.  And there it was, at the end of the hook grasping on for dear life was a crab. But not just any crab, it was a green crab. Fans of AABH themselves, they often pay us a visit on our sites. The young boy who caught it was still screaming and the crab was still hanging. My co-worker, Patrice picked up the crab and placed it in the tank to hang with us for a bit.

A crowd swarmed over to the tank, including me, to observe the little green guy. There he was, with his pinchers raised ready for battle. I picked him up so everyone would be able to get a closer look and feel for him. Indeed it was a male after all, a few kids speculated and I confirmed it was true after seeing his light, triangle shaped belly. Hands reached from all angles to get a feel of his hard exoskeleton. I began telling the children fun facts about green crabs. Not too long after our first catch, we heard another shout of excitement and as I turned my head to the left I spotted another crab holding onto the line! The cycle began and for the rest of the week we were flooded with crabs on each line.

Over at CHV, dark clouds gathered in the distance. The air was warm but all was still, we could tell there was a storm coming on. Jules and Eric walked up the dock with two giant crabs in their hands. I was amazed, I never knew how potentially large these crabs could get. They took up all the space in the touch tank, just these two creatures. I peeked inside and there they were, two ginormous crabs: a spider crab and a red rock crab. I could not believe how big their pinchers were, it 

was almost intimidating. But I could not help myself, I was desperate to hold it. And that I did! I picked up the spider crab and its limbs just dangling there. "Lol", I thought to myself I recognized this trick. The crab thought he could fool me by playing dead. A real vet, like myself, knew it was a trick so I placed him back into our tank.

Our first day at Spectacle was similar to George's. Everyone was fishing, there was not a sign of any bites yet so we waited and waited until someone shouted, "I caught a crab!". Imani helped the group of girls rail the rod in and on the end of the line was yet another small green crab. The girl walked over with the crab and added it to the tank. It was the first crab we caught and as the groups swapped in and out, we received more. I made sure everyone was able to pet the crab at least once and/or hold it. Before we knew it time flew by and it was the end of our fishing session so we prepared for our favorite game, crab races! I carried the tank over to the yellow line and slowly poured the water out until the crabs were the only things left. I lined them up and out they went, moving quickly with all their legs eager to return to the ocean. I cannot wait to see what other creatures we'll be catching this summer.

                                                   Ready for more, Kharliyah Ortiz, Summer 18

Thunderstorm

Crab Lessons

First week, multiple creatures

Lovely Vacation in the Boston Harbor

Summer was off to a late start during the year of 2018. What felt like the longest winter ever, finally came to the end as the week of July 4th welcomed the Boston Harbor with warm winds and sunshine. Save the Harbor is back into action and the team this year has got plenty of tricks up their sleeves to give the youth what they need to have a fun summer. 

My first day back went smoothly over at Piers Park. We started the day with a game of "The west wind blows" where we learned each other's names. Next we played Indian Chief, which to my surprise, the kids were fairly slick enough to go unnoticed by the guesser throughout multiple rounds. Before we headed down the dock we went over simple, but pretty important rules, then our day began. I spent a good time fishing with this one boy, Ismael. For an 8 year old, he sure did know a lot about NASA and our solar system. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he told me, "I want to work for NASA". He seemed to have his heart set on creating rovers and spacecrafts for them. It all started when I told him about how the tide comes in and out about every six hours. Ismael immediately began to tell me about the creation of the moon which led to more.

After a few minutes of fishing, Nieomi asked me to join her and Wesley on a kayak ride. In the water we paddled around the dock to see what all the fuss was about, another set of kids on a kayak were going crazy trying to catch a moon jelly from under the bridge. As we paddled under we spotted another and they grew happier to the sound of TWO jellyfish! Luckily, the jellies eventually made it around the dock in time for Garret to pick them up and show them to the kids. We spent the hot morning and afternoon session fishing and kayaking. What better way to spend my first day back?

Fishing

Proper Technique

Day two and three, we join Kharliyah on All Access Boston Harbor to George's island for the hottest Tuesday yet. The sun rose early and the rays shined bright on this day. We greeted about 200 camps and families at the pavilion each day who were all eager to ride the boat over to the island. Tuesday I met a wonderful pair of best friends who had never been to the island before. I asked them if they were planning to go into the dark tunnel and they insisted they would even if the black lady spooked them a bit. I informed them of our fishing lessons that would be on dock after lunch if they wanted to stop by and learn. I met them later that day at exactly 12:30pm on the dock and they told me about their adventure into the tunnel as well as the Island. They were most excited about the tunnel and being able to try fishing because these were things they never done before. I felt proud and helpful to be able to give them a good experience. These girls were not at all intimidated by the claws of the crabs or by the heat of the sun. They were good listeners and very patient when it came to fishing. Although we did not catch any fish, we enjoyed observing the crabs and talking about what kinds of fish they could pull out of the harbor. 

Fishing = Patience

Thursday was another incredibly hot day and I met a lovely family from the UK who had just moved into Boston. They were most intrigued and interested in fishing more than the island. When they saw the amount of crabs we had in our touch tank that morning they went wild. Most surprised about the different types of crabs we had in our tank, they wanted to touch them all and hold one of each. We caught a few giant Jonah Crabs that morning and a few, slightly small red rock crabs, along with some feisty green ones.

Fairly new to Boston, I informed them about a few must visit places like Prudential center and tower as well as the Children's Museum. They told me they really enjoyed our trip so I encouraged them to sign up for one of our Spectacle Island trips! The kids liked the sound of that and I let them know they could sign up online if they google-d Save the Harbor All Access Boston. The family was sure they would aim to return in August. I ended my week where I started, at Piers Park on Friday. We led an environmental lesson on the salinity of water that morning after kayaking and fishing by the dock. I helped Meaghan at station 1, where we used refractometers and learned about how salt gets into our oceans. One of the kids, Ferdinand knew lots about Estuaries. They were in amazement at the lack of salt we found was in our harbor compared to filtered water with sea salt we added. They measured the buoyancy of water with eggs and understood why it was necessary for marine life. 

18 crabs and counting

Will it bite me?

Learning something new everyday,

Kharliyah

Ocean Critters

A squirting sea squirt!

In addition to our lovely catch of crabs, one of the children fishing on the dock with us caught a tunicate! We don't see those very often so a rush of happiness passed through me as I showed them what it can do. They giggled as I squeezed it and the tunicate sprinkled water onto them.

Our first week at Georges Island was a blast, each day we caught

Jonah & Green crabs in our
touch tank.

endless amounts of green crabs. We did have a little diversity, though, and

caught a Jonah crab in our crab trap! It was huge compared to the

tiny green crabs we had. All the kids that came over to fish were

intrigued by it and asked all these awesome questions such

as,"What kind of crabs are these?", "Is it a boy or a girl?", and I

enjoyed teaching them all the knowledge I myself have learned while working at Save the Harbor.

In fact I even used a field guide book with the kids to identify the Jonah crab we had caught.

Very similar looking to the Red Rock Crab, the guide book

indicated that the crab was a Jonah crab due to the black tips on

their legs and claws, whereas a Red Rock crab only has

black tips on its claws.

Petting crabs

Here's to many more adventures!

-Khar

New to Black's Creek

Early morning at Blacks Creek.

This Monday was my first day at Blacks Creek in Quincy and it was super fun. I learned how to play gaga ball and I learned that crabs can molt their shells off.

In our second group of kids, a young girl found a molting crab and placed it in the touch tank. As I watched her trying to pick it up I decided to try to help her to hold it properly. I grabbed the dorsal surface and pulled it out of the water to place it in Molly's net and grabbed the underside and noticed it felt soft to the touch. I quickly pulled my hand away in fear that something was wrong with the crab and called over my senior harbor educator, Zach. After Zach's close observation he told me the crab was molting, in other words it was shedding its old shell because it had out-grown it and was in the process of growing a new one. It felt soft for now and as time passes the shell will harden. I never knew that crabs outgrew their shells and it was an amazing experience to be able to see the transition.

Before

Molting Crab

After

When the groups came we introduced ourselves and role played our favorite sea animals, then got to fishing with dip nets in the creek. We caught plenty of green crabs and Silversides and, if you observe closely in the tank, there was a small shrimp. After fishing we would go up the hill to play games and sports such as dodgeball, kickball, and gaga ball which I learned how to play and it was so fun and exhilarating. I enjoyed being there as much as the children.

Around 11 we ended the program and went on our lunch break and after we returned to Boston's Children's Museum to finish up the day. I got to add some chalk artwork along the walkway for pedestrians and guests to see as they walked by. Overall I had a really good Monday!

It's lit

-Khar

First Day at All Access

Me showing the kids how to determine the sex
of a crab!

Last week was the first day at All Access. This is my second year at Save the Harbor Save the Bay and my second year working at All Access. I enjoyed working here last summer and am very excited to be back at a familiar site. Although there are new people and things are a little different, it was just as fun as it was last year.

The day was a Green Crab gallery galore!

We had lots of people come out to Spectacle Island with us but not as many as we usually get, but it is only the first week and there is a whole lot more families and communities to come. On my first day, we had lunch and then went swimming off the island when we arrived. The water was freezing and welcoming as usual and the view of the city of Boston was amazing. After a dip at the beach we split into two groups and I assisted hosting the fishing club for the rest of the day. Luckily we were able to catch some green crabs which got the kids super excited and happy. Many were brave enough to pet them and even hold them! Hopefully we will catch a lot more this summer.

It's lit

-Khar 

Cuties

This week one of my favorite group of kids returned to explore Spectacle Island with us, the East Boston YMCA. I remembered quite a few cute faces who were so excited to see me again. They greeted me with a "Hey I remember you!" while they lined up for their group photo. I sat with them on the boat ride and they showed me the cool designs they were making with gimp. One girl even taught me how to do the chinese staircase and I taught another how to do the circle.

We had a sad departing while they went to have fun on the island and gladly met again at the dock to check out the crabs we caught. They were fascinated by everything and so interested in learning the difference between male and female or what type of crabs they were. We had two red rock crabs, a couple green crabs, and one big and ugly spider crab. As I pulled the crab out the tank the kids shouted, "WHOA!" in amazement at its size. We even caught an American lobster in our crab trap! It wasn't that big but it's claws were and it was ready to snap our fingers off at any moment. We snapped a couple photos before putting it back in the water.

Daniel (left) Nicholas (bucket hat) Jaden (super cheesy to the right)

I really loved bonding with these 3 boys, Jaden, Daniel, and Nicholas. They were amazing guests on our trip to Spectacle. I enjoyed their company as much as they enjoyed mine. And I'm sure I'll be spending more time with them if they come back to go on another trip with Save the Harbor.

-Warmly, Kharliyah O,

Splash, Crack, Pinch: A Crab's Life

Hey everyone,

The Crabs at Blacks Creek Have Serious Leg Strength

Since there's no kickball at Camp Harbor View, I had to find a new favorite thing to do and crabs is definitely IN! We usually use the crabs  from Blacks Creek when we run out of bait. You'd be surprised with how fast the kids lose bait at Camp Harbor View.
It is extremely lucky that the crabs at Blacks Creek are practically jumping into the net. Since they're sometimes missing rods at the site, not everyone can fish at the same time. When this happens someone is usually stuck without one om the pier. That can get boring pretty fast, so why not play with the live bait? Since you almost always get green crabs, the fishing club campers have learned the difference between male and female crabs. They also learned how to tell the difference between other species. Green crabs aren't always green so you can always tell by the five spikes on its shell for G-R-E-E-N. After fishing club closes for the day, beach walks follow. The last two days have been really low tide so it's been easier to flip over rocks.

Yesterday We Found A Lobster In the Traps at CHV

The crabs that you find by the shore are super tiny. You have to grab them fast or they'll run away. They're shells do a good job of camouflaging from expectant campers and potential enemies. Always bring your sneakers because you don't want to climb over the rocks in flip flops. It is definitely not fun to stub your toe or injure your foot. 

Until Next Time,

Ruth Scott

50 Crabs & 3 Lobsters

Hello everyone!

I have to say that working at Courageous Sailing Center has been really fun. I've seen all sorts of amazing and unexpected things and been able to share these experiences with the explorers and instructors at Courageous and the staff of Save the Harbor.

One of the coolest things that has happened there this summer was the day we caught over 50 green crabs. We have several lobster traps at Courageous and there are often crabs in them, but last week there were so many crabs in every single trap that we decided to collect them and count how many we had. Many of the campers were fascinated to see how many crabs there were and how many there might be crawling around all over the harbor.

Grab a crab!

Another amazing thing that happened at Courageous is when we caught three lobsters in a trap we did not even know was there! Save the Harbor has been working with Courageous for years so we have put traps down on lines that are often hard to see. At first we thought there were just two big lobsters in the trap, but I noticed that the bait bag seemed really full... Turns out it was full of lobster! Another smaller lobster was squeezed in there so tightly that we thought it might not be alive. 

There's a lobster in there!

I slowly opened the bait bag and it started trying to move around. We eased it out carefully because its claws and many spines kept getting snagged on the mesh, but eventually it was free! 

Almost free!

Catching three lobsters after only having caught one or two sporadically the whole season was very unexpected, but hopefully we will catch more now that we have new traps and we know how many traps we need to check. I also think that we will succeed in catching a fish with a rod one of these days, as long as we just keep trying!

A beautiful day for fishing at Courageous

See you on the dock, 

Sej

A Day at the Children's Museum

Hello,

Today at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, the group and I were in front of the Children's Museum. We set-up the two crab traps and filled up the touch tank. We used ocean water for the touch tank so anything that we catch wouldn't need a change of water. Also, I started to cut up the bait for the crab trap which was fish that we cut up into pieces. Then, we put the fishing poles in their places against the railing so the children and parents who wanted to fish could.

As parents and their kids start to show up, we educate them on the Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is about. We talked about the types of crabs we caught and how you can tell if the crab is a male or female. We also explained how you can tell the age of the crab by its barnacles. Even though we hadn't caught any fish, the kids and their parents were interested in all we had to say about the crabs.

See you on the pier, 

Edward

Excitement at McDonough Sailing Center!

Hi everybody!

Today at McDonough sailing center was incredible! We had a blast fishing with all of the kids who hang out at the Center day after day. Even though there are a TON of campers there- we have already gotten to know a bunch who are interested in learning how to fish, experimenting with the crab trap, and exploring the dock and beach for other critters!

Jazeel showing the campers a Green Crab

Today, we caught close to 30 green crabs- not only with our crab trap, but also with the fishing rods. Using herring as bait the kids have found the perfect spot on the dock to cast off. The crabs don't get hooked, but they attach themselves to the bait and don't let go until we pry them away. The kids love this process, it's always exciting to see something besides a lure on the end of your line! After the brave campers pull them off the bait, we stick them in our floating crate on the side of the dock- this way other campers have the chance to check out what we've caught!

Esmeralda and I also had a chance to take a couple of kids out to the lobster traps we have set in Pleasure Bay. We checked the old one first- it was empty, unfortunately (someone must have taken them for dinner!) We also baited, and set a new one. We're hoping for some lobsters tomorrow, I've heard they often catch 5lb-ers!

While we have yet to catch a fish over at McDonough, one camper reeled in one of our rogue crab traps from last year- it was difficult to pull up, but proved to be a great catch! There were mussels attached to it, minnows, crabs, and slimy sea squirts! We cleared some of the mussels and mud off, then tossed it back in the water, tied it off, and will pull it up tomorrow to see what other sea creatures it attracted!

Towards the end of the day, Jazeel and I took 10 of the kids on the beach and out towards the causeway bridges where the water flows in and out of Pleasure Bay to hunt for sea stars and jellyfish. It was great to get the kids off of the dock, and to cool off in the water. On our walk we found clams, mussels, a few oysters, LOTS of barnacles, sea weed and sea squirts- and while we didn't find any sea stars this round, we're hopeful that we'll get lucky tomorrow.

All in all it was a fantastic day spent in the sun and breeze at beautiful McDonough Sailing Center.
See you on the beaches!

 -Kelly Randall-

The European Green Crab

Hello again!

My name is Kelly- I will be working as a Senior Harbor Educator at Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay this summer and I would like to talk to you about the European Green Crab- a common invasive species found on our beaches in Massachusetts. You have probably seen these guys hiding under rocks along the shore and in tidal pools. They are dark to light green in color (some have a hint of orange), and can be up to 3 inches wide. They are easily identifiable by the 5 ridges, called marginal teeth, they have on either side of their eyes.

While these crabs are some of the most common species found on North Atlantic beaches, they have not always been there. They are an invasive species- an organism that has been introduced to an ecosystem outside of its native range. The green crab is a native species of Northern Europe and was first introduced to the North Atlantic coast of the United States via ballast water from ships in the early 1800’s. The ballast water system allows large ships to pump water in and out of their tanks to add or subtract weight, thus displacing any organisms contained in the water. Green crab populations are also established along the Pacific Coast of the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Japan. The green crab has been able to colonize so many parts of the world fairly easily because of its ability to tolerate a wide range of environments.

European Green Crab Range. Red= Introduced; Green= Native

 You may be thinking to yourself, who cares? So what if a plant or animal gets moved around in the ocean, it’s all the same water, right? Wrong- every ecosystem and environment in the ocean is different, and the species found in that area have a drastic effect on the local ecology and biology. If you bring an outside species into an ecosystem, things will start to change- that invader will now compete with the native species for food, space, and other resources, thus shifting the natural balance of the ecosystem.  And that’s not all! They can also have a negative effect on the local economy by outcompeting commercially fished species. For example, green crabs feed heavily on the soft-shelled clam- an important commercially fished species on the Atlantic Coast. Soft-shelled clams are what you often find in your clam chowder, and are also known as “steamers.” With an increase in green crabs in our waters, the soft-shelled clam population has been steadily decreasing, leaving shellfish harvesters with little to collect and sell.

A green crab eating a soft-shelled clam

What can be done about the over abundance of green crabs?

One option is to prevent future dispersal of the species using preventative actions. The top three modes of green crab dispersal are ballast water discharge, the movement of commercial shellfish and aquaculture products, and bait/pet releases. Treating ballast water, inspecting and sterilizing the commercial shellfish and aquaculture products, and restricting sales and transportation of live bait can eliminate these invasion pathways. Other methods include controlling or containing individuals of established populations through selective harvest, chemical control, biological control, or genetic control- Read more about these control methods here (Pages 19-21).

What can you do to help reduce the green crab’s population along our shores? First, in order to harvest green crabs you need to obtain a letter of authorization from the Massachusetts Dept. of Marine Fisheries. It's free and you can do so by checking out the DMF webpage: DMF Commercial Fishing Permits (Scroll all the way to the bottom and there is a contact listed to find out more information). Here at Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay we do our part by using these invasive crabs for bait- you can easily hook them on a line or mash them up to use as chum. You can also cook up green crabs and eat them! While they are tiny, and have little meat inside of them, they are very tasty. You can prepare them just as you would any other crab and use them in a bisque, crab cake, or seafood salad! The best way to eat green crabs is to catch them in their molting state- this means that they have shed their hard shell and are in the process of making a new one. Mature males typically molt during the month of July, and females molt between July and October. During this time they have a soft shell, and are easy to prepare! One great method is to simply dip them in egg batter and breadcrumbs, and deep-fry them. This is a very popular dish in Italy called Moleche fritte.

Moleche Fritte

If you collect the crabs when they have their hard shells you can harvest the meat by doing the following: 

 Step 1:

To segment the crab, lift the flap under the crab's body with your thumb. While holding the body firmly with 1 hand, pull off the top part of the shell with the other. Discard the top shell.

Step 2:

Remove and discard the spongy, finger-like white gills on either side of the crab's body.

Step 3:

Cut the body into quarters.

Step 4:

Use a nutcracker to crack the large claws to enable easy removal of crabmeat when serving.

Source- Taste.com.au

Next time you’re at the beach, you can do your part to help combat invasive species on our shores by flipping over a few rocks and collecting some green crabs! If you decide to try them in your favorite crab dish, comment below to let us know how it goes! 

You can read more about green crabs on our blog, here 

You can also check out these articles about the green crab and their effects on the local fishing industry:

Discovery.com Green Crabs Devouring Americas Seafood

Salemnews.com Battle Plans Laid For Green Crab

Pressherald.com Shell of an Idea Turn Green Crab Into Cash Cow

CRABS ON CRABS ON CRABS!

Hello everyone! How is everybody's week going? Yesterday at the Boston Children's Museum I caught a lot of green crabs! I also taught some interested kids how to fish! The kids were so enthusiastic about fishing and about touching the crabs. The girls were actually braver then the guys when they went to touch the green crabs, they liked to take risks! The Children's Museum was actually fun! I enjoyed teaching kids how to fish, because some kids that I taught were so excited about learning because they have never went fishing before in their life. That was a really great experience for me.

- Juelle Benjamin

My Life Threatening, Yet Life Saving Week at Children's!

So readers, I'm back! This week was drastic- the heat was blazing, the wind was blowing, and the crabs were crabbing! However, working in the 90 degrees weather had it's perks. Kids came running to us, in order for us to show them the fish and crabs we caught in the shade, the breezes, and the water was higher, which made me want to subtly jump in! 

This week we caught a total of nine fish and about seventy cabs! I saved a seagull from eating plastic by throwing a piece a fish I it's direction and a fish struggling for it's life in a net-Anicia to the rescue! 

Me Holding about 70 crabs!

A Chill Day at The Boston Children's Museum

Hey guys, today at the Children's Museum was actually a relaxed day. I interacted with a few families and visitors this morning and enjoyed talking to them about crabs and our organization. To add on, it was fun  seeing infants and toddlers getting excited and fascinated by the green crabs my co-workers found in the harbor today. We found approximately 15 green crabs all together. Here's one visitor that was a bit scared at first to touch the crab but after a while he started to become interested in them which was great ! 

He was a such a brave kid and he actually touched one of the crabs my team found!

Also, my co-workers taught visitors how to fish and as soon as they grasped it they loved it! Here's a picture of Manny and two employees from the Children's Museum bonding! I also took a picture of a visitor and Manny teaching him how to fish. He really enjoyed fishing with us. You can tell he enjoyed Manny's company and had a great time with Save The Harbor/Save The Bay. I'm glad my team and I made our visitors engaged and interested in the green crabs and fishing as a way to start off their day. I love making people have a good time and learn something an awesome organization like us.  Later !!

-Juelle

An Unexpected Day !

Today was really an unexpected day at the Children's Museum. My co-workers and I found a huge lobster today and a lot of green crabs. What was so interesting about the lobster we found was that so many visitors from the Children's Museum were so fascinated by it ! This is the first time I experienced catching a lobster in the harbor right at the Children's Museum. The adults as well as the children were just so interactive with us and asked many questions about the green crabs. I'm not really a fan of holding crabs and being so free spirited with them but today I came out of my comfort zone by holding crabs! It's really not my thing but I told myself this summer that my goal was to do exciting things I never done or experienced before.







- Juelle Benjamin

Our Catch of the Day at the Children's Museum!

Today, for the second time this summer at the Boston Children's Museum, something very exciting and unexpected was discovered in our crab trap. All morning, we had been pulling up tiny, young green crabs, but this time as Andrew pulled the trap up, a fair-sized lobster greeted us! This lobster was unfriendly to say the least, but nice enough to allow the green crabs to crawl all over its back and along its claws -- much to the delight of the kids and adults who visited us. Lobster expert Candido impressively and effortlessly held its claws together to let all of the kids touch the lobster's back and side, and other Bostonians passing by commented on what a nice size lobster we had caught.

The Lobster!

 The lobster was not the only feisty creature that we dealt with today. Some of the captured green crabs were undoubtedly ones that we had also caught the day before, and they did not seem happy to find themselves back in our touch tank! One crab seemed to go into panic-mode the second he escaped from our crab trap and onto the harborwalk. As one staff member reached in to grab him, he immediately voluntarily let go of two of his legs -- quite the site to see. The fact that crabs can regrow their limbs is always a popular fact with the kids we meet, for good reason! As we wrap our summer program up at the Children's Museum, I look forward to ending this week on a high note!

-Ashley Wakefield, Senior Harbor Educator at the Boston Children's Museum

Marginal Teeth, GREEN CRABS

The Boston children's museum is a very interesting site. We work with younger children so we usually have to explain to them what to do, but today I met some interesting children. I met an eight year old child who knew everything that I knew. It was cool because when explaining to a child what makes a green crab a green crab we usually do not use words they can't understand. We explain that the sharp parts on the upper torso spell out "Green" because of the five spikes. One of the children knew that the "spikes" were actually called Marginal Teeth.

I also explained to the child the difference between a male and female crab. The triangle on the torso of the crab for a male is narrow and for a female its wide. It is wide because it carries eggs. The child knew all the things I was talking about.

-Ahmed Hassan