Ode to Decapods at Boston Children's Museum

What would you do with ten feet?

Would you walk faster? Would you invent a new decapodian dance? Would you paint the toenails on each of your feet a different color? I might do all three, in honor of the decapods we find everyday in the Fort Point Channel at the Boston Children's Museum.

Along with a whole host of other creatures, lobsters, shrimp and crabs are of the taxonomic order decapodia, which ,in Greek, means "ten-footed". As our fishing 101 group found out this summer, the lobsters and crabs that we pull up in traps there have 8 legs and 2 claws! In addition to their lovely limbs, the decapods at Boston Children's Museum have a whole host of other cool features!

My favorite characteristic of these animals is their fantastic exoskeleton. Imagine having armor on the outside and no interior bones to speak of! As invertebrates, lobsters and crabs are spineless. So why is their shell called an exoSKELETON? Hmmmm. Let's think. Our bones provide support for our bodies from the INSIDE, but an exoskeleton protects and supports a body from the OUTSIDE. The kids at BCM enjoyed feeling the hard shells of the crabs and lobsters we found.

Apart from their physical forms, the BCM decapods entertained kids and parents alike with fast moves and feisty personalities. Hundreds of kids at the museum marveled at the way crabs walked sideways, using all eight legs! The speed with which the crabs attempted to run out of the traps also impressed many entertained onlookers.

Thanks to BCM for a great week and a great summer. But we cannot forget to thank our friends the decapods for their good looks and all the entertainment they provided us with this summer!

-Sheuli

Shells 101, Lady Lobster and Southie Treasures @ Kid's Bash

Save the Harbor's Kid's Bash and Splash was a show stopper! We pulled out all the stops, incorporating seven amazing activity stations, a barbecue lunch, and of course, our famous splash! The festivities included art, sports, fishing, kite flying, and, my favorite, the shell+ touch tank display! Imagine a beach covered in 400+ kids having the time of their little lives, then add a few more. In actuality, over 450 Boston youth came out to our kids bash!

At our shell display, 450 youth were able to explore seashells from creatures such as mussels, abalone, clams and periwinkles, to name a few. We had a seashell matching game set up to help kids learn to identify the seashells by size and shape. Most of the kids who came to the shell display couldn't even identify a mussel shell upon arrival! However, by the time they left the station, many kids were able to accurately identify plenty of different shells.

Lady lobster was also a big hit. When kids came up to the touch tank they were SHOCKED to see a REAL, LIVE lobster! Many of the kids had seen lobsters before, but usually only on dinner plates. It was interesting to be able to teach so many kids about their local decapodian mascot.

Kids were fascinated to learn that lobsters have two slightly different claws that are specialized for different duties. They liked the idea that the lobster had a big strong crusher claw in addition to a very sharp pincer claw. One child said that the different claws were like a knife and a fork!

Another favorite activity was guessing whether the lobster was male or female, then finding out how to tell for sure. For some reason, 90% of the kids were quite certain that this formidable-looking lobster HAD to be male. They were shocked to find out that she was indeed a lady lobster! The kids enjoyed touching the lobster's swimmerettes and its tail.

In addition to the lobster and shell activities, we did a special "Treasures of Southie" station, where kids could find "treasures" in a bin of sand. The treasures were in fact items such as sea glass, parts of toys, pottery pieces. It was interesting to have the kids think about the origins of the objects of their fascination. The kids enjoyed learning how beach glass was made and digging through the sand.

Before long, it was time for lunch, the splash, sea shanty singing and other activities! By the time the kids left, their bellies and minds were full of hot dogs and sea creature wisdom, respectively.

Crab Counting at Harborview

The cobbled beach at camp Harbor View is home to an interesting creature: the Asian shore crab. As its name suggests, it is an introduced species, originating in Asia and brought to North America in 1988.

Our mission today was to count, measure and determine the gender of all the crabs we could find on the beach in the rocky intertidal zone to help with a citizen science experiment led by Dr. Judy Pederson at MIT's Sea Grant.

We accomplished this by turning over cobbles and collecting all the crabs we found!

In an hour, we found 133 Asian shore crabs and 2 European green crabs on a 7 x 15 meter stretch of beach! Both of these species are non-native to Boston Harbor.

Our group had a discussion about introduced species in Boston Harbor, and the means by which these species arrive here. The young explorers were fascinated at the idea of young crabs traveling thousands of miles as planktonic larvae in the ballast water of large ships. Someone even suggested that people released their pet crabs!

All in all, the crab count was an interesting experiment!

Sheuli

Trash is Treasure on Shell Beach!

Today we visited Shell Beach at Camp Harbor View in the hopes of finding treasure! And what a treasure hunt we had! Our group searched the bases of large rocks, the shoreline and the shell-strewn beach for seaglass, strange shells, and relics from the past.

We found brilliant shards of seaglass in blue, green, brown, pink and even orange! Some of these looked like precious stones as they were polished to a superb finish by Boston Harbor's waves and sand. The explorers exclaimed that they thought these would be worth a lot of money, and were confused why someone would consider them trash!

There were SOOOO many strange shells to add to our bounty, including a long jacknife clam shell. Some of our campers had never seen the ubiquitous periwinkle and slipper shells either!

Also, we found shards of china, pottery shards and pieces of brick. We talked about how one china pattern was used at a nearby hotel, how bricks may of came from someone's home and speculated about the use of the pottery shards.

We had an interesting conversation about the origins of trash and the way waste was managed over time. We asked ourselves this question: How we will be remembered by the objects we leave behind?

All in all, we had a blast, and spent the last few minutes of our reflection time skipping stones on Boston Harbor.

Sheuli

A Day on Georges Island

Today was my first day back on AABH! Our trip today was to George's island. The boat ride there was fun because I got a chance to interact with some of the kids and get to know them and listen to the stories of the kids who have already been there.We got to take a walk around the fort, then Will and I decided to go and wait in the dark tunnel for the kids to come through. Our mission was to scare David but it was unsuccessful. Then my senoir marine educator sheuli and I took a group down to the beach and talked about all the cool things we found. I'm positive all the kids had a fun day which is the most important thing and I can also say I enjoyed my day. It's nice to be back!

-Mark Rose

This Just In!

At Community Boating today, our sailors in the environmental program caught not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 sunfish! Details to come soon.

Cheers,

-Sheuli

The Secret Life of Eels

You may know that we have eels in the Charles river. You may know that those eels are slimy and slippery. You may have noticed that our eels have a continuous fin (dorsal, anal and tail fin combined).

But did you know that our eels don't ALWAYS live in the river?

Did you know that when they are mature, and it is time to reproduce, they travel to a faraway place called the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean?

Well, the sailors in the environmental group at CBI know, and they can tell you the story of the secret life of eels!

The story starts like this:

Soon to be Mr. and Ms. American eel travel from different parts of the Charles (along with many other freshwater bodies in the US and Europe) all the way to the Sargasso Sea, which lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

After the eels spawn, tons of little eel eggs are carried by prevailing currents. Eventually, they turn into leptocephali (strange clear eel larvae), then glass eels (almost like transparent worms), then elvers (adolescent eels), then yellow eels (almost grown up), then finally silver eels.

During this journey, which can take 1-3 YEARS, the eels move from the sargasso sea into estuaries and eventually into rivers, lakes and streams.

What a journey!! (Don't you think so?)

At Community Boating, we know the story of the secret life of eels, but we prefer to handle them merely for their superb sliminess!

Next time you catch an eel, think about how far it has traveled, and of course, how amazing it is!

Hordes of Hermit Crabs!

Today at Constitution Beach, we had a blast collecting hermit crabs. Our awesome hermit hunters from East Boston YMCA collected hundreds of hermits and piled them into our touch tank.

It was interesting to hold so many hermit crabs in your hands at once. Some of the YMCA explorers giggled and shouted at the hermits when their tiny claws tickled their palms.

At the end of the collection, we said our farewells and watched as hundreds of hermits crawled back to their homes!

Family Reading Night

What a blast we had at Family Reading Night at Carson Beach!

Kids from all around Boston enjoyed playing with hula hoops and ski balls, playing hop scotch and, of course, STORIES . Hot dogs and popcorn were served as kids from all around listened with bated breath to tantalizing tales.

The Save the Harbor lobster touch was a hit as always. We received so many interesting questions about the lobster, the best of which being "Where is it's butt?"

All in all, it was a fun time. My favorite part may have been the art tables, where you could spin paint fancy pictures. Or maybe it was the temporary tattoo table, where you could get a shark tattoo on your upper arm, and not have to regret it!

The kids did seem to enjoy the night out with their families!

Kayaking at CBI!

Today at CBI, the Environmental Group got a special treat- a chance to kayak, look for mussels and put out eel traps!

Eel traps were deployed using hot dogs as bait since ,oddly enough, they seem to work best! However, our net search for freshwater mussels came up empty. We're going to try different strategies to find mussels this week.

Unexpectedly, instead of mussels, we ended up picking lots of plastic trash from the Charles River. We recycled what we could at CBI, then properly discarded the rest.

-Sheuli

Mystery Mussels and the Zebra Scare!

Attached to some of the marine debris recovered by the Rozalia Project's ROV, were some tiny, funky looking mussels! As some appeared to be striped, we were afraid they might be zebra mussels, a nuisance invasive freshwater mussel species that has wreaked havoc in the many North American fresh water bodies.

The mussels found still cannot be identified, though their stripes do not seem to match the zebra mussel pattern.

We will be on the lookout for more mussels at Community Boating, and once these mussels are identified, we'll fill you in on the ID.

Cheers!

-Sheuli

Trashlisting @ Community Boating

Friday, we were delighted to see the Rozalia Project yet again at Community Boating! Using their fancy ROV (remote operated vehicle) Rachel @ Rozalia Project and a plethora of copilots from CBI's environmental group roved the seafloor looking for marine debris.

Among the fabulous trash finds were the following not-so-small objects:

1 Main Sail lost last year

1 glass HOOD milk bottle from the 1930s

1 aluminum foldable chair

In fact, Save the Harbor and CBI staff and sailors helped the Rozalia Project catalog their findings in this same fashion! We found plastic bags, bottles, cans, clothes and even shoes! Who would have thought such a mess existed just a few meters below the surface?

At the end of the day, the logged trash was used for Rozalia Project's Trash Bash, and everyonewas happy to wash their hands!

Dancing (with Lobsters) in the Park

Tonight was a blast at Wollaston Beach's Dancing in the Park event.

Members of the community, tall and small, came out for a bit of dancing, some tasty Italian ices and, of course, to visit the Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay lobster.

After bogeying, grooving and jiving to the tunes provided by a great DJ, kids and parents wondered over to check out our touch tank and seashell display. Some of our visitors had never seen a live lobster before. They were amazed at the apparent strength of its claws and the length of its antennae. Also, the seashell identification game mystified some of the parents as well as our younger visitors. Some had never seen blue mussel, jackknife clam, and slipper shells.

Someone even wandered over to our table to ask me to identify a strange worm she found at the beach!

All and all, Dancing in the Park was an adorable time, and a good opportunity for members of the community to enjoy themselves, each other and the beautiful Wollaston Beach.

Invasives at Courageous!

This week at Courageous Sailing Center, the Step Green boats learned about invasive species, and more the specifically, those in Boston Harbor.

Many of the young sailors had no idea that the green crabs they caught that week were introduced to North America from Europe in the early 1800s! Similarly, they were unaware that the club tunicates they enjoyed prodding on lobster traps were originally from Japan! On the other hand, the sailors were pleased that their favorite crab, the red rock crab, was a local native.

An interesting discussion opened up about the transportation and introduction of invasive species. The kids at courageous were baffled at the ways critters could be introduced to Boston Harbor: traveling around the world attached to hulls of ships, floating in ballast waters or even being as released pets.

We will be on the lookout at Courageous for the new invaders!

Spectacle Island Spectacular

Last week I was lucky enough to go on an adventure with the Save the Harbor Summer team to the lovely and mysterious Spectacle Island as part of Staff Training Week. This Boston Harbor Island is FAMOUS for its fantastic trash. If you are confused about exactly HOW trash can be fantastic, rest assured, skeptic, I'll explain.

Amidst the cobbled shore of Spectacle Island, treasures lie among sand and rocks, waiting to be discovered: sea glass and marbles and china (Oh My!). As the summer staffers scrutinized the sand, we found a wealth of funky objects with interesting stories.

Relics from the yesteryear presented themselves to our fingertips. Industrial materials from a 1930s New York manufacturing company, a porcelain -colored, six-faced die from Japan, and a fully- intact miniature glass bottle from 1920 emerged from the sand. These intriguing discoveries sparked questions and concerns about TRASH and TREASURE: Where did these items come from? Did our predecessors consider these amazing objects little more than rubbish? What happens to OUR trash? What TRACES will OUR GENERATION leave behind?

As a summer staffer took it upon himself

to clean up some plastic refuse littering the beach, we pondered these thoughts and learned from his example. We silently decided that we'd rather be remembered by marbles and sea glass than by plastic bags and styrofoam junk.

- Sheuli

Hello There!

Hi!

My name is Sheuli Molla, and I am a new Senior Marine Educator at Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay. This past May I graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Sciences. At Stony Brook University, I studied the principals of Marine Ecology, Marine Conservation, and Ecosystem Based Management. I am excited to put my knowledge to work in Save the Harbor's youth environmental education program by reuniting Bostonian youth with nature and the marine environment!

This summer, I hope to teach and learn about everything Boston Harbor has to offer. I am also excited to share my experience and background in marine sciences with our curious harbor explorers at Save the Harbor.

During our program site visits this week, I was able to fully appreciate the majesty of Boston Harbor. From Pleasure Bay to Black Creek, each site is uniquely beautiful and interesting.

At this week's East Boston YMCA Summer Kickoff event, I was delighted to show and tell about marine life by using our saltwater touch tank! Kids from all over Boston were able to see and touch live lobsters, crabs, clams, snails and other critters. At first, most of the kids who approached the tank were scared of the lobster, and wouldn't think about touching it. However, after they saw the Marine Educators holding a lobster, and their friends touching its tail, enthusiasm and bravery became infectious. Kids from every Boston neighborhood exclaimed about how the lobster looked, felt and smelled!

With the excitement of a young Bostonian, I too am enthusiastic about exploring, fishing, crabbing, sailing and doing other marine activities with Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay. I cannot wait to get started and get back to Boston's BEAUTIFUL beaches!