Star of the Show

Just a quick ride to work!

To say last week had some gloomy days would be an understatement. Between the rain and the humidity, the kids (and staff alike) were in need of a boost. Something exciting needed to happen!

Thursdays are already a special day for the Pier's Park staff. After our staff meeting, we get picked up on a boat by our friends at the Pier's Park Sailing Center and get to cruise across Boston Harbor to our site. How cool is that?! After docking the boat and starting our walk up the ramp one of our staff members noticed a HUGE starfish in some shallow water nearby. We all began thinking out loud, "how cool would it be to bring that up to the tent for the kids before it really starts raining". Raymond offered to be the one to go into the waist deep water to get it. Quickly, a plan was set. Of course, after receiving proper counsel we decided to give it a try! Ray put a life jacket on and took a kayak, taking all safety precautions. He carefully got out of the kayak and used his hands to peer into the water almost as if he was snorkeling. Finally, after a few minutes of searching, he stuck his hands down into the water and pulled up the biggest starfish I have ever seen!! Suddenly it started to downpour and we knew we had to act fast. We quickly put the amazing creature into a bucket of sea water so that the kids could view it in a somewhat natural habitat. Carefully, we walked the bucket up to the tent where the kids were getting ready to watch a movie, they had no idea they were going to interact with any sea life at the rate the weather was headed. When the bucket was placed on a picnic table the campers erupted with overwhelming "ooh", "ahh", and "woooah" noises. Every time they asked if we caught it they seemed so shocked to hear that the answer was yes because we wanted them to be able to see it too. Hearing and seeing them be so amazed by what we had just put in front of them made the extra work completely worth it. Turns out our rainy day didn't end up being so gloomy!

                                                                                         

Nicholas loved the starfish!!

Catch you later,
Briana

How far will you go to get a starfish?

If you worked with the Harbor Explorers at Piers Park, then you would know that the kids in the program go crazy when there is a sea creature in the touch tank. No matter what it is, either fish or crabs caught in the traps, they would gather around the touch tank to see what's in it. So when the rest of the Save the Harbor team and I saw a starfish on a rock during low tide, we thought it was a good idea to bring it in a touch tank and show the kids. So someone had to go into the water and try to get it. That's when one of the Save the Harbor staff, Raymond offered to get it.

At first, I thought he was joking because it was a cold, rainy day. When he went to get a kayak and a life jacket, I knew he wasn't kidding. He kayaked to where the starfish was and tried to reach for it but he couldn't reach it. He then got out of the kayak and tried to get the starfish. At that moment, it started to pour down making it harder to get the starfish. At one point, we offered him my umbrella to stop the drops on the water so it can be much easier to see. After five minutes of Raymond swimming around the dock trying to get the starfish, he finally got it, but while doing so he cut his finger on a barnacle. So we had to put the starfish in a touch tank with salt water in it and rushed him up to the tent so he could clean up his finger. When we got to the tent where all the kids were, they all started to crowd Briana, who was holding the tank, trying to catch a glimpse of the star fish. When she put it down, all the kids started to ask questions about who got it and the staff told them that Raymond got it. Everyone started to thank him and actually cheered for him getting the star fish. Now it's the day after and I'm not at Piers Park to see how all the kids are doing, but I bet that they are still talking about the star fish Raymond swam to get.

A sailing instructor holding the Star Fish

The Star Fish

Raymond holding the Star Fish in the Kayak

The Most Eventful Week So Far

This is the starfish Raymond caught

This week was an eventful one. Starting from helping each other out, overcoming fears, and even getting a starfish from the water. On Wednesday and Thursday there was this girl that had a fear of thunder and lightning. Once I learned, this I had to help her and so I did. I told her it was all in her head and imagination that was making her think thunder is so big and bad. I also told her that it was just people in the clouds having a party. I even got a thank you from the mother on the last day which was nice and put a smile on my face. Other than that the days were pretty normal we played games and even watches finding nemo when it rained on Thursday.

However on Thursday, despite the normality of it and the amount of times I got wet that day. My co-worker Raymond had seen a starfish under the water (it was low tide at the time) and he decided to go and get it. He went in a kayak and paddled towards it and eventually got it along with a few small cuts from a barnacle. He put it in the touch tank and we brought it up for the kids to see. They were really entertained by it. After that adventure we watched finding nemo, it was pretty good. Afterwards we continued with our normal routine and games we usually play. The children absolutely loved this game called "Bop Bop BipidiBopBop" and played it in the afternoon when they were getting ready to leave.

The white board the kids wrote the thank you message on

Friday was pretty eventful in a sense too. In the morning I walked into work and saw a thank you message on the whiteboard. The kids brought in snacks and during lunch we ate lots of it. It was fun and I could tell the kids had a good time with it.

My week was great and I hope your next week is too
~Kamal

Six Arms

Greetings folks!
This past week at Save the Harbor Save the Bay was a blast! I learned, taught, saw, and held some new things I never had before! And that's what these programs are all about.

First, here I am ecstatic about having found a 6-armed starfish.




I mean come on folks, this defies the name of the creature itself! It's a STARfish because it has five arms, just as a star has five points. Yet Tuesday at Courageous Sailing in Charlestown, our group of kiddos revealed a six-armed starfish in the flesh. This was the chance for a couple of different firsts for me. Not only was it my first time touching a wild starfish, it was also my first time encountering or even hearing about one with six arms. This is a perfect example of the amazing things the beautiful harbor can do for people like me and the many kids in the Boston area. Any previous encounter of mine that involved a starfish also involved either an aquarium or a tank. While this may be naive of me, I didn't even realize starfish inhabited the Boston harbor.

I also had the pleasure of teaching some kids how to tell the difference between a male crab and a female crab.

      


They all wanted to assume that the bigger crabs were all male while the smaller were female, when really, size does not always serve as an indication of gender. Instead, it is all about the shape present on the crab's belly. A straight triangle is present on a male's belly, while a more broad shape is present on the female's. Honestly, this is something I wasn't even aware of before the start of this position. Now I not only know this myself, but I get the pleasure of sharing this knowledge with kids who are very eager to learn.

Until next time,
Jessie