Science at CBI

Hi everyone,

This week at Community Boating, we continued catching lots of fish and teaching the kids environmental science lessons. We started each session in the classroom, where we introduced ourselves to the kids and told them a bit about what Save the Harbor does in Boston. We took turns telling the kids lots of fun facts, like that Boston has some of the cleanest beaches in the country, that Spectacle Island was once covered with trash that burned for 10 years, and that the "dinosaur eggs" on Deer Island are responsible for treating wastewater. Andrea told the kids a great fact, which is that the wastewater treatment plant cleans so much water each day that it could fill up the Prudential Center three times!

We also had a really great discussion about recycling and trash, and we had the kids guess how long it takes for certain types of trash to decompose. In addition, we talked about the problem of invasive species, like the green crabs in the Boston Harbor. I was really impressed that the students were thinking like scientists and coming up with all sorts of ways to remedy the invasive species problem. They were starting to understand how complex environmental problems can be, and they seemed eager to help fix them!

After the lessons in the classroom, we spent the rest of our days at CBI on the Esplanade, fishing in the lagoon. With the worms as bait, the kids continued to catch fish after fish, and even started learning how to identify them.

Here are a few pictures of some campers and their catches:

A white perch

A yellow perch

Measuring a pumpkinseed sunfish

We also managed to catch a baby snapping turtle out of the lagoon while we were fishing, which was awesome for the kids to see!

The baby turtle

I'm hoping we can catch even more fish, see more wildlife, and have more great discussions during the science lessons at CBI next week.

Until next time,
Grace

Gotta Catch 'Em All

So instead of catching Pokemon this week with Pokemon GO, I was catching fish at the Charles River! After a dishearteningly low catch count last week, I was incredibly excited that the kids at Community Boating caught a ton of fish today and yesterday. Our secret was new bait: Harry, who runs the environmental science program at Community Boating, brought over a container of live worms. Since we were freshwater fishing in the lagoon on the Charles River Esplanade, the worms worked really well. 

Monday was off to a good start as we pulled up the eel trap to start the day. In the trap, we caught one perch, two sunfish, and a very slimy eel. The eel unfortunately slipped out of our fingers before we could give the kids a closer look. After looking at the trap, we moved to the lagoon to start fishing.

Everyone gathered around the eel trap

Many of the kids we had at camp this week had not fished before, but they picked it up quickly and were excited to learn. Only a few trees were hooked in the process! Overall, we caught a lot of bluegill sunfish and pumpkinseed sunfish, and a few yellow perch.

Pretty soon, kids were pulling up fish left and right. By Tuesday, some of the kids had caught more than five fish apiece. Even better, the kids were learning how to identify the fish, and I was learning how to gently take them off the hook without causing any damage. I learned that you should cup your hand around the fish when you take it off, then hold on tight so it can’t slip out of your hands! I dropped a few fish before I got this technique down.

A camper with his pumpkinseed sunfish catch

I also learned that the pumpkinseed sunfish have some really neat adaptations to help them survive. First, the spotted pattern on their bodies helps them camouflage, as it blends in to the patterns of sunlight in the water where they live. Also, pumpkinseed sunfish have sharp spines along their dorsal fin, which they use for protection from predators. I accidentally got stabbed by one of these spines while handling one of the fish, and I can easily see how they could be used to deter a predator!

It was an exciting few days of fishing, and I’m looking forward to going back to Community Boating next week!

-Grace

First Catch of the Summer

This Monday was my first time at Courageous Sailing Center and although I had bad start to my morning, by getting lost, my day ended good. I was lost for about an hour as I headed out to work Monday morning. I knew I was in the wrong place and with the help of my coworker, Andrea, I was guided to right area. It was pretty far from where I was but the view from the dock was cool. We pulled up two lobster traps and found lots of green crabs inside them along with a Forbes starfish! It had lots of spikes on its back and an orange dot. It didn't move much and the kids were interested in holding and touching it a lot. In the second crab trap we found another one but it was much smaller.

Later that day we went to community boating where we walked down to the lagoon with a group of kids to do some fishing. At community boating they had their own crab trap and inside there were two fish and an eel. They were sunfish and the eel got away before we were able to examine it. At the lagoon, we used worms as bait and not many of the rods had weights on them so we were not able to cast the lines very far, however, lots of people caught fish close to the shore. I remember the first kid who caught a fish, it made everyone excited to catch something including myself. Fishing requires lots of patience but if you know me, then you know that I have zero patience. Eventually I gave up because everyone was catching something except me. But thanks to Andrea I was able to catch a little sunfish! I was so happy to hold it but nervous at the same time. I hope to catch many more fish this summer.

-Warmly, Kharliyah O,

Marine Life on the Harbor

Hi everyone,

This was our first full week at the Save the Harbor sites, and we were busy! On Monday, we started the day at Courageous Sailing Center, where we pulled up some lobster traps and took a look at what was inside. We caught our first lobster, and the kids were very excited to hold the lobster and get a closer look. We made sure to put rubber bands on its claws before we took it out to show the kids. We also caught several green crabs, a rock crab, some starfish, and two tiny fish. The kids spent a lot of time looking through the lobster trap to see what we caught, naming the animals, and taking pictures of them.

Holding a lobster and starfish that we caught in the trap

Later that day, we went to Community Boating on the Esplanade. Here, we help out with an environmental science class, where students learn about the history of the harbor and how we can keep the Charles River clean and healthy. After talking with the students about the harbor and the river, we went out to the lagoon to go fishing. At the end of the day, I saw a kid catch a fish for the first time! It was a great reward to have caught a fish after spending so much time fishing over the past week and not catching anything. He caught a small sunfish.

Our first catch at Community Boating!

On Tuesday at Community Boating, we talked to the kids about the history of the Harbor Islands, and many didn’t know that at one point, Spectacle Island was used as a landfill for trash. We also talked about how long different types of trash (paper, aluminum, plastic, and Styrofoam) take to decompose and about the importance of recycling. To finish the afternoon, we went kayaking in the lagoons along the Charles River, and we found a baby painted turtle sitting on a lily pad. We also told the kids to keep an eye out for trash, and are planning to do a trash-pickup in the river next time we go kayaking.

On Wednesday, I went to Carson Beach, and I had a ton of fun playing with campers on the beach. When the tide was low, the kids and I had a great time looking for snails and hermit crabs in the ocean. The kids engineered a tide pool and waterway to house the animals they caught. Overall, it was a great day, and we were all excited to get a closer look at the wildlife at Carson Beach.

Until next time,

Grace

Where did the fish go?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             At Community Boating, I don't know what happened but we haven't bee catching as many sunfish as usual. Only a couple have been caught. We still use the same bait which is corn and I think they love corn because I caught seven sunfish with corn and caught one or two eels in the trap for the kids to look at. The kids still cast out their line and hope to catch a fish and when they do catch one they all get excited and gather around to look at it. The other day we let one of the fish go because it was acting weird. I watched the fish swim off but it was swimming on top of the water. After a while a seagull came down and snatched it from the water, I was the only one who saw it.

                                                                                                     -Andy Gomez

 

 

The Fish School

We usually get a small group of kids at Community Boating because most of them have sailing classes and no time to fish. But today, one of the kids came ready to fish with his own fishing pole and tackle box.  As soon as he put the bait on and release the line he caught a sunfish. He was really surprised and proud he caught a fish in less than five seconds. After classes were over more kids came and they started catching sunfish out of no where and they were excited. After ten minutes they had a total of about thirteen sunfish. When the day was almost over they were still fishing but not catching anything but they were still satisfied with how much sunfish they caught.

                                                                                                               -Andy Gomez

Sunfish & Sunshine

Finally, at one of our sites, we have consistently and successfully caught fish. The sweet spot, as it turns out, is a public dock near Community Boating. Just tossing in a line with a kernel of corn in the water will usually hook you a fish in a matter of minutes! Patience is still important as it always is with fishing. Some of our explorers have yet to learn this. But when they do, they will definitely be able to hook some fish.

Happy camper with her sunfish!

The sunfish like to hang out right under the dock so we've been using our underwater camera to see them. We can often see about 4 or 5 at a time just waiting to steal our bait. It's so cool that we can show kids that with the right bait and attitude they can catch a fish. The sunfish are only about 6 inches long- not quite worth bringing home for dinner.

Viewing the fish hiding under the dock

Unfortunately, the little sunfishy mouths and our tiny, barbed hooks are sometimes not the best together, and we have to finagle the hooks out of the fish. When we get a fish that's hooked badly, we all assemble as a (very unqualified) surgical team. Luckily, we have a very high success rate!

Our first rate surgical team removing a hook

Now that we've found the best way to catch so many fish that we don't even know what to do with them all, I can't wait to see what else we can try and catch. Hopefully we will catch a carp or a catfish soon!


Keep on fishing,
Sej

Sunfish!

Wow! Ever since our group discovered that corn would be good bait we have been using it non-stop at Community Boating. Also, the fact that we have been catching fish and showing them to the kids made them believe that it is possible to catch fish out of the river, which is why a few more kids have been joining us to go fishing. We have been catching so many that we began running out of room for them.!

We also got a chance to use our underwater camera and it was very exciting. To be honest, I thought that we wouldn't see anything from the underwater camera but we actually did! Guess what we saw? Sunfish! Next week, maybe we can try going to a different location in the Charles River to see what else we will find with the underwater camera.

We have recently had a new goal; which is to catch a catfish from the Community Boating site. We still have not reached that goal yet but we will continue to try and are determined that we will catch one.



Using our underwater camera

At Courageous Sailing Center we haven't been catching any fish. On the other hand, we have been catching a whole lot of crabs from our traps! A bunch of green crabs, some red rock crabs, and starfish. Of course with the help from our little strong explores! The best part is the end of the day we always enjoy freeing our little friends back into the water.


Catch you later,
Nhu

My First Fish!

Well, I have to say today at Community Boating was quiet an exciting and unforgettable day for me. I finally caught my first fish ever! I caught not 1, not 2, but 3 sunfish. I never really had luck with fishing, but today was a different story. I got pretty lucky. After catching that fish, sitting in that hot beaming sun was worth it. I felt a sense of accomplishment. It felt good to say that we actually caught the fish this time and that they were not from the traps.

On top of that, we also tried some new bait today at Courageous Sailing Center. I bet you can't guess. This time we used eels! It sure caught many people's attention. We were hoping that we would catch a striped bass with the eels as bait. Sadly, we failed and did not catch anything with them. Then again, it was really windy so it was pretty difficult to cast and fish there.








Well that's all for now
Catch you later,
- Nhu

Rain, Thunder and Lightning OH MY!

It was an eventful morning. As I traveled to the office to get  bait for Piers Park, the sky opened up and down poured like I had never seen before. The thunder was booming, the rain was falling, and the lighning cracked against the darkness of harbor's sky. There I was, huddled in a water taxi, hoping to make it across the harbor to Piers Park without falling victim to the stormy waves.

When I arrived, the dock was wet and slick, with  no harbor explorers in sight. Candido and I helped Lanie organize the  chaos and eventually settled down in the tent playing games with the two brave sailors who arrived.
Then, one brave harbor explorer arrived, Patrick! We again bunkered down in the tent and hoped for the rain to pass. And as luck would have it, by ten am the sun was shining brightly and we headed to pull out our fishing gear. The sailors headed out to the harbor to enjoy the sunshine and we were thrilled to be able to fish.

With our fishing rods in hand, we were ready. Patrick, Candido, and I were so excited to be fishing and marveled at the beautiful blue sky when hours earlier it was a grey disaster.

Destinee, Patrick, & Candido fishing in front of the beautiful Boston skyline!

Patrick reeling in one of his many catches!

We then caught EIGHT Sea Perch in a two hour period. We made sure we used our smallest hooks, and very little bait. It seemed every minute we were pulling up our lines. Destinee, a young sailor who missed her boat, joined us. Candido was in charge of removing the hooks and completed the tasks efficiently. I think Candido was born to be a fisherman!

Candido pulling out a hook with Patrick carefully watching.

I CAUGHT MY FIRST FISH, EVER! It was an amazing feeling that I don't know if I will be able to replicate it. It was only because of Candido's encouragement and excellent fishermen skills that I was able to catch a fish. Just like the other fish, it was only a small sea perch, but I couldn't be happier! I was also very brave and untangled the hook from my fish's mouth as Candido held it.

SO EXCITED !

Overall, it was a small group of explorers but a successful morning at Piers Park!


:) Ali Hurney

Monday Funday

Monday at Piers Park was remarkable. I made a few new friends, Donovan, Rocio,  Angie, and TJ, and welcomed back Jack, Michael,Daniel, and Patrick.
Sadly during the morning game Sharks and Minnows, one of our youngest minnows, Donovan hurt his knee.  Vinh and Candido took over the game, as I helped Donovan. Luckily, the ice pack and just taking a break from the running made Donovan feel as good as new.

Besides the early morning mishap, as the day went very smoothly. Rocio enjoyed using the net to capture mussles and Candido picked out the best mussels to use as bait.
As the morning was coming to the end, we had the most exciting events! We began catching sea perch, also called cunner - a fairly common wrasse related tp the tautog.

This is so spectactular because we hadn't had much luck since early in July.
Patrick was the first harbor explorer to catch fish, with Michael close behind.

Michael with the second catch of the day!

Rocio holding the line, as Angie tries to free our fishy friend.

The rest of the Harbor Explorers jumped in and began to fish in the same section. Angie and Rocio were very helpful holding out sea perch and removing the hooks from our fishy friends.

Donovan, Jack, & Rocio sitting on the dock!

It was an awesome morning at Piers Park, and I am so thankful our luck with fishing changed for the better.

:) Ali Hurney

WHAT AN EXCITING WEEK

On Monday we had a new group of kids. 
There was one kid who felt lonely because he the was the only one from the old group and didn’t wanted to talk to the new kids, so I came up with a game so everyone could meet him. The game is called HELLO SHANE  - the last person to say hello to Shane loses. It was a quick way for him to meet the new kids. Therefore, Shane felt happy and the day went great for the kids and myself.     

We spent time with the Rozalia Project, picking trash up off the bottom of the Harbor so that the ocean can be clean. They also explained how long it takes for bottles to disintegrate into pieces in the ocean and how some fish might eat them. Someone from our staff drove an under water robot and there was so much trash that the robot’s claws broke.

Later in the day, we took a group of kids fishing and they were all exhausted except for this kid named Tim who caught a sunfish. As I was trying to un-hook it, it pooped on my fingers. The next day, Tim caught another sunfish and the fish laid eggs on my hand. What a weird weekend. Anne and I witnessed the birth of some sunfish, it was a very exciting moment and it made my day.
 ON Friday afternoon, Thanks to Ali, the YMCA kids were organized to each activity we planned. My group caught a small lobster and we named it flapee, because it wouldn’t stop flapping. 

At the Courageous Sailing Center, we caught another lobster but this one was about 10 pounds and it had huge claws that I’ve never seen before. This was the most exciting day of my week because I took the big lobster home and my mom made a lobster salad. It was good. A lot of meat out of it for a 10 pound lobster!

 I had a great weekend and hope to have the same week for the rest of the summer.

Bravery at the Museum!

What another great week at Bostons Children's Museum and Community Boating. This week kids were more brave with touching and holding the crabs. We had one kid who came for the whole week. He wouldn't hold the crab but he was very happy and excited to touch and learn about it. Also fishing at community boating was a hit. Two of the kids went fishing for their first time and one caught a sunfish. Back at the Museum not many kids caught fish but they did pull up the crab trap and see how the crabs were being caught right there. Also, while trying to fish for a fish or something greater at the museum, the fishing rod flew into the water with a tough tug as if a sea monster was in there. From then on the museum will always be a mystery fishing spot. As for next week I cant wait to see what's next!

Fantastic Fishing, Delilah Burgos 

Competition on the Charles!

After a stormy day yesterday, the kids were back in action today at Community Boating on the Charles River. Although only two kids attended programming today, that did not stop them from encouraging all of us to hold a fishing competition! We decided to try a new fishing spot today as well. Normally, all of us would head over to the public dock near the boathouse. Today, we decided to set up camp along the bank of the river inside the main path, where it is much quieter, cooler and mysterious! Our sunfish-catching master Alex was skeptical of the idea that we would find any fish at all in this area, but luckily, after some assurance he agreed to check it out.

Testing the waters at our new spot

Our newest friend at the river

Alex and Josh -- our fishing champions

For the competition, we all split into pairs. For the bait, we relied on our always-successful carp cookies. Time limit? Unlimited. Right away, the sunfish began biting. We were also lucky enough to be joined by a large group of ducks, with one baby who became the star of the show, waddling right up to us! As the competition winded down, we said goodbye to the sunfish and ducks for the day, but we will certainly be returning to this spot shortly!



-Ashley Wakefield, Senior Harbor Educator at Boston Children's Museum and Community Boating

A Sunny Start to Summer!

Yesterday marked our first official day of summer programming, and I was reminded of how wonderful it is to get to spend the day outdoors. I started off the day at the Boston Children's Museum, alongside fellow Senior Harbor Educators and a handful of amazing junior assistants. We all quickly learned that this site is quite different from the others, and the high level of energy required to interact with the public non-stop! Because of its location right on the beautiful Harborwalk, combined with the flow of families visiting the museum, I had the pleasure of educating a large number of kids and their families on the differences between spider crabs and green crabs. Seeing and holding a spider crab for the first time was just as exciting to me as it was to the kids, and they seemed to love feeling the bumps and hairs on its back. Today specifically was a day for green crabs, as we pulled up numerous ones that got caught in our crab trap, fascinating the kids. One kid in particular could not pull himself away from fishing with Alie, as he excitedly told us about how he's in Boston all the way from Los Angeles, and that his next stops are Miami, Paraguay, back to Miami, and then finally back home to L.A. I love hearing stories from kids who have been fortunate enough to travel throughout their young lives, as I know it is benefiting all of us to have them experience different cultures at such early ages!

Alie assisting our young world traveler on the Harborwalk

Each day, I transition from the Children's Museum up to Community Boating on the Esplanade along the Charles River -- one of my personal top 3 favorite spots to enjoy in the city. Most of the kids there today were there yesterday on our first day, and it's great to hear how many different communities they come from including West Roxbury, Malden, Medford, Newton, Chinatown and Cambridge. One thing they all have in common is that they absolutely love fishing, even when the fish don't seem to be biting! One of the kids got extremely lucky today, and caught 24 sunfish just by himself. Our bait is not traditional, rather, we make what we have named "carp cookies," small balls of dough consisting of flour and water, then rolled in sugar. The best part is that the fish go crazy over this concoction, and a couple of the girls love making the dough. With assistance from one of the staff members at Community Boating, our group also had the opportunity to head out onto the river in one of the sailboats. Tomorrow promises to be equally exciting, as eel traps were the talk of the day today, along with more fishing for tomorrow!

Alex, the Sunfish-Catching-Mastermind

Glenn and Carlos showing off their sunfish

-Ashley, Senior Harbor Educator -- Boston Children's Museum & Community Boating

27 Fish in one Day!

Yes that's right! On Friday at Community Boating, using some hot dogs and carp cookies, (See previous CBI post) we caught 27 (and released!)  sunfish with just 4 poles!

And a variety too! we caught some pumpkinseeds with their distinctive red belly, blue gills with a black lobe on their blue tented gills and more. We have found that that the sunfish enjoy the shade underneath the public pear just east of CBI. Now that we have mastered catching sunfish and eels, we hope to move on to the giant carp that live in the river. So stay tuned!

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