Quincy Beach Bash

Yesterday was the first time that I had ever gone to Wollaston Beach. I participated in the sand raking on the beach. Sand raking is cool because you are able to make art in the sand, and you get to work with different materials that some people have never experienced. To get these kids at the beach involved, I started to draw an octopus, but I only added one eye so that it looked kind of like a squid; so I called it an octoquid.

#Octoquid :)

Once. a family saw me finishing off my creation and asked what it was called and if they could do one as well. A little girl wrote her name in the sand and made a little stick figure of herself. She was really pleased by it. As the day went on "Mary Read" told her ghost stories about what had gone on on the Boston Harbor Islands. People passing by heard and stopped to listen to Mary's wonderful ghost stories. That was a great way to end the day at the Wollaston beach event. 

Friends of Wollaston Beach KidsFest.

This weekend I had the privilege to head down to Wollaston Beach in Quincy to help with the annual KidsFest, hosted by the Friends of Wollaston Beach. Upon arrival the crew and I received a warm welcome from the volunteers there, in particular from Neil McCole who heads up the fantastic organization.

Setting up at KidsFest.

As the event got underway families streamed onto the beach to take advantage of all the awesome stuff provided for them free of charge. Friends of Wollaston beach had organized for moonbounces, a duck hunt, sack races, hula hooping, jump roping and many other fun activities for the kids to participate in. On top of this they also brought a truckload of prizes to be handed out throughout the afternoon.

Our touch tank was also a hit.

Perhaps my favorite event, and the one with the best prizes, was the duck hunt. Rubber duckies were placed in the ocean and the kids were gathered at the top of the beach. At the sound of a horn the kids all rushed down into the water to grab a duck, all of which looked slightly different from one another. Some of the lucky kids who managed to grab a duck holding a football were given brand new boogie boards. Everyone else got to take home the duckies they had grabbed and were certainly privileged to get other prizes over the course of the event. Indeed, due to the generosity of the Friends of Wollaston Beach and their partners, no one went home empty handed. 

Coming from the water with a captured duck.

Afterwards the beach-goers went on a hunt for the blue and white Jet Blue marbles, with three or four being found. Finally as the sun set the team and I helped handout mass quantities of glow in the dark gear to help fuel the kids dance party, an event furthered by the exceptional DJ skills of Neil, despite the modest opinion of his own talent behind the booth.

Overall it was a fantastic event that got a lot of families out enjoying a spectacular beach. I cant imagine a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon... well, maybe besides fishing on said beach.

- Tom Rebula

Wollaston Beach Discovery Day 7/13

The Department of Conservation and Recreation hosted Wollaston Beach Discovery Day this past Saturday on July 13th. They provided informational material about testing water quality at Wollaston and even provided a water quality test kits for kids to use. Friends of Wollaston Beach and the Aquarium also had informational tables and touch tanks available. The kids learned how to test the amount of bacteria and oxygen in the water.

Annie Adams from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay testing the water quality at Wollaston Beach

Informational Poster about Water Quality by Emily Ostroff from DCR

Despite the overcast weather, Quincy community members brought their families to the beach and enjoyed building sandcastles, throwing frisbees, and hula hooping. They had the opportunity to see the animals that live in the ocean water, what types of shells are commonly found in the sand, and how to keep their beach clean and healthy. It was not a bad way to spend a cloudy Saturday afternoon. 

Until the next Better Beaches event stay sandy,
Iris Ayala

Schools to Careers Partnership learns about Boston Harbor

This hot and sunny afternoon Bruce, Michelle, Will and I went over to the Bank of America Pavilion to meet a group from the Schools to Careers Partnership and listen to Save the Harbor's spokesman Bruce Berman talk about Boston Harbor and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

The group of rising high school seniors had visited Deer Island earlier in the morning and were eager to learn more about Boston Harbor. For one hour Bruce walked the group through how the harbor has changed through the last 20 years. He kept the group of young people interested with comical anecdotes, including one about a beach runner getting what he thought was tar on his shoes, but which turned out to be human waste. The runner (Bill Golden, City Solicitor  Quincy)then sued everybody and their mother for his "miss step" on Wollaston beach, which got the ball rolling to turn some of the dirtiest beaches in the country into the cleanest.

Bruce focused his talk on potential opportunities for students interested in science and engineering in the non-profit world.

After Bruce's talk the student got their questions answered including, "How much money do you make?". This question was diplomatically answered with a range of salaries but Bruce also pointed out that besides making money, "It's best when you love what you do." Despite the heat that left us all wanting a tall glass of ice water it was a great hour break from the office to share information with a fun and engaged group.

Blair

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay Releases Beaches Report Card

 

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay issued its first annual "Water Quality Report Card" on the region's public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket on Wednesday morning at 9:00 - 1-:00 the Exchange Conference Center on Boston's Fish Pier.

To assess and compare the water quality conditions on each beach, the group looked at the percentage of tests exceeding the state swimming standard of 104 cfu/100ml of Enterococcus.

Overall Beach Safety from “Best to Worst”

Nantasket	100%
South Boston @ M Street	98.60%
South Boston @ City Point	98.60%
South Boston @ Carson (Bathhouse and I Street)	97.30%
South Boston @ Pleasure Bay	94.50%
Wollaston @ Rice Road	93.20%
Constitution Beach - East Boston	93.20%
Malibu Beach - Dorchester	91.70%
Savin Hill Beach - Dorchester	91.70%
Nahant Beach	88.50%
Wollaston @ Milton Road	87.70%
Wollaston @ Channing Street	87.70%
Revere Beach	87.50%
Wollaston@ Sachem Street	86.30%
Winthrop Beach	84.60%
Short Beach  - Revere	83.30%
Tenean Beach - Dorchester	79.50%
King’s Beach - Lynn	73.20%

"Some of the region's beaches, including Nantasket Beach in Hull and the South Boston beaches, are safe for swimming nearly every day and rank among the cleanest urban beaches in the nation" said Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's Bruce Berman.

"Many others are doing quite well.  However there continue to be pollution problems at some of the region's public beaches, including most of Wollaston Beach in Quincy, at Tenean Beach in Dorchester and at King's Beach in Lynn.  We need to address them all if we are to achieve the late Judge A. David Mazzone's often stated goal of beaches that are safe for swimming "Damn near every day!"

Last year Nantasket Beach in Hull was the "Gold Standard" for the metropolitan region's beaches, earning a 100% rating for beach safety. The South Boston Beaches came in a close second, averaging better than 98%. Tenean Beach in Dorchester and Kings Beach in Lynn each failed more than 20% of the tests performed in 2012.

The results were made public at the initial meeting of Save the Harbor's Beaches Science Advisory Committee, convened to conduct a systematic review of water quality and beach flagging accuracy on the region's public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket.

"Our goal is to help turn the data into information that people can use to make decisions," said Dr. James Shine of the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard University, who co-chairs the science committee along with Dr. Judith Pederson, a coastal resource specialist at the MIT Sea Grant College Program. "As scientists, we are here to focus on the facts," said Dr. Pederson. "It is Save the Harbor's job as an advocacy organization to build a consensus on how to address the situation going forward."

Berman, who teaches marine science and management at Boston University, agrees. "The scientists and technical advisors play a critical role in increasing our understanding of the causes of these problems, and can help us evaluate proposed solutions. But at the end of the day, this isn't just about the science, it is about our shared values and the love we have for these beaches."

By all accounts, the Deer Island sewage treatment plant and the Mass Bay outfall pipe have dramatically improved the health of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay since they were completed in 2001. However, Berman noted that the first phases of the Boston Harbor Project were not intended to solve all of the problems that cause pollution on our region's public beaches. "The remaining problems need to be addressed on a "beach by beach" and "pipe by pipe" basis, as we did in South Boston with remarkable success" said Berman, "and that's exactly what we propose to do."

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay also asked the science committee for advice on ways to better protect the public’s health and access to clean water by improving the current beach flagging system. 

"Posting yesterdays test results on the beach is simply not a sensible way to let the pubic know if it is safe to swim today" said Berman. "Most of our beaches deserve a fairly high grade, but I would flunk the red flags."

Here is a link to Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's 2012 Beach Water Quality Report Card
for the Boston Harbor Region's public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket.

Here is the data on which the report card was based, which was presented at
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Beaches Science Advisory Committee meeting
at the Exchange Conference Center on Boston's Fish Pier on Wednesday, May 30 2012.

MWRA Presentation (Background and Water Quality Testing Methods)
EPA Presentation (Past and Future Water Quality Criteria)
EPA Presentation (Rapid Testing Methods)
Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's Report (Beach Safety ad Flagging Accuracy)

Here is an Executive Summary of the results.
Here is the Data on which our report is based.
You can find a Press Release about the report here.

Here are two useful papers - on Antecedent Rain and
an analysis of posting based on the Previous Day's Results.

For insight into our values, view Save the Harbor's television commercial about beach flagging,
view our short video "Water Power" or visit our webpage at www.savetheharbor.org

If you have any questions, please contact Bruce Berman at
bruce@bostonharbor.com or by phone at 617-293-6243

Wollaston beach event!

On saturday Cassie,Kariisha, Sarah, and myself all had blast at Wollaston. It was really fun showing all the kids and adults the lobster and some dance moves. I enjoyed the kids who participated in all the beach games aand activities. I hope to participate and be apart of more events such as this. -Mekhi

A great day at the beach!

Beach day! Beach day!

It was a hot and sunny day at Wollaston Beach! Myself and three other Save the Harbor workers were hosting a touch tank that held a male lobster. We had to constantly refresh the saltwater to ensure that the lobster will stay alive. So, every twenty minutes we put the lobster in a plastic bag with the saltwater and race down by the shore, toss the old water, and get fresh water. On my rotation to stay by the lobster in the bag, a young boy watched what we were doing, and asked if we were trying to kill the lobster! I said of course not, and explained how we did leave some water in the bag for the lobster, and how it is actually a good think that we are constantly refilling the tank! After five minutes of convincing he finally bought in. It was great that he showed some interest and asked questions when confused.

Kristina :)

Wollaston Beach

How to Save a Lobster:

My Save the Harbor co-workers and I hosted a touch tank that held a male lobster at Wollaston beach. It was such a hot and sunny day that we had to constantly refresh the tank with saltwater to make sure the lobster would stay alive! So every twenty minutes we put the lobster in a plastic bag with the saltwater then had to race down to the shore to toss out the old water and get fresh water. On my rotation to stay by the lobster in the bag, a young boy watched what we were doing, and asked if we were trying to kill the lobster! I said of course not! I then explained to him how we were actually trying to save the lobster by leaving some water in the bag and that it was a good thing that we were constantly refilling the tank! It took some convincing, but he finally believed me!

It was great that he showed some interest, and that I could not only teach him about the lobster but also answer his questions when he was confused!

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.

Kids Festival at Wollaston Beach

On Saturday, October 23, some of the Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay staff and I went to the Wollaston Beach Kids Festival. We could have not asked for more beautiful weather! We were instantly greeted by friends of Wollaston beach staff and lots of excited children. We sat up our table and touch tank which held Lucy the Lobster. All of the kids and parents loved looking and learning about the lobster. Michelle and John showed me how to tell the difference between a male/female lobsters. I also learned that lobsters can grow back their limbs!

What I loved most about the event was watching how much the children loved seeing and touching the lobster. Though some were scared at first they all were so excited to see a lobster so close! Having never really seen a lobster so close I was surprised at how big they are…especially their claws! At the festival there was, music, pumpkin painting, cooking decorating and of course pizza! All of us had so much fun and was happy that we had such beautiful weather.

Ariel