Piers Park Presenters

Margaret Farmer and our Harbor Explorers 

This week was full of visitors at Piers Park. We had visits from one of Boston's City Counselor's, members of the Massachusetts Port Authority, and even the founder of a local nonprofit organization. Our first visit was by Margaret Farmer who is running for Boston's City Counselor in District 1. In this district, if elected, she will serve Charlestown, East Boston, and the North End. Margaret explained to our Harbor Explorers that it is important for Boston to have City Councilors who are able to communicate with the Mayor of Boston about important issues in their communities. If they are experiencing troubles with things such as trash in their communities or needing something for their local public schools their parents can call the local City Councillor who will communicate the needs of the community to the Mayor.

The Massport ceremony

Our second visit was made by members of the Massachusetts Port Authority or Massport. A special ceremony was held in honor of Massport being such a large supporter of the Piers Park Sailing Center. A speech was given by Alex, the Piers Park Sailing Center Executive Director on behalf of the impact that the sailing center has on the youth of East Boston and its surrounding communities. This ceremony was a great example of proving that to achieve greatness we must work together.



On Friday, Piers Park welcomed another guest. This guest was a little bit different than the rest, her name was Magdalena and she is the founder of Harbor Keepers. Harbor Keepers is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide education about weather & climate, Boston Harbor, local marine ecosystems through waterfront tours, exploration, and free marine education. We learned about marine debris and how long different items take to biodegrade in the ocean. What we all learned was that everything takes a very very long time before it can be beneficial to the environment. After we learned about all this trash, we needed to talk about what we can do with it. Magdalena explained that trash can be turned into art projects as she showed the children things she has made. We taught the kids how to make their own debris art and everyone made a jellyfish that they were able to take home.

Working hard on their jellyfish!

After this busy week I can't wait to see what next week has in store!
Briana

Gotta Catch Em' All

The food line was long, but it was worth it!

Last week Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay partnered with Team Instinct of Boston to bring local residents (more specifically Pokemon Go players) an event unlike any other. Pokemon Go is an app based game, typically played on a smartphone because it so heavily relies on geographic location. The game uses a GPS to locate, capture, train, and battle Pokemon. Since the game was released in July 2016, it has become available in 15 countries and has been downloaded over 750 million times!

There must have been a great Pokemon near by because these players seem to
 be looking at their phones!

The game is so popular that a small BBQ gathering expected to get around 20 people together quickly reached a RSVP of over 100 attendees. Gathering that many people in a public place such as Castle Island would require a lot of planning and a permit from the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Luckily, Team Instinct of Boston did a lot of the detailed planning and Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay was able to get a permit to hold a public BBQ so large in such short notice from DCR.

Meet Kona, she loves Team Instinct, although,
  she said it is hard to throw a Pokeball with paws.

Upon arrival, you couldn't miss our crew! The area was plastered with yellow table cloths, t-shirts, and every accessory you could think of. It was impossible not to be drawn in to what was going on or to think we were any other team than Team Instinct. Whether you came alone, with one friend, a group of people, or even your pet, everyone was welcome and we were all there for the same purpose. While some began grilling others wandered around to see what they could catch on their own. I even caught a couple cool water Pokemon to add to my collection myself. After all, what better place to catch them than on an island?

 Before we knew it the food was cooked and ready to be eaten, everyone brought something different but it all looked extremely delicious. While eating everyone mingled and talked, not just about Pokemon, but where they're from and what they do for work. I heard so many people talk about how good it was to finally meet all of the people they talk to on a daily basis but have never gotten to meet. As
folks finished up their food groups of people began roaming
the island together to participate in taking over gyms for their
team and fighting in raids to gain newly released legendary
Pokemon.

It was so great that we all got to be a part of this large group of people having such a great day and for a lot of them meeting each other for the first time. Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay also saved the BBQ that day!!

Gotta run, there's a raid starting near by!
-Briana

A large group of proud Team Instinct members.

The one that got away

Have you ever left a fishing pole in a fishing pole holder. Well, last Friday, I did and I basically forgot about it. I forgot about it until I heard this buzzing noise and realized, the reel is spinning out of control and the line is getting looser. I picked the rod up out of the holder and I almost jolted forward, whatever was pulling had a lot of power. I knew I needed to tighten the drag and start reeling in. I kept tightening the drag but it felt useless until it finally stopped the line and I was able to reel. The kids and staff were behind me freaking out. Ali yelled, "thats a striper", he could tell by how hard this fish was fighting. I was getting exhausted, crank after crank, I kept reeling the fish up. The fishing line started darting from left to right in a zigzag pattern, the fish did not want to come out of the water. Finally, it was close enough to see, it was a striper and it was big (at least compared to the bergalls we catch every day)! I told the kids and staff, watch out I'm going to lift it out and onto the dock. Everyone took a step back, I brought my rod up and went to go over the dock and SNAP. The line broke.

I stumbled back and looked at my empty fishing rod. We were in disbelief, we were shocked the whole thing just happened. Out of breath from the reeling battle I said, "bait every hook and drop them in the water". A little girl named Jasmine came up to me and said, "don't give up, you need to keep trying". I told her to give me a highfive because that was exactly what everyone needed to hear, including myself. No matter how let down you may be, you try and try again. I told her to always keep trying, not just on the dock but in anything she encounters. That moment was so much more important than the fish, it so valuable to teach our Harbor Explorers that we don't give up, we keep on trying!

P.S. For the record, Piers Park has never had anyone that close to catching a striped bass on their dock.

On that note: Don't give up!

Spent my lunch break fishing because I wasn't giving up

Briana

Roger That

Monday was a day for the books at Piers Park! Recently, we have been accomplishing things even the Sailing Center's oldest staff have never seen at their site. After almost landing a Striped Bass fishing from the docks we thought we could not do much else that folks have yet to see until Monday.

Carefully transporting from lobster trap to water

We began our dock time like any other day by pulling the crab traps first. Crab traps are our first activity because they are light, easy for kids to get out of the water, and usually are loaded with things for them to look at. When a few kids look like they're not interested in the crabs, tunicates, and mussels that usually come up with the crab trap we ask if they want to pull the lobster trap, I've never had anyone tell me no!

We have the Harbor Explorers take turns because it is so heavy, they usually pull until they need a break and a friend will step in to help. As it rose to the surface I heard screams, not just from the kids but from the staff too. I thought to myself, we must have so many lobsters! As I took a good look at the trap I realized we did not have any lobsters, just one large creature that looked tangled and gasping for air. We realized we pulled up a skate in our lobster trap!

He was definitely waving to us.

We quickly tried to think of what to do. We knew we had a skate, we knew it was tangled in the trap, but we had no idea how to get it out or what we were going to put it into. Thinking it would be best for the animal to be in water we lowered the trap to buy ourselves some time. We looked for gloves, I've been told to watch out for a skate's tail but I wasn't sure how dangerous it may or may not have been. Finally, we found some thick gloves. I put them on and we pulled up the trap. We had a large plastic wheelbarrow filled with water ready to put the creature in to be able to examine it.

I surprised myself with how willing I was to stick my hands in to untangle this creature that could potentially have hurt me in the process but I knew I had to get the skate out. Finally it was able to curl itself into a ball making it easy for me to pick it up. When we finally got it into the water my team felt so successful, the kids and the Piers Park staff were amazed. We could not stop gawking over the amazing animal in front of us. The kids decided to name him and listened intently as we taught them all about skates. We watched him swim around and it looked like he was waving his pectoral fin at us. He must have been a Jolly Roger because he got out of that trap!

Over and out,
Briana

Comparing the anatomy of a skate to a flounder with our Harbor Explorers 

82, 81, 90, 91

Those are the temperatures the Boston Harbor area has been climbing to this week. The days in the 80s feel like 90s and the 90s feel like 100! It is easy to say we definitely in the dog days of summer.

Check out those crabs! 

Despite the heat, nothing can stop our campers from their daily routine. They relentlessly cast their lines, pull up traps, and paddle their kayaks through the water. The games of capture the flag seem endless and the day seems to drag until we get to the park but there is nothing compares to the smile on their faces when they see water on a hot day. The sprinkler is flowing and they can't get enough of the water. Soon enough they are even pouring it on the playground making "water slides". 

As sad as it is to leave the park and sprinkler, we make our way back down to the dock. The kids are getting hot again and are mostly dry. We thought, why not give them some more water? We turned on the hose and started spraying the ones who were willing to get wet. The kids were loving it!  

This moon jellyfish is AWESOME!

Before wrapping up for the day the kids partook in some heavy betting during the crab races, I believe a green crab won and his winnings were getting back into the water first. The kayakers also caught a jellyfish and brought it back to the dock for us all to hold it. So far this week has been a smash hit. 

Stay cool folks

Briana

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