Castle Island

A great way to begin our week was with a fishing trip aboard the infamous Belle. Captain Charlie gave us a lesson about how lobster traps work. Aidan and I were lucky enough to help hoist one each onto the boat, check what was inside and send it back. We learned that the lobsters travel backwards so they will climb into the trap and get stuck by the net that blocks them from walking back out. Although there weren't any lobsters in the traps we checked, we were able to catch a few crabs such as green crabs, baby spider crabs, and rock crabs. One of the green crabs were molting, which we were informed is around the same time the female crabs lay their eggs. The shell was very soft and squishy to the touch. Upon release we gathered at the front to enjoy the ride towards hull for fishing.

Team Fatima & Kharliyah

Out in the waters there was lots of fish activity. That morning my entire team was able to catch a fish, plenty of black sea bass, perch, tautog. I caught two fish that morning one black sea bass and one perch, both beautiful creatures with diverse colors and intricate patterns on their scales. The appearance of the sea bass is easily distinguishable, they are black or a dark brown and their dorsal fins have white spots. They are intimidating especially when they flex their fins. Meanwhile the perch's appearance was smaller, with a golden/green-ish tint and dark bands on its sides. I released them both after catching and helped others hook their bait. It took me over 5 years to become comfortable with touching a sea-worm. Just the sight of them makes my skin crawl, they look like water milipedes with tons of legs surrounding their bodies. Not to mention their two sharp teeth that come out when they feel threatened. They certainly are great bait to use because they were gone after fishing all morning, we had to use some squid too. I did not have as much luck catching anything with the squid.

We spent the next few days at Castle Island in South Boston. This was an interesting site to walk around and see the many people who come to exercise or simply enjoy the area for walks with their friends, families, and dogs. So many cute puppies and dogs showed out this week. The weather was perfect for a walk around the ocean and lunch at Sully's. We worked on a mural of the things we saw around the island, including Fort Independence. It is one of the oldest forts of English origin in the US, once used as a confinement for prisoners and training for local soldiers. On a regular day the fort would be open to the public where you can wander freely or go on guided tours. From above the fort has a distinct Pentagon/Star shape. Similar to the Charlestown Navy Yard, there is a Korean War Veteran memorial at the front of the peninsula.

Waiting to see what's next
-Kharliyah
Summer 2020

War Veteran

Castle Island mural

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