The Charles River: a VERY Interactive Experience

there were enough crabs for EVERYONE!

         Hi again! Instead of the usual Carson Beach routine, on Wednesdays and Thursdays I am at Courageous Sailing Center and Community Boating on the Charles. These sites have had some amazing makeovers and are even more more fun than last year. At Courageous we met some EXTREMELY excited kids. Their excitement to get out on the dock and pull up traps was very motivating. The ropes of the traps were completely covered in barnacles, sea squirts and mussels. Some of them were so encased in sea life that it was almost impossible to pull the traps up, but we were well rewarded for all the effort we put in. The traps were absolutely covered in two types of crabs (green and rock), as well as sea squirts, a few lobster claws and an enormous sea star.

After such success we hoped for the same with the fishing- unfortunately, none of the fish were cooperating with us. They did, however, gain important knowledge about harbor life, fishing safety and how to cast. It was a lot of fun teaching the kids about bait and how fishing rods worked. Children have this insatiable excitement for the world around them and they bring out that excited little kid in everyone. Even though our hooks came up empty, they were excited for next time, as am I!

Crab Racing at Courageous

After Courageous' great turn out, we made our way over to Community Boating on the Charles River. That was also A LOT of fun, I had never been to Community Boating so it was a great new experience. The kids were just as excited to fish in the Charles River as they were at Courageous. And we were much more productive in the Charles. We caught a white perch, which we promptly named Freckles- the name most definitely fit. It was a really pretty fish with silvery grey scales and sharp spines on the back. We were very safe handling the fish and it happily swam away once we released it. After fishing, we quickly hopped into the kayaks for a quick paddle in the inner parts of the Charles. We had quite a few races including racing backwards, and an impromptu obstacle course involving buoys, moored sail boats and a lot of happy campers. I had a lot of trouble maneuvering away from happy splashing and docking.

I had quite the happy train ride home

Freckles looking very dapper 

while smelling of the Charles. But with Save the Harbor's immense cleaning up effort, it was only the faint smell of fish and nothing more.
I really love the sites I was placed at this summer and I hope to come see some of your happy faces if not at Carson Beach then at Courageous Sailing Center or at Community Boating on the Charles.

Stay safe in the sun,
Ruth Scott

First Day at Courageous Sailing Center and Community Boating!

Today was our first day out at Courageous Sailing Center and Community Boating! After an early morning staff meeting I was eager to get out on the water to catch some awesome critters. My team- Luke, Ruth and Andy- started our day off at Courageous Sailing Center in Charlestown where we had a chance to get our gear set up and ready for a chalk-talk with our stage 2 sailors! We had an incredible group of ten 9-12 year olds who were all ready to learn about the harbor and to try their hand at fishing. First, we gathered around on the pier to talk about Boston Harbor and the types of animals we would see, as well as learn how to safely use a fishing rod! 

Chatting about Boston Harbor and site safety before heading down to the dock!

We decided we would first pull up all of our lobster traps on the dock to see what we could find. We pulled up five traps and caught tons of interesting creatures! The first thing we saw was the ever-present green crab, an invasive species in our waters, we talked about how to tell if it was a male or female crab, then I explained how they could identify it! Green crabs have 5 points on either side of their eyes- and the word 'green' has 5 letters- voilå! We also found sea stars, rock crabs, asian shore crabs, jellies, a sculpin, 2 rock gunnels, and a bergall! After baiting all of the traps and hauling them back into the water, we made our way back up to the pier to fish. While we had plenty of bait, we didn't catch anything- but I am hopeful for tomorrow!  

We found tons of green crabs!

After we packed up at Courageous Sailing Center it was time to go over to Community Boating, Inc. on the Charles River. When we first got there we talked about marine debris with their Environmental Educator, Chelsea. We then baited the eel trap in hopes of catching one while we fished, and decided to walk down to the public docks around the river to see if we could catch some sunfish! It was a hot day- but there was a beautiful breeze on the river so we didn't mind the walk. 

Once we got to the public docks we set the kids up with fishing rods and bait. It took us about 40 minutes of fishing and two locations to catch something- but we did it! One of the campers reeled in a beautiful white perch, and everyone was very excited to see it- we all gathered around the touch tank and decided to call him Freckles. Once we released Freckles back into the river we went back to the sailing center to check the eel trap. Unfortunately, the trap was empty. Since eels are nocturnal and hunt at night we decided to leave some bait in the trap overnight to see if we can catch some by tomorrow afternoon! 

Freckles the white perch!

 -Kelly Randall-