Introduction to Edward

After 2 full years of not being part of Save the Harbor Save the Bay I can say I deeply have missed it. Being back again with my harbor crew brings a lot of great and magical memories. I have a good feeling that this summer with the harbor is going to be even more fun. When we came in for the first three days I was already having a blast. I got to explore Carson Beach more, and learned how to swim better. I also interacted with kids and showed them how to use the boats. We even taught them a bit about the beach and how we always need it clean. One reason why we need the water system clean is because everybody drinks the water. We need to fill our community and bodies with clear healthy water. Having clean water is a main matter that should be taken seriously. Humans use water for everything and I mean everything including cooking, bathing, playing, etc. At Carson beach I've noticed that not just the kids want to be part of the activities but also their parents that are around the area. I made a great idea in returning back with the Save the Harbor Save the Bay team. I didn't realize how much I've missed it all, including the fishy smell of the ocean, the great catches, and being able to connect with different kids.

 -Edward Calderon

                                                                                  

Carson's Nothing but Fun

There is nothing but fun at the beach! From 10 on 10 soccer games, to hermit crabs and clams, there is never a dull moment with the kids. Kids come from all parts of the city to have an amazing day at Carson. And they never go home disappointed. Personally, I had a blast my first week back. It was nice seeing some new faces as well as some familiar ones. Kids participated in sand raking, and we even had a camp vs camp football game!

For many of the kids, we were able to provide something new: holding a hermit crab! For many, it was their first time even seeing a hermit crab. They were a little freaked out when they all had a turn to hold one, but I could tell they all enjoyed it. It was a good experience for them, which was the best part.




One of my high points of the week had to be learning how to properly throw a Frisbee. it may sound simple, but trust me it's way harder than it looks. Things such as wind direction and distance are a few things that you need to consider when throwing one. Luke taught me that. And the same day that I learned how to throw one I taught about five kids how to throw one as well. I didn't know playing frisbee could be so much fun! I can already tell that this summer is going to be great. See you next time, Preston.

Coconuts on the Charles

On Monday my All Access group when to Community Boating on the Charles River. I met some cool kids while there like Edward and Jack who were from London, England. While there, Carlos and I went kayaking. I've never gone kayaking before, but apparently I'm pretty good at it. Edward and I were in front of a group of about 5 or 6 kids when Edward saw something a little out of the ordinary on the river. He found a huge group of coconuts just floating on the side of the river. I honestly couldn't believe it, I started laughing so hard I almost tipped over the kayak. After I was done laughing I paddled over to the group of coconuts, picked one up and placed it on the kayak.

After we were done kayaking, Carlos and I switched with the girls and went fishing. While fishing, Edward started talking to me about England leaving the E.U. Mind you, this kid is about 10 or 11 years old. I honestly think he is smarter than me! Edward was telling me how the English pound is now one of the lowest forms of currencies in the world and now how when he goes back to England he won't be able to vote anymore. All in all, it was a great time, and I enjoyed learning more than I had expected to. Chris

Black's Beach & Carson Creek :)

This past week, I have been at both Black's Creek and Carson beach, While at black's creek, we caught hermit crabs, snails and other types of crabs with the kids. Of course we released them back to their habitat at the end of each day. We then played some games with the kids, and even though it wasn't the best weather, the day was still fun.

Moving on to Carson Beach! At Carson Beach, I got the chance to kayak for the first time. Despite the fact I was far behind the others, I had fun. I was also the only one who took out a kayak on my own. Afterwards, I tried to do some sand raking with some of the kids in the afternoon, which was fun to do. At the end of the day, we actually lost a part of one of the sand rakes .. Oops! Despite that, I had fun interacting with the kids and joining them in few of the many activities that were going on at both Carson Beach and Blacks Creek.

Until next time, Kent

Enjoying Sea Life

What a first week!

On Monday (07/08/2016) I filleted my first fish on the spot at work without any prior training! You're probably thinking "Wait Raymond, how is that even possible?" Well, I grew up watching a countless amount of fishing videos over the years with occasional fish prepping scenes and the fact that I grew up watching my dad prep fish in our family kitchen, just might offer a clue as to how I even achieved such a feat. Shortly after that I encouraged one of my JPA's Amanda to fillet her first fish (ever) too! We both did a great job for our first time. Sorry ladies and gents, I don't have any pictures of our final product, but boy did we catch some large crabs this week with our chopped mackerel!

Throughout the week we caught various sized crabs; the most identifiable species of crab we caught was the spider crab. You guys should have seen the faces of our harbor explorers (the kids that we teach fishing and crabbing to) when we pulled out one of the largest spider crabs I have ever seen in person! With it's legs straightened out, it easily had a length of a foot and a half!
 

We later found out that knew that she was barely even half her potential maximum size! The harbor explorers and I had a hard time letting this girl go, but we figured that it would be even cooler to re-catch her when she spans over two or three feet!

What I love most about this program is the assortment of kids with different tolerances to touching fish and crabs! I'm glad that I can show on almost a daily basis that if you keep an open mind, the fish and crabs are pretty awesome! Captured in these next photos you can get a sense of the kids opening up to the idea that sea life is cool! They are definitely embracing the fish (literally)!

The Friday of this week was nothing short of exciting and fun! Thanks to John Hancock, we got an amazing speech from J. Cross! He was full of energy and if you ever get the delight of experiencing the a "J. Cross Motivational speech" you will understand the depth of my words when I say he did not lose my undivided attention for even a split second. He got pumped before the cross fit workouts began. It was at that point that I knew I was going to be as phenomenal and earn a "SWAG BAG."

Brought to you by Raymond Chai!

All Access, All Fun

This week at all access I had a fun and nerve wrecking week. We visited Georges island and I enjoyed spending Friday at the Children's Museum. We got to go fishing, play sport inside the fort, and search the shore for sea stars throughout super hot weather. It cooled down by the end of the week along with my anxiousness. Many were friendly and I liked having small talks and playing games with them on our voyage to the island. We played an intense game of quackadilly oh my and they loved it as much as I did for helping me keep my mind off my sick stomach.

Who will win?

I loved seeing the looks on the kids faces when they got to try fishing, many for the first time. Little did they know it was my first time too. Thanks to my coworker, Andrea, I've gotten the hang of things and I love to teach the children what I learn at work too. One of the most exciting things was seeing one of the kids catch a fish at Georges. I heard they never get to catch any fish at Georges and this kid, Calvin, who was really lucky to catch a striper fish. Everyone was so excited to see it. I recall him telling me about his fishing experiences with his dad back in his country. It was the first fish we have caught at Georges.

Last but not least was my personal favorite day, Friday at the Children's Museum. I learned about two different types of crabs and we caught a baby perch. We had dozens of children having fun fishing. My favorite was a little 5 year old girl. She was more excited holding the rod than actually learning how to cast. Every minute or so she would say," I think I feel something!" or "I think I caught a fish!" and then we would check and see nothing. I was so happy to see her rail up a crab. She was so thrilled and ran off to show her mom. We put it in the touch tank and I really think that made her day.

-Kharliyah

The Crab is Broken

No, the crab wasn't dead. It was just resting. When a young child looking at the crabs declared one was broken, I asked why the crab was broken. Her reply was: "The crab is broken."

In addition to the crab being broken, this week also contained several other interesting moments. Our two catches of the week involved a three-foot long American eel, and a perch fish named Guppy. Our other exciting non-fish catches of the week included several crabs, sea squirts, several pieces of rope, a log, and a dirty plaid shirt (I got really disappointed because I thought I had a decent-sized fish on the line). In addition, when Bella was cutting fish for bait, two little fish popped out. We’re still not quite certain it we found the fish’s lunch or it’s offspring. This week, I learned how to cut fish for bait, the difference between a green and a spider crab, how to cast a line, teach kids how to fish, and several other skills including how to free a stuck fishing line.

Going back to the crab and how it was broken. Being uncertain of how to respond to the crab being broken, I just nodded and continued answering questions. I couldn’t think of anything to say in response, so why dwell on it?  So, after my first week, here's the lesson I took away: the crab is broken. Just accept it and move on. Working with so many people is about kinetic energy. Whether or not it was having to answer the same question three times from the same person in a span of five minutes, going to cut more bait for the third time that morning because the bait kept falling off the hooks, or realizing that I used the wrong verb when trying to talk to a family in French, I just kept moving (or swimming. Take your pick). Don’t let the small things trip you up. Just keep going and teaching children about fishing, crabs, and Boston Harbor.

The eel we caught on Tuesday.

Guppy the perch fish

A fish sea-section (pun courtesy of my aunt)

And, last but not least, me perfecting the art of fishing (I wish)

Sarah M

The Sea is Alive

The view from Boston Children's Museum 

Hi everyone!

Recently I've been working at the Children's Museum with a bunch of children who absolutely love interacting with us. They love the crabs, they love fishing  and it looks like they also love when they catch something! Working at the Children's Museum has brought back so many memories of reasons why I love working with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. I believe on our first or second day working on the job someone caught an eel! How cool is that? Although I thought it was the weirdest thing everyone rushed over to see it.  All you heard was: “Woah!!! What is it?” Too bad we couldn't keep it for show: it was way too big, probably about two and a half feet long. But what we did get a chance to briefly keep in the touch tank was a perch! A perch is a type of fish, if you didn't know, and the most interesting fact about it ALL is that we didn't even catch it on a fishing line; we caught it in the crab trap.  Who would've thought that we'd catch a fish in a crab trap - isn't that ironic?! Hopefully next time we can catch fish on the line instead of crabs. You know how you have to bait the traps and hooks? Well while I was cutting up the bait something slipped out and it turns out it was baby fish developing.

Until next time,

~Bella

The Sea is Alive

The view from Boston Children's Museum 

Hi everyone!

Recently I've been working at the Children's Museum with a bunch of children who absolutely love interacting with us. They love the crabs, they love fishing  and it looks like they also love when they catch something! Working at the Children's Museum has brought back so many memories of reasons why I love working with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. I believe on our first or second day working on the job someone caught an eel! How cool is that? Although I thought it was the weirdest thing everyone rushed over to see it.  All you heard was: “Woah!!! What is it?” Too bad we couldn't keep it for show: it was way too big, probably about two and a half feet long. But what we did get a chance to briefly keep in the touch tank was a perch! A perch is a type of fish, if you didn't know, and the most interesting fact about it ALL is that we didn't even catch it on a fishing line; we caught it in the crab trap.  Who would've thought that we'd catch a fish in a crab trap - isn't that ironic?! Hopefully next time we can catch fish on the line instead of crabs. You know how you have to bait the traps and hooks? Well while I was cutting up the bait something slipped out and it turns out it was baby fish developing.

Until next time,

~Bella

Crazy Camp Harbor View

Hello again fellow adventurers!

 This past week had the opportunity to do something I had not done in the past two years of working at Save the Harbor: I got to spend a day at Camp Harbor View! From the beginning of the day to the very end, the campers and counselors of Camp Harbor View are overjoyed at the opportunity they have to attend camp. With bright shining faces and loud chants, the campers arrive in the morning ready to discover new and exciting things they've never seen or done before.

The Grand Crab Hotel!

One of the biggest conundrums at the camp in past years has been how do you keep the sand on the beach? While this may seem like a weird question, Long Island has had trouble with erosion and the recession of the beach. In order to combat this phenomenon, Save the Harbor has developed a couple hypotheses to test out this summer. The first is that by clearing a small section of beach of all periwinkles and Asian shore crabs, hopefully algae will collect on the rocks and eventually act as holdfasts that will prevent recession of the sand on the beach. With the help of some of the campers, every day we will be removing these organisms in order to test our hypothesis. This past week the campers were a great help! But of course, all work and no play makes for dull campers, so the campers came up with a creative way to relocate the crabs and periwinkles. A group of campers constructed a "crab hotel" out of rocks, complete with a pool, rooftop hangout, and even rooms for each crab we found.

The day ended on a high note when the fishing club joined us on the dock. Having been placed underwater days earlier, we pulled up our crab traps to find a slew of rock crabs and one giant spider crab! It was hilarious to watch the kids' and even counselors' looks of terror as we pulled the crab out and passed it around for everyone to touch. The real excitement came a few minutes later, when one of the kids who was fishing on the dock landed a Striped Bass! While it wasn't a keeper, it was as exciting for me as the kids because it was the first time I've helped catch a striper! I'm confident that there will be many more striper to be caught this summer, and I'm hoping one will be a keeper!

The first of hopefully many more to come!

Until next time, keep on exploring!

-Luke 

Sand Raking Sea Turtles

        

During the week, we had a group of energetic campers arrive at Carson Beach after a long and slow morning. When they arrived, I was wicked happy to see the empty beach spring to life. When I got over to where they were, I asked if any of them wanted to do some sand raking. Many of them had no idea what sand raking was, and yet almost all of their hands sprang up into the air with enthusiasm. They each took a sand rake, and together we found a clear spot for our artwork to be. They made a portrait of summer. They made a whole stretch of beach into a portrait dedicated to summer. The entire time, they talked, laughed, and worked together to make suns, lemonade stands, and many other signs of summer.

They also made animals like this sea turtle. They had so much fun. I can't wait to see what they create next. The rakes have been a hit all week and I don't see the kids putting them down anytime soon. I suspect we will see a lot more happy suns and other signs of summer in the weeks to come. The kids love sand raking and will keep making these wonderful pieces of art on the sand. 

More fun to come!

-Joe Sheehan

First Week on All Access

Hello, this past week we went to Georges Island.The two days that we were there, I was doing sports. On Wednesday we took 345 kids to island. On Thursday we took about 250 kids. Although we took more kids on Wednesday than Thursday, more kids wanted to play sports on Thursday.


 On Wednesday after we meet at the Blue Hill Pavilion with the kids, we took them to the boat. On the boat, some members of Save The Harbor played a game named "quack-a-dilly oh my quack quack quack" with the kids. When we got to the island, everyone got lunch. After lunch, we separated into two groups. One for fishing and the other for sports. We went to the fort and there we waited for the groups to stop by. The only sport we played was kick ball.

Save The Harbor members playing with kids on the boat

On Thursday, we did the same as Wednesday. But this day was different. After we got lunch, we went back to fort and there were kids wanting to play. First 2 kids came to us and we started to play baseball with them. It's funny how they beat us 4-0. After that game we started to play kick ball. Playing kick ball we destroyed them. The kids left but came back a couple of minutes later with another boy. We played football. After a while more and more kids kept on coming. Some played baseball and others played capture the flag. The best and funniest part of the day was when a little kid started to dab and hit the folks after hitting the ball.


- Cristian Berlioz 

The Ew Factor

'The Ew Factor' is a term coined by our boss, Bruce Berman. He's never explicitly defined it for us, but from the knowledge I've collected, I'd loosely define it as something that we naturally think as gross and disgusting, but only because we haven't experienced it a lot. It's something that makes us say, "ew!," but once having handled it enough, the disgusting qualities lessen and we begin to see the really cool qualities that it possesses. These things are slimy, sticky, mucky, and mysterious, and they're something that myself and the rest of the Save the Harbor staff are supposed to introduce to our young Harbor Explorers. Luckily for us, the ocean is filled with these bizarre objects!

Even before we drop lines into the water, we experience 'the ew factor' that is bait. Bait is what we use to try to catch fish and crabs with, and it is usually pretty repulsive. My team at Piers Park encountered 'the ew factor' for ourselves on the first day of the program, when we had to filet a mackerel to use as bait. None of us had ever done this before, and we were all a bit hesitant to try it out. Before the day was over, two people on our staff had filleted their first fishes and by the end of the week, four of us had. It was a pretty gnarly experience, but now I'm comfortable with the process and am excited to have learned a new skill! Next time I catch dinner with friends or family, I'll be able to impress with my prep expertise!

The other sea life that we've been using as bait are mussels. Mussels are shellfish, and unlike the mackerel, they aren't given to us by our overseers. Instead, we must hunt for them ourselves. We've been finding these mollusks under the dock that we fish off of. Finding mussels is easy, but once again, 'the ew factor' is something that we have to overcome. Us counselors must blindly reach under the pier and feel our way around for our bait. The thing is, there isn't only mussels living under this dock, but a number of different species that I'm unsure of.  We's rubbing our hands over all sorts of slimy creatures that we can't see, and it can be spine-chilling! We've pulled up full grown sea worms with our mussel hauls, which we also used as bait, and many different types of seaweed and tunicates, and other small, squirming creatures that I can't identify. Now that I've done it enough and conquered this 'ew factor', I think its awesome, and I'm excited to see what else we might pull up from under the depths. We've discovered something new and cool everyday, and I'm excited for the exploration to continue.


Just as the staff has mastered 'the ew factor,' so have our young learners. Some children who were afraid to touch a crab on Tuesday were holding giant red crabs by Friday. Other's who were tentative to touch fish were begging to hold more by the end of the week. When before they were grossed out by mussel meat, eventually they were running it through their fingers in analysis, looking for pearls (especially after our lesson on shellfish). Being on the harbor is so much fun, and I'm having a great time helping our Explorers become comfortable with harbor life.
-SEAN

The Water Fight

After lunch we go to the park and let the kids run around and get a lot of their energy out. It was all fun and games until the kids started running around in the fountain, and one of them had the brilliant idea of soaking the staff. Each day the kids brought water guns and tried to soak the staff, but unfortunately they only succeeded on day 1. It was hard to avoid them, but we were able to take shelter at the park benches.

Motivation

Hey guys it's Jahari again! Hopefully you got to read my first blog where I talked about my experience of orientation and I also talked about the first two days of work. This job just keeps getting better and better as we continue this amazing journey. My third day of work, which was Thursday at the Children's Museum, was really exciting because it was the first time me and my coworkers sat together to have lunch and we were bonding so well. Having serious talk and good laughs. I'm looking forward to working with them this week! But as for Friday some of us employees that are a part of the MLK program got to go to a motivational work out event that was super fun. All the kids there had a good time and we were very motivated by a guy named J-cross and another guy whose name I can't remember at the moment. We were able to relate and connect with them and they made a lot of us change our mindsets about how to keep doing productive things in our lives so we can be successful. I can't wait for the next event.

Gimme Back that Fillet fish

Bruce filleting the cod fish.

Hey, Mauricio again! A lot has happened during week 1 at Camp Harbor View. The first day we had  Bruce with us and we got to see him fillet a cod fish - New England's famous fish. The kids were eager to touch the fish and see it being filleted first hand. It was an amazing sight to see! Even though at some parts the smell wasn't the greatest, especially the liver oil. 

Now on to later in the week. During the two day span before Friday we were in a drought when it came to catching fish and crabs! Then all of a sudden on Friday we caught a striped bass! Then we got a crab trap full of more than 20 crabs! Its was amazing .

Till next time! -Mauricio A

Are You Smarter Than A 9-Year Old?

The start of the summer couldn't have gone better! Even with weather challenges we had an amazing first week! There was one highlight of this week that I'll never forget. Wednesday and Thursday I had the chance to go on All Access where I met some pretty fun kids. Wednesday was hot but I still had a great time playing catch with the kids. Thursday was the day that will always stand out to me. I was walking around the ferry talking to groups when I saw these three kids sitting alone. I walked over there and starting talking to them. One of the kids was so excited to tell me about the history he knew about Pearl Harbor. You see, my new friend Franv (or Frank with a "V" as he told me) had just traveled to Hawaii, where he went to the Pearl Harbor memorial. As a total history nerd I was interested to see what Franv had to say, and to be completely honest, I wasn't expecting it to be so accurate. He explained to me, in detail, the terrible events of that day.

Franv and I sitting on the top- deck of the Provincetown II

After a while Franv and I had taught each other a lot. When I told him some information about Pearl Harbor he didn't know he was fascinated. As our conversation drew to an end he insisted on telling me what he brought for lunch. He pulled out some delicious looking chicken parm with a bread stick. I joked and told him to save me some for the trip home. While I didn't see him on the island I saw him on the way back. He was sitting at a table with his face covered in pasta sauce and a goofy grin on his face. He claimed he looked for me so he could share the leftovers,  I simply laughed and got him some napkins. He told me about his plans for the weekend and all his friends at home. I'll never forget the time a 9-year old had more knowledge than I could have imagined.

Happy Learning!
Sam