New Intern - Diana Acosta

Measuring an Aplysina insularis,
home of Elacatinus lori

I am Diana Acosta, an Environmental Policy Intern at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. I am currently in my second year of the Master in Public Health Program at Boston University concentrating in Environmental Health. I’ve always had a love for the ocean which is why I chose to major in marine science as an undergraduate at Boston University. As an undergrad, I worked at the Buston Lab. Here is where I worked with clownfish and assisted in behavior research and was even able to go to Belize with the lab for two summers to help out on an NSF funded project to study the population genetics of Elacatinus lori, a type of goby. This basically meant I was diving multiple times a day, everyday to do the research and it was my dream job. When thinking about what I wanted to do for my practicum for grad school, I came across this organization and thought it was the perfect blend of my marine science and public health background. Not only do I get to aide in work that helps restore and protect our beaches, but I also can help inspire others to create that connection I have with the water for themselves.

Diana on the Fish Pier

In my first week at Save the Harbor I was able to help out in organizing press clips created from all the articles published about the organization’s events from the past two years. It was interesting to read many of the articles and to see how invested this organization is in fulfilling its main goal of cleaning and maintaining our area’s beaches. The main project I had this week was creating a database of university contacts to recruit more interns for this semester and even beyond. Along with locating the portals most universities use now to advertise internships and jobs to students, I dug a little deeper and tried my best to find different contacts, i.e. real people,  in specific departments of universities to better target students that would be interested in joining Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. Many of the people I have contacted have responded back positively, so it will be exciting to see how many new applications are received once the emails are circulated to students all around the Boston area.

I really like that Save the Harbor is allowing me to help out in large projects right away and that I was able to hit the ground running. I look forward to working on more projects with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and get a real feel for how a successful non-profit organization works.

All Aboard for Spectacle Island!

On Saturday, October 29th, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will host a free "Treasures of Spectacle Island" cruise to enjoy a fall day on DCR's Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park. Join us to hunt for sea glass and artifacts on Treasure Beach, hike the North Drumlin for a view of the city and the harbor, and learn about the fascinating history of this unique island.

Thanks to our partners at Mass Humanities, storyteller Norah Dooley will once again join us as Mary Read the Pirate to share stories of Boston Harbor and encourage you to share your stories as well.

We will begin boarding the Provincetown II at Bay State Cruise Company's dock at the World Trade Center in the Seaport at 9:30 AM for a 10 AM departure. The boat will return by 2:30 PM.

The snack bar aboard the Provincetown II will be open, but the snack bar and visitor's center on Spectacle Island will have closed for the season. You are welcome to bring a picnic lunch-- please remember that the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park has a "carry-on, carry-off" policy, so bring a bag for your trash! 

Dress warmly for this trip! Temperatures on the harbor will be cooler than those in the city.

Reservations are required. Though there is plenty of room on the boat, space is still limited, so please RSVP by email to gaylord@savetheharbor.org or call Amy at 617-451-2860 x1008. Please give us an accurate headcount so that we can accommodate as many guests as possible.

Please remember that any sea glass or artifacts found on the island must stay on the island for other visitors to enjoy! We do encourage you to find and keep one inch blue frosted glass marbles that you find on the beach, as they are your ticket to enter the 5th Annual Simply Marble-ous Treasure Hunt for JetBlue Flights! Just post a picture of yourself with the marble to Save the Harbor's Facebook!

Please feel free to share this flyer with others who may be interested in taking advantage of this free opportunity.

To learn more about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, visit our website, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @savetheharbor.

Thanks to Bay State Cruise Company, the Mass Environmental Trust, Mass Humanities, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the National Park Service and all our foundation funders, corporate partners and individual donors for their support of this free cruise.

Save the Harbor's free youth environmental education and family programs are made possible with Leadership Grants from Bay State Cruise Company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Distrigas/ENGIE. 

Save the Harbor is grateful for Partnership Grants from Forrest Berkley & Marcie Tyre Berkley, The Clowes Fund, Comcast, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., Fan Pier - The Fallon Company, John Hancock Financial Services Inc., Kershaw Foundation - Cheers for Children, Mass Environmental Trust, Mass Humanities, Massachusetts Bay Lines, Massachusetts Port Authority, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, P&G Gillette, William E. & Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, Vertex, Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, The Yawkey Foundation. 

Save the Harbor also appreciates funding support from Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, Blue Hills Bank Foundation, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, BOMA, Boston Properties - Atlantic Wharf, Camp Harbor View Foundation, Clipper Ship, Foundation, Inc., The Daily Catch Seaport, Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Charitable Trust, Emera Inc., Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, Thomas & Lucinda Foley, The HYM Investment Group, LLC, Lovett-Woodsum Foundation, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, National Grid Foundation, The Reebok Foundation, RMR Real Estate Services, Lawrence J. & Anne Rubenstein Foundation, Skanska, South Boston Community Development Foundation, Spectra Energy, Tishman Speyer. 

Save the Harbor would also like to thank our supporters 3A Marine Service, AP Staffing, Andus Baker & Rowan Murphy Family Fund, Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation, Andrew J. Calamare & Marianne Connolly, Circle Furniture, The Fuller Foundation, Inc., Legal Sea Foods, Miss Wallace M. Leonard Foundation, Sherry & Alan Leventhal Family Foundation, George Lewis - Haven Trust, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Mass Bay Credit Union, National Park Service, Nicholson Foundation, Randy Peeler & Kate Kellogg, Red Sox Foundation, Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation, Storm Duds, Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, TD Bank Charitable Foundation, UDR, Kyle & Sara Warwick, Matthew Whitlock & Penny & Neal. 

Special thanks to the hundreds of individual donors and to our partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Metropolitan Beaches Commission, the Boston Centers for Youth and Families and the YMCA of Greater Boston for their support.

The Summer of the Trekker

One of our first outings with the Trekker on
 Savin Hill and Malibu Beach

It's safe to say that when I chose to intern at Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay the summer before my senior year of college, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Before I showed up for my first day in late May, I pictured a typical office job that entailed sitting in a cubicle, making phone calls, and typing away at a computer. I turned onto the fish pier on my very first day, and as the ripe smell of fish and ocean hit me all at once, I got a feeling that this really wasn't going to be what I expected. As fate would have it, I couldn't have been more on target with that suspicion. Instead of a cube farm, I was greeted by a small, open office with a group of 5 incredible fellow interns huddled around a small table in the "Intern Room". Instead of a computer screen and a telephone, I was met with a Google Trekker.
The second Bruce Berman uttered the words "Google Trekker Project", I knew that this would be how I was going to spend my summer. Without hesitation, I threw myself into the project, completing the training and watching countless videos and examples to gather as much knowledge as I possibly could about the incredible 50-pound gadget that was set to arrive at our office in just a few short weeks. When it finally arrived, I could hardly wait to put it together and to hit the beach for the first time. I expected the project to be a big hit, but I was quickly overwhelmed by the attention and the enthusiasm that this unwieldy piece of technology brought about. From the hundreds of questions from curious residents of the beach communities, to photos, interviews, and articles from The Dorchester Reporter, Sampan, and The Boston Globe, the Google Trekker project was an incredible experience that gave me a unique prospective on how local people feel about their beaches and the work that we do to protect and preserve them. Through interviews with these reporters and curious inquiries from beachgoers, I began to see a pattern in the type of information people sought from me.

Trekking along the beautiful paths of Spectacle Island

The most common question, as one could imagine, pertained to the purpose and function of the Trekker itself. To my surprise, however, very few people ever asked me why I was using the Trekker to take panoramic photos of their beaches. This may have been due to their initial confusion at the Trekker itself, but in hindsight, I do wish people asked me about the purpose of the Trekker Project more often. From being in the office at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and witnessing firsthand the behind-the-scenes hard work and dedication that goes into all that we do here, I felt that simply telling people about the technical side of the Trekker Project was only giving half the story. However, experiencing their curiosity and enthusiasm, which stayed constant no matter which beach we went to, reinforced the project's significance not just to us at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, but to the local beach residents as well. The insight I have gained from this, along with the history project conducted by two other fellow interns, helped to paint a clearer picture of what these beaches mean to their residents, how far they have come, and what work there is still left to do. As I packed up the Trekker for one final time and prepared it for shipment back to Google, I couldn't help but think back to the first day it arrived in our office, and how excited we all were to get started. Looking back on all the adventures that I shared with this colorful, chunky, and truly incredible piece of machinery,

Packing up the Trekker one last time before shipping
 it back to Google

 like when I had to sprint down the North Drumlin of Spectacle Island with it strapped to my back to avoid an incoming storm, and when a curious police officer stopped traffic to let me cross the road at Wollaston Beach in Quincy, I felt a sense of accomplishment and, yes, a little bit of sadness as well, like I was saying goodbye to a new friend, and in a way I was. We would always joke about how the Trekker was like a small child in that it required a great deal of maintenance, was temperamental at times, and needed to be carried everywhere. But at the end of the day, I will miss the Trekker and all the people that I had the opportunity to connect with and work alongside to make this project the remarkable success that it was!

Goodbye!

I first want to thank everyone at Save The Harbor for making this summer a memorable one. I have met so many new faces and to be honest, I'm glad that I did. I spent my last day at Carson on Friday and it made me sad that it was the last day of Save The Harbor. Over the last two months I have did things that I have never done before, thanks to the amazing people that I worked with this summer. Whether it was trying to do back flips on the beach, or interact with kids more than usual. Everyone this year was able to get me to do something new, and break out of my comfort zone, This year was about new relationships and new experiences. I have new friendships with people I would have never thought. And I've had a chance to experience new things based off of those friendships. It was an amazing summer with amazing people. I am saddened that the summer has to come to an end. It was a great summer to work with Save The Harbor as is every summer. I wish everyone luck in their fall travels. Until next summer everyone, Preston.

                        

Last Day with Save the Harbor

Hey guys, this was the last day working for Save the Harbor Save the Bay and Piers Park. I hoped coming back to Save the Harbor would be filled with surprises, and they succeeded at that. From the first day at Piers where none of us knew how to fillet a fish properly, to having some intense capture the flag games, to saying our final good byes. So much happened and it was crazy. I made so many new friends this summer.

She's one of them 

 Amanda,Cristian, Ray, Sean, and I, the original Piers Park crew was basically a second family along with Piers Park staff Cris and Paula. There were so many laughs from the car rides to the station after work and Sean with his bananas everyday in the morning. We all had a special little role in keeping the kids together and helping the Piers Park staff with them. Amanda was "Mother Hen", Ray was the "Wanna be gymnast", Cristian would just be the chilled on and I was the person you used when you needed someone loud. We are all different in our own special ways but with how different we all are, this summer was the best for me and the kids. Couldn't have asked for a better Summer job.

See you guys next summer 

-Ary

Goodbye Summer 2016

Well guys, the end has come. I cannot even begin to explain what an amazing summer I had. This was my first summer with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. As you can see by reading all of my blog posts, I had a lot of new experiences that really brought me out of my comfort zone. I learned a lot not only about Save the Harbor, but also about myself and what I am capable of. I could not have asked for a better summer or for better people to share it with. One of the best parts of this job was knowing that I had a team of people supporting me at all times. It was tough to manage Carson Beach at times, for circumstances far out of my control, but I know that I had people behind me and helping me out at all times.

I loved that I got to interact with so many different children, and so many different kinds of camps and groups. It was awesome seeing some faces over and over again during the summer, but just as fun working with groups only once or twice. Just knowing that camps and directors were setting aside time to come join us at the beach was a great feeling. We worked hard to advertise and reach out to the communities, so receiving such powerful feedback and high demand for activities felt really great.

I am going to miss a lot of things about this summer. But I have a lot of amazing memories to take with me. I am already looking forward to making more with Save the Harbor in the future. Until next year, Bridget

First and Last Day of All Access

Hey guys!

So for my last day at Save the Harbor, I got to experience All Access for the first time. It was a BLAST! I loved being able to work with different staff and children. We all gathered in the Pavilion while we waited for all of our families to arrive. It was "free ferry" day to the islands, so we knew we'd have some big numbers coming! We listened to David Coffin give his speech about the Boston Harbor and Spectacle Island in particular (that's where we were headed that day). We also listened to Gabby explain some rules of the island and what we could expect from our trip to the island. It was only my second time on Spectacle Island, my first having been only a few weeks ago for staff day. I knew the set up and schedule of the day would be different than I had experienced.

When we got to the island, we all decided what activities we'd be providing to everyone, and we picked a spot for lunch. Some of the girls brought me Cape Verdean food to try, and spoil me on my last day. It was amazing and so thoughtful of them! After lunch, I went on a beach walk to look for sea glass. I was amazed not only by the amount of sea glass I found, but also broken pottery and ceramic pieces scattered around the beach. Bridget and I spent some time on the beach, looking for cool stuff and skipping rocks. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. We all went swimming before leaving the island, which was cold and rocky but I figured better walk myself in than be thrown by David Coffin! (Word spreads fast around Save the Harbor.) And, in typical Save the Harbor fashion, we took a "last day on all access" group selfie which will always spark memories of a fantastic end to a fantastic summer. All Access was so much fun, I am thankful I got to experience it!

Signing off from Spectacle, Bridget 

First Time At CHV

I spent my first day at Camp Harbor View on Monday. It was  to be at another site other than Carson for a day. I met so many people. Some of them being close friends relatives, such as little brothers and sisters. Some of them whom I haven't seen since they were about six or seven. Seeing them now, they were about 13-15. And it brought back so many memories of them being so little and tiny. On top of the familiar faces, I had a chance to meet a bunch of new people as well. I had a chance to meet the fishing club as well. They are total pros when it comes to fishing and they are all so young. One kid even caught a Skate!




While kids were fishing, I took Abel down to open up one of our crab traps. There were about six crabs in all. We put the crabs on the table so we could put the trap back into the water, and all of the crabs took off! They were running down to the other end of the table. If you were just looking on, it looked like we started a crab race. Here's a picture of Abel and I hold the proclaimed winners. Although it was my first time here at CHV, I had an amazing experience! From the new faces and old ones, to the epic crab race. I had a great day at CHV. Until next time CHV, keep on exploring, Preston.

Last Day on All Access

Thursday was a beautiful day with bad news, All Access came to an end for the summer. My summer was made by the hundreds of kids that come out to Spectacle island with us everyday. The kids swimming, fishing, and playing sports is truly an amazing thing to watch and take in. At first when you look around, it looks like summer madness. But when you look around again, everyone is happy and enjoying themselves. All the kids have smiles on their faces. All the adults have smiles on their faces and phones in their hands trying to capture the moment. Throughout the heat, everyone managed to keep that big grin that they had when they arrived on the island. I had a chance to learn more about everyone who worked with me this year on All Access. I thank all the kids and all my coworkers for making my summer great! This summer was amazing with All Access, I hope for more summers just like this one in the future! Until next time All Access, and keep on exploring, Preston.

Goodbye!

Hiii everyone,

I can’t believe this is goodbye! This summer has been so great, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity that was giving to me. I can’t thank Patty and Bruce enough for this amazing experience. Thank you for everything that you have done for me. Thank you Mrs.Bridget and Amy for everything that you have done for me. I can’t believe this is over already. More than a job, it was a way to live like a kid again. Most of the things I got to do this year I never got the chance to do when I was growing up. I had a great experience with the kids. I enjoyed every single day working as a LHE. I gave my all so the kids could have an amazing summer and a great opportunity. Not everyone growing up will have the opportunity to explore the harbor like the kids that were enrolled with save the harbor save the bay.

I loved spending my summer with such an amazing people. I was surrounded by wonderful kids that loved the harbor as much as I did. I loved what I did and everything I did I enjoyed it. I hope everyone else had an amazing summer. All of the SHE, the LHE and the JPA I hope you guys are all happy with this experience. I hope you all enjoyed the summer with the kids and hopefully got to do things you have never done before. Thank you all for everything.

Thank you for this amazing experience,

Sedny

Carson beach day

Going to Carson beach was fun today, because the kids wanted to make sand castles. Others wanted to play sports or even go out for a swim. The people walking along the beach joined us as well. They were wondering about the purposes of Save The Harbor Save The Bay. We said it is a non profit public interest harbor organization with a mission to restore and protect Boston Harbor. They supported the idea because they knew not only them but also the community would be able to enjoy it.
Later we decided to fish around the beach. But no matter how many times we through it out into the ocean we never caught anything. Still the kids were having fun because it was something they did for the first time. We even did rock collecting along the beach-we would collect colorful rocks. Then found colors we usually don't see in Carson beach. We started to see jelly fish eggs again being push on to the beach. We were all wondering why there were eggs coming out the water. Everyone was enjoying the day not even worried about the hot weather. None of the kids wanted to leave, they would all say to each other I can't wait to come tomorrow.



-Edward Calderon

Good Bye Pier's Park

What a summer! To everyone's that been keeping up with my posts, these past weeks were awesome! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have been fishing with kids, the other staff and the captains who lent their boats! Having access to the various equipment from the office made work awesome! I miss the kids already and as I am sitting at home on my sofa writing my final blog post I can see the fun adventures I had this entire summer whenever my eyes close! This job in summary consisted of a lot of fishing, finding life (insects, crustaceans, fish, and any other moving creatures) around the area, running around with children in various games (i.e. Capture the Flag, Sharks & Minnows, Drip-drip-drench, Tag, and randomly being chased), getting soaked by sprinklers, Jeopardy, learning about sea life, kayaking, beach activities, arts & crafts (drawing and fish printing) and lastly having a blast with the kids. This is my last blog post, I hope all of you that have read my posts up until now have had an amazing summer as well! 

I want to thank Amy Gaylord for looking at my e-mail, Sandra Chen for telling me about this opportunity, Bruce Berman for accepting me into this program and Patty for leading the whole Save the Harbor and Save the Bay site in Boston! The staff at Pier's park were fun individuals who worked hard to make not only their day spectacular, but the kids' days as well! The Pier's Park team who consisted of people who were here from the beginning, to folks that came either one day or a few were really all a great help, a lot of fun, creative and responsible individuals! Shout outs to Amanda for being a mother goose to some of the kids, Rusenny for being their day one and growing as an  individual, Sam who came only the last few days, but her presence felt like she was at our site all summer, Christian a.k.a. Pablo the rookie Capture the Flag score breaker, Ary the realest m.v.p. making sure that the kids were listening, and Sean the story teller, blue berry and banana every day man, always had something educational to teach the kids and very much a core person that held all the L.H.E.'s and J.P.A.'s together to co-function as a strong unit and the list could go on! Ever-fi was educational and I also want to give thanks to John Hancock for the MLK scholars programs, they did a remarkable job running their annual program for their 4th year I believe! I hope that the new folks who join S.T.H./ S.T.B. in the future have at the minimum as much fun as I did!

Raymond Chai

Tricky Fish & Saving a Life

Greetings folks! I had the amazing opportunity to attend the last fishing trip of the summer with Captain Charlie and the CHV team! During this trip we snagged a couple of small fish that notoriously ate our sea worms, which we released to only be hooked once again. We ended snagging a few black sea bass and Scup. Twice I had my line break due to a fish being too large! My excitement and frustration over losing such a fish got some of the fishing club kids on board to feel the same excitement when it happened to them. On our trip back, you could see some of the staff really enjoying their last few days of summer before the fall comes around by dancing to music on the boat and hanging off the edge of the ceiling on Captain Charlies boat!

In this same week we had brought back from the office a second fish trap that looked even more superb than the first! After a few hours of letting it sit in the waters with some sliced up fish from our office's cooler, we caught a whopping number of 6 fish! We ended up using a filling a giant cooler with salt water so that we could create a mini-aquarium with the caught fish. That was definitely a highlight of this summer at Pier's Park!

This week didn't end there, we ended up saving a grasshopper as well! On my kayak was Amalia and one of the twins (it was either Jopelin or Oliver). We were browsing around the waters doing one of the kids favorite activities, cleaning the harbor by picking up trash! We stumbled upon this grasshopper that looked like it was dead, so I lifted it out of the water with my paddle and it immediately jumped back into the water! I got the kids excited and told them that we could save the grasshopper and it was during our ride back onto the dock that the grasshopper took a ride one of the twins head! When we brought it back to the tent in a plastic bag (to make sure it wouldn't frantically jump off into the water) for snack time, all the other kids crowded around in amazement! It was shortly after that when Amalia wanted to release the little guy back into the grass. However, the grasshopper didn't hop off the moment we freed him, so one of the twins had the great idea of getting the grasshopper on his hat! In the next few photos you can see that the kids took turns having the grasshopper on their hats! That day, Amalia took home the grasshopper as a pet and that's when I figured that this could have been a Disney movie!

It was during the luau that I saw Amalia again and heard from her and her mom that they built a small terrarium for the small grasshopper and fed it lettuce! It stories like these that feel unreal despite being there to witness it all happen!

Signing out,
Raymond Chai

Spicing up dock time!

The week of August 15th was probably unprecedented at Pier's park history! At the office I had dug around to look for some fun gadgets and stumbled upon a small fish trap and two small nets! When I saw these toys I quickly imagined all the kids faces lit with amazement over a cooler filled with small live fish! The plan was that if the small fish came close enough to the kayak, the kids could scoop the fish up or the fish would swim into the minnow trap. The fish trap that we brought did not end up work well at all. We ended up catching small crabs instead, which meant that we hadn't placed the minnow trap at the correct depth. Even after re-adjusting the rope it was attached to, we had even worse luck and ended up with nothing.

Figure 1. This is how the first minnow trap looked like.

The small nets at first didn't catch anything either! I was starting to feel like I was just giving my Senior Marine Educator a hard time by giving him more things to bring back. The staff would bring the kids out on kayaks with these small nets in hope of catching small minnows and believe it or not, but the small fish that we were after would swim away from a kayak. The kids ended up using the nets to transport the sea life we did catch from one container to another, helping us snag mussels from the side of the dock and collect trash in our harbor!

Brought to you by Raymond Chai

Goodbye Summer 2k16

This was my very first summer working for Save The Harbor, and I can definitely say it was memorable one. I started of the summer at Piers Park with Sean, Ray, Amanda and Ary and I  remember us being completely lost the first day when we got there and then Raymond teaching us how to filet a fish and some other interesting facts. That same day I remember after lunch, we all went to the little park with the sprinklers and the kids making up this game where they'd chase us with water and try to get us all wet and they did a pretty good job of getting me, Amanda and Ray. I also remember the time we caught two star fish and a moon jelly and the kids were so excited to hold them and they'd ask all types of questions.  After the first couple of days we all got the hang of things and I had a lot of fun working at Piers Park.

Holding A Star Fish

First Day At Piers Park

After a couple of weeks at Piers Park, I got put on All Access and at first I thought I wasn't really going to like it because I was so used to my previous cite, but I actually ended up enjoying it very much. I loved going to the different islands; Spectacle then Georges, with about 500 new different kids each day. I got to see a lot of faces and even some of which I knew. We mostly did fishing, and no, unfortunately we didn't catch much at either island, but we still got the experience  of being outside and enjoying the harbor and we did catch a skate on the last day at Spectacle which was the best ending to the summer.

Fishing On Spectacle

Catching My 1st Fish!

                                                    This summer I tried so many new things, I took risks that I'd never see myself taking, I met a lot of great people, held some crabs, learned how to fish, and caught my very first fish ever during the Fishing Tournament!

This was one of the best summers I've ever had and I'm glad I took on this opportunity! It was a very memorable summer for me and many other kids I'm sure. I can't believe it went by so fast!


- Til Next Summer, Rusenny :)

Saying Goodbye To All Access

On Thursday, we all went to Spectacle Island for the last time this summer. On the boat ride there I took a couple of moments to just look out into the water and feel the nice cool breeze which I really had been enjoying this whole summer. I tried to take it in as much as I could because I knew summer was soon coming to an end. When we got to Spectacle, we had lunch and then did sports and fishing. I did fishing and it was an exciting day for all the kids that went fishing because after weeks of only catching a couple crabs at Spectacle, we finally got a fish! The little boy I was helping waited and waited so patiently until we began to see the rod bending and he yelled "I think I caught a fish! I think I caught one!!" Andrea then rushed over to help him and they both managed to bring the Skate out of the water. It made me really happy to see how amazed the kids were that they actually caught a fish after a long hot day. Afterwards we put it in the touch tank with the crabs for the kids to see and touch, and it was the best day ever for them. 

The last day at Spectacle and on all access was truly a memorable one. 

The Last Kayak Ride!

Hey guys,
Something very exciting happened today at Piers Park. Well it was exciting but it was also gross. Unfortunately Sean was not here to witness this, but when we went down to the dock in the morning it was very low tide. I did not want to sit on the dock in the hot sun so I decided to take some kids on a kayak. We started going toward the rocks because I wanted to see if we could find anything interesting like starfish or something. We did not find starfish but as I was leaning over to look over for some starfish, I hear one of the kids say "Hey lets go over there near that fish!" I immediately was interested so I started paddling us over there when all of a sudden, a gross smell hits us. As we slowly paddle closer and closer to the fish we see the pretty big dead fish floating in the water. I thought "Hey we are not far from the dock, lets go bring it to show the rest of the kids and staff". I tried to pick it up out of the water but the second I pulled it out of water the grossest smell smacked me right in the face, so I kept it in the water and told the kids to paddle us towards the dock.
As we started paddling away I noticed that there was a paddle in the water and asked which of the kids had dropped it. A girl named Angela exclaimed that she did not even realize that she dropped her paddle in the water. The kids struggled to try to steer us towards the paddle without my help, and I could help cause I was busy holding onto a disgusting dead fish. However we were able to get the paddle and we paddled back to the dock. I told Ray about the fish and he passed me a bucket to put it in. I think Clara's reaction to the fish really describes it all. It was half eaten and decomposing and it just so happened to wash up on the rocks. Lucky for us, Kent was kind enough to cut up the smelly fish for us. We used as much as Kent could salvage for bait but ended up throwing the carcass back into the water for the Seagulls. #DeadFish #LowTide #PiersPark
Til next time,
Amanda

Peace out Piers Park!

First time we caught a fish!

The Park!!!

Hey guys,

Today was unfortunately my last day at Piers Park. I had so much fun there this summer. I started out with Sean, Ray, Ary and Rusenny. I remember how we all came in on day 1 and none of us knew what we were doing. We showed up on a rainy day and did not know what to expect. That was the day we all learned how to filet a fish from Ray, who had filet a fish for the first time. Then, sadly, Rusenny switched to All Access, but we got Cristian. By the time Cristian came, Sean, Ray, Ary and I were already experts at Piers Park and he quickly learned the ropes. He joined my team for capture the flag, and helped us win a bunch a games. He was a good addition to the team. I worked with a lot of good people this summer, not only the Save the Harbor staff but the Piers Park staff also consisted of pretty amazing people.

Kayaking!

Chilling on the dock

Each week we got new kids and each week we had a lot of fun. It was so nice to see how the kids loved the program so much. Zach would tell us how all the parents would tell him that their kids had a lot of fun, which meant we were doing a great job. There is this one girl who I do not think I can forget. Her name is Hannah. Hannah joined us for two different weeks, but in week one she ran into a problem. During lunch I was talking to Ray when I see Hannah standing in front of me crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she did not have any friends. That moment really broke my heart because I know that I've been in that awkward position. So I helped her talk to some people and Ray told two girls to play with her at the park. Then when she came back last week she had no problem fitting in.

Work out much?

One of Zach's many lessons

It was very interesting for me, to see how in the beginning of the summer we caught so many spider crabs, but towards the middle and end, we did not really see spider crabs, only rock crabs and green crabs. We also did not see any fish during the month of July, but August blessed us with so many fish that we caught. And even Eels! This week and last week you could even see the schools of little minnows swimming in the harbor.

First time I filleted a fish

Celebrating an end to such an amazing summer!

This summer was filled of firsts from the first time I went to Piers Park to first time I filleted a fish. The first time I held a spider crab to the first time a kid called me Mom. It was honestly a great summer, and my only regret is that I wish I did not drop my phone in the harbor, and then drop my replacement into a crab tank. I braided so much hair this summer, and got my hair done so many times. I learned so much from Zach's lessons about marine life. It was an amazing summer full of so many amazing experiences. I am so grateful for this summer. Huge shout out to Sean, Ray, Ary and Cristian for being such amazing people at such an amazing site. #PiersPark2k16 #SummerFun #Farewell

The Piers Park group that was there the entire summer celebrating Ray's Birthday

Much love guys<3  It's been real!

Amanda

Last Day Of Children's Museum

Last week I was at Children's Museum for the first time and it was kinda different from all the other sites I've been to this summer. Mostly this summer I've been at Piers Park or All Access. In the morning when I got to the museum, there was a big tent and that's where we had the touch tank with the crabs and the Velcro fishing for the little kids to go "fake-fishing". On the dock in front of the museum is where we went fishing, actuallll fishing.

I was surprised at how many of the kids already knew what they were doing while fishing, many of them told me stories about going fishing with their dads, or grandpa or other family members and how they would catch all different types of fish. Then others were just learning for the first time how to fish and asked me all types of questions like "Are there actually fish here?" "Will I catch a shark?" "Why is this taking so long?" I had a lot of fun talking with different kids and also showing them the crabs and teaching them the difference between a girl crab and a boy crab, and how they lose their legs sometimes and many of them asked "do they pinch?" "Yes, yes they do indeed," I would say from experience. Although my time was short at Children's Museum, it was pretty memorable.