From Snails to Whales: May 2010

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Lion's Mane

You know by now that I am the BayWatcher for Save the Harbor / Save the Bay, and that I teach Boston Harbor history and marine science at Boston University.

You probably don't know that I am also an avid fan of Sherlock Holmes - so when I began to get reports of Lion's Mane jellyfish in the Harbor, I was a bit concerned. I had a mental image of primordial monsters, lurking in tidal pools attacking unwary visitors to Boston Harbor this Memorial day weekend - probably inspired by this illustration:

If you recall, Holmes deduced that this fantastic creature was responsible for a mysterious - and agonizing - death in the classic short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "The Lions Mane".

After a couple of calls (to the MWRA's senior scientist Dr. Andrea Rex, and the New England Aquarium's Dr. Billy Spitzer) I concluded that the two small (6-8 inch diameter bell) jellys reported to me - one by a thoughtful and observant ranger in the Harbor Islands National Park, and another by a reliable and experienced marine mechanic with 50 years on the water - were in fact small Lion's Mane jellyfish.

A little research led me to discover that Lion's Mane Jelly's are not that unusual in Mass Bay, though somewhat rare in Boston Harbor in my experience.

In fact, according to the often reliable and extraordinarily convenient Wikipedia, the largest recorded Lion's Mane washed up on shore in Massachusetts Bay in 1870 - and had a bell diameter of 7 feet 6 inches. That's one big jellyfish.

Here's a picture of a smaller one - and a link to the Wikipedia entry on the subject

Lion's Mane do sting, and though they are not particularly toxic - as far as jellyfish stings go - though some people can have a nasty allergic reaction to the Lion's Mane sting.

(If you do get stung, experts advise that you rinse the affected are with water. If you have an allergic reaction seek medical attention, or at least check out webmd.com)

Dr. Rex sent me a link to a great old book Seaside Studies in Natural History written by Elizabeth Agassiz (wife of Louis) and Alexander Agassiz (son of Louis) in 1865 on the marine animals of Massachusetts Bay.

They describe the Cyanea arctica (Lion’s Mane) in detail, including the effect of its sting.

Here's a copy of a really interesting woodcut done by Alexander too, which accompanies the text at Google Books.

Lion's Mane Jelly's have been around for a long time, and given the recent northeast winds and it makes sense that they would make their way into the harbor from time to time - especially if currents are happening to move this way as well.

My advice?

Don't panic if you see one in the water or on the shore - just leave it alone. And don't get into a tide pool with a seven foot jellyfish.

Have a great Memorial Day. See you on Boston Harbor.

Bruce

PS. Don't forget to check out Save the Harbor's Boston Harbor events and activities page on facebook.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Additional evidence.

Here is some additional evidence that there are indeed striped bass under my boat at Constitition Marina on Boston Harbor at the mouth of the Charles River.

SNAIL'S TALES: Do snails grow on trees?

I want to thank my friend and fellow nature blogger Aydin Orstan for posting this on his great - and extremely rational - blog at Snails Tales.

SNAIL'S TALES: Do snails grow on trees?

If you are interested in these tree climbing snails, you can find more about them by searching this blog.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Meanwhile, on Boston Harbor...

Here is some evidence that both the bait...

and the Striped Bass

have arrived at the mouth of the Charles River.

You can see more images (often live) at
http://www.bostonharbor.com/webcam.html

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Drill, Baby, Drill!

I thought you might enjoy this thoughtful
and reasoned argument in favor of offshore drilling. I know I did!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

It Could Happen Here - And It Has

Oil spills of the magnitude that we are seeing in the Gulf of Mexico are relatively rare - but it doesn't take 5,000 barrels a day to destroy the environment.

Serious spills do happen here, On Cape Cod, in Boston Harbor, and in Nantucket Sound. Remember the Argo Merchant, which broke apart off Massachusetts in 1976.

We need to remember the lessons we have learned - or we will repeat the mistakes we have made. Take a look at this recent article in the Boston Herald - to refresh your memory.

State has seen share of spills

From Snails to Whales

Welcome to Snails to Whales, Bruce Berman's blog focused on both the little and the big things that make Boston Harbor such an interesting and extraordinary place to live, work and play.

With 50 miles of protected water, four sheltered bays, seven river systems, 34 islands and a nine-foot average tide, Boston Harbor is one of the most diverse urban ecosystems in America.

This blog focuses on the flora and fauna of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay - on the beach, the shore, and the harbor islands, and in the cleaner waters of Boston Harbor and Mass Bay - including this ecosystems most important species - people.

During the summer, it is also a place for my Boston University Students and my colleagues at Save the Harbor / Save the Bay to share their work and experiences.

Where I am coming from...

Love that clean(er) water
Learning about the Boston Harbor Cleanup from the waterway’s eyes, ears, and mouthpiece

By Brian Fitzgerald, BU Bridge

On Georges Island, Bruce Berman talks with his students about the history of the Boston Harbor Cleanup,
which is largely complete. Photo by Vernon Doucette

Bruce Berman, aboard a ferry from Boston’s Long Wharf to Georges Island, poses a question to his students: “How clean is clean enough?”

He’s talking about the water below.

It’s a brilliant July day, with the smell of salt spray in the air. The sky is clear, and so is the ocean. But there was a time when Boston Harbor wasn’t so clean, when the stench of sewage assaulted the nostrils of anyone who went near it.

Berman is the communications director for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, a public-interest environmental advocacy organization whose mission is to help restore and protect the harbor and Massachusetts Bay. He also teaches a Metropolitan College summer course called Politics, Public Relations, and Public Policy: The Boston Harbor Cleanup.

“The Boston Harbor Cleanup is an amazing success story, and I just love to share it with students,” says Berman, noting that the harbor’s “bad old days” weren’t that long ago. Those were the days when untreated human waste, syringes, condoms, and tampon applicators routinely washed ashore. The antiquated sewage treatment plants on Deer Island and Nut Island were so poorly designed and maintained that they flooded during even mild rainstorms, sending millions of gallons of untreated waste directly into the harbor.

Since then, bacteria counts in the water have decreased by more than two-thirds. Now the harbor teems with plants and animals, and people can legally dig for clams on Carson Beach in South Boston, which was unheard of in the 1980s.

“It was one of the filthiest harbors in America, and now it’s one of the cleanest,” says Berman. “What I’m trying to impress upon students is how this incredible comeback occurred, and how business, advocacy groups, environmentalists, and government can affect the outcome of large projects such as the Boston Harbor Cleanup through negotiation.”

Paradise regained

Berman points to the left as the boat cruises by the cleanup’s centerpiece: the gargantuan white egglike tanks of the Deer Island waste treatment plant, which in 1995 replaced the antiquated facility. The plant treats an average of 350 million gallons of sewage a day.

“And what comes out of the Deer Island treatment plant?” he asks. Berman, his booming baritone competing with the roar of planes taking off from Logan Airport, has a habit of putting students on the spot to see if they’re paying attention.

“The outfall pipe,” say several simultaneously. “Treated water,” chime in a few more.

“That’s right,” he says with a smile. “The plant separates the solid and liquid waste, and it pumps the treated water through the 9.5-mile outfall pipe, which empties into Massachusetts Bay. The resulting sludge is converted to high-grade fertilizer.”

Now Berman returns to his original question: “How clean is clean enough?” There’s no quick and clear answer to this one. “It’s a question that at the end of the day the federal courts had to decide.”

In 1985, a landmark federal court case required that the harbor’s beaches be made swimmable and fishable by 2000. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay was formed the next year to raise public awareness of the $4.5 billion Boston Harbor Cleanup. Sewer ratepayers in the 43 cities and towns financing the project cried foul over the prospect of astronomically rising bills, but because of the determination of environmental advocacy groups such as Berman’s, the cleanup was largely completed on schedule.

Berman says it isn’t finished, however. There are still frequent beach closures because the counts of Enterococcus bacteria exceed the federal and state standard for swimming. The culprit: filthy storm water and sewage, much of it from leaky pipes and illegal hookups emptying into storm sewers, and then into the harbor.

“So is the harbor clean enough,” the Springfield native asks his students, “when you can’t swim in it one out of five days in the summer?”

Work to be done

Berman and his class look out from Georges Island to Gallops Island (left) and the white tanks of the waste treatment plant on Deer Island (right). Photo by Vernon Doucette

This summer the state approved one of the last parts of the cleanup: the construction, by 2011, of a 2.1-mile tunnel near the Dorchester and South Boston shorelines that will hold sewage and storm water during bad weather. It then will be pumped to Deer Island for treatment.

Berman is ecstatic over this development, the result of “tireless negotiation and consensus-building,” he says. “After 2011, we’re looking at beach closings once every five years, when there is a major storm, instead of once every five days.”

But he is not about to let his guard down. To say that he is a man obsessed with the harbor cleanup would be an understatement. Berman is also Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s “Baywatcher,” and he lives on his 40-foot trawler Verandah. Polluters beware: if you’re discharging oil or sewage into Boston Harbor, the Baywatcher just might be watching.

He is quick to point out that his zealotry is not just on behalf of the harbor’s flora and fauna. “The harbor is for everyone,” he says. “If you’re from a working class or poor family in Boston, and you can’t afford a Cape Cod getaway in the summer, a clean harbor is important. The same is true if you’re a tourist vacationing in Boston or you happen to live in a pricey waterfront condo.”

Accordingly, Berman, who was a political consultant and contributing editor to the Phoenix newspaper before joining Save the Harbor/Save the Bay nearly 10 years ago, also teaches his students about the harbor’s role in the city’s economy. He points out that in the early 1990s, just a few ferries cruised the harbor’s waters. Today, more than 100,000 people visit its islands each summer, discovering their ecological and historic treasures.

“The best way to protect the harbor cleanup,” Berman tells his students, “is to make sure that the public has access to the resources and can see a return on its investment.”

Trevor Kosmolsick (MET’05) has lived in Boston for seven years, but until taking Berman’s course, he had never been to the waterfront. “I’ve also wanted to go camping in the area, but I never knew that you could camp on a few of the islands,” he says. “Bruce Berman is not only a great professor, but the ultimate tour guide.”

He also backs up his words with actions. Sometimes he takes off his shirt and dives in the water to demonstrate to passing boaters that it’s safe to swim. To show people on ferries that fishing is safe, he’s been known to grab one of the bluefish or striped bass he’s caught and (very carefully) plant a wet kiss on it.

“What I want everyone to understand is that investment in the environment really does pay off,” says Berman. “We’re willing to pay for a clean Boston Harbor, so we should enjoy it.”