From Snails to Whales: Day three

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Day three

On our third day of class, we met at the Marriott Long Wharf. Today, July 14, 2013, the low tide was at about 10:04 am, so we were able to observe how different the same area looked in low tide from when we saw it yesterday afternoon when it was about halfway up the sea wall. Today, because it was low tide, we were able to observe species in the intertidal zone such as rocks, seaweed, algae, and even a crab (which was later eaten by a seagull), with pretty good visibility.

As we continued our walk around the Long Wharf area of the Harbor, we stopped to observe a different part of the sea wall that was next to a floating dock. It was interesting to see how, depending on the location, the algae’s color varied from bright, vibrant green to a much darker shade of green. The color was the bright green in the places that were most exposed to the sun, and darker green in the places with less sun exposure and more water exposure.

We continued our walk along Boston Harbor and stopped to feed and watch striped bass on the south side of the Harbor, and then to the aquarium to observe some Atlantic harbor seals.

Then, we moved to an area where we went onto some docks where each group examined a pillar. My group observed that the water was fairly transparent, and we estimated that there was about four to six feet of visibility. We saw blue mussels (description below) that went fairly high on the pillars, above the water line. I speculated that perhaps they went so high because of the shifting tide. They also appeared to be more concentrated on the right side of the pillar, which was closer to the dock than to the open harbor.

A number of intertidal species were firmly planted to the pillar, which we determined could be blue mussels, sea lettuce, orange sheath tunicate, and numerous barnacles (descriptions to follow). The barnacles went almost entirely up the pillar.

We then moved on to the dock at the Barking Crab, which was also a floating dock. We observed a number of interesting species, many of which we had seen at the dock we had been to previously, which indicated to me that the species must be very common in intertidal zones in the area. My group was composed of Sarah Grose, Stephen Loughran, Yue Chan, Yahir Flores, and myself. We observed:

Sea Lettuce:

Bright green and almost translucent. It had rounded fringes, and it appeared to be very thin and flowed easily along with the current.

Purple/ reddish plant:

This plant was one that looked like sea lettuce to us. It was very thin, and had a deep purple/ reddish color.
This plant had leafy parts that were larger than the ones we observed on the sea lettuce, and they appeared to be much more rounded.

Rockweed:

We saw the rockweed floating on top of the water, it floats because the rock parts of this type of seaweed are actually what appear to be pods
The pods are in pairs and had what felt like little rounded spikes on them
The rockweed were dark green and had a reddish/brown tint in certain parts

Orange Sheath Tunicate:

We saw the orange sheath tunicate many times from a distance throughout the day; however, we did not get to closely examine it until we got to the dock at the Barking Dog
The Orange Sheath Tunicate had attached itself to one of the blue mussel shells and appeared to be a bright, vibrant orange amorphous blob
Felt spongy, slimy, but was still had substantial strength was demonstrated by the sturdy grasp it had to the dock
It had a lot of little creatures living on it, the creatures looked like little mites or sea lice

Golden Star Tunicate:

On the shells of mussels

Crusty and kind of jelly-like texture that was flat and had very tiny pores

Inside the pores, it looked like there were tiny, almost clear, stars in the center

Barnacles:

Appeared on the surface of the mussels and some of the plants and the flat surfaces (like seawalls and docks)
Opening slit in the middle, where the creature comes out of it
Very small, only a couple of millimeters in diameter

Despite their small size, they are able to maintain a very strong grip

When touched, the little creatures retract
They appear in large clusters
Off-white color

Crab:

Professor Berman caught was a female, according to him
7 legs in total and 2 claws

One of the legs appeared to have been missing, because the left side had four and the right side only had three

Reddish-brown underbelly and darker brown top of the shell

Fish:

We were able to scoop up a fish in a plastic container

2-3 inches long
The top of the fish was yellow and orange colored. It was speckled to look like a stripe

Silver/white underbelly

Very narrow body, moved quickly, and went to hide under the sea lettuce for cover. When the sea lettuce was moved aside so the fish could be observed more clearly, it would begin moving about erratically and appeared to try to jump out of the container

Mussels:

About two inches

Covered with barnacles and little sea creatures and vegetation
Attached to the walls of the dock and the pillars
Appeared in clusters and sometimes even piled on top of one another

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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.”

From Snails to Whales

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Day three

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