Saturday, July 12, 2014

First Day at Boston Harbor

We arrived at the Boston Harbor at roughly 2:00pm on 7/12/14, and my first impression is that the harbor is teeming with life. We started off observing the ducks on the water and feeding the Striped Bass fish bread crumbs.


I also noticed that there were also small jellyfish in the water as well.  We then moved on further to see a broad view of the harbor, which was when we noticed more bird life that seems to live near the Boston Harbor.


It was entertaining to watch this bird dive underwater to fish for food.  From researching birds that dive underwater, and then searching what birds live in Massachusetts, I have deduced that this bird is either a Double-crested Cormorant or a Great Cormorant.  We also noticed tide pools, and plant life that exists in the Boston Harbor.  There were also Jellyfish that accidentally get pushed into the tide pools from winds and tides.


Then roughly thirty minutes later, we began the boat trip with HBC around and outside the Boston Harbor.  I noticed many of the islands that we talked about in class today. Such as Deer Island, which has the egg shaped buildings that holds human waste.


On the way to George's Island we say a boat stranded on Nix's Mate, an area that was once and island and is now mostly submerged, unless the tide is low.


We then took a stop at George's beach, where we admired the people enjoying the beach and fort.


As the boat ride continued, I noticed the wind power turbines that are around the Harbor.


On the way to Hewitt's Cove, Prof. Berman decided to man the boat.


When we arrived in Hewitt's Cove, the thing I noticed most was the new condos that seems to take away from the natural environment, and the remnants of a navy shipyard.



Then, on the way back to Boston Harbor we noticed the same boat on Nix's Mate, but since the water receded more, it was more apparent at this point how truly stuck the boat was.


Overall, my first impression of the Boston Harbor was that it have improved greatly from the hardships of pollution.  The Harbor and the outer islands are highly populated with humans, fish, birds, and plant life.  It is clearly a beautiful example of functioning marine biology that I cannot wait to explore further.




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