Herring Parasites?

It is pretty busy at this time of year under my boat at Constitution Marina on Boston Harbor just below the dam at the entrance to the Charles River.

As you can see from this screenshot from my online live Fishcam, big bluefish and striped bass feed on tinker mackeral, menhaden, and two kinds of herring - alewives and bluebacks - both of which are extremely important to the health of the ecosystem, and the fish, birds, and marine mammals with which we share our harbor.




Over the past few weeks I have noticed that well over 50% of the herring I see have odd - almost baroque - growths that appear to be anchored to their bodies, near their fins, vent and mouths and elsewhere on their bodies.


These herring are between 3.5 and 5 inches long. Some of the growths are over two inches long. The smaller "young of the year" do not appear to be affected at all.


When they are in the water some of the them look like little palm trees, some like the swizzle sticks you find in exotic drinks.


I have been Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's BayWatcher for more than a decade, and have never seen anything like this before.

Any ideas about what they are would be appreciated.

Thanks

Bruce Berman

Periwinkle massacre

Hi everyone, I made an interesting observation the other day on the Nahant beach and I was wondering what you guys think about it.

There is a beach in Nahant called Dog Beach where you are allowed to take your dogs all year round and let them romp on the beach off the leash. This beach is directly across from revere where a bay has been created because of the man made causeway used to drive on and off of the island. I always assumed the beach was not the cleanest because it was basically given to the dogs. 

Walking on the beach yesterday I found thousands and thousands, if not millions, of empty periwinkle shells. I waded through the shallows and for 20 minutes and searched for a live snail but I only found one! Almost all of the empty shells had one small hole "drilled" into the bottom which I assume is the calling card of whatever is praying on the snails. 

The number of empty shells was astounding.I found it slightly disturbing after getting to know periwinkles so intimately through our class.

Does anyone know what is eating them? Does the high mortality rate have anything do to do with the dirty water?

 

Late Post (Trip to Stellwagen Bank)

13th of August 2008
My brother and I took the 13:30 cruise aboard the Voyager III to Stellwagen Bank. The weather conditions were extremely pleasant, approximately 80 degrees Farenheight, and the ocean was very calm. Our journey from the Boston Harbor to Stellwagen Bank took close to an hour thirty minutes. When I learned that the Bank was 25 miles off shore I was not expecting to still see land, but the amazing weather conditions made land visible even from Stellwagen. Once the Voyager arrived at Stellwagen, it wasn’t long before the whales started appearing on the surface of the ocean. I counted up to eight humpbacks at one time. The whales appeared to be feeding because they would engulf enormous amounts of water at a time. This species of whale is known as a ‘baleen’ whale because it doesn’t have teeth but rather hair like teeth that trap small creatures such as sand lance. Hovering just above the whales was usually a large flock of seagulls. I also spotted a finback whales and or possibly a mink whale. The tour guide explained that the whales perform ‘beach rubbing’ by diving down to the bottom of the ocean and rubbing their head or nostrum to scare the small fish. The bumps on the humpback are known as tubicles. They are the only part of the whale that is hair. Some other interesting facts that I managed to gather were that the most valuable species at Stellwagen was the bluefin tuna. Apparently they are worth up to thirty thousand dollars. I might have to invest in a small boat and try my luck! I also noted from the various sign boards around the vessel that the finback was the second biggest whale; its diet consists of capeling, herring, sand lance, and squid. The tour guide referred to the finback as the grey hound of whales. This is because of its speed and ‘slickness’. All in all I must admit that the sheer size of these creatures is absolutely mind blowing. These whales appear to be so peaceful and harmless that one cannot imagine why people would want to harm them. Once we arrived back at the dock, we decide to take a tour of the aquarium. The small penguins were very ‘cute’ but I was interested in seeing the shark. After climbing the spiral staircase to the top I gazed down and saw an array of species. I observed sting-rays, turtles, possibly a barracuda, and the shark.

Hello Everyone,
I wanted to add one more entry to the blog thanking everyone in the class for the experience. I think is was definitely worth it; to enroll in this session, everyone seemed to have the same goals. (Work hard and have fun).

I did not stay to see the fish be filleted as I have seen that many times. It appears that everyone who did stay enjoyed it and had some very creative dishes displayed on the BLOG.

Personally I prefer Legal Seafood as I am not much of a cook.

I wish the best for everyone and hope you enjoyed the class as much as I did.

JFK
AKA Old school

Striped Bass-Part II

My apologies for the delay in posting this, but I've been having trouble getting photos from this particular card to my computer. With that resolved, I can now show you what became of the piece of fillet that I took home. My dad really enjoys fish of all kinds, and this is a recipe that he invented just for this fillet of Striped Bass.

Sea Bass Provençal:

Allow the fillet to come to room temperature. Rub surface with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a heavy frying pan sauté a minced garlic clove in a generous amount of butter.

In a small bowl mix a few tblsp flour with Cavender's Greek Seasoning (about 5:1-seasoning contains salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, onion, among others). Sprinkle the mix over the fish, and coat the fillet with the mixture. When coated, add to the frying pan; brown briefly on both sides. After just a few minutes remove to a separate plate.

While the fish is browning, add 1/2 cup half/half, somewhat less white wine, 2 tblsp lemon juice to remainder of the flour/spice mixture; mix thoroughly. Add a bit of shredded or diced Swiss or similar cheese to the mixture; microwave briefly.

Immediately upon removing the fish from the pan, add the warmed mixture, stirring constantly, and removing from heat. Place filet on serving dish, spooning a small amount of sauce creatively on the surface. Garnish with thinly sliced lemon on edge of filet. Reserve the remainder of the sauce in a small separate dish for those desiring additional servings.
The result is spectacular due to the freshness of the fish, and the subtle mixture of the other simple flavors. It was not overly rich, but the sauce still had enough flavor to be interesting and a creamy texture that seems to be different than what a lot of others have tried so far. Definitely recommended!

aquarium pics- Sean

These are some of my favorite pics from the aquarium. I hope you enjoy! I have yet to make my bass dinner but when I do I will post the pics. Everyone else's look great!

In the spirit of Voodoo Science

If you found Voodoo Science interesting, there was a short article in the Wall Street Journal today that commented on "Hyping Health Risks" by Geoffery C. Kabat. Kabat's book is along the same spirit of investigating and documenting junk science as Park's book.

Wrapping up...

It may be late but here are my two favorite whale watch pictures I had developed during the final class.













Now after that wonderful dissection of the striped bass, I prepared both the side fillet and the belly fillet (with scales on) over apple slices and carrot greens in white zinfandel with home made potato chips. I cooked both fillets over equal amounts of apple and greens with 1/2 cup of wine in a foil pouch. I put them on an electric fry pan at 420 for 2 minutes then brought them down to a simmer for 8. I then ate both fillets at the same time to determine differences, using the potato between samples to cleanse the palate. My observations were: The side fillet had very flaky soft flesh which was firmer. The darker fat parts (i love pcbs) were creamier and richer while the white parts were light. The Belly meat was stringier but had a softer taste and texture.
This was an amazing experiment, as I have never looked at the differences between two similar flavors that closely. Over all this course was a wonderful experience and enjoyed working with you all very much, I hope to see you all again some time. Feel free to contact me if there is anything I can help you with; I have a facebook.




















Before
















After

Reflections

I wanted to do a final post reflecting on the final days of our class... 

 I actually really enjoyed the group presentations... even though a lot of the information between groups was repetitive, I think that everyone managed to bring some type of interesting fact to the table that previous groups had not mentioned. I learned a lot doing my own research, and I actually found that the animals I looked at were extremely interesting!

Whale watching was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. I've always wanted to go on a whale watching trip, but no one ever was willing to go with me! My mom had gone on one a few weeks prior to our trip, and she told me to look out for what looked like "mist" coming off the ocean. She was SO surprised to hear about how close the whales actually came to our boat!I rarely get to go on boats, so I absolutely loved the trip out. The ride was extremely bumpy, which I found to be really fun! I was hoping to see more wildlife around stellwagon bank, but don't get me wrong I was beyond pleased to see the whales. I think it would have been neat to take a look at some underwater photography of the area before I had left. Im sure there would have been a lot of really interesting sealife to be seen! Initially I was on the top level of the boat so that I could get a 360 degree view. I recognized the whales as humpback whales right away because of their oddly shaped dorsal fins. I absolutely couldn't believe how many whales there were. I thought it was so cool to be able to see the "prints" that the whales left on the ocean surface when they went down for a dive. I tried really hard to tell the difference between the mothers and their cubs, but to be honest I think I was a little too awe-struck to notice any size differences between the whales! It was also very difficult for me to tell the difference between all the different whales based on the colors of their tales. I think it's neat how the scientific world goes about naming the whales. The announcer on the boat said that they try to assign names that are reminiscent of the markings on the whales' tails; I definitely saw different markings, but Im not sure if any of the names reminded me of any of the markings. Another thing that I remember reading about was the humpback whale's fins... they are virtually all white, but appear to be green when viewed underwater. The announcer on the boat said the exact same thing, and when I moved to the bottom deck one of the whales came up extremely close and I was able to see that "green effect." It was awesome. I wish I had more descriptive words to use other than "awesome", "amazing", or "cool," but I was just so excited about seeing whales that Im almost at a loss for words. When I was little the aquarium had beluga whales, but they died in captivity before I ever got to see them. I was also not lucky enough to get to see shamu as a child at sea world! This was the first time I ever saw a whale and I absolutely loved it! My one regret is that we didn't see anything besides a humpback whale. 

This was also my first time in the 3 1/2 years I've lived in boston seeing the New England Aquarium. I thought that the jellyfish exhibit was spectacular! They had a really neat tank where you could change the lights that were shining in the tank and it made the jellyfish look like they were glowing neon colors! There were definitely a good number of different types of jellyfish to be seen! My favorite was the blue blubber... these little jellyfish were so chubby but they swam so fast I couldn't get a picture of them! In the touch-tank (meant for little kids) we found a periwinkle! I thought that was awesome. Everyone else was more interested in the horseshoe crabs....go figure. I also noticed that in the boston harbor/stellwagon bank exhibit there was no tunicate! I was very disappointed.... 

Finally, I am so thrilled that we got to take a look at a striped bass. I have never seen a fish filleted before, and I thought it was so interesting. I will definitely be making sure that I trim all the dark meat off of my fish from now on! I actually have a fishing trip planned with some friends for next week because I was so excited by our bass experiment! I took my filet home and I baked it in the oven with a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, cracked pepper, salt, and tomatoes. I didnt really measure anything out, I just sort of poured it all together (im not the best in the kitchen)... but it was DELICIOUS. I made rice pilaf and sauteed spinach as sides. Seriously, this may have motivated me to take a cooking class. 

In general, I think this is one of the more exciting classes i've ever taken at BU. It was certainly the smallest, which was really neat because I actually got to meet people in my class. I loved all the hands on work we got to do, and the class definitely exposed me to a lot of stuff I think I never would have looked at on my own. For example, Im really interested in looking at some of the other harbor islands... and I'm no longer afraid of snails and slugs like I once was. I wouldn't actually say afraid, just more so grossed out. I think that voodoo science is a very interesting read as well, and I regret not being able to discuss it in class!

Thank you everyone for a great week! I wish you all luck on your final projects! See you on campus...

I CANT GET MY PICTURES TO LOAD...per usual :-( sorry everyone!

Final experiment

After our final class on Friday I brought home a piece of filet and cooked it for dinner that night. I rubbed the fish first with sea salt and pepper, then with garlic-infused olive oil. I sprinkled it with fresh chopped rosemary from my garden and added thin slices of lime. I placed the fish on aluminum foil and baked it at 450 degrees until it was cooked all the way through (approximately 10 minutes). The result was excellent! These results were confirmed by independent peer review by my brother. Since he himself is an excellent cook, I took this to be quite a high compliment.

Rosemary-lime large mouth bass filet served with spicy chili-garlic spinach and herbed couscous, garnished with fresh cherry tomatoes.

Voodoo Science

Has anyone started voodoo science yet? I found the part about Jesus consuming bee pollen after his resurrection to be quite hysterical.

Zen and the art of Fish Filleting

The experiment was conducted in the kitchen Laboratory. The specimen looked at was a Striped Bass caught by our instructor the day before in Boston Harbor. (Just kidding) This particular bass is of unknown origin, but probably came from the Chesapeake Bay. However, Striped Bass are known to get around. Some external observations: The bass had 8 lateral lines on the external surface. There was also a spiny dorsal fin with about 6 spines. A more posterior dorsal fin closer to the tail yielded a softer texture, and had another softer spine. Something interesting to note are the differences in fishing rules for fish caught in different regions. In the Chesapeake, fish can only be eaten if they are under 25 inches long. This is due to chemicals called PCBs that bio-accumulate in the dark, fatty meat of the fish. Anything under 25 inches is safer to eat. If one still worries, the fatty portion of the bass can always be trimmed. In Boston Harbor, Stripers can only be eaten if they are over 25 inches in length. This is to ensure a healthy population of bass is kept. The larger bass will have most likely spawned, and this protects the population from over fishing. Now for the fun part...

Our professor filleted the fish by first making an incision just behind the gill slit. He easily cut along the backbone of the fish, moving anterior to posterior, being particularly careful to stay above the spine. He also had to be careful not to puncture the intestines of the fish, as this would render the fillet inedible. Once the first fillet was cut, he let some of the students take a hack at it. The next area to be cut I can only describe as the fish "Cheeks", or the facial meat. This is the best meat to make sashimi with, as some of our students realized. After the edible meat was cut, we took a look at some of the fish's internal organs. The contents of the stomach were empty, meaning the fish had already digested its last meal before it was caught. This fish was also female. It had an empty and fully developed egg sac, which means it had most likely spawned this last season. The bristle like gills were bright red, and the heart was a small pinkish organ the size of a marble. The liver was dark brown, and looked similar to a human liver in color and texture. (I was unclear of the shape, as it got a little messed up during the dissection.) After the dissection, students got to take home some fillets. Unfortunately, I don't eat fish, so I didn't take any home. After telling my roommates this story, they were a little upset I did not take a fillet to cook for them! Thanks for everything, I had a great time.

Last Day of Class!

Mmm....

I did NOT expect the last day of class to be spent like this but I am glad I stuck around for it! This massive Striped Bass was dissected by the professor and fellow classmates at our very own Boston University. All of us got our hands a little messy in order to get a thorough examination of the fish, inner organs and all! 

  

First off, I didn't realize the art behind filleting a fish. This was the only experience I've had in seeing it out of the coffin, onto the table, cut up, and then made ready to eat right then and there. 

I stood there the whole time staring so I wasn't able to record much in my notebook - my memory isn't the best either. So, I can only recall a few points; the dark red meat is considered to be the fat of the fish - PCBs (toxins) are known to be found in this area. 

In addition, to tell if the fish is fresh you can look at the eyes and the color of its gills. One point about this particular fish that stuck with me was the fact that when a striped bass feels threatened or is attacked, it will vomit. This is probably the most bizarre defense mechanism I've ever heard of but apparently it can work quite well - unfortunately not for this fellow!

I decided to head out as soon as Chef Bruce began preparing the Sashimi. I hope you all enjoyed it - it looks like you guys did! 

Yours Truly, 

Liz Z

(Vegetarian)

Snails again...

More about our land snails...

From Answers.com:

"The white-lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis) and the grove snail (C. nemoralis) are very closely related. The two species share the same habitats, although the range of the white-lipped snail extends closer to the Arctic in Northern Europe.

The white-lipped snail is very slightly smaller than the grove snail, but shares the same variation in shell colour and banding. The two species can mate and reproduce.

The principal difference between them is that the grove snail has a dark brown lip to its shell, while the white lipped snail has a white lip. However, this distinguishing feature is not entirely reliable as there is at least one morph of the grove snail which also has a white lip."

From the University of Paisley Biodiversity Reference

"C. nemoralis is slightly the larger of the two when mature, and it characteristically has a dark lip to the shell.
C. hortensis typically has a white lip to the shell and shows a preference for slightly damper places.


These differences are not, however, reliable, and C. nemoralis has an uncommon white-lipped morph. Their identities can be confirmed only by dissection. They commonly occur together and, consequently, these photographs represent individuals named on a basis of probabilty.

This morphological similarity between the species has implications for the many genetic studies of wild populations - identifications are unreliable when based on shells alone."

FYI: The definitive answer is to be found by a careful comparison of the snails "love darts."

Hope this both satisfies and stimulates your curiosity.

Tomorrow: The 37 inch bass I caught on my boat after class today!

Last Day: What a day!! (Kris pandeli)

Friday, August 8, 2008.
Boston University
Kitchen Lab

Last Day: Dissecting Wild Striped Bass

What a way to end class. First we get a breeze of Boston Harbor, and then we get to explore the islands, snails and whales. And then we get a taste of the fresh Stripe Bass. Dissecting the 3ft long Bass was cool in certain ways. 1. We get to cut it 2. We get to learn about its organs, and 3. The best part of it, we get to eat it. The fish was big and fresh, you could tell from the gills as seen in the picture to the right. First it was fresh because I could see the red gills, indicating that it was caught the day before. The second way that I could tell it was fresh is,,,,well, we picked it up the day before at John Nagle Co.,

Anyways, “E tu Brute” said the fish when Professor Bruce Berman stabbed him. The professor explained and demonstrated as seen in the picture on how to fillet the fish, and along with him a few students took turns to follow his instructions. Ironic, the same thing happened to Julius Cesar. I’m just joking. I must agree with Erald in saying that the professor was an expert when it comes to filleting and making sushi, but when it comes to real the Chef Boyardee , AKA Kris Pandeli, just check out the pictures of the Fired Wild Stripe Bass Dish I prepared, and ate it all by myself. Well I couldn’t wait to eat it anyways, it was fresh and I was hungry, besides I took home tow pieces. I love eating fish. And now I know where to get it fresh. With a discount too!!!

The recipe of my dish included: Salt, black pepper, a little of olive oil, lemon and lemon juice, bay leaves, and accompanied by a glass of wine. I had to make it look good. Well it tasted even better.

In the end it wasn’t just about the tasty wild stripe bass, or the snails, well it was but, it was about the whole Mass Bay. Living here in Boston for 8 years I learned, in just a week, how important it is to take care of our harbor. How interconnected everything is, from tiny creatures of the Barking Crab to the whales of the Stellwagen Bank to our city and to all of us. It is like the domino effect, we all are a big cycle and we can affect one another in our surroundings, and if we take care of it we are taking care of ourselves.

~ Kris Pandeli

Striped Bass-Part I

Caitlin Klinger
August 8, 2008
Location: Food Laboratory at Boston University

We were lucky enough to obtain a Striped Bass for multiple varieties of examination. I'm sure much of this will echo what Erald has said, but I'll continue anyway. The fish weighed approximately 17 pounds and appears to be about three feet in length by visual examination alone. One thing that surprised me was how hard the scales were (at least when dry-I've never felt one underwater), which I suppose acts as a form of protection for the animal. This was what the 17-lb Striped Bass looked like before Bruce got his hands on...I mean, dissected it.
Bruce taught us how to cut the fillet off of a fish. In order to do so, he made two long cuts lengthwise down the fish, one one each side of the dorsal fin. Bruce let any willing volunteers try their hand at cutting the fish.

Students getting their chance to cut the fillet:


Bruce explained to us that the darker meat had a greater concentration of fat than the lighter meat. It is in the darker meat that toxins such as PAHs and PCBs can accumulate due to the amount of fat (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and Polychlorinated biphenls for anyone who wants to know more). I have not posted any pictures of this for those viewers who have sensitive stomachs, but after the fillets were cut, Bruce proceeded to the internal organs. I was surprised to see that the majority of the fish's vital organs were located in the front third of it's body. This makes sense because the fish's rear half needs to be streamlined for swimming (and also part of why the head gets left behind in cooking), it's simply something to which I had never given much thought.

We examined the fish's stomach to see if any of its stomach contents were still remaining. Unfortunately for anyone wanting to know exactly what this specimen was eating, we found the stomach to be completely empty. Bruce explained that this could be explained by a natural defense mechanism that Striped Bass often employ. If the bass feels it is in danger of becoming a meal, it throws up its food in the hope that the predator will take the free meal instead of the one that requires some effort. A good strategy for the bass, but not as exciting for us.

After examining some of the fish's other organs, we turned our attention to a special section of belly meat that Bruce had set aside just after cutting the fillets. These pieces had the honor of becoming sashimi right there and then in the Food Laboratory. The remaining class members enjoyed the combination soy sauce, wasabi and ginger (or if you're like me and are intolerant of hot foods, just soy sauce with floating bits of wasabi) and the result was truly delicious. I cannot think of a more unique, interesting and enjoyable way to wrap up what was a sincerely memorable and possibly concentration-changing experience for me. Thanks everyone!

I leave you with members of the class eating sashimi:

Striped Bass

Erald Pelari
Date: August 8, 2008
Objective: Cutting and Dissecting a Wild Stripe Bass

First of all I would like to let everyone know that Bruce and I stayed up all night trying to catch this striped bass (See pic). Actually the truth is that this fish was a donation from the John Nagle Co., a whole sale seafood company in the Boston Fish Pier. I want to thank the Nagle family for providing us this fish and allowing us to have an interesting class on this last day. If you want to know more about the John Nagle Co. please feel free to go at their website http://www.johnnagle.com/. The fish is 17 lbs and was about 3 ft long, fresh of the waters of Mass Bay, possible from Cape Cod.
Today we learned how to fillet a fish and about its organs and how they operate. Students participated in the filleting of the fish, a unique experience for everyone (See pics). Sean had not eaten fish in like 10 years and he decided to eat some sashimi with soy sauce and ginger. The Striped Bass was fresh, and some tips to know whether the fish is fresh or not is to:
Eyes- need to be sort of popping out, meaning that they are not wrinkly and can very easily be pushed down.
Gills- need to be bright red
Odor of fish- is distinct and smells like seawater, no bad odder
There are other ways but these are the three things I am looking for in a fish and see if it is fresh.

I think we can all say that Prof. Berman is an expert in fish cutting. He also made sure that the best parts of the fish were used for the sashimi part of the experiment. I guess he wanted to find something on the fish’s stomach to indicate what the fish had eaten, but according to what he said in class the fish must have thrown up prior to being pulled in the boat. Striped bass tend to throw up their food if they feel that a predatory fish is trying to get them, so that the odor of the digested food might throw of the predator.

What a great ending to this class. I hope everyone enjoyed the experience and remember we need to have a clean harbor so that everyone can enjoy it, the beach and the various species that the ocean offers to us.



This picture shows us eating sashimi (I hope this is the right terminology. Not a big fan of raw fish)

Finding the black snails

As I mentioned in a previous post, Shashana and I decided to look in the concrete depressions that are the remnants of the old military installation. I believe they are approximately here (Lat/long: 42.329735,-70.929102). I looked carefully in the leaf litter of the far left (west) depression. The leaf litter was mostly black or dark dark brown in color. There were many slugs approximately 1cm in length and red ants on the leaf litter, but no obvious snails at first. I mistook a number of seed pods and other pieces of detritus for snails before I found the first tiny (1-2mm wide) black snail. After I knew what to look for, I was able to find more with careful looking. Though there weren’t a huge abundance of them, there were certainly more to be collected than the two that we brought back to the group. I did not look carefully in the other two depressions for these snails.

Observations for August 7, 2008

Thursday, August 7, 2008
Location: Stellwagen Bank, mostly NW corner; New England Aquarium

On our trip to Stellwagen Bank, we tried to identify Baleen whales and observe the behaviors that we could view from our vantage point (which probably changed depending on which deck you chose). As far as I could tell, the only species of Baleen whale that we saw were Humpback Whales. At one point, there was a group, or "association", of six of seven whales feeding very near our boat. We were told that it is rare to see a group this large, and that they would probably stay together for a few hours to about two weeks at most. This association of whales included two mothers and their calves (Cajun and her calf, and Crown? and her calf...can someone help me confirm those names?) and you could easily see the difference in size between the full-grown mother and the maturing calf. While they were feeding, they stayed fairly close to the surface, swimming and using their blow holes. Eventually they all decided to dive, at which point the naturalist on board was able to identify them based on their tail, or fluke pattern. As others have said, I was looking forward to identifying multiple types of Baleen whales, and on this trip we only saw Humpbacks. However, it was truly amazing to see that many creatures of such shear size from such a close distance. Even though I have been on another whale watch that some people might describe as "more exciting", I can certainly say that this whale watch was probably more enjoyable because I felt I understood the whales better from a scientific standpoint and in turn, had more respect for them as living creatures rather than entertainment.

I have to admit that a few of us spent a significant amount of time on the top level of the giant tank at the New England Aquarium. It happened to be feeding time, so there was a lot to see and observe. Downstairs, they had an area with many jellyfish. It was fascinating to see up-close how the large jellyfish moved, something I had never seen before.
The aquarium also had an exhibit on Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Bank, which are obviously very recent subjects for all of us. I found this map of the harbor islands to be pretty interesting. The pink coloring represents open land (meadow, scrib, and sumac), the blue coloring represents wetlands, the green coloring represents forests, the lighter, almost aqua, blue represents tidal flats, and the parallel lines represent drumlin contours. The pink shading on the map of Lovells Island immediately made me think of the snails in the sumacs that we had found just three days earlier.
I was a little disappointed that none of the tanks in the aquarium seemed to have any sponges in them (perhaps because they wouldn't be very interesting to a general population-the aquarium needs to generate revenue like anyone else to keep their doors open, but this is all total speculation). One thing I did see a lot of, however, were Frilled Anemones. After following a hunch that what I had seen at the Barking Crab was not, in fact, a Frilled Anemone, I had been looking at pictures of anemones to see if I could resolve the matter. Seeing the Frilled Anemones in person certainly did just that. I have yet to confirm what the anemones at the Barking Crab actually were, but I intend to do just that and post it as a comment in my original analysis of the dock. More on this later, but here is a picture of a Frilled Anemone from the aquarium. Case not quite closed.

Whale Watching @ Stellwagen Bank

Kris Pandeli

Thursday, August 7 2008

Whale Watching @ Stellwagen Bank

I have been living in Boston for the past 8 years and I never knew what I was really missing out on. To see whales on TV is interesting but to see them in person is fascinating. The day began as usual, we all meet at the Longwharf at around 8:30 AM and then we took the 9:30 AM boat to go see whales. From my experience, I always heard people say that they went whale watching but never saw anything. So I was hopping that would not be the case today. And it wasn’t. Not too long before the ship had come to an almost complete stop I and my classmates were rushing to get to the top deck. There was some sort of silence as people were trying to spot anything around the boat, and then I saw everyone rushing to the font side. There for the first time in my life I could claim that I saw a whale. And the cool thing is that I could identify it. It was a humpback whale. The research that I did for my short assignment the day before was very helpful because I researched the different whales that could be spotted at the Stellwagen Bank.

Actually there was a pack of whales or as I overheard someone say that they were in association. Nevertheless, they were amazing to look at. Their back was black and looked slippery, must have been from their oily skin. The underneath was white with some sort of pattern. The tour guide said that they can identify each one of them by the white and black pattern of the whale’s flukes. And then I heard her identify the biggest two as Cajun and Crown. The smaller whales swimming alongside them were their young calves. The tour guide also said that the whales were “logging”, meaning that they were sort of just floating in the water. But when you least expect it they all dove down and disappeared for about 5-7 minutes. Then on the other side of the boat they reappeared. As they were coming out of the water again you could first spot their long whiter flippers and then you could see the head get exposed and then the humpback of the whale. This process was repetitive. Ooo and yeahh, I say the blowholes and not too long after this bad smell, like some bad broccoli, it was their bad breath. I took pictures and video clips so that I could show to my family members and also to post here on the blog. But at some point I stopped taking picture because I just wanted to enjoy looking at the whales.

This trip was very very exciting and I plan on doing again with my family members, so that they can see the whales too. I will be their guide this time around. Enjoy the short clip below!!

~Kris Pandeli

Sorry about the late post, Work issues, troubles in Asia

Over the years, I have enjoyed several different whale watches with friends and family. Sometimes watching, the people onboard who have never witnessed these great animals up close and observing their anticipation and excitement once we spot the first blow from the whale, is just as rewarding as seeing a whale for the first time. 

Everyone has done such a great job capturing today’s’ sights and sound through their observations. My are much simpler, enjoying casual conversations with other classmates, watching the harbor islands, lighthouses and distance land masses as we glide by, a mobile phone without a signal, waves lifting and lowering the boat and daydreaming about the days when “rum running schooners” used Stellwagen Bank as there economic engine. 

Thanks everyone for an enjoyable day,

Timothy Cahalane