From Snails to Whales: Reflections

Sunday, August 10, 2008

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!

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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, August 10, 2008

Reflections

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