From Snails to Whales: Lovell's Island

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Lovell's Island

Hello All,
Lovell's was quite a different ball game compared to our adventure on the piers. Despite the ferry, rangers, and paved path, it felt like a much more natural environment than the docks by the harbor. The Island seemed to have a more diverse species of plant and animals. In the tide-pools I encountered, I believe, all the specimens from the docks, plus a whole bunch more. When we arrived on at Lovell's, the tide was at it's lowest. There were three large tide-pools separated by seemingly natural piles of jutting rock. The bottom was rocky, or cobbled, and was difficult to walk on (I would know, I was barefoot!) Closer to shore, the bottom was riddled with periwinkles, gradually as we walked deeper, barnacles became more and more prevalent. The barnacles seem to be Northern Rock Barnacles, the part where the guide book says, "The sharp edges of it's plates pose a hazard to any bare skin that touches them"really matches the species we saw. It is interesting to note that past the tide-pools/ the jutting rocks the barnacles became much sharper. I think this is because they were open. This could be because they are further submerged out there and therefore will open to feed. However it could also have to do with the water being much colder out there. Besides barnacles, the bottom was strewn with various other types of shells. In fact, you could barely see the bottom. As in the harbor, Blue Mussels were everywhere, live ones and empty shells. The live ones lines the rock structures dividing the tide-pools. Many other creatures were attached to Blue Mussel Shells. I saw evidence/empty shells of The Common Razor Clam, and unidentifiable sea urchins (maybe The Green Sea Urchin?) I noticed numerous empty shells of Common Slipper Shells, as well as live ones piled on top of one another, mostly attached to rocks or mussel shells. I also saw, what I think to be Northern Moon Snail, or The Spotted Moon Snail. It was a slightly larger, more conic version of the periwinkles, and unlike the periwinkles, did not seem to live in groups/ colonies. I saw more sea squirts than I ever had before. They seemed to grow both singularly and in groups. They were very fun to prod and play with. I am not sure of the exact species of sea squirt. The closest I can come in the guide book to the look and feel is the Club Tunicate, but seeing as they only grow in California, it probably isn't that. Covering the sea squirts and other surfaces was our old friend the Golden Star Tunicate. I also saw one example of a rubbery, white tunicate smothering a colony of sea squirts. I suspect it is The Northern White Crust. A final species to note was the crab whose shells we kept finding. The shells were much larger than the Asian Green Crab, and had a light red color. I think it is the Atlantic Rock Crab. We noticed that the "torso" of the crab shells were more common inside the tidal-pools, and the limbs and pincers were more common just outside the rock structure in the open water. I didn't see any live Atlantic Rock Crabs, which leaves me to believe they are either a) very good at hiding b) need to be in deeper water, so go out with the tide or c) are carried in my birds who eat them.

As for the snails.. I believe the land snails were brown-lipped grove snails. The ones we observed either had yellow or brown stripped shells, which were surprisingly light, and either lighter or darker "skin." They had 4 antennae, and were very friendly and curious. They seemed more abundant on the leafy vines growing on the smoother trees, which were closer to the water. It is unclear if the snails liked the trees because of their proximity to the water, or because of that particular species of tree. The periwinkles were quite different from the grove snails. I believe they were, specifically, The Common Periwinkle, because the guide book identifies them to be "by far" the most common periwinkle in New England- this accounts for the huge groups we saw them in, the book also mentions their culinary uses- a topic we most certainly covered. The biggest difference between the periwinkles and the grove snails was that the grove snails didn't seem to be in groups, although their were occasionally several in one tree. On the other hand, the periwinkles were literally on top of one another. There were so many of them, they began to blend into the rock. Other differences were that Periwinkles had 2 antennae, and unlike the grove snails, it was difficult to coax the periwinkles out of their shells, although this may have less to do with temperament and more with the fact that they are water creatures. I don't see much of a relationship between the two species, as their habitats are very different (according to wikipedia and the guide book) As to why those five snail shells showed up at the edge of the beach is a mystery to me? I cannot find any information on the grove snails relationship with the ocean, they originate from Eastern Europe- not exactly close to the beach- so I don't think they commonly gather by the beach. This leaves me to believe they were either exploring or like our friends the Atlantic Rock Crab, were caught and eaten by a sea gull.

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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

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Lovell's Island

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