From Snails to Whales: Dock Specimen Observations

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Dock Specimen Observations

Today was our very first hands on experience on the Harbor. From early in the morning, I was continuously learning. Our first stop was on the north end of the Long Wharf right in front of Christopher Columbus Park. This observation occurred on July 14th, which meant that it was summer. It was 9:55 am local time during low tide. It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit with a light variable wind. The water quality was clear with 3-5 ft of visibility. This area consisted of a rocky sea wall with a 'beach' that consisted of pebbles, cobbles, and a sand mixture. There was vegetation that seemed to resemble seaweed. The vegetation colors varied from green to a dark brown or even purple coloring. As a group, we discussed it's possibility of the vegetation being classified as rockweed. We also observed vegetation that resembled bright greed seaweed. On the rocky sea wall, one could observe a mossy-textured vegetation in the intertidal zone that most closely resembled green algae. The nearby area is intensely used by people, which was obvious by just looking at the water. The water showed several bottles and other forms of garbage, as well as a trash can that seems to have been tossed into the water. Within the sub-tidal zone, a different world was shown. The only vegetation visible from our perspective was the purple and green seaweed. Several crab-like creatures and small fish were visible in this area. Below are some pictures that help give a clearer idea to our surroundings.

The picture above shows the rocky sea wall with the intertidal zone, sub-tidal zone and its surroundings that have been described above.

The picture above shows the sub-tidal zone and the Benthic Layer and its surroundings that have been described above.

After observing the aforementioned area, we walked about 15 feet to another location. This location contained ramps and docks for transportation and recreational boats used consistently throughout any given day at the Long Wharf. This given observation was made on July 15th 2013 at about 10:35 am, standard eastern time. At this time, there was a low tide and the temperature was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. There was a light variable wind and the water clarity was cloudier than the previous observation. The water had about a 6 inch visibility at the time of observation. The observable area consisted of an intertidal zone with several rocks and a rocky sea wall. Again, there was visible vegetation including green algae and varied colors of seaweed and rockweed. Because of the water clarity, the only observable creature in the water seemed to be a crab. Below are some pictures that help illustrate the observed area.

The picture above shows the intertidal zone, sub-tidal zone, and the Benthic Layer and its surroundings that have been described above.

A short walk after observing the above area (about 15 feet), we observed an area that closely resembled a 'beach.' Similar vegetation was in this area, but no other organisms were visible other than the vegetation and birds.

The picture above shows the intertidal zone, sub-tidal zone, and the Benthic Layer and its surroundings that have been described above.

After observing these areas, we walked for about half an hour onto a small dock. In this dock, we would observe organisms more closely. On this dock, it was evident that the tide was still low by observing the pillars that held the boardwalk and its vegetation was similar to the intertidal zones we had seen earlier that day. From the docks, sea stars, mussels, and other organisms were visible. In our last location, we observe organisms from under a dock more in depth. Below are some pictures that were taken on our first dock stop.

After walking and discussing several topics throughout the day, we reached our final destination of the day; the Barking Crab dock. On this dock, we split up into our teams and observed some organisms that were attached to the docks. Our first specimen was sea lettuce. This sea lettuce was very bright but contained other animals with it. From looking in our field guide, we discovered that these creatures might be a Sea Pill Bug. These creatures were on most of the vegetation that we took from the docks and seemed to stop moving after about a minute of being taken out of the water. Below are some pictures of the sea lettuce and sea pill bugs.

After observing and attempting to name the organism above, we pulled out another specimen from the dock. This specimen was apparently a blue mussel with two barnacles attached to it. After close observation, our team decided that we believed the barnacle to be a bay barnacle. Below is a picture of the specimen.

As you can see from the picture above, there seems to be a coating on the other end of the mussel. As a team, we decided to remove the covering to better examine it. After careful examination, we decided that this covering most closely resembled a golden star tunicate. Below are pictures that show this golden star tunicate.

Our next specimen had several parts to it. We removed a grass-like vegetation with several bugs in them. This also contained parts of the 'covering' that was found on the mussel. The grass-like vegetation was a reddish purple-ish color. After its close inspection, we determined that it was brushy red weed. The bugs were similar to the ones found on the green sea lettuce, which were sea pill bugs. The coverings were determined to be the golden star tunicate from the blue mussel and orange sheath. Another vegetation that was found seemed similar to the green sea lettuce, other than its color. It was identical to the green sea lettuce except that it was purple to a red color. However, after a closer look, we found that it was intertwined with green sea lettuce. Because of these factors, we determined that it was in fact red sea lettuce. By the end of our observations, we noticed a small shell on the deck. It was white with some stains on the outer covering. It reminded me of the shells found on the beaches of the Jersey shore. We decided that this shell most closely resembled Morton's egg cockle. While our observations were taking place, we noticed something floating on the water. After removing it from the water we inspected it carefully and found that this vegetation was different from what we had seen throughout our experience on the dock. This green weed-like vegetation seemed to be tangled and had some air-filled pockets on the ends. After looking at our field guide, we decided that it looked more similarly to ascophyllum mackaii. As a form of a disclaimer, I must add that our distinctions between the names of these specimen may be incorrect or a misnomer. As a team, none of us had any professional experience in labeling organisms from simply looking at a field guide. We may have misnamed a species or confused it with an invasive species that was not listed in our book. Other than that, we have tried our very best in observing and labeling the specimen from under the dock. Below are some pictures that we took of the specimen from the dock.

From left to right: green sea lettuce, brushy red weed, orange sheath, golden star tunicate

From left to right: green sea lettuce and orange sheath

Red sea lettuce attached to green sea lettuce

A piece of the ascophyllum mackaii

A larger look at the ascophyllum mackaii with green sea lettuce on the bottom

A look at the inside of Morton's egg cockle

A look at the top part of Morton's egg cockle

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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, July 23, 2013

Dock Specimen Observations

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