From Snails to Whales: 3 elements on the 2nd day of BHC: talkin/walkin/ridin- BH observance; 2nd assignment

Saturday, July 12, 2014

3 elements on the 2nd day of BHC: talkin/walkin/ridin- BH observance; 2nd assignment

We wrapped up a ½ day of lecture and class discussion on our 2^nd day, to comprehend the 1^st assignment question titled “which does the water drain from a sink in the NA vs. SA hemisphere” resulting in that it could be either direction of clockwise, counter clockwise or both which included the relation of the Coriolis effect. As we exited the Fuller building the heat of the mid-afternoon felt all of its predicted 88°. We left at 12:16 pm departing on the B trolley #3803B from campus t-stop: Boston University Central riding upon on a semi full car. I was good in managing myself in my space on the trolley with a full bag & chair in tow; I start my blog, so that I do not lose momentum of the true experience. When I observe the T riders on the trolley, I peek over to my right, and see/hear a trio of our male classmates engulfed in several light bursts of "water cooler" type conversations about the class and life. Therefore, I complete my thought for the blog, then take a little break to relax with 2 more stops to go exiting at Park St where I must transfer from the Green line to Orange, then on to Blue for arrival at the final destination at the Aquarium t-stop.

In my observation, along the piers 1^st dock session, Prof. BB told us to watch for something while standing at the water passage surrounding the dock as he tossed in pieces of French bread. As we waited standing in a jumbled line across the dock, us students were eager to watch for "something" as we waiting, then realized the bread was a bait to allure a school of stripe bass…wow! They swam underneath the water not in my immediate vision, then rose up to the water surface so warm and beautiful merely midway out of the water to feast on the bread. In the meantime, while a delay of the more stripe bass emerged, the show off ducks took position and began diving and skating across the water for a few pieces of bread that were left for grabs. Meanwhile, at the 2^nd dock session, I observed aquatic plant life in the water on the barb of a floating house docked which was signified in an array of colors such as brown, green, and a few on the orange spectrum. I believe it was roughly a ½ dozen + organisms to recall that were jelly fish, stripe bass, ducks, cormorants, and minnow fish akin to a slim goldfish that I saw. Next, while passing a tide pool at our 3^rd dock session, along the pier, I observed sediment with rock weed on and around it which I heard Prof. BB describe their function in the water was that they “popped when thrown to water” and its representation there deemed a harbors healthy improvement. A few feet away we met a dedicated member of the BHC that was mentored by Prof. BB which was a warm and refreshing knowledgeable girl sort of embarrassed by being put on the spot, but she was confident and answered all of the questions Prof. B rattled off her way with solid answers. Also, along here were 2 other species, I observed which were Algae and white (pictured in our seashore guide as ivory) Barnacles of variety said to “open at night upon touch by the water it extends its arm and opens up. In our last stop, we have our last dock session while awaiting the boat to view the islands up to Hull/Hingham under the Airport water taxi across from a community assisted build of Christopher Columbus park included sections for tots, dogs, and adults to sit on back to back benches for enjoyment of the area from either view, as this positive result was born from a 21 month policy conflict. Also, it was good to know if bar patrons, or other citizens fell in the water that in place every 100 yards that there were ladders to return you to safety…great agreeable idea policy makers! When our boat arrived we boarded together with Prof. BB at the head of the line guiding all students to the top of the boat for our stake of seating in order to have a clear view of the islands. Therefore, while riding out on the water we encountered a few heavy waves up against the boat which rocked its body to cause me acute motion sickness from my head to my tummy, even though the view was pretty as the city disappeared behind us, it just did not feel pretty on my tummy 😒…LOL!

photo credit by Charlette

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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

Saturday, July 12, 2014

3 elements on the 2nd day of BHC: talkin/walkin/ridin- BH observance; 2nd assignment

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