From Snails to Whales: Daniel O'Toole

Showing posts with label Daniel O'Toole. Show all posts

Friday, July 25, 2014

Fishing and Lovell Island

So first of all, yes, I did hook the biggest fish of the day. That was me. Please, no applause - I'm much too humble for that. Of course, I didn't reel it in mind you; I have people for that.

Now for notes. I think they were better than my last batch, but could definitely use some work. I re-wrote some of them to organize them better (and because my little notebook got crushed in my bag), so hopefully they're readable.

This page describes our first task - which was to take the boat to the deepest and coolest waters in the harbor (the main shipping channel) and fish! Bruce mentioned that the water is cooler now than it was last year at this time, and that that would likely affect which species we encounter and what we'll find in their stomachs.

I attempted a few drawings of the sea worms we were using for bait as well.

Next I've got some notes on the fish we caught. The first was a black bass that was about 14". I noted that it had 4 fins behind it's head, two on the bottom and one on each side. It had a dorsal fin running from about 1/3 it's length back from it's head down to where the tail narrowed. It had a fin on the bottom just below where the tail narrowed (which i now know is an 'anal' fin), and then it's tail fin.

The first one we caught had a noticeable bump on the top and just behind it's head, which Bruce pointed out as a sign that it was in the process of changing from a female to a male. The eyes looked about 1/3" to me and it had two very small rows of teeth. It's scales were iridescent purple and blue in some areas and overall it had a black and white pattern.

Here's a photo of the black bass:

We caught 2 flounders as well one about 12" and the other 16". They were both right-sided meaning their bellies were positioned to the right

Here are my drawings of the bass and flounder:

When we got to the tide pools at Lovell island, the tide was still fairly low but was making it's way back in. I found my Asian shore crab, periwinkle, and some barnacles, and also picked up some slipper shells. Here are my notes and drawings of the slipper shells:

The periwinkle:

Two types of barnacle, that I believe are little greys (the small ones) and a northern rock (the larger one with ridges.

And finally here is my Asian shore crab:

And one more picture: this is Charlie, our boat captain cleaning the big striper we caught. when he cut open the belly there was nothing in there - I assume because the unusually cold water is affecting the population of whatever he would normally eat.

Friday, July 18, 2014

#Hashtag's 4th wheel

Sunday’s class was our first where we got to grab creepy things from their watery lairs and try and count their bits and pieces before they died.

The dying part was sad. The creepiness was… creepy. And there was also a pretty unpleasant smell that was tough to wash off my hands afterwards. But it was also fun and fascinating! I think what really blew me away was just how many species can be found living on a single muscle (enough that I’m certain that I didn’t find all of them).

On to my observations: Our first stop was the Water Transportation Dock at Fan Pier Cove. We broke into groups and I somehow managed to glob onto team #, which was lucky for me (I believe we were the only team of 4). I worked with Daniela, Sonja and Chris, and I don’t think my observations would have been enough to identify all of these species without their help.

Here’s what I believe I saw on the Water Transportation Doc:

Sea Lettuce – this seemed to be everywhere we looked yet in small quantities. I definitely observed it here and at the Barking Crab docks. At first I confused it with another type of seaweed that was the same color but longer, which brings us to:

Kelp maybe? - I actually wasn’t able to identify exactly what the longer flat green type of seaweed was, besides that it’s not just bigger sea lettuce, an it’s probably some form of kelp.

Frayed Weed – I believe this is the type of reddish brown seaweed I saw on the north west side of the dock.

Lacey Red Weed – I think this is the finer red seaweed I observed on both docks.

Hollow Green Weed – these were the worm-like weeds on the north-east and south-east sides of the dock.

Barnacles – I believe the two types of barnacles I saw were the ‘Little Grey’ and the ‘Crenate’ (the muscle shell I looked at had many little greys and a single Crenate).

The green fennel-like seaweed I saw on the north west side of the dock may have been green sea fern, but I’m not sure. I didn’t get a picture of that one, and the pictures I’ve seen of green sea fern don’t look quite right.

Our next stop was the Barking Crab docks, and this is where we found the creepier (and more interesting) creatures. I pulled several muscles, some seaweed, a blob of bright orange, and a small crab from under one of the floating docks. Daniela, Sonja, Chris and I observed several species living on the muscles and in the seaweed. Here’s what I think I’ve identified:

Blue Muscles – though they were pretty well covered, the muscles we found appeared to be blue muscles.

Orange Sheath Tunicate – this was the orange blob I pulled out. Looking closely I could see that it was orange because of the tiny roundish orange structures that were inside a jelly like substance. Each of the round orange cells had a tiny spot on it that would have been the opening of tunicate.

Sea Pork – another orange tunicate, but this one had flower-shaped structures that were sparsely distributed.

Golden Star Tunicate – There were several star-shaped tunicates that I would have thought were different species but may just have been a variant of the Golden Star.

White Crusts – I’m not really sure of this one. I saw three different whitish crusty types of what I think were tunicates, but the description of this one most closely matches the one with distinct tubular structure. Unfortunately, it’s size range starts at 3 inches, so it may rule out any of the ones I observed (all of which were 1 to 2 inches or less).

Amphipods – Ok, so amphipods is not a species, but I was unable to identify the species of the two shrimp-like creatures we observed with yellow and black spotted and black and grey striped patterns. I am fairly certain that they are amphipods based on their overall look, their size, and the number of legs - 14 with the front two pairs thicker at the end (which are called gnathopods).

Skeleton Shrimp – I have no doubt that the longer, thin, shrimp-like (and sort of worm-like) creatures that had the look of a praying mantis were skeleton shrimp (which are actually amphipods).

Gulfweed Crab – the pattern on the small orange crab I found matches that of the gulfweed crab shown in the Peterson field guide. The size is off, but I’m not sure if that is because of how I measured my specimen ( I included outstretched legs). I measured it at 1 inch, where the guide indicates it grows up to ¾ of an inch. It’s close enough that I’m fairly confident this is the right species.

Common Spider Crab – This was the ugly dark brown fella in the lobster trap with the round body and long arms.

Rock Crab – this was the large reddish-brown crab we saw in the lobster trap.

Northern Lobster – this was the lobster in the lobster trap. Of course.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Ciabatta bait

After a lecture in the morning, our first day of field work started with a brief tour of some of the species that can be observed from Long Wharf. Just outside of the Marriott hotel we fed ciabatta bread to some pretty huge striped bass. I was surprised at how easy it was to start a bass feeding fest so close to shore, and at how big they were. I gather that Bruce is out there tossing quality North End food into the water on a regular basis, so that probably has a significant effect on the size of the fish.

Next up we saw what seemed to be a cormorant, diving for fish near the end of the wharf. His tastes seemed rather crude, so we gave him no Italian food.

On the side of a houseboat we looked at what looked like different types of seaweed. I didn't get a good picture of it, so I can't identify what types there were, but I did notice something bright orange among the leafy things; it looked a bit like mushrooms you might find growing on the side of a tree. I can't be sure, but they might have been orange sheath tunicates.

Before we got on the boat to tour the harbor, we took one more look at some species close to the shore. In this case there were some large stones covered in two types of seaweed and encrusted in barnacles.

Finally we boarded the boat for a tour of the harbor. I didn't observe much wildlife during the trip besides some humans having a bad day.

The harbor tour was nice. The sunburn I got was not. I'll be upgrading to 70 SPF for the next class.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Whirly sink myths...

My name is Dan O'Toole. I'm a Solutions Architect at BU's Information Services and Technology department. I grew up in Dorchester and have lived in the Boston area for most of my life. I've spent a fair amount of time on Massachusetts beaches, I've visited some of the harbor islands from time to time, I've been on a few whale watches (sometimes with whales and sometimes just the watching), and I enjoyed all of it, so I'm sure I'll love this class. Although I'm also sure my pale Irish skin is not going to like spending all day on Islands with no shade.

On to the assignment:

Before our first field trip, I was fairly sure that in both hemispheres, water drains in a clockwise direction. My reason for thinking this, was based on the Simpson's episode when they go to Australia. If I remember correctly, Bart demonstrates that toilets flush in the opposite direction in Australia than they do in the Northern hemisphere. Assuming it was a joke, I remember looking that up afterwards and verifying that it wasn't true. But I apparently forgot HOW it wasn't true.

During the field trip, I was fairly certain that I saw the water draining counter-clockwise, but I doubted that perception. Partly because my classmates mostly saw a clockwise motion, and partly because it was just hard to tell from the angle I was looking.

After about 2 seconds of Googling (and several more minutes trying to find 'trusted' sources), I now know that the affect that started the myth of different drainage directions, the Coriolis affect, is not so strong that can affect plumbing. What does affect the direction is the shape of the basin, the motion that water is already going in (affected by how the water swirled on the way in, or by disturbing the water in some other way.

As for some trusted examples (I assumed that Snopes doesn't count), here are three websites from educational institutions that all debunk the sink/toilet Coriolis myth:

Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
From the website of Emeritus Professor of Meteorology, Alistair B. Fraser
http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html

From Cornell University's Curious about Astronomy question and answer site:
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=516

From am old page on the webstie of John Baez who is a Mathematical Physicist at University of California Riverside:
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/bathtub.html

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.”