From Snails to Whales: Deanna Soukiasian

Showing posts with label Deanna Soukiasian. Show all posts

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Lost (like the tv show, get it?)

Hey again guys! How are you? My leg is asleep so thats really comfortable and great for me. Thanks so much for asking!

As we were leaving the Beach Bruce made us stop and look at a concrete pile that fell off the path...there were shells in it..thats what we stopped for. And we totally understood what it was about and Bruce wasn't being cryptic about it at all. So we climbed up the hill of rocks which was just..really great. But we figured out that the shells weren't from periwinkles but they were garden snails! FROM LAND! So we were searching for I would say 100 years for a live one! Joann was the first to find one! It was a lil baybee snail <3 #baybee #snail #Joann #hunterhunted

We had to figure out how they got on the beach and why they were cracked, delicate, and different colors. Bruce was ...really giving us so many hints...and totally helping us out #grateful.

I think (and by think I mean know, because I'm a god damn genius dammit) that the snails were picked up by birds and dropped/ cracked open so they could eat the snails...because we already learned that birds do that. Some of the shells were super hot and colorful, and some were kind of chalky colored, I figured that was because of the different calcium intakes of each snail, the more calcium, the stronger they are the less calcium, the more fragile.

You're welcome.

But after that we cut up the fish... and ate it and stuff

Sonja is disgusting

So is John Paul

This part was pretty much great.

So I also have a quick question. We all know these grow near water, and on beach towns and stuff...But I saw them growing in Belmont which isn't even on the river so...can these be transplanted or how far from the water do they spread? Think about it. You're welcome.

After we dropped Bruce off at his boat house Charlie got the party started. Anybody who is anybody knows what I'm saying.

After we got off the boat we all went and got some killer food and tequila shots. Because we are always together.

After Chris dropped JP and myself at home (props to Chris) we all decided we were going to go out later that night...because we weren't with each other enough that day...

We went to this club that was really freaking hot, and made me sweat...and they served cheap tequila...the shitty kind that burns going down. And I hated that. But we all looked fine as hell and killed it on the dance floor.

#selfie

Love,

the light of your lives & kid who can jump rope really good,

Deanna

#THEEND

Assignments 1 & 2

Hi everyone how are you doing? I smell like BBQ potato chips...so thats great for me. Thanks so much for asking!

This week I think we kicked the shit out of everything even more than we did the week before..if thats even possible!

We got to start off the day on a freaking boat! Pretty much the best thing thats ever happened to any of us I bet. We got to hang out with Captain Charlie who's suuuuper OG.

We got to be professional fishermen! I mean you're only legit if you actually catch a fish...which I did...so I am...IN YOUR FACESSS! I caught a 12 inch Flounder, which swallowed the hook so it started gushing blood..I also have never seen a real flounder before, and I was pretty much shocked that it did not look like Flounder from the little mermaid.

Also I totally touched the sea worms...which were the most hideous things I've ever seen in my life. But obviously fish really like them, because we caught a whole bunch of them! I mean I think Dan pretty much kicked the shit out of all of us with that 38 in bass. That was pretty wicked.

I could have done that all day!

I'm pretty much great at fishing now so...you're welcome.

So once we had to get off the boat we got to go to Lovells Island...where they have exactly zero people and two bathrooms. We walked to the beach which was so great...and um we found lots of cool stuff...that lived/died there.

My notes are so beautiful. You're welcome. #blessed #grateful.

We had a scavenger hunt for four different life forms.

Asian Shore Crab
Barnacle
Periwinkle
Hermit Crab

so that was great for us. Also I had no idea that a slipper shell was actually an animal...looks like a snail. Pretty sweet. We were also supposed to find another living thing. We found some tadpoles! Which I was actually surprised were there because whenever I think of tadpoles I think of a gross little static pond.

So we got to crawl around in the water and that was pretty great...I got a sandal tan and burned my shoulders. But I look crispy now so don't worry about it!

Love,

the pride of boston & kid who can lift really heavy things, Deanna.

#THEEND

Thursday, July 17, 2014

#adventure2 The Paris of Massachusetts

Hi how are you guys? Im electric, thanks so much for asking.

On July 13th we went on another adventure in Boston Aka the Paris of Massachusetts. I think its safe to say we pretty much kicked the shit out of it AGAIN.

So since you are all wondering how I spent every single waking second of my day, I'll totally tell you! First JP & I took an exhilarating car ride with my mother... #teamwork. We got to our meeting point so we had time to kill and got to go meet some pretty cool locals!

So I changed my mind...time to cut the chit chat... we saw a lot of really weird stuff and I got some cuts...but I'm immortal so don't worry.

We hung out at Fan Pier like a bunch of cool guys

We hung out on the docks of the Barking Crab like a bunch of old pros

We broke up into groups so it would be easier to take selfies

That worked out really well for us.

#team1

#yourewelcome

#blessed

#grateful

#summer

#boat

#selfie

#shamelessselfie

#neverapologizeforselfies

We found a ton of gross stuff...I pretty much committed to the position of person who touches all the stuff...so that was great for me...

We lifted this rope that was hanging off the dock and that is where we found most of the specimens we focused on.

It was pretty much the grossest thing I touched...that day.

We missed the lobsters and sea stars...because we were totally committed to the research ...and because no one told us #RUDE.

We got to go have some killer lunch at the Barking Crab, and they totally didn't even freak out that much when we put our gross specimens on the table!

When we were looking through the guides we pretty much were able to narrow down some of the things we found.

-Golden star tunicate

-sandy lobed amaroucium

-sea pork

-sea lettuce

-Club tunicate

-Skeleton shrimp

there were some things I was not sure about, like there was these gross legs coming out of the rope we pulled out of the water...but they were just legs...looked like spider legs...i did not love that. So I took a guess and thought they were either

-Lentils

-Sargassum

-Slender Isopods

-Krill

We took some more selfies because we got tired of working

Which is great for you guys because I am exquisite.

And then we had a hard time splitting the bill because we have never eaten in a large group before... OR AT LEAST IT SEEMED THAT WAY.

#dumb

#areyoukiddingme

#embarrassing

#mealisonyou

Then we threw out our specimens because honestly they reeked really bad.

THE END

YOU'RE WELCOME

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Harbor Party #1

Oh hi! How are you guys? Im great, thanks so much for asking! Today we went on our first adventure on the Majestic Boston Harbor. I think we pretty much killed it today, am I right?

We started at about 2:00 pm, after an exhilarating class lecture, which was pretty sweet. Hard act to follow. We went our separate ways, and I had lunch with my fans ( you're welcome).

We met up at the super classilicious Starbucks, and went out and fed some ducks...but we also fed striped bass. To my surprise those guys like bread as much as I do! Those guys have no shame I bet..just swimming up to guys, asking for bread and stuff!

That was pretty sweet.

We got to take a look at these human savages infesting the whole freaking wharf!

We got to look at the bottom of that neat house boat where those guys were pretty much living the dream...I don't think they realized they had a sea monster growing under their boat..Oh it wasn't a sea monster? it was..algea?..and plankton? WHAT?! I know super gross...but also super cool that all those different species can co-habitate! They aren't even racist! No war among that plankton and algae!

After we hung out with the organic boat clingers, we got to go on our super exclusive yacht!

These guys were having "too good a time" obviously.

It was so beautiful on the boat!...I mean yacht.. I even got to relive my 4th/5th grade glory days, learning about good old deer island!

But obviously...the most important thing that you should take advantage of when on a boat....taking some wicked selfies!

You probably didn't realize you had super models on the yacht along side you.

It was awesome to get to go get to know our home in the harbor, and get to hang out with each other!

until next time!

the pride of Boston & Walking miracle,

Deanna <3 <3 <3

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.”