Goodbye Post

Now that this course has come to an end, one can't avoid to just sit back and reflect on the time spent. This has been one of the more unique courses that I've ever taken. The scheduling, setting and professor have all been so different that it has been difficult to adjust. I have never taken a course in which the professor smoke while discussing our surroundings. To me, the experiences are one that I will not forget. Although its uniqueness was something that was difficult for me to adapt to, I will remember the information that I have learned about the harbor that's so close to my new home.

'Whale Watch Failure'

This morning, I read Professor Berman's cautious e-mail about the weather and its probable effects on the trip planned for today. Once I read the e-mail, I called the Aquarium to figure out if everything was still a go for the whale watch. They quickly told me that the event was rain or shine so I shouldn't have any issues with that. I went to the boat at 9 am with Lorraine and MJ and we sat on the bottom area of the boat to make sure that we were able to have a good view of the whales. We were pretty surprised at the weather, but we didn't think it would be a huge problem. The boat ran smoothly for the first miles. We made it past Deer and Spectacle Island without a problem. However, a couple of miles past the islands, we began to hit some really rough waters. It was so intense that I had to hold the table in front of me for support. This persisted for about 15 minutes, which seemed infinite at the time. All three of us became very sea sick. Once we began to worry about this, the captain of the boat announced that the risk that the rough waters were putting us in was not worth it for today. He mentioned that the waters were about 5-7 feet waves, and that he had never experienced waters that rough while going on a whale watch. Once he announced our return to Boston, one of the children on the boat said 'well that was a whale watch failure.' We all laughed at the accuracy of the child's statement, and I feel that this was a perfect phrase to describe the morning. The waters made me so sick that I had to go onto the deck to get fresh air and look at the horizon. Luckily, nothing more happened and we made it to Boston safely!

Public Forum

For our last half of the class, the atmosphere changed. We have been going to the docks and into the water to 'do' science. However, the focus changed to public opinion and decision making on public interest as well as the well being of the environment. We went to the public forum at 3:00 at the Atlantic Wharf. I had an idea of what would happen, but was pleasantly surprised that the public was quiet and the discussions progressed calmly and without any tension although there were some people with dissenting opinions on some matters. The presentations I was able to see consisted of landowners on the Long Wharf and their ideas for changes of the structure on the exterior of their property. I saw that the debate consisted of profit margins for the landowners and their tenants versus the public interest in being a part of the area on the Long Wharf. It was a great opportunity to see the significance of this area of Boston is so important to the community and is open to discuss several opinions.

Lovell's Island Adventure and Some Culinary Art with Striped Bass

After some intense, long days in the sun, I was excited for our fourth and final class of the week along with the rest of the class. We all met up on the Barking Crab dock at about 8:00 am and promptly departed on our boat for the day, Belle, on Courthouse Dock at about 8:30 am. Upon departing, we could see the harbor growing and the city buildings becoming smaller and smaller. Unfortunately, while we stopped to fish, I became sea sick. I think it was because I was currently sick with the cold and had taken medicine that made me drowsy. That, with the mixture of the boat movements couldn't have been a good mix. I watched as my other classmates caught black sea bass, a mackerel, and a striped sea bass. After a classmate caught the striped sea bass, I think everyone in the class remembered that part of our day as a highlight to our trip. Upon our arrival to Lovell's Island, we walked towards a beach there and saw that it was mostly made of rocks. However, some debris from an old military fort had made its way there onto the shoreline. When we arrived, which was about 11 am, it was in low tide, which meant that we could see the intertidal zone at it's best. We entered the tidal pool to observe the creatures here. It was an instant realization that the tidal pool was filled with periwinkles and hermit crabs. I had some of them on my hands! The periwinkles didn't come out of their shells unless my hand was underwater, in which they came out quickly and moved about my hand. The hermit crabs, however, weren't as shy and quickly went from side to side on the palm of my hand. I also saw a ton of invasive green Asian sea crabs in the water and under rocks. We even held them on our hands (at least the smaller ones!).

After walking to another tidal pool, we saw some shells on top of a large metal plate. These shells were bright and empty, and deeply mysterious. We didn't know where they came from until soon before our departure from the island. While we were leaving, I saw a similar shell along the path and pointed it out. Upon inspection, Professor Berman told us that the shell belonged to some land snails on the island. The mystery was solved, but there was still one question, why would land snails be by the shore where they would most likely get into trouble? Perhaps this was from storms and winds that would drag some land snails over to the water. Well, on the second tidal pool, we could start to see the rise in the water level pretty quickly. The cold water from the harbor was felt in sharp contrast to the water that had been sitting in the sun all morning. In this tidal pool, we saw some shrimp, small fish, and even some mussels! There were some shells that would attach themselves to rocks or other shells that contained an orange to yellow interior that was edible. I saw some students try it and they described it as a similar taste to oysters or mussels. However, I was not as adventurous as them to try it. After our observations, we headed back to Belle to go home.

On our trip back home, we dissected the striped bass. During our dissection, we found out that the fish was a female. Only ten people decided to take some of the fish home, in which I was in that group. I was excited to take it home and make my lunch from this freshly caught fish. Once I got home, I fileted the fish into manageable filets, breaded them, and fried them. My boyfriend and I happily ate the fresh fish with some rice that we had. That was by far the freshest fish I had ever had in my life, and was glad to have had the opportunity to have this great lunch!

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





Harbor Islands

Today was my first experience with the Boston Harbor. I have lived in Boston since last September, but have never ventured out into the Harbor. I've been meaning to see this for a while, and I'm really glad that I've been able to see it today. As we left from the Long Wharf, you can barely see any islands. A delightful surprise was the proximity of the Logan Airport. I have never seen Logan Airport from this perspective, much less any of the islands. As we continued through the Harbor, Spectacle and Deer Island became more prominent in our view. Long Island also began to appear as we went through. On Deer Island, the sewage containers and facility were much larger than the image I had thought of while Professor Berman described them earlier in class. Nixes Mate was a surprising and interesting tale that I haven't heard of before. This story about the pirate is one that I will be sure to tell any friends that I take a harbor cruise with. Upon arriving at Georges' Island, one could see the beautiful landscape on and around the island. Boston's buildings were barely in sight and the Harbor demonstrated an overwhelming presence around us. I had never seen anything like this, and I loved the view. As we departed from Georges' Island, we could clearly see Peddocks Island. In my opinion, this was my favorite island. It was my favorite because of the layout of having several large heavily wooded areas and small, skinny stretches of land that seemed to be a small road connecting it to Prince Head. As we continued on the boat, we saw Nut Island and the various homes that completed the scenery. Upon arriving at Quincy, a different scenery took place. An industrial area began to emerge that reminded me of my hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey (one of the most heavily used ports in the country). While returning to Boston, I could see the various islands that I would soon be accustomed to within the next couple of days. A striking image to me was the arrival to Boston. The buildings seem to be in a perfect order while the boat approaches the dock. I noticed several student taking pictures, which I'm sure must be beautiful. I'm excited to see what Monday has in store for us after today's beautiful cruise!

First Class (Romina Duarte)

My name is Romina and I'm a transfer student from New Jersey. I grew up about half an hour away from the famous Jersey Shore (I promise you, the Jersey shore isn't like the show). The ocean has always been a big part of my summer, and it has always been a place that has given me wonderful memories. After Sandy, it seems that the entire state's attention is to rebuilding the shore, and it has really opened my eyes to how deeply important the shore is to New Jersey's culture. It gives me great pride to be from a state that takes such pride in nature. As for me, I'm a Criminal Justice major and it's my senior year of college, so I'm pretty excited. The reasons that convinced me to take this course are that it's an interesting subject and that my life consists of having friends in the Marine Biology field. Having a roommate that lives and breathes nature can sometimes lead to some interest as well. I'm excited to finally understand the species that she declares when we go out to the shore.

As for the field trip from today's class, we had two separate tests. During the first one, (which was the presentation by the professor) I thought I saw the water drain clockwise. I was surprised because I thought it would drain counterclockwise. However, I didn't feel sure about what I had seen because the view wasn't ideal. The rest of my team disagreed with me, so we decided to test this again. In this test, we all agreed that the water was draining counterclockwise. After we all agreed on what we had seen, we decided to conclude the test.

According to my research, the idea that water drains in a different direction depending on the hemisphere you are on is a myth. As this website (http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/coriolis.html) states, this is a myth that has come from the Coriolis force. This is a force that can be seen from hurricanes, but this force is too weak to truly affect draining systems. Another source, the Huffington Post, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/water-drain-equator_n_2010379.html) has even taken this debate and set the record straight on this question. They, like the Library of Congress, have stated that this is a myth for smaller drainage systems, but that this does occur in higher scale natural events such as hurricanes. For my last source, I checked the Scientific American. In this article, (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-somebody-finally-sett) they state the exact same explanation as the sources above for this misunderstanding of the Coriolis force. After researching this, the debate and difference of opinion in class makes much more sense.