Pump Up the Bass

Evening all, Shaun here with my final blog post, reporting to you from my couch with a belly full of striped bass and acoutrements. How did we get there? Well let's recount the steps, shall we? First off, Professor Berman purchased a 17 lb striped bass this morning from the market after a harrowing near catch of his own. Like an honorable recreational angler though, he elected to follow protocols and throw back the fish that was a just a few inches short of the 28 in minimums for striped bass. In the Fuller Building test kitchen we got a first-hand demonstration of how to turn the striped bass into a myriad of delicious and edible options. Here is our friend (I elected not to name him as it just makes him more difficult to eat later) in the whole . . .

From here, Professor Berman elected not to scale the fish as he was going to remove the skin from all the filets. Personally, that's the way that I have always eaten my fish. Amin (apologies if I misspelled his name) asked why Americans preferred their fish this way and Professor Berman explained that it really is just personal taste and to this I can agree. Not sure why, but fish skin is just not something that I dig. While the fish was still in its full-bodied glory, we got a chance to see/touch the slimy protective layer, feel the scales for ourselves and check out the gills and the unique mouth that sucks in its prey before using its mouth plates to dismantle the food. Next, Professor Berman made the first incision just behind the head and over the backbone, sliding the knife along to carefully avoid cutting any internal organs while removing the filet for us to enjoy.

The trickiest part was near the end of the fish, cutting through the tail while trying to avoid its ass. I know from experience, it's a tricky (but important) cut). Once through, it is just a matter of slicing the filet off from the rest of the body, one slow cut at a time, back and forth. Once the first side is complete, it is time to remove the filet from the other side until you have two beautiful filets like so . . .

Once we got here, Professor Berman went through the rest of the fish, taking out some of the other useful pieces along the body. We used most of these to make some sashimi and some incredible looking ceviche. The sashimi was some of the best I have ever had, though I did not get a chance to try the ceviche as I have an intense dislike of cilantro. I did take a pic though . . .

Once the hors d'ouevres were complete, we each got a chance to take home a filet of our own for testing purposes.

It was a good chunk of fish and while it was not enough to feed an entire family, it was plenty to feed me and really, that's the person I am most concerned with feeding anyway. I elected to make some fish tacos with the fish. On Professor Berman's instructions, I cooked the fish just briefly on each side and it did not take long at all. I threw it in some hard shells with some tomoatoes, lettuce and a little cheese and here is the finished product. Not a bad dinner if I do say so myself, which I just did.

My hat's off to Professor Berman for introducing us all to such a great/delicious fish. I sincerely hope that the species does indeed rebound next year and the year after, just leaping onto Professor Berman's boat. Thanks to all for a terrific class. Until we meet again, my fellow harbor enthusiasts.

-Shaun Bossio

The Long Way to Lovells

Today, for our final field trip, we took a boat to Lovells Island in Boston Harbor. Lovells has a similar environment to Peddocks in that it is fairly secluded and we easily walked around without being disturbed by other groups, tourists, etc. While it does feature some old fort ruins, it does not have the touristy attractions that islands like Georges do and while Georges is great in its own right, being different makes Lovells pretty great too. We spent the majority of our day walking up the beach along the coast of Lovells and inspecting the natural tide pools that formed in many locations. The tide pools showcased a slightly different environment from that which we had seen so far, though they also had pieces that we had seen in previous habitats. There were some tunicates of course, though not nearly as many as we had seen in the inner harbor. Here is a picture of a tunicate on a sea squirt. Though I inspected nearly every tide pool on the beach, I came across only two sea squirts (though decidedly more tunicates).

Once we got to the cobble and rock portion of the beach, it was also apparent that it was run by the periwinkles (sea snail #1) and barnacles. They were everywhere. One of the most interesting things that I saw all day was when I went in early to grab a periwinkle and realized that it was actually a hermit crab. Not only that, but that there were also hermit crabs everywhere and of all sizes. Some of the crabs were even outside their shells and attempting to move into a bigger house. I thought I had some good pictures of this, but apparently they didn't turn out so well. Another interesting species that we had not seen a great deal of before Lovells were the slipper snails (sea snail #2) that were also not difficult to find. Some rocks even had several covering its surface as seen below . . .

It took some work prying the slipper snails off (and also keeping Professor Berman from eating them) their hosts, but this is what they looked like . . .

Thought I didn't find them, several members of the class did in fact locate several additional types of sea snails like the smooth sea snail (sea snail #3) and one possessing a lined shell that I believe may be a Channeled Tun (sea snail #4)

Similar to, but ultimately unlike the sea snails we spent so much of the day collecting, were the land snails. We first found a group of empty, yet different snail shells by a rock on our way back up the beach. We gathered together to see the brightly colored shells below . . .

Our first mission is to try to identify the particular snails and though I am still not sold on this answer, my best guess after spending a significant amount of time researching is that they are Cuban land snails (Editor's Note: this is clearly a brown lipped snail, but I was not clever enough to find it the first time. The lesson, as always, is that I'm an idiot). As we walked through the woods on the way back, we identified some more of the living versions of these interesting snails. Clearly they adhere to the local trees, so it brought up the question of how they ever got to the beach in such a tight area in the first place? I think the most likely culprit in this case are the birds that scour the island for any kind of food, be it from the tidal pools or elsewhere on the island.

All in all, it was a pretty great day on a pretty great island. Plus, we didn't even get rained on which was an unexpected bonus. Can't wait to see what the innards of a striped bass look like tomorrow.

G'night harbor enthusiasts,
-Shaun Bossio

What Clean Water Means to Me

The question of the night is if/how is clean water important to me? That really needs to be broken up into two separate issues. If/how is clean drinking water important to me and if/how is a clean and usable harbor/ocean/lake important to me? Those are two very different answers.

When I was growing up, clean drinking water was never an issue. To be honest, it was something that I never even thought about or considered myself lucky to have. The market surge in the last ten years for bottled water has been phenomenal in that it was something that my parents would have laughed off when I was younger. Growing up without ever having to worry about your drinking water is like growing up never having to worry about money. You never really stop to consider the people in less developed areas/countries that are not as fortunate as you. When I was growing up I took clean drinking water for granted, almost as something that was a god-given right. Nowadays, I tell myself that I can fully appreciate how fortunate I truly am to have been born in a country/region with clean drinking water, but can I really? Of course not. Having run out of bottled water on a hike or having to run wind sprints for an hour during soccer practice is about as parched as I have ever been. Meanwhile, there are people dying of thirst in less developed or more overpopulated countries. Hell, there is a bottled water cooler about 15 steps away from my office that I fill up my Klean Kanteen about 5 times a day with. So no, I have absolutely no idea what it is like to not have readily available drinking water.

As for a clean and usable body of water to make use of, that is a more difficult question to answer for me personally. As I have mentioned several times before, growing up in the Greater Boston area during the 80’s and 90’s, we were not encouraged to make use of the local bodies of water. As such, I was never a huge proponent of beaches or the ocean or swimming/water activities in general. Sure, I have been to the beach on occasion or gone for a swim in a lake or two, but it has never been something I actually craved. I do have to admit though, it is growing on me. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the trips we have taken so far and seeing the degree to which the harbor has rebounded has been pretty awe-inspiring. Not only that, but seeing so many people out and about, enjoying the harbor has me reconsidering my original position. At the very least, I am open to further persuasion . . . and of course bribes.

If I were to rank the two in terms of their importance to me, I think it’s obvious that clean drinking water is extremely important and should be something that nobody has to live without. A clean waterfront is great and a huge boost to many facets of its surrounding area, but let’s focus on keeping the people alive and well before we try to give them more recreation options.

See you tomorrow harbor enthusiasts,

-Shaun B.

Leave No Stone Unturned . . . Almost Literally

Today in our adventures in the outer harbor, we stopped at Peddock's Island for a glimpse at a landscape that has only recently been reintroduced to the public. What did we find? A lot of rocks, a park ranger with a quiet temperament and a sweet chinstrap, and eventually some actual living things. The first thing that I noticed walking along the natural paths of the island was how peaceful it really was. Sure, there was the ranger and a few “locals” in the middle of their vacation, but otherwise the whole area was pristine . . . well, except for the 24 loud fools that trucked in from BU to liven things up. The other thing that was hard not to notice though was the difference between the environments on the island and that on the docks that we witnessed back in Boston. I don’t want to ruin what is sure to be one hell of a paper, so let me just hit you up with the highlights. Whereas we spent so much time identifying the myriad species that were present at the wharves and Barking Crab, at Peddock’s we spent most of our time searching for actual living things. Sure, we saw plenty of evidence of things that had been alive at one point (dead crab shells, empty mussels, clam shells from cherry stones to quahogs), but it took a lot of effort to unearth any actual life forms. We did however find a dead skate. Plus, as a bonus, his hollowed out body looked like a ghost mask, so we had that going for us, which was nice . . .

That’s not to say that it was a bad thing, but it was certainly a different experience. For instance, the mud flat next to the dry salt marsh seemed to have some interesting life in it. There was movement throughout the water and a predatory bird stalking its prey. Despite our best efforts though, we were unable to get close enough to identify the animals within. Of course, with some tips from Professor Berman, we were able to unearth some Invasive Asian Crabs . . .

This one is a male, but I blurred out his private parts since this is a family blog and all. Hey look, another shot of another IAC . . .

Though we were told they were everywhere (and possibly the cause of the lack of sand on the beach), live periwinkles were very hard to find. Luckily, I’m a classically trained beach hunter . . .

In any event, Peddock’s Island was gorgeous and a great way to spend the day. It also provided an interesting contrast to the work we have done up to this point. Sure, it took a great deal of effort and exploration to find what we were looking for, but didn’t that make it just a little bit better?

Till next week harbor enthusiasts,

-Shaun Bossio

Under the Sea  . . . or at least Under the Dock

Hello . . . again. Shaun here with another blog post, this time to talk about 11 new friends I made today in the intertidal zone. Then again, I think I got a little too much sun, so I very well may have imagined all of  these. Anyone else see a singing red crab? No? Um, me neither. 

Without further ado, here are my best guesses at the 11 flora and fauna that I met today along the docks. 

11 - Purple sea urchin (Aquarium) - I'm not really sure if this one counts or not, but what the hell, I'm throwing it in there. It was round and spiny and brightly colored and just gave the Atlantic Harbor Seal pen that little "je ne sais quoi." That's French for "it really spruced up the joint."

10 - Spongomorpha (Rowe's Wharf) - it's clumpy, slimy, green and looks not unlike sea snot. Frankly, it was so distracting that I somehow forgot to get a picture of it. Moving on . . .

9 - Sea Lettuce (Everywhere) - Pretty much looks exactly like it sounds. Honestly, if I was the first person to find sea lettuce and got to name it, that is probably the best thing I could have come up with as well. Nothing like a nice head of iceberg soaking in some brackish water, amiright?

8 - Club Tunicate (Barking Crab) - Almost missed this guy because he was covered in an as-yet-unnamed mucusy layer (mmmmm). We also almost misdiagnosed it as the orange footed cucumber until I randomly and without prior suggestion decided to take a look at the Blackboard site. I would also recommend cutting one open and seeing what looks like a giant pimento inside.

7 - Blue Mussels (Literally, everywhere) - Seriously, these were everywhere from the other side of Long Wharf to Rowe's and the Crab. I'm pretty sure I even saw some growing on a homeless gentleman who decided to sleep a little too close to the water. Needless to say, they were plentiful, some vacant, some with their owner's still intact. A good number of them were covered in the aforementioned mucusy discharge as well as the next two on this list

6 - Halichondria Panacea (Rowe's & Crab) - I'm still not sold on this one as it very well could be Boring Sponge as well. Unfortunately, I bought the book with illustrations rather than pictures. After a little more time looking at both on Google, I'm going with HP.

5 - Bowerbank's Halichondria (Rowe's & Crab) - We originally thought that this was the same organism as 6, but after some more inspection came to the conclusion that it was not. I would have called this one Macandcheese Halichondria, but Bowerbank probably deserves to have a namesake.

4 - Skeleton Shrimp (Everywhere) - Again, these things were everywhere. Little shrimp like bugs/organisms that were covering pretty much anything we pulled out of the water, including the rope line with our next friend below . . .

3 - Sea Squirt (Rowe's) - I'm not positive about this one as the pictures I got were not as up close and personal as the others, but this is my best guess for the little tube-like things that were on the rope line and squirting to defend their turf.

2 - Graceful Red Weed (Rowe's Wharf) - Honestly, isn't that just a pretty great name? It makes it sound a lot better than a pile of red weeds that we pulled out. On the plus side, not very greasy.

1 - Soft Sour Weed (Rowe's Wharf) - I would have called this sea grass as that is basically what it is, only a darker shade of green and much much thinner. 

Now, onto the comparison of the docks from this year to last year. There doesn't seem to be a lot that jumps out at me. There are clearly more barnacles in the picture from last year. I don't recall seeing many at all in the sections of dock that I inspected (yes, yes, I am not counting the posts we looked at in Rowe's). The colors are slightly different, but the reds and oranges are most likely the two types of Halichondria from above. I don't see a lot of green aside from what might be a touch of spongomorpha. No sea lettuce anyway which is fairly surprising. Rock weed and sea lettuce were pretty much everywhere we went today as well. I also don't see any skeleton shrimp, though I didn't pick them up in my shots unless they were extremely close up, so it's possible they are just not in range. I'm sure I am missing something(s) obvious as I am just starting to get the hang of the scientific observation thing, but I am looking forward to another round of WTF.

Stay cool, harbor enthusiasts,

-Shaun Bossio

Waste Not, Want Not

In all honesty, I think the lesson on how waste is currently processed in and around Boston is pretty frickin amazing. Can you say frickin on this blog? What’s this thing rated? To not only have corrected the problem of dumping pure waste into the harbor, but to have done so in such an ingenious manner is just fascinating to me. Crap becomes clean water and fertilizer for sale. It is so simple and efficient that it is brilliant. That’s not the best thing I observed today though. It is just one of the reasons why I observed what I did. The best thing that I saw today was a revitalized Boston Harbor not only teeming with marine life (ok, I didn’t see marine life with my own eyes TODAY, but Professor Berman seems like a quasi-reputable source), but a harbor teeming with people there to experience it. Honestly, they were everywhere. They were crowding Long Wharf to see the sights and experience all the activities. They were filling up every boat that docked looking for more patrons. They were hiking the hills and trails of the Harbor Islands themselves. They were out on the harbor in their own personal motorboats, sailboats, kayaks and I’m pretty sure this one guy was in an inner tube which I’m also pretty sure can’t be exceptionally safe. They were even flooding the Boston Harbor Island info stand by Government Center. Even as folks were getting off our boat in Quincy and Professor Berman mentioned that nobody would be getting on, boom; another large group of people jumps on the boat destined for the inner harbor. They were everywhere and excited to be there. Anyone that grew up in and around Boston can tell you about the jokes they heard about the harbor growing up. They were limitless. Honestly I think those jokes subconsciously have helped deter me from spending virtually any time on the harbor. To cruise around today though, I was amazed not only by the state of the harbor and the islands, but how popular they had become. What did I observe today? I witnessed one of Boston’s most important landmarks was back (at low tide moving out, 1:20pm, about 83 degrees), better than ever and the evidence was everywhere for everyone to see. Oh, and I met a hot lady Park Ranger in Faneuil Hall. All in all, a pretty good day.

Until tomorrow, harbor enthusiasts,

-Shaun Bossio

Hey there harbor enthusiasts. My name is Shaun Bossio and I have lived in the Boston area my whole life. Despite that, I have somehow gone that entire time without a trip to any of the harbor islands. Pretty sad, t'is true. Yes, I said "t'is". I am taking this class to satisfy a science requirement and since the extent of my scientific development can be categorized as limited to what I learned on the Discovery Channel, my options were few. Honesty, right? That being said, I have heard some great things about this class and I am looking forward to exploring a part of my home that has somehow eluded me for so long. Plus, I really kind of enjoy it when Prof. Berman embarrasses the folks that come in late. I think we are going to get along just fine.

As for the solution to today's field trip, I have to admit I was 99.9% sure that the answer was clockwise (North America) and counter-clockwise (Australia). How was I so sure? I clearly remember the episode of the Simpsons (Bart v. Australia) in which that very problem is discussed. When we conducted our group experiment today, I thought our results confirmed just that. The water drained out of the sink in a clockwise manner. Now, I just had to prove why my theory was correct. I did a little research online and read up on the Coriolis effect and yes, starting on Wikipedia (it's just so damn handy). I was a little surprised to read that though it can affect the direction water drains, it does not have any effect on toilets, bathtubs, sinks and presumably, beer kegs, in any hemisphere. My first thought was, "No, that can't be right. Wikipedia must be wrong." After doing a little more searching though, I stumbled onto this page which is not exactly the most reputable of sources, but does provide a good explanation and helpful Q&A. A short time later though, I did manage to find an article on the Library of Congress page that corroborates the inability of the Coriolis effect to affect smaller bodies of water such as that in our sinks. Ok, ok, so the page is intended for a ten year old writing a report on how toilets flush. Whatever. It is still from the Library of Congress! Plus, I may or may not have spent the next hour looking up more Everyday Mysteries. I mean, who among us has never wondered why indeed a grapefruit is called a grapefruit? They're right, it looks nothing like a grape! Thank you Library of Congress.

In any event, it appears we were all wrong. Each and every one of us. I look forward to making a fool of myself again and again over the next 6 days. Damn you science (shaking fist), you win this round!

-Shaun Bossio