StevieMarie LaMonica - I Bid Farewell

August 4, 2013

 I never realized how lucky I was to live in Winthrop until I became an adult. As a kid, I just thought it was cool to live near the beach and watch the airplanes fly over all day long. My parents would take me for walks along the beach where we’d see a ton of periwinkles and snails. I’d pick them up, play with them, and then put them back, thinking how cute they were. Sometimes I’d get to see tiny, live crabs, but most of the time I just saw dead crabs or their shells, most likely from seagulls. In middle school we had a field trip to George’s Island where we had a picnic and a scavenger hunt, it was fun but we didn't really care all that much by what was around us, even though our teacher was trying to do his job; teach us something. As I got a little older, in my teens, I really just didn't care about any of it. Even thought I knew about tide pools in the harbor, and the islands, I never realized how much the organisms and species living in this place, that I’ve lived all of my life, had such an impact on the harbor, the environment and humans, too. It wasn’t until I took this class that I learned what invasive species were, and what harm they've done. I didn’t even realize these cute adorable little tiny periwinkles were invasive and not native, and their impact. To me, the Boston Harbor has always been dirty, even after I knew a little about the work that had been done to clean it up. It was nice to see that it really was cleaner, and wasn’t nearly as gross as I had thought. Pretending to be a visitor to the harbor really changed my attitude towards it. I get to appreciate it so much more now, and I want to learn so much more. I want to learn about all of the species, where they came from, if they’re native or invasive, and their impact. Luckily, I did get to learn quite a bit about that, and even learned about species and organisms I had never seen or, I have seen and just had no clue what they were, like tunicates. I thought that was just some yucky slime that was part of the dirty harbor, but that’s not the case at all. This class has made me want to spend more time at the harbor and in the city of Boston to keep expanding my knowledge, and appreciate even more where I live and where I’ve come from, and what I have surrounding me that is truly amazing. 

I have met some pretty awesome people in this class, and hope to stay connected with them. Especially my partners in crime; Coulter, Berit and Karissa <3 

StevieMarie LaMonica_Whale Watch Fail

July 25, 2013

Today we were supposed to go out on a Whale Watch but, unfortunately, due to the weather, our trip was cancelled. The employees also informed us that the rest of the day trips would be cancelled as well. Since we were already there, we didn't want to completely was the day, so a group of us decided to have some fun at the New England Aquarium! :)

For some reason I cannot get this to rotate :/

StevieMarie LaMonica_Public Hearing

July 24, 2013

Today we got a chance to sit in on a public hearing about the Downtown Waterfront Municipal Harbor Planning with the Advisory Committee in the Fort Point Room, 290 Congress St., Boston.

The agenda was:

1. Planning Area Property Owner Presentations

• Boston Marriott Long Wharf - Yanni Tsipis, Senior VP, Colliers Int'l
• Long Wharf - Dick Mulligan, Senior Project Mgr., BRA/EDIC
• 255 State St. - David Lucey, Head of U.S. Operations, Pembroke Real Estate
• New England Aquarium - Bud Ris, Pres., NEA

2. Submission of Downtown Waterfront MHP Request for Notice to Proceed

3. MHPAC Questions and Comments

4. Public Questions and Comments

From the BMLW, Yanni Tsipis spoke about several topics on the Marriott Long Wharf Activation Project: Project Planners, Site, Ancient History, A New Vision - 1960s, The Vision in Progress, Proposal Improvements, Overall Site Plan, Connectivity, Potential Openspace Improvement/Offset. After he concluded, the advisory committee had a chance to speak and ask questions; Bruce Berman then spoke about the space/tables at the Long Wharf.

The hearing continued...

I have never been to a public hearing before, so being a part of one (kind of) was a bit interesting, although, I don't see myself ever going to one unless it's something I truly have my heart in. 

I think public hearings are a great way for the public to express their opinions and ask questions to projects, etc. going around in Boston, and/or the cities they're from. It gives a feel that the public opinions matter, not just those in charge. 

 

StevieMarie LaMonic Lovells Island

July 15, 2013

Today we met up at Boston Harbor Fun's boat at the Courthouse Dock, ran by Captain Charlie and his mates, John and Christian.

The skies were clear, the weather was hot and humid and the water had decent clarity at the beginning of the trip. On our way to Lovells Island we made a stop to fish, hoping to catch some stripers. As we were hanging out near Castle Island, we ended up catching a few fish; stripe bass, black sea bass, mackerel and perch.

We caught a 30" striper; the minimum size to keep is 38" - woohoo! One of the bass we caught was a black sea bass, with a beautiful turquoise stripe on its head. I learned that all black sea bass are hermaphrodite; born female (with the turquoise stripe) and then as they turn into an adult, they transform from female to male, and also grow a bump on their head and turn completely black.

As we were hanging around fishing,

we noticed the water clarity had reduced; this was caused by the diatoms in the water. We learned that diatoms are a major part of algae and are also one of the most common types of phytoplankton.  Apparently diatoms float to the top of the water then they are dying.

  

Once we reached Lovells Island, we took a walk to a nice shady area with a bench, sat our stuff down, and took a walk down to the first tide pool (it was quite rocky). Once we stepped into the tide pool, and even on the way down, we noticed several residents of the island; snails, periwinkles, crabs, hermit crabs, birds, steamer shells, green algae, and barnacle. It was pretty cool getting to see hermit crabs in the ocean, rather than in a tank at a pet store. I was a little nervous about stepping on these little guys, including the periwinkles, snails and little green crabs, but I wanted to get as up close and personal as I could. I wish I was able to snap a few shots, but with the luck I had that day, scraping my foot on barnacle, I probably would have dropped my camera or phone in the ocean! 

After we observed the first tide pool, we went back to the shady area, had some lunch, talked about what we saw, and headed to the 2nd tide pool. On the way there, we found some pretty cool land snail shells; one being purple with a whitish blue stripe going across it, and the shell was a decent size and round; it brought back memories of me being a kid, growing up in Winthrop and around the harbor. I'm pretty sure these were moon snails. 

I didn't notice anything different in the second tide pool than what we saw in the first. After we were done with the 2nd, we quickly viewed the very small salt marsh and then headed back toward the dock, checking out the life on the island. As were were walking on the path, Professor Berman noticed some snails that were hanging out on the leaves of trees, etc. He mentioned that these snails could actually be taken home and kept. From the looks of what I was able to see, they looked like grove snails, which can be found in Massachusetts. 

Around 2:30 we boarded back on the Boston Harbor Fun boat with Cpt. Charlie and his crew. Professor Berman decided to fillet one of the bass we caught, which was a little too much for me to handle, so I avoided it as much as possible. Those that were interested, got to take some of the bass home to "experiment in the kitchen" with. 

including your identification of the species we observed - including the
land snails.

StevieMarie LaMonica - Day of the Barking Crab

July 14, 2013

Our day began at the Marriott Long Wharf and we took a walk along the harbor while stopping to check things out. We observed all different types of things, both living and not, from plant life, sea life, sea birds to docks, ramps, rope, pillars and art.
       Some of the things we observed were: sea weed; green, reddish-brown with a hing of purple, rock weed (sea weed that grows on rocks), a green crab, a seagull - who then found a crab for himself to eat, fish, shells (both clam and blue mussel), ducks, and bright green mossy stuff.

One our main observations were those we made while at the docks of The Barking Crab and also at one of the private docks in Boston harbor.

At the Boston harbor docks we found a decent amount of life, both plants, a strange rock, creatures and barnacles. We also got to see (well, I didn't, but I heard we did) some striper bass, crabs and starfish.

this to me, looks like Northern Rock Barnacle; comparing my picture and the one in the guide book 

The fun came in when we arrived at the Barking Crab and got to lay on the docks while sticking our hands in, let's say, "stuff" and pulling it out from under the docks to see "what the hell is that!?", which, I feel, was the best part of the day by far.

My group consisted of Coulter Bailey and myself.  We seemed to find some pretty cool and weird stuff under those docks. There was an abundance of blue mussels, orange stuff, leafy green (like lettuce) seaweed, mossy stuff in brown, green and a brownish-red, lots of slimy stuff with really cool flower looking things, almost like prints, on it and something else that kind of looked like a booger, among other things. The mussels we found had orange stuff, slimy booger stuff and even little tiny living creatures that to me, reminded me of sea monkeys!

green, mossy stuff - kind of looks like older, dried up cooked spinach

the "booger" - or, sorry to be gross, but almost looks like someone "hucked up a loog" - this was thick, rubbery like and slimy 

mussels with some leafy, lettuce like sea weed

some close ups of the mussels with slimy stuff

I'm thinking the reddish slimy stuff on this mussel is also a type of turnicate; still researching it though 

more mussels with slimy AND orange stuff, AND the other boogery - weird - slime with flower like prints on it 

here we can see some orange, slimy stuff - looks as though it may be Orange Sheath Tunicate! 

more cool orange stuff 

the sea monkey look a like 

a barnacle!

this mussel actually had some strange texture like thing on it (bottom left) -felt smooth but slightly bumpy and if you zoom almost looks like mini, smooth barnacle 

here's a better close up of the mussel with the barnacle - credit to Coulter

this is what amazed and confused me the most! it was difficult getting a good close up without the picture coming out blurry - from the guidebook, and online researching, it looks like this slimy, cool, little thing may be Golden Star Tunicate

it's slimy, boogery, yet has these really cool flowery shape things on it..hmmm

a baby mussel! 

the inside of the mussel - looks even worse than it does when you get it on a plate in a restaurant! 

again, the slimy, booger, flowery thing - Golden Star Tunicate?? I've also learned that tunicates are invasive species!

we also found this little guy - maybe a bigger sea monkey look a like? - he may actually be a Red-Eyed Amphipod, who live with mussels on rocky coasts

Below you will find the link to all of the pictures I took today; some are blurry but I didn't take them out.

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abs2jJu3ctGLCsA

StevieMarie LaMonica_Boston Harbor Express 7/13/13

July 13, 2013

Today was our first boat ride in the harbor! After a few hours of class, a nice walk around Faneuil Hall and a nice little lunch at  Nunzino's Pizzeria (very tasty might I add), we met up at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel. After a short conversation as a class, we boarded the Harbor Express and experience a nice boat ride around the harbor and little more.

We starter at the Long Wharf Hotel and headed through the harbor - going by the industrial parts of the harbor and the very scenic parts. On the way to our pit stop at George's Island, we passed Castle Island, Thompson Island, Spectacle Island, Moon Island, Long Island, Logan Airport, Deer Island, Nixes Mate, Gallops Island, and Lovells Island. After George's Island, we headed over to Quincy, passing through the Hull gut and Nantasket Roads. Quincy bound, we also passed Peddocks Island, saw Grape Island in the background, and landed in Quincy Bay. Unfortunately, we didn't get the tour we expected, and went the exact same way back to Boston, but that's och - another time, right?

What struck me the most during this trip (which for me, is a little embarrassing, considering I've lived in the town of Winthrop and near Boston my ENTIRE LIFE), was how close other cities and towns are by boat, and how fast you can get there.  You would think by now, at the age of 29, I would know exactly where we were the whole time - but I didn't.  I still get amazed (and confused) of how close we are to so many places by boat, especially when it takes so much longer to drive or take public transportation to get there!  What also struck me, and always will, is how calm I am when I'm out in the ocean (on a boat, of course).  There is something about being out in the ocean, on a boat, that just takes my mind off of everything and relaxes me - which may not be the best thing while in a class...

I really enjoyed today's trip and look forward to future boat rides. I'm going to attach the photos I took on my phone today - they may not be the greatest, but I figured I'd share them any way.