 Since 1986, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay has led the fight for clean water in the Harbor and the Bay, on our beaches, in our rivers and on the Fort Point Channel. SHSB raises awareness of the health of the Harbor and the Bay, focusing on the risk to human health and to the health of important species, including finfish, marine mammals, and sea and shore birds. Through our programs, we communicate complicated technical and scientific information to the public in accessible language, so that they can better participate in important public policy decisions.
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Marine Mammal Safari News 2009 |
“Celebrating Earth Day with Sea, Sun and Seals”
On Saturday, April 18th, 2009 Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and Massachusetts Bay Lines took more than 500 area young people and their families on two free early Earth Day “Marine Mammal Safaris” to look for seals and porpoises on Boston Harbor. With temperatures near 50 degrees, a refreshing sea breeze, and dozens of harbor seal sightings, this year’s trips were a great success.
This year our annual safari cruises were in higher demand than ever, as both free cruises quickly “sold out.” Save the Harbor was delighted to welcome groups and families from more than 20 regional communities for this year’s “seal spotting.”
“The harbor seals were very cooperative,” said Janet Stalker, who helped lead the two trips for Save the Harbor. “We saw more than a dozen of them hauled out on the rocks at Green Island, in Calf Bay and in Brewster Cove, and then saw a dozen more behind Georges Island. It was awesome!”
Boston is a winter and spring home to harbor seals and harbor porpoises that return each year to feed on herring and other bait fish in the cleaner waters of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay. According to Stalker, at low tide the seals haul out on the rocks to bask in the warm spring sunshine. “After a long winter, they enjoy the spring sunshine just as much as we do.”
According to Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s spokesman Bruce Berman, the Marine Mammal Safaris provide area youth and families with a unique opportunity to experience the beauty of Boston Harbor. “With resources so scarce this year, it is great to be able to ‘share the harbor’ with so many young people and families who might otherwise miss out on the experience. It sure beats spending the day indoors watching SpongeBob SquarePants on TV!”
  
Click here for more safari pictures.
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 The Fort Point Channel connects the Financial District with the South Boston Seaport to the south and Boston’s neighborhoods to the west. For years the Fort Point Channel has been considered an industrial backwater with decayed infrastructure, nearly no public access, and poor water quality.
Today, things have changed. Working with advocates, activists, the private landowners, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Children’s Museum, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay chaired an award winning planning partnership that developed – and has permitted – the dramatic Fort Point Channel Watersheet Activation Plan [2,007 KB] to create the "next great place in Boston" on the Fort Point Channel.
For the plan to work, we have to be able to use the Channel – for small boats and other recreational activities that require contact with the water. Unfortunately, the Channel is currently unsafe for human contact nearly 100 days a year.
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is working with the City, the abutters, residents and the Friends of Fort Point Channel to formalize the strategy to implement the plan. |
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Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays |
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Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's record of environmental action has ensured that improvements to Boston Harbor do not come at the expense of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays. To continue this mission, SHSB requires accurate and timely information about the health of both bays and the impacts such hazards as the outfall pipe on both the inshore and far field marine environments. To ensure public access to accurate information about the health of the Bays, SHSB leads the Public Interest Advisory Committee (PIAC). PIAC represents the public’s interest as the scientists and regulators monitor the health of the Bays through the Outfall Monitoring Science Advisory Panel (OMSAP), a committee created by the regulators and the Federal Court. |
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