Introducing The Great Garbage Patch of Boston Harbor Islands

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch got nothing on the Commonwealth of MA! In terms of size of debris items and perhaps volume and weight per square mile of trash in our waters, we may well be #1!

But that's not an honor we want for our state (nor for waters anywhere). Our championships, our schools, our hospitals and research institutions, and many other "bests" are the metrics by which we claim our status as tops in the US.

Unfortunately, each one of us has to deal with the sobering claim that we're "tops in trash" littering our treasured National Park.

That we may be tops was made shockingly clear (and possible to see) due to the determined efforts of Laura Ludwig, Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), and her colleagues as well as partners from the National Park Service, the Dept of Conservation and Recreation, and Boston Harbor Now, among others. Laura and her team led the effort to pull large marine debris items off the shores of 5 outer islands in Boston Harbor and stage the total haul at Hull's Pemberton Point.

Each of us may have some experience participating in clean ups, and some readers have hauled tires and shopping carts out of rivers or away from beaches. But, when heavy equipment is available for hauling and tons of debris are stacked and sorted in a staging area for processing (repurpose, recycle, disposal, etc), it's a different sort of community clean up. It drives home Pope Francis' well known observation that "The Earth, our home, is beginning to look like an immense pile of filth."

Above: Peddocks Island (yellow) functioned as home base. Volunteers were ferried in groups to one of five outer island gems:-- Lovell's, Calf, Great, Middle or Outer Brewster.

Above: Hull teachers Heather Weber (left) and Sheila Blair (right) assembled their Summer Science and Green Team students to participate in the operation as yet one more opportunity for Hull students to experience "meaningful watershed education." Below: Photos from the staging area at Pemberton Point.

Above: Volunteers sorting debris combed through scores of bags to separate recyclables, styrofoam, etc. Each bag, fully loaded, holds 1 metric ton of debris (2200 pounds.) Final tallies will be shared when CCS releases their data. Below: Volunteers, including Hull High School's Green Team, assembled the debris on the shores of the islands for pick up by Goliath et al.

Goliath.

Historic Boston Harbor Light and freighter traffic in and out of the Harbor made for a beautiful workplace. But the snarls of lobster pots, fishing rope, industrial debris, and the ubiquitous consumer bottles by the score created a pretty ugly scene. To the person, volunteers were inspired by the work, yet sobered if not depressed by the scale of the problem.

The problem isn't in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The problem is in our backyard. It's up to us to address it.

CSCR's Middle School Fall Program

CSCR invites current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to join our Middle School Program. The program runs on Tuesdays from 3:30 - 5:30. Each session is $35. Registration is required. Contact Susan Bryant for details (sbryant@ccscr.org).

FALL PRESENTATIONS and OPPORTUNITIES: Here are but a few dates to circle on your calendar.

1. Wednesday October 3, at 6:30 pm, the Bacteria Monitoring Team is asked to make a presentation to the Cohasset Board of Health
2. Wednesday October 16, 12-2pm, all seniors who qualify for the STREAM to Sanctuary Certificate of Watershed Stewardship are invited to make a presentation at Stellwagen Bank's office in Scituate. Contact Jack, jbuckley@ccscr.org, for information.
3. On Friday Oct 18, Cohasset High School students seeking recognition from CHS for summer research will present posters in the CHS Learning Commons. Families are invited to attend. Specific showcase times will be shared with students at the Sept 20 meeting.

Our promo video is stll available, should you need more time :)

Contact Susan Bryant, sbryant@ccscr.org, for questions or conversation about the piece.

Sept 22 2024