The Gull Channel Presents...

The Boston Harbor Cleanup

Hello and welcome to The Gull Channel. I'm George Bird and today we are talking about the Boston Harbor Cleanup. I will be talking to a local about the effects of the Boston Harbor Cleanup.

GEORGE BIRD: Hello can I talk to you about the Boston Harbor Cleanup?

SAMMY SEAL: Sure.

GEORGE BIRD: What's your name?

SAMMY SEAL: I'm Sammy, a Boston Harbor seal.

GEORGE BIRD: Can I ask you a few things?

SAMMY SEAL: OK.

GEORGE BIRD: What was it like before the Boston Harbor Cleanup?

SAMMY SEAL: It was terrible, most sea life was dying and even though seagulls like you don't live in the water they sometimes tried to eat litter by mistake, choked, suffocated, and died!

GEORGE BIRD: That's terrible! I'm glad I wasn't around then!

SAMMY SEAL: Not to mention how the humans were suffering! Before they started polluting they came and splashed in the water and played on the beach, but then when they started to pollute fewer people came and those who did come never touched the water. I heard some humans complaining that the beach was too dirty, or that there was glass in the water. I'm still, even now a little mad that they were complaining about something they started.

GEORGE BIRD: I am sure that your sea life's predicament was much, much worse.

SAMMY SEAL: Definitely. Many of us who didn't die got very sick or migrated. But plants couldn't just swim away. Coral was sick or dying and losing its color and turning white. The seaweed wilted and died, and the algae started to disappear. All this triggered a reaction and soon many species were gone from this area!

GEORGE BIRD: Wow! That's terrible!

SAMMY SEAL: Just 20 years ago Boston Harbor was known as the "dirtiest harbor in America."

GEORGE BIRD: That's gross.

SAMMY SEAL: Yeah, and also for over 100 years, the disposal of the daily waste of Boston and its surrounding communities got only limited treatment before being dumped right into Boston Harbor!

GEORGE BIRD: Ew that's gross. Human waste?

SAMMY SEAL: Yes, human waste. Although since then things have turned around. I mean now, because of the Boston Harbor Clean-up, the harbor is a "Great American Jewel." The Boston Harbor cleanup is widely recognized as one of the nation's greatest environmental achievements.

GEORGE BIRD: That's such a big difference!

SAMMY SEAL: It was a huge difference! And now that the harbor is clean everyone is happy. Even the species who had disappeared are returning!

GEORGE BIRD: That is great!

SAMMY SEAL: The harbor is alive again! Plants, humans, and animals have returned to Boston Harbor and are enjoying its natural resources once again.

GEORGE BIRD: Who started the Boston Harbor Cleanup?

SAMMY SEAL: Well when Boston Harbor was still dirty the Massachusetts State Government decided to make the MWRA, that stands for Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. The Deer Island Treatment Plant which is run by the MWRA is that island over there with the big machinery on it.

GEORGE BIRD: What does the MWRA and Deer Island do?

SAMMY SEAL: They stop any more pollution from getting into Boston Harbor and the ocean in general. And if no more pollution gets into the water then nature can step in and deal with the pollution that is already in the water.

GEORGE BIRD: Have humans tried to clean Boston Harbor before?

SAMMY SEAL: Well around the time that raw sewage washed up on the shore I found a newspaper floating in the water that said "Environmental awareness being spread" and yet another time I saw another newspaper that said "1984 Clean Water Act violated" so people weren't really trying, but they definitely are now. Did you know that Deer Island is the 2nd largest treatment plant in the U.S.A?

GEORGE BIRD: No, I didn't know that. That's so cool. Does anyone comment about the water anymore?

SAMMY SEAL: Yes, all the time we hear tourists or even local people talking about how clean the water is. People used to not even see the bottom of the shallows!

GEORGE BIRD: Wow the MWRA has really helped all living things! I mean, a little while ago you were talking about basically a dead environment and when I look around all I see is life!

SAMMY SEAL: The MWRA really has helped the entire Boston area with this project. And they are still preventing pollution even now. They also give speeches and talk to classes about how important sustaining your ecosystem is, at least the poster I saw says so.

GEORGE BIRD: Thank you so much for this interview!

SAMMY SEAL: You're welcome!

GEORGE BIRD: Now I have to fly north -- I have an appointment to interview a Polar Bear named Paul about Global Warming and melting polar ice caps.

SAMMY SEAL: Wow, Global Warming doesn't affect only polar bears, that could affect all of us even here in Boston Harbor.

GEORGE BIRD: Yes, it does. Oh I'm late, gotta fly!

That's it folks and stay tuned for Global Warming, the melting of the Polar Ice Caps next Wednesday at 5:00. Till then have a fine feathered day.

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