The sound of laughter as you play in the water, the taste of a freshly caught fish, the smell of salty air; all of these you can find at Boston Harbor. But this once wasn’t the case.

In the 1980’s, Boston Harbor was polluted with trash, heavy metals, raw sewage and pesticides. It was shut down and people couldn’t swim or fish. It must have been hard for fishermen, who make money off of fishing, not being able to do their job. They weren’t allowed to fish anymore because the fish could be polluted and if humans ate them, they would get sick.

Animals can get polluted (harmed by pollution) by chemicals. When Boston Harbor was polluted, the animals would drink the chemicals and try to adapt to them. It made the animals sick and if anyone ate them, they would get sick too. While it was polluted, the animal population decreased. Birds and fish started from all of the litter, pollution, chemicals and more problems. Boat exhaust releases chemicals and metals into the water, causing pollution.

My family loves to go to Boston. We especially love to go to Castle Island and Georges Island. If it was too polluted, I would be really upset. We would probably have to stop going because one of the reasons we go to Boston is because of the swimming. We also love to hold hermit crabs. If it was polluted, there would be much less hermit crabs. We might not have been able to find them. We wouldn’t be able to fish or play. Playing in the water with my brother and my cousins is always so fun. We always go to the Boston beaches to play in the water, it would not be entertaining or exciting to see. We would not be able to do any of these things. This is why we have to keep Boston Harbor clean.

If the animals die, there will be a lot of decomposers in the water. Decomposers breathe oxygen and so do animals. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. If there are too many decomposers, animals won’t have enough oxygen to breathe. This would lead to even more animals dying.

When I think of Boston Harbor, I think of families having fun and relaxing at the beach. I am grateful that Boston Harbor is MUCH better in terms of cleanliness now. I am so excited to someday take my children to the harbor. In conclusion, Boston Harbor is important to keep clean for all of the generations to come. It would be wonderful if any volunteers could help clean up the beaches. I would volunteer for that! Help keep Boston Harbor clean. Better yet – keep our Earth clean.