A fish leaps in and out of the pearl-smooth water and then dives between a rainbow of coral. The aquatic wildlife of the Boston Harbor is important to all of us. By keeping the harbor clean, we can keep the wildlife healthy, as well as our own. Swimming and eating sushi are my two favorite activities, however, I wouldn’t want to do either of these things out of polluted water.

One of the most important jobs for keeping our harbor clean is the “doctors of the sea” – the marine zoologists. Marine zoologists help monitor water pollution and bacteria and their effects on fish populations. By testing the health and behavior of fish, marine zoologists can find out how much the water is polluted. This information helps marine zoologists give important guidance to the MWRA to help them make decisions on how to improve our water quality.  If you ask me, this is an important job.

Fish and shellfish in Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay have shown lower contaminants overall these past years. Marine zoologists are mainly studying lobsters, winter flounders, and blue mussels to find out how high pollution is, and they have recently reported good news. Flounder liver disease levels are now at half of what they were before the Boston Harbor project! Also, mussels are showing lower levels of pesticides and contaminant levels in lobster meat are well below the FDA limit for eating. You may not know it, but the MWRA saves human and aquatic lives. Thank you, marine zoologists!