Northshore Magazine

May/June 2012 nshoremag.com 103 May/June 2012 nshoremag.com 103 Pamplemousse.indd 1 5/7/14 1:54 PM landscaping. Now, the program addresses water quality, too, and has 20 member companies on the North Shore. Additionally, SSCW helped write a grant to change traditional moorings in Salem Sound into conservation moorings in an effort to preserve eelgrass—a keystone species denoting balanced marine biology. "We are really pleased to see that happening—we would like to see it in all the harbors," says Warren. Another of SSCW partners, Sea Station, Inc., headquar- tered in Peabody, has a new boat named Endeavor that they allow school groups to use. A grant from NOAA, combined with $10,000 from Beverly-based CSL Americas—a shipping company that specializes in the marine transportation and han- dling of dry-bulk cargo throughout North, South, and Central America—enabled the founding of SSCW's new School to Sea program. Working with educators at Higgins Middle School in Peabody—the only one of the six communities without an immediate coastal connection—they bring sixth graders to Winter Island for hands-on marine biology studies. "They learn the rain that is falling at their school is going to end up in the ocean," says Warren. "We want [them] to care about it all." "It's an innovative program," notes Yochelson, "because we work with the teachers to get them to integrate some of this into their curriculum." "We've done a number of things to reach families, too," she adds. They've conducted experiments on the once- heavily polluted North River, which, at one time, was sprayed with perfumes to hide foul odors. Last year, SSCW hosted home-schooled kids on the river's bank; marine bi- ologists from the Division of Marine Fisheries dragged nets and showed onlookers what's now living in the river. "It's a good opportunity to show people that things can change— that [once-threatened] species are starting to return," explains Yochelson. Placing and pulling plastic "settlement plates" four times a year at Beverly Harbor Pier is another of the team's ongoing efforts. They collect data on species like club tunicates, mussels, crabs, and shrimp as part of an international effort to detect and quantify fouling marine organisms. Warren analyzes the data and sends her findings to researchers in the Netherlands. "I have a lot of data that [could be used] if someone wanted to do a master's degree or Ph.D." With nearly 400 volunteers on board, SSCW needed to develop some specialized training tools. When they began, a guidebook of invasive species didn't exist, so they put one together. It provides information about 23 nonnative species and includes illustrations, descriptions, habitat preferences, origins, as well as how the species arrived, what the concern is, and what they resemble. Bringing awareness to issues like the population boom of green crabs—a big problem in Maine—and the perennial 103 NB_KJ_NS_July 14 SalemSound.indd 103 5/9/14 10:36 AM

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