Seining before the storm. This morning we were joined by 5th graders from the Hostos School in Yonkers who battled high tide to catch 36 Atlantic silversides, 1 blue crab, 59 comb jellies, and 80 moon jellies. The salinity was measured at 14ppt, but should drop over the next couple of days with 2 - 3 inches of rain forecasted for tonight. We have just a few more weeks of seining programs left for the fall season. Our spring seining programs will kick off in April and we'll be seeking volunteers to help us out. More details are on our website. #HudsonRiver #seining #fall #weather #fishing #research #NYNJCommunityScience #NYNJCitizenScience
The Center and Sarah Lawrence College
Launched June 2013, the Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB) is an alliance of Sarah Lawrence College and the Beczak Environmental Education Center. The mission of CURB is to advance environmental knowledge and stewardship by providing high quality K-12 environmental education for the local community, establishing a regional hub for research and monitoring focused on Hudson River estuary and urban watershed issues, and serving as a welcoming open community space for a variety of civic and cultural activities.
The Center occupies the former Beczak Environmental Education Center, a well-loved river exploration and interpretative center that has been offering programs for adults and children for over twenty years. Its name honors Joe Beczak, one of the Hudson River enthusiasts who taught children about the Hudson in the 1970s.Instagram slccurb
This great blue heron watched us carefully as we seined our tidal marsh. Herons are excellent at catching fish, using their long beaks to feed on bait fish such as Atlantic silversides, anchovies, and mummichogs which are in abundance along the shoreline. #HudsonRiver #birds #heron #yonkers #marsh #nature
This morning CURB staff and interns installed our new sea level rise sign along the waterfront. This metal version replaces the temporary wooden sign which was installed as part of the @noaa.education climate change curriculum that we partnered on with @groundwork_hv. The sign details current projections of sea level rise as well as shows the water level during Hurricane Sandy. #HudsonRiver #climatechange #coastalflooding #sealevelrise #stormsurge #Yonkers
During today's seining we were surprised to find a northern kingfish in the net. Kingfish are a fairly rare catch for us with a total of just 9 in the last 15 years. This is now our second caught in a little over a month. Prior to this season, our last sighting of a kingfish was back in 2013. They are common in the Atlantic, especially from the Chesapeake Bay to NY and can grow to 18 inches long. #HudsonRiverEstuary #Yonkers #seining #kingfish #marinebiology
We had a nice catch seining this morning with the Sarah Lawrence Intensive Semester in Yonkers program. Here we are measuring a summer flounder, which was caught during one of our seven hauls. In all we caught a total of 133 critters including 11 different species. #seining #HudsonRiver #flounder #fish #research #yonkers
CURB was happy to participate in this afternoon's Pelham Bay Nature Day sponsored by NYC Wildflower Week! Various community organizations presented nature-themed activities for the local families. At CURB'S table we made flower pots from compostable materials and looked at Hudson River artifacts. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was also on hand to present free backpacks to the children. #artsandcrafts #pelhambaypark #bronx #sarahlawrence #CURB #nature #environmentaleducation
Lots of tomatoes and peppers from the garden! #gardening #yonkers #vegetables #urbanfarming
Did you see it? This morning the Royal Air Force Red Arrows, U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, F-35 Lightning II Demo Team and F-22 Raptor Demo Team did a flyover of the Hudson River and Statue of Liberty. #Yonkers #HudsonRiver #newyork #airforce #royalairforce #nyairshow
Congratulations to our Blue Team students for successfully completing their summer internship at CURB! @yonkerspublicschools #sarahlawrence #interns #yonkers #science #research
Thanks to the @hudsonriverriders for a great afternoon on the Hudson with our Blue Team and SYEP interns! #kayaking #YPRC #Yonkers #sarahlawrence #HudsonRiver
You never know what we'll catch in the seine net. This was especially true on Wednesday when for the first time in 15 years we caught an Elysia chlorotica (emerald green sea slug). These sea slugs are especially cool because of their ability to photosynthesize food. They feed on algae and suck out the cell contents, keeping the chloroplasts from it's food, alive and functioning in it's own body. #HudsonRiver #seaslug #seining #marinebiology #Yonkers #nudibranch