The Power of Water

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay believes in the power of water to change lives, and transform communities.

Water power transformed Boston Harbor from a "Harbor of Shame" to a source of civic pride and opportunity.

Water power revitalized Revere Beach, and changed the Fort Point Channel into "the next great place" on Boston Harbor. And next summer, water power will finally - and dramatically - transform the beaches of South Boston and Dorchester into the cleanest urban beaches in America.

Over the past 24 years we have learned that water power is a pretty remarkable force. We hope you will join us in 2010 as we continue to put Boston Harbor's water power to work to improve the lives of all our regions residents - on the waterfront, our region's public beaches, and in the Boston Harbor Islands.

Two- Minute Video : Water Power

All Aboard For Another Great Season of
All Access Boston Harbor!

Every summer Save the Harbor / Save the Bay hosts a series of island adventures that we call "All Access Boston Harbor" that connects underserved youth and teens from every neighborhood in the City of Boston, and from cities and towns across the region, to Boston Harbor and the harbor islands.

Since 2002, our summer youth environmental education and recreation programs have connected more than 42,000 youth and teens to the harbor we have worked to restore and protect.

Thanks to the generosity of our youth program funders and the support of individual donors like you, All Access will once again provide thousands of kids from more than 120 youth and community organizations with a free, first-rate opportunty to explore Georges or take a hike and a swim on Spectacle Island this summer, beginning on July 6th.

Visit our youth blog to learn more...

Board Profile: Richard McKenna

In each edition of Splash, Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay profiles a member of our Board of Directors. In this issue we are pleased to feature a recent profile of Board Vice Chair Richard McKenna - which first appeared in the June 1,2010 issue of "Soundings" magazine.

Captain Richard McKenna has been boating and fishing as long as he can remember. “When I was seven, Santa brought us a 2 hp outboard that went on the back of an old O’Day dingy. My brothers and I used to bring my mom sunfish and perch from the pond near our house to clean and cook for us all the time. Of course we never actually ate them. We preferred hotdogs. In fact, we still do.”

Read more...

Troubled Waters

As Americans watch the catastrophic effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with increasing concern, we are all reminded of the importance - and the fragility - of the marine environment.


Though there are currently no plans for offshore drilling here in New England, much of the region's oil and gas passes through the Port of Boston. Though it has been nearly a decade since our last major spill in Boston Harbor, we are all more aware today than ever before of the risks.

Save the Harbor has always taken a pro-active role in oil spill prevention and preparedness here in Boston. We work directly with The United States Coast Guard, and with the EPA and the DEP to identify critical habitat, and to plan for any eventuality. And, while we recognize that "stuff happens", we will continue to do our best to make sure that plans are in place to protect Boston Harbor and coastal Massachusetts.

In the meantime, all eyes are on the Gulf of Mexico, where liveliehoods, lives - and the future of an entire ecosystem are at risk.

Read More About the Massachusetts Response Plan

Watch a Live Feed of the Spill

Better Beaches 2010

Thanks to the hard work of our community partners - and the generosity of our funders - this year's "Better Beaches" events are better than ever, with a full season of events and activities scheduled on the region's public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket.

In 2009, Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay and our Better Beaches program partners hosted 31 free events and programs that attracted hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors to our region's public beaches in Lynn, Nahant, Rever, Winthrop, East Bostom South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.

This year's programs have something for everyone, including sand castle competitions and kite festivals, concerts, beach parties, volleyball tournaments and family reading nights.

We hope you will join us on our region's public beaches this summer.

Learn more about this year's free beach events...

Boston Harbor Explorers:
Fishing 101 at the Boston Children's Museum

Each summer Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's Boston Harbor Explorers programteaches thousands of underserved youth and teens to use crab traps, dip nets, lobster pots, fishing rods, and field guides to explore the marine environment.

This year we will again be offering the program at the city's youth sailing centers in Charlestown, East Boston, South Boston and Dorchester, at Black's Creek in Quincy, and at Camp Harbor View in the Boston Harbor Islands.

This year, with improved water qualityin the Fort Point Channel, we are pleased to announce that we are bringing the programback to the docks of the Boston Children's Museum three days a week during July and August.


Learn more at our youth blog

Letter from the President

It's almost summertime and kids in coastal communities from Cape Cod to Cape Ann are already dreaming about how they would like to spend their summer vacation. Like so many of us, they are already thinking about catching striped bass, starfish, and hermit crabs at the beach, or swimming in the cool sea on a hot summer day.

Thanks to you and your continued support, Save the Harbor / Save the Bay has connected 42,000 young people to Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands since 2002. This year, with your help, we will once again make summer dreams come true for thousands more underserved youth and teens from all of Boston's neighborhoods and beachfront communities.

At Save the Harbor / Save the Bay we believe in the Power of Water to change children's lives for the better - and we know you do, too.

Read more...