mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Retired science writer. Follow the climate crisis, museums and research on type 1 diabetes.
Enjoy kayaking on Boston Harbor and blogging about the waterfront at https://ericbender.co/safe-harbor/. Occasionally update a printed color scrapbook about the harbor, https://bookshop.org/p/books/safe-harbor-wandering-the-boston-waterfront-as-the-sea-rises-eric-bender/d956312bf0dd6db1
Spectacle Island, the wonderfully reclaimed and terraformed Boston Harbor island, was in full bloom this morning.
Still not sure why ferries to the island may not be running this summer.
MBTA launches a “Harbor Loop” ferry route, providing year-round weekday service connecting North Station, Central Wharf, the Seaport and Logan Airport, starting June 29.
Floating wetlands bring back Boston's natural landscape lost to development
https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/05/20/floating-wetland-habitat-fort-point-climate
Here's the John S. Damrell, Boston's flagship fireboat, tied up at her berth downtown. The Damrell looks clumsy trundling around the harbor at normal harbor speeds, but she can hit 40 knots on her jet drives and shoot water up to 450 feet.
Boston's new Martin Pierce fireboat, sistership to the John Damrell, nicely described along its delivery voyage:
Canadian arctic patrol vessel Margaret Brooke in South Boston's Reserved Channel this morning.
Resistance in the reeds: What scientists found in 17 city wetlands
Antibiotic-resistance genes turned up at 9X the levels in natural lakes. Researchers say "sponge city” infrastructure requires smarter stormwater engineering.
#climatechange #climatecrisis #flood #ecosystem #environment
My Family’s American Secret
One fateful decision 100 years ago created parallel lives. How does a family broken by the bizarre rules of racism heal itself after three generations apart?
An Artist Revisits the Ghosts of Her Waterfront Childhood
Joana Avillez took six years to illustrate a new edition of Joseph Mitchell’s “The Bottom of the Harbor,” which captures the salty New York neighborhood of her youth.
RE: @ebender00@mastodon.social
A reminder that the NY Times still can produce outstanding journalism:
