• Lush vegetation on the top of Spectacle Island's North drumlin dominates the foreground. Boston's skyline can be seen in the distance. The park's logo with tag line minutes away, worlds apart empashises the stark contrast between the city and islands.

    Boston Harbor Islands

    National Recreation Area Massachusetts

Marine Invasives

Field notes and a sample.

Field guide, notes and a sample used by volunteers.

Marine Invasives Monitoring Information Collaborative (MIMIC)
The National Park Service and the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership are developing a long-term monitoring program of invasive marine organisms in the Boston Harbor Islands. The monitoring program, called MIMIC (Marine Invasive Monitoring Information Collaborative), relies on a network of trained volunteers who are working to identify new invaders before they spin out of control, and to better understand the behavior of established species. The volunteers use a protocol and identification cards to help properly document their findings:

Aquatic Invasive Species ID Cards
» MIMIC Protocol for Boston Harbor Islands (PDF - 110kb)

If you are interested in volunteering, please review the documents below and register for a program on Stewardship Saturdays. For more information on aquatic invasive species, go to the Aquatic Invasive Species Program on the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management website.

 
Ranger uses a refractometer to check water salinity.
A ranger demonstrates how to check water salinity with a refractometer.

Did You Know?

Graves Light

On September 1, 1905, Elliot Hadley lit the most powerful light in Massachusetts at the top of Graves Lighthouse, now in Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The first-order Fresnel lens aided in navigation and allowed for safe passage into Boston Harbor. More...