Melissa Dillon
Grade 12, Wilmington High School, Wilmington
Ms. Mutchler, Teacher
As a future college student in the 21st century a clean Boston Harbor would mean hope. As a prospective and ambitious Environmental Science student it would give me the inspiration and encouragement I need to pursue my dreams of restoring our beautiful underwater ecosystem.
Looking back at the history of Boston and its surrounding waters it's easy to see that the health of the Harbor quickly declined with the increase of population in the city. By the end of the 19th century you could not even step foot in the Harbor without fear of harmful bacteria. With multiple past and ongoing clean up projects the Harbor is now one of the cleanest in the country. If we take what we have learned from the Boston Harbor clean up and build on it, then we can clean even the dirtiest of waters! If our marvelous Harbor is clean, then why can't somebody else's be clean? To see others participating and learning from our successes in Boston Harbor would give me great satisfaction.
I want to be able to go into college with an idea. I want to know what works for cleaning water, and what doesn't. A clean Boston Harbor can do just that! It would be an example, one that I could proudly show off and say, "This works." There are places all over the country that have the same pollution and contamination issues that Boston Harbor did. If we share our knowledge, then the oceans and waters all over the world might be returned to their original and natural beauty.
Not only does a clean Boston Harbor mean hope, but it insures that water dependent organisms can thrive and live a healthy life. Because we are not always able to see these water dependent organisms, people sometimes forget they are there. When you think, "Oh, it'll just sink to the bottom and nobody will know" you're wrong! It'll sink; yes. But, there are plants, fish, lobsters, and other crustaceans that live in the water and on that seafloor. Chemicals that are released into the harbor can kill them!
With a clean Boston Harbor I can know that the little fish that move about my feet when I stand at the edge of the water are healthy. I will know that there is enough oxygen in the water that the fish are not gasping for breath. I will know that the fish we pull out of the Harbor are safe to eat and not full of chemicals! A clean Boston Harbor means that I can take a deep breath, dive underwater, and see all the natural wonders that form in our water, without seeing the devastation that chemicals and pollution cause.
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