Orange River Monster

This photograph was taken near my apartment.  All summer they've been cleaning the greenery--water chestnuts, etc.--out of the Charles River with a giant orange floating machine that resembles a backhoe.   The large "paddleboat" has a mouth-like opening in the front that the surface plants slide into.  They then get deposited into a storage area at the rear.  The plant material is then loaded onto dump trucks and carted away.  (To read more about the project and the history of the invasive water chestnut, see the recent article in the Newton Tab by clicking here.)