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Echinoderms are some of our closer invertebrate relatives and include seastars, brittle stars, as well as sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea lilies.  After learning about some of the features which defines this phylum, including their spiny skin and arm regeneration, Marine & Environmental Science campers got to interact with live individuals of the sea cucumber Synaptula hydriformis and brittle star Ophiophragmus filograneus from our…

This week the Marine & Environmental Science Camp got to experience the impact density has on currents in the ocean.  Campers experimented with solutions of different salinities/densities, trying to determine where the samples were collected (e.g. ocean water, Lagoon water, or fresh water). The higher the salinity, the higher the density the water sample, which allowed them to determine the…

The Mikunigaoka High School, of Japan, joined the Marine & Environmental Science Camp for a day of marine education in the sun! The students traveled to the Sebastian Inlet State Park, where they explored the local waters. Students helped identify many of the organisms, both large and small, that inhabitant local seagrass beds. They saw animals such as the Florida…

This year the 2015 Marine & Environmental Science Camp held its Annual Recycle Regatta! The purpose of the Recycle Regatta was to teach the basics of Ocean Engineering/Naval Architecture, as well as ballast water and its effect on invasive species in our oceans. At the end of the lecture, campers were challenged with building their own sail boat out of…

Today  at Marine and Environmental Science Camp, we met with Wildlife Ecologist Shari Blissett-Clark, of Bat Belfrys and the Florida Bat Conservancy, to learn about Bats. In the secret life of bats discussion, campers learned about the many different types of bats. One bat (Chapin’s Bat) has big ears, round eyes, and a mohawk hairdo. They are able to raise…

Today, the Marine & Environmental Science campers set up an experiment to observe the impact of nutrients on algal growth in the Indian River Lagoon.  After learning about the cause of excess nutrients entering the  Indian River Lagoon, campers developed hypotheses as to what might happen to algal growth. They then dosed beakers of Indian River Lagoon water with fertilizer.…

Camp counselors met earlier this week to prep for the upcoming Marine & Environmental Science Camp held from July 20th-24th at the Florida Institute of Technology. There will be a lot of fun activities and field trips in store for campers, including: learning about Bats, Fish Eyes, Sea Cucumbers, Pollution, Ocean Currents, Meteorology, Beach Sediments, and much more!   We can’t…