New Lighthouse Schedule for September

The new schedule for the lighthouse expeditions for the month of Sept. is as follows:

Sat. Sept. 5- 4:00 p.m. (full)
Sat. Sept. 12- 10:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. (full)
Sat. Sept. 19- 4:00 p.m. (full)
Sat. Sept. 26- 4:00 p.m. (full)
Sun. Sept 27- 1:00 p.m.

To make reservations call 860-445-9007 or toll free 1-800-364-8472

Last Chance

Anyone interested in coming aboard for an Oceanographic Research cruise should know that August 31st is your last chance!

The remaining trips for the season are as follows:
8/26 * 1:00-3:30
8/27 * 8:45-11:15
8/28 * 1:00-3:30
8/29 * 10:00-12:30 and 1:00-3:30
8/30 * 10:00-12:30
8/31 * 1:00-3:30

Do you have plans for this summer yet?

If you are trying to decide how to spend your summer you should know that we offer a variety of programs during the summer months.

Our camp programs are for students who have completed 5th through 12th grade. Camp information, applications and dates can be found at:

http://oceanology.org/kidsprogram.html

Lighthouse Cruise Dates Now Available for the Ledgelight's centennial year!

Lighthouse trips will run on the following days, from 4 - 6:30pm.

• Saturday, 6/27
  
• Tuesday, 6/30
• Thursday, 7/2
• Tuesday, 7/7
• Saturday, 7/11
• Saturday, 7/18
• Tuesday, 7/21
• Tuesday, 7/28
• Saturday, 8/1
• Tuesday, 8/4
• Thursday, 8/6
• Saturday, 8/8
• Tuesday, 8/11
• Thursday, 8/13
• Saturday 8/15
• Tuesday, 8/18
• Saturday, 8/22
• Tuesday, 8/25
• Thursday, 8/27
• Saturday, 8/29
  

If you are interested in coming on board for one of these cruises,

please call our office at (860) 445-9007 to make a reservation.

The prices are $19 for adults and $16 for children, ages 6-12.

Due to Coast Guard regulations, we cannot have any children under the age of 6 on our boats.

We hope to see you this summer!

Why don't birds feet freeze?

This weekend I was out by the Connecticut River and happened to see a beautiful Bald Eagle. Some people might be surprised to learn that Bald Eagles migrate to the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound but this is a common occurrence in the winter months. In fact every year you can take an Eagle-Viewing Boat Tour aboard "Riverquest". For more information follow the link below. http://www.ctaudubon.org/about/eaglefestival.htm

Bald Eagles are not the only birds out and about at this time of year, there are even birds that live in the water. The water at this time of the year is a balmy 37 degrees Fahrenheit so how is it that the birds don't freeze their feet? Well, the answer is that they don't really have much there to freeze. Birds feet are made up of scales, bones and sinews and have very little blood flow. While the birds body may be close to 100 degrees (higher then our temperature of 98.6) their feet are close to freezing during the winter months, however this doesn't bother the birds at all.

Seagulls and other birds have another method of keeping warm. It's called counter-current heat exchange. This means that the veins and arteries in the gulls feet are right next to each other. So as the blood comes from the body it encounters the colder blood coming from the feet and warms it up therefore the blood entering the body from the feet is warm. Pretty cool!

So keep your eyes peeled for all kinds of cool birds that are in Long Island Sound during the winter. You'll be amazed at what you can find.

Great Website on Horseshoe Crabs

One of my personal favorite LIS animals, the horseshoe crab, is actually in quite a bit of trouble! Along with natural mortality, these animals are up against being used as bait in eel and conch fisheries, being used in the medical industry, pollution, and habitat degradation.

The ancestors of these animals date back to the Paleozoic era (540-248 million years ago). What a shame it would be if these animals ended up on the endangered species list now!! So much more research is needed on these creatures to truly understand their population levels and the extent of their population decline.

For more info, check out this awesome website by the Ecological Research & Development Group in Dover, DE.

http://www.horseshoecrab.org/

Seal Watches

It is that time of year again, Seal Watch season!
Please visit the Project Oceanology website for a list of cruise departure times and dates.
http://www.oceanology.org/sealwatch.html

Remember, the EnviroLab can only accommodate up to 50 passengers, so make your reservations early!

Please call Project Oceanology (860-445-9007) when you are ready to reserve your spot on a Seal Watch cruise.

Lighted Boat Parade

Last night was the Mystic Holiday Boat Parade and Toy Drive which takes place on the Mystic River. Local boats compete for such titles as "Miss Mystic" and "Most Charismatic Crew". For the 2nd year in a row, the Envirolab III was all decked out with very ocean themed Christmas lights and decorations, and beautiful sea creature cut outs made by Megan Barker, Kirsten Tomlinson, Chris Dodge, Anthony Wasley, and Danielle Banko.

As you can probably guess, the Project O gang won "Most Charismatic Crew" for our holiday cheer!

This is a photo that was in the Living section of The Day newspaper today as we dock in downtown Mystic. What a beautiful shot!

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=3dd1fd51-031a-408c-b402-4cd11b5900a1

New addition to the wet lab

If you've been inside the Project Oceanology building recently, you may have noticed a new addition to our wet lab.

Thanks to the hard work of instructors Anthony Wasley and Chris Dodge, there are now two beautiful salt water tanks. The smaller is 120 gallons, and the larger is 220 gallons. These tanks will be used to display our local marine life, and can be seen from inside Fin's Cafe if you feel like having some lunch while observing the animals.

Currently the tanks house seastars, a seahorse, a pipefish, black sea bass, a northern puffer, a lobster, porgy, spider crabs, a rock crab, and flounder.

All the PVC piping for the plumbing was done by Anthony and Chris! Great job, guys!

Cool fish!

This year in New Bedford we caught a fish we do not often catch!

This is a Flying Gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans). Check out that blue coloration! It is a bottom dwelling fish related to the sea robin and has spines all over it's head, including two that extend from the gill covers. Thanks to the Our Sisters School in New Bedford for sending us the pictures!

New Bedford, Mass

Thank you to all of our schools who came aboard the Enviro-Lab in New Bedford, Massachusetts!

If you were wondering what happens in New Bedford, here is a peak:
















Students help haul a trawl net into the Enrivo-Lab
























and they have a chance to help identify organisms through scientific exploration

What's This?

This creature was found washed up on Ocean Beach in New London on Sunday, September 29th. It has yet to be identified. Any guesses?




Photos by Dana Jensen/The Day

We Never Had Passengers Like This Before!

During the end of August and the beginning of September, Project O teamed up with Mystic Marinelife Aquarium staff to release some seal pups back into the wild. The seals had been abandoned by their mother and aquarium staff took care of the seal pups until they were old enough to catch live fish on their own. They spent their ride on the Enviro-lab in a cage, for everyone's safety and were released into Fishers Island Sound. Some of them circled the boat a few times, reluctant to leave, others swam away as soon as they hit the water.

Are You a Resident of Connecticut?

OceanCamp - An Ocean Diversity Institute has been awarded a grant from the State of Connecticut. What does that mean for you? We're looking for students in 5th grade through 12th to spend a week with us to do some hands-on, inquiry-based marine science research. You'll be part of a small research team where you will collect data, perform lab tests and analyze results using oceanographic technology. You'll get to meet students from different parts of Connecticut, cities and rural areas alike, and get a chance to be out on the water, discovering the rich diversity of life beneath the waves. Give us a call to find out more about it - 445-9007!

Long Island Sound Facts

Did you know?
Area of LIS: 1320 sq. miles
Drainage Basin or Watershed:16,820 sq. miles
Average Depth: 63 ft. (60-120 ft.)
Volume: 18 trillion gallons
Coastline: 600 miles
Salinity Ranges: 23 parts per thousand in the western end to 35 parts per thousand at the eastern end
Source of Fresh Water: 90% of the freshwater comes from three major Connecticut Rivers - the Thames, Housatonic, and Connecticut
Temperature: 32 degrees F in winter and 73 degrees F in summer
Tides: two high and two low each day with the greatest tides in the west
Population Living within 50 miles: 20 million people
Estimated Value to the Local Economy: $5.5 billion per year
Fish Populations: more than 120 species of finfish, including 21 tropical species that stray here seasonally; at least 50 species spawn in the Sound

Facts and figures compliments of

Seals

These are just a few of the more than 250 Seals that passengers saw on our March 22nd Seal Watch.

Special thanks to photographer Kurt Hamel for the beautiful photograph!

The Walrus Dance

There are no walruses in Long Island Sound, but they are considered part of the marine mammal family. Harbor seals are classified as marine mammals too and they can be found off the coast of Connecticut in months when the water is colder, especially November through April. This particularly energetic walrus has rhythm and the moves!

We Get Lonely During CMT Testing

It's that time of year again - CMT's. While you sharpen your pencils and exercise your brains, we anxiously await your return.
Our boats sit idle at the dock.
No lines in our cafeteria. It's quiet and empty.
Our plankton nets have nothing better to do than hang out.
Hurry up and finish so that we can get back to wrapping our hands around all things wet, scaly and slippery!
To all of you answering science questions for the first time, we hope the answers come easily for you! Good luck. You can do it!

Summer Camp News

Summer program applications are now available at:


http://oceanology.org/kidsprogram.html

Summer Camp Dates

Do you have plans for this summer yet?

We offer a variety of programs during the summer and on weekends. Our camp programs are for students who have completed 5th through 12th grade. Camp information and dates can be found at:

http://oceanology.org/kidsprogram.html

Camp applications should be available by the end of January.