One of the nice things about living on the Gulf Coast is that there's always something interesting (and fun) to learn about.  Recently we rode the ferry from Fort Morgan across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island.  Along the way, we saw huge jelly fish in the water, pelicans and sea gulls soaring through the air and an up close view of the many gas rigs that dot our coastal waters.

Once on land at Dauphin Island we visited the Estuarium.  http://estuarium.disl.org  An Estuary is where fresh and salt water meet.

The following info is from a pamphlet they give out at the Estuarium.

The Estuarium is the public aquarium of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Alabama's marine education and research center. 

The Mobile-Tensaw Delta is one of the most significant bottomland hardwood habitats in the country.  The enormous fresh water marshes and forests of the Delta drive many of the bay ecosystem processes and protect the metropolitan area from drastic flooding events.  The largest Delta tank is an above and below water representation of this habitat, and you'll see turtles and ancient gar.  Other exhibits include the carnivorous bog tank, baby alligator habitat, and other aquaria highlighting diverse animal and plant life of the Delta.

Mobile Bay is a major biological nursery area of the north-central Gulf of Mexico.  Up to 95% of the commercial seafood of the Gulf depend upon the estuaries for food and protection during some part of their lfe cycle.  Major species include shrimp, oysters, blue crab and mullet.  The Bay area exhibit features the 9,000 gallon Bay tank, with rock jetties, oyster reefs, and replicas of the legs of Middle Bay Lighthouse, a historic landmark in Mobile Bay since 1887.  You'll see numerous other tanks representing salt marshes, tidal pools and submerged grass beds found in Mobile Bay. 

Known to many as "America's Sea," the Gulf of Mexico is a tremendously important resource to the nation.  The Gulf produces most of the country's domestic oil and natural gas.  The Gulf produces almost half of all seafood in the nation and its ports are among the largest in the United States.  The 16,000 gallon Gulf tank features sharks, rays, snapper, grouper, jacks and many more.  Individual aquariums feature octopus, schooling fish, lobsters and a fascinating variety of other animals.

The children had a wonderful time on the tour.  The website provided printable activity sheets for them to fill out as they looked at the exhibits.  Also, several exhibits are hands on.  One table had live horeshoe crabs and hermit crabs that they could touch. 

This was a wonderful field trip that I highly recommend.  Even if you can't visit the area, check out their website and links.  There's a wealth of information there.

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Posted by momma2aejsk

This was so much fun! I can't believe we almost didn't go! I'm glad you blogged about it, I have not had the itch to blog the past few days.
Samantha

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