Herring Gut Happenings

Educating students and communities about the connections
between the ocean, inland water, and economy of Maine.

We only have a month to go before our July 1st ribbon cutting for the bait shack renovation project and our touch tank installation. We are all very excited to show everyone the tremendous improvements we’ve made to our educational spaces and the habitats for our animals. You’ll be able to see how we have adapted a historical bait shack to endure sea level rise for the next 75 years while exploring our four-acre campus. New exhibits will allow kids of all ages to explore marine themes and history.

We are extremely busy. This past week, we introduced several hundred kids at the S.E.A. Fair in Camden and the Future Fair in Rockland to the tools marine scientists use and the world of marine biology. We hosted the Maine Marine Science Consortium’s Art and Humanities workshop and cosponsored talks and walks with the St. George Conservation Commission about the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that will endanger our ash trees. We helped kids in Harpswell discover the amazing world of oysters in collaboration with the Quahog Bay Conservancy. Last but not least, our adult Spring Fever program visited the Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder to witness the alewife migration.

We will be accepting nominations for the Phyllis Wyeth Visionary Award until July 1st. We are honored to recognize and shine a light on the incredible talent emanating from inspirational people throughout Maine who work in the fields of marine science, environmental education, policy, fishing, and aquaculture.

This past fiscal year has been eventful for us with two major building campaigns. Thanks to you, we are getting close to our budgetary goals for the end of the fiscal year on June 30th. It’s hard to put a price on the infrastructure needed to create a hands-on science experience connecting a child to the coastal environment. We invest in a wide array of tools and technology in our classrooms to provide an impactful and effective learning environment. Our staff have dedicated their lives to acquiring degrees and experience in childhood education, animal husbandry, aquaculture, environmental studies, and marine science. With your help, we can continue to build a place for us all to learn and grow and discover.

Tickets are going fast for our August 5th gala. This event is our annual celebration of what we do and the many people who support us. Please join us.

Touch Tank Renewal Project - We're Almost There!

Ice Cream Social & Ribbon Cutting

The Sea, the Future, and Us
Summer Gala - Tickets Going Fast!

The month of May was adventure-packed for our students and teachers!

Our senior educator, Alaina Zyhowski, presented a 2-hour workshop on Data Art at Blueberry Cove during the Maine Science Teachers Association annual conference. Eleven formal and informal educators attended and were excited to bring the activity back to their schools and non-profits in Maine and greater New England.

Windsor Elementary fifth-graders visited Herring Gut for a custom learning experience called Diadromous Fish & Plankton. They learned about sea-run fish, then role-played as migrating alewives through four simulated ecosystems within a watershed, then collected and identified various kinds of plankton in the Gulf of Maine.

St. George 3-K, Pre-K, and Kindergarten children explored Drift Inn Beach with Katie, Ava, and Alaina! They scouted for marine animals in the tidepools, sorted green, brown, and red seaweeds, and constructed sand art!

Friendship Village School 5th and 6th grade students performed fish dissections on alewives as the culmination of their learning about anadromous fish (fish that spend most of their time in salt water and migrate to fresh water to spawn).

We met Bristol Consolidated School’s 1st- and 2nd-graders for their annual field trip to Pemaquid Beach for tidepooling and seaweed explorations! Then we took St. George MSU’s 4th grade class out to Allen Island to survey invasive crab species on Settlement Beach. Students were incredibly engaged while performing both systematic and random sampling techniques. They loved tidepooling time at Betsy’s Beach before heading back to the mainland.

At the end of May, we finished strong with oyster and clam dissections with a small group of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at Harpswell Community School in partnership with Quahog Bay Conservancy. We showed over 200 kids how marine scientists and field researchers work in the environment at the Future Fair at South School in Rockland. Attendees included 3rd-5th grade students from many midcoast schools. We culminated with the S.E.A. Fair at Camden-Rockport Middle School and interacted with many students at our touch tank table who would like to visit us on July 1st to see our brand new touch tank (and eat ice cream of course)! You are all invited!