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

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!