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Student Blogs: Savannah, GA – History, Ecology, Education, and Fantastic Food!
entry 6
Tybee Island Marine Science Center
by
Sarah Morse of
North Berwick, Maine
Monday, January 19, 2009 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
2:00pm-5:00pm - The end event of our day
 After eating lunch at Arby's, we took the scenic route to Tybee Island Marine Science Center. We split into two groups and I went with the group that went down to the beach first. We started under the pier, where our guide explained about the importance of the dunes (stops the island from flooding) and about the recent conservation effort that has put about five feet of additional sand on to the beach. We learned that the tides in Georgia are much larger than the tides in North Carolina, but the actual waves are bigger in North Carolina. We took a walk down the beach, looking for different kind of shells and jellyfish. Phil found over a dollars worth of sand dollars on our walk! We also found a Baby's Ear, which "blobs" its prey to death, an Olive Shell and others. There were several pieces of jellyfish scattered on the beach too. The ocean water was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which was warm enough for us to wade in to look for and collect small organisms
in a "sand-sifting" activity. There were several Scuds caught which provide protein for many of the birds.
Our group then entered the Marine Science Center, where we saw baby alligators and turtles, along with Puffer fish, a skate and other fish. The touch tank had a Horseshoe crab, Hermit crabs and snails. We fed the Horseshoe crab some shrimp and learned how to tell if it was a female or a male. This one was a female because it didn't have claspers on the front feet.
After exploring the exhibits downstairs, we went upstairs to look at several different marine animals on the micro cam. We watched as a snail attempted to escape from the Petri dish and saw the scuds that we had caught earlier. We learned a lot of interesting things about coastal areas and marine life and we had an enormous amount of fun at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center!
 PHOTOS: Teaching Scholars in Savannah, GA
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