SEAS Info | Cape May/Wildwood | Sandy Hook Bay
On Board Activities
Dolphin watching
South Jersey is one of the best places on the East Coast to observe wild Bottlenose Dolphins which are seen on approximately 90% of these trips. They regularly inhabit the waters of Southern New Jersey from April to November. Dolphin group sizes off southern New Jersey range from approximately 3-300 animals and since many Bottlenose Dolphin calves are born right off our coast, newborn babies are commonly seen. If encountered, dolphins may be engaged in activities such as playing, feeding, traveling, mating, socializing, and even bow riding (racing within feet of the front of our boat) or wake jumping (jumping out of the waves created by the boat).
Plankton Studies
You’ll be amazed by what you see in one drop of water. Our instructors will use microscopes and video equipment to introduce your group to the amazing world of Plankton inside our “Plankton Lab”. Students will get a brief overview from instructors then divide into smaller groups to view and identify planktonic organisms.
Trawl Net
Students will use a trawl net to collect live marine specimens. A handful of student volunteers help deploy the net and everyone on board helps to pull it up. What better way to learn about hard manual labor than to actually be forced into it, right? Once “the catch” is on board, it is sorted and the students will get an interesting lesson about each of the specimens. A variety of crustaceans, mollusks, echinoderms, fish, and algae are always a likely catch. This is one of the highlights of the trip.
Live Animal Touch Tanks
There’s no better way to learn about sea creatures than to hold them. The instructors will introduce the students to the various organisms that have been collected throughout the trip and give them the opportunity to touch them while learning about them.
Horseshoe Crabs
The Delaware Bay has a higher concentration of horseshoe crabs than anywhere else on planet earth. Students will be enlightened to the importance of these amazing “living fossils” while learning about their adaptations, anatomy, life cycles, and more.
Highlights
Programs take place on a boat. Dolphins are commonly seen. Educational activities are hands-on and all participants, including students, chaperones, and teachers get involved with the collecting and learning process.
Location
The boat docks are located in Wildwood Crest, Cape May County, New Jersey. The cruise will take the group via the inland waterways through beautiful salt marshes, Cape May Harbor, out Cape May inlet and into the Atlantic Ocean. The boat does not travel far from shore.
Instructors
All trips are led by experienced Marine Biologists and Educators.
Time
Three hour trip. The morning trip runs from 9am to noon. The afternoon trip runs from 1pm to 4pm. Please call if you have time constraints.
Student #s
We can accommodate groups with up to 130 total people.
Directions
Boat and parking are located at the Starlight Fleet Dock, 6200 Park Boulevard, Wildwood, NJ. Click for map.
Parking
There is plenty of parking for busses and extra vehicles directly in front of the dock.
Boats
We will be using the 105 ft Atlantic Star or the 70 ft Starlight of the Starlight Fleet, which are owned and operated by JJC Boats, Inc, a fully insured charter boat company. Both vessels are U.S. Coast guard inspected and certified and are extremely safe with ample seating, shelter, and two small bathrooms.
Curriculum based
Topics covered in our program are based on core curriculum content standards set forth by the New Jersey Department of Education and helps to reinforce science standard 5.5 (strands a, b, c) and standard 5.10 (strand a, b).
Grades
Appropriate for grades 2-12.
Please call (609) 368-1211 or email Kaitlin Gannon at kgannon@wetlandsinstitute.org for pricing and availability.
