CAPE MAY – The aquatic world came to life for students from six Cape May County middle schools as they netted fish, tested water samples, identified shellfish and learned how to spot whales as part of a field trip to the Nature Center of Cape May, which overlooks Cape May Harbor.
The day’s activities were varied, and several required students to get a little wet. Three Lower Cape May Regional High School students, donning waterproof waders and representing their ocean and marine science class, worked the waters of Cape May Harbor. The students, led by Laura Graziano from Jenkinson’s Aquarium in Long Branch, dragged a seine to find fish the younger students could identify.
Other high schoolers from Lower had to become “experts” on various marine subjects – horseshoe crab migration and biology, the life cycles of shellfish, the importance of terrapins – so they could give presentations to the middle schoolers.
Jeff Martin, the ocean and marine science teacher, said that this is a big day for his high school class. The Lower Cape May Regional high schoolers were the oldest of the approximately 150 students on the field trip – they took on the roles of educators and chaperones for their younger counterparts from Avalon Elementary, Bishop McHugh Regional Catholic School, Cape Christian Academy, Cape May City Elementary, Dennis Township School and Wildwood Catholic Academy.
The field trip was organized by Clean Ocean Action, a nonprofit that works statewide to educate kids and adults about the importance of a healthy ocean. Martin said that students in previous years traveled all the way to Long Branch to get the kind of education they were getting that day.
“But the trek got to be too hard, too far, too much – now we have a field trip down here on the Cape thanks to our work with Clean Ocean Action,” he said. “It’s a real joy.”
Contact the author, Collin Hall, at 609-886-8600 ext. 156 or by email at chall@cmcherald.com
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