At Marine Camp, Students Get Hands-On Learning from Sea Grant and Partners

This summer, New York Sea Grant (NYSG), through a partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) and the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation, has been hosting the Marine Summer Field Trip Program at Jones Beach, lovingly referred to by staff and community members as "Marine Camp."

A student from Uniondale Community Council interacts with a hermit crab. Credit: Sumayyah Uddin/ NYSG

Running for eight sessions through the months of July and August, Marine Camp offers Nassau County youth organizations a chance to seine for local marine species, to hike to learn about coastal habitats and wildlife, and to learn how to use lifesaving materials like life rings and lifejackets. For some attendees, it is the first time they have ever visited a beach.

The program is free for participating organizations, offering around 200 students each summer the opportunity to learn more about the island they call home. The organizations invited to Marine Camp work in low-income communities, serving as an invaluable resource for households with limited disposable income.

"I appreciate New York Sea Grant more than they could ever imagine for this," said Lorraine Danser, youth project executive director with Uniondale Community Council. "This program is so helpful in allowing us to keep prices low for students' families…it's very nice to not have to add that cost to our ask."

A Marine Camp coordinator assists students from Uniondale Community Council with the seine net. Credit: Sumayyah Uddin/ NYSG

The group from Uniondale Community Council began their day at Jones Beach boat basin, where they listened to a talk about piping plover conservation before donning water shoes and venturing down to the sandbar for a seining exercise. Several children were apprehensive to get into the water, which, while ankle-deep for the adults, was often knee high for the group of mostly smaller children, aged roughly 6 to 14. Once the camp educators demonstrated using the seine net, however, the children quickly warmed up, giggling and squealing as they carefully handled Atlantic silverside fish, hermit crabs and even a small flounder. Educators took the opportunity to educate children on a few other lucky finds - a dogfish shark and a horseshoe crab, both of which some of the braver children took the opportunity to touch and hold.

Antoinette Clemetson, a NYSG marine fisheries specialist at Stony Brook, was right in the middle of the action: holding one side of the seine net and inspecting the haul to spot gnarly crabs and other potential hazards, and peering into landing nets to see what the children caught.

"We want to bring groups that don't have the opportunity to come to the coast," Clemetson said, speaking on the impact of Marine Camp on local communities. "We also want to spur interest in marine biology in our students, that curiosity and excitement."

After exploring, catching marine critters with landing and seine nets, and hiking the seashore, the group headed to the Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center. There, they learned about water safety from Kathleen Fallon, a NYSG coastal processes and hazards specialist based at Stony Brook. This year, the program added a new component: an interactive virtual reality (VR) experience designed to train participants in best practices if caught in a rip current.

This water safety curriculum supports Governor Kathy Hochul's New York SWIMS initiative, which addresses equity gaps and expands access to safe swimming. For the small group from Uniondale, this meant using the VR headset to simulate escaping a rip current, learning to use life rings to assist distressed swimmers in an emergency, wearing lifejackets, and listening to a talk about safety practices in and around the water.

Annetta Centrella-Vitale, director of the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center and Stony Brook University SoMAS alumna, emphasized how important Marine Camp was in safely exposing children to marine environments. "What I love about this program is that we're able to get children to the bay with the seining experience, but also to our Center, which has all sorts of exhibits that they can interact with. When they get to have their lunch outside, overlooking the ocean, it gives them the whole perspective of both sides of the island. It's nice to see kids get outside and have that experience."

The program, especially the newly added water safety component, left an impression on its attendees. When asked what her favorite part of the day was, Noelle, age 7, stopped hopping along the center playground's wooden obstacle course to think about it for a moment. "When we practiced water safety," she finally decided, jumping onto another log. "I really liked throwing the lifesaver."

For other students, the best part of the experience was getting to spend time observing wildlife in and around Jones Beach.

"I liked seeing the fish," Avery, age 9, shared. And 6-year-old Sarai agreed: "I got to see an animal. It was fun."

Students from Uniondale Community Council interact with fish and crabs caught in the seine net. Credit: Sumayyah Uddin/ NYSG

New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant College Program.

- Sumayyah Uddin, NYSG