Blue Ocean Society Touch Tank Happenings

Closed for the Season

2011-08-30T17:05:00.002-04:00

Due to the hurricane this past weekend, we had to empty the Portsmouth touch tank and unfortunately will not be reopening for the last week of the 2011 season. Hopefully you got a chance to visit us earlier in the summer and enjoy some of the creatures from the Gulf of Maine. See you next year!

Update Re: Hurricane Irene

2011-08-27T14:05:00.000-04:00

We're taking precautions due to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene and will be putting the tank in storage at least while the weather passes - so the tank will be closed from this afternoon (Saturday) until further notice. Will keep you posted!

Periwinkles!

2011-08-24T16:11:00.004-04:00

Our featured creature at the Portsmouth touch tank this week is the periwinkle! Our junior intern, Willy Jones, wrote a great article about these animals in this month's Blue Ocean Society e-newsletter, which can be found here: http://www.enewsarchive.com/blueoceansociety .

We had some great periwinkle-themed crafts at the touch tank today, thanks to our intern, Callie! Today was her last day as she heads back to school next week - a big thanks to Callie and all of our touch tank interns and volunteers for their help this summer!

Mummichogs

2011-08-17T15:54:00.004-04:00

We had some great visitors at the touch tank today, along with wonderful weather! We have quite a few mummichogs in the tank right now, in addition to lobsters, crabs, hermit crabs, sea urchins, moon snails, and sea anemones.

Stop by this week to visit these fish or any of our other great creatures! We are open Wed-Sun from 8:30 am to 2 pm.

Creature feature August 15-21

2011-08-15T13:42:00.002-04:00

We have two featured creatures at the Portsmouth touch tank this week!

The first is the sand shrimp, which is a small species of shrimp common on the Atlantic coast. They have one pair of hook-shaped claws and are one of the dominant predators in the benthic (sea bottom) community. In the summer, they are found in shallow waters, and in the winter they migrate into deeper waters.

The second creature this week is the mummichog, which is a small fish that also lives in shallow waters along the east coast of North America. Its Native American name means "they go in great numbers." These fish feed on insects, small fish, crustaceans, and plants. They are an important food source for larger fish species.

Lobster week

2011-08-08T14:30:00.002-04:00

Lobster week at the touch tank was a success! We now have 4 of these creatures in the tank, of various sizes. Although they typically scavenge at night, we actually got some of these animals to eat mussels on Saturday afternoon! Thanks to all of our visitors this past week - we hope to see you again soon!

Lobsters!

2011-08-03T21:10:00.006-04:00

In honor of our new additions to the touch tank, this week's featured creature is the lobster! We have two little lobsters in Portsmouth right now, as well as some new crabs, limpets, and sea urchins! Here is the bigger of our two lobsters, hiding between his favorite rocks!

We had some great visitors today at that tank - here is Michael, age 2.5, with a moon snail shell, and with his favorite touch tank creature: the periwinkle!

Stop by to see our lobsters and the rest of our great marine life at the Blue Ocean Society touch tank in Portsmouth!

Thank you, Treehouse Toys!

2011-07-27T16:30:00.003-04:00

Treehouse Toys, located at 143 Market Street in Portsmouth, NH, just became a Silver Sponsor of our Portsmouth Touch Tank! A big thank you to them for helping us continue to educate our visitors and hopefully inspire them to conserve the marine environment! Be sure to visit Treehouse Toys and thank them for their contribution! Their hours are:

Mon - Thur 10am - 6pm
Fri - Sat 10am - 8pm
Sun 10am-6pm

A week full of echinoderms!

2011-07-25T15:46:00.003-04:00

This week's creature feature is the echinoderm. Echinoderms include sea stars, sea urchins, and sand dollars. The word echinoderm comes from the Greek words for "spiny" and "skin." Echinoderms are the largest phylum (group of related animals) that has no freshwater or terrestrial species!

All adult echinoderms have pentaradial, or 5-sided, symmetry. There creatures are often known for their ability to regenerate body parts - in some species, a single arm can develop into a complete individual!

For the chance to observe and hold an echinoderm or any of the other amazing creatures currently living in our touch tank, stop by the Isles of Shoals dock in downtown Portsmouth from Wed-Sun from 8:30 am to 2 pm!!

Crab week at the touch tank!

2011-07-20T14:25:00.003-04:00

This week at the Portsmouth touch tank, our featured creature is the crab! Just in time to celebrate, we noticed one of our female crabs is carrying bright orange eggs!

We will have to keep a close eye on her, and hopefully we will have some new baby crabs by the end of the summer!

Stop by Wed-Sun between 8:30 am and 2 pm to see this crab or any of our others - we have jonah crabs, rock crabs, green crabs, and asian shore crabs in the tank right now! Hope to see you soon.

Can you find our flounder?

2011-07-13T14:51:00.004-04:00

The winter flounder uses its fins to cover its body in sand. This fish is able to camouflage so well that sometimes it's hard to even spot him in the tank! Can you find him in both of these photos?

July 13-17 is Flounder Week!

2011-07-12T14:18:00.007-04:00

We have a very friendly winter flounder in our Portsmouth Touch Tank. At feeding times, he has even been known to eat right out of your hand!

Winter flounder is a type of flatfish. In the Gulf of Maine, it is the most common shallow water flounder. It can be distinguished from the summer flounder because winter flounder have eyes on the right side of their bodies and they have no teeth.

If you would like to see this week's featured creature for yourself, come

visit our touch tank this Wednesday-Thursday from 8:30 am - 2 pm at 315 Market St!

Hermit Crab moving day

2011-07-07T16:45:00.003-04:00

I know this week is supposed to be all about frilled anemones at the touch tank, but it seems the hermit crabs weren't ready to let go of their time in the spotlight! Today we had a very exciting event - one of our large hermit crabs switched his shell!

Because hermit crabs don't grow their own hard shells like other crabs, they live in empty shells from other animals, such as dogwelks and moon snails, to protect themselves. The hermit crab today carefully inspected one of the empty shells in the tank, turning it over with its claws many times to make sure it would make a suitable home. It then left the safety of its original shell and moved over into the new shell! We don't get to see this event very often, so our visitors today were very lucky to witness the show. A big thanks to Emma and Scott Watson for visiting our tank two days in a row!

Kids: Join us for our Sea Star Camp July 19 and 21!

2011-07-07T00:10:00.002-04:00

Looking for something fun for your 3-6 year old? To earn their Silver Award, a team of Hampton Cadette Girl Scouts is partnering with Blue Ocean Society to offer Sea Star Camp. Camp will be held at the Blue Ocean Touch Tank and on board the docked MV Thomas Laighton in Portsmouth. Two sessions are offered, Tuesday July 19^th and Thursday July 21^st. Camp runs from 9-11:30am both days. The sessions offer activities and hands on education with the sea animals in the touch tank. Cost is $10 per session and includes a t-shirt. Registration form can be found here or call 603-431-0260 for more information.

This week at the Touch Tank: Frilled Anemones

2011-07-06T15:40:00.004-04:00

Come visit the anemones in the Portsmouth Touch Tank this week! Frilled anemones use their tentacles to feed on small zooplankton in the water.

Join us at the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company Dock in this great summer weather to gently touch and hold some of our plants and animals in the touch tank. Along with this week's featured creature the anemone, we also have a winter flounder, a sculpin, and many crabs, hermit crabs, and sea stars.

June 29th at the touch tank

2011-06-29T15:37:00.006-04:00

We had a great day at the marine life touch tank today! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to visit our creatures and enter the NH Coastal Cleanup art contest! In honor of hermit crab week, here are some pictures from today at the tank:

Here is our smallest hermit crab, right next to our littlest sea star!

One of our new periwinkles is hitching a ride on the shell of another of our hermit crabs!

Visit our Hermit Crabs!

2011-06-28T14:19:00.008-04:00

This week, our featured creature at the touch tank is the hermit crab! Right now we have 6 hermit crabs of all different sizes living in our tank. Here is one eating lunch from earlier today!

We are now open for our regular summer hours, Wed-Sun from 8:30 am - 2 pm. Stop by this week to hold one of our hermit crabs or other tide pool critters, hear a story about hermit crabs, or do a fun craft!

Hope to see you soon!

Looking for Volunteers at the Touch Tank!

2011-06-24T06:42:00.000-04:00

Are you interested in marine life? Do you have some time to spare this summer? We're looking for volunteers to help at the marine life touch tank!

Under the supervision of our touch tank coordinator, volunteers teach kids and adults who visit the tank all about the local marine ecosystem. They also care for and handle the creatures of the tank, including sea stars, urchins, anemones, crabs, marine snails, and other invertebrates. You will also have the opportunities to lead story times and other activities.

Volunteers should be friendly, hard-working and enthusiastic about our mission: to inspire passion in people to conserve the marine environment.

The application process is easy! For more information, click here.

Marine Life Touch Tank 2011 Grand Opening

2011-06-23T15:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday June 25^th8:30 am – 2 pm

Isles of Shoals Steamship Co. Dock

315 Market Street

Portsmouth, NH

See and gently hold animals & plants from the Gulf of Maine!

Special Activities:

9:30 - Creature Feature

11:00 – Feeding Time

11:30 - Critter Scavenger Hunt

12:00 - Arts and Crafts

12:30 – Story Time

FREE! (although we appreciate a donation of $3 per person)

Join Us June 18-19!

2011-06-18T07:55:00.000-04:00

Our official grand opening will be on June 25, but this weekend, we'll be doing a "soft opening" of the touch tank. Join us Saturday and Sunday, June 18-19 from 8:30 AM-2 PM to check out our new critters!

Preview of the New Touch Tank Animals!

2011-06-11T08:30:00.011-04:00

Here's a closer peek at what we've gotten in the touch tank so far. We've been working hard to get the touch tank up and running, sending down SCUBA divers and tide pooling a lot and it's nearly ready! We have already gathered lots of animals but we will be adding new animals all summer so it's a good excuse to visit more than once. We have got a large variety of sea stars in the tank including some blood stars! We were also given a couple of small scallops which are fun to watch swim!

We have all kinds of crabs in the tank already and all sizes; a few hermit

crabs along with green

crabs, jonah crabs, rock crabs, and Asian shore crabs!

We also have tons of mussels in the tank which means we have lots of different things growing on them. This includes

the under appreciated barnacles which can often be seen feeding if you look closely. And while you're looking you can see the mussels filter feeding the water as well. Also growing on some of our mussels are some bright orange sea anemones!

There are lots more things in the tank other than what you've seen here and always more to come, so be sure to come visit the tank this summer and learn all about your favorite invertebrates and make some new favorites!

Portsmouth Touch Tank Opening Soon!

2011-06-11T06:55:00.000-04:00

We're getting ready to open the touch tank in Portsmouth for the summer! We've been stocking the tank with a variety of exciting critters (see photos on our Facebook page here) and have been working with the staff at the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company to bring the critters aboard their educational field trips with local school groups.

We are still finalizing our opening time and hours for the season, but right now, it looks like we'll be open on the weekend of June 18, and are planning our Grand Opening the weekend of June 25. After that, we'll be open Wednesday through Sunday until Labor Day weekend. Hours and daily activities will be posted here soon. We also encourage you to "Like" the touch tank page or Blue Ocean Society page on Facebook for the latest updates.

We look forward to seeing you this summer!

September 8 at The Discovery Center

2010-09-08T15:56:00.004-04:00

Summer is coming to an end! So sad to think about as it was a fantastic summer both at our Sea Life Discovery Center and aboard our whale watching trips. Today the beach was so empty. Our neighbors were open selling bagels, our friends at Lee's Seafood were also open tending to the last beach goers of the season. I had not been in the center for while so I was shocked to see the size

of our lobsters! he has really grown, our crabs are doing well and were quite hungry today during feeding time. I must say my number one is educating people and meeting new people but aside from that I love feeding time. Erin and I were talking about how you get attached to each

of our "critters" We are closing for the season on Wednesday September 15Th, so come by and see us. Thank you to all who have visited and given us such encouraging words about our mission, we really appreciated it. Our biggest thanks goes out to the Capolupo family who have given us the space the past 2 years and who also purchased our amazing tank that everyone enjoyed so much! THANK YOU

Our last week!

2010-08-31T07:37:00.002-04:00

If you haven't made it to the touch tank this summer, or if you've been meaning to come back a second, third, tenth or twentieth time, this is your last chance! It's our last week of open hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11 to 4, and Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 4.

As Bailey mentioned on Sunday, we have urchins, hermit crabs, and a pregnant Asian shore crab. Many of our favorites - our lobster, Lucky, our two flounder, Winnie the Pooh and Mikey, and our favorite crab, Big Mama — have been with us for the whole summer. Some of them may stay with us over the winter, to visit schools and libraries for our touch tank programs; others will be released back into the ocean very soon. So make sure to make it to the dock to bid your friends farewell!

2010-08-29T09:38:00.002-04:00

Yesterday at the touch tank we found that one of our Asian shore crabs is with eggs! We also got some new additions to the tank including a longwristed hermet crab, 2 good sized urchins, a green crab, and some more beloved perriwinkles.:)
also thanks to Taylor you can get a chance to actually taste seaweed! And it's delicious!
So stop by today to check the new guys out, taste some seaweed and to pick a name for our sea anemone.
Hope to see you there!

Rainy Wednesday

2010-08-25T09:24:00.004-04:00

It's rainy today (Wednesday), so the touch tank will be open by appointment only. Please call or visit the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company and ask one of the staff members to contact Scott - he will come open the tank and show you all our critters! The Steamship Company's phone number is (603) 431-5500. Thanks everyone!

Some new friends!

2010-08-21T14:25:00.006-04:00

Today at the touch tank we found some new additions for the tank off the dock! We found a pretty good sized sea anemone, a new Asian shore crab and a scale worm. We also found that in addition to the first baby sea star, there is actually a second one! This little guy is even smaller than the first. Sea stars lay about 2 million eggs at once, but only a few of those eggs make it to adulthood.
We are still in need of names for the nudibranchs, so come on down! You have till 4pm tomorrow :)

Lately at the Portsmouth Touch Tank

2010-08-21T09:12:00.003-04:00

We have had a great couple days! A lot of new names for the Nudibranch and we are suppose to have beautiful weather all weekend!! We also discovered the tiniest sea star in our tank so you will have to come check it out! It is maybe a centimeter big! Remember today and tomorrow (Sunday 22nd) we are open from 10am - 4pm so you will have to come by and see the little baby sea star and enter a name for the Nudibranch drawing on Sunday.

Nudibranch Week!

2010-08-18T22:09:00.002-04:00

This week the creature feature at the Portsmouth touch tank are Nudibranchs. Nudibranchs are found at all depths in salt water however they reach their largest size in warm shallow water. Nudibranchs are commonly referred to as "sea slugs" and have simple body structures which lack a mantle cavity and are bilaterally symmetrical.

At the tank we have arts and crafts and a naming contest geared towards our Nudibranchs so come by and check it out!

A busy day at the Discovery Center

2010-08-18T12:21:00.004-04:00

Our summer intern Erin and I were kept very busy today with all sorts of friends coming in to visit! Story time was fun and Erin was very busy with arts and crafts. We had our biggest Hermit crab change into a larger shell over the weekend, he looks happy and healthy in his new home! One of our Frilled Sea Anemone's was open today giving our guests some nice looks. Sea Anemone's grow on lower level rocks, pilings, in crevices and in shaded tide pools. They do have stinging tentacles but are not harmful to humans. They continuously grow throughout there life and can live over a century! Come and see us for feeding on Wednesday's and Saturday's at 2:00. Thanks to all who came to visit today!!

Lobster Name!

2010-08-15T19:50:00.003-04:00

Today was the conclusion of Lobster week at the Portsmouth touch tank and for our final day we picked the winning name for our very own female Lobster. The winning name was....Lucky! Submitted by Cameron and Hailey from Rushville, NY. Congrats and be sure to stop by our tank next week to suggest a name for our next feature creature.

2010-08-14T22:08:00.006-04:00

It was a SUPER busy day at the touch tank! Between the conference people and all of you that just came to see our beautiful faces... oh and the touch tank haha :) we barely had a breath! But when we did have a breath we spent it looking up more info on our new additions to the tank, the nudibranchs. These guys are a type of sea slug that have little frills that come off their back that are used kind of as gills. We also found that they not only feed on stinger organisms like hydroids and anemone, but they can actually use their sting-y food to their own advantage by becoming sting-y as well!
Tomorrow we are drawing the name for our Lobster! So drum roll for our next post!

2010-08-14T09:28:00.001-04:00

The tank is cold! But that means optimal conditions for all of our critters we have seen more activity with them lately and been fairly busy. Come stop by the tank this weekend anytime between 10am and 4pm to see our sea stars, flounder, periwinkles, dog whelks, hermit crabs, jonah and rock crabs, lobster which we still have to name and much more!!!

Welcome Back!

2010-08-11T23:26:00.002-04:00

After our tank was fixed this morning and a quick trip to Salisbury to grab our creatures the Portsmouth touch tank was back in business. The Salisbury tank generously gave us one of their Green Sea Urchins. Come by the Portsmouth tank this week to do Lobster themed crafts and check out our new creature!

Sea Life Discovery Center News

2010-08-11T15:54:00.002-04:00

Alot of activity at the center today. Dick and Katy Fralick came in to do a talk on the food web in the Gulf of Maine and also brought us a huge map of the worlds oceans to display at the center. Dick and Katy have been wonderful supporters of The Blue Ocean Society. For the past 3 years they have donated there time on The Atlantic Queen II in Rye helping us with our education, research and conservation efforts. They have also donated books to us, posters and the past 2 years have come to Salisbury to do lectures, all of us from The Blue Ocean Society thank them very much for there support and in us as an organization and our mission, we are happy to call them friends!! We also made whale origami's today, Erin was kept busy with all the folding and patience it takes to teach 2-5 year olds how to make them. Our friend Chuck Rosa from "Chuckys Fight" (www.chuckysfight.com) had given us some dog tag necklaces to teach kids to stay away from drugs, Chuck jumps into the ocean every day 365 days a year to spread awareness of the devastating effect of drugs, he and his family are an inspiration! In order to receive the necklace you need to sign a pledge you will stay away from drugs. Kyle Espinola, Joey Espinola, and their cousin Cody Christian took the pledge today and earned there dog tags! Great job boys!

We're back in business! Come visit us and name our lobster!

2010-08-11T12:02:00.000-04:00

Technical difficulties...

2010-08-10T15:15:00.004-04:00

Our Portsmouth touch tank is having trouble - the pump that brings the chilled, filtered water back up to the animals is broken. So we filled the tank with bags of ice to keep the water cool, and we sent some of our more sensitive animals - including our fish, sea stars and urchins - to our touch tank in Salisbury, Mass., for the night. We closed a bit early today, with the hopes that we could block out the sun and give the crabs, periwinkles and lobster a rest. The tank is scheduled to be serviced tomorrow morning, so hopefully the tank will be up and running again by 11 when we open!

I'd like to thank the volunteers on staff today, Paulette, Scott, Dan and Alyssia, who did everything they could to keep the animals healthy and inform visitors about the situation. And thanks so much to our visitors for understanding!

Check in tomorrow to find out where things stand. We'll also be posting updated information on our Facebook site - make sure to become a fan! The link to the site is on our menu on the right side of this page.

Hermit Crab Names!

2010-08-09T17:42:00.002-04:00

We picked the two winning names for our Hermit Crabs and the winners are: Georgea submitted by Eryn from Shapleigh, ME and Corkscrew suggested by Jasmine from Westford, MA. Congratulations!

Yesterday when we went to the tank we noticed a crab molt. We let the molt dry on the dock in the sun all day but it was not only our visitors who seemed to be interested in it. A Seagull grabbed our molt, thinking it was a real crab and ate it!

Calling all Tidepoolers!

2010-08-07T20:35:00.005-04:00

It was a busy day today at the touch tank! But one of the things we need your help with is getting some more critters! So if you're out tidepooling and find anything cool feel free to bring it by the tank:)

The two crabs that were mating have separated. No signs yet if the girl is with eggs but that will take some time!

The hermit crabs got some more name suggestions today and one in particular was pretty creative (a little girl named one hhhho-with four h's specifically) The names will be picked tomorrow so be sure to check in.

Love is in the Touch Tank

2010-08-06T16:44:00.005-04:00

We still seem to believe that two of out Atlantic Rock crabs are mating!! This is a longer process than we had originally thought until we did a little bit of research on it.

Mating between hard shell males and soft shell female crabs:
As the time for mating approaches the male carries the female in a belly-to-belly embrace. This lasts for up to seven days! On the final day the female will struggle to escape when the male finally releases her. The female will then molt her shell as the male inserts/ releases his sperm. After the molting process is accomplished the male then once again carries the female around in the belly-to-belly position to protect her new vulnerable soft shell. The sperm are stored internally within the female until the eggs are extruded and fertilization takes place. Anywhere from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 eggs can be carried on the females abdomen until they hatch as larvae.

Here is what we will hope to see sometime in the tank before summer is over, a rock crab carrying her eggs:

Citation: Davis, Lynn M. Marine and Freshwater Products Handbook. Lancester, Pennsylvania: Techomic Publishing Company Inc., 2000. 173. Print.

Hermit out of its shell!

2010-08-05T16:14:00.005-04:00

We had three very interesting sitings today at the Portsmouth touch tank:

1. One of our hermits ventured out of its periwinkle shell - and we're not sure why. It may have been stressed from so much interaction with our visitors (the hermit crab is the feature creature this week, after all). We put him into a holding tank with some empty shells with the hopes that he would find his way back to a shelter. We'll find out tomorrow!

2. Two of our rock crabs snuggled up to each other for most of the day. One is a boy, and one is a girl... we believe they were mating! At first we assumed it was a fight, and we separated the two of them. But they quickly found each other again, so while we're not entirely sure, it seemed as if they were in a lasting embrace. Maybe it's that season!

3. A nonmarine animal flew in for a visit: a praying mantis! The crew of the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company found it on the boat. It sat quietly in a boy's hand, cleaning its front legs and scoping us all out. It was quite a treat to see such a beautiful animal.

Hermit Crab Week!

2010-08-04T22:32:00.000-04:00

This week the feature creature at our Portsmouth touch tank is the Hermit Crab. Hermit Crabs are interesting because instead of molting or growing new shells they will transfer their entire body into an empty shell. Come by the tank to name our two Hermit Crab or do our Hermit Crab craft!

Below is a youtube video of a Hermit Crab changing shells. Although the video is of a Hermit Crab that breaths air, unlike ours in the tank, the act of changing shells is the same. Enjoy!

Sea Urchin Name!

2010-08-01T21:43:00.003-04:00

We the picked the winning name for our Green Sea Urchin today and the winner was....

The Spiky guy! Submitted by Abigail from New Hampshire!

Below is a picture of our Lightening Whelk sticking its tongue out, check it out!

Lastly, a pink Life is Good hat was left at the tank today. If this is yours we brought it to the Isles of Shoals office so come collect it!

2010-08-01T10:34:00.004-04:00

Yesterday at the touch tank our lightning snail was on the move. He was wiggling around all day and even stuck out his tongue at us!
The two crabs that lost their legs are still rehabilitating in our crabby hospital (AKA our little tank within our tank) and are expected to make a full recovery after three mults.
Our creature feature of the week this week the sea urchin is MIA as of yesterday but it's so little it is probably hiding right under our noses. The Urchins unknown where-abouts will not keep him/her from being named though :D We are drawing the names today so be sure to check and see who's name was drawn tonight!

The Crabby Mystery

2010-07-30T18:30:00.004-04:00

As mentioned before there has been some sketchy behavior in the tank. Someone has been stealing our Crab's legs!! Our first suspects were the hungry flounder but today we got photo evidence of a mummichog minnow with a hermit crabs leg in his mouth!! We have a rock crab with only two legs and our poor Europen Green Crab Petey is down to only a leg or two as well. Along with a couple hermit crabs there is a crab leg theif in the tank so we have to watch out for them. The Flounder and mummichogs are now under investifgation come by the tank to see our poor crabs and tell us who you think did it!

Also it is sea urchin week so our little urchin needs a name we are open Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm. Hope to see you there!!

Someone's been stealing our crabs' legs!

2010-07-29T17:22:00.003-04:00

It seems to be molting season, because today we found the molt, or shed-off shell, of our green crab Petey - the second molt this week. When we found the living, breathing Petey hiding under a rock, we discovered that, just like our rock crab that had molted a few days before, he had fallen victim to our resident leg thief!

As Samantha mentioned in yesterday's blog post, crabs are soft and vulnerable right after they molt - they need a few days to grow and harden up. So both Petey and the rock crab were attacked at their most vulnerable. We're not quite sure who's taking those legs, though we have an idea, based on something we witnessed today: a flounder creeping up on a hermit crab and snatching its leg as a snack! We crushed up a few blue mussels for Flappy, Mikey and Winnie the Pooh to eat, with the hopes of curbing their appetites and giving them reason to leave our poor crabs alone. Life is tough in the touch tank!

Speaking of snacks... the urchin craft continued to be a big hit today. After learning about the green sea urchin, our feature of the week, several visitors used marshmallows and pretzel sticks to create their own urchins - and then eat them! Here are a few of our friends piecing together the craft:

Come see the urchin for yourself - and help us solve the case of the crab leg crook! See you tomorrow!

Crab Molt

2010-07-29T16:22:00.002-04:00

When we opened the Portsmouth touch tank the other day we noticed one of our Rock Crabs had molted. Crabs molt once they have out grown their current shells and need a bigger one. After this molting process happens a crabs shell is soft for about three days leaving it vulnerable to predators. Our Roch Crab apparently did not hide itself well enough because when we saw her on Wednesday her still soft body was missing six legs! Below is a picture of the molted crab, the lighter red shell is the molt and the dark color shell is the Crab, still leaving, only without six legs. Crabs, like Sea Stars, can regrow legs but it will not be back to its full length until after three molts.

Feeding Frenzy at the Discovery Center

2010-07-28T14:12:00.003-04:00

The North Shore Consortium from Peabody Ma came to visit us today, they enjoyed several books read to them by our summer intern Ally. Morgan from Charlstown Ma came in again with her grandmother and did some arts and crafts. Feeding time was really fun! We watched as each crab would grab the yummy scallops donated by Lee's Seafood. Come by for feeding time Wednesday and Saturdays at 1:00, also story time on Wednedays at 11:00. Hope to see you soon!

It's urchin week!

2010-07-27T17:03:00.005-04:00

This week, our Feature Creature at the Portsmouth tank is of the spiny variety - the green sea urchin! We have at least one little guy in our tank; another, more elusive urchin may be hiding in there too.

Urchins are related to sea stars, sand dollars and sea cucumbers. They have lots of small green spines on the outside of their test, or body - one visitor today called our urchin "the porcupine of the sea." Their tests are round and squat, and all those spines protect the insides, where urchins ingest their food and harbor their eggs.

The mouth of an urchin is located on its underside. From what you can see when you hold one, it looks like a small opening, similar to the mouth of the sea star. But from the inside, it looks strikingly different: there are five "teeth" that come together to munch on algae (particularly kelp). Here's what the teeth, all together called an Aristotle's lantern, look like from inside the urchin's test:

Urchins move around using tiny tube feet, just like seastars do. But whereas seastars' feet are found only on the undersides of their arms, urchins have tube feet all over their bodies - you can watch them all stick out if you hold an urchin under the water for a moment or two!

These funny little creatures are harvested quite frequently from the Gulf of Maine, often to be sold to Asian seafood markets. Found under the name "uni" in Japanese American restaurants, urchin roe and gonads are a delicacy in many Asian countries. There have been recent reports that the urchin population in the area is under threat of overfishing, so it may be best to avoid this on the menu - at least until populations increase again!

Come check out these fascinating animals, and give our one - or two - urchins a name. See you at the tank!

Camouflage Attempt #2

2010-07-25T17:03:00.002-04:00

For the second day in a row we separated out a flounder and placed black and white patterns under him to see if he would change colors to match the patterns. Did it work?Well....it kinda worked. The beginnings of some black and white spots can be seen but unfortunately the flounder did not have time to fully adapt to its new surroundings.

In other news, we drew three names for our three flounders. The winning names were: Winnie the Pooh submitted by Natalie in Lebanon, NH, Flappy the Flounder suggested by Hanna from Kennebunkport, ME and Mike-y submitted by Liam in Strafford, NH.

Yesterday at the Touch Tank

2010-07-25T07:07:00.003-04:00

Yesterday at the touch tank we tried to make one of our flounder change colors to the new backgrounds that were put in the tank yesterday. Flounder not only can camouflouge in the sand in rocks but even patterned surroundings like checker boards and spots! We put one of the flounder in to a smaller tank for a little bit with our patterned backgrounds and waited...and waited...and waited for the flounder to do its thing and become a living checkerboard, but the poor flounder wouldnt sit still long enough. He did produce some black and white but that's all he was willing to do for us.
You still have a chance to name these stubborn flounder so come on down today before 4pm and put your name suggestion in the box or just come visit us if you already have! :)

2010-07-23T17:50:00.002-04:00

We have new backgrounds at the tank for the Flounder to camouflage to, found a cool new scale worm and figured out what the two unknown red fish were in the tank.. Cunner fish!! Come out this weekend between our hours 10am-4pm to check everything out!!
Also found our small sea urchin who has been hiding from us in the tank today!

We will also have a table set up at the Redhook Festival tomorrow from 2pm-7:30pm so feel free to stop by or find us if you have plans on going to the festival. We will have fun games and prizes, our Enviroscape presentation and so much more.

Hope to see you sometime this weekend!!

2010-07-22T18:15:00.004-04:00

It was a beautiful but windy day today. Our Winter Flounder were very active and even showed off some of there camouflage skills. We hope to bring in some different colored backgrounds to the tank this weekend so we can see if the Flounder will change color to match the different backgrounds we have. We have some great pictures of the eye migration and camouflage traits of the flounder so come check it out!!

We are open tomorrow 11am-4pm and Sat-Sun 10am-4pm
Please come and sign our new guest book and you can be added to our mailing list to see what we are up to even during the winter months when the tank is not open.

New Craft!

2010-07-21T23:05:00.002-04:00

This week's feature creature is the Flounder. We currently have three Winter Flounder in the Portsmouth Touch Tank who are quite active and fun to watch. In addition, we are making Flounders with googly eyes as our craft for the week. Come by the tank to personalize your Flounder as Jocelyn did today!

New critters join our tank

2010-07-21T13:09:00.003-04:00

We have alot of homes for crabs theses days. This crab has found a nice cozy home in this empty moon snail shell. A new friend to our tank is the Rock gunnel, we actually have 2 of these fish. They reside all year round in hiding under rocks and sea weeds. They move like an eel when disturbed hence the name "rock eel" and are also called "butterfish" because they are hard to catch. They like to eat shellfish, shrimp, and worms. Like life in a tide pool your choices are to eat or get eaten. There predators are cod, pollock, and sea birds. Our summer intern Heather and Erin are educating a visitor who spent alot of time with us today!

It's flounder week!

2010-07-20T12:18:00.006-04:00

Come check out some our three flatfish, learn some fun fish facts (like that one of a flounder's eyes moves to the other side of its body so both eyes can be on top) and give them all a name!

Winning Name!!

2010-07-18T22:06:00.002-04:00

This was the final day in our naming contest for our Neptune Whelk, although there were several creative names the winner is....

LILY, submitted by Rosie from New Ipswich, New Hampshire! Congratulations!

Come by the tank next week to name our Flounder.

2010-07-17T21:08:00.004-04:00

Today at the touch tank it was a scorcher! Good news is, two of our sea stars finally decided to show themselves:) They have been in the tank for some time but have stayed very well hidden until now.
It was relatively busy and we got some more name suggestions for our creature feature, the Neptune Whelk. If you still haven't had a chance to put your name in you still have until 4pm tomorrow so come on by! And while your down at the tank you can make a necklace:D Remember we"re drawing the name tomorrow so be sure to check the blog to see if your name was drawn!

Hungry,Hungry Flounder!

2010-07-16T18:48:00.005-04:00

Today at the touch tank we fed the hungry flounder and minnows. What a lively bunch!If you've never seen a flounder eat, this video's just for you.

It was quite apparent that the fish were hungry when the flounder started to eat the sea lettuce and the minnows started to eat the periwinkles!
Hopefully that should hold them over 'till tomorrow when we'll be feeding everyone in the tank raw cod. Yum!
It's supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow so come on down, you never know what will happen in the tank!!!

2010-07-15T17:54:00.005-04:00

Everyone made their own special sea necklace! Some sea stars, whelks and scallops.

Temple Israel - thank you for letting us be a part of your Pirate themed day!

Today was a great day at the tank!! We had a group of great girls from the Temple Israel come by for pirate day and a lot of interested visitors about the new critters! We made a lot of Whelk necklaces and even had some visitors from Paris, France!! We learned a lot, made crafts and some sea urchin snacks after holding one and learning all about them! We had some great names for our Whelk as well today so do not forget to stop by and enter your own name idea for our Neptune Whelk.
We will be open tomorrow from 11-4pm and Sat-Sun from 10-4pm
Hope to see you there!!

Whelk Week

2010-07-14T21:03:00.000-04:00

In keeping with this weeks feature creature, the whelk, our craft is making whelk necklaces! Come by to trace, color, and add beads to make your very own personalized whelk necklace!

Come by the tank to see our four species of whelk and to name our Neptune Whelk!

Discovery Center July 13

2010-07-14T12:20:00.004-04:00

Christian LaFlech from Glenville, NY came in to visit today with his mom and dad and his little brother, who could clearly saw "Nemo" We were able to show them a sea anemone similar to the one Nemo lives in! From the picture you can Christian holding a large Sperm whale tooth and the smaller tooth from an Orca whale. Both teeth are replicas of real teeth. It's difficult to find real teeth because when whales die there gums deteriorate very quickly and there teeth fall out and are likely at the bottom of the ocean. Alot of new critters in our tank come by and see us! Our first beach clean up is July 21 at 10 am meet us at the Discovery Center, we supply all you need! We also had the Granata family spend some time with us and then returned for feeding time, Jake, Nick , and Mia and there mom are from Marblehead, Massachusetts, thanks for visiting!

Fan photos!

2010-07-14T09:02:00.005-04:00

Here are some of the people who joined us on Tuesday in checking out our new critters and trying out our new craft!

Sam checked out the crabs in the tank and had lots of great questions for us. He gave one of the first entries for our creature feature naming contest - this week, our Neptune whelk needs a name!

Alyssa and Audrey of Sanford came to the tank for the first time yesterday! Alyssa was fascinated by the periwinkles, and Audrey was very good at finding the crabs hiding in the seaweed.

Some fascinating new creatures

2010-07-14T08:30:00.011-04:00

Here's a look at one of our three flounder. These little guys are flatfish - they swim with their bodies turned so that they scoot along the bottom on their sides. As young fish, flounder swim like other fish - straight up and down - but somewhere in the development process, they switch to sideswimmers. The coolest thing about it: When they make this switch, one of their eyes moves to the other side of their body!
You can see from the picture that this flounders eyes are on top. The eye that used to be on the bottom side moved when the fish was young. Now, this flounder can watch the world around it with two eyes on the top of its body!
Another interesting addition this week: an Asian shore crab. Yes, we've had this species in the tank for a while, but our newest friend is a male - and his claws are gigantic! Take a look at the difference between one of our resident females (sitting in someone's hand) and our new boy (sitting on the bottom of the tank). The new guy walks around dragging these big claws with him - he almost looks like they're weighing him down!

So Much To Talk About

2010-07-11T19:38:00.005-04:00

Today was a great day at the tank!!! Our friend Chris Emerson was so nice to donate us some new critters!!! We now have 3 new sea stars, a brittle star, 2 sea urchins, 3 flounder and a couple minnows!! We are all excited about the new specimen in the tank you will have to stop by Tuesday between 11am - 4pm to welcome them all to the tank!

And now the moment you have all been waiting for, the name drawing for the Green Crab! We had a lot of good entries and the one that we picked out of the pot was...
Drum roll please....
PETEY!! Name suggested by Jordan from Worcester, Massachusetts.
Congratulations for being picked and if your name was not picked our creature feature for this next week are Whelks!! So come down and we will have new crafts and new creatures who need to be named.

2010-07-10T17:49:00.003-04:00

Today at the touch tank was very busy despite the rain :) we also aquired a few new additions to the tank a wave whelk snail, a few smaller hermit crabs, and a few giant perriwinkles. The wave whelk especially is very active and could be a new favorite. We made tons of crabby masks and they all were so beatuiful and creative. Our lobster got it's bands today so no worries about being pinched! Our green crab has a lot more possible names thanks to the entries today and now he only has to wait until tomorrow at 4pm to find out his name! If you come up with an awesome name you still have tomorrow so come on down. We're open from 10 am-4pm on Sunday, so don't be shy and come on by!

Yesterday at the Touch Tank!

2010-07-10T08:37:00.004-04:00

Yesterday at the touch tank we were pretty busy! We made a lot of crabby masks and had a lot of new submissions for the Green Crab's name. If you have put in a submission or have not been down to then tank yet you have until 4pm on Sunday!!! If you have already submitted your name then be looking here on our blog Sunday night to see whose name we randomly pick out of the box and best of luck! We are open today and tomorrow 10am - 4pm so come down and see all the critters, make your own crab mask and enter your chance to name the Green Crab ( our creature feature of the week ). Today Katherine, Bailey and Aimee will be there waiting for you to come play at the touch tank. Hope to see you there!!

A crabby day (in a good way)

2010-07-08T15:02:00.003-04:00

This is Evelyn, one of our regular visitors at the Portsmouth touch tank. Today, she took initiative and showed her babysitter the way to the tank!
After checking out our featured creature, the European green crab, Evelyn made a crab masquerade mask. The final product was perfect - it looked just like the crab in the tank!
We'll be making masks like this one all week long as we feature our favorite little green guy. He was a big hit today with Evelyn and our other visitors, so come check him out for yourself! You can ask our knowledgeable staff about what crabs eat, how long they live, how they grow and how they got here in the first place (green crabs are not native to the area).
We'll be open from 11 to 4 Friday and 10 to 4 on Saturday and Sunday. See you then!

Feature Creature

2010-07-07T22:02:00.003-04:00

This weeks feature creature is the European Green Crab! The Green Crab is an invasive species in New England, originally brought over from Europe in the 1800's. These creatures are not always green however, they sometimes lose their color as they age.
Come to the touch tank this week to take a look at our Green Crabs or make a Green Crab mask!

This is also our first week doing a naming contest. Come to the touch to name our Green Crab, the winning name will be announced at the end of the week!

Feeding time and story time at The Discovery Center

2010-07-07T14:23:00.003-04:00

Today was a fun-filled day at the Sea Life Discovery Center! Here's a list of today's exciting events: 1) We have a new pregnant green crab! She is carrying anywhere between 185,000-250,000 neon orange eggs in her brood, and she will be carrying them until they hatch! 2) Feeding frenzy! Our crabs had a delicious meal of fish, scallops, and clams, and we got some great footage of the action. 3) Story time was a great success! Our visitors from Arizona, Colorado, Quebec, and the Netherlands all listened to a story read by our intern Ally. Come visit us every Wednesday to hear an ocean tale and to see the crabs have their weekly meal!

Hot hot hot...

2010-07-06T14:28:00.002-04:00

Man, is it hot out. By 2 p.m. today, the water in our outdoor tank in Portsmouth had risen to 12 degrees above the setting at which we keep it - it reached 67 F! As a result, we closed things up a bit early, with the hopes of keeping the critters (and staff) happy. However, we are on call if you would like to stop by this afternoon before 4. Just have a member of the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company crew give Katherine a call - I'll be there in no time!

Beautiful 4th of July weekend

2010-07-03T16:13:00.002-04:00

We had a great day today! With visitors doing arts and crafts to fill our ceiling with all sorts of sea creatures we're on our way to filling our ceiling with artistic life. The touch tank is still full of life and all the residents can't wait to help teach you about the ocean.
Come in, get your hands wet and learn... It's a beautiful weekend, spend it learning about our beautiful ocean.

A real life hero!

2010-07-02T20:36:00.003-04:00

Today was going along as another great day at the Discovery Center when a personal hero of mine came to visit. Willy, Blue Oceans, Junior Intern came by to see what we have inside. I've got to say todays blog is about him. Willy is 10 years old and he cares so much about our local whales that he has his family come from PA(where he's from) all the way up to the MA area to volunteer his time two times a year helping out on local whale watch boats and at beach clean ups. Today he adopted his 4th whale. If that isn't enough he maintains an active hand in the push for a better tommorow. Sending Origami whales with anti-whaling messages to the IWC and having his friends donate to conservation groups as their gifts to him, I've got to honestly say I wish there were more people out there like him. Thank you Willy for coming by, it was a great pleasure to finally meet you!

As for the rest of the Discovery Center we had a good wave of visitors that I know walked away with more knowledge in their heads(even if it is summer break). The tank is still fully stocked and the Kids Corner is being filled with beautiful works of art made by visitors to our center.

Hope to see more new and old faces soon!

2010-07-02T19:24:00.004-04:00

HI EVERYONE!!! My name is Aimee and I am an Intern at the touch tank this summer. If you ever come over to the tank you will probably see me there! Today was a beautiful day as we had a good amount of people show up. We made a lot of Sea Urchin snacks and held a lot of critters. The lobster is starting to get use to all of the hands in the tank and actually let us pick him up today for everyone to see! You will have to join us this weekend for some fun lobster crafts and come see the lobster for yourself. Hope to see you there! :]

Our lobster is already at home

2010-07-01T16:33:00.003-04:00

Here's an image of the latest addition to the Portsmouth touch tank! After 24 hours in its new home, our lobster is fitting right in. It's been walking around the tank, hiding in the seaweed and checking out the rocks and sandy areas. We fed the little guy some cod donated by Seaport Fish in Rye, which was gobbled up gratefully. Tomorrow's craft will be all about lobsters, so make sure to stop by. Alyssia and Aimee will be there to greet you!

New addition to Touch Tank!

2010-06-30T22:23:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone!

My names Sam and I'm an intern who will be blogging about the touch tank this summer! We received an exciting new addition to the touch tank today, a lobster! He was found in a lobster pot right off the Isles of Shoals dock and was given to the touch tank. We also fed mussels to the crabs and made marine themed hats and visors. There will be plenty of arts and crafts tomorrow so come check out the tank!! We're open 11-4

Our first day of story time at the Sea Life Discovery Center

2010-06-30T17:05:00.004-04:00

Steve Johnson is reading to some of our story time visitors today, Lyla Kendrick from Westboro, Ma and Alex Yablin from Newburyport! The enjoyed 2 books and an original "Steve Johnson" tale as well. Alex had see us at the Newburyport Public Library yesterday and wanted a private preview today, Lyla had many questions and after spending some time with her we found out she LOVES crabs, her mom says she loves anything that moves! Our summer inter Michelle is giving Alex and Lyla some education about our tank. Come and join us for story time every Wednesday from 11-11:30 and stay for the feeding session at 1:00, thank you to all who visited today and your generosity we appreciate it.....see you soon.

Theres much to see!

2010-06-30T11:21:00.003-04:00

Such a beautiful day for a trip to our Discovery Center. With such a busy weekend to start our season we're just having the time to post our pictures. There's just so much to see and do that we wouldn't even be able to cover it all in a single blog. We look forward to seeing new and old visitors to our Discovery Center!

Hats are a hit!

2010-06-29T17:54:00.005-04:00

For today's craft at the Portsmouth tank, kids colored visors using ocean animal stencils and colored markers. They loved it! On a hot and sunny day, the visors were a perfect way to keep away the glare - and to look fabulously fashionable! Alison models one for us here. We will have more new and interesting crafts this week at the touch tank - be sure to come check them out!

Salisbury Sea Life Discovery Center: Opening Weekend And The Week To Come

2010-06-29T10:40:00.010-04:00

Opening weekend was such a great success. Thank you to everyone and anyone who made donations or purchased anything while visiting us. It's because of generous donations and support from the public that we are able to keep our Discovery Center open to the public.

As for the week to come....

Wednesday is our Beach Cleanup day followed by story time with our intern Erin in our Kids Corner.
More critters have been added to our already amazingly well stocked touch tank.
Come by and see plenty of Seastars along with some of their cousins, Brittle Stars and Sea Urchins.
With just about half a dozen species of Crabs there's still no chance of being bitten(no promises about being pinched though).

There's just a huge variety of life to be found along our coast, so come on in and see what else we have.

Come to Salisbury Beach, enjoy the day and make sure you come in and see what amazing treasures we have. We look forward to turning our amazing opening weekend into an amazing summer season.

A great beginning!

2010-06-27T13:09:00.008-04:00

Saturday kicked off our season at the Portsmouth touch tank with a bang - we had lots of visitors check out our critters and crafts! Here are some images of the big day. Make sure to come join the excitement this week - we're open from 11 to 4 on weekdays and 10 to 4 on the weekend!

Sea Life Discovery Center opens with hundreds visiting

2010-06-27T10:50:00.004-04:00

Saturday June 26th was our opening day at our "Sea Life Discovery Center" on Salisbury Beach. It was a very successful opening day! Our new state of the art touch was running and full of interesting critters and sea weeds for visitors to learn about. Our summer intern Heather had our enviroscape going under a tent to explain to folks the effects of run off and chemicals that end up in our oceans. Many people were interested in our real bones and baleen which everyone can touch and learn more about. Our walls area adorned with fantastic artwork from past and present interns, you feel like you are under water!! Our marine debris table is teaching folks about the dangers of debris in the ocean and on our beaches. We had our inflatable whale inside the "Blue Ocean Music Hall" whale sounds were being played on there sound system which really made you feel you were among the whales. Our intern Erin made some great art and crafts with all our visitors making mobiles and mini aquarium's! Jason our touch tank educator was VERY busy talking constantly to visitors about our new friends in the tank. Thank you to all of our visitors and your support and your great questions and your encouraging support of the Blue Ocean Society's mission. We are open for the summer Wednesday-Sunday 10-3. Wednesday is beach clean-up day with story time from 11-11:30, stop in to see us!

2010-06-27T10:50:00.001-04:00

The big weekend approaches...

2010-06-24T09:32:00.002-04:00

This Saturday is our first day of open hours! From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., we'll be introducing our creatures to our visitors, as well as playing games, eating some snacks and doing some fun crafts. At noon will be our first story time of the season, so you can get a taste of what will happen every Tuesday. We'll also be boarding the M/V Thomas Laighton at 1:55 with some animals and crafts, plus holding a 50-50 raffle. Don't miss it!
This kicks off our regular schedule for the summer: 11 to 4 Tuesday through Friday, and 10 to 4 on weekends.
If you have any questions about the tank or the day's activities, email katherine@blueoceansociety.org. See you Saturday!

Opening soon - in a new location!

2010-06-14T21:49:00.003-04:00

New season, new location – we’ve moved!
In an exciting venture, the touch tank has been placed near the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company’s gift shop and ticket booth. For the past several years, the touch tank has been situated in its own area on the dock, far to the right of all the action; now, the touch tank is central to where passengers of the M/V Thomas Laighton will be boarding and where others enjoy the use of the public picnic tables.
This new location for our animals, crafts and information will offer boat passengers a chance to check us out before or after the tour of the Isles of Shoals; it will also be a fantastic spot for those who drive in or walk from downtown to see us. The touch tank and craft table will be under the canopy and right on the water – a perfect place to cool down on a hot day, participate in some fun activities and learn about our local marine environment.
Starting on opening day, Saturday, June 26th, we will be offering new and exciting crafts for kids to try, and our “Creature Features” will give visitors a new animal to learn about each week. Story times will be held every Tuesday at noon – bring your lunch and hear a new story each week about the inhabitants of our oceans!
The tank’s family of tidepool creatures is growing by the minute: Green crabs, sea stars, mussels and anemones have already moved in. A moon snail and a hermit crab – two of last year’s favorites – are our newest additions, and more will come as the weeks progress toward opening day. If you’d like to see the creatures before June 26th, email katherine@blueoceansociety.org to set up an appointment.
In addition to our new location, we will also have new hours this summer. The touch tank will be open Tuesday through Friday, 11 to 4, and Saturday and Sunday from 10 to 4, all starting on Saturday the 26th. Make sure to mark your calendar!
Our thanks go out to the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company for their help in making this year’s touch tank location a great one and for once again donating the space. Thanks to all our volunteers and interns who bring their warmth and knowledge to the touch tank. And thanks to all of you for making the touch tank possible! See you this summer!

Opening this weekend!

2010-05-28T11:27:00.002-04:00

The time has come - summer's back, and so is the touch tank! We will be open for limited hours this weekend as a preview for what's to come this season.

We have moved our tank to a new location - it's still on the dock, but much closer to the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company office. This is an exciting move for us, because we'll be closer where people board the M/V Thomas Laighton, and therefore closer to the action! Thanks to Isles of Shoals for helping us out with this.

The hours this weekend will be 12 to 2 on Saturday and Sunday. Come check us out, and then be sure to come back June 26th for the first day of our full-time summer hours!

Looking for touch tank interns!

2010-04-07T15:16:00.003-04:00

How would you like to be a part of the tank team this summer? We are currently looking for interns and volunteers at our two touch tanks - on the dock in Portsmouth and at our Sea Life Discovery Center in Salisbury, Mass. If you saw our tanks last season and met our great staff and interns, you know how much fun we had, and you probably know lots about our animals and the seacoast. We'd love to talk to you about working with us!

If you're ready to apply, please send a cover letter and resume to katherine@blueoceansociety.org. To learn more about the internship, visit http://blueoceansociety.org/Education/touch_tankintern.html. Thanks everyone!

Visit Us at the Fairy House Tours - Sept 19-20

2009-09-05T09:29:00.006-04:00

Join us this weekend at the Fairy House Tours in downtown Portsmouth! Our portable touch tanks will be displayed on the Gov. Langdon House lawn as part of the Fairy House tours from 12-4 on Saturday and Sunday.

From the Fairy House tours web site:

Come, enjoy a magical “one of a kind” tour! A self-guided walking tour of Fairy Houses displayed in the historic South End neighborhood of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Ticket includes entrance to Strawbery Banke, Wentworth-Gardner and Governor John Langdon houses. Ticket proceeds will again benefit non-profit organizations in the South End.

Families, gardeners, nature lovers and the 'young at heart' will be enchanted by these whimsical fairy habitats, built for the fairies to visit. Come discover the joys and magic of fairy houses inspired by children's literature and other fairy fantasies. Enjoy the tour and then build them yourselves on Peirce Island!

Visit this page for ticket information, photos and more. We hope to see you there!

We're open this weekend!

2009-09-04T20:05:00.002-04:00

It's Labor Day weekend, and the weather forecast is calling for sun, sun and more sun - a perfect weekend to visit the touch tank! We'll be open from 10 to 2 Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Crab feeding is Saturday at 1. Come check out our biggest green crab, which molted and grew a new claw!

Our daily hours are over!

2009-09-02T15:09:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone! It's been a great season - thanks for visiting again and again. We have finished our daily open hours; our last regular-season day was Aug. 31. We may be open weekends this month, but we haven't yet figured out whether this will be possible. Check back here - I'll keep you posted!

Notes from Hannah

2009-08-25T10:31:00.002-04:00

Here's a letter from another of our touch tank interns, Hannah:

"Hey everybody! The touch tank has been a happening place lately! Though our rare-colored lobster is now at our Salisbury location (visit him there!) we have had a ton of fun with our many sea stars and other animals. Many people enjoy holding these wonderfully different colored animals and watching closely as their feet slowly move their bodies across your hand... it is quite an interesting feeling, as if they're tickling you slightly! There are crafts happening daily for the kids, also! A couple days ago, we had ten or more kids make different colored scallops with the paint and paper plates provided, and the staff was able to admire them before they took them home. It's different from day to day at the Portsmouth Blue Ocean touch tank. We love teaching people about the animals they encounter, as well as meeting people from many different parts of the world. There have been new creatures added and many people have been showing up consistently all summer long to see what's new! We look forward to seeing you!!"

A note from a dedicated intern!

2009-08-19T15:15:00.002-04:00

Hi tank blog readers,

Here is an entry from intern Lauren, who recently finished her work with Blue Ocean Society:

"This summer season I was a volunteer at the touch tank. I learned many things about the marine life in the tank as well as marine conservation. I was honored to be able to experience such a wonderful organization that gave back to the community. It was amazing to see how many smiles came from children as well as adults. Some people who visited the tank were from out of state and had never seen these marine creatures up close, while others were locals and veterans of the tank...yet both gave great enthusiasm about the critters. The positive attitudes and curiosity made my time at the tank enjoyable and exciting. I also found there were many things I did not know, such as that a scallop has 86 eyes or that a moon snail makes its own shell out of a substance called calcium carbonate. I highly recommend anyone who has not visited our touch tank make the trip and check it out. Whether it is the unusual creatures you may find lurking in the tank or the devoted and lively staff at the tank, you will surely enjoy your visit!"

Salisbury Now Has 3 Orange Lobsters

2009-08-14T10:45:00.001-04:00

For anyone in MA or headed that way, you might want to stop at our Sea Life Discovery Center in Salisbury Beach. Rumor has it that the center is now home to 3 orange lobsters! The center is open Tue-Fri, 10-3 and Sat-Sun, 11-4 and is located at 25 Broadway, right next to Surfside 5 and right on Salisbury Beach.

Calling all urchins!

2009-08-13T10:21:00.004-04:00

The one thing we are asked most about at the tank is urchins. "Do you have any?" visitors will ask, only to hear, "Not right now - we haven't been able to find any all season!"
It's true - the only urchins I've come across this year have been tiny, and I've left those in the tidepools at the beach, because they tend not to fare well in the tank at such a small size (the crabs get to them quickly and easily).
Urchins are related to sea stars and sand dollars. They have round bodies (tests), long spines and lots of tube feet that stretch out when you hold them in the water. They use their sharp five-toothed mouths, called an Aristotle's lantern, to munch on kelp and scavenged meat. It can be hard to wrap your brain around the fact that they are, in fact, live animals - until you see their spines move and their feet stick out all around.
To find some of these cool specimens, we're reaching out to you! Have you been tidepooling this summer and seen urchins in a specific location? Please comment on this post and point us in the right direction - or if you're feeling especially daring, bring a few via cooler to the touch tank during our open hours. Thank you!

A great weekend

2009-08-11T10:51:00.002-04:00

The tall ships have come and gone, and we were lucky enough to be part of the event. Thanks to everyone who checked out the touch tank on the way to the ships, or who made a stop at our mini tank at the event site. It was wonderful to meet you all! And for those of you who didn't get the chance to stop by, there are still three weeks left of August - we're open 10 to 2 every day.
On Saturday, two friendly scuba divers brought us lots of sea stars. Come watch them move around the tank using their tube feet - if you're lucky, you may get to see them extract their stomachs as they eat!

Missing donations...

2009-08-06T17:54:00.003-04:00

Closing up the touch tank at 2 p.m. today, I came upon a sad discovery: A $20 bill had been pilfered from the donation bin. What a bummer after such a great day!
We work hard at Blue Ocean Society to make a real difference with our educational programs, and donations at the touch tank make these programs possible - we are a nonprofit organization that relies on the generosity of others to continue our mission. More often than not, people are very giving when they visit us at the tank. But it only takes one person to take away.
While a loss like this directly affects the society, we are not the only ones who suffer. The $20 taken today may have been given by a total of four or five families visiting the tank, all having the chance to learn about the local marine environment and to nurture their sense of curiosity about marine life, coastal ecology and ocean health. After a positive experience with us, they wanted to give to our cause. In an event like this, they suffer as much as we do.
For those of you who gave today or anytime this summer, thank you! Your generosity allows us to promote our mission at the tank - to inspire others to make good choices for the sake of the marine environment. If our pilferer is out there, we would love to accept the money back, no questions asked. We'll see you all at the touch tank!

Orange Lobster Now in Salisbury

2009-08-06T15:02:00.001-04:00

Our orange lobster has moved to our Sea Life Discovery Center in Salisbury Beach, MA, where he now has his own tank and can move around freely without rubber bands on his claws!

A hermit crab melee!

2009-07-22T15:55:00.003-04:00

Today we saw two giant hermit crabs battling over the same shell! It was a fierce fight, and in the end, the winner bullied the loser out of his own shell. We watched as the smaller one held on for dear life, naked without his protective home and at a loss for what to do. He finally crawled away, took his opponent's old shell, and hid inside. I had never seen anything like it!

Over the weekend, a friend of the tank brought us some cool new creatures, including a giant hermit - one of which we already had. It was evident from the start that two may be a crowd. The new guy was bigger, stronger and more aggressive.

This morning, upon arriving at the tank and taking a look at the animals inside, we found a stray hermit crab claw and a piece of a leg - signs of a fight. When we inspected further, we found the new, larger crab missing the bottom half of his leg, and the resident, smaller crab missing his claw. (He had already lost a claw to a jonah crab earlier in the month, so now he is completely clawless.) It was obvious that they had tussled sometime overnight, and it foreshadowed the events that would occur later that afternoon.

As a visiting family came up to the tank, we all looked in, and that's when we saw the hermits fighting. The smaller crab was completely out of his shell, and he was hanging on to top the of it - something I'd never seen before. Usually, hermit crabs don't exit their shells without a very good reason, so this had to be one. And it was - the larger crab had taken over his shell. The new guy may have found the shell more suitable than his own, or the takeover could have been a power move to show his aggression and dominance in the tank. Either way, the smaller crab was left shellless, until he finally let go and took the shell left empty by his enemy. It was an illustration in just how competitive hermit crabs can be!

Orange lobster!

2009-07-11T07:28:00.002-04:00

Today I will be picking up a rare orange lobster recently shipped to Hampton, and it will be in our touch tank! A recent news article about two of the specimens in York gives some information about where they get their crazy color. This one is a third, which came from the same population near Prince Edward Island as the first two. Come check it out!

Great day for a grand opening!

2009-06-24T10:51:00.003-04:00

Success! The skies opened up for our grand opening on Saturday, and the turnout could not have been better. Hannah and I had a fantastic time meeting new people, reading new stories and making new crafts. Thanks to everyone who came out to support our organization and make friends with our critters!
Saturday's theme was hermit crabs. We read "House for a Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle and "Platypus" by Chris Riddell, both which explored the lives of these creatures and how we can respect them. Then, our visitors had the chance to make a shell of their own - they colored circular "shells" and pasted them onto hermit crab bodies to give them protection and shelter. Our resident giant hermit in the tank, dubbed "Fred" by a visitor, even gave us a show - twice during the day, he switched shells! We watched as he checked out an empty moon snail shell, then popped out of his own and into the new one backside first. It's a rare treat, and our visitors were just as excited as us to watch it happen.
We also had feeding time for the green, jonah and hermit crabs. Haddock donated by Seaport Fish of Rye keeps the crabs full and happy, so they're less aggressive and less likely to eat other critters in the tank. At 1 p.m., visitors got to watch the crabs chow down, often fighting for a share and sometimes grabbing the food right out of each other's mouths.
During the day, several guests bought tickets for our 50/50 raffle, going on all week long. Tickets are $1 each, $5 for 6 or $10 for 13. The drawing on Friday will determine the winner of one of Blue Ocean Society's membership packages, as well as the winner of half the cash raised in the raffle. Come to the tank this week and buy a ticket to win!
Thanks again to everyone who came out and made Saturday's grand opening such a success. We are now open every day from 10 to 2, so make sure you come see us again and again - we'll have new critters and new crafts every week. See you soon!