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!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
June 29th at the touch tank
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:
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Visit our Hermit Crabs!
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!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Looking for Volunteers at the 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.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Marine Life Touch Tank 2011 Grand Opening
Saturday June 25th 8:30 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:
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)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Join Us June 18-19!
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!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Preview of the New Touch Tank Animals!
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!
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!
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