OceansWide 2008 Summer Camps

Welcome back to OceansWide. This year we have expanded our camps to five days. There will be classroom lessons and pool sessions at the Boothbay Regional YMCA, outings to the Darling Marine Center with ship and ROV excursions just offshore. Camps will offer students a chance to learn all about remotely operated vehicles. There will be a session to teach them how to build and operate a ROV after which we will survey the ocean's mid water and the sea floor. During their time on board our Ocean Campers will search the abyss for creatures that have inhabited these waters for millions of years. We will explore the depths searching for scallops and conks, cod fish and sharks, halibut, lobsters and maybe even some whales! We will see a cornucopia of "critters" on our way down and still more once we reach our final destination at the bottom of the sea.

The Ocean Campers will explore the Darling Marine Center and travel along on an ocean naturalist cruise where they will have an opportunity to be tutored on vessel handling. We are very pleased to offer this adventure to our community and hope you will join us.

Camp Overview

Day 1: Build Your Own ROV

Ken Partain will join us with his ROV kits to share the magic of creating a robotic sea surveyor. The day will consist of:

• Demonstration by Ken followed by campers building their own PVC ROV
• Students will fly the self-built ROVs (in the pool)
• OceansWide staff introduces the Benthos Stingray into the pool for demonstrations and training

Day 2: Introduction to creatures from the Gulf of Maine and Boat Safety

We will visit the Maine State Aquarium which is located on the water in beautiful West Boothbay Harbor.A special attraction is the 20 foot long elevated touch tank that houses a multitude of invertebrates. Feel the spiny skin of a sea star or sea urchin and get squirted by a sea cucumber or scallop. Watch the moon snail pull in its enormous "gooey" foot and be fascinated by the sea star retracting its stomach.

Boat Safety: Having fun is a top priority second only to respect for the sea (including the ship and its crew). Respect for these things will keep all onboard the boat safe and will ensure all will enjoy our time together. We will teach the OceansWide campers the importance of the buddy system and to always remember "one hand for you and one hand for the boat". We will continue our training with the Benthos Stingray and will fly it in the pool.

Day 3 and 4: Darling Marine Center (DMC) and Offshore Boat Cruises

Tours and Interaction with the staff at DMC:

• The tour will show our campers that the DMC is a unique educational center in their community. It will also show them that marine related careers are available!
• Live lab tours and explanations of the research will be conducted.
• Students will have an opportunity to meet with and interact with researchers, graduate students and seminar speakers from the DMC.

Boat Cruises

• An offshore cruise aboard the Darling Marine Center's research vessel the "Ira C" will give campers a chance to learn boat handling and safety.
• There will be an introduction to at sea operations with the Benthos Stingray.

Day 5: Naturalist Cruise

Campers will be taken out to sea and will investigate marine animals, islands and the ocean. Note: Overnight camps will include some evening course work studying bioluminescence on the river.

Register

Please download, print, and send in our registration form.

What to Bring

Click here for details on what to bring and to download the medical, health, and photo registration form.

Dates

Day Camps (ages 8-14)
Session 1: July 7-11
Session 2: July 14-18
Session 3: July 21-25
Session 4: July 28-Aug 1

Overnight Camps (ages 11-14)
Session 5: Aug 4-8
Session 6: Aug 11-15

More Info

For more information about our camps please email info@oceanswide.org or call 207-563-7774.