Virtual Learning Center

Beachcombing

Wildlife Wonders

Today is Eastern Bluebird Day!

Live Programs

Sheepshead Minnow
Cedar Island Trail Walk VI
Osprey
Reptiles – Live with Ranger Russ
May W. White Conservation Visionary
Meet the Green Frog!
Dragonflies
Moose
Make A Butterfly
Tropical Storm Isaias
Today is White Oak Day!
Fireside Stories – The Old Man and the Thief
Trash Pickup, Recycling & Pollution
Today is Bullfrog Day!
Today is Pileated Woodpecker Day!

Activity

Beach comb the wrack line for seaweeds, identify them, and learn more about them.Seaweeds of Niantic, ︎︎Niantic Beaches Living Ecosystem Project http://publictrustfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/seaweed-living-ecosystem-project.pdf

Vocabulary Words

  • Algae – a nonflowering aquatic plant that includes seaweed.
  • Wrack Line – the line of debris left on the beach by high tide.
  • Sponge – simple aquatic animals with dense, yet porous, skeletons.
  • Coral – colonial marine invertebrates.
  • Wave Action – the movement of water on the shore.

Fun Facts

  • Up to 3 million people visit Hammonasset a year.
  • Gulls like to walk along the wrack line looking for food.
  • People like to look along the wrack line for shells, rocks, whelk egg cases, sponges and seaweed – Lots of things to be found!
  •  Winds and waves from the East take sand away from our beach in winter.
  • Winds and waves from the West deposit sand in the summer!
  •  Remember— as you beach comb and visit the shore

             “Take nothing but pictures and memories. Leave nothing but footprints”