Summer Happenings

The Wetlands Institute will be open daily from 9:30am-4:30pm with all-day activities from June 19-September 4, 2023! Unless otherwise stated, all activities are free with admission and occur onsite at The Wetlands Institute. For more information, visit wetlandsinstitute.org/events.

Exploration Point

9:30 AM Monday

Bring your buckets! Meet at the trailhead at 122nd Street in Stone Harbor and explore Stone Harbor Point for awesome seashells, cool birds, and fun things that live under the sand. Suggested $3 donation to The Wetlands Institute.

Creature Feature

11:15 AM & 1:15 PM

Monday & Friday

During this live animal presentation, get up close and personal with turtles, fish, crabs, sea stars and urchins, mollusks, horseshoe crabs, or the popular animals of Finding Nemo

Catch o’ the Day

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 3:15 PM

Get your feet wet (or wear waders!) as you discover what swims in the back bays. Help us drag a seine net through the water to find crabs, shrimp, fish and more.

Salt Marsh Safari

10 AM, 12 PM & 2 PM

11 AM & 1 PM

Monday - Friday

Saturday & Sunday

Watch our award-winning film, Secrets of the Salt Marsh, then join us for an interpretive marsh walk along our elevated walkway and onto the dock overlooking Scotch Bonnet creek!

Totally Turtle Tuesday

11 AM - 4 PM Tuesday

Every Tuesday is a day with the turtles! Meet them up-close at our Turtle Basking Station, learn about our latest research during our Creature Feature presentations, make unique turtle crafts, and join us for a special terrapin release during our noon Salt Marsh Safari.

Aquarium Feeding

3:15 PM

2:15 PM

Dune and Beach Walk

9:30 AM Wednesday

Meet at 48th Street and Dune Drive in Avalon for an interpretive walk along the maritime forest and dune trails to learn about the flora and fauna that call this area their home. Free to attend and generously sponsored by Avalon Free Public Library.

Horseshoe Crab Mania Thursday

11 AM - 4 PM Thursday

Thursdays are for the Horseshoe Crabs! Meet these ancient animals up-close during our Creature Feature presentations, make horseshoe crab take-home crafts, and join us for a special horseshoe crab hatchling release during our noon Salt Marsh Safari.

Hooked on Fishing

10 AM Saturday

Go fishing! We’ll teach you how to bait a hook, cast a line, catch a fish and reel it in. We’ve even got fishing poles and bait.

Seashell Sunday

10 AM Sunday

Seashells at the seashore! Join us to learn all about seashells, how to collect them without harming the environment, and touch an assortment of live mollusks and cool artifacts.

Crabbing at the Dock

2:15 PM Sunday

Drop a line in the water and see what pinches it! We’ll provide the bait and handlines - You reel in the blue crabs!

Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary Tour

10 AM

Tuesday and Thursday Saturday

Help us feed the local marine life! We will open up feeding three times each week so you can see the burrfish eating crabs and the horseshoe crab gobbling shrimp.

Sunday ( June 4 - August 20)

Saturday (July 1 - August 19)

Meet us at Egret Espy Trail, 2nd Avenue Entrance in Stone Harbor, for a guided natural history and wildlife tour of the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary. Bring your binoculars in case we spot a few of our feathered friends along the way! Free to attend and generously sponsored by the Borough of Stone Harbor.

You may have noticed that we’re no longer open for evening hours - but don’t worry! We’ve kept the best of our evening programs and made them part of our daily schedule. You can also enjoy a virtual visit and catch up with all our cool critters anytime and anywhere, by visiting the Aquarium Bytes section of our Virtual Wetlands Experience portal on our website: wetlandsinstitute.org/aquarium-bytes.

Understanding the Condition of Marsh Edges

by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director

Healthy marsh edges are sloped from the flat marsh plain down to the mud flat apron of the tidal channels. Shorter marsh grasses give way to taller grasses that are flooded more frequently by the tides. These edges teem with life.

the most damage. Reserve the narrow marsh-bordered tidal channels for paddleboards and kayaks. You can also join us as a volunteer in a new program to help us map the condition of marsh shorelines in our area (see below right). The data you collect will be used to help identify areas that would benefit from restoration, and become part of a larger collection effort.

Many marsh edges however, are highly erosional with vertical scarps and ledges, and blocks that drop into the adjacent channels. Some of this is caused by storms – predominantly to the north and west facing margins of the marsh. Unfortunately, much more is the product of boat wakes damaging the marsh edge. In some places of focused boat wakes, marshes are eroding back several feet per year.

How can you help? Avoid high-speed boating, tubing, and wakeboarding in narrow tidal channels where boat wakes do