Royal West Academy - 2018

At the end of April we welcomed 50 students from Royal West Academy to St. Andrews. This marked the 28th year RWA has brought students to the Huntsman to study marine biology! Wow! That is awesome! Here are some photos documenting the trip.

Identifying marine invertebrates using field guides.

Viewing plankton using the microscopes.

Boat trip to collect subtidal animals, including sea urchin,

sea stars and

a beautiful spiny sunstar.

Exploring the intertidal zone at low tide.

A green crab.

A terebellid worm.

Making a dichotomous key for seaweeds.

Observing the external anatomy of a sea urchin.

Zonation at the beach.

Cleaning marine debris from a salt marsh.

Lots of plastic, rope and styrofoam collected.

Investigating what lives on a soft sediment beach.

A blood worm.

Crestwood Prep - 2018

Recently, Grade 11 students from Crestwood Preparatory College travelled from Toronto to St. Andrews for a week of marine biology. Here are a few photos of their experiences.

Observing, drawing and identifying marine invertebrates in the lab.

Low tide. At high tide the water comes all the way up to these rocks.

Exploring the intertidal zone.

Found a sea star!

The greatest diversity is found at the low tide mark.

Found a green crab!

The research vessel, the Fundy Spray.

Sorting the animals collected using the benthic drag.

blood star

Studying the plankton collected from the bay.

Some of the students studied how temperature effects the feeding rate of barnacles.

Searching for marine worms.

The students found many different species, including this clam worm.

Laval Senior Academy - 2018

It is always an exciting time of year when we welcome the first school of the field season! This year the first group to arrive on the Huntsman campus was Laval Senior Academy from Montreal. Here are a few pictures from their field course in St. Andrews, NB.  

On the boat sorting the animals collected using the benthic drag.

blood star

rock crab

toad crab

In the lab identifying plankton collected while on the boat.

Touring the Fundy Discovery Aquarium.

Exploring the intertidal zone.

The students found lots of animals hiding under rocks on the beach, including this rock gunnel fish.

Collecting data on zonation.

One of the zonation posters.

Great quote!

Behaviour labs included barnacle feeding rates at different temperatures and...

the flipping rate of different sizes of sea stars.

Summer 2018

We have lots of fun and engaging, hands-on marine biology programs planned for this summer. Along with our popular Field Courses and Explorer Days we are also offering a French program and an art program. 

Day Programs at the Aquarium
Young Explorer Days & Week
Ages 5-11

Advanced Explorer Days
Ages 11-15

NEW - Jeunes Explorateurs
Ages 5-11

NEW - Artventure by the Seashore
Ages 10+
Partnership with Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre

Field Courses
Introduction to Marine Biology
July 9-13
Ages 15-18

Introduction to Marine Mammals & Seabirds
July 23-27
Ages 15-18

All Things Marine
May 29-June 1 or August 7-10
Families & friends, 10 years old and over

Let us know if you have any questions about our programs. We look forward to hearing from you.

SeaWords - Spring 2018

Hot off the presses is the Spring 2018 edition of the Huntsman Education Department newsletter, SeaWords: Marine Biology in the Classroom. We publish this newsletter specifically for teachers twice a year. 

In this edition you will find:

• 32 Years of Collaboration: Sea Stars, Plankton & Late Nights
• a profile on new staff member, Michael Friesen
• Alumni Corner with Stephanie Sardelis
• Activity: Mollusc Dichotomous Key
• Sea Creature Facts: Deep-Sea Scallop
• Dates for our summer field courses & day programs

If you have any marine biology questions, feature ideas, things you’d like to see us cover, or would like to be added to our contact list send us an email.