Explore local history and coastal ecology on a UNH Discovery Cruise

By Kirsten Weir, NH Sea Grant

Join the University of New Hampshire Marine Docents this summer for a day cruise aboard the university's research vessel, the R/V Gulf Challenger. Find out what UNH researchers are learning about the marine and estuarine environments, and get up clo se and personal with coastal creatures and local history.

Learn about the history of New Hampshire’s seacoast aboard the Isles of Shoals Discovery Cruise. The Shoals cruise stops at Appledore Island, where the marine docents will lead activities that may include geology, wildflower or bird-watching walks and history or art tours. The visit to Appledore Island also includes a tour of the Shoals Marine Laboratory. Or choose the Great Bay Discovery Cruise, which travels up the Piscataqua River into the Little Bay/Great Bay Estuary, with a stop at Adams Point for a tour of the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory. During the Great Bay cruise, the marine docents will guide you through activities such as catching plankton and testing water quality while teaching you about the coastal environment. Both cruises leave from the Portsmouth Fish Pier.

For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Barbara Pinto-Maurer at NH Sea Grant (603-749-1565; barbara.pinto@unh.edu). Space is limited, and reservations should be made at least two weeks prior to cruise date. Children ages 10 and older are welcome with an adult.

Discovery Cruises are sponsored by NH Sea Grant, the UNH/NOAA Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), and UNH Cooperative Extension.

Isles of Shoals Discovery Cruise:
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Admission: $20
Saturday July 9
Sunday July 31
Sunday August 7
Saturday August 13
Sunday August 14
Saturday September 10

Great Bay Discovery Cruise:
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Admission: $18
Saturday June 25
Tuesday July 5
Saturday July 23
Sunday July 24
Tuesday August 9
Sunday August 21
Tuesday August 30

(Dates are subject to change.)