Woods Hole Science Aquarium: COLLECTING WALKS

The aquarium offers public collecting walks at local beaches periodically during the summer. WHSA aquarists and interns serve as naturalists on the walks, teaching about life in salt marshes, demonstrating how to collect animals, and identifying the catch. Sometimes we bring animals back to the aquarium to add to our collection. More often we observe the animals briefly and then release them.

The aquarium staff provides nets, buckets, coolers, animal expertise, directions to the day’s collecting site and one-time parking passes. Our guests provide their own transportation, bathing suits, water shoes, towel and sun screen.

Collecting trips are scheduled two or three times per week in July and August, weather and tides permitting. The collecting adventures last approximately two hours, from the time we gather at the aquarium until we leave the collecting site.

The aquarium offers public collecting walks at local beaches periodically during the summer. WHSA aquarists and interns serve as naturalists on the walks, teaching about life in salt marshes, demonstrating how to collect animals, and identifying the catch. Sometimes we bring animals back to the aquarium to add to our collection. More often we observe the animals briefly and then release them. The aquarium staff provides nets, buckets, coolers, animal expertise, directions to the day’s collecting site and one-time parking passes. Our guests provide their own transportation, bathing suits, water shoes, towel and sun screen. Collecting trips are scheduled two or three times per week in July and August, weather and tides permitting. The collecting adventures last approximately two hours, from the time we gather at the aquarium until we leave the collecting site.	Whale sharks are the world's largest living fish, andit is estimated that they can reach 18 metre length. See photos of our staff and volunteers as we collect specimens on collecting walks.