Fall is well underway, as is exhibit design at the Maine State Aquarium. We are designing new exhibits to highlight the “who, what, why and how” of the Department Marine Resources – who our researchers are, what research they are conducting, why it is important, and how they do research. We know how popular the touch tank was, and we will continue to have one. Its design will allow visitors to interact with animals up close, while also minimizing stress on them. In the meantime, we already have on site a 150-gallon mobile touch tank designed and manufactured by Marine Ecological Habitats in Biddeford. The aquarium design and build company Tenji Inc, with its East Coast office in Newcastle, produced new signage about the animals in the Gulf of Maine and the DMR researchers who study them. With a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, we are upgrading DMR’s Environmental Monitoring Station https://www.maine.gov/dmr/science/weather-tides/boothbay-harbor-environmental-data, where sea temperature has been monitored (in Boothbay Harbor) since 1905. A new exhibit will highlight how and why DMR collects this kind of environmental data and will make this research available to the public.

Just because the Aquarium itself wasn’t open this summer doesn’t mean the other Education facilities at DMR weren’t. After a fresh coat of paint and the addition of the mobile touch tank, the Learning Lab (adjacent to the Aquarium) hosted summer camps from the Boothbay Sea & Science Center and Herring Gut Coastal Science Center. DMR’s Maine Coastal Program https://www.maine.gov/dmr/programs/maine-coastal-program is working with the Education Division to increase ocean literacy for school age children in Maine, and the Learning Lab, with its large classroom setting and hands on activities, is a perfect place to do so. The Learning Lab is adjacent to the Aquarium and wet lab, so kids toured the wet lab, saw the larval and adult lobsters we are housing, and did hands-on research alongside our scientists.

Burnt Island and Lighthouse, fresh from the 2021 Bicentennial Celebration, were also open for business this summer. A summer camp organized out of Boothbay Region Elementary School dissected squid, went tide pooling, fished and more on the island. The Keepers of the Burnt Island Lighthouse (KBIL) https://keepersofburntislandlight.com arranged and provided Living History Tours of the lighthouse and keeper’s quarters, with former keepers and/or their family members sharing their stories and experiences from their time on the island. Mondays and Thursdays in July and August Balmy Days Charters ferried large groups to Burnt Island for these immensely popular tours.

While we were disappointed the Maine State Aquarium was not open this summer, DMR and its Education Division were thrilled to open the doors to our other facilities – Learning Lab, Burnt Island, and Wet Lab – to visitors, residents, and school children. We will continue to do so this year, while renovating the Aquarium in anticipation of a Summer 2023 opening. I look forward to updating the public regularly about our progress and programs, including through our redesigned website https://www.maine.gov/dmr/programs/education-division and social media (find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). You can contact the Education Division with questions through social media and email (aquarium@maine.gov).

Best fishes!