Educators' Workshop Does Intertidal Exploration
(And So Much More)

May 12th was not only Menunkatuck Audubon's Birdathon, it was the day of our sixth annual educator workshop, "Intertidal Exploration: Field Techniques and Tricks of the Trade." And for the sixth year in a row we had glorious weather. It was a perfect day to spend at Hammonasset Beach State Park and learn about the inner workings of Long Island Sound and its inhabitants.

We began the day at 8:30am to take advantage of a rather inconvenient low tide at 9am. Ten participants assisted workshop leaders Heather Crawford, Coastal Educator from the CT Sea Grant Extension Program, and Diana Payne, Environmental Educator from the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium, in lugging their sampling equipment down to the park's West Beach. A seine net, shovels, sieves, tubing (for collecting soil and sand samples), tape measures, buckets, waders, boots and even a hula-hoop were carried down the beach to our first stop.

There on the West Beach the low tide had revealed a clue to the changing nature of the shoreline. The receding waves had exposed a small area of peat among the sand at the water's edge. This area had once been marshland. Tides have risen and sands have shifted and will continue to do so. Lesson one.

While walking along a path through the dunes Heather stressed that healthy dune ecosystems help to protect the lands behind them. When the smaller back dunes are destroyed by development, the ecosystem is compromised for the plants and animals that live among the dunes, as well as those, including humans, that live behind them. Lesson two.

Stopping at a saltmarsh restoration site within the park we saw how the state's Department of Environmental Protection was working to correct past mistakes within the wetlands. Dredged fill had been removed to restore this area of marsh to its, hopefully, original state, allowing the tides to flow freely into the marsh, and creating shallow pools. Wading birds, like egrets and herons, frequently feed in this area. Sometimes we can right the wrongs. Lesson three.

Numerous lessons followed over the course of the day as we learned the natural history of many of the Sound's inhabitants. We seined for creatures just offshore, including amphipods and sand shrimp; discovered a dead skate washed up on the beach; used a minnow trap to observe killifish in the tidal creek; found blue mussels, Japanese shore crabs, periwinkles, a sponge and beautiful seaweeds while exploring the rocky intertidal zone. We watched comical fiddler crabs in a channel in the salt marsh. We learned to identify various salt marsh plants that have adapted to a harsh life of salt, sun and water.

While visiting the marsh, Diana had us stand in a circle. On the count of three half of us jumped into the air to come down hard on the marsh while the others stood still. Then we reversed the procedure. Wow. The marsh trembles. Now we understood why Heather and Diana had instructed us to watch our footing - and why.

Heather had demonstrated a marsh rescue technique using 5-gallon buckets. (If the marsh decided to suck your feet down into its depths the buckets are used to place your feet in once they're extricated from the muck.)

Our main focus may have been directed toward the inhabitants of the intertidal zone, but we never forgot that the day was also Birdathon. Song sparrows heartily sang from exposed perches on dune vegetation while least terns visited the sandy shore at low tide. Two killdeer frantically displayed their "broken wings" as they tried to lure us from their unseen nests in the lawn. (We found one and, luckily, avoided the other.) A glossy ibis gracefully glided down into the marsh to feed and a group of oystercatchers flew over the water. Ospreys flew to and from their nest platforms as they tended to their young.

Another outstanding workshop, another perfect day at Hammonasset…

Note: Educational materials provided for our workshop participants included a wonderful publication, "Long Island Sound in a Jar" written by Heather Crawford. Filled with fun and educational hands-on activities for students, "Long Island Sound in a Jar" provides educators with innovative lessons that demonstrate our connection to Long Island Sound and how our actions impact it.

To order a copy, call the CT Sea Grant at UConn in Groton, 860-405-9128.

Submitted by Cindi Kobak
Photos by Cindi Kobak