NAMEPA Partners with Bridgeport YMCA

This summer Bridgeport CT YMCA hosted their annual camp for grades 1-7 and partnered with NAMEPA to deliver marine environment education to the campers.  The NAMEPA program engages with campers at the local beach, Seaside Park, where the campers surveyed the Long Island Sound, their backyard coastal habitat. Campers had a hands-on experience the first day with a shoreline exploration that included finding Slipper shells, Oysters, Mussels, Clams, Rockweed, Ulva seaweed, Periwinkles, Horseshoe crabs and more. Their curiosity while uncovering these species was inspiring as educators.  Campers were introduced to marine food webs with NAMEPA’s Food Web Jenga to explore niche roles, trophic levels, and the impacts when species are removed or introduced. In our final week, campers talked about where marine debris comes from, the effects on marine life, and the small changes we can make to decrease trash generated by actions we take daily. We concluded with a marine debris clean-up at Seaside Park where campers found items like plastic bags, aluminum cans, food wrappers, and notably, personal protective equipment – masks.