Maritime Gloucester to cut ribbon on Maritime Science Education Center | Fishing Industry News

On Wednesday, Maritime Gloucester was putting the finishing touches on its new Maritime Science Education Center in the lower level of its waterfront location in advance of a ribbon cutting and tours scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27, at 3:30 p.m

Inside the marine-themed space, there are tanks with sea creatures such as a blue lobster, an exhibit on lobsters with a kid-sized lobster boat, and a brand-new touch tank.

The bottom of a dory is suspended from the ceiling and the floor is made from Gloucester beach sand encased in epoxy and painted with various sea creatures.

Maritime Gloucester at 23 Harbor Loop is home to a working waterfront, maritime museum and a seasonal Sea Pocket Aquarium where visitors can touch sea creatures in touch tanks.

The nonprofit is also a place where every third-, fourth- and fifth-grader in Gloucester for the past 19 years has come to for marine science-based STEM education programs, said Executive Director Michael DeKoster.

During the COVID-19, the museum took a look at its educational experiences and programs and realized the demand for them swamped its space. The seasonal Sea Pocket Museum was also closed during much of the school year when the demand for educational programs was at its peak.

So during the past two years, Maritime Gloucester redesigned its lower level, transforming a wet lab, office space, breezeway and underutilized exhibit space into the new education center.

DeKoster and Director of Marine Education and Aquarium Operations Kelsey Bradford gave a tour of the space on Wednesday, including a central space called Exploration Station.

“Everything we’ve designed in here has been geared towards the pre-existing lessons that we did with the kids,” Bradford said.

She and DeKoster also credited artist Brian Murphy of Beverly for his sea-themed artwork in bringing the Maritime Science Education Center to life.

“I listened to them, what they were looking for,” Murphy said. “Me, having a few years on me, added my experience to it, too, and said, “Maybe there are some things that we could do to add little things to the life.” One of those things, a lobster painted on the floor of the Exploration Station, even fooled a seasoned lobsterman who avoided stepping on what he thought was a live lobster, DeKoster said.

“This is education first,” DeKoster said. “Obviously it’s a great visitor destination experience but we also want to make sure we are giving the platform for the kids.”

The education center now includes the Sea Pocket Aquarium, the Exploration Station, a new Impact Zone exhibit focused on marine debris, invasive species and microplastics, a Plankton Lab for digital microscope work and a marine science classroom.

To make this space resilient against flooding, the City Council on Tuesday voted 9-0 to approve $100,000 in Community Preservation Act funding to make resilience improvements to Maritime Gloucester’s waterfront.

DeKoster told the council that in his more than four years at Maritime Gloucester, he had seen one flood.

“I’ve seen two in the last month,” DeKoster said. The day before Christmas, there was 6 inches of water in the building, he said. Sandbags kept the water out of the building on Monday.

He told councilors the middle classroom in the building is in need of protection from flooding.

To book a tour of the Maritime Science Education Center for opening weekend, you can go to https://www.maritimegloucester.org/maritime-science-education-center.

Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at [email protected].

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