What is a Sea Squirt Anyways?

Chincoteague Bay Field Station kicked off summer camps this week with the Sea Squirts Day Camp.  Each day campers enjoy a variety of activities related to the daily theme. Field Station Educators Mallory and Chaz led the campers on hikes at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, into the intertidal zone at Tom's Cove, and on shelling trips to Wallops Island.

Campers learn about birds and mammals who live in maritime forests at the Batemen Center

After lunch campers are eager to play marine science themed games on campus

CBFS's Summer Camp Counselors work with the Education Staff to develop fun games, crafts, and activities to introduce different concepts.  For example, on coastal mammal day campers learned about the Delmarva Fox Squirrel, which is a threatened squirrel that in recent years has been thriving on Assateague Island. After visiting Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and seeing the squirrel in its habitat, students returned to campus to make their own squirrel puppets and did the squirrel dance!

So you're probably wondering: what is a sea squirt and what does it have to do with this summer camp? A sea squirt (Molgula manhattensis) is a round tunicate that is found in the shallow waters of the Chincoteague and Chesapeake Bays. They're cute little critters, the largest only about 4 inches in length. The Sea Squirts day camp is for our youngest explorers, ages 5-8. The campers are filled with energy and we feel that the name suits their enthusiasm and size! CBFS hosts one more week of the camp during the second week in July in addition to dozens of other programs, so keep an eye out for our campers when you're at CNWR!