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Family Friendly SeaFest set for June 27
May 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Jeff Lichtman, 541-867-0219, seafest@oregonstate.edu
(Newport, Oregon) – SeaFest, the Hatfield Marine Science Center's annual open house and community festival, will take place on Saturday, June 27, at the center’s 49-acre campus in the South Beach area of Newport.
The day-long event offers visitors a chance to go behind the scenes to see the labs and meet the scientists who track whales, explore the ocean depths, and shed new light on our understanding of the marine environment. Ocean-going research vessels are on display, along with dozens of hands-on exhibits, activities, and demonstrations of what marine biologists and other scientists do in their daily work.
"SeaFest is a great opportunity for the public to get a closer look at the amazing web of life that exists in the ocean and estuaries," said HMSC program manager Ken Hall. "People come away with a better understanding of what makes a healthy marine ecosystem, and its importance to our own well-being."
Organizers emphasize the appeal of SeaFest to visitors of all ages, highlighting the range of activities for kids and families, with science and community exhibitor booths, local artists, food, and live music providing more than enough to keep visitors entertained for the day.
Visitors can "meet" the Hatfield Center's resident giant Pacific octopus or get their hands wet inspecting sea stars, anemones, fish and sea urchins in the touch pools that simulate the rocky intertidal zone.
Guided tours along the Yaquina Bay estuary trail are offered throughout the day, and a U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue demonstration exercise on the bay is planned for mid afternoon.
The open house and marine festival activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most events are free.
"This will be our seventh SeaFest, and hopefully one of the best," says Hall, who credits the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, City of Newport, Georgia Pacific-Toledo, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and other community partners for their financial and in-kind support of event over the years.
Co-sponsoring SeaFest with OSU are the university's partner agencies at the HMSC: the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For more information visit http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/seafest/. Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made to seafest@oregonstate.edu.
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