DURHAM, N.H. – Touch a horseshoe crab, map the ocean floor, and drive a remotely operated vehicle all at the University of New Hampshire’s Ocean Discovery Day Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. The day-long event will provide visitors with an opportunity to explore the wonders of the sea through interactive exhibits and demonstrations at the Chase Ocean Engineering Laboratory on the UNH campus in Durham. The event is free to the public and will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Visitors can participate in a number of ocean-related activities that include making a fish print, banding a lobster, tasting a seaweed smoothie and seeing live plankton that are the important base of the food chain in N.H.’s Great Bay Estuary. Watch a SCUBA diving demonstration to learn how UNH scientists conduct research below the waves, and learn more about marine snow and tern restoration at the Isles of Shoals.

Among the new programs for this year’s event will be a Seafood Throwdown tasting competition hosted by the UNH fisheries and aquaculture club, where chefs will prepare dishes made with local fish for visitors to taste. Also new this year: a series of presentations by UNH staff and faculty that explore topics ranging from ocean energy to the sounds in the polar ocean, as well as what’s happening in the Gulf of Maine.

Visitors will be able to tour the Chase Ocean Engineering Laboratory facility including a 20-foot deep engineering tank and a 120-foot-long wave tank, a console that lets researchers connect with scientists at sea, and a panoramic display for visualizing underwater data like whale movements.

Ocean Discovery Day is hosted by the UNH School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, N.H. Sea Grant, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and the UNH Marine Docents. For more information, including directions, parking, and schedules of activities, go to http://marine.unh.edu/oceandiscoveryday/ or visit Ocean Discovery Day on Facebook.

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