Who: Seaside Aquarium
What: Seaside Beach Discovery Program
When: Weekends in July and August from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. See schedule below.
Where: On the beach in front of the Seaside Aquarium. 200 North Prom Seaside, OR
The Seaside Beach Discovery Program is a free program which sets up on the beach in front of the Seaside Aquarium. The program is weather dependent, so you may want to check with us before heading down.
Seaside Aquarium staff members use several interactive displays, including microscopes, which showcase diverse creatures such as plant and animal plankton, amphipods and seaweed. We have many historical photos to help people compare human and geological changes over time. We add shells and other tideline discoveries to reinforce the idea that an ever-changing ocean can lead to important changes for people, plants, and animals. One popular display, in the form of a signpost, points out that people are not our only visitors. Numerous flying or swimming animals make enormous journeys, round trip, every year and many use our beach as a pit stop to rest and feed. We use instruments such as tide tables, wind gauges, thermometers, and a salinity gauge to compare daily, and sometimes hourly, changes to a seemingly static beach. These lead to displays about beach safety, verbal talks about gravity, the moon and tides, sand movement, upwellings, rip currents, and the food chain. All of this helps to spark discussions that lead to helping people see the interconnectivity of sand, water, air, plants and animals, the earth, the moon, and humans’ relationships to that process.
Every morning before the program officially opens, staff members record the wind speed, air and ocean temperature, ocean salinity, and tide data. Then they collect samples of plankton and tiny critters along the ocean’s edge and note anything unusual for the day. Wide-ranging discussions occur daily with a steady flow of information, questions, and ponderings that keep our displays fresh and evolving. Some visitors stop and are gone in under five minutes. Many stay for a half an hour or more.
The Seaside Beach Discovery Program began in 1995 as a way to engage the public about life on an open sandy beach. The idea was to try to change people’s perspective from being a beach they use to recreate on to a beach as a whole thriving ecosystem.
Photos provided by Seaside Aquarium
2024 Seaside Beach Discovery Program Schedule (The Program is weather depending. If it is too rainy or windy the Program may be canceled or broken down early).
July 13th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
July 14th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
July 28th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
August 3rdth 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
August 4thth 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
August 10thth 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
August 11th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
August 17th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
August 18th 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
