Littoral Society Pilots Seal & Winter Waterfowl Field Trips

This winter, the American Littoral Society piloted new Seal & Winter Waterfowl Field Trips for schools and homeschool groups.

The Society hosts public Seal & Winter Waterfowl Walks to provide people the opportunity to learn about and observe seasonal wildlife on Sandy Hook from January through March. This year, Education Director Michelle Rebilas and Education Coordinator Audrey Litto expanded this popular program to include an enriching field trip opportunity for K-12 students.

Sandy Hook is home to an amazing amount of wildlife, even in the winter! People come from all around New Jersey and beyond to observe and snap pictures of harbor seals that haul-out right by the Chapel. Sandy Hook also provides habitat for a variety of winter waterfowl including the American black duck, bufflehead, red breasted merganser, and everyone’s favorite: the Canada goose. Our Seal & Winter Waterfowl Field Trip is a great way for students to learn about common identifying features and behavioral traits of winter wildlife and get to see them in person.

During a recent school trip, students learned about harbor seals and how to identify various winter waterfowl, while also taking part in activities that showcased how animals stay warm in winter.

The students were thrilled to see harbor seals swimming and jumping around in the water, and they were even more enamored when the seals came up onto the rocks at low tide to haul-out.

Students also participated in a blubber activity to demonstrate how blubber on seals (and other marine mammals) protects them from cold waters. To get a feel for seal life of a seal they put on a blubber glove (a bag packed with crisco) and put their hands in a bucket of ice water. To their surprise, they felt absolutely nothing, showing just how significant blubber really is to marine mammals!

Seal & Winter Waterfowl Field Trips usually run about 2-1/2 hours. If you are interested in learning more about Society field trips and experiences offered on Sandy Hook, please contact Audrey Litto at [email protected].

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