![[Dept. of Animal Sciences]](images/jcnerr.gif "[Dept. of Animal Sciences]"){kind=small}
"The kind of world our children inherit tomorrow depends on how well we care for it today" reads the wall as you climb the stairs and enter the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve's newly renovated Life on the Edge Exhibit.
This past year the Jacques Cousteau Reserve has been busy with the renovation of our Life on the Edge Exhibit located upstairs in the Yacht Club at the Tuckerton Seaport Museum.
The renovated exhibit focuses on the importance of estuaries to plants, animals and all of us. Estuaries are habitats where rivers meet the sea - where fresh and salt water mix to create a unique and very productive ecosystem vital to life both on land and in the sea. These remarkable and productive places provide many environmental and economic benefits including a nursery ground for young fish and shellfish, a buffer against storm damage and flooding, a filter for runoff from human activities, and a shelter, refuge and source of food for many birds, fish, plants and wildlife. Through hands-on activities and multimedia components, visitors are able to explore the roles estuaries play in our daily life, a variety of aquatic life that call these places home, and what individuals can do to become stewards of this unique and important ecosystem. New exhibits feature a photo booth pledge station, a theater and multipurpose room, a giant view master and a chance to look into the depths of a water droplet, something for everyone and all ages. According to Mike De Luca, Senior Associate Director of the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University and Manager of the JC NERR “the new exhibit highlights ways in which estuaries are special places, constantly changing in response to humans and natural processes. The public shares a role in protecting and preserving these unique coastal systems.”
Interpretive stations evoke the daily and seasonal rhythms of the estuary. Visitors will learn how humans affect the estuary in small and large ways, how they can reduce or manage human impact, and how they can be a catalyst for change and take action to support sustainable practices. With exciting new exhibits such as our photo booth pledge station, a giant view master and a chance to look into the depths of a water droplet, there is something for everyone and all ages!
Life on the Edge in the News!:
The exhibit is free and will be open to the public starting Memorial Day Weekend. So stop by and discover the NEW Life on the Edge!
Exhibit and Seaport Hours: Open year round, 7 days.
Tuckerton Seaport Museum
120 W. Main St.
Tuckerton, NJ
609-296-8868
www.tuckertonseaport.org
For more information call Ida Scott, Interpretation Coordinator, at 609-812-0649, ext. 205.