WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center Opens for 2016 Season
April 14, 2016
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Ocean Science Exhibit Center opens for another fun and engaging summer season on April 18, 2016. Opening just in time for school vacation week, visitors to the Ocean Science Exhibit Center will learn about what’s happening with the world’s ocean and the innovative ocean science and engineering being done by WHOI researchers.
“There are many hands-on exhibits that let visitors learn about WHOI research and the vehicles and tools developed here at WHOI,” said Ocean Science Exhibit Center Manager Kathy Patterson.
Visitors can sit inside a full-sized model of the Alvin personnel sphere, complete with control panels containing equipment and switches used in Alvin over the years. Also on display is the REMUS SharkCam that was used to track great white sharks off Chatham, Mass., and Guadalupe, Mexico, which bears the bite marks from an attack by sharks off Mexico. Other exhibits include a Titanic room, a life-size display of a hydrothermal vent community and incredible video footage from vents in the Pacific Ocean, and fun marine mammal sound recordings, to name just a few.
The Center is also home to the WHOI Gift Shop, where visitors can purchase WHOI-branded gear as well as fun and interesting marine-related gifts and books.
The WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until Memorial Day. After Memorial Day, the Center is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
In the summer, the Ocean Science Exhibit Center also offers two special programs – “Splash Lab” and “Science Made Public.” Splash Lab features hands-on science activities for kids of all ages and runs on Wednesday and Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Science Made Public is a weekly series of presentations by WHOI scientists and engineers highlighting their latest research activities, with the opportunity to ask them questions and interact in an informal setting. Both events begin in July and run through August 2016.
As always, admission to the Ocean Science Exhibit Center and public events are free of charge but donations are always appreciated.
For additional information please visit: https://www.whoi.edu/who-we-are/visit-whoi/ocean-science-exhibit-center/
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu.
REMUS SharkCam display and video inside the Ocean Science Exhibit center. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Children gather around a tank filled with water to operate remote controlled submarines during a Splash Lab activity at the Ocean Science Exhibit Center. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Realistic looking and life-sized tubeworms on display at the Exhibit Center help depict the diverse ocean life at hydrothermal vent communities. (Photo by Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)