Tybee Island Marine Science Center operations director Beth Palmer with my grandchildren Savana Hudson and Cooper Vaught during our tour of this unique facility. (Larry Vaught Photo)
If you are vacationing or just visiting Tybee Island, let me suggest you find 90 minutes to visit the Tybee Island Marine Science Center.
It is located in a new state of the art facility that opened in 2021. The 5,000-square foot facility overlooks Tybee Island’s North Beach and offers some gorgeous views from the second level. You can also literally just walk in off the beach and visit this unique place.
Operations director Beth Palmer gave myself and two of my grandchildren — Savana Hudson and Cooper Vaught — a tour of the facility that we had also visited two years ago just a few months after it opened. But this time there was more to see.
It’s hard to pick a favorite exhibit but I really liked the interactive exhibit of Gray’s Reef while I think my grandchildren were most impressed by the sea turtles. However, with a “lot” of varieties of live animals, it’s hard not to like many different things.
It’s also fascinating to learn all the work the Tybee Marine Science Center does not only to educate visitors about Georgia’s natural resources but also the rehabilitation work it does with animals recovered by staff members and local fishermen so the animals can eventually leave the facility.
You can see everything from baby alligators to box turtles to loggerhead sea turtle babies to horseshoe crabs to snakes and a lot, lot more.
There are touch tanks where myself and my grandchildren were like youngsters on Christmas morning when we got to hold a starfish. We also got to touch a box turtle and a snake.
It was also an interesting concept that you could write a message for the Loggerhead Sea Turtles scheduled to be released on Sept. 23 when they turn 3 years old after being left behind in their nest when they were born.
There’s nothing like the interactive Gray’s Reef Exhibit in the region. Palmer showed us how it has a touchscreen multimedia gallery with 360-degree photos and videos that have never been on display. There’s interactive live footage and an audio track with actual recordings from underwater microphones. It’s easy to see why kids — and adults — like this so much.
There’s also a new knot tying station to challenge all ages and the “bones” room has so many cool fossils.
There are sea camps for children 6-11 years old and Girl Scouts and school groups, especially elementary and middle school, often schedule tours. The center also has beach walks where Palmer says a staff member takes you for a guided walk along Tybee’s North Beach. You can take a trek through a salt marsh also and search for crabs and snails.
Palmer said the “Sift ’N’ Seine” for those 9 years old and older is popular where you pull a 10-foot seine through water to search for marine life including pompanos, silversides, mullets and crabs. Turtle talk is another popular offering where you learn about the sea turtles that nest on the nearby beaches.
The science center at 37 Meddin Drive is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 with children 4 and under free.
Go to tybeemarinescience.org for more information or call 912-786-5917.
2 Responses
I love Tybee Island. My favorite place in the world
It is pretty cool Roxie