OCEAN COUNTY VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS

There is only a one week option for students to sign-up.
The times of the camp are from 7:45 AM to 2:30 PM at the MATES facility on Cedar Bridge Road in Manahawkin
Our instructors are certified with much experience in the field, classroom, technology, and current research
Students must get a ride to the program and picked up daily. They must bring their own lunch, water and snacks

Daily entries from the 2002 camp listed below:

We have 23 students in the camp. Eight students are entering 10th grade and are in the advanced research camp. Fifteen are in our regular camp. The students experience a broad marine education base.

Monday July 8 - Introduction and field water quality

Tuesday July 9 - Seining and collecing of algae and field studies

Wed. July 10 - AM Seining with Advanced learning ntroduced to biological assessment. In the PM, both groups visited the Lighthouse Center in Waretown to measure blue crabs for a project.

Thur. July 11 - It was sampling aboard the Bay Cruiser from Seaside Park to the Toms River and back. We dragged a trawl three times and the final trawl netted us some pinfish, croaker, a puffer and blue crabs.

Fri. July 12 - The campers learned about water quality and the advanced went to get macroinvertebrates and determined the water quality at Winding River on the Toms River. They also helped to collect samples at Cedar Point. The Lighthouse Camp served as the field site for the afternoon field session.

Mon. July 15 - A hectic day and start of the week. We discussed Pine Barrens ecology and visited areas in Manahawkin and Little Egg Harbor where we picked highbush blueberry. We also tested soils and found low pH in the Pine Barrens.

Tue. July 16 - A nice day on the bay. We all visited the US Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light. The tour was nice, we had lunch and visited the sanbar where we sampled water coming into the bay. The sandbar was a great place to investigate marine life and take a cool plunge. The trip back was slow due to engine problems and eel grass in the bay. We were late back to the Bishop Building for the last time. Tomorrow we begin a new chapter in Toms River.

Wed. July 17 - A great day learning about wetlands delineation and forestry. Students learned to differentiate between wetlands and uplands We then visited the NJ Forest Resource Education Center for a great tour of the sensory trail. The AM field trip was to the Lighthouse Center in Waretown

Thur. July 18 - We worked with GPS and how to use the navigation system and how to program a coodinate by marking it with a team competition. We later identified local tree species using field guides and samples. In the afternoon, we visited the Lighthouse Center in Waretown to check traps and take salinity readings. We also collected fish species through a seining activity. The AM field trip was to Point Pleasant and sediment work.

Fri. July 19 - We had a quiz and biodiversity statistics class. We worked on the classroom and wet lab and visited Double Trouble State Park for stream flow data and enjoyed the cool water from the springs as groundwater made its way into Cedar Creek.

July 22 - The Advanced class worked with mummichog in the classroom as part of a diffusion lab

July 23 - Students worked on surveying and collecting mummichog data for the park. We need to incorporate biodiversity statistics

July 24 - Aboard the Bay Cruiser, the morning session involved a trawl and great diversity including a black drum and croaker.

July 25 - A trawl aboard the Bay Cruiser proved an excellent sampling for students with multiple species caught

July 26 - Both groups testing the conditions at the Lighthouse Center for salinity in the impoundment and dissolved oxygen in the lagoon. The results are part of a data base line study for the camp.

July 29 - A busy day gathering urchins and learning and using the computer lab. The advanced camp conducted a fire survey at Double Trouble and visited the park

July 30 - Boat day was good with Captain Chris. The morning caught a mantis shrimp and the advanced camp caught oyster toadfish.

July 31 - It was Sedge Island for Ms. Held's group, taking their transects for the study. The advanced group reviewed and worked on the turtle presentation. In the afternoon we tested the Lighthouse Center's lagoon and found low DO again.

August 1 - Ms. Held's group returned, with some sun and bugs that seem to be a summer staple on the bay. The Advanced Group arrived at the Island around 2:00 and set-up. We clammed, set traps and snorkeled prior to dinner. After dinner, we set-up sampling teams. The results indicated a period of low DO late evening hours. The group played games throughout the night as the teams rotated every two hours.

August 2 - The day started a bit tired, but we rebounded with a great kayak activity. We then had lunch and set up the large trawl net across the "channel" that produced a couple of flounder. We cleaned and left the Island at 2 PM. We were bitten a bit, but the weather was warm and sunny.

August 5 - We learned some Pine Barrens ecology with Dr. Bien and Mike from Drexel University at the Warren Grove Base.

August 6 - Time to bring together put sea turtle presentation after we spent time at the wet lab and camp checking conditions. Jenks is tomorrow!

August 7 - A behind the scenes tour at Jenkinson's Aquarium and time for the sea turtle presentation that went well with a full room.

August 8 - Advanced Final and a boat practical with Mr. W and the pontoon from Wheelhouse. The final was the afternoon activity with a water analysis practical.

August 9 - We worked hard in the wet lab, getting ready for Tuesday, while Ms. Held's class took the final. After lunch, a beach survey was on the menu. Great Summer Everyone!

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Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science