Anne denOtter, outreach coordinator for the Marine Lab in Key Largo, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the lab.
What is Marine Lab?
denOtter said, “Marine Lab is a 501c3 organization that provides hands on immersive marine science programs to groups ranging from fifth grade through college. We also host teachers and families on our campus, and we teach our students all about local environments here in the Keys, and then we actually take them snorkeling on our boats, which is really awesome. Typically, it is done through schools throughout the entire US. So last year, we hosted over 8,000 students and teachers from as far as Alaska to local students here in the Keys.”
What other immersive experiences are available?
denOtter said, “One of my favorites is we do a full mangrove lesson. But instead of having our students in the classroom doing that, we actually do the lesson out in the mangroves. The kids get all up close and personal with the mangrove trees. So they’re basically learning inside of the textbook, which is really awesome.”
The We Dare You to Snorkel the Marine Lab’s Haunted Lagoon will be on October 26 from 6 to 8:30pm.
denOtter said, “We’re really lucky that we have a protected lagoon located right on our campus at Key Largo Undersea Park, and it’s basically our take on a haunted house, but we wanted to incorporate some of the elements of marine lab into that, so we turned it into a snorkel. If you are brave enough to snorkel the lagoon, you will get fitted with your own snorkel gear. You will have your very own snorkel tour guide taking you through, like a 10 to 15 minute snorkel through the lagoon. We will have people stationed around ready to pop out and scare you. We’ll have some people on scuba as well that could pop out at any second. And then if you’re a little bit too nervous about snorkeling, that’s okay. We have lots of activities on land, face painting, games, all of that good stuff.”
It is free admission.
denOtter said, “Some of our big sponsors that we definitely want to thank include the College of the Florida Keys, First Horizon Foundation, Shell World, Kathleen McHugh and Craig Mullen and Baptist Health Mariners Hospital.”
How many people have helped put this together?
denOtter said, “Definitely our entire staff, yeah, so I would say probably like 25 to 30 people. We’ll also have volunteers helping us out running some of the different stations. So yeah, it’s definitely a team effort, but we’re really excited.”
There are also family days for people to be able to experience the Marine Lab as well.
denOtter said, “The second Sunday of every month, we host a free family day. You do have to sign up for that in advance, but those are really awesome. You get a little taste of Marine Lab, and you get to bring your whole family along,”
The Haunted Lagoon is also a fundraiser.
denOtter said, “This is a fundraiser to our local schools to be able to come to Marine Lab for free. So not only is it fun, but it’s also for a really good cause.”
For more information, click here: https://www.marinelab.org/