Give Your Kids an Experience to Remember with a 2.5-Hour Study Cruise on Long Island Sound

An announcement from the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk:

Share a memorable boat ride with crabs, fish and other creatures brought up right out of Long Island Sound right before your eyes during exciting study cruises this fall with The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.

The Aquarium’s Fall Foliage Study Cruises will push off at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October. Autumn is a great time to be out on the Sound, enjoying the animal encounters on the boat as well as a broad view of the spectacular fall foliage on land.

During each 2 1/2-hour outing, animals are collected from different water levels and bottom habitats of the Sound. A video-microscope provides a magnified look at wriggly plankton gathered at the sunlit surface.

A biodredge reveals a hidden world of sponges, worms, mollusks and juvenile crabs. And everyone inspects the trawl net’s bounty – varieties of salt-water fish and crabs, squid and always a few surprises.

Plus, with the seasons changing, Maritime Aquarium educators will talk about which animals endure winter in Long Island Sound, which migrate away and which just bury in the bottom until spring.

Fall is a beautiful time to be on the water, as reflections on the surface double the reds, oranges and yellows of autumn back on shore. Be sure to bring your camera!

Tickets for a Maritime Aquarium study cruise are $22.95, or $17.95 for members of the popular Connecticut family attraction.

Children should be at least 42 inches tall to come aboard.

Chartered cruises on weekdays (and also on weekend mornings) are available for schools, Scouts and other groups.

All cruises in September and October will occur on The Maritime Aquarium’s 40-foot trawler, the R/V Oceanic.

Advance reservations are strongly recommended for a Fall Foliage Study Cruise. Walk-up tickets will be sold, space permitting.

The cruises depart from the dock outside the Norwalk aquarium’s IMAX movie theater.

Reserve tickets or get more details at the aquarium’s website or call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206.

Photo from Maritime Aquarium