Caption: With the 115-foot schooner Harvey Gammage forming a backdrop, Anne Steele, left, of Kennebunkport, and Kathy Seall and Susan Leach, both of Columbus, Ohio, tackle their lobsters.
Marine educators convene
SOUTH PORTLAND -- Marine educators from across the country sank their teeth into their subject Tuesday at a lobster bake at Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute.
The evening gathering on a lawn overlooking Casco Bay marked the informal opening of the annual meeting of the National Marine Education Association.
For the next five days, about 300 of the organization's members will attend nearly 90 workshops, travel on marine field trips in Maine and New Hampshire and share new ideas on marine education. This is the first time Maine has hosted a meeting of the 10 year-old organization, whose members range from researchers and college administrators to the operators of public aquariums and other popular marine education programs.
Tuesday's lobster bake was an opportunity for socialization among the members, some of whom came from as far away as American Samoa, Alaska and California.
"This is the annual gathering of the ocean clan," said Jeffrey Sandler, chairing the conference along with Deborah Hall. "It's a chance for people to do two things: to share information on how they can use things in their own situations and to become revitalized by actually getting out on the water and experiencing what they teach."
The theme of this year's conference is "Sights and Sounds of the Sea," and a special emphasis will be placed on the arts as an approach to marine education.
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