Celebrate World Ocean Day and kick off summer with the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit at the St. Lucie County Aquarium on Thursday, June 6, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. This family-friendly event will feature hands-on activities, crafts, a beach clean-up, and special aquarium tours. Scientists from the Smithsonian Marine Station will be there to demonstrate their world-class research and ways that they’re working to help save our ocean. Whether you live on the coast or inland, we all need a healthy ocean to survive and thrive. The ocean generates over half of the oxygen we breathe, feeds us, helps regulate our climate, and provides us with endless fun.
The celebration will take place both inside and outside of the aquarium, which is located next to South Causeway Beach on South Hutchinson Island. Don’t miss fish feeding tours inside of the aquarium at 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM, as well as fascinating behind-the-scenes tours at 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Outside, test your ocean knowledge with a game and partake in a beach scavenger hunt and clean-up for prizes. Explore fascinating marine artifacts and make a craft at the beach-combing discovery station. Finally, meet Smithsonian scientists and learn about their research through hands-on activities.
Admission to the aquarium is $4.25 for adult sand $3.25 for seniors (55+) and children. Children under 4 are free. All World Ocean Day activities are included with aquarium admission. For more information, please contact the Smithsonian Education Office at 772-465-3271 or SMSEducation@si.edu.
The Smithsonian Marine Station has teamed with St. Lucie County and other community partners to create this unique educational facility. The Ecosystems Exhibit is an outreach effort of the Smithsonian Marine Station, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. A fixture in the Fort Pierce community for more than 52 years, the Marine Station is dedicated to understanding the character and diversity of the marine and estuarine habitats of Florida.
The Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit at the St. Lucie County Aquarium is located at 420 Seaway Drive in Fort Pierce, 34949.
For more information about the Exhibit, or to learn about volunteering opportunities, call 772-465-3271. Keep up to date with this program and all the happenings at the Aquarium by following us on social media @SmithsonianSMS and by visiting our website at www.stLucieco.gov/aquarium.
