Twelve children and adults gathered in the parking lot of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Fred and Alice Stanback Coastal Education Center to embark on an aquatic adventure Thursday, July 2. The group walked along a shady stretch of the John Nesbitt Loop to a Lees Cut salt marsh during the Coastal Federation’s program, What’s Swimming With You in Our Coastal Waters?
“We wanted to provide y’all with an opportunity to see some of the creatures that inhabit our estuaries and marshes,” said Ted Wilgis, the federation’s coastal education coordinator. “We’ll get in the water and see what we can find. You guys are going to be researchers today. … Our tools are going to be these different kinds of nets.”
Wilgis advised participants to be cautious while handling marine organisms.
“We want to be as careful and gentle with everything that we find as possible. If you do happen to catch a fish or creature of any sort, you always want to make sure your hands are wet,” he said.
Wilgis brought small aquariums for the program’s participants to use.
“We may catch a lot of the same species. We’ll keep a couple representatives of each group,” he said. “After we spend a fair amount of time netting, we can pause and see what we caught and talk about what they are, why they’re important and why they’re living here.”
Wilgis encouraged research safety by ensuring each participant wore close-toed shoes. He brought sunscreen, bug spray and water, and warned the children not to wade into deep water.
“Try not to go anywhere above mid-thigh,” he said.
Wilgis also showed the group how to throw a cast net.
“It’s used all around the world. I actually had some kids from Thailand show me how to throw a 16-foot net. This is about a 6-foot net,” he said. “You put this little collar around your wrist. That way, you don’t lose the net. Take the line from the net and make a big coil.”
Then, Wilgis tossed it across the sand to demonstrate a proper throw.
“It’s kind of like you’re throwing a Frisbee,” he said. “Throw everything at once. It forms a big umbrella before it hits the water.”
Wilgis and the group caught lizard fish and flounder, along with a few species of crab.
“It was a good day. Participants seemed to gain awareness of some of the things swimming around in the marsh and why these tidal creeks and marshes are so important. … The marshes are a part of our estuaries and coastal habitat.”
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