At a Glance
Camp Address:
1300 Big Pine Avenue
Big Pine Key
,
Florida
33043
Capacity: 160
Camp Type:
Residential
Cost/Week:
$650 - $999
Gender: Coed
Ages: From 12 To 17
Seacamp - Florida popular
Marine science/scuba summer camp for teenagers in the Florida Keys. Marine science instructors lead explorations, provide help in identification, explain relationships, and teach scientific techniques in marine environments including the living coral reef. Courses especially designed to teach teens to SCUBA dive can lead to NAUI Basic or Advanced certification.
Camp Activities: Adventure • Arts and Crafts • Kayaking • Marine Biology • Music • Photography • SCUBA • Sailing • Science • Snorkeling • Swimming • Windsurfing
LOCATION
Seacamp’s tropical location on Newfound Harbor in the beautiful lower Florida Keys, just minutes from the only living coral reef in the United States, enables campers to participate in a truly one-of-a-kind marine studies program. Campers investigate the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, moving among clear blue waters, coral canyons, sandy and grassy areas, mud flats, and natural tide pools—all abundant with a variety of invertebrates, fish, and mammals. All of this is offered just 120 miles south of Miami and 30 miles east of Key West.
BACKGROUND AND PHILOSOPHY
Founded in 1966, Seacamp, the first program dedicated to the education of youth in marine sciences, is the result of a cooperative effort of parents, scientists, businessmen, and camp leaders. Conservation practices and a respect for the marine environment are at the core of the Seacamp philosophy: “For all the sea has to teach us and all the fun of learning it.”
PROGRAM OFFERINGS
Marine Science The Marine Science Program is the heart of Seacamp. Young scientists participate in a variety of courses under the guidance of academically trained marine science instructors, biologists, geologists, and oceanographers. Campers work at their own level of interest while learning basic ecological principles that are pertinent both to the study of marine science and to the future of our natural resources. Designed to appeal to all campers, this comprehensive program is coordinated in a number of 21-hour course offerings that are selected each summer based on responses elicited from the current year’s participants. Courses may include general marine sciences, marine communities, animal behavior, marine invertebrates, marine botany, marine vertebrates, marine geology, and marine aquaria. Advanced studies are offered in reef fish ecology, coral reef ecology, independent studies, and underwater field research using scuba. All science activities include studies in both the field and the laboratory. During boat trips, campers investigate various marine environments and species, including 400 varieties of algae, coral, and fishes. Upon completion, campers receive a Seacamp Certification describing courses taken.
EXTRA OPPORTUNITIES AND ACTIVITIES
Campers interested in journalism may work on the camp newspaper, SEASCOPE, which is published periodically during camp sessions. Arts and crafts activities include ceramics, copper enameling, stone carving, tie-dyeing, driftwood art, macramé, and painting. Photography allows campers to take home memories of friends, wildlife, and underwater experiences.
Activities are planned to incorporate the needs of all of the campers, so no one is ever left out. Seacamp’s enthusiastic and gregarious staff members go out of their way to include everyone in the fun.
FACILITIES
Seacamp’s lab facilities include a running seawater circulation system that serves two 250-gallon display tanks, two 50-gallon aquaria, twenty 20-gallon aquaria, and two 600-gallon tanks, which campers and science staff members use for research and observation. A preparation room is stocked with charts, illustrations, stereo and compound microscopes, preserving jars and solutions, water analysis kits, seines, and oceanographic equipment. A man-made lagoon serves as a temporary habitat for larger live specimens.
For more information please visit our website.
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