Georgia Magazine - May 2018 - 34

GREG MCFALL / NOAA

UGA MARINE EXTENSION AND GEORGIA SEA GRANT

GREG MCFALL / NOAA

A warty sea slug crawls along the floor of
Gray's Reef.

Students enjoy the touch tanks at the UGA
Marine Education Center and Aquarium.

support team should be experienced in deploying, monitoring and recovering divers while live boating. You also
will want to take inflatable markers. Go to graysreef.noaa.
gov to get specifics on safe and legal boating, fishing and
diving as well as current weather conditions, coordinates
and overall regulations.
Helmey emphasizes the importance of going to the
website before going out, especially because Gray's Reef
is not the norm. Put the coordinates in twice, she suggests. People often get lost, especially in areas new to
them, because of transposed numbers. File a float plan (a
written outline of your intended outing that you provide
for a land-based friend or family member), too.
"Homework is major. You can do a lot more homework on a kitchen table than you can on a boat when it's
rocking," she says.

UGA MARINE EXTENSION AND GEORGIA SEA GRANT

Don't despair, landlubbers

Caption

Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus
giganteus) thrive in Gray's Reef.

with its touch tanks and other interactive activities.
* Take the ferry and a picnic out to the Sapelo Island
Visitors Center. You can learn about the natural history of
Gray's Reef by playing some of the games there.
* Rousakis Riverfront Plaza in Savannah has bronze
markers displaying pictures of and information about the
animals and plants at Gray's Reef. Children can use paper
and crayons to make rubbings of the whales, turtles and
other wildlife.
* Like movies? The Gray's Reef Ocean Film Festival each
February takes place at venues throughout Savannah.
Screenings often include feature films, shorts, documentaries and films from the Emerging Filmmakers Competition.
Some are 3-D films, allowing viewers to put on the glasses
and experience the wonderful ocean creatures in a whole
new way. The event is hosted by the Gray's Reef National
Marine Sanctuary Foundation and supports Gray's Reef.
Besides, the kids love it!
* Even in your jammies, you can check it all out at the
reef's website. The underwater videos will make you feel
like a true explorer! Not to be missed is the kids' gallery
full of works by young observers.
Go to Gray's Reef-any way you can or want to. Don't
deny yourself the fun of exploring Mother Nature's theme
park. The creatures always appreciate admiring visitors!
Sarah Russell is a freelance writer who lives in Hot
Springs, Ark.

If you don't have access to a private boat to get to
Gray's Reef, you can stay inland and still experience the
reef in a variety of other ways. Several Georgia organizations have exhibits-dioramas, interactive technology,
videos and touch tanks-all focused on Gray's Reef. Here
are a few ways to experience the reef without getting into
a boat:
* See-and even touch-the live sea creatures at the University of Georgia's Marine Education Center and Aquarium in Savannah.
* The Georgia Southern Museum,
part of Georgia Southern University Gray's Reef exhibit partners
in Statesboro, offers kids a fun op- * Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 767 Clifton Road N.E., Atlanta, fernbankmuseum.org,
(404) 929-6300
portunity to explore Gray's Reef

For more information
Gray's Reef, graysreef.noaa.gov
34

* Georgia Southern Museum at Georgia Southern University, 2142 Southern Drive,
Rosenwald Building, Statesboro, academics.georgiasouthern.edu/museum, (912) 478-5444
* Tybee Island Marine Science Center, 509 Strand Ave., Tybee Island, tybeemarinescience.
org, (912) 786-5917
* University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium, 30 Ocean Science Circle,
Savannah, gacoast.uga.edu/uga-aquarium/visit-us, (912) 598-2496
* Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, 1766 Landing Road S.E., Darien,
sapelonerr.org, (912) 437-3224
* Mobile exhibit, currently at Savannah History Museum (inside Visitors Center),
303 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Savannah, savannah.com/the-savannah-history-museum,
(912) 651-6825
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

GEORGIA MAGAZINE

http://www.fernbankmuseum.org http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/museum http://gacoast.uga.edu/uga-aquarium/visit-us http://www.sapelonerr.org http://www.savannah.com/the-savannah-history-museum http://graysreef.noaa.gov http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2018