Communities: Can You Help Study Shoreline Creatures?

Seine net captures near-shore inhabitants.

A new environmental education program that gives students and their families a chance to study all of the creatures in the shoreline shallows is now available for communities along the Severn River.

This program was developed by SRA Board Member Jeff Schomig and his son, Jason, and tested out last year at the Ben Oaks and Round Bay communities.

The goal is to understand what creatures live in the near-shore habitat next to various types of shorelines along different sections of the Severn River.

Participants also learn to appreciate how those creatures depend on the land-water interface to survive.

Wide variety of shoreline creatures.

Another goal is simply to engage people of all ages to learn about the richness and diversity of life adjacent to a healthy shoreline.

You may be surprised to see animals you don’t normally notice, like pipefish, gobies, small flounder, blennies, mud crabs, mosquito fish and others.

The shoreline sampling occurs twice a month, beginning in June.  It employs a twelve-foot long haul seine net and a procedure to take a census of the fish and other creatures captured in the net.

Please note that the training session is set for Wednesday, June 1 at 7 pm in the Round Bay Community’s main beach area.

Participating communities will need to purchase the seine net and will receive training on how to conduct the seine net/census program. All Tackle, in Annapolis Town Center, sells a small seine net  (12ft with 1/8 inch mesh) for about $30.

We can handle 4-5 communities in the program in 2022. If your community is interested, please email info@severnriver.org.

Please put “Seine Net” in the Subject Line.