jacques cousteau national estuarine research reserve

A very kid friendly, hands on exhibit, with excellent, friendly staff to answer questions. Excellent descriptions of what an estuary is, and why it is important to the health of the environment.

after trudging through the seaport and being disappointed i came to this on thier top floor. I was very impressed at quality of the installation and the information. Who ever is incharge of this place should take over the rest of the seaport. It was obvious that these exhibits were professionally made and developed whereas the Seaports exhibits looked like a childs project.

Part of the whole Tuckerton Seaport experience, this third floor exhibit tells of efforts to understand and maintain the unique Jersey shore estuaries, barrier islands, and inland rivers that are special to the Pinelands.

A large part of this museum is regarding the effects of the sea on the local area, and history of the area. A two level museum, elevator access if I correctly recall. It is kept up well. The tour is self guided, but there are many signs, etc. along the way. Within the sea village.

Don't be put off by the name. This is a great place for the family to visit for one of their many programs. I caught the one they do on seals. I didn't know there are four varieties that visit New Jersey, some more than others. Beyond that they told me where I most likely would find them in the wild in this shore area and distinguishing marks. One youngster got a kick out of being a demonostration seal as the instructors (who were very informed and entertaining as well as educational) wrapped him in a pillow for blubber to show how he kept warm, put flippers on his feet for fins to demonstrate how seals swim, whiskers to show how seals could "feel" things and much more. It was great fun. There were seal coloring pages to keep little ones amused. They thought of everything and it was free. You can do a two-fer as this is right around the corner from the heritage museum - the Tuckerton Seaport.