Marine education event looks at life in Wilmington River

Marine educator Shannon Matzke held up a smooth butterfly ray, giving passengers aboard the R/V Sea Dawg a closer look at one of the many creatures living in? Coastal Georgia’s tidal rivers.

The ray was among an assortment of marine life pulled from the Wilmington River on Oct. 30 during Trawl-O-Ween, a hands-on outing hosted by the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant.

Eighteen passengers boarded the 43-foot research vessel on Skidaway Island to discover what lives beneath the water’s surface and to help collect fish and shrimp for the UGA Aquarium Use UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on first reference.

Led by Capt. Todd Recicar, the Sea Dawg traveled from the Skidaway River into the Wilmington River, where the crew dragged a 26-foot trawl net along the river bottom for roughly 15 minutes.

“It’s always exciting. You never know what you’re going to get,” Matzke told passengers before the trawl.

Before the trawl, aquarium curator Lisa Kovalanchik guided passengers in measuring water temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen.

That information is collected and contributes to years of data on the region’s marine life, which is shared with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The catch included a gar, an Atlantic brief squid, portly spider crabs, mantis shrimp and a female blue crab clutching a white shrimp in its claw.

Matzke said passengers are often surprised by the diversity of marine life pulled from the river, especially when they expect to see mostly shrimp.

“There’s such a spark that happens when people make connections,” she said.

She said many passengers initially come aboard expecting to watch, but soon find themselves helping identify and count the animals.

Passengers examined the animals and helped identify, count and record what had been caught. Some fish and shrimp were kept to feed the aquarium’s marine life, while others were released back into the river.

Back on shore, participants learned about Trawl to Trash, an initiative to keep discarded fishing gear and other debris out of coastal waterways.

Using recycled shrimp nets, passengers made reusable bags designed to collect trash along Georgia’s coast.

For Matzke, the goal goes beyond teaching people about the animals living beneath the water.

She said experiences like Trawl-O-Ween help foster “a sense of wonder and curiosity” that can lead to a deeper understanding of the coast and a desire to protect it.