A Hands-On Marine Adventure for schools and groups offered at Texas A&M University Galveston Campus.
COVID-19 Update: In the wake of COVID-19 Sea Camp at Texas A&M University has made the decision to cancel any face to face/in person School Field Trip programs until Fall of 2021. We do however suggest our virtual field trip programing as we can offer a range of subjects and experiences custom to the classroom.Thank you for your understanding and patience, we hope you will consider us for future programming.
In addition to our summer adventures, we offer a variety of field trips and programs throughout the Fall and Spring semesters. There’s a lot to learn about marine life and many ways to go about doing so. All activities are adaptable and prices will vary accordingly.
$35 per hour of virtual classroom supplemental instruction for schools!
Are you an educator in need of supplemental instruction? Invite us into your classroom today! We’ll provide the science content while you learn along with your students! These virtual experiences include custom hour long virtual classroom supplemental instruction for schools. Created with K-12 educators in mind, our virtual classroom is designed to encourage students to learn and discover through STEM education. Paired with our FREE pre-recorded videos available on YouTube, students may explore the marine environment and have their questions answered or experience a custom program through Sea Camp.
Request a Virtual Field Trip today!
Subjects Include:
*This program is not designed for individual students or families.
*Custom programs may be subject to additional cost.
Duration: 2 - 3 hours
Maximum # of participants: 24
Price: $500-750
Students learn physical, chemical and biological oceanography aboard TAMUG’s 42-foot ResearchVessel Earl L. Milan. Sort and identify finfish and shellfish from shrimp otter trawl Sieve mud sampled by a Ponar-type benthic grab for annelid worms and other bottom dwellers. Observe our local marine mammal - the bottlenose dolphin. Life jackets included. Trip includes a licensed captain, deckhand, and our
outreach biologist.
Duration: 2 - 4 hours
Maximum # of participants: 32
Price: $550-825
Learn physical, chemical and biological oceanography aboard our 68-foot R/V Trident. Sample water quality for a handful of critical hydrographic parameters, e.g. water
temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and pH, and understand their impacts to estuary biota. Sieve mud
sampled by a Ponar-type benthic grab for annelid worms and other bottom-dwellers. Observe our local marine
mammal - the bottlenose dolphin. The R/V Trident is suitable for educational-based fishing trips to the Galveston Jetties and inshore bay sites proximate to our campus (definitely a 4-hour commitment). Life jackets included. Trip includes a licensed captain, deckhand and one to two outreach biologists.
Duration: 2 - 3 hours
Maximum # of participants: varies
Price: $350 minimum (based on 20 participants)
Wade waist-deep into our local salt marsh getting wet and a little muddy. Seine for inch-long red drum, southern flounder, spotted seatrout and other finfish species too numerous to name. Capture brown shrimp, blue crabs, and sea snot! Learn of the Galveston estuary, its ecology and the critical functions of the Spartina salt marsh.
A closed-toe, lace-up tennis shoe, preferably two, is a must!
Duration: 1 hour minimum
Maximum # of participants: varies
Price: $150 per Hour (based on 20 participants)
Explore sea turtle biology and ecology. Learn the seven species of sea turtles, all of which are listed as threatened or endangered, and which of these species occur in the Gulf of Mexico. Discuss the differences and similarities between freshwater turtles and sea turtles.
Duration: 1 - 4 hours
Maximum # of participants: varies (based on 20 participants)
Price: $200 - $450 (dependent on duration & activity)
Activities offered include blue crab biology, crabbing for blue crabs, oyster reef ecology and microbiology related to oyster disease. Instruction and workshops planned for the center include ornithology, invertebrate zoology, coastal plant and wetland ecology, pollution biology and coastal erosion.
Duration: 2 - 3 hours
Maximum # of participants: varies
Price: $350 min. (based on 20 persons and 5 sharks)
Jump into shark-infested waters, figuratively, with this introduction to cartilaginous fishes. Learn the differences between sharks & rays and bony fishes. Hands-on instruction in characteristics distinguishing the more than 360 species of sharks to their eight orders including the bull shark, shortfin mako, horn shark and Atlantic nurse shark. Dissect a dogfish shark with your classmate including stomach contents, the shark.
Duration: 1 hour minimum
Maximum # of participants: varies
Price: $150 per Hour (based on 20 participants)
Peek inside TAMUG’s teaching collection of sharks and explore the differences between sharks and bony fishes including adaptations reflecting their ecological niches. This exercise is available with a dissection by the instructor at $150/first hour.
Once you have chosen a field trip program right for your school, please send an email to seacamp@tamug.edu with the following information:
Name Of School:
Number of Students:
Age/Grade of Students:
Field Trip Program of Choice:
3 Date preferences:
Who will be our field guides/biologists?
Your field guides are students and former students at Texas A&M University at Galveston. Our staff includes knowledgeable and enthusiastic undergraduate and graduate students., and TAMUG Marine Biology graduates.
What are the requirements to participate in your field trips?
First, you must contact us to schedule your trip. After your trip is scheduled, you will receive waiver forms and
an invoice. A waiver for each participant must be completed and turned in on the day of the trip along with
a roster of all participants. E-rosters of all attendees are required 24 hours prior to your scheduled field trip,
and as soon as possible if requesting a visit to the NOAA Sea Turtle Facility. Full payment is due the day of the
field trip. We accept check or credit card.
What items and clothes should our students and teachers bring and wear?
Uniform of the day is always a comfortable pair of lace-up tennis shoes that can take a trip into the salt
marsh. Tennis shoes or other closed-toe shoes are required in the labs for shark dissections, aboard
research vessels and for our campus tours. Change of clothes and shoes, beach towels, baseball caps,
cameras, sunscreen, and mosquito repellant are often recommended or essential items depending on your
field trip - campus tour activities.
Address: 1001 Texas Clipper Rd. Galveston, TX 77554
From I-45 South:
1. Take Exit IC toward Harborside Dr./Teichman Rd.
2. Turn LEFT at light onto Harborside Dr.
3. Drive 2.7 miles and turn LEFT onto Seawolf Pkwy.
4. Cross the bridge onto Pelican Island.
5. Continue through the student crosswalk.
6. Turn RIGHT at the Valero gas station onto Texas Clipper Road.
7. Continue straight on Texas Clipper Road and park in the parking lot in front of the Sea Aggie Center. Busses will
park in the back lot.
(All visitors excluding school busses must pay for visitor parking at the kiosks or via smartphone if staying on campus over 30 minutes)
8.Walk in to the glass doors and go straight