By Rachel Sawicki

Delaware Sea Grant’s annual Coast Day event will be spread across two days and all three counties for the first time this year. Various in-person events will take place on Saturday, Oct. 2, followed by webinars on Sunday from faculty in the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean and Environment.

Chris Petrone, director of DESG’s Marine Advisory Service (MAS), said Coast Day generally draws in the Eastern Sussex population, but they wanted to extend opportunities to every county to learn about Delaware’s coastal environment.

“It’s a long trip down Route 1 to Lewes,” he said. “So this is an opportunity to bring some animals up from the coast and from the Delaware Bay, and show them to families in Bear and New Castle that potentially don’t often see these kinds of critters. We’ll talk to them a little bit about what they are, what they do, why they’re important to the bay, and give them a touch of the coast without having to drive to it.”

On Saturday, the Marine Advisory Service will lead a kayak tour of the Broad Creek in Laurel, a tour of the Delaware State University Aquaculture Research and Demonstration Facility in Dover, and an emergency preparedness exhibit at the Boast the Coast Maritime Festival in Lewes.

MAS will also partner with Glen Echo Park Aquarium to bring mobile touch tanks to the Bear and Route 9 libraries in New Castle County. At the Delmarva Outdoors Expo in Harrington, MAS specialists will be available to answer questions and residents can learn about marine debris, aquaculture and other topics, and pick up the Coast Day craft — a dogfish shark paper model.

On Saturday night, Coast Day will host screenings in Lewes and Newark of “The Meg,” the 2018 blockbuster based on the book by Steve Alten, UD alumnus and Coast Day special guest. The Lewes screening will take place at the Lewes Public Library starting at 6:30 p.m. and the Newark screening will take place on the Green on UD’s campus at 7:30 p.m. (Registration requested).

Mr. Petrone said it is important for Coast Day to reach the entire state in order to bridge the knowledge gap.

“The actions that people take up north (on the Christina and Delaware River) absolutely have an impact on Delaware Bay and the coastal Atlantic Ocean,” he said. “If we can build some excitement for the natural world, not just in kids, but families and anyone who comes to these touch tanks, the more they’re going to want to engage and take care of it.”

Mr. Petrone said this year’s Coast Day was also an opportunity to partner with Delaware libraries to bring environmental education “front and center.”

“I think people are noticing, climate change impacts more now through storms and flooding, and now is a great time to learn more about it,” Mr. Petrone said. “Yesterday is gone but we can still potentially work on and fix things for tomorrow.”

For more information on Coast Day, including a full schedule of events, visit here.