Marine Science Institute

Well, it's been a year since I retired from teaching. Just about 50 years of taking kids on field trips are now behind me. I loved teaching science and getting out for those hands-on adventures.
That's where MSI comes in. MSI was founded in 1970. I didn't find them until the mid-80's when Jeff took over running the Institute. Met Marilou when she was a crew member/instructor on one of our Discovery Voyages; now, she runs the Institute. For me, well over 20 years of 70+ kids a year went out on Discovery Voyages from my classes alone. Parents couldn't wait for our drawing to see who would get to accompany us! More students experienced MSI when the Institute came to our school for multiple sessions. So many kids claim the MSI experiences as their #1 field trip experience. A large number of them went on to major or minor in science areas of study - they became researchers, doctors, teachers, nurses, lab employees, and so many other wonderful vocations. Before STEM or STEAM, MSI was using scientific method for students to wonder, to explore, to question, to discover, to learn. MSI updates programs constantly, always meeting or besting state standards. Instructors are highly educated scientists who see the future in sharing their love of our Bay with the kids of today. Teacher workshops help classroom teachers keep current and well supplied with lesson plans. Summer camp brings participants both fun and learning. MSI is an education leader. Thanks for the motivations and the memories, Marine Science Institute. May your future be long, productive, and exciting.
Wishing for you, reader, the opportunity to experience the Marine Science Institute - soon, and often!

My little girl I nanny and I came here thinking it's a drop in aquarium. An employee named Stephanie kindly told us that children need to be registered for classes prior to visiting. She was so kind and gave us a little tour/ background information about what is at the institute and we loved it here! We will definitely register, and be back soon

Here's something you may not know. If you want to see fish, rays, crabs, sharks, shrimp, etc. or you just want to learn about sea life, you don't always have to drive to an aquarium in Monterey or San Francisco. There's a place you can go in Redwood City to get first-hand experience.

The Marine Science institute (MSI) is a non-profit organization with a straightforward mission: teaching kids (and adults) about the our estuary, the nearby ocean, and the environment. Offering classes, camps and school programs, the emphasis at MSI is hands-on learning and investigation. For instance, kids are asked to help catch various bay creatures, to study them, discuss them, ask questions, and have a great time doing it. And of course, creatures that are caught are released back into the water. (But they do keep a small collection in tanks on shore for teaching purposes)

This is such a great resource! And so close. Unfortunately we have been lax in using MSI this year. Though both our kids attended marine camp here last summer (and loved it), this year we failed to get them in camp before our summer filled up.

Nevertheless, as members of MSI we do occasionally get invited to events here. The one we chose to attend recently was a quick tour of the bay on their ship, the Robert G. Brownlee. After we boarded the ship, the staff briefed everyone on safety and then allowed us to roam the ship and enjoy the view on deck(s). Kids were even allowed to steer the ship w/ supervision of the captain. Once we reached the middle of the bay, the kids gathered critters using several methods. They dragged a net to catch fish and rays (and one small leopard shark), they dropped a metal claw onto the muddy bottom, the contents of which was rinsed and filtered for worms, and crustaceans. They even took samples of water in which microscopic life could be seen under a microscope (displayed on a video screen).

The staff at MSI are phenomenal; Not only are they knowledgeable, but they are so good at working with the kids that it is a pleasure to behold. They have a great sense of fun and answer every question. At one point, the staff taught all the kids a silly game for remembering the sides on a ship: bow, stern, port, starboard; It was so effective the kids had these sides memorized in about 2 minutes. Pretty amazing.

We are already planning on signing up both our kids for marine camp next summer. We are even trying to figure out a way to get some of their more landlocked cousins to travel here and join them as well.

So the little one went on her first field trip. It was somehow supposed to supplement what she had been learning in Kindergarten about fish. Yep, she could touch an actual fish; nope, that just didn't happen as she didn't want anything to do with touching a fish.

So, the field trip begins with a parking problem. Apparently, we adults need driving lessons. The parking attendants were quick to point out that our skills at parking needed some attention. Good thing we weren't the fish as we may have been able to escape capture and never ended up in a tank as opposed to the great San Francisco Bay.

Next on the agenda was the kids got to pull a rope that was attached to a net in the water. The purpose of the net was to catch some small fish so the kids could hold them, put them in a bucket, and watch them swim. I asked an instructor what type of fish they were and was told that that would be discussed with everyone later! Seriously, it would have taken less than a second to say "smelt:". Was this rudeness deliberate? This instructor sure didn't seem to be enjoying her job that day. My daughter didn't like the fish being captured in the net and I have to agree with her. I am sure they were put back in the bay but....I kept thinking of the illegality of fishing with gillnets. Yes, I know the were not gillnetting but they had already captured lot of fish for the children to see. Was this really necessary???

Next, the children split up into groups and went to various stations. They viewed some fish in aquariums. Ok, I know nothing about aquarium maintenance but some had so much algae on the side to make viewing what was in the tank impossible. I have been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and been able to see clearly into all their tanks.

At one point the kids were on the dock looking at more fish and their big boat pulls up to dock. I am glad the captain knew what he was doing as I was concerned about his skill and the safety of the children. The dock remained unscathed and the ship docked. I breathed a sigh of relief.

This place overall looks like it needs funding. The boards on the decks were loose in many places. The bathrooms had rusted ceilings. The phony grass ( is this even environmentally friendly) was torn and worn. It didn't help that this place was next to the Stanford Boat Center which was gorgeous. It gave the overall impression of an ill kept facility.

As for actual scientific research, I have no knowledge of what is being done here to further our understanding of marine life. Maybe significant research is being conducted but I suspect the bet research is done in a university environment.

I got the impression that in the 70s, when science camps were booming, that someone decided to take this place and market it to schools to make some money to assuage school and parental guilt that we are not teaching science adequately to our children. One day looking at fish in tanks will not improve science in our schools.

$hit, this place is FREE (so long as you make reservations ahead of time for their Family Aquarium Spotlight Days on weekends) and right in the backyard of those who live in the Peninsula.

MSI is situated in a part of the bay on the other side of Redwood City (facing the ocean side) where folks wouldn't normally expect such a cool non profit organization to exist, let alone offer its services to the public. This year marks their 40th anniversary, and there is definitely a lot to celebrate and enjoy. Kudos to all the great research work they have done and to educate the community and young ones.

For the Aquarium Spotlight Days, it is very easy. Send an email per the links for a specific timeslot. Show up early and register at the table, then watch a 10+ minute presentation about the org and their noble mission.

After that, reward yourself (and the kids especially) to their marine life exhibits, where you can get up close to various sealife, some that came straight out of the tidepools. A few you can actually work with a volunteer to touch/pet, such as flatfish, starfish, hermit crabs, smelt.

I have to say though, that Cantonese and Japanese lovers of seafood will probably have some $ordid thoughts going on, like

- hmmm.....those flatfish are smooth and slimey when petting....remind me of hirame or karei, good for sashimi!

- awwww cute baby dungeoness crabs! When they grow older, they will be THIS yay big, and hmmmm R&G Lounge salt pepper crab sounds good in a few weeks....no, the ginger scallion.....efff it, too mainstream, salted egg yolk batter crab is the way to go yo, better yet, drive to Yum's Bistro and pick from 10 different preps of crab....should I special order the soy sauce garlic crab, or the new trend of "golden yellow crab" that's butter and garlic? Indonesian style curry crab? Singaporean chili crab at Crab Landing or Shiok? Thanh Long, PPQ, Dungeoness Island? Chiu Chow cold crab? Duarte's in Pescadero for that bomb ass yo crab cheese melt on sourdough? Whoops...oh yes cute baby crabs, how precious....

- little baby river crabs like the ones from the beach that are not dungeoness? Awww man they remind me of sawagani.... :-o

- man, the smelt looks nothing like the icefish used in shirauo sushi, or the Cantonese "bak fan yu" (fishling, baby anchovies) stir fried with salt pepper goodness to be consumed with rice, like a poor man's gourmet dinner....but the smelt does look like the kind used for "bak fan yu" at Silver House in San Mateo....also salt pepper, a little greasier, but you can swallow the bones too....oh man, I hella want some razor clams from the white board too....

- where's the mantis prawn or "pissin' shrimp"? I wanna pet some too.

Possibly the best thing you can do to learn about the Estuary Area (because the Bay Area is not actually a Bay :P).

The AP environmental science class in a east bay high school where I teach was coming here to learn "in vivo" in the ecosystem and I was asked to be a teacher chaperon aka "self-deputized" to throw any misbehaved kids overboard the research boat we were in.

Just south of the San Mateo Bridge, we did hydrology and test the temperature, density, and salinity of the San Francisco Bay at the top and bottom layers. We also scooped mud from the bottom of the Bay to discover what invasive species are down there. Moreover, we were able to fish sea creatures at all levels of the Bay to see what lives there.

On the way back to the shore, we talked about the trash in the Bay and how long it takes them to decompose (ugh, why are people still using plastic diapers (decompose around 500 years) and not recycling plastic bottles since they practically DO NOT decompose AT ALL unless unless you live for millions of years!?!)

Thanks to all the MSI guides (Sarah and Kerry?) for being so knowledgeable and helpful throughout the trip!

Interesting facts to take home:
- The shallowest part of the bay is around San Jose with depth of 3 meters (10 feet). The deepest part is around the GG bridge where the ocean meets the SF Bay.
- 70% of the oxygen we breathe are from the phytoplankton in the sea.
- 70% of the species in the Bay are invasive :(
- Bay Area was much larger before the Gold Rush when all the dug out debris was dumped into the Bay. :(

Being a special ed teacher, I usually attend assemblies with the assumption that I will take many (or all) of my students back to class before the end. I am surprised, impressed, and, proud to say that all of my students stayed until the end of the assembly, and they were engaged most of the time.

The staff was amazing with our students and made adjustments in order to meet our students' needs. We are so thankful for the opportunity!

Went on field trip yesterday. Supposed to go out on the bay in their boat. We're notified when we were enroute with 60 kids that the boat was not running. Discovered it had been malfunctioning on Friday. Never notified us. Did the "land program" while on a docked boat. Needless to say we had some disappointed kids. Would have been nice to have been given a warning 3 days before and allowed the choice to reschedule.
Staff seemed quite young and unprofessional. One wearing board shorts. Kids were told long pants only. One wearing tank top which would not have been allowed at school. Would not recommend. Would not return.

My kiddo had a fantastic birthday party at MSI! It was a wet and rainy day but Maria and Adrian were awesome! They did an amazing job keeping the kids engaged and guided them through all the activities very well. The party was even better than what we had experienced at open houses before. The kids caught fish with a large net at the beach, did a mud grab, leant about invertebrates, checked out the sharks and more. Our guests keep raving about the party weeks later!

Our third grade classes from our school come here every year as a field trip. They do a great job of making the kids get their hands dirty and learn a bunch about our beautiful bay and the ecosystem that's inhabits it. The staff is friendly and manages their time well even after we end up showing up late because of traffic.