The Milford Marine Institute, Inc. will be running camps in conjunction with the Milford Recreation Department for the 29^th season this summer of 2012.

Marine Biology Camp will run from June 25-June 29 at two sites: the Gulf Pond Museum and the Tri-Beach Neighborhood Center.  Campers will create an entire collection of marine mollusks learning both the common and Latin names of gastropods, pelecypods, and cephalopods. Learning to use a marine science field guide is an important part of this camp. The 9 marine habitats will be introduced and the seals, sharks, sea turtles, and cetaceans which inhabit them will be studied and handled.  Creating a field marine tank filled with marine fish, crustaceans, and vegetation will be experienced and identified. Last summer campers found mole crabs and pipefish as they learned the intricacies of  using a seine net. Animals were studied and released, Camp begins at 9:30 and ends at 1 o’clock each day. Camp is open to campers 7-16 with older campers becoming camper-counselors. Each camp costs $135.00 for the week.

Native American History, Culture, and Archaeology Camp will be expanded to two sessions this summer:  Session 1:  July 9-13 and session 2:  July 16-20.  Due to the extremely successful finds last summer (a 4000-6000 year old full grooved lithic axe was found) each camp will have three days of “digs”. Campers will learn scientific methods of archaeology, they will handle rare artifacts, and they will learn to drum as the camp becomes a “tribe” with each camper creating a native name. Camp begins at 9:30 and ends at 1 o’clock and is open to campers 8-18 with older campers enrolled as camper-counselors.  The cost is $135.00 for each week.

Bird Identification Camp will run from July 23-27 at the Gulf Pond Museum. Campers will learn to identify birds from our Museum observatory, mounted specimens, field guides, and from walks along our nature trails. Each camper will choose a favorite bird, draw it on a piece of pine, have it cut, sand, and paint it. Camp is open to campers 7-16 with older campers enrolled as camper-counselors. Camp begins at 9:30 each day and ends at 1 o’clock. The cost is $135.00 for the week.

Contact the Marine Institute at 203-874-4000 for more information and to register.or