Nahant’s marine science center to hold open house

NAHANT – There will be plenty of hands-on marine activities at the annual Northeastern University Marine Science Center Open House on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.A bunker will be home to touch tanks where visitors, especially children, are encouraged to handle local sea animals including crabs, snails, starfish and sea squirts in the touch tanks.Outreach Program Coordinator Carole McCauley said the hands-on free family event is designed to appeal to all ages.”It’s always a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s our most popular event of the year. The children really love the touch tank and interactive exhibits.”Exhibits of Current Marine Science Center Research Faculty and graduate students will be on display and many of the labs will be open to visitors. The Genetics Lab will have marine forensics demonstrations and robotic lobster and lamprey demonstrations will be held in the Robotics/Neurobiology Lab.The East Point Solar Observatory will be open from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Nahant resident Peter Foukal, who is a graduate of the University of Manchester in England and the author of a college textbook on Solar Astrophysics, was the guiding light behind the construction of the solar observatory. The observatory was built in 1995 by Cambridge Research and Instrumentation, Inc. (CRI), a company Foukal founded and has since sold, with support from the National Science Foundation. It is a working observatory that is used on almost a daily basis for research.Nahant resident Gerald Butler will lead a tour of the bunkers at 1 p.m., allowing visitors a unique opportunity to see the inside of the bunkers, some of which are being used as classrooms. Butler, who is a military historian, said the bunkers were built in 1922, after WWI, for coastal defense. He added the guns were originally located outside the bunkers, but the military encased the guns due to advances in aerial and naval warfare.A variety of outdoor activities are also on tap that day including a cleanup of Canoe and Pumphouse beaches.Other highlights of the free family friendly event include tide pool tours and geology walks. The guided tidal pool tour, which is offered at 10:30 a.m., offers a wealth of information including what type of marine animals live in the intertidal zone and how they survive.Geology walks run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., on the hour.