BATH

Children at Patten Free Library Saturday got a real hands-on learning experience. They wasted no time dipping their hands in a pool of water and seaweed, pulling out starfish, sea urchins, muscles, snails, crabs and other rocky shore critters they held in their hand one-by-one at the “I Spy Camouflage” event.

The intertidal program was presented by marine science educator Carol Steingart of Coast Encounters.

Based in Wells, Steingart has been the sole owner and operator of Coast Encounters for 20 years now.

“The ocean is a very vast place, so my niche is just between the tides,” Steingart said. “At low tide, this whole area between the tides is exposed and it’s one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet and people don’t realize that.”

There is “so much bang for your buck” in this intertidal region, she said, and no boat is required.

She has a special license from the State of Maine to collect these creatures live and she is required to then return them to the ocean when she was done with the education program.

While Steingart did employ a slideshow presentation Saturday, most of what she offers is hands-on learning.

“That is, to me, how you can get the biggest impact,” said Steingart, “and kids remember how they felt when they were holding a live sea creature.”

Another life in a child’s hands is also hits home for kids and helps them retain information.

Steingart offers indoor programs year-round where she brings the critters along.

“In the summer time, I provide water shoes and we go tide pooling, so we get our feet wet,” she said. “We go out and find the creatures in their home turf.”

Bath is normally as for north as she would travel, but, “wherever there’s a rocky intertidal, there’s going to be thousands of creatures.”

“And many people are afraid to turn over rocks,” said Steingart. “They don’t know what to expect.”

Most creatures they will find in this environment are safe. But there’s a way to hold a crab or baby lobster so you won’t get hurt, for example.

“It’s a blast,” Steingart said, “and the thing is, any of my programs, indoors or out, are geared towards any age, any demographic.”

Because the information she offers spans all generations, Steingart works with diverse age populations.

She visits senior centers constantly, where she finds a wonderful audience. Some may have memory loss, Steingart said, but they remember when they held their first crab. So as they hold a crab again, it sparks a memory somewhere deep in their memory bank.

“When you make an impact on somebody, no matter what age and it’s a positive impact, you will remember it and you will support it,” Steingart said, “and you will hopefully advocate for creating a healthy environment for the sea life in our worlds’ oceans.

“We need kids to worry about that consciousness because their generation is going to be making laws and rules about how we’re going to treat out world’s oceans,” she added, “and that’s the bigger picture.”

Her favorite sea creature? The horseshoe crab, a species that has been around for 445 million years.

“I adore horseshoe crabs, and between mid-May and mid-June, they come and they spawn,” said Steingart. “They come to the water’s edge and have this wonderful egg-lying party.”

One place this can be seen is at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick.

“You never know what you’re going to find,” she said.

For more information about Coast Encounters, visit coastencounters.com.

The Coast Encounters program kicked off the subject of marine life as part of Patten Free Library’s Searching Science Program, made possible by a Merrymeeting Bay Trust grant. Past program subject topics were astrology and winter mammals, and in April, it will be robotics. The program draws science professionals from up and down the coast, according to Carol McFadden, head of Children’s Services.

During the summer, the library program will focus on Merrymeeting Bay.

With the grant, the library last year bought seven backpacks equipped with tools and kits focusing on seven science topics, all related to Merrymeeting Bay, which kids are able to borrow from Patten.