The Estuarium

Kapooka loves this picture. She loves to say turtle!

Wildcat trying on an oldfashioned diving helmet!

The esturarium had an awesome touch and feel area. All of the kids enjoyed touching this whelk. They said it was soft.

The Estuarium had a nice quiet little area for kids Kapooka's age. The older kids got in on the act. Here they are pretending to drive a boat.

Dauphin Island is a barrier island, so it plays a pretty important environmental role. There is a lot of wildlife both birds and sea life. The estuarium is an aquarium on Dauphin Island that explains the island's unique role in the environment. Of course, the aquarium didn't talk about God's creation, but we talked with the kids about how neat it was that God had put the island where it was, sort of like a gatekeeper. Today, I have been praying for Dauphin Island. The oil spill is due to hit their shores today. This isn't a political post at all (because I am not sure if an occassional oil spill is just the price we have to pay, or if more should be done). The Alabama coast region has many employed in the oil industry as well as commercial fishing and tourism. All of those industries are suffering currently as well as God's natural world.

A couple of interesting facts we learned at the Estuarium....

1. An octupus' ink is toxic even to itself, so an octopus needs to swim away after it expels its ink.

2. There are small shells that are often found with holes in the top that look like they are ready to put on a necklace. There is one type of marine animal that has a sharp snout that drills that hole and eats what is inside the shell. God's creation is amazing!