15 Ways to Explore the Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire

On a recent weekend in Portsmouth, New Hampshire we had the opportunity to explore the Seacoast Science Center, a marine science nonprofit with a beautiful, hands-on museum  located inside Odirone Point State Park, in Rye, New Hampshire. Opened in 1992, the center offers several, hands on indoor exhibits featuring maritime life, conservation programs, and the history of the area, as well as numerous programs and special events on (and in!) the water that the whole family will enjoy.

Travel Tips:

15 Ways to Explore the Seacoast Science Center:

1. See a five pound cotton candy lobster (a one in a MILLION lobster) in the Our Dynamic Gulf of Maine exhibit.
2. Step into the Kids Nook for up close views of hermit crabs in the Our Dynamic Gulf of Maine exhibit.
3. Learn about water temperatures, “orphaned marine life” that become stranded and cannot survive during the cold winter temperatures, and coastal invaders like green crabs in the Our Dynamic Gulf of Maine exhibit.
4. Look up at the 32 foot long skeleton of “Tofu”, a two and a half year old juvenile humpback whale who weighed over 20,000 pounds and had 148 bones, hanging over the Main Lobby.
5. Compare the sizes and lifestyle characteristics of a humpback whale, pilot whale, and harbor purpose in the Main Lobby.
6. Play the A Hurricane Hits Home game to search for debris in the water after famous hurricanes in New Hampshire, New York, and New Jersey.
7. Let the toddler crew use their imagination and ingenuity in the Jumpin Jay’s Discovery Zone.
8. (Gently) touch oysters, perwinkles, green crabs, mussels, and stay fish in the Touch Tanks in the Edge of the Sea exhibit. Be sure to ask Center educators about the habits and likes/dislikes of marine life. 

9. Play in a sand pit and compare the sand composition of various local beaches in the New Hampshire Beach exhibit. 
10. Listen and watch a video about the physics of tidal cycles in the New Hampshire Beach exhibit. 
11. Use the binoculars to search for over a dozen types of birds that fly through the Odiorne Point State Park area in the Science of Seabirds exhibit. 
12. Determine what food is the appropriate size and then pretend to feed the baby chicks in the Science of Seabirds exhibit. 
13. Measure the size of oysters and learn about their life cycle in the New Hampshire Beach exhibit. 
14. Learn how to help save the rain forests in the New Hampshire Beach exhibit. 
15. Hike some of the five miles of trails throughout the Odiorne Park State Park, a 330+ acre park that is home to the Seacoast Science Center. The trails offer beautiful views of the Isle of Shoals, the Piscataque River, and Maine’s southern coast. The park includes picnic areas, a large playground, freshwater and salt ponds, woodlands, and remnants of Fort Dearborn, which was built during World War II to defend Portsmouth’s Harbor. 

Looking for more adventures in Portsmouth? See our feature of the Strawbery Banke Museum and the USS Albacore. And follow along on our adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. 

Disclosure: We were given a media pass to explore the Center; all opinions expressed are my own.