Edward J. Bosti Elementary School students recently went on safari. Instead of seeing elephants, lions, and zebras they became better acquainted with crabs, clams and mussels during a Cornell Cooperative Extension workshop called Seaside Safari. The purpose of the program was to help students to identify and understand the wildlife that lives on Long Island’s shores, instructor Tracy Marcus said.

During the hands-on science workshop, students learned about the carnivorous and scavenger crustacean species that line the shoreline and live in the waters. Divided into groups, students held the creatures after being placed in small saltwater tanks. They learned the special characteristics, what they eat and how they breathe, as well as how a hermit crab steals the shells of clams. After meeting various clams, mussels, a whelk, oysters, a spider crab and hermit crab, the students lined up to touch a mature horseshoe crab.

Date Added: 3/17/2022