PORT ANGELES — The Feiro Marine Life Center is ramping up for a busy summer after a sharp increase in visitors over the past six months.
For the past two quarters, the visitor count at the center has been up by double-digit percentage increases, said Melissa Williams, executive director of the center on City Pier at 315 N. Lincoln St., near the intersection of Lincoln Street and Railroad Avenue.
The fall quarter saw a 62 percent increase in visitors from 3,205 in 2013 to 5,179 in 2014, and winter quarter visitors increased by 63 percent, from 2,437 visitors in 2014 to 3,964 visitors in 2015, Williams said.
“We’re pretty consistently busy,” she said.
The winter is the off-season and usually has many days when only one or two visitors walk through the door.
That didn’t happen this year, she said.
Extra shifts
New volunteers began training earlier this month to meet increased demand, and extra shifts will be added to the roster.
The volunteers serve as naturalists, help answer visitor questions about the creatures that live in the Feiro tanks and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, clean tanks and assist with education programs, summer camps and scientific surveys of marine creatures along nearby shorelines.
Harbor mimic
The water in the center’s tanks is drawn from Port Angeles Harbor.
It circulates through the tanks without filtering and is returned to the harbor so that the tanks mimic whatever is happening outside.
The water includes nutrients for filter feeders and some larval sea creatures.
Some of the larvae find niches within the tanks and take up residence, so some of the tanks’ creatures have lived their entire lives in the tanks.
Others were caught and brought to the center by fishermen and volunteers.
On view are such animals as several varieties of fish, sea cucumbers, anemones, corals, sea pens and sea stars.
The Feiro is open from noon to 4 p.m. daily.
Admission is free until Memorial Day, though donations are accepted. After Memorial Day, admission will be $4 for adults and $2 for children age 3-17. Children 2 and younger will be admitted free.
The Feiro Marine Life Center and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary have paired up for summer camps that give young people a chance to work with scientists and learn about life in the ocean.
Registration is open.
The Junior Oceanographer camp, for children age 5-12, has four sessions available from June through August. The camp is scheduled by age group.
Camp registration
Activities focus on the Pacific Ocean and engaging youths to investigate, explore and get inspired by what is found there.
Sessions are set from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 23-25 for children 7-9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 29 to July 2 for children 10-12, from 9 a.m. to noon July 6 to July 9 for those 5-7 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 3-6 for children 7-9.
The Marine Technology camp is open to children age 12-15 and provides hands-on projects and technology integration to take ocean investigation to the next level.
Past camp activities have included projects such as building underwater robots, underwater harbor cameras, making time-lapse movies of sea life using digital cameras and editing software.
Two sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 13-16 and July 20-23.
Feiro member full-day camps are $110. Half-day morning camps are $60.
The nonmember cost is $130 for a full-day camp and $75 for a half-day camp.
A discount for multiple siblings is available.
One-year family memberships are available for $50.
Scholarships are available by application.
To register for summer camp, pick up registration forms at the Feiro or download a form from www.feiromarinelifecenter.org and mail it with your payment to the Feiro Marine Life Center, Summer Camp Registration, P.O. Box 625, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.