Our connection to the oceans
Summer camps 2024
Expedition Exuma 2023
Team ECCO joins with Beneath the Waves to explore and train in the Bahamas. Last year our team worked closely and assisted in the tagging of more than a dozen sharks, retrieved and reset submerged tracking beacons, and deployed baited underwater video cameras. Our education team participated in the first ever Kids Camp by teaching a program on native invertebrates and fish ID. The Team also had the unique opportunity to asset in the collection of the first ever core sampling from the salt marshes. This summer we are online to set our very own tracking buoy! Team ECCO will then be able to track the sharks we help tag in Exuma from right here in Hendersonville! This buoy will be done in partnership with Beneath the Waves and will not only allow us to track sharks but give us critical ocean information related to climate conditions and change. We will have the ability to give local schools and teachers real-time climate change data! Our shark study team will again be led by Team ECCO Founder, BJ Ramer, and dive instructor and scuba leader, Michael Ramer. You can support this on-going science ed-venture with a donation to the SUPPORT OUR SHARKS campaign.
Follow our daily adventures on www.facebook.com/teameccomarinebio
REEF CAMP 2023 June 19-24 $1,775.00
Travel with Team ECCO to the beautiful Florida Keys for a summer camp unlike any other! Study the ocean up close and person with daily snorkel adventures to explore from the shoreline to deep blue. Our team will look at both human and natural impacts to the ocean, microplastics, weather, sea grasses and algae, reef ecology, invertebrate behavior, water quality and more. Labs and classes occur both on land and in the water!
Included: Flights from Charlotte to Ft Lauderdale and returning, housing, meals (except for travel days), classes, snorkel gear, bedding, lab materials, team shirts, boat fees, and transportation to and from Ft Lauderdale and Key Largo. Only 7 spaces available. Ages rising 6th - 11th grade
Travel with Team ECCO to the beautiful Florida Keys for a summer camp unlike any other! Study the ocean up close and person with daily snorkel adventures to explore from the shoreline to deep blue. Our team will look at both human and natural impacts to the ocean, microplastics, weather, sea grasses and algae, reef ecology, invertebrate behavior, water quality and more. Labs and classes occur both on land and in the water!
Included: Flights from Charlotte to Ft Lauderdale and returning, housing, meals (except for travel days), classes, snorkel gear, bedding, lab materials, team shirts, boat fees, and transportation to and from Ft Lauderdale and Key Largo. Only 7 spaces available. Ages rising 6th - 11th grade
MISSION
The Aquarium & Shark Lab is focused on education, enrichment, and exploration of the ocean world.
Science, history, math, and culture are integrated into our exhibits and programs. Like the tide, we are in a continuous motion saying "Why not" and "What if" as our students and interns research ideas, document, and defy existing standards.
Science, history, math, and culture are integrated into our exhibits and programs. Like the tide, we are in a continuous motion saying "Why not" and "What if" as our students and interns research ideas, document, and defy existing standards.
DID YOU KNOW...
The Aquarium & Shark Lab by Team ECCO is:
- The first inland aquarium in NC
- Member of: Oceana, American Elasmobranch Society; NC Science Network; National Marine Educators; American Meteorological Society, NMEA, Nature Foundation of St. Maarten, AMS, Reef Check
- Listed in the top 150 aquariums in the USA by Everything Fish Keeping
- Member of the Career & Technical Education Advisory Board HCPS;
- An NC Environmental Education Site; a Fish Education Site for REEF;
- Part of the NC Chapel Hill pilot program for environmental education
- Has established networks with the GA Aquarium, Riverbanks Zoo, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and The Field Museum in Chicago
- Has provided service work and training at the Biosphere2 in AZ.
- Houses the only immersive marine science intern program for college and high school students in WNC
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...
TESTIMONIALS
"I am so thankful for the opportunities you have provided for him and the lessons he has learned this year at the aquarium. We are grateful for your part in his education experience this school year.
Thank You,
Amy C.
Thank You,
Amy C.
|
" Thank you so much, BJ! HCPS loves you!
Dr. W. Frye, Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services |
" Thanks so much ... for your tremendous engagement of our students. You and your team are truly champions of opportunity for the youth of our community. Know this, you are appreciated! jb
Dr. J. Bryant, Superintendent, HCPS
Dr. J. Bryant, Superintendent, HCPS
Loved this place. Very friendly staff of volunteers. Clear rules and lots of touching for young minds. Kids can spend an hour in here if they are the curious sort.
Took my ten year old granddaughter one rainy afternoon. We so enjoyed the friendly staff eager to answer questions and share information! Would recommend this for anyone interested in having a wonderful up close view of the fish!
There are lots of aquariums, touch pool, and people to help in this Main Street store front aquarium. Every time I have families with children visit this is a place I take them, and have never been disappointed.
