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MSI brings science to everyone
Alongside the south jetty is one of the crown jewels of Port Aransas: The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute (MSI). Research is conducted at the MSI in a variety of fields including marine biology, ecology, geochemistry, and mariculture.
The Marine Education Services program of MSI introduces primary and secondary students to marine science through practical experience with methods of seagoing research. Some 10,000 students per year take part in the program. In weekend workshops, science teachers participate in seagoing trips, attend lectures by MSI researchers, and work first hand with collecting and sampling equipment.
The MSI Visitors' Center is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
The Visitors' Center features seven aquaria showing typical Texas coastal habitats and the organisms that live there.
A gift shop is open during Visitor Center hours and features books, t-shirts, educational items and memorabilia.
Elsewhere in the main building, displays show current and past research projects and preserved specimens or photographs of local flora and fauna, including very large bones from whales found in the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, free educational movies about coastal ecology and marine life are shown Monday through Thursday at 3 p.m. The movie schedule is published in the South Jetty's Island Agenda.
To reach the Visitors' Center, take Cotter Avenue east almost to the beach. Turn left to the Visitors' Center entrance just before the street ends at the beach.
For more information, call the Visitors' Center, (361) 749-6729.
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