Monmouth County Park System

July 23-25

Twelve 10-14 year olds and four staff members spent three days at Sedge. Although the weather was predicted to be horrible (intense thunderstorms accompanied by heavy downpours) the worst of the bad weather came at night or missed us entirely. We continued to catch lots of big crabs and our “Baltimore crab fest” dinner is becoming a regular event.

Due to the forecast of severe thunderstorms we stuck closer to home on our regular kayak trip day. Instead we chose to fish. We divided into two small groups to fish in Mud Channel. Our technique was to motor into the tide and drift back with the current. Both groups were successful in catching nice striped bass. The 22½ “ fish fought so well that the anglers thought that they had snagged the bottom. Unfortunately we did not have a camera to record the event, but both fishers will long remember holding and then releasing their trophy catch.

The campers and the staff were intrigued with the different jellyfish. When we were invited to join New Jersey Network News to talk about these animals the students readily agreed. We met Desiree Taylor at the Island Heights Yacht Club with buckets containing Ctinophores, Multi-ribbed Hydromedusae, and a large Lion’s Mane. The campers gave a wonderful explanation of how the different jellyfish live and interact with their environment. They were especially excited to describe how they all had a chance to see the jellyfish light up in their hands when the stirred the water around the Sedge dock.