Germantown Academy

This year’s sixth and seventh graders were some of the youngest students to ever come from Germantown Academy. One boy celebrated his eleventh birthday on the island. Even though they were young, they were the first group from their school to ever paddle all the way from the house to the dike in Barnegat Inlet. As they made this paddle they frequently rotated leadership of lead and sweep boats until everyone had taken a turn. In addition, they all had to take responsibility for navigation in the rather confusing channels and passages in the 1,900-acre Marine Conservation Zone with very little help from their teachers and the Sedge staff. They did a good job.

Several students fished quite a bit. One caught six sea bass ranging from four to six inches. The most unusual fish that was caught in a seine net was a Coronet Fish. This was a first for Sedge but after consulting the field guide we determined that the fish has a range from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. We credited the fact that at this time of the year eddies break off from the Gulf Stream and bring in fish that are not our typical Barnegat Bay species.