Category: News

A new study, led by Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program Professor Emeritus James T. Carlton, documents for the first time that plastic marine debris may be significantly increasing the transport of non-native species across the world’s oceans.

The study appears in the September 29 issue of Science. The analysis of the samples that formed the basis of the study was conducted at the Marine Sciences Center located at Mystic Seaport.

Carlton and his colleagues demonstrate that, since 2012, nearly 300 species of marine life have landed alive on the coasts of North America and the Hawaiian Islands after rafting across the Pacific Ocean on debris swept out to sea by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 2011.

Because the organisms traveled on primarily non-biodegradable objects, such as fiberglass vessels and plastic buoys, they survived far longer than marine scientists predicted. Coastal species were believed to be unable to live for more than two years on the open ocean. However, the Japanese species were still arriving on American shores in 2017, six years after the tsunami.

“This study of a remarkable ocean rafting event of unprecedented magnitude and duration reveals for the first time the profound role that plastic marine debris can now play in transporting entire communities of species in the world’s oceans—for far longer lengths of time than historic dispersal on natural substrates (such as wood) would have been possible,” Carlton says.

More than 10 million tons of plastic waste from nearly 200 countries enter the ocean every year. The authors argue that vastly expanded coastal urbanization has increased the amount of such plastic available to be washed into the sea. Hurricanes and typhoons then sweep the debris into the oceans, as happened when hurricanes struck the Caribbean and Florida Keys in fall 2017. Riding on that waste, a new wave of potential ecological invaders is pushed out to sea, where they often survive for years before landfall.

“These scientists have taken the unusual tack of looking at a natural disaster and coming to new conclusions about how our activities and structures influence species distributions in the oceans,” says David Garrison, program director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences, which co-funded the research.

The expected increase in the size and frequency of extreme weather incidents due to global climate change is likely, the authors argue, to significantly increase the amount of debris in the oceans, and, with it, the number of possible ecological invaders. This creates the potential for vast economic costs and environmental impacts.

The research on which the paper is based was a partnership between Carlton, Deborah Carlton, and Megan McCuller, all of the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program; John Chapman and Jessica Miller (Oregon State University); Gregory Ruiz and Brian Steves (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center); Jonathan Geller (Moss Landing Marine Laboratories); and Nancy Treneman (Oregon Institute of Marine Biology).

Additional funding for the research came from the Ministry of the Environment of Japan through the North Pacific Marine Science Organization.

About Williams-Mystic

The Williams-Mystic program, managed by Williams College, educates undergraduates via a semester-long academic investigation of the sea, accompanied by original research opportunities and learning experiences at maritime sites throughout the United States. More than 1,700 students from over 100 colleges and universities have participated since the program’s founding in 1977. Williams-Mystic is need-blind, meaning that financial need is not an impediment to admission. for more information, please visit mystic.williams.edu

The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport honored 11 artists at the opening of its 38th Annual International Marine Art Exhibition and Sale on Saturday, September 23. The International is a juried show that features the finest examples of contemporary marine art in the United States. This year artists from around the world presented examples of their most recent work. All submissions are a new work that has not been previously exhibited.

Participating artists were honored with four awards of excellence and seven named awards – including the Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award, which recognizes the work that best documents maritime heritage for future generations.

“By successfully showcasing each year some of the finest art available from leading marine artists, this exhibition continues to delight art lovers,” said Monique Foster, director of the Gallery. “We are pleased to be able to present this unique exhibit that recognizes outstanding work and allows art enthusiasts to add to their collections and showcase marine art in their homes.”

All of the award winners and the entire exhibition may be viewed in the Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport through December 31, 2017.

Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award

Given in Memory of Rudolph J. Schaerfer’s devotion to preserving maritime history
and making it accessible and enjoyable, the judges recognize the artist whose work best documents our maritime heritage, past or present and for generations of the future.
John Tayson, Harbor Scene, Oil, 24 x 18 (pictured above)

Stobart Foundation Award

This award is given to encourage the importance of painting from life. The judges recognize the work that attracts their attention, most by virtue of its uniqueness of style, quality of light and atmosphere.
Don Demers, Mcloons Dock, Oil, 11 x 14

Maritime Gallery Yachting Award

This award celebrates the singular pleasures of going to sea. The judges recognize the work that best captures the beauty and excitement of sailing in all its many forms.
Russ Kramer, DAUNTLESS Around the Lightship (study), Oil, 9 x 15

Marine Environmental Wildlife Award

This award acknowledges the importance of preserving the fragile balance within the world’secosystems. The judges recognize the work that best depicts marine mammals, fish or birds in their native habitat.
Susan Van Winkle, Melting Away, Alabaster, 9 x 8 1/2 x 13

Thomas M. Hoyne III Award

Given in memory of Thomas M. Hoyne III’s dedication and contributions to accurate, historical representations of the great Gloucester fishing schooners and the men who sailed them, the
judges recognize the work that best documents an aspect of the marine fisheries industry of today or yesterday.
Laura Cooper, Mackerel Seiner Returning to Port, Salem, MA, 1890, Oil 13 x 18

Museum Purchase Award

The Museum Purchase Award is chosen by a committee of the Curatorial staff of The Mystic Seaport. They will select, for purchase, one work appropriate to the current needs of its Permanent Collection, which emphasizes the commercial maritime experience of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Maris Platais, TOURIST aka SABINO, on the Kennebec, Acrylic, Pen & Ink, 16 x 22

Award of Excellence

Brad Betts, Drying Sails in Camden Harbor, Oil, 24 x 18

Ian Hansen, Ship DREADNOUGHT, Oil, 26 x 24

Cindy House, Evening Dunes, Pastel, 15 x 20

Ronny Moortgat, Awaiting Orders, Watercolor, 12 x 20

Elizabeth Mumford, Rolling Home to Dear New England, Gouache, 22 x 27

Mystic Seaport announces its lineup of new exhibitions for the 2018 calendar year, including the international debut in May of The Vikings Begin, a presentation of priceless Norse artifacts from Sweden.

The Museum will begin the year with the opening in January of a kinetic sculpture installation, Murmur: Arctic Realities, from contemporary artist John Grade that will transport visitors to the Alaskan tundra with the aid of mixed-reality technology.

Joining The Vikings Begin in May will be an exhibition featuring the Vinland Map, a document that ignited a controversy in 1965 as it purported to prove the Vikings reached the New World long before Christopher Columbus. Is the map legitimate? Experts conclude it is not, but it still has a lot to tell us about issues of authenticity and the origins of modern America.

The year concludes in November with the only American display of Death in the Ice: The Shocking Story of Franklin’s Final Expedition, an exploration of the mysterious fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew on their expedition to find the Northwest Passage across the Arctic in 1845. Artifacts recovered from the recently discovered wrecks, of the ships will be presented for the first time in this country.

“We believe this lineup of world-class exhibitions confirms a new era at Mystic Seaport, one that uses our collections and knowledge along with that of partner institutions and artists to present relevant, current themes around our timeless relationship to the sea,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport. “Our goal is to bring a fresh perspective to the museum-going experience and anyone who dons a HoloLens headset to view Murmur will certainly agree that we are redefining that space.”

Murmur: Arctic Realities
January-April, 2018
Collins Gallery

Murmur: Arctic Realities will present a groundbreaking new experience by John Grade, one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. Visitors will encounter what appears to be a natural landform – a mound intricately carved from Alaskan yellow cedar. This vast sculpture represents a pingo, a hill of ice that grows over centuries in the Arctic’s highest latitudes, then collapses, pockmarking the tundra. Grade’s work replicates exactly a pingo in Alaska’s Noatak National Preserve, mapped by the artist using photogrammetry. Visitors will not only witness the pingo’s impressive scale, but will also be able to enter inside the sculpture as its walls open and close, mimicking the pingo’s lifecycle at a time when this is accelerating due to unprecedented environmental change.

Murmur will incorporate the use of Microsoft’s HoloLens Mixed Reality technology. Grade will map fragments of Noatak’s landscape into the gallery so that visitors wearing a wireless HoloLens headset will see themselves within a holographic representation of the North. By allowing visitors in Connecticut to traverse an Alaskan marsh, Murmur will revolutionize the public’s grasp of what a museum experience can be.

The Mystic Seaport installation will be Murmur’s international debut and is made possible in collaboration with the Anchorage Museum.

The Vikings Begin: Treasures from Uppsala University, Sweden
May-September, 2018
Collins Gallery

One of the world’s finest early Viking age collections is coming to Mystic Seaport. Priceless treasures, including helmets, shields, weapons, glass, and other artifacts are safeguarded at the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum in Sweden, Scandinavia’s oldest university. These collections, dating as early as the seventh century, are now the focus of a major research initiative designed to significantly advance our understanding of how the Norse culture evolved. Thematic sections on Viking warfare, trade, the Baltic Sea, a ship burial, Norse gods, and relations to other cultures will employ rare archaeological finds in the discovery of how this maritime society lived more than a millennium ago. This exhibition represents the first instance most of these artifacts will have ever left Sweden.

The installation at Mystic Seaport will be the international debut of The Vikings Begin, and is made possible in collaboration with the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum.

The Vinland Map
May-September, 2018
R.J. Schaefer Building

When it was first unveiled by Yale University in 1965, the Vinland Map immediately became one of the most valuable and controversial documents in the world. This parchment map was dated by Yale to about 1440 – an incendiary claim as the map depicts at its far western edge Vinland, the mysterious land discovered by explorer Leif Ericsson in about 1000, what we now know to be Newfoundland. Did Norse knowledge of the New World exist within mainland Europe before Columbus sailed? The Map suggests so. Its publication riveted a public deeply invested in the question of First Contact, and eager for evidence of an American connection to Viking history. The Map’s discovery also ignited a firestorm of debate as scholars, historians, and scientists across the globe argued over its meaning and authenticity. Today most scholars concur the Map is a forgery, which does nothing to diminish the role it has played in our national conversation about who we are and where we come from.

This exhibition will place the Vinland Map on display in the U.S. for the first time in more than fifty years, allowing those who have followed the saga to see its primary evidence for the first time. Mystic Seaport will engage historians, archaeologists, scientists, and other leading experts to share the Map’s story and discuss its outsized role in modern American history.

This exhibition is made possible in collaboration with the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Death in the Ice – The Mystery of the Franklin Expedition
November, 2018-April, 2019
Collins Gallery

In 1845, Sir John Franklin led the Royal Navy’s sturdiest two ships into the Arctic to great international acclaim. His mission: to discover a Northwest Passage to Asia. Franklin and his crew of 128 men were never heard from again. Thirty-seven expeditions were launched from several countries in a decades-long effort to discover the fate of Franklin’s men. Tantalizing clues, including graves, provisions, Inuit tales, and a single handwritten note told a grim story, but the men and ships were never found.

This most enduring of mysteries leapt back into the headlines in 2014 with the discovery of Franklin’s flagship, HMS Erebus, then two years later with the discovery of HMS Terror, each incredibly well preserved at depths of less than 100 feet in the Arctic Ocean. Dives aboard the wrecks are rapidly changing our understanding of what befell Franklin’s expedition.

This exhibition pulls together every strand of this epic history, including expedition materials from London, Inuit culture and knowledge that led to the wrecks’ discoveries from Canada, and artifacts raised from HMS Erebus, seen for the first time in 170 years.

This is a travelling exhibition developed by the Canadian Museum of History (Gatineau, Canada), in partnership with Parks Canada Agency and with the National Maritime Museum (London, United Kingdom), and in collaboration with the Government of Nunavut and the Inuit Heritage Trust.

Traveling Exhibitions

Peoples of the Whale: Captain George Comer and the Inuit of Hudson Bay
Embassy of Canada, Washington, D.C.
April-July, 2018

Capt. George Comer (1858-1937) enjoyed dual careers as a successful Arctic whaling captain and an accomplished – though not formally trained – anthropologist. He is best known for his close association with the Inuit of the west coast of Hudson Bay. This exhibition explores this remarkable relationship.

Comer and his whaling crew fared well in the cold North, thanks in large part to the support of the Inuit, who also possessed strong whaling traditions. The Captain appreciated the remarkable ingenuity, skills, and character of his Inuit companions. They willingly shared their knowledge and helped him survive. Surrounded by one of the earth’s most harsh environments, the two groups worked together and enjoyed each other’s company.

The Inuit also supported Captain Comer’s efforts to document their rapidly changing culture, enabling him to conduct comprehensive studies of Inuit life; the first ever made in the Hudson Bay region. Today, his studies and collections provide a unique and striking record of shared legacy.

This exhibition is made possible in partnership with the Embassy of Canada and the Canadian Museum of History.

The Adventure Series has been hosted by Mystic Seaport for more than 65 years and provides a unique opportunity for attendees to meet adventurers firsthand and experience a wide array of challenges — on the sea, in the air, and on land  — all over the world. Adventure is the pursuit of life – often with an unknown ending. Hear about the amazing personal journeys of these extraordinary individuals on their quests for knowledge, conservation, and survival.

The 2017-18 series begins October 19. Each talk is held at 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. that day.

You can buy the full series of eight programs: Members: $70 • Non-members: $90. You can also purchase single program tickets: Members: $15 • Non-members: $20 • Students free. An early season special offer is buy one series ticket and receive two complimentary single tickets good for any speaker.

Call 860.572.5331 to register for any of the programs or purchase the series ticket.

The series is sponsored by StoneRidge, a senior living community.

Erica Cirino: In Pursuit of Plastic
Thursday, October 19, 2017

International science writer, artist, and wildlife rehabilitator Erica Cirino is on a mission to find out the truths about plastic pollution and its impact on the planet, wildlife, and people. Erica will share her experiences at sea and on land documenting some of the most polluted places on the planet, including the Pacific Garbage Patch in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Kamilo Beach in Hawaii, also known as “Plastic Beach” where there is now more “plastic sand” than natural sand on its shore.

Quentin Snediker and Whit Perry: Restoring Mayflower II
Thursday, November 16, 2017

Quentin Snediker, Shipyard Director and Clark Senior Curator for Watercraft at Mystic Seaport, and Whit Perry, Plimoth Plantation’s Director of Maritime Preservation and Operations and the Captain of the Mayflower II, will present the challenges and triumphs of the on-going restoration of the ship. This multi-year project is a collaboration of shipwrights from both Mystic Seaport and Plimoth Plantation in preparation to take Mayflower II back to sea in connection with the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Massachusetts. Visitors can view the progress of the project in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard.

Chris Cryder: Preserving Plum Island
Thursday, December 14, 2017*

Many mysteries and misconceptions surround Plum Island, located at the eastern end of Long Island. While Plum Island has been the home of the nation’s foreign animal disease center for more than 60 years, it is also home to several endangered species and unique habitats. The future of these species and habitats are in question with the potential sale of the island to private investors. Chris Cryder, Special Projects Coordinator for Save the Sound, will share the facts about the island, take us on a virtual tour, and discuss the latest efforts of what is being done to protect it.
*1:30 p.m. program will b held at StoneRidge, 186 Jerry Browne Rd, Mystic.

The Crew of the Oliver Hazard Perry: Life on the High Seas
Thursday, January 18, 2018*

The Oliver Hazard Perry is a 200-foot, full-rigged sailing school vessel with a mission to provide innovative and empowering education-at-sea programs. During the spring of 2017, her crew and students sailed to Cuba, providing the opportunity of a lifetime to learn sailing and experience the culture of a country that had been impossible to visit for more than half a century.
*Evening program will be at StoneRidge, 186 Jerry Browne Rd, Mystic.

Nelson Simon: The Accidental Sailor
Thursday, February 15, 2018*

When Nelson Simon signed up as a last minute crew member to transport a Norwegian schooner from Brooklyn to Bermuda, he pictured it as a sort of pleasure cruise. Instead, he found himself fighting for survival in the midst of what became known as “The Perfect Storm.” Join us as Nelson recounts his harrowing tale that began with a friendly invitation to sail on board the Anne Kristine and ended in the dead of night in a Coast Guard helicopter high above an angry sea.
*Evening program will be at StoneRidge, 186 Jerry Browne Rd, Mystic.

Syma Ebbin: Researching Native Fisheries in the Pacific Northwest
Thursday, March 15, 2018

Associate Professor in Residence at the University of Connecticut Avery Point and Research Coordinator for Connecticut Sea Grant, Syma Ebbin, has studied fisheries and environmental management throughout her academic career. Syma’s research has brought her to both Atlantic and Pacific coastal regions. At this presentation, she will share her personal experiences while researching the resources, traditions, and issues facing Native American fisheries in Alaska and Washington State.

Elizabeth Cottrell: Expedition to Artic Volcanoes
Thursday, April 19, 2018

Volcanoes are “windows to the interior” of our planet, according to Elizabeth Cottrell, director of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program. The program studies the earth’s active volcanoes and reports on their eruptions. This research helps us understand how the interior of the planet has evolved and helps us prepare for future eruptions and prevent catastrophes. Elizabeth will share her own experiences in the arctic researching the awesome power and ancient wonders held within the earth.

James L. Nelson: From Tall Ships to Viking Longships
Thursday, May 17, 2018

The Viking invasion of Ireland is the backdrop of award-winning author James L. Nelson’s latest novels, “The Norseman Saga.” In the ninth century, Viking longships invaded the Irish countryside. James will discuss the fascinating history of the Viking raiding, settling, and assimilating into Irish culture as well as share his own journey from sailing on tall ships to becoming an accomplished author.

We’re dedicating the entire month of September to thanking our community of Members!

“We’ve designated September as Member Appreciation Month as our way of saying thank you,” says Autumn Payne, Director of Membership and Volunteer Services. “Members are stalwarts for the Museum and they inspire us to offer the best possible experience to all our visitors.”

Members are critical to Mystic Seaport, and have been since its inception. “Members, through their participation, are ambassadors for Mystic Seaport,” Payne notes. “They represent the Museum’s mission to inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience. This is an important endeavor that without Members would not be possible.”

Membership to Mystic Seaport brings all kinds of benefits, including:

• Unlimited general admission
• Free Members-only hat upon joining
• Discounts on classes, programs, and summer camps
• Discounts on the Museum’s shops and restaurants (including Double Discount Days at the store in December)
• Pre-sale tickets for nautical Nightmares and Lantern Light Tours performances
• Access to the Members’ Lounge with free coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and lemonade
• Express entry through Members’ entrance during peak season months
• Subscription to Mystic Seaport Magazine
• Discounted admission to other outdoor history museums

As a Member you receive a monthly eNewsletter with events and news; the Windrose, an email program guide sent three times a year with information about camps, events, and programs; and Mystic Seaport Magazine, a glossy publication published twice a year with stories about the collections, programs, new exhibits, and Museum news. Join now!

In September

Bring a friend
Members can bring a friend for free Monday through Friday throughout September. Members with the PLUS feature may bring in a second guest for free.

Get a gift
Be sure to stop by the Membership Building for a free gift during your visit.

Member Appreciation Night
Friday, September 8, 2017 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Come enjoy Mystic Seaport after we close to the general public. The grounds, the Charles W. Morgan, and the McGraw Quad exhibits will be open. Purchase dinner at our scenic Spouter’s Tavern or bring along your own picnic to enjoy on the green. Special programming and guided tours will be available. Registration is encouraged.

Members Only Tours
SOLD OUT. September 2-3, 2017: Member Tours of the Draken Harald Hårfagre
Last chance to tour the amazing Viking replica ship before she closes to the public. 9 a.m. & 9:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

September 16, 2017: Behind the Scenes Tour of Mayflower II Restoration. Hear first-hand from one of the restoration project’s leaders. 11 a.m. – noon

Member Cruises
September 20, 2017: Tree Swallow Spectacle on board Adventure. Witness the amazing coordination and acrobatics of hundreds of thousands of tree swallows while enjoying a cruise down the Connecticut River.
5-8:30 p.m. CT RiverQuest, Haddam, CT

SOLD OUT. September 30, 2017: Member Cruise on Sabino. Downriver cruise on Sabino includes music by Rock of Ages, snacks, and a cash bar. 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Call us at 860.572.5339 for more information or to register for any of the special programming.

Day and Overnight Trips

November 10, 2017: Day Trip: Battleship Cove and the Marine Museum. Spend a day in Fall River, MA, as we visit Battleship Cove and the Marine Museum. Transportation will be provided for this day trip to Fall River. Our group will depart Mystic Seaport at 8:30 a.m. by bus and will return by 5:30 p.m.

October 24, 2017: Day Trip to New Bedford Whaling Museum & Historic Fishing District. Join us for a trip to New Bedford, MA, to explore the New Bedford Whaling Museum and surrounding historical neighborhoods and fishing district. Transportation will be provided by Mystic Seaport. Members and their guests will board the bus at Mystic Seaport Museum at 8:30 a.m.

Tuesday, October 3 – Thursday, October 5, 2017: Overnight Trip: Bath, Maine. Enjoy the fall foliage as we travel from Mystic Seaport to the picturesque city of Bath, Maine. Our hotel is located along the waterfront with access to many great restaurants and shops nearby. Breakfast will be provided at the hotel both Wednesday and Thursday of our trip.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a $154,811 grant to the Frank C. Munson Institute of American Maritime Studies at Mystic Seaport to support its summer 2018 program, “The American Maritime Commons.”

The four-week Institute at Mystic Seaport is for college and university faculty. The Institute will employ interdisciplinary perspectives on American maritime studies, with an emphasis on recent social, cultural, and ecological approaches and current research. It will consist of a series of seminars led by 14 visiting scholars and co-directors Dr. Glenn Gordinier and Dr. Eric Roorda. Participants will enhance their course offerings through intensive studies, dialogue, and reflection on the influence of maritime activities on U.S. history and culture.

“The habitability of the planet hinges on the health of the saltwater environment that covers over 70% (or the majority) of it. Drastically diminished populations of sea life, rapidly rising sea levels, badly degraded water quality, and coastal climate refugees are a few of the notable impacts that centuries of human civilization have had on the ocean,” said Institute co-director Dr. Glenn Gordinier. “Public awareness is a necessary first step toward addressing the potential catastrophe they pose and understanding how we have gotten here makes the work of the Munson Institute more important than ever.”

The Institute builds on the Museum’s successful record of six previous NEH institutes, most recently the first “American Maritime Commons” institute held in summer 2016. The American Maritime Commons will allow college teachers to develop courses and scholarship related to the sea, which seeks to connect the study of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.

 

On Monday, August 21, a Total Solar Eclipse will arc across the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. Since the United States is the only land region on Earth that will witness eclipse totality, this event is being called the “Great American Eclipse.” Here in Mystic, we will experience a 67% eclipse, a “crescent Sun” of sorts as only 1/3 of the sun will be visible at one point in the afternoon.

Friday, August 11

Join us in the Treworgy Planetarium for a program all about eclipses in advance of the big event! “Stars Over Mystic: The great American Eclipse” begins at 8:30 p.m., and weather permitting will include some gazing at the outdoor night sky. Cost is $6 (adults) $3 (youths; 15 and younger) for members and $9 (adults) $3 (youths; 15 and younger) for non-members. Call 860.572.5331 to register.

Monday, August 21

Join us for a series of FREE events (with museum admission) to celebrate the total solar eclipse across parts of the country, and the partial solar eclipse that we will see here in Connecticut!

All Day

“Lights Out Across the USA”
Stop by our lobby exhibit in the Treworgy Planetarium, where our interactive screens will display a steady flow throughout the day of images and video clips of the eclipse as it makes its way across the country. Use #eclipse2017 to share your experience with NASA and Mystic Seaport!

Programs

10-10:30 a.m. “What Causes an Eclipse?” (part 1)
Examine a Sun-Earth-Moon model and see how every once in a while, these three objects line up just right!
Planetarium Lobby

11-11:30 a.m. “Summer Stars and the Eclipse”
Experience a twist on our usual 11 a.m. planetarium show, covering the evening sky but also incorporating some eclipse elements. Planetarium Theater

Noon-12:30 p.m. “What Causes an Eclipse?” (part 2)
For a hands-on demonstration of how these events are caused, stop by the lobby and try your hand at causing your own solar eclipse! Planetarium Lobby

1-2 p.m. “Total Eclipse Live!”
Join us to watch a live stream of the total eclipse onto our Planetarium Theater dome. Since Mystic will only receive a partial eclipse, this will allow you to see what it looks like when the Moon blocks out the entire Sun! Planetarium Theater

1:30-4 p.m. “Safe Eclipse Observing”
Drop by the Playscapes anytime during this window to use some of our special viewing equipment to safely observe the partial eclipse here in CT. NOTE: The “maximum” eclipse will occur between 2:30-3 p.m. Playscapes

4-4:30 p.m. “Summer Stars and the Next Eclipse” 
Experience a twist on our usual 4 p.m. planetarium show, covering the evening sky but also looking ahead to the NEXT total solar eclipse coming in April of 2024. Planetarium Theater

Roann, the eastern-rig dragger belonging to Mystic Seaport, is making three trips away this summer.

The first is this Sunday, when the restored 60-foot eastern-rig dragger will join the 63rd annual Blessing of the Fleet in Stonington. Roann’s second owner, the late Chet Westcott, fished from Point Judith, Rhode Island, as did her last owner, Tom Williams, and his son. Williams also occasionally fished out of Stonington.

The event Sunday begins with a Fishermen’s Mass at 10:30 a.m. St. Mary Church in Stonington Borough. The Mass commemorates Stonington fleet members who have died at sea and includes prayers for the safety and success of fishermen.

At about 11:45 a.m., a parade will step off from the Town Dock, proceed through the borough and pass by St. Mary Church, where the Most Rev. Michael Cote, Bishop of Norwich, joins the procession back to the Town Dock. Bishop Cote will bless the boats in the fleet. After the blessing and laying of a wreath in memory of local fishermen who have died at sea, there will be food and live music at the Town Dock until 4 p.m.

On Wednesday, August 2, Roann leaves Mystic for Martha’s Vineyard to attend the third annual Meet the Fleet event on August 3, sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust. Her first owner, Roy Campbell of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, fished Roann from Martha’s Vineyard, dragging local waters for flounder, cod, and haddock.

Roann is expected to be back at Mystic Seaport on Friday, August 4.

Then, Roann will attend the Woods Hole Science Stroll on August 12. She will leave Mystic Seaport on Friday, August 11 and return on that Sunday. She will be open to the public there from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday.