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More than a dozen organizations in Woods Hole will offer exhibits, demonstrations, hands-on and children’s activities during the 2023 Woods Hole Science Stroll. The free public event is the first held since 2019 and will take place on Saturday, August 12, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. along Water Street in Woods Hole. Large maps of exhibit locations will be posted at various locations along Water Street. While most activities will be outside, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and MBL exhibit centers, NOAA’s Woods Hole Science Aquarium with a resident harbor seal, and the Woods Hole Historical Museum will also be open. A 24-minute documentary film about the history and future of the deep diving submersible ALVIN and one of its pilots will be shown periodically in WHOI’s Redfield Auditorium. Stroll activities will include a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter search and rescue demonstration (weather and operations permitting) in Great Harbor. Three vessels will be open for public tours during the stroll at the NOAA dock: an 92-foot commercial scalloper, a 72-foot NOAA Fisheries research vessel, and a U.S. Coast Guard 45-foot response vessel. Please wear closed-toe shoes for safety aboard the vessels. Crew members will be on hand to answer questions. Visitors can talk with scientists and engineers who use oceanographic instruments and research platforms of many types in the air as well as deep underwater. Ask researchers what they are learning about whales and sea turtles, marine plastics, and endangered Atlantic salmon. Watch drone demonstrations and learn how they are aiding scientific research. Take a virtual reality tour through thawing Arctic permafrost, see a giant scallop model, play with a watershed table, and learn about the importance of clean water to humans as well as marine life. Learn about nautical flags and marine knot tying along with Woods Hole history. Instruments used to map the seafloor, sample ocean chemistry and collect plankton will be on display. Visitors can view samples under microscopes, and learn how to age fish by their ear bones. Cooperative research programs with the commercial fishing industry will include some of the latest gear used in fishing operations. Demonstrations and hands-on activities will also include activities for children, live animal exhibits, interesting fish species found in Northeast waters, and a walk-in life-size inflatable humpback whale (weather permitting). The U.S. Coast Guard will provide information on boating safety and recruiting, provide Coast Guard gear to try on, and offer several games. Participating organizations in the 2023 Woods Hole Science Stroll are the Buzzards Bay Coalition; Falmouth Water Stewards; Marine Biological Laboratory; NOAA Fisheries; Sea Education Association; United States Coast Guard; United States Geological Survey; Woods Hole Film Festival; Woods Hole Historical Museum; Woodwell Climate Research Center; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Woods Hole Science and Technology Education Partnership (WHSTEP); and Zephyr Education Foundation. In addition to metered street parking, limited free parking will be available in designated lots. Visitors are encouraged to ride their bikes or take the WHOOSH trolley from Falmouth to Woods Hole Village as parking in the village is limited. For further information, go to www.woodsholesciencestroll.org