Solomons, MD – Ever wonder how a male red drum (that’s a fish) attracts females? Surprisingly, the male fish employs its swim bladder as a way of hooking up with a lady fish. So many mysteries of the deep are to be learned and the skinny on the varieties of fish, mollusks, invertebrates and other wildlife creatures can all now be learned in one convenient location in southern Calvert County.
During the weekend of Solomons Island’s annual Patuxent River Appreciation Days (PRAD) Calvert Marine Museum (CMM) will officially open its brand new gallery, “River to Bay: Reflections and Connections.” The estuarine biology exhibit has been in the works for over a year and is still regarded as a work in progress.
“It’s going to be a process,” said CMM Deputy Director Sherrod Sturrock, who invited members of the media to take a special tour of the gallery.
According to a CMM press release, the museum received a fiscal year (FY) 2013 Museums for America grant for $142,500 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to get the ambitious project started. Additional funds from the Maryland Heritage Authority ($25,000), proceeds from CMM’s 2014 Bugeye Ball ($35,000) and an in-kind donation from a long-time CMM supporter followed.
Additionally, CMM staff has done the in-house work to the tune of an estimated $250,000. The labor was described by Sturrock as a “phenomenally talented group of people.”
Sturrock noted CMM’s previous estuarine exhibit had no interactive components. “We wanted to tell a bigger story,” she said.
During the media tour Wednesday, Oct. 1, work on the exhibit was still ongoing. With the opening 10 days away, CMM’s Curator of Estuarine Biology Dave Moyer declared, “it’s going to be done on time.”
Moyer noted that all the fish and other live critters on exhibit by CMM are collected through permits granted by Maryland and surrounding jurisdictions. The museum did, however, have to go as far as Florida to acquire an octopus, which spent most of his time hiding in CMM’s new Octopus’s garden in the gallery.
Also on display in the gallery is a very familiar, unique and human component of life on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The original overalls, white sneakers and 10-gallon hat donned by former state senator Bernie Fowler during his famous June Patuxent River wade-ins are on display. Fowler handed them over to CMM officials last June prior to his latest wade-in at Jefferson Patterson Park.
The marine museum has become a popular destination for Maryland school children and Sturrock said the field trip season will begin in earnest in November. Statewide funding will allow many public, private and parochial schools statewide to take a field trip to Solomons to view CMM’s new gallery.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
