Education at the Pier

Among the fascinating fun elements of the St. Pete Pier™ is the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, presented by the Milkey Family Foundation. The Discovery Center, operated by Tampa Bay Watch, a local nonprofit organization, is an interactive marine discovery center that takes visitors on an environmental journey through the Tampa Bay estuary.

With a key message, “We are one planet with one ocean. And that ocean is critical to the health and survival of all life on Earth,” Tampa Bay Watch scientists and volunteers monitor and renourish our fragile estuary environment. Here in St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay is our closest touch point with the massive ocean system. Since 1993, Tampa Bay Watch has an impressive record of success in helping to preserve and restore the delicate balance our estuary requires to survive.

Located approximately halfway down the new St Pete Pier’s over-water walkway, the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center creates a dynamic visitor experience. It tells the story of Tampa Bay and the role of Tampa Bay Watch in the recovery of this unique ecosystem. The soaring glass walled exhibition center brings our ecology up close and personal via a centerpiece aquarium that showcases many of the species found in local waters. The Discovery Center comprises touch tanks, interactive displays, video presentations and eco-tours of the bay.

Dynamic graphics show where continents meet the ocean and hundreds of thousands of miles of shoreline. Within those shorelines are unique environments called estuaries. Throughout history, people have gathered along the shore for food and transportation. Visitors learn the impact of what happens when three million+ people occupy areas surrounding a delicate eco-system. They explore how a living shoreline can dissipate the wave forces of a storm more effectively than a wall, help control erosion, and create a better habitat for fish, shorebirds and other creatures.

A video touch screen opens a digital photo album of dramatic before and after images of the Tampa Bay estuary. Visitors will see how our activities pollute this beautiful bay and destroy its fragile shoreline eco-system. Next to each sobering image is a photo of what that same area looks like today thanks to the efforts of not only Tampa Bay Watch, but also unified efforts by local municipalities and organizations. In other exhibits, children are fascinated by the giant microscope and an interactive sandbox that transforms as you dig deeper into a typical Tampa Bay beach.

Tampa Bay Watch also offers eco-adventures aboard a new U.S. Coast Guard certified vessel that departs from St. Pete’s Municipal Marina. Tickets are $22 for adults and

$14 for children to enjoy eco-tours that focus on Tampa Bay history and why the bay is so important as a nursery for nearly every marine species that resides there.

The Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center is open daily from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. For more information, see TBWDiscovery Center.org.