Sea Lab and Bird Sanctuary

Dauphin Island is home to the Sea Lab and a Bird Sanctuary.  Both were a fun time and I would recommend them if any of you ever visit the island. There isn't much for kids to do on the island other than the beach and one putt putt place.  The Sea Lab and the Sanctuary are something to do when the kids get a bit worn out from the beach.

The sanctuary is off of Bienville road and it is recommended to have something to drink and I wouldn't go in the hottest part of the day.  This is a physical activity and not for those in a wheelchair.  There is not cost for entering the park and parking is limited.  We didn't see any birds but we could hear them.  We aren't avid bird watchers, by any means.  We found an eagle's nest (we think). We ran into a couple that were finding Geo Cache.  They found one under a log and just had to put their name down.  The highlight of the park was Gaillard Lake.  It was home to many fish, turtles, and an alligator.  The kids LOVED seeing the alligator and it was very active the day we went.  We saw it eating things, chomping with is big mouth, and going under the water and putting on a bubble show.  After we saw the gator, we left.  There were quite a few trails but we opted to head back to the condo. 

There were so many turtles! 

 I wish my camera lens would zoom a bit more.  We still

aren't certain if this is an Eagle nest or not. 

This guy was pretty hungry and gave us a show!

 Of course we had to get a family selfie!!!

The Sea Lab was very interesting and we learned a lot about the local sea life.  I loved that it had some hands on activities for the kids.  I was disappointed at how small it was.  I expected it to have much more to see than it did.  The girl at the counter taking our money was not rude to us, but was not very personable.  The cost for adults was $11 and children, seniors and students were $6. The price wasn't bad at all.  We walked around and saw all we could see.  The kids loved it and they especially loved the touch tank.  There was a sting ray, a conch, and some hermits that they could pick up and explore.  Outside there was a touch tank with some more sting rays and a manta ray.  The rays felt like rubber when we touched them.  It was a neat feeling.

They had some Lion Fish so that the children could be

educated about some of the invasive species in our oceans.

All three kiddos were getting a kick out of touching the rays

 We didn't know what to think of this creature.

XOXO...Becky