Tybee Island Marine Science Center

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Tybee Island Marine Science Center Providing year-round programs for island visitors, scouts, & students on the beach, in the marsh, and our Coastal Georgia Galleries. Last ticket sold at 4:15pm.
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Our galleries feature baby alligators, spider crabs, loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings, diamondback terrapins, a corn snake, box turtles, and horseshoe crabs as well as other animal ambassadors collected from the local waters around us for a brief, educational residence. Admission is $12 per person; children four and under are free. We are currently open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:30am-5pm. Tickets can be purchased on site.

📍🗺️ Out-and-About with Ossie! (One day late, sorry!)Ossie has been exploring the Savannah River this week, and we love t...
10/15/2026

📍🗺️ Out-and-About with Ossie! (One day late, sorry!)

Ossie has been exploring the Savannah River this week, and we love that they have stayed local! It will be so exciting to see how Ossie's travels compare to Westie's last year.

Westie actually headed north for a while before turning south when the water got cold. What do you think Ossie will do after they're done exploring the Savannah River? Where would you like to see Ossie visit next?
Drop your guesses in the comments 👇🏼

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Take a peek at the Walks, Talks, and Treks schedule we've got for you this week. Cooler weather, calmer beaches, easier ...
10/13/2026

Take a peek at the Walks, Talks, and Treks schedule we've got for you this week. Cooler weather, calmer beaches, easier parking. Fall is the best!

Visit Tybee

Marine Science Monday this week is focused on the unique soft coral pictured here: the Sea Pansy! 🌸While it looks like a...
10/12/2026

Marine Science Monday this week is focused on the unique soft coral pictured here: the Sea Pansy! 🌸

While it looks like a small purple flower that fell off of a tree, the sea pansy is actually a living animal! Using its peduncle, or "stem", to help anchor itself into the sand, the sea pansy opens up dozens of individual polyps that collectively work together to catch and eat food like passing microorganisms (plankton) or particles floating by that happen to get caught in their sticky grasp.

After disturbances like storms or extreme tides, sea pansies can get pulled up from their position and occasionally wash ashore. As long as they're not out of the water too long, they're still healthy and happy and we get to display them for a little while before releasing them again. 🥰

Come check them out in the gallery!

Last December, Whale Week helped give thousands of local students, visitors, and residents the opportunity to learn more...
10/11/2026

Last December, Whale Week helped give thousands of local students, visitors, and residents the opportunity to learn more about North Atlantic Right Whales (NARW). Researchers estimate that there are only less than 400 of these whales left, making them one of the most endangered large marine mammals on the planet.

Hosted by the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, this multi-day calendar of science, art, cultural, and community programming focuses on NARW calving season, which takes place right off the coast of Georgia each winter. This year's Whale Week takes place across Savannah and Tybee Island Nov. 30-Dec. 5, 2026.

Here's the thing: Protecting the NARW takes more than one week a year. That's why we're launching Whale Week 365, coming to a classroom or community center near you. We can't wait to share our newest teaching tool: A life-size whale you can walk through!

Would you consider joining us as a sponsor?
https://secure.qgiv.com/for/whaleweek365

Included in your sponsorship is the placement of your name or logo on all Whale Week 365 promotional materials as well as the 2026 student-designed t-shirt exclusively distributed at the Save the Right Whale festival on Dec. 5, 2026. (The larger donation, the more prominent the placement!)

Every whale counts, and every amount makes a difference.

Heads up - TIMSC will be opening late tomorrow, at 12:00pm, to account for potential hazardous road conditions due to co...
10/09/2026

Heads up - TIMSC will be opening late tomorrow, at 12:00pm, to account for potential hazardous road conditions due to coastal flooding in the morning. Please drive safe and we will see you in the afternoon!

Ahoy, Mateys! 🏴‍☠️ TIMSC's Discovery Shop has a treasure trove of pirate-themed goodies, and we're bringing them to YOU ...
10/09/2026

Ahoy, Mateys! 🏴‍☠️ TIMSC's Discovery Shop has a treasure trove of pirate-themed goodies, and we're bringing them to YOU this weekend! Find us at Pirate Fest on Saturday and Sunday with Discovery Shop b***y available for purchase. X marks the spot, and the spot is our booth 🪎

See you there!

Tybee Island Pirate Fest Visit Tybee

Meet Lisa D. Watson on the latest episode of the TIMSC podcast! This artist and landscape architect jibes so well with w...
10/08/2026

Meet Lisa D. Watson on the latest episode of the TIMSC podcast! This artist and landscape architect jibes so well with what we do around here...

First off, Lisa almost exclusively uses salvaged and reclaimed materials in her painting, sculptures, and multimedia works that depict the disappearing natural world. Her work has shown at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center, the Coastal Discovery Museum in Hilton Head, and dozens of other museums and galleries around the country.

She also lives out her mission of uplifting the importance of the natural world as a landscape architect. Her company Plan It Green Design, LLC helps homeowners with sustainable garden solutions, advising on native plant species that are beautiful AND useful to our local pollinators. You won't believe what she has to say about leafblowers...

Tune in for a WILD conversation about art, gardening, plants, and how to turn any yard into a native habitat!

https://tybeemarinesciencecenter.podbean.com/e/native-plants-pollinators-and-recycled-material-art-with-lisa-d-watson/

📍🗺️ Out and About with Ossie! We will likely be seeing a larger quantity of location pings for Ossie than we did with We...
10/07/2026

📍🗺️ Out and About with Ossie!

We will likely be seeing a larger quantity of location pings for Ossie than we did with Westie! This is because Wildlife Computers satellite tags (just like the one attached to Ossie) transmit location and data messages via the Argos satellite system. As of October 2025, an additional Argos Kineis constellation—made up of twenty-one satellites—is now operational and works in tandem with the already existing Argos constellation of five satellites currently orbiting Earth (this just means 21 additional satellites are able to help collect location on Ossie and other animals equipped with similar satellite tags!)

So, that's good news for us that we will likely see more pings, but we also want to remind you the location points are not 100% accurate because they vary slightly based on where the satellite is in that moment when Ossie surfaces. So, no, they did not get out of the water and walk across the highway 😉

Where do you think Ossie will go next?

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Are you walking, talking, or trekking with us this week? Why not all 3? Sign up today! Visit Tybee
10/07/2026

Are you walking, talking, or trekking with us this week? Why not all 3? Sign up today!

Visit Tybee

**This Marine Science Monday, meet the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)!** 🌊 We have some babies at the science cen...
10/05/2026

**This Marine Science Monday, meet the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)!** 🌊 We have some babies at the science center, and they're pretty amazing. 🐟

The name Megalops means "large eyed," and our little ones have the peepers to prove it! 👀 Tarpon begin life as transparent, ribbon-like larvae called leptocephali, a stage shared with only a few relatives like eels and bonefish. After drifting in from offshore spawning grounds, they settle into mangrove-lined bays and lagoons, and they can even travel up rivers into freshwater. 🌿

Take a close look at that face! 😮 Tarpon have an upturned, "superior" mouth, with a lower jaw that juts far past the upper. It's built for feeding on fish like mullet and pinfish swimming in the water above them. A bony plate along the lower jaw helps crush crabs and other prey, and anything small enough gets swallowed whole! 🦐

Juvenile tarpon are also obligate air breathers! 🫧 A modified swim bladder acts like a lung, so they have to gulp air at the surface to survive. That lets them thrive in low-oxygen waters where other fish struggle.

Tarpon are slow growers. They don't reach maturity until 6 to 7 years old and about 4 feet long. Adults can top 8 feet and 350 pounds, and females can live more than 50 years! 🤯

Come visit our young tarpon at TIMSC and meet the future "silver kings" in person! 💙

Visit Tybee

Address

37 Meddin Drive
Tybee Island, GA
31328

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 5pm
Thursday 9:30am - 5pm
Friday 9:30am - 5pm
Saturday 9:30am - 5pm
Sunday 9:30am - 5pm

Telephone

(912) 786-5917

Website

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