Miss Peetsy B Bayou Tour
$20 can change a life!
The GCRL Marine Education Centeroffers bayou tours aboard the motor vessel Miss Peetsy B as a field trip for school and community groups. The program consists of two 90-minute periods of instruction, one on the water and the other in the classroom. Download a flyer
- Program content is tailored for kindergarten -12th grade students or adult groups.
- Trips available from Monday through Friday. Trips depart at 9:00 a.m. and the program concludes at approximately noon.
- Cost - $20/participant
- Minimum group size - 25
- School groups must include one adult teacher per ten students.
Program Agenda
The Miss Peetsy B Bayou Tour is a three hour program and includes hands-on experiences in our floating classrooms, waterfront classrooms and laboratories.
90 minutes aboard the Miss Peetsy B:
- Tour of marsh habitat
- Collection and identification of marsh organisms by trawling
- Discussion of impacts of development on coastal environment
- Identification of coastal birds
- Discussion of MS Sound: Deer Island, Barrier Islands and estuaries
Choose from one of these three rich options for the second half of the three hour program:
Beach Habitat Lesson:
- Hiking to nearby beach site for observations and collection of estuarine organisms
- Collecting benthic (bottom dwelling) organisms using different sampling techniques: dip netting, seining, and yabbi pumping
Note: Students will spend part of this session in shallow water
Plankton Identification Lesson:
- Collecting plankton by pulling plankton net
- Collection of water samples
- Lesson on plankton
- Identification of plankton using microscopes
- Perform water quality test
Shark Biology Lesson: (add $10 per participant)
- Lesson on internal/external anatomy of sharks
- Discover the seven senses of sharks
- Guided dissection to educate about respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems of sharks
Pre- and post-trip lesson plans, as well as information regarding alignment with state and national science standards, are available upon request.
Have Questions?
Call a marine education specialist at 228.818.8095 or email us at marine.education@usm.edu.
About Miss Peetsy B
Miss Peetsy B was donated to USM’s Marine Education Center by Jimmy Buffett and his sisters, Lucy Buffett and Laurie Buffett-McGuane, in honor of their mother who was passionate about education. The vessel's name comes from Mrs. Buffett's nickname - Peetsy B. The Buffett family, originally from Pascagoula, donated the vessel to help educate students about their coastal environment, and ultimately create a more informed citizenry to protect and maintain our local marine habitats.
In addition to the Bayou Tours, Miss Peetsy B is available for charter. Read more about Miss Peetsy B and charter details here.
Photo gallery of the christening of Miss Peetsy B
Specifications
- Length: 33.8 feet
- Beam: 10.9 feet
- Draft: 6 feet
- Tonnage: 14 tons gross, 11 tons net
- U.S. Coast Guard inspected - Passenger Service, Coastwise Unrestricted, Documentation Number 1137299
- Built 1973 and operated by the United States Navy as the liberty launch Suribachi