Explore the Inner Workings
Hatfield Marine Science Center is a vast campus. It takes many pieces and players to make it a world-class facility for research and learning. During Marine Science Day, we offer behind-the-scenes tours. Last year's tours were so popular we decided to double our tours!
Tickets for all tours are available in the courtyard area. The tours are free and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Tours At-A-Glance Schedule
| TIME | TOUR |
|---|---|
| 10:30 a.m. | |
| 11 a.m. | Vertical Tsunami Evacuation Area |
| 11 a.m. | Coastal Monitoring Station |
| 11:30 a.m. | Marine Operations |
| 12 p.m. | Seawater Tour |
| 12 p.m. | Yaquina Estuary Trail |
| 1 p.m. | Vertical Tsunami Evacuation Area |
| 1:30 p.m. | |
| 2 p.m. |
Tour Details
Seawater Tour | 10:30 a.m., noon & 1:30 p.m. | 45 min., 15 people per tour
Explore the inner workings of Hatfield's sophisticated seawater distribution system, which supplies reliable access to the high-quality seawater needed for a variety of experiments and research. This walking tour will take you into the pump house and show you the filtration system and the innovative chlorine generator in the effluent treatment center. Pumping a million gallons of seawater a day to all the research labs on the Hatfield campus, this seawater system is a key piece of the research infrastructure at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Tour | 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. | 45 min., 20 people per tour
The Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at Hatfield was built using state-of-the-art architectural and engineering techniques, making it the first universally accessible vertical tsunami evacuation site in the United States. Ride the emergency elevator or walk the access ramp to high ground on the roof and explore the disaster cache that will take care of people for up to two days after a tsunami. This building improves the safety of those who study, work and play at Hatfield and the surrounding South Beach community.
Yaquina Estuary Tour | 10:30 a.m., noon & 1:30 p.m. | 1 hr., 20 people per tour
Take a one-mile walk along our local nature trail. This trail runs along the bay side of the Hatfield campus and ends near the Oregon Coast Aquarium. On this tour, you will learn about the creatures that live in the salt marshes and mudflats that make up this extraordinary estuarine habitat. This tour is led by Oregon Sea Grant volunteers.
Coastal Monitoring Station Tour | 10:30 a.m., noon & 1:30 p.m. | 1 hr., 20 people per tour
This tour is about a half mile long. It takes you our to the new Hatfield Coastal Monitoring Station on the dock. During this tour you will learn about the water quality instruments we use to monitor the health of the estuary, and view the data in real time as it arrives from the instruments. Explore how parameters like temperature, salinity, pH and oxygen change as the estuary "breathes" with tidal, daily and seasonal cycles.
Marine Operations Tour | 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. | 1 hr., 20 people per tour
Take a walking tour to the home of the Marine Operations team and tour the R/V Elakha and get a demonstration of how drones assist with marine research.
More tours available online
If you miss a tour or want to dive deeper into the inner workings of Hatfield, click on a topic below and take a virtual tour.
