NAHANT

Students begin the Three Seas Program in New England on the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center is located on 20 acres at the end of a rocky point extending into the Atlantic Ocean, and has a view of the north shore of Massachusetts and the Boston skyline.

No other year-round laboratory on the Atlantic coast of the United States has an exposed rocky ocean frontage like this site. It is exceptional in its close proximity to many Boston area academic and research institutions. Though Nahant is situated only 12 miles from a major harbor and city, the prevailing coastal currents provide remarkably clean and stable seawater at East Point. The 9.5 ft. tidal amplitude and undisturbed rocky shoreline provide a great variety of intertidal and subtidal communities ideally suited for investigations of rocky shore ecology. The sheer cliff faces, which extend subtidally to a depth of 40 ft., represent a unique biome.

An extensive field trip to the Maine coast provides students with the opportunity to observe the variation in New England marine habitats. The Marine Science Center's proximity to Boston-area universities and Woods Hole allows students to take advantage of some of the East Coast's leading research centers.