Bringing Baffin Back Hosts Third Annual Texas Brigades Experience
On April 25, 2026, nearly 70 participants and volunteers gathered at Kaufer-Hubert Memorial Park in Riviera, Texas to spend the day exploring along the shore of Baffin Bay, one of Texas’ most unique bay systems.
Now in its third year, Exploring Baffin Bay – A Texas Brigades Experience introduces participants ages 9 through 17 to the Baffin Bay ecosystem through hands-on outdoor learning, interactive scientific activities, and direct guidance from researchers and conservation professionals. Parents are encouraged to participate as well, creating opportunities for shared learning and discovery.
Baffin Bay is known for its hypersaline waters, world-class fishing, and unique serpulid worm reefs, and is a place unlike any other on the Texas coast. The bay’s health is closely tied to that of the surrounding watershed and faces ongoing water quality challenges including nutrient and bacterial pollution. Helping young people understand and discover connections between the land and bay ecosystem is central to the Experience’s mission.
Hosted by the Harte Research Institute’s (HRI) Bringing Baffin BackTM initiative in collaboration with Texas Brigades, a nonprofit youth conservation and leadership organization, the free event continues to grow each year. This years’ Experience brought together volunteers and stakeholders from across South Texas and the Gulf Coast. Participating organizations included Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, South Texas Master Naturalists, the Coastal Bend Audubon Society, the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, the Kleberg-Kenedy Soil and Water Conservation District, the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Brush Country Chapter, and several research programs within HRI, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Throughout the day, participants rotated through immersive activity stations designed to introduce Baffin Bay from multiple perspectives. Activities focused on fish ecology, fishing basics, boating, water quality, birding, and watershed science.
Two new activities were added this year as well. At one station, researchers from HRI’s Center for Sportfish Science & Conservation led shallow-water seine net tows. Participants donned waders and worked alongside scientists to collect and release juvenile fish, shrimp, and small jellyfish. Along the way, they learned how healthy habitats support coastal fisheries and food webs.
Nearby, researchers from HRI’s Coastal Conservation and Restoration Lab introduced participants to critters that live in the sediments through sediment core sampling and bay-bottom investigations. Participants sifted through sediment in search of tiny organisms that are vital to the Baffin Bay food web and examined samples of Baffin Bay’s distinctive serpulid worm reefs (the “rocks of Baffin”) under magnifying lenses. Researchers from HRI’s Coastal Water Health Lab also guided participants through microscope use by examining water samples collected earlier in the day, allowing participants to catch a glimpse of phytoplankton and other microscopic organisms at the base of the food web that are indicators of water quality health.
After lunch, generously donated by H-E-B and prepared by chef Amberdawn Sargent of Amberosa, participants shifted from learning about stewardship to putting it into practice. During a friendly coastal cleanup challenge, they collected trash along the shoreline.
Afternoon activities turned attention to the broader watershed. Through rainfall simulations, soil infiltration tests, and watershed model demonstrations, participants explored how soil health, vegetation, and land management practices influence runoff and water quality.
Exploring Baffin Bay — A Texas Brigades Experience is made possible through the support of dedicated volunteers, community partners, Bringing Baffin BackTM supporters, and the Texas Brigades. Special thanks go to the CCA Brush Country Chapter for supplying fishing rods, reels, and tackle, and to the Baffin Bay Convenience Store LLC for donating fresh bait.
By introducing youth to coastal science and stewardship through firsthand experiences, organizers hope participants leave with a deeper understanding of Baffin Bay and a lasting connection to the natural resources that shape South Texas.
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