Courtesy photo A DBG student is seen standing in the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center Marine Technology Training Tank. DBG students traveled to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS) as part of a Sanctuary Explorers Experience. This is the group’s third year visiting TBNMS.

ALPENA — The Sanctuary Explorers Experience is complete for a group of students from the Detroit-based after-school program, DBG, according to a Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (TBNMS) press release on Wednesday. On Monday, ten students and two mentors made the trek north to visit TBNMS, a first-time trip for many in the group.

The adventure began at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena where students toured exhibits and participated in a swim and snorkeling session in the Marine Technology Training Tank.

On Tuesday, students traveled to North Point Nature Preserve along the sanctuary shoreline, according to TBNMS. While at the preserve, the students removed marine debris and contributed to the sanctuary’s ongoing marine debris mapping data initiative. Following a campfire lunch, the group boarded a glass-bottom boat for a shipwreck cruise. They wrapped up the afternoon by building underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and piloting them in the training tank at the heritage center.

“The weather was so warm that after completing our ROV competition, we followed the robots into the tank for one last swim,” Daniel Moffatt, TBNMS stewardship and education coordinator, said in the release.

This trip marks the third consecutive year the students have visited TBNMS, highlighting a growing partnership between the sanctuary and DBG, according to the release. In addition to these summer trips, TBNMS staff have also traveled to Detroit to assist with DBG’s Earth Day education programming.