Do you know why seals strike “banana poses” while lolling around rocks on Long Island Sound? For the answer, just ask the seventh-grade students at Kelly STEAM Magnet Middle School in Norwich.

During their half-day trip aboard EnviroLab II, a specially outfitted research vessel operated by the Groton-based nonprofit Project Oceanology, the budding young scientists spotted more than 100 seals on Long Island Sound. Along the way, they unlocked the mystery behind some quirky seal habits.

Every moment on the cutting-edge boat was an opportunity for discovery, as the students also measured wind speed and direction, recorded water and air temperatures and low tide times, and observed the seals’ activities while in and out of water.

Through classroom lab experiments, Kimberly Donoghue, a marine educator at Project Oceanology, primed the young people for the adventure that awaited them. In one experiment, they observed how quickly a bowl of oatmeal would lose its heat. It soon led to a simple yet profound insight: seals adapt their body positions to keep warm. Hence, the banana poses!

For many of the 210 Kelly Middle School students who took part in Project Oceanology’s “Seventh Grade at Sea” program, it was their first time on a boat — especially one equipped with such an array of scientific tools and equipment they could manipulate and operate. Project Oceanology, founded more than 50 years ago, is dedicated to inspiring future generations to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers. This kind of collaborative, hands-on, experiential learning is often the springboard.

As Donoghue observed, any initial apprehension about being on the water quickly dissolved into awe and wonder as the young people encountered their first harbor seals. One student exclaimed, “This is awesome! I want to be a marine biologist!”