Birding on the Bay boat tour experience

Bundled up Saturday morning in St. Pete, a group boarded Tampa Bay Watch’s eco-vessel, Discovery, for a new boat tour around Tampa Bay.

The Birding on the Bay experience is a partnership between Tampa Bay Watch and the Museum of Fine Arts that started in the fall.

The Birding on the Bay boat tour experience.

"They have a really cool exhibit going on featuring [John James] Audubon's scientific illustrations of all of the birds that he researched during his life, and we're giving people the opportunity to come out on the boat and see some of those birds in real life," Brianna Varner, Social Media Coordinator for Tampa Bay Watch, said.

Eco-vessel marine scientist Dakoeta Pinto leads the tours. They sail out of the marina in St. Pete to a nearby island, which is a habitat for hundreds of coastal birds, he said.

READ: Boy injured after he was hit by an SUV on Roy Hanna Dr. in St. Pete

"For tourists coming here, of course this is one of the best things that you could do in this area, in my opinion," Pinto said. "You could come out here and see some really awesome Florida wildlife that you don’t get to see almost anywhere else in the world."

"For the locals that live around here, this is a great, unique opportunity to come out and do a net trawl with us to see what's actually living under the water out here. You may be on the water all the time, but you're always above it. You don't really get to see what's under it and what's really in our backyards," he said.

He said they use a gentle trawl net to pull up wildlife on each tour for education and scientific research.

The Birding on the Bay boat tour experience.

Tampa Bay Watch also offers other wildlife boat tours, sunset boat tours, history tours and fishing workshops throughout the year.

"We do fishing workshops once a month and those are super fun. We are partnered with the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Riviera Bait and Tackle off of Gandy … We're teaching people how to be good stewards of the environment while you're fishing, but also giving you the basic skills necessary to actually go fishing on your own. And if you already have all those basic skills, you can come out and learn just how to fish in the Tampa Bay in general," Pinto said.

READ: SPPD preparing for safe events, amid FBI warning over terrorist 'copycats'

The money from the tours goes back into the community too, Pinto said.

"Tampa Bay Watch is a nonprofit organization that's dedicated to the restoration and the protection of the Tampa Bay. So, anybody who comes out on our tours is directly helping our restoration efforts. We're helping to restore oysters out here, seagrass beds and all types of habitats that have been lost throughout the 1900s and in past hundred years or so," Pinto said.

At the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center on the St. Pete Pier, the nonprofit offers squid and lionfish dissections, kids educational workshops and more.

"This public facing facility gives people the opportunity to educate themselves about where they live and about what they might find around them. And by doing that, we can inspire people to be better stewards of our environment," Varner said.

The Birding on the Bay experience with the Museum of Fine Arts runs through February. You can find out more about all of Tampa Bay Watch’s events on their website.

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:

St. PetersburgSt. Pete PierPinellas County