Divers explore a shipwreck that is part of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. Credit: NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries Program. Note: Additional visual resources — B-roll, videos, and images of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary — available for free download.
Enjoy Underwater Videos, Maritime History Activities for Kids, Summer Camp Opportunity for Oswego County 4th and 5th Graders
Contacts:
Mercedes Niess, H. Lee White Maritime Museum Executive Director, P: 315-342-0480, E: Mercedes@hlwmm.org
Megan Cochran, New York Sea Grant Great Lakes Outreach Coordinator, P: 716-270-2490, E: mk2236@cornell.edu
Kara Lynn Dunn, NYSG's Great Lakes Publicist, P: 315-465-7578, E: karalynn@gisco.net
Oswego, NY, May 20, 2026 - The Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary will be featured in activities, underwater videos, and exhibits at the June 6, 2026 Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival organized by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum and New York Sea Grant.
Here’s a sample of what festival visitors will find at the event from noon to 4:00 p.m. along the 1 West First Street Pier near the museum in the City’s Historic Maritime District.
• See underwater imagery of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary, and learn how weather and water conditions data is collected from buoys deployed along Lake Ontario’s southern shore as part of the Great Lakes Observing System to support the work of researchers, boaters, anglers, beachgoers, water resource managers, and water rescue operations at the Upstate Freshwater Institute “Seeing Below the Surface” booth.
• The New York State Divers Association will be showing underwater videos of dives in Lake Ontario and other New York lakes and rivers, featuring natural features and shipwrecks, plus information on membership and activities.
• Recreational boating clean, safe, and environmentally-friendly information that helped support the designation of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary will be available at the New York Sea Grant booth. Learn how to properly equip a boat and size floatation devices for all members of the family.
• Lake Ontario’s maritime history and fisheries, maritime-theme activities for children, and Lake Ontario trivia: SUNY Oswego’s Great Lakes Institute
• Oswego County families with students in grades 4 and 5 can learn about the Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation (CiTi) BOCES summer camp with activities focused on the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary and projects to inspire stewardship of the local waterfront.
• The Friends of Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary will be highlighting the educational, cultural, and above- and below-water recreational tourism opportunities across the Sanctuary’s four-county region of Oswego, Jefferson, Cayuga and Wayne counties.
• Local tourism organizations will have 2026 Oswego County Visitor Guides highlighting the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary available to take home.
• The H. Lee White Maritime Museum is a treasure trove of maritime history told in artifacts, art, artifacts, and exhibits. The museum and its Treasure Chest gift shop will be open during the festival, www.hlwmm.org.
The Lake Ontario Waterfront Festival is sponsored in part by Eagle Beverage and Adventure at Burritt’s Marine and Powersports in Oswego.
H. Lee White Maritime Museum Director Mercedes Niess, Curator Michael Pittavino, and Museum Board Vice-President Robert Morgan, and New York Sea Grant Associate Director Katherine Bunting-Howarth and Great Lakes Literacy Specialist Nate Drag serve as members or alternates with the Lake Ontario National Maine Sanctuary Advisory Council.
More Info: New York Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is a university-based, statewide Federal-State collaboration between the State University of New York (SUNY), Cornell University, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is one of 34 university-based programs that connects research, extension, and education with the needs of coastal communities, environments, and economies through NOAA.
Since 1971, NYSG has supported science-based solutions for a wide range of water-related challenges and opportunities across the state. Through NYSG’s efforts, university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science and technical information to educational institutions, businesses, agencies, and industries; federal, state and local governments; the media; and the interested public. The program is administratively based at Stony Brook University (SBU) and Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
NYSG historically leverages on average a 5.5-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. The State benefits from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes quarterly.