Events Calendar
Back to the Bays @ Hampton Bays St. Patrick's Parade
March with Cornell Cooperative Extension & Back to the Bays in the 2026 Hampton Bays Hibernian St. Patrick's Day Parade March 21st.
Earth Day at Quogue Wildlife Refuge
Join Back to the Bays at Quogue Wildlife Refuge's Earth Day Celebration and learn how to support our restoration efforts.
ArtSea Create & Sip - Salt Marsh Watercolor
Welcome to ArtSea Create & Sip! Join us at Vine Street Cafe, Shelter Island on February 26, 2026 at 5:00 PM for a night of learning, creativity and fun. Learn about the native coastal plants of the saltmarshes, and what CCE Marine is doing to restore them, as we sip on drinks and unleash our inner artists.
No experience needed, just come ready to have a great time! 🎨🍷Enjoy the scrumptious food, drink, at Vine Street Cafe, while enjoying the company of like-minded people supporting our bays.
CANCELLED! 4th Annual North Fork Polar Bear Plunge
*CANCELLED
Due to unprecedented winter weather conditions, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 4th Annual North Fork Polar Bear Plunge for this year. We are incredibly grateful for the enthusiasm, generosity, and support shown by our plungers, sponsors, and community. While we won’t be gathering at the beach this year, the impact of your participation is still very real. All funds raised directly support two vital causes:
CAST - providing food relief, education, and essential support services to North Fork and Shelter Island residents in need
CCE Marine Program and our Back to the Bays Initiative - restoring marine habitats and strengthening shellfish populations on the East End
You can still pickup plunge merchandise and prizes at CAST - 53930 Main Rd. in Southold. Visit Treiber Hall using the entrance off the Main Rd. The first 50 people to pick up their items will receive a free sweatshirt! Prizes will also be awarded to the top teams and individual fundraisers.
Merch + prize pickup dates and times:
Thursday, January 29: 12:00–4:00 PM
Wednesday, February 4: 10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Thursday, February 5: 2:00–5:00 PM
Saturday, February 7: 1:00–3:00 PM
To learn more about cold water plunging, visit the North Fork Polar Bears at northforkpolarbears.org. There is still time to add your support for Team Back to the Bays HERE. Thank you, and stay safe and warm!
Good Ground Holiday Gift Fair
Join Back to the Bays for a Holiday Market in Hampton Bays! Learn more about our mission, become a Steward and shop our marine species apparel, accessories and more! Don’t miss our handmade gifts, oyster shell decoupage and more for your holiday gift giving needs.
Coastal Gardening at Tiana Bayside
Join CCE Marine’s Back to the Bays Team planting, transplanting and weeding our demonstrative coastal rain garden and coastal plant nursery!
Please come prepared in clothes & shoes that you are ok with getting dirty. Also, bring gardening gloves and hand shovels if you have (some will be provided, but supplies are limited).
Plants take in carbon dioxide from air and sequester carbon in their soil and roots. Less carbon in atmosphere, less climate change!
This event counts toward community service hours!
We encourage you to register as a Back to the Bays Steward beforehand which you can do at this link. We look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your participation!
Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect with nature and fellow gardening enthusiasts. See you there!
ArtSea Tiana Tuesday Nights - Oil Pastel Scallop Shells
Welcome to ArtSea Tiana Tuesday Nights - Oil Pastel Scallop Shells! Join us for a fun and creative evening where we will be learning about localbay scallops and exploring the beauty of oil pastels while creating stunning scallop shell artwork. No experience necessary, just bring your enthusiasm and willingness to learn!
Date: Tue Oct 21 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Tiana Bayside Facility
Come unwind, learn, socialize, and tap into your artistic side with us. All materials will be provided, so just bring yourself and get ready to have a blast!
Bring your own snacks & beverages.
Marine Meadows Workshop at Quogue Wildlife Refuge
Join Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Back to the Bays Initiative for a Marine Meadows Workshop! Participants will learn about the importance of eelgrass, our native species of seagrass that provides essential habitat and services, and then will have the opportunity to weave eelgrass into discs of burlap to prepare them for planting into the South Shore Estuary. This program is made possible by funding from the South Shore Estuary Reserve Program. Community service hours will be provided upon request.
Tiana Coastal Garden Seed Collecting and SEAd Bomb Making
Welcome to Tiana Coastal Garden!
Come join us at the beautiful Tiana Bayside on October 16, 2025 at 4pm for native seed collecting and SEAd Bomb making!
We will search the grounds of Tiana Bayside for any native plants with seeds ready to be harvested and we will use them along with other sourced seeds to create SEAd Bombs... small soil balls with native perennial plant seeds. The plant species in the SEAd Bombs are plants that will support rain gardens, maintain swale structure, help prevent erosion and provide nectar and food to insects and animals .
Plants take in carbon dioxide from air and sequester carbon in their soil and roots. Less carbon in atmosphere, less climate change!
Coastal Gardening at Tiana Bayside
Join CCE Marine’s Back to the Bays Team planting, transplanting and weeding our demonstrative coastal rain garden and coastal plant nursery!
Please come prepared in clothes & shoes that you are ok with getting dirty. Also, bring gardening gloves and hand shovels if you have (some will be provided, but supplies are limited).
Plants take in carbon dioxide from air and sequester carbon in their soil and roots. Less carbon in atmosphere, less climate change!
This event counts toward community service hours!
We encourage you to register as a Back to the Bays Steward beforehand which you can do at this link. We look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your participation!
Don't miss out on this opportunity to connect with nature and fellow gardening enthusiasts. See you there!
ArtSea Tiana Tuesday Nights - Pufferfish in Eelgrass Canvas & Driftwood
Welcome to ArtSea Tiana Tuesday Nights - Pufferfish in Eelgrass - Canvas & Driftwood event! Join us for a creative evening on Tue Sep 16 2025 at 6:00 PM at the Tiana Bayside Facility. Learn about the importance of local eelgrass and northern puffers and let yourself relax and paint a beautiful pufferfish swimming in eelgrass on canvas and driftwood. No experience necessary - our instructor will guide you every step of the way. Get ready for a fun and relaxing night of art and creativity by the sea.
Bring your own snacks and beverages!
ArtSea Create & Sip Clams
Clams why are they so important? Join us at The Station in Hampton Bays and learn about why the hard clam is so imporatant, the role CCE Marine plays in the quantity of clams found in local bays and what you can do to help! And then we will get creative painting hard and surf clam shells. Local artist Carolyn Munaco will share tips on shell painting, how to paint a fast waterscape with minimal paint, and lettering.
Stewardship Session: Oyster Reef Deployment at Tiana Bayside
Help CCE's Back to the Bays Team deploy a spat-on-shell oyster reef off of Tiana Bayside!
We encourage you to register as a Back to the Bays Steward beforehand which you can do at this link. We look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your participation!
Stewardship Session: Coastal Gardening at Tiana
CANCELED DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT!!
Join CCE Marine’s Back to the Bays Habitat Specialists and Educators in a unique hands-on experience managing our demonstrative coastal rain garden and coastal plant nursery! We will be working with native plant species and learning about their many important roles throughout this experience.
Please come prepared in clothes that you are ok with getting dirty. Also, bring gardening gloves and hand shovels if you have (some will be provided, but supplies are limited).
This event counts toward community service hours!
We encourage you to register as a Back to the Bays Steward beforehand which you can do at this link. We look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your participation!
ArtSea Tiana Tuesday Nights Seahorses Mobile
Come join us for a fun night of learning about the Northern Lined Seahorses and their local habitat!
Bring your own snacks and beverages!
Stewardship Session: Seahorse Hotel
Did you know the Northern Lined Seahorse is native to Eastern Long Island? Unfortunately, loss of habitat has led to significant decline in their populations. Come to this interactive workshop to learn about the life cycles + behaviors of seahorses from CCE Marine's experts, and then work together as a group to construct a "Seahorse Hotel" artificial habitat based on what you have learned - your creation will be deployed in local waters and utilized in our new seahorse restoration + monitoring efforts!
We encourage you to register as a Back to the Bays Steward beforehand which you can do at this link. We look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your participation!
Stewardship Session: Coastal Gardening at Tiana
Join CCE Marine’s Back to the Bays Habitat Specialists and Educators in a unique hands-on experience managing our demonstrative coastal rain garden and coastal plant nursery! We will be working with native plant species and learning about their many important roles throughout this experience.
Please come prepared in clothes that you are ok with getting dirty. Also, bring gardening gloves and hand shovels if you have (some will be provided, but supplies are limited).
This event counts toward community service hours!
We encourage you to register as a Back to the Bays Steward beforehand which you can do at this link. We look forward to seeing you, and thank you for your participation!
All that attend will be entered into a raffle to win 5 Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower), a native great for pollinators.
Buoys for the Bays Painting Workshop
Paint a Buoy for the Bay ~ Join CCE Marine's Back to the Bays Initiative in partnership with Castello di Borghese Vineyard to raise funds + awareness through art!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, June 27
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, June 25
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, June 23
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, June 13
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, June 11
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, June 9
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!
Stewardship Session: Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, May 28
Participate in this NY DEC + CCE Marine citizen science initiative and help us count and tag local horseshoe crabs as they come ashore to lay eggs. A unique way to experience the beach under the moonlight!