WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — LagoonFest is returning to the West Palm Beach waterfront Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The free festival hopes to educate the public about the beauty of the Lake Worth Lagoon both above and below the water.
"This is a natural body of water. It's this thriving estuary and nursery for juvenile fish and for some of our favorite animals--manatees and sea turtles. It's an incredible diving and snorkeling destination as well," said Benji Studt of Lagoon Fest.
The event will have 80 interactive vendors including a shark research vessel called Angari which will have tours and demonstrations on how they perform shark research.
"We have an inflatable shark that we have set up so we can tag it. We can measure it on take several different types of measurements. We can take samples from it, all things that shark scientists do normally when we go offshore, and we're doing field research," said Angela Rosenberg of President and co-founder of Angari Foundation.
Angari provides scientist voyages at cost to researchers.
"Shark research, it can be pretty difficult to get out there and get your data partially cuz it's really expensive. You know, you need to have a big crew and lots of days on the water to get what you need. So being able to have partnerships with groups like Angari who have the vessel and are and have the expertise to be able to take us out on the water is really just a perfect match," said Erin Spencer who is a shark researcher at FIU.
Other vendors like Jupiter's River Center will have touch tanks filled with critters for children to expand their knowledge about marine life in the Intracoastal.