The children eagerly awaited their chance to touch the crab.  A few recoiled from the small crustacean while others jostled to get closer to its Tupperware home.

The Lloyd Center's Estuary on Wheels program came to the packed Mattapoisett Free Public Library July 26 to present an hour of local coastal critters ranging from mussels to quahogs to crabs.

The Lloyd Center, an educational non-profit in Dartmouth, runs the Estuary on Wheels as part of its mission to foster respect and affection for nature. The visit to Mattapoisett marked the first time in several years the estuary had come.

"The Estuary on Wheels is to teach the kids about local coastal life," said Amanda Nowicki, an Educator Naturalist with the Lloyd Center. "We use the foam board to show where creatures we can't bring in, like lobsters and fish, live."

Nowicki presented to the children a foam board and set of small stick-on animals to show where coastal creatures normally live while on the other side of the room children were able to see live animals from an estuary.

"There was a girl here who couldn't even talk, she was like 18 months old," said Gillian Victor, a Lloyd Center Education Intern who presented a variety of the sea creatures. "She was trying so hard to touch the crab."

"These are all local organisms," said Jasmine Smith-Gillen, Educator Naturalist for the Lloyd Center. "I think the majority of them were caught in Dartmouth."

"This is the first time in a few years we've had the estuary here," said Linda Burke, Children's Librarian for the library. "It's part of our 'Walk on the Wild Side' theme this summer, but today it should be swim on the wild side."

"There's such a community here," said Smith-Gillen. "I'm so pleased with the turnout."

"The kids were great," said Erika Fernandes, a Lloyd Center Education Intern who presented to the children. "Today was awesome, I love Mattapoisett."

For more information about the Lloyd Center, check out http://www.lloydcenter.org/