Crafts!

Hi Sea Fans!

So I've been thinking, with all my travels so far, I haven't managed to give you guys any crafty stuff lately.  I can't do that now, can I?  So here are some ideas for you to get creative:

Glass ball with decoration.

Why not have a Christmas in July party and decorate glass balls now (ready for Dec!).  Jellyfish and an octopus would be great decorations on these balls...maybe you could even try a fish and use the ball as the body and stick lips and fins on to make it look like a real puffer fish!

Penguin spoon puppet.

What about a puppet show using spoons?  This little penguin was so easy to make - a little bit of cardboard for wings, a little bit of felt for the beak and feet, and ring binder rings for the eyes.  So simple and you could come up with so many more animals and then build a playhouse out of a shoe box and put on a show!

Felt finger puppets.

If you don't like the spoon puppets, then how about felt finger puppets?  All you need is a strip of felt to make a ring around the tip of your finger and then an oval for the penguin body and small pieces for the details.  You can also make a fish shape, an octopus, a shark face, a turtle...the options are endless!

Recycling anyone?

Better yet, why not make something out of the recycle bin?  Bottles can also become fish, bottle caps can become playing pieces for a board game, plastic bags can be woven into placemats, old fishing line can be used to make necklaces and bracelets and ....there are so many possibilities, see what you can come up with and send me a photo of your idea at abby@telkomsa.net.  Maybe your project will be featured on my blog!  Teachers, why not try this as a school project?

Happy crafting Sea Fans!

Cheers

Abby

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California Science Centre

Hi Sea Fans!

The Californian fun continues...this time I went to the California Science Centre in Los Angeles and got to see what the divers there get up to.

The first thing I got to do was chat to Phil and Gwen as they were getting ready to go into the Kelp Forest exhibit.  To qualify to dive they are certified as research divers and follow special procedures for the Science Center. As trained scuba divers they know that diving safely includes diving with a partner.  

Gwen and Phil posing for a photo with me before their dive.

Phil wore a special mask to be able to talk to the visitors from inside the tank. 

The divers' responsibilities vary.  That day Phil chatted with the visiting school students while Gwen cleaned up the rockwork.  

Gwen cleaning the rockwork.

It was interesting, the students wanted to know if it was dangerous to dive and if the divers were scared - I guess you would think it's scary if you've never experienced the amazing underwater world on SCUBA.  

I got to say hi to Gwen in her break.

After the school groups finished Gwen and Phil went back up topside to prepare for feeding.  Aquarist, Mark, brought out the food that was prepared ahead of time, and fed some of the schooling fish from the top of the exhibit.  Gwen hid vitamins in the food for the Trigger fish before going back in the water. 

The big fish in front of the diver is the Trigger.

Special containers are designed to make sure that the food is distributed properly  (spread out evenly).  Some of the methods used are: shakers, floats and feeding wands.

A float in action.

Many fish schooled around and ate from the float full of frozen shrimp. I've made ice buckets with frozen food attached to floats before and the fish just love it!  This is a good way to make sure that the food lasts in the tank for a while and everyone gets to eat, not just the big fish.

So, if you'd like to know more Sea Fans, you can visit the California Science Center website at www.californiasciencecenter.org/ and if you're curious about their kelp exhibit, you can check out YouTube:

How part of the Kelp Tank was made:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CalScience?ob=0#p/u/31/AmGJUprvMCo

The Curator, Dr. Chuck, talking about the Kelp Exhibit (pre-opening):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhod6D_gP3c

a video about life support in ecosystems:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CalScience?ob=0#p/u/34/nuOC3YXMFj8

Curator, Dr. Chuck talking about the Kelp Tank specifically:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CalScience?ob=0#p/u/30/gCQJobz2U6U

So have fun surfing the net Sea Fans and let me know if you have any questions or comments.  

Have a great week.

Cheers!

Abby

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Santa Monica, California

Hi Sea Fans!

California is a blast!  I've been having so much fun and there's still so much more to see and do.  Check out my visit to Santa Monica Pier Aquarium:

I got to help out with the food preparation.

 Food prep (Preparation) is one of the most important parts of the day, each animal needs to be fed a specific diet and it needs to be just the right size, otherwise you can have animals starving because they can't fit the food into their mouths!  Some animals, like the seahorses, jellyfish and corals get live food (plankton) but others get dead food.

Tricky working with such a big knife, but it was fun.

Smaller fish get tiny chopped up pieces of food and big fish get bigger chunks.  Some fish are vegetarians or HERBIVORES and they only eat plants so the aquarist needs to feed them plants like Ulva (sea lettuce) or nori (seaweed - like the one you use for sushi but no flavourant, colourant or roasting is allowed, just DRIED).

I got to see all the exhibits inbetween getting some work done too!

The aquarists let me follow them around when they did their daily rounds to check on the animals.  It's really important to check on your animals EVERY day...it makers it a lot easier to pick up on any problems if there are any.

The moray eel seemed to like me! : )

Jose, my host at the aquarium, took me out on the boat to collect organisms like giant kelp.

Jose allowing me to sit in front of him whilst he skippered (drove the boat).

Lucky dip!

Kelp.

After the collection trip, we bumped into some children on the beach.  They were fascinated when they found out that I had come all the way from South Africa!

 I got so cold on the boat that we decided to have a warm up session (any excuse to enjoy a bit of the sunshine and scenery!) by going to Flat Rock in Palos Verdes to check out the rock pools for crabs and snails.

Cool sunglasses, don't you think?

Enjoying the view.

So all in all, it was some good fun and I got to see some more of American aquarist life.  Join me next time for my adventures with the divers at the California Science Centre.

Have a great week Sea Fans!
Cheers
Abby
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Looking for interesting topics for school projects?

Hi Sea Fans!

Are you stuck for a topic for your next project or speech at school?  Well, why not have a look at the list of previous blogs that I've stored away and choose something amazing from the marine/aquarium world!
You can check the more recent blogs out on the right hand side of the blog screen and if you don't find anything there, check out my blog from the 13 March 2012 and the list below.  If you'd like access to any of them, all you have to do is mail me at abby@telkomsa.net and I'll get the one you want to you ASAP! 

• Baby crayfish
• Crocs
• Fish head
• Humans waddling for penguins (Don't forget, if you're in SA, the humans are going to waddle again this year to make people more aware of the plight of the penguin.  16 - 21 April - be there!  Check out www.penguinpromises.com)
• Marine Biodiversity at the Expo
• My update Nov 2011
• Stinky

So get creative, get reading and have fun with your next project!!

Have a great weekend Sea Fans!

Cheers

Abby

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Hatfield Marine Science Centre

Hi Sea Fans!


Here's the next bit of my Oregon adventures:


DAY 3:

Hey, the weather has changed.  All that nice warm sunlight from yesterday has been replaced by clouds, wind, and rain.  Gene says this is normal for the Oregon coast... hmmm, not sure I like this weather.

When we arrived at Hatfield, which is just around the corner from the aquarium, the first thing I saw was this really cool one-person submarine and I ran right over and climbed on top to pose for a photo.

Then Gene pointed out the sign...all I can say is, OOPS! (Sorry, I'll read before I act next time!)

Once inside the centre, I was fascinated by this contraption that looked like a bunch of huge construction hats connected together.  It turned out that they were floats attached to a thing called a "rumbleometer".  It was used to study underwater volcanoes off the coast of Oregon.  

Then I got my picture taken with Gene standing next to a poster that shows the wingspan of an albatross.  Gene is 6 foot 8, and the bird has a wingspan of 6 foot 10.  I suddenly felt very small.  I think I'm going to have to write a blog just on the albatross...it's an amazing bird that spends most of its time in the sky.

Many of the displays at Hatfield highlight the research being done by scientists at Oregon State University.

Here I am checking out oyster research that is taking place in Yaquina Bay here in Newport.

When we left Hatfield we walked a couple of blocks down to the pier where OSU’s research vessels are docked.  

We saw the R/V Wecoma.  She's about to be retired.

Gene tells me that just two days after I left Newport there was quite a fuss made when Dr. Hanshumaker went diving under the hull of the replacement ship and found an invasive species of barnacle that is not normally found in Yaquina Bay.  Fortunately scientists quickly found out that this barnacle couldn’t survive and reproduce in the bay (shew!  Invasive species can be a real problem, have a look at the Blue Mussel that's made its way down to South Africa, it's taking over the Black Mussel's home).

My last stop on my visit to Oregon was the beautiful Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  Built on a 65 million year-old lava flow back in 1873, the lighthouse is still in service.  Its light is perched 52 m above the ocean and can be seen more than 30 km out to sea.  It had been misty and drizzling all morning, but as we headed north to the lighthouse the wind started to blow hard and the rain was really coming down, so when we got to Yaquina Head, I chose the easy option (I didn't want to get all wet!) and chose to look at the lighthouse from the car window.

Tomorrow I head to the airport to fly to Santa Monica, California.  I hear the weather is warmer and sunny down there.  I enjoyed my visit to Oregon, but I am ready for some of that famous California beach time.  Thanks Gene, I had a great time!  J

Chat soon Sea Fans!
Abby
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Newport aquarium and...

Hi Sea Fans!

From Alaska I went south to Oregon and here's my journal entry:

DAY 1:

Alaska was beautiful, but I have to admit that all that snow and ice gets old, and the lack of daylight messed with my internal clock.  I’m really glad to be here on the coast of Oregon.  Wow!  It’s as pretty here as it is in Alaska, but it's a lot warmer.  My hosts at the Oregon Coast Aquarium have planned out a whole range of activities for me that will showcase a number of marine education opportunities in the area around Newport.  If you check out a map of Oregon you will find Newport right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean about halfway between Washington to the north and California to the south.

Gene, who's my host in Oregon, says that we'll not just visit the aquarium, but also the Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ships that are now using Newport as their Pacific operations center, and we'll visit a 140 year old lighthouse that's still in service.  I’m excited, but I have to get some sleep before tomorrow’s busy schedule. 

DAY 2:

The Monday morning volunteer meeting is famous for all the great food the volunteers bring in to go with their morning coffee.  

Harry and Nan said it was a special occasion so I could have two treats.  I didn't want to make a pig of myself, so I just took one...don't these treats look yummy?!

Then Nan said I should start my aquarium visit by coming with her to the aviary where five different kinds of coastal birds are guests of the aquarium all year round.

I was being silly standing on the rocks - I slipped and almost fell into the  water, but luckily Nan caught me just in time.

Oh boy!  Look at all those birds.  There are Tufted Puffins, Pigeon Guillemots, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets, and even two Oystercatchers (remember the Oystercatchers Ed and I saw at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town?). 

The Oystercatchers.  This pair hatched out a chick last Spring, and when it was fully grown,
it moved to the Sea Life Centre in Seward, Alaska. 

The Oystercatchers are really noisy birds, and Nan told me that they don’t like other Oystercatchers in their territory, so they can only keep two in the aviary.

Many people think that the murres look a lot like penguins,

but I read the sign and it said that penguins live south of the Equator, and auks live to the north.  I had never heard of auks before, but here they were... so close I could almost reach out and touch them.  (The sign said I shouldn’t touch the birds, so I didn’t try).

This Common Murre is just changing over from its winter non-breeding plumage (feathers)
 to its breeding plumage. 

After we had seen all the birds it was time to feed the sea otters.  Gene took me over to the huge pool where up to four otters live.  There are only three otters in the pool now, but if an otter pup gets injured or orphaned, there is a home waiting for him at OCA.  I said “him” because all the otters living here are boys.  It turns out that if there was a girl otter here, the boys would all fight to be her friend, and that would not be good.

...here come the mammal specialists who feed and care for the otters.

It’s a bit hard to see Aialik hiding behind his handler, but he is allowing her to check him out from nose to tail to make sure he is healthy.

The otters each eat between 6.8 and 9.1 kg of high quality seafood every day!  They do not have blubber (fat layer) like the seals and whales do, so they have to burn food to stay warm in the cold water.  It costs almost $20 000 a year to feed each otter!!!  Imagine if your dog cost as much to feed?!

I also got to meet some really nice people at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Wilma helped me to learn about the colorful animals that live in tide pools along the Oregon coast.

I caught up with Michelle at lunchtime.  She works in Operations and her job is to make sure that visitors have a safe and enjoyable experience when they visit the aquarium. 

Here's Gene - he's introducing me to the Monday afternoon volunteers.  There are around 400 volunteers who work at the aquarium as interpreters, landscapers, painters, food preparation specialists, divers and office assistants.

After meeting the volunteers,  we went out to "Passages of the Deep".  This is the exhibit that replaced the huge pool where Keiko the Killer Whale lived (while he lived at the aquarium).  On our way into the exhibit we stopped by the shop for a sample of fudge...I couldn't resist, it was really good!

Look at all the flavours!

Inside the Passages of the Deep you can actually walk through the ocean with all the animals, including the sharks, swimming all around you.  I met a very nice family while I was watching the sharks, they seemed really like me...in fact the youngest girl wanted me to go home with her, but I told her I had more to see and other places to travel before I head back to my home in Africa.

Tomorrow is my last day in Oregon and we are going to visit Hatfield Marine Science Center, NOAA, and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  I am going to get some sleep so I am ready for tomorrow.

I'll leave it at that for now Sea Fans...keep an eye on my blog, I'll post the next bit soon!

Have a great week Sea Fans!

Cheers

Abby

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Older posts - archive

Hi Sea Fans!

If you're wondering where some of the old posts are with the stories you enjoyed reading (or haven't read yet), don't worry, they're not gone forever.  I had to do a bit of a clean-up of my website so I've put a whole bunch of the older blog posts into a folder and if you'd like access to any of them, all you have to do is mail me at abby@telkomsa.net and I'll get the one you want to you ASAP!
Here's the list of what's been stored away:

•         Abby does Malaysia - my trip to Malaysia

•         At the printers - my first being printed

•         Exciting news - the first public viewing of my book

•         Facebook can really be amazing - FB, my website and my book

•         Facebook page - I started on FB and got comments

•         First Words - intro and piranhas

•         Getting there - BBC LIFE DVD

•         Gone to print - 1st book printed and Leafy Seadragon

•         Honey Badgers and Be Mad Teens - Jhb Zoo, nudibranchs, sea hares

•         It’s been a while - diving in Malaysia

•         Junior diving - different SCUBA diving you can do and at what age

•         Kids can help grown-ups too! - Elkanah Prep help me with my 1st book

•         Laser cutting - how the craft kits are made

•         Members get a sneak preview - Two Oceans Aquarium book preview

•         Paul the octopus and other cephalopods

•         Pipe cleaner penguins - how to make them

•         Sleepover and escaped lungfish

•         Sting from a stingray

•         Things happen - an escaping octopus

•         Lights, camera, action - camera crews in aquariums and what aquarists do

•         Books, books, books and a huge stingray

•         WhatalotIgot! - Cape Town Book Fair, Wild Carribean DVD, Dragonet, Mandarin fish, Frogfish

•         Durban sunshine here I come - my visits around SA and getting into Canada

•         SA blog award nominations

•         Thanks

•         Diving with seals

•         Sharks, squid and starfish and Yebo

•         How to publish a book

•         Ho ho ho and the 5 Gyres team

•         Christmas penguins - Christmas in the aquarium

Have a great week Sea Fans!

Cheers

Abby

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