Marine Discovery Centre in Henley, Australia

Hi Sea Fans!

Ok, so I'm getting another post in before the end of Jan - phew!  Tim from Henley, South Australia, invited me to come and see what they get up to and boy, was my visit an adventure.

They have Port Jackson sharks (very cool),

Photo: Richard Ling

seahorses, porcupine fish, trumpeters, bream and a blue devil from their local marine waters, River Murray Cod,

Photo: Codman at en.wikipedia

silver perch and yabbies (freshwater crayfish).

I got to try out their video-microscope which the learners use to look at beach combing items like crabs, Great White Shark teeth, seadragons, sea stars and much, much more.

I also tested their new interactive models which they design and develop themselves (very cool job!),

Go to http://www.marinediscoverycentre.com.au/Marine_Discovery/models/Models.html to see more!!!

their Diving website game and I caught up with their awesome volunteers (Tim reckons they're the best in the world : )).

Thanks so much Tim, it's always so interesting seeing animals from another country.

Have a look at their website (http://www.mdca.org.au/centres/henley-beach/) if you'd like to know more (I DEFINITELY recommend checking out their interactive models on the website) or if you'd just like to play some games:  http://www.marinediscoverycentre.com.au/Marine_Discovery/games/WhoEatsWho.html

Enjoy the weekend and chat soon Sea Fans!
Cheers
Abby
}( *)8

How did I miss December???

Hi Sea Fans!

I see that I didn't even get around to one single blog in Dec...and now I'm only going to have one in Jan.  So sorry to leave you hanging guys, I've been running around quite a bit.  From the US to Australia and back AND I'm trying to organise my next few stops in the US and then where I'll be going to after that.

Let me get you up to date first:

AUSTRALIA
I visited Tim at Tagai State College where he showed me how the students have been monitoring Seagrass for the last 8 years at the same locations (places).  The monitoring is done to pick up if there is any change in the meadow (the patch of Seagrass).  The way they do it is by taking photos in a set pattern (quadrants) so that they can make sure that it's done in the same way each time.

Here I am sitting next to a photo marker next to one of the squares (quadrants) in a Seagrass meadow.

Thanks to Tim and the Tagai students, nice to do something different again.

USA
I've been to Miami Seaquarium and the University of Miami to check out their nudibranch, cobia (a type of fish) and coral research.  For some silly reason, I don't have my pics sorted yet so I'll get those posted ASAP.  Thanks for hosting me Mark!

ANTARCTICA
I've got more photos coming for this trip too.

Have a great week Sea Fans and chat soon.
Cheers
Abby
}( *)8

Evidence of my Travels so far

Hi Sea Fans!

I just wanted to share this with you because I thought it's very cool.  I'm collecting badges as I travel the world from the aquariums and other facilities that I visit.  I may have trouble getting through security checks at the airport with all this metal (he he he)!

Thanks to everyone who's hosted me so far, you've all been amazing and I hope we've inspired a few up and coming marine biologists.

Have a great week Sea Fans.
Cheers
Abby
}( *)8

Jellyfish Ice Cream

Hi Sea Fans!

I couldn't believe this when I read it so I thought I'd pass it on for you all to read:

Glow-in-the-dark ice cream inspired by jellyfish!  Every lick makes it glow even more.  $225 a scoop though!

Photo: Lick Me Delicious (the creators of this ice cream)

The proteins in jellyfish have been recreated and put into this icy snack.

Check out: http://www.dairyreporter.com/Ingredients/Lick-it-and-it-lights-up!-The-jellyfish-ice-cream-that-glows

Have a great week Sea Fans!
Cheers
Abby
}( *)8

Happy Halloween!

Hi Sea Fans!

Well, this year was a fantastic year for dressing up for Halloween.  It seems that more and more people are getting into it...not for the bad stuff linked to it, but just for the fun of dressing up and for THE SWEETS!!! There's no such thing as too may sweets :) (Don't tell your mom I said that!)

Here are two aquarium exhibits that got into the mood:

Batfish Exhibit

Anybody need a new and interesting home for their worms?:)  Well done Pierre at Two Oceans Aquarium for this one.

 A seal that was loving the pumpkins:

Alaska Sea Life Centre

And some of my friends (aquarists) decided to go all out at work!:

This is one scary penguin feeder!

Artistic otter being instructed by a werewolf and witch.

Eek!  Careful if you're in THAT tunnel after dark! :)

Hope you all had a good one.

Attention all aquarists: Please start sending me your Christmas Aquarium pics so that I can start putting them on the blog for everyone to see what you're up to this year.

All readers: Why not send in your Christmas pics of you visiting your favourite local aquarium and I'll also post the pics here.

Have a great week Sea Fans.
Cheers for now!
Abby
}( *)8

Mote Marine Lab and Aquarium

Hi Sea Fans!

Mote Marine Lab is in Sarasota, Florida in the US (yes, the American leg of my trip continues! : )).

Mote was founded back in 1955 by a woman named Eugenie Clark...lots of people know her as the "Shark Lady".  You can go to http://www.sharklady.com/ to find out more about Dr Clark, but something I thought you'd be interested in is that she has done 71 deep submersible dives and the last time I heard, she was STILL DIVING...amazing for her age!!!

Anyway, back to Mote...the lab is named after a man, William R. Mote, who was a close friend of the lab and a keen fisherman.

Lots of research gets done at the aquarium and out in the field so the people who work there are very busy.  Dolphins, manatees, sharks and coral reefs are just some of the things they study.  I got to help out at the aquarium where they are breeding seahorses at the moment...  I got to feed them. :)

I also got to help the docents (the people you find walking around the aquarium who chat to you about the animals or those that are stationed somewhere like a touch tank to tell you more and answer your questions) on one of the days I was there.

My best experiences though was helping with the shark training and observing a manatee training session...awesome!

Thanks to Kasey and everyone at Mote for showing me what you do in a day, I had a great time.  Sea Fans, if you'd like to check them out, go to www.mote.org.

That's it for now.
Chat soon.
Cheers
Abby
}( *)8

Whales in Oz

Hi Sea Fans!

As promised, here's the Australian bit of my adventure with Mike:

Australia

Australia was awesome! Thanks to Mike and the girls from St. Mary's Anglican Girls School in Perth, Western Australia...love you guys!

Whale watching from the Reef Prince (the boat we used in Busselton, Western Australia).

The St. Mary's girls made a life-sized humpback whale (parents and teachers can see more info as to how you can do this at the end of this blog)

which we donated to the Lady of the Cape Catholic School.

And...excitement for me...we met a non-whale!

So another interesting marine career....teaching about the sea and the animals that live in it can be just as amazing as working with the animals themselves. Thanks again to Mike and all the girls!

Hi ho hi ho it's off a-travelling I go...
Chat soon!
Cheers
Abby
}( *)8........

For Parents and Teachers:

Lucy is an inflatable 55-foot long whale that you can construct.

Students and teachers can walk inside. Your class or group can build a 55-foot long, 8-foot diameter model of a whale that can be carried in a duffel bag by one person. The directions and a list of materials needed to build this unique educational resource are in the booklet, "How to Build an Inflatable (55 ft.) Whale." The booklet also includes suggested classroom activities and data. Estimated cost for materials is about $60.00.

The cost for this instruction booklet is $10.00 and can be purchased by sending your payment with your order. (All booklets are still available.)

For information see links:

http://whale.wheelock.edu/whalenet-stuff/LucyPage.html
or

http://sites.google.com/site/inflatablewhalemodel/
This has a great impact on children and adults. The model I use has has thousands of students through it. It lasts for years and needs only a household three speed box fan for inflation.