Tag Archives: conservation
Virtual Research Mission blogs
Celebration of Conservation and Creep into the DEEPEND Seamails™
Welcome Teachers. This month we’re posting some of the Seamails and activities from our most recent Virtual Research Missions: Celebration of Conservation and Creep into the DEEPEND. We’ll post the email from the Science Team member, plus photos, videos, activities, Explorer mini-posters (bios) or other related information or links. For our programs, teachers pick and choose, mix and match the Seamails, photos, activities…etc. how ever you would like to use them with your class. (We put the blog — aka Seamail in pdf format for ease of use in the classroom.)
Here’s the first one from Dave Weller from the Celebration of Conservation: Gray Whales, Elephant Seals, and Vaquita. Enjoy
Celebration of Conservation Highlights:
TEAM GRAY WHALE
- SEAMAIL: Welcome to the Celebration of Conservation from Dr. DAVE WELER
- Photo: Gray Whale Mother and Calf
- Photo: Gray whale mother and calf (b/w)
- Photo: Spyhopping Gray Whale
- Photo: Piedras Blancas Lighthouse
- Photo: Piedras Blancas Lighthouse Aerial View 1
- Photo: Piedras Blancas Lighthouse Aerial View 2
- Mini-Poster: David Weller Ocean Explorer Mini-Poster
- Activity: A Celebration of Conservation Journal
- Activity: Team Gray Whale Certificate
- Information: Whales
- Information: Baleen Whales
- Video: Baleen vs Toothed Whale Courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Oceanscape Network
(NOTE: For classroom use only. Seamails, photos, activities and other related curricula are copyrighted and trademarked and cannot be sold, posted, repackaged, or used in any other way without written permission of WhaleTimes, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
It’s Slime Time!
Merry…uh…Happy, no…hmmm, oh, Hooray, it’s HAGFISH DAY!!! Celebrate the anniversary of the 9th Hagfish Day Celebration with us October 18, 2017!!! Nine years of exotic, unusual, some might say ugly (we prefer beauty-challenged) ocean animals.
The beautiful hagfish.
WhaleTimes created Hagfish Day (in 2009) to celebrate the beauty of ugly. Hagfish are the perfect example. These deep-sea scavengers ooze buckets of slime. They also play an important role in their ecosystem. WhaleTimes believes repugnant and slightly revolting animals like hagfish make great role models for highlighting conservation concerns for all marine animals.
“Sometimes it seems as if ecological causes are popularity contests that exclude the less attractive and less well-known, though equally vulnerable, creatures,” said WhaleTimes Director Ruth Musgrave. “There are species in peril that kids never hear about.”
How do you celebrate Hagfish Day? Classrooms, individuals and families can participate by making Hagfish Slime, writing , make or send a Hagfish Bouquet to a friend. It’s sure to be a good slime! Below are some Hagfish Day activities if you just can’t wait to celebrate the beauty of ugly.
What makes for a great Hagfish Day star? Animals that are a combination of unusual, endangered, and beauty challenged.
2017 Hagfish Stars Unveiled
- black dragonfish (Echiostoma barbatum)
- Heteropods What are heteropods you might ask? According to expert Kris Clark,, “…They’re kind of like little globs of snot looking for other snot-like creatures to eat…”
- Might Marine Microbes
- And of course, hagfish
- Watch these amazing hagfish shared by Dr. Andrew Clark:
2017 Hagfish Day Experts: Our extraordinary ocean experts include
Andrew Clark & Hagfish Knots
- Kristine Clark & Heteropods
- Jose Lopez
- Tracey Sutton & Dragonfish
Want to show your friends you care, but don’t have time to make a Hagfish Bouquet? Send a Happy Hagfish Day card to a friend. (Click on thumbnail photo, save, and send.) 
- Expert Interviews from previous Hagfish Day celebrations
- Hagfish Day Stars throughout the years
- Hagfish Day Activities
See 60 Minutes segment on Vaquitas
This 60 Minutes segment about vaquitas is a must watch!
Join WhaleTimes, Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Oceanscape Network, and Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries as we celebrate 2017 Year of the Vaquita and Save the Vaquita Month every March. Don’t just join us, make a difference. DEMAND sustainable, traceable seafood.
savethevaquita {at} this website
Join us at the DEEPEND!
Joins WhaleTimes at the DEEPEND, no floaties required!
Our DEEPEND Science Team is at sea, right now! Follow the ship (May 1 to 8th) on the DEEPEND Consortium website.
That means, WhaleTimes’ first set of Postcards from the DEEPEND will be arriving soon!
WhaleTimes is excited to be part of the DEEPEND Project…a consortium of amazing scientists and organizations studying the Gulf of Mexico deep sea.
WhaleTimes will share the DEEPEND science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) with you through our
- Creep into the Deep Virtual Research Missions
- Postcards from the DEEPEND
- Taking Science Deeper Curriculum
…and so much more. Find out more
DEEPEND research, outreach, and education funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI) award number GOMRI2014-IV-914
News from Dudley: Whale sharks
Hi Kids,
This is one of my friends, a whale shark. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea and, as you can see, also one of the most beautiful. Whale sharks grow to reach 40 feet or more! Maybe as big as 65 feet long! Their average weight is about 40,000 pounds. That’s about the weight of 10 cars!
Its white spots and pale vertical and horizontal stripes make it easy to identify. They have a flattened head with a blunt snout and a giant mouth. According to EVERYTHING SHARKS (National Geographic Kids, 2011) it’s mouth is almost as wide as a car! Wow!
Don’t worry, this gorgeous giant is only interested in eating plankton (tiny plants and animals).
Like many shark species, whale sharks need our help. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) lists whales sharks as vulnerable mostly due to overfishing.
See you later,
Dudley
PS. Remember to join us for Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks a Voice on May 8, 2015 to celebrate sharks!
Creep into the Deepend!
WhaleTimes is excited to be part of the DEEPEND Project
…a consortium of amazing scientists and organizations studying the Gulf of Mexico deep sea. WhaleTimes will share that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to you through our Creep into the Deep Virtual Research Missions, Postcards from the Deep, Taking Science Deeper Curriculum, and so much more.
Our first Postcards from the Deep…End arriving this spring.
Our first Creep into the Deep…End cruise, this fall.
Joins WhaleTimes at the DEEPEND, no floaties required!
DEEPEND research, outreach, and education funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. Thank you!
Learn more about the DEEPEND funding at: http://research.gulfresearchinitiative.org/research-awards/projects/?pid=257
Gray Whales…
…swimming through your classroom or scout meeting!
Enroll today, space is limited! Find out more: Gray Whales: Celebration of Conservation
Invite gray whale experts into your classroom!
Gray Whale: Celebration of Conservation Poster
Be part of WhaleTimes next Virtual Research Mission…
Gray Whales: Celebration of Conservation
Students connect with Southwest Fisheries Science Center-NOAA (SWFSC) biologists at the Piedras Blancas (California) field station. This is the third year SWFSC scientists have invited classrooms ‘into’ the gray whale research station. Students learn about the importance of monitoring and counting mother-calf pairs, photo identification of individual whales, and more.
Mission Date: April 20 to May 1, 2015
To register or find out about classroom scholarships contact: graywhales2015 this URL
Dr. Dean Grubbs shows off “Big as Life” Thank You for Fintastic Friday!!!
A six gill shark takes a selfie in the deep
Recently, WhaleTimes Director Ruth Musgrave was invited to visit elementary schools in Oregon City, Oregon to talk about sharks. She discovered the kids in Oregon City LOVE sharks as much as we do.
The kids were inspired to celebrate Fintastic Friday early and send a “Big as Life” thank you to biologists helping sharks.
If you follow the link below you’ll see Dr. Dean Grubbs, Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory, showing off his thank you!Take a look! https://www.facebook.com/FSUCML
Thank you kids — and Dr. Grubbs and our friends at Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory! Together we can save sharks!
Don’t forget to mark your calendar, Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates, and Rays a Voice is just months away.