Category Archives: Fintastic Friday: Saving Sharks Skates and Rays

Thank you to all our summer camps and Science Teams!

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Wow, it has been the fastest summer yet! Kindergarten to 8th grade kids from across the country participated in two WhaleTimes’ virtual research missions. They danced to DNA, made vaquita wind socks, and created elephant seal tags. The kids also dazzled the Science Team members with their knowledge and challenged them with thought-provoking questions during the 30+ Skype™ sessions.

Our Creep into the DEEPEND Summer Camp program took kids to the deep sea in the Gulf of Mexico with the DEEPEND Science Team. They met cool animals and even cooler research and researchers while discovering  DEEPEND Consortium’s important deep-sea research.

Kids joined Patrick W. Robinson,  Dave Weller, Barbara Taylor,  Daniel Costa and their Science Teams from the UC-Santa Cruz, Costa Lab, UC Año Nuevo Island Reserve and Southwest Fisheries Science Center/NOAA (vaquita and gray whale research) as part of our Celebration of Conservation: Gray Whales, Elephant Seals, and Vaquita. Summer camp kids learned about the beautiful gray whale, the amazing elephant seal, and the shy vaquita. The kids heard the successful conservation stories of the elephant seal and gray whale. Conservation efforts that saved both species from extinction. Summer campers also learned that the vaquita’s conservation story is still being written. With less than 30 vaquita left, we don’t know if it’ll have a happy ending or not.

Through both WhaleTimes’ programs our summer camp kids learned two important lessons. 1) Everybody makes a difference when it comes to conservation; 2) Everyone can help save ocean animals by only buying and/or eating sustainably caught seafood (when you are hankering for seafood).

Thank you to our Science Team Members, volunteers, and the museums and science centers for making it another amazing summer!

  • DEEPEND Research and Creep into the DEEPEND program funded by funded by Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI) award number GOMRI2014-IV-914
  • The Celebration of Conservation Elephant Seal Team’s research funded in part by: The Office of Naval Research, Joint Industry Program, Año Nuevo Reserve; gray whale and vaquita research supported by Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries. The education program portion funded by WhaleTimes and supported by volunteer time and effort from the Science Teams themselves and WhaleTimes’ volunteers.

Thank you to our museum and science centers for letting us make a splash at your summer camps!

If you missed your chance to join us at a summer camp near you, the program will be back next year.

   

Vaquita Update June 2017: Next Step

Posted on by whaleweb

Fifty vaquitas left, no, thirty, wait…seven more found dead in the last few months. The news is bleak for vaquitas as the population continues to decline.

A vaquita is a porpoise and the most endangered whale  in the world. Less than 30 survive.

Efforts to stop illegal fishing of the (critically endangered) totoaba and use of gillnets has been at the forefront of scientists and the Mexican Government. Unfortunately, vaquitas (and totoabas) continue to die. With the latest CIRVA report, scientists now believe the only way to save vaquita from extinction is to try to capture the porpoises and put them in safety away from gillnets. “The Mexican government and its conservation partners have organized a live capture effort to try to save the vaquita from extinction….” Read more in this Vaquita Update (courtesy of the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

When you eat seafood, and only eat or buy sustainable seafood.  Find out how: What is Sustainable?

Are you doing everything you can to protect the ocean? Take the 30 Days to a Sustainable You Survey and find out.

The power to protect ocean animals like the vaquita is in your hands.

 

Vaquita video

Posted on by whaleweb

Year of the Vaquita 2017

This 60 second video created by Oregon Coast Aquarium, part of TEAM VAQUITA, will quickly introduce you to the vaquita and the challenges being addressed by the Year of the Vaquita.

6-12th grade teachers, looking for vaquita-related activities and fact sheets for older students? Visit Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Oceanscape Network.

K-5 Teachers, check out our Save the Vaquita K-5 fact sheets and activities. Better yet, enroll in our Celebration of Conservation program to learn more about vaquita, elephant seals, and gray whales.

Video courtesy of the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Oceanscape Network

See 60 Minutes segment on Vaquitas

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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.

Year of the VaquitaWhaleTimesCopyrightBTaylor

savethevaquita {at} this website

 

Vaquitas on 60 Minutes this Sunday at 7 p.m.

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Be sure to watch vaquitas and Dr. Barbara Taylor on 60 Minutes (7 p.m. episode) this Sunday! 60 Minutes joined Dr. Barbara Taylor from Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries on a recent population survey in the Gulf of California.

Year of the Vaquita WhaleTimes

 

Fintastic Friday is here!

Posted on by whaleweb

Friday May 13, 2016 is an important holiday, Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates, and Rays a Voice!

WhaleTimes created Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates, and Rays a Voice to help raise awareness and encourage advocacy to protect elasmobranchs. Fintastic Friday SKATE Courtesy NOAA Ocean Explorer wbsmThis special annual holiday is celebrated worldwide.

Humans are not doing their job to protect sharks. Movies, books, and news outlets have created and perpetuated a false, but stereotypical view of sharks. This misguided hatred has caused a lack of compassion  or understanding about sharks’ significant role in the health of the ocean. People hear even less about skates and rays.

On average, only 10 people are killed by sharks a year — in the entire world. BUT people kill more than 11,000 sharks EVERY HOUR of every day. Can you imagine people remaining mum if that number were whales? Dolphins? Penguins? Or some other popular species? Never.

We’ll say it again,  People are not doing their best to protect sharks.

WhaleTimes believes kids are the future of sharks. No one is louder and more enthusiastic than a kid who cares. Kids love sharks. They haven’t seen the movies or heard the skewed, sensationalized, and poorly researched news clips. We want kids from all over the world cheering, SAVE THE SHARKS on this special holiday and every day.

Find out how to celebrate and protect sharks today!

Oceanscape Network highlights WhaleTimes Director

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Mission Shark Rescue coverCongratulations to our very own Ruth A. Musgrave for her efforts in shark and ocean conservation, her new book MISSION: SHARK RESCUE (National Geographic Children’s Books March 2016) and for being highlighted by Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Oceanscape Network as part of their S.T.E.A.M. Powered: Profiles in Science, Creativity and Exploration.

This multi-part series features five women who are at the tops of their fields in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Over the 2015-16 school year, one week will be dedicated to each person, highlighting their education, careers and innovative contributions to their various disciplines — including the discovery of new species, the School Visits April 2016 (12) 448 x 274exploration of hostile ecosystems and the conservation of marine species.

This week, schools are encouraged to submit students’ questions to Ruth via the Oceanscape Network.

Ruth is also sharing her shark conservation message with students throughout Oregon as part of a community service effort with Barnes and Noble (Tualatin) and throughout the world through Skype interviews.

Fintastic Friday I LOVE SHARKS WhaleTimes Copyright RA Musgrave wblrgGo Ruth. And thank you for helping raise awareness of sharks.

We sure have a lot to celebrate this year for Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates, and Rays a Voice. Don’t forget to celebrate with us on May 13.

 

Give a shout out for sharks

Posted on by whaleweb

Happy Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates and Rays a Voice!

Nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) Courtesy NOAA

Nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) Courtesy NOAA

Fintastic Friday celebrates sharks and encourages everyone to find ways to change public opinion about from hatred to love and fear to appreciation. Think of it as Earth Day for sharks!

Gray reef (Carcharinus amblyrhynchos) Courtesy NOAA Photo credit David Burdick

Gray reef (Carcharinus amblyrhynchos) Courtesy NOAA Photo credit David Burdick

Why a day for sharks? Shark, ray, and skate populations throughout the world are in peril, some threatened and others critically endangered. All of them need more people to care.

We know people and scientists can encourage governments to save sharks the same way they pushed for protection of whales so long ago. In fact, there are many countries stepping up to protect sharks by creating sanctuaries for sharks, but more need to be part of the solution.

To celebrate we want you to meet just a few scientists and organizations working to protect sharks, skates, and rays throughout the world. We suggest you send them all a big sharky thank you! (see the Big as Life Thank You idea on our Fintastic Friday page)

This year’s Fintastic Friday dedicated to Eugenie Clark, an inspiration to all of us to protect our oceans.  Thank you.

Fintastic Friday WhaleTimes Image Courtesy Paulo Maurin NOAA wb lgGet the word out! Share or Like Fintastic Friday on the WhaleTimes Facebook page

Celebrate Fintastic Friday this week!

Posted on by whaleweb

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates, and Rays a Voice, one of the best holidays ever, is this Friday!

Sharks, Skates, and Rays have roamed seas and rivers for…well…practically forever! Their elegant adaptations, from nose to tail, are extraordinary. Their dignified beauty often goes unrecognized or misunderstood. That’s why sharks, skates, and rays are in trouble. Overfishing, finning, habitat destruction, and pollution have put many species in peril, threatening them with extinction. They need people who care to raise their voices.

Fintastic Friday MANTA RAY Courtesy Monitor Expedition 2002 US Navy NOAA OER wbsmWhat can you do? Let people know the real shark, the tiny lanternshark deep in the sea glowing quietly. The quirky cookiecutter shark taking bites out of whales ten times its size. The gigantic basking shark slurping plankton at the surface.  What about the incredible manta ray gracefully dancing through the water? Who doesn’t love the toothy snouts of sawsharks and sawfish? All of them need our help.

Sharks have many fans, but many more people who do not appreciate or understand them. That’s the purpose of Fintastic Friday, to let people know the real animal.

Get Zoned signs. Print and post on your door, at your school, local store or where ever you can. We have two versions One with a yellow background, one without so you can print it on any color paper you want.

WhaleTimes Fintastic Friday Shark Conservation Zone Poster (no background)

WhaleTimes Fintastic Friday Shark Conservation Zone Poster (yellow background)

Kids in Oregon signing Big as Life Thank you for Dr. Dean Grubbs

Kids in Oregon signing Big as Life Thank you for Dr. Dean Grubbs

What else can you do? Create, write, and send a “Bigger as Life” thank to your favorite shark, skate, or ray expert.

Create some shark art, or even have a Sharks in the Park Rally. Find out more on our Fintastic Friday page

Let’s save sharks by celebrating them! Happy Fintastic Friday

Get the word out! Share or Like Fintastic Friday on the WhaleTimes Facebook page.