{"id":2811,"date":"2017-08-30T06:15:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T06:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/whaletimes.org\/?p=2811"},"modified":"2017-08-30T15:45:03","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T15:45:03","slug":"thank-you-to-all-our-summer-camps-and-science-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whaletimes.org\/?p=2811","title":{"rendered":"Thank you to all our summer camps and Science Teams!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0elephant seal tags. The kids also\u00a0dazzled the Science Team members\u00a0with their knowledge and challenged them with thought-provoking\u00a0questions during the 30+ Skype\u2122 sessions.<\/p>\n

Our Creep into the DEEPEND<\/em> Summer Camp<\/a> program took kids\u00a0to the deep sea in the Gulf of Mexico with the DEEPEND Science Team. They met cool animals and even cooler research and researchers while\u00a0discovering\u00a0\u00a0DEEPEND Consortium’s<\/a> important deep-sea research.<\/p>\n

Kids joined Patrick W. Robinson<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0Dave Weller,<\/a>\u00a0Barbara Taylor<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0Daniel Costa<\/a>\u00a0and their Science Teams from the UC-Santa Cruz, Costa Lab,<\/a>\u00a0UC A\u00f1o Nuevo Island Reserve<\/a> and Southwest Fisheries Science Center\/NOAA (vaquita <\/a>and gray whale <\/a>research) as part of our Celebration of Conservation: Gray Whales, Elephant Seals, and Vaquita<\/em><\/a>. Summer camp kids learned about the beautiful gray whale, the amazing elephant seal, and the shy vaquita. The kids\u00a0heard\u00a0the successful conservation stories of the elephant seal and gray whale. Conservation efforts that\u00a0saved\u00a0both species from extinction. Summer campers also\u00a0learned that\u00a0the vaquita’s conservation story\u00a0is still being written. With less than 30 vaquita left, we don’t know if it’ll have a\u00a0happy ending or not.<\/p>\n

Through both WhaleTimes’ programs\u00a0our summer camp\u00a0kids learned\u00a0two\u00a0important lessons. 1)\u00a0Everybody makes a difference when it comes to conservation; 2)\u00a0Everyone can help\u00a0save ocean animals by\u00a0only buying and\/or eating sustainably caught seafood (when you are hankering for seafood).<\/p>\n

Thank you to our Science Team Members, volunteers, and the museums and science centers for making it another amazing summer!<\/p>\n