Whale Behaviours

When we take students whale watching in the Bay of Fundy we never know what we will get the opportunity to see.  Below are some of the interesting whale behaviours that we have seen over the years.

Surface active group (SAG) - right whales socializing 

and possibly courting. 

Lobtailing - lifting tail out of the water and 

then slapping the surface with the tail

Breaching - jumping out of the water

Breaching humpback coming down.

Skim feeding - right whales feed by skimming through the water 

with mouth open to filter plankton from the water

Peduncle throw - lifts tail out of the water and swings it sideways

Spyhop - pokes head above the water to see 

what is going on above the surface

Flipper slap - slapping the surface with a pectoral fin

Harvey Elementary

The grade 2 and 5 classes from Harvey Elementary came to the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium for a tour today.  Here are some pictures from the fun day!  Snorkel and Loki said, "Come back and visit again"!

Learning about the high tides of the Bay of Fundy.

Sea star suction cups.

Checking out the salmon tank.

Dance party with the Bay of Fundy fishes!

Kisses from Loki.

One of the students found a sea star that is growing back two arms,

Beautiful little blood star.

Echinoderm Diversity

Echinoderms are a group of totally marine animals that share the characteristics of spiny skin, radial symmetry (usually 5-sided) and a water vascular system for movement, respiration and food and waste transport.

It is amazing to watch these animals move and feed with the understanding that they have no brain!

Check out the diversity of echinoderms that we have found when exploring the marine environment with students.

Basket star dried specimen (Gorgonocephalus arcticus) 

Daisy brittle stars (Ophiopholis aculeata)

Dwarf brittle star as seen under the microscope (Axiognathus squamata)

Common sea star (Asterias vulgaris)

Forbes' asterias (Asterias forbesii)

Blood star (Henricia sanguinolenta)

Mud star (Ctenodiscus crispatus)

Winged sea star (Pteraster militaris)

Purple sunstars (Solaster endeca)

Spiny sunstar (Solaster papposus)

Silky cucumber or tufted synapta (Chiridota laevis)

Orange footed sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa)

No common name for this sea cucumber (Thyonidium drummondii)

 

Green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)

Sand dollar (Echinarachnius parma)

Harbour View High

Students from the Harbour View High School Marine Biology class arrived on campus this morning excited for their field course.  While here the students went out on our research vessel, the Fundy Spray to collect specimens, studied marine invertebrates in the lab, and conducted a behaviour experiment with echinoderms.  They are now headed back to school with a jar full of live plankton they collected while out on the boat.  It was a quick and intense day but lots of fun!

Measuring a sand dollar.

Biological drawing of a scallop.

The students using their powers of observation to describe the animals.

Behaviour lab with sea stars and urchins.

A sea urchin in the processes of flipping over.

Saint John High - Day 2

This morning the students are in the lab looking to see how size affects the flipping rate of sea stars and urchins.  They are currently analysing the data they collected and in a couple of minutes they are heading to the beach to recapture the periwinkles that were marked yesterday.

This afternoon the students will be working on behaviour labs they have designed.  It should be a fun afternoon!

The results of yesterday's zonation lab.

Flipping sea star.

Getting the mass of an urchin.

Almost done flipping!

Busy in the lab.

Saint John High - Day 1

This morning we welcomed the Grade 12 IB Biology class from Saint John High to campus.  Today the students gathered data on the intertidal flora and fauna for their zonation project and marked periwinkles they will recapture tomorrow to estimate the population.  The highlight of the afternoon was when a seal poked its head out of the water to see what we were doing.  He was very curious!

The students are currently touring the sea lice section of the Huntsman aquaculture department before heading up to the residences to start their zonation write up.

Making field sketches.

 

Hunting for periwinkles.

Periwinkle manicure?

Collecting data on the zonation patterns in the intertidal zone.

The sun even came out!

Talking about sea lice.

SeaWords - Fall 2014

Check out the latest edition of SeaWords, our newsletter for teachers and educators.

Contents include:
- Ten Reasons the Bay of Fundy is a Great Classroom
- data from our invasive species monitoring program
- Activity: Floating Fishes
- Sea Creature Facts: Skates
- and more!

Creepy Creatures for Halloween!

Halloween will be here soon!  Check out some of the creepy and cool creatures we see exploring the marine environment with students.

1) Moon snail - Slime!

2) Blood worm - It bites! This worm shoots out a proboscis that has four teeth on the end, causing lots of shrieks on the beach!

3) Sea mouse - Feels like a mouse, but its a worm...creepy!

4) Toad crab - This crab will let sponge, algae, and other organisms grow on it to act as camouflage making it great at hiding.

5) Planktonic worms - Look at those crazy mouth parts and antennae!  They are found floating in the ocean.

6) Wolffish - They have big teeth and often lay on their side making them look dead.  Creepy!

7) Clam worm - A swimming worm with two black fangs.

8) Ribbon worm - They can be 4 feet long!

9) Sea spiders - Spider-like but not arachnids. I am sure those with arachnophobia won't believe me.

10) Ocean sunfish (Mola mola) - An odd looking, very large fish with a tiny mouth, one large fin on the top and one large fin on the the bottom and appears to have no tail.  The second picture shows the sunfish bones, which feel and look like paper or wood strips.  Odd indeed!