SeaWords - Fall 2015

Hot off the presses is the Fall 2015 edition of our newsletter, SeaWords: Marine Biology in the Classroom.  In this edition you will find:

• The Bay is it a changing - notes from the 2015 field season
• Whale sightings - 2015
• NEW - The Marine Debris Program
• Activity: The Great Diatom Race
• Sea Creature Facts: Phytoplankton
• Dates for our summer field courses

Hands-on Learning

The Huntsman Marine Science Centre Education Department offers lots of exciting, hands-on learning opportunities for people of all ages. Here is a comprehensive list (click on the links for more information):

• Ocean Exploration for Homeschoolers
• Introduction to Marine Biology - for 5-18 year olds
• All Things Marine - NEW program for FAMILIES
• Young Explorer Days - day camps for 7-12 year olds
• Young Explorer Week - week-long camp for age 7-12
• University Field Courses - the summer of 2016
• University Marine Semester - the fall of 2016
• Road Scholars - for adults

We also offer programs for school groups that would like to come for a day or for a week.  These can be a lab and tour at the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium or a program tailored to fit your curriculum and interests while staying on campus at our residences.

To register or ask questions about our programs send us a note or call (506) 529-1200.

Leo Hayes High

For the past few days we have had students from Leo Hayes High on campus.  While here the students have learned about the marine habitat while aboard our research vessel, the Fundy Spray, studied plankton in the lab, toured the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium, completed a lab about microbeads found in toothpaste and facial scrubs, cleaned up our beach (thank you!!), gathered data on an invasive species, and job shadowed with the Huntsman Aquaculture Department.  Here are some pictures of their experiences on campus.

Microbead lab.

All of the blue spots are microbeads (plastic) that were in the toothpaste.  Yuk!

Cleaning up the Huntsman beach. 

#DebrisFreeFundy

Searching for the invasive green crab.

Crabs are measured and then given a mark of nail polish.

Cool! The students found a crab that was regenerating one of its claws.

Job shadowing and learning about salmon aquaculture.

Working with the urchin study.

Grade 6 Ocean Discovery - SJDA

Today I had the pleasure of working with the grade 6 students from Sir James Dunn Academy as part of the Ocean Discovery Program.  Here are some pictures from their day at the Huntsman.

Studying plankton using the microscopes.

Observing and identifying invertebrates in the lab.

Lunch and touch tank time.

The students explored the intertidal zone and found...

rock gunnel fish...

sideswimmers and... 

green crabs.

Completing a behaviour experiment with sea stars.

Thank you to Living Environmental Studies Foundation for partnering with the Huntsman to provide the Ocean Discovery program to Grade 6 students in the Anglophone School District - South.

West Carleton SS & Earl of March SS

The students from Earl of March and West Carleton had the great pleasure of hanging out with some very playful humpback whales while whale watching in the Bay of Fundy.  As well as humpbacks they saw porpoises, seals, dolphins and seabirds, such as puffins.  Here are some great pictures of the humpbacks spyhopping, waving their flippers in the air, and showing their individual flukes while diving.  

Earl of March SS & West Carleton SS - Day 1 & 2

This week we have the pleasure of working with students and teachers from West Carleton Secondary School and Earl of March Secondary School, both from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.  Here are some pictures from their first two days on campus getting to know the basics of the marine environment.  They set off today for an overnight trip to Grand Manan Island to go whale watching in the Bay of Fundy.  

Identifying plankton in the lab.

Touring the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium.

Boarding the boat at low tide.

Plankton collected while aboard the research vessel, the Fundy Spray.

Collecting animals using a benthic drag.

Sorting through animals brought from the bottom of the bay.

We found a scale worm.

In the lab studying the animals collected, including this whelk.

Blood star.

The students received a presentation on the life of lobsters.

Did you know lobsters can regenerate lost legs?

Exploring the intertidal zone at low tide.

The students found lots of animals, including sponge,

sea vases, urchins, sea stars, and sea slugs.

Getting a closer look at urchin anatomy in the lab.

Bell High and South Carleton High - Day 1 & 2

This week on campus we have two schools from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, South Carleton High and Bell High.  These schools have formed a great partnership for a number of years and this year have brought 41 students to study marine biology for the week.  Here are some pictures from their first two days in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea.

Examining life in a drop of ocean water.

Feeding the salmon while touring the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium.

Collecting plankton from the bay.

We conducted a scallop or benthic drag.

Sorting through the items brought up from the ocean floor.

A brittle star.

In one of the drag we caught a lobster.

Exploring the beach at low tide.

We found lots of sea slugs (rough-mantled nudibranchs).

Most of the animals were found under rocks.

Experiencing the tide coming in at the Bar Road to Ministers Island.

In the lab studying the live animals we collected.

On a wildlife cruise in the Bay of Fundy.

We saw tons of feeding seabirds, including these Bonaparte's gulls.