New creatures

Recently the aquarium welcomed two new wolffish as residents.  Check out their pictures below.  If you visit the aquarium you can enter the contest to name them!  

For more information on the Huntsman Marine Science Centre check out our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca.  

Blacks Harbour School

Over the next month the Huntsman is hosting grade 6 students from schools in our local district, through The Ocean Discovery Program. 

Today we welcomed a class of excited students from the Blacks Harbour School to the new lab in the aquarium.  The students had a chance to view plankton through compound microscopes, search for invertebrates at Brandy Cove (their favourite finds were a tiny seastar and sideswimmers), get up close and personal with hermit and rock crabs, and determine if Pumpkin the orange and black lobster was a boy or a girl (boy for those that are interested!).  It was a great day with everyone learning how to pick up a crab properly and a couple of the more fearful students summoning their bravery to pick up the crabs!

For more information on the Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program and how you can give your students a similar experience visit our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/grade_6.html.

The hunt is on..."I think its a hermit crab!"

The tiny seastar that caused excitement in the intertidal zone.

The boys deciding which crab is their favourite!

Learning how to use a field guide.

New Lab

Check out some pictures of our new lab in the Fundy Discovery Aquarium!  Our first group of students will be using it on Monday.  Very exciting!

Interested in a program in our new lab? Check out our website www.huntsmanmarine.ca.

Finger sponge

The finger sponge (Haliclona oculata) or mermaid’s glove as it is known in Britain is appropriately named as it looks like fingers reaching up from the ocean floor.  This is a common sponge students collect from the benthic community while onboard our research vessel.

·    Permanently attached to the bottom.

• Two different sized pores; tiny pores allow water and food to enter; larger pores allow waste to be released.
• Has no nervous system nor distinct tissues or organs.
• Predators include spiny sunstars and sea slugs.

If you are interested in giving your students an experience of a lifetime collecting live marine animals, check out our website for information on booking a field course, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/education.html.

Finger sponge covered with skeleton shrimp.

Note the attachment to the rock.

Arthropods

A main theme of The Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program is the study of marine arthropods, such as hermit crabs, green crabs, and lobsters.  Students learn the three main characteristics of arthropods are: an exoskeleton, jointed appendages, and a segmented body.  Another interesting fact that students often learn is how to tell the males from the females.     

·         Lobster – look at the top two swimmerets on the underside of a lobster, a female’s are feathery, while a male’s are long, hard sticks.

·         Crabs – on the underside of the crab look for the triangle, a female’s is wide, while a male’s is tall and skinny.

For more information on the Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program and how you can get your students hands-on with live marine arthropods visit our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/grade_6.html.

Top pair of swimmerets of a female and male lobster.

Ocean Discovery Program

Quotes from students and teachers who have participated in the Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program:

“My favourite part of the whole experience was going to Brandy Cove. We got to explore all the amazing sea creatures and actually hold them in our hand! At the cove there were beautiful waterfalls and a wonderful view.” – Bianca Gruenewald

“When we looked at the amazing plankton in the powerful microscopes it was educational and very fun! We had groups of two students and we each had a slide with different plankton types. The phytoplankton types are always simple shapes and the zooplankton types are weird shapes.” – Jessica Bohnet

“Thank you for the best ever class outing!” – Annette White, teacher

For more information on the Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program, or to book a school visit, email tdean@huntsmanmarine.ca or call (506) 529-1220.

Having fun with marine invertebrates!

Its all about the arthropods!

What will you find on the beach?

Grade 6 Ocean Discovery

The Ocean Discovery Program is a fun-filled course, which delivers most of New Brunswick’s Grade 6 Diversity of Life Science Unit.  The two-day on-site experience gives students the opportunity – some for the first time – to spend a night away from home in a university research-style setting.  Highlights of the program include:

·         a workbook with pre and post activities,

·         a visit to a local beach to study species inhabiting the intertidal zone,

·         collecting live specimens for examination in the lab,

·         performing experiments using live sea stars and urchins,

·         using microscopes to study plankton, and

·        introductions to a variety of local arthropods, including lobsters.

For more information on the Grade 6 Ocean Discovery Program and how you can give your students the experience of a lifetime visit our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/grade_6.html.

Learning about plankton - the base of the marine food web.

Everyone loves to search for crabs on the beach!

Learning how to conduct experiments using live animals.

Sea Peach

When is a peach not a peach?  When it is a sea peach, of course!  One of the animals frequently collected during scallop drags on our research vessel is the sea peach (Halocynthia pyriformis). 

• Two siphons near top; one for pumping in water and food, the other for expelling waste.
• Filters plankton from the water.
• A hermaphrodite; eggs and sperm are released and fertilization occurs in the water.
• The larvae have a notochord which disappears as it becomes an adult; this notochord makes the sea peach a primitive chordate (and a ‘relative’ of humans).
• Adults are sessile and live attached to rocks.

Looking for information on local marine species for students conducting school research projects?  Check out the Introduction to Classification on our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/classification.html. 

Three sea peaches in a tank in our lab.

A little sea peach attached to a rock.

Aquarium rental

Looking for a unique location to host your next meeting, conference, birthday party or other special event?  Facilities at the new Fundy Discovery Aquarium, including the boardroom, theatre, and aquarium galleries are perfectly suited for all of these events.  The boardroom is especially fun for birthday parties as there is a large window looking into the seal habitat!  Imagine having Snorkel and Loki at your birthday party!  For more information on facility rentals visit www.huntsmanmarine.ca/Fundy_Discovery_Aquarium_Facility_Rental_Package.pdf.

New Road

There have been lots of changes around the Huntsman campus in the last year, the latest being a new access road.  Marine Science Drive brings you into the Huntsman campus directly from Route 127.  The old access route through the golf course is now closed to traffic.  See the new map below.

Valentine’s Day Gift for Kids

Looking for a great Valentine’s Day gift for a child under the age of 18?  How about adding their name to a new seal wall that will be posted on the seal deck at the Fundy Discovery Aquarium.   For more information visit the website www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/kids_wall.html.

Winged Sea Star

The winged sea star or wrinkled star (Pteraster militaris) is a species that we sometimes find when we are dragging.  It is yellow to orange on top with the five arms having darker orange tips.  This star is interesting as it is the only one known in which the female both broods young and broadcasts gametes.  The eggs are brooded in a pouch on top of the star, where they grow into tiny, little stars.  When the little stars are ready they burst through the protective membrane of the female, leaving her with a very ragged look afterward.    

Winged sea star

Note the young star emerging from between the arm

pointing toward you and the one to the left of it.

Salmon Aquaculture

Teachers planning a marine biology field course at the Huntsman work with the Director of Education, Tracey Dean to develop a unique schedule of field work, labs, and activities to meet the group’s needs.  One of the items available is a presentation on the local Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry.  During this presentation students are introduced to the local industry and then asked to determine pros and cons.  This is an interesting topic of discussion as it helps students to understand where their food comes from and also the background behind this industry.

Visit our website for more information on our marine biology field courses www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/high_school_trips.html.

Deep Sea Presentation

Lurking in the darkness of the deep ocean are some of the strangest animals that have ever been found on earth; anglerfish, viperfish, and the giant squid.  During the deep sea presentation, usually offered to middle school classes attending a Huntsman field course, we introduce students to some of these creatures.  Throughout the presentation we discuss what the deep sea is, why it is a difficult place for humans to explore, and the fascinating adaptations that animals have made to live in the deep.  At the end of the presentation student put what they have learned into making a deep sea creature of their own and trying to fool their friends with their animals’ bioluminescence pattern.

Interested in bringing your students to the Huntsman for a field course?  Check out our website www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/education.html.

Classification Resources

On our website we have resources available including a digital slideshow, a classification game and a design the animal activity to help you introduce the classification system to your students.  These resources are geared toward students in middle and high school, but could be modified for younger students.  Check them out, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/classification.html.

Interested in letting your students learn about classification with live marine animals?  Check out our website for field course information www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/education.html.

Atlantic Sturgeon

Mixed in amongst the field work and the lab time students participating in Huntsman field courses have a chance to visit our new Fundy Discovery Aquarium.  One of the amazing native animals in the Bay of Fundy Fishes tank is the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhychus).

Atlantic sturgeon information:

·         Covered with rows of white, bony plates called scutes.

·         Have four barbels near mouth that helps them to find food on the bottom such as worms, crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish.

·         Anadromous, meaning the adults go up river to spawn but spend most of their life in estuarine or marine environments.

·         Can live 60+ years.

·         Primarily cartilaginous.

·         Female sturgeons are collected for their eggs or caviar.

Find information about some of the amazing marine animals that live in the Bay of Fundy region under Educational Resources on our website, www.huntsmanmarine.ca/html/education.html.

 

March Break at the Aquarium

The Fundy Discovery Aquarium will be hosting a March Break program, from March 5-9 for students in grades 3 to 6.  There will be lots of fun, marine-themed activities and animal interactions!  Check out the website for more details and an application form, www.huntsmanmarine.ca.  Space is limited, so register today! The deadline for registration is February 27.  

Also, the aquarium will be open to the public from Monday to Friday during March Break, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.