Introduction to Marine Mammals & Seabirds 2017

New this summer we offered an introduction to marine mammals and seabirds field course to the public. We had some new faces and a few students that participated in other field courses with us.

The course included whale, seal and seabird watching on the Bay of Fundy with Quoddy Link Marine, studying plankton, aging porpoise teeth in the lab, touring the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium, learning to identify individual right whales, playing whale and seal communication games, visiting the bird banding station on campus, debating, and digging up a seal skeleton. Students also have the opportunity to explore and visit town, the beautiful St. Andrews by-the-Sea.

While taking the course participants stay on campus in our residences and eat in our dining hall. It is a truly immersive experience.

Here are a few pictures of our week.

Learning seal and whale terminology.

Touring the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium.

Working on a presentation about the minke whale.

Learning to identify right whales based on their callosities patterns.

Heading out onto the Bay of Fundy in search of marine mammals and seabirds.

Harbour and grey seals hauled out on Black Rock.

Grey seals in the water around Black Rock.

Looks comfy!

Stopped at White Horse Island to see the kittiwakes.

Black-legged kittiwakes on White Horse Island.

Kittiwake on a nest.

Guillemots

Razorbills

Harbour porpoise

Head Harbour Lighthouse on Campobello (also called East Quoddy Head).

Minke whale close to Campobello Island.

Minke whale

Old Sow off the tip of Deer Island.

Bonaparte's gull

Using microscopes to look at plankton, the base of the marine food chain.

Learning about bird banding.

Learning about seabird adaptations.

Day 2 on the Bay. Seals hauled out on Black Rock.

Note the differences in size of the harbour seals and the grey seal.

Note the blow of the fin whale.

Fin whales are the second largest whales in the world.

Fin whale dorsal.

Bald eagle on Pendleton Island.

Screening print keepsake t-shirts.

One of the beautiful t-shirts.

More information about this field course and others offered at the Huntsman can be found on our website or by calling 506-529-1200.

Whale Young Explorer Day 2017

This week's Young Explorer Day at the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium was all about whales in the Bay of Fundy.

Here are few photos from our fun day.

Exploring the touch tanks.

Testing out the blubber glove.

Learning about the size of different whale species.

Whale and herring four corners. Enjoying the sun!

Is the blow of a whale, water or it's breath? Do all whales have a the same blow pattern?

Our finished whale blow pattern craft. Right whales have a V-shaped blow and humpbacks have a bushy blow. 

You can visit our website for more information about the Young Explorer Day Programs. Next week's seabird day and marine biology week are full. The remaining Young Explorer Days, shark, microscopic and lobster have a few spots remaining. This summer we are also offering a program in partnership with Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre for children to make marine debris into art. Please call 506-529-1245 to register.

Seal Young Explorer Day 2017

Today's Young Explorer program at the aquarium was all about seals.

Here are a few photos from our fun day.

Preparing food for the seal feeding.

Learning about seal vitamins.

Comparing seal bones to humans.

If we wanted to live in the ocean like a seal what special equipment would we need?

Observing the special characteristics seals have to live in the ocean.

The theme for next Wednesday's program is whales. We will learn about whale species that visit the Bay of Fundy and why they migrate here in the summer. Call (506) 529-1245 if you would like to register your child(ren).

Introduction to Marine Biology 2017

We look forward to this week every year. The week when we welcome high school students with an interest in the ocean to the Huntsman for an introduction to marine biology field course. While here the students go on our research vessel, gather data on invasive species, explore rocky and muddy intertidal zones, study live animals and their behaviour in the lab, use microscopes, conduct a fish dissection, tour the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium and the Atlantic Reference Centre, and look at the connection between art and biology. It is a fun week of hands-on learning!

Here are a few pictures from our week.

Boarding the Fundy Spray.

Sorting through the items collected using the benthic drag.

We found a great diversity of animals, including a toad crab,

common seastars, blood stars,

scallops,

and rock crabs.

Using the secchi disk.

We collected phytoplankton and zooplankton to study in the lab.

Exploring a rocky intertidal zone.

Found quite a few green crabs with eggs.

Also, found some little seastars!

In the lab identifying all the animals we have collected so far...38!

Getting a closer look at the anatomy of a sea urchin.

Doing their part to combat marine debris.

#DebrisFreeFundy

Searching to see what lives in the sediments.

We found a beautiful clam worm.

Also, a milky ribbon worm.

The students also got a huge piece of rope off the beach. 

Examining the feeding rate of barnacles at different temperatures.

Art and biology combine to study fish anatomy.

Screen printing t-shirts.

One of the finished shirts.

Does size affect the flipping rate of seastars and urchins?

Observing the flipping behaviour.

Last experiment was to test the strength of sea urchins. Some held 25 times their own weight!