NEPTUNE 911 For Kids

Friday, March 9, 2018

The Coolest Whale Video Ever

Watch these humpback whales use a very smart way to

confuse and trap fish. Teamwork!

Thursday, February 8, 2018

"Leave us alone," says the otter

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Connor is the first MicroActivist and urges other children to join in with keeping beaches debris-free.

From birth, Connor loved the water. It soothed him, drew him in and was always his happy place ... During a trip to visit family in Hawaii, Connor saw a wild monk seal on an early morning walk down the beach (and) he had to learn all there was to learn about the endangered monk seal. Learning how these curious creatures are often entangled in discarded fishing nets and leftover beach trash set the five-year-old on a mission to clean up as many beaches as he could...What started as one little boy's mission to save endangered monk seals has grown into a movement of kids determined to change the fate of the oceans!

The Aquarium of the Pacific has awarded Connor with the 2017 Youth Hero of the Year Award for his ongoing efforts on ocean conservation. And he earned the 2017 Earth Warrior Hero Award.

Kids can join Connor in ocean conservation like these boys and girls pictured below during a recent beach cleanup.

--from Microactivist Foundation

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Pickle-like Creatures Invade Pacific West Coast

Pyrosome. (NOAA photo)

There's a garden of pickles growing in the Pacific Ocean!

OK, that's not exactly true, but there aren "Millions of tubular sea creatures called pyrosomes (that) have taken over the Pacific Ocean in an unprecedented bloom," reports an Oregon newspaper.

Scientists are baffled and in a pickle trying to explain these pickle-looking sea creatures.

"These bumpy, translucent organisms look like sea cucumbers that range in size from six inches to more than two feet long...

"And they’re everywhere, filling the waters off the West Coast all the way up to Alaska, and washing up on beaches.

"One research boat caught 60,000 of them in five minutes. They’re so thick in Alaska that fishermen gave up on fishing because their hooks were coming up full of pyrosomes instead of salmon."

Friday, June 9, 2017

Kids Care About Our Oceans!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Marine Debris Art Contest Winner

Congratulations to our Annual NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest winners, whom will be featured in the 2018 Marine Debris Calendar! This year, we received more than 500 entries from kindergarten to 8th-grade students with incredible visual messages on what we need to do to be the solution to ocean pollution. Thank you to all the students who participated in this year's contest!

Monday, March 6, 2017

"Dr. Whizzepuff Explains Climate Change

Testing the Waters

The northern elephant seals pups born during the winter are now called "weaners." Thousands of these 300-pound weaners test the waters. In other words,they are teaching themselves how to swim.

You read that right. Northern elephant seal pups and weaners do not know how to swim. Their mothers left them behind just 4-weeks after they were born. So, now they are on their own, grouped together in "weaner pods" and the beach and nearby tidepools are their classroom.

By April most of these fat weaners will have developed muscle from playing in the water. They will swim like athletes, and dive like Olympic stars. That means it is time for them to leave the safety of their birthplace and begin a 6-month adventure in the Pacific Ocean.

The next time you and I can see them is when they return to their beach sometime around September.

About Humpback Whales

From NOAA

How did the humpback whale get its name?

The humpback whale gets its name from fact
that the dorsal fin sits on a large “hump” on
the back, which is noticeable when the whale
arches its back and dives. The scientific
name, Megaptera novaeangliae, means “big
wing of New England.” The “big wing” refers
to the humpback’s very long flippers, which
can be one-third of its body length.

What do they look like?

Humpback whales can be easily identified by
their markings. They are rorqual whales - a
set of whales that are all in the family
Balaenopteridae, have ventral (head to tail)
grooves on the throat, and a small, pointed
dorsal fin. The grooves allow the throat to
expand so they can take in huge amounts of
water when they feed. The grooves contract
and push out the water, which is filtered
through baleen.

This is an adaptation that developed to help it
efficiently eat the tons of food needed for its
survival. Baleen, made of fingernail-like material
called keratin, hangs down in a humpback’s
mouth and catches the food. Humpback whales
have between 270 and 400 pairs of baleen and
each is approximately 30 inches long. The
plates are rough enough to filter prey such as
krill.

Humpbacks have an irregularly shaped dorsal
fin located two-thirds of the way back of the
body and very long flippers.

Humpbacks have large bumps on the leading
edge (front) of the flippers as well as bump-like
knobs on the head and lower jaw. Each of the
bumps on the head and lower jaw are a called
“tubercle.” They contain stiff hairs, like a cat’s
whiskers, that may help humpbacks regulate
temperature or sense things in the water.

Many humpback whales are also home to
barnacles that stick to their skin.

Humpback whales usually dive underwater for 3-5 minutes.