Students Take a Vacation Saving Coral

A coral nursery.  Coral Restoration Foundation photo

Coral is a beautiful plant in the ocean.  

NO! Wait! That's wrong. It's not a beautiful plant! It's a beautiful animal!

Coral is also one of the most endangered animals on the planet.  

Coral lives in reefs in tropical and subtropical waters. Many of those reefs are in trouble from pollution, warming waters from climate change, a higher rate of acid changing ocean waters, and from over fishing.  

Ocean researchers have learned that coral can be saved. A group of kids far from the coral reefs in Florida, spent part of their summer vacation to help save a coral reef along the Florida Keys.

Twenty boys and girls from land-locked Colorado, from ages 12 to 16, traveled to Florida to learn more about the Coral Restoration Foundation.

Students learned how to dive and "plant" coral pieces in a coral nursery.

The students told reporter, Don Rhodes, for Key Info Net, that the experience "opened a whole new world for me,"  "..it broadened my view of the world and gave us a bonding experience with the other kids.” Others were thrilled seeing sting rays and turtles in their natural home.


You can learn more about coral reefs at EcoKids.

3 Easy Ways To Keep the Beach Healthy

Who can't wait to hit the beach this summer? There are sand castles to build. Surf to slide and ride. Picnics. Volleyball. 

We love the beach!  Now let's show our love with these three easy ways to keep it healthy this summer.

1. Beach toys:  Be sure every single plastic toy comes back home with you. The ocean doesn't need one more piece of plastic in it. Did you know that some stores sell recycled plastic beach toys? One company even makes "plastic" beach toys that biodegrade.
2. Food wrappers:  Yikes! Plastic bags so easily slip away and into the ocean. Boo! Try using wax paper or pack your lunch in take-home containers instead.  
3. Juice and drink containers:  Did you know that those tiny little plastic lids from a bottle of juice, water, and tea are one of the biggest ocean polluters? Did you know that many seabirds have mistaken those containers for food? That's not a good thing. Be sure to properly dispose of those tiny lids. The ocean and its creatures will thank you. Also be sure to recycle those plastic bottles.  

Rare Sighting! Twin Gray Whales

On Monday, June 1, while on a gray whale watch in California, viewers saw a rare sight, a mother gray whale with two calves at her side.

Either the mother gave a very rare birth to twins or one of the calves lost its mother and was adopted by this mother. 

They were swimming north to return to their feeding grounds near Alaska. Gray whales swim about 6,000 miles from their wintertime stay in the lagoons of Baja California to Alaska.

Studying Whales with Drones

Wayne Perryman, a marine biologist with NOAA Fisheries, launches an unmanned aircraft into the sky above the South Pacific. Perryman uses aerial drones to get close to sperm whales so that he can study their health and physiology. Photo credit: Moira Brown, New England Aquarium.

Counting whales has gone to the drones.  

After years of struggling to survive, the gray whales that migrate along the western Pacific coastline—from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Mexico—are now under the watchful eye of a hexacopter drone.

Dedicated professionals and volunteers count the migrating gray whales every spring.  It’s been an imperfect count because they can’t always count whales swimming by at night or in stormy weather.  Fortunately, the new whale mothers swim very close to the shore when they take their new calves on their first big swim from Mexico to Alaska.

The drones add an extra “eye” that helps scientists measure the passing whales and observe the mother’s weight and health.  

Blue Whale near San Diego, Ca.

These camera-equipped drones also track orcas (killer whales), sperm whales, blue whales, stellar sea lions, leopard seals and penquins in Antarctica.

Never Touch a Seal

NEVER, EVER, DO THIS.  

The young person who picked this harbor seal up said that this pup was in danger of being run over.  Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.  But now that pup is definitely in high danger of dying.  

Why?  Harbor seal mothers can temporarily leave their pups on the rocks or on a beach.  Or the pup might have lost its way while its mother fed during high-tide. There could be many reasons why it is on the beach.

But it is illegal to handle a marine mammal, and it is dangerous.  Call a grown up and have them call a marine mammal rescue center right away.

Harbor seals give birth to their pups in the spring.  

Here is what the experts at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory have to say about harbor seal pups:   "Harbor seals inhabit areas that are also frequented by humans and are easily disturbed. When disturbed the mothers sometimes abandon their pups. Do not try to approach them, the mothers will be back soon to take care of them."

Rare Encounter With Sperm Whale

A magic moment for researchers!

A few days ago researchers ROV had a rare encounter.  "At 598 meters (1,962 ft) below the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, ROV Hercules encountered a magnificent sperm whale. The whale circled Hercules several times and gave our cameras the chance to capture some incredible footage of this beautiful creature. Encounters between sperm whales and ROVs are incredibly rare."

First Drone Video of Newborn Gray Whale

Gray Whale Calf in San Ignacio Lagoon.  

Welcome new born gray whale!  Here is a video showing a newly born gray whale making its way south to Mexico waters with its mother.  This is spectacular!