Author Archives: oceanlifeeducation

What is Endangered Species Day?

Endangered Species Day is celebrated on the third Friday of May each year to focus minds on education and taking action to protect threatened species. It is happening on 20 May 2022 and is the perfect opportunity to focus on the topic of human impact in schools. Discussing issues that are close to home is often a great way to bring learning to life. Read on to find out about Australia’s endangered species and for some great ideas for activities in the classroom and on the coast.

Threatened Australian Marine Species

Australia is home to an incredible diversity of marine species. Unfortunately, today a number of Australia’s marine species are registered as threatened and in need of protection. Understanding these threats is the key to inspiring action to protect them, so educating school-aged students (plus the general population!) is crucial.

The following Australian marine species are threatened:

Australian sea lions, dugongs, dolphins, hammerhead sharks, blue fin tuna, whales & sawfish as well as leatherback, loggerhead and the olive ridley turtle.

Threats to Marine Animals

The main threats to marine animals come from humans in the form of:

Ocean noise
Ship strikes
Climate change
Entanglement in fishing gear
Plastics and ocean debris
Over-fishing
Irresponsible fishing practices

How Can You Protect Marine Animals?

If we look at these threats one by one, it is interesting to note that as individuals we can actually make a difference to all of them. Take ocean noise and ship strikes, we can ensure that when we travel the ocean we do so with competent crew or that if we are the crew, we are mindful of the threats we may pose and take steps to respect the marine environment to the best of our ability. By reducing our unnecessary carbon and single use plastic usage, we can contribute to reducing that threat. As for stray fishing gear and irresponsible practices, we can vote with our feet and try and ensure that we buy seafood that is caught in a responsible manner and pick up any debris we see on the beach or in our waterways. With a little effort from us all, we can make a difference and protect marine animals.

Endangered or Threatened Species?

A threatened species is defined as any plant or animal species that is at risk of extinction. In Queensland, threatened species are classified under the following classes:

Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Critically endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable

Therefore, endangered species means threatened species!

Activities for Endangered Species Day

Read an article or book about an endangered species; discuss why it’s endangered and examine ideas to help protect it
Go on a beach walk and discuss habitats, human impact and how marine animals rely on a healthy environment to survive. Ocean Life Education would be happy to guide a tour for your students.
Have a class discussion about plastic usage and get the class to focus on their own usage using our free resources (click image for more downloadable activities)

Schedule an Ocean Life Education incursion focusing on endangered species, why they are endangered, what is being done to help, and how our everyday actions make a difference.
Here is an outline of our Human Impact incursion. Click the images to find out more…

Incursion: Human Impact – The Earth Under Threat

Our conservation & pollution messages influence how students care for the marine environment in their daily lives.

Students will:

*Learn what humans do can harm the marine environment

*Identify how changes to the marine environment; like weather patterns, land clearing, over-fishing and pollution, affect all life

*Realise individuals can make a difference in caring for the marine environment

Incursions

Earth Day 2022 – How to Get Involved

Earth Day is a global action to protect the planet. It’s happening on 22 April this year. The theme for Earth Day 2022 is ‘Invest in Our Planet’. That’s not about spending money! It’s about putting effort into accelerating the great work that is already being done to combat climate change and clean up our home. It’s all about everyone taking ownership and doing their bit. Sometimes the task seems overwhelming, but we can all take action in our own lives that joined together will make a big difference to the planet. So don’t despair, it’s exciting to think what we can achieve together and how much fun we can have along the way. Here are some easy ideas to get involved, because no one is too small to make a difference!

Join a Queensland Beach Clean – or Organise One For Your School

Recent events here on the Sunshine Coast have shown what a force our communities are when they set to work together on a beach clean. Huge storms have landed load of debris and plastics on our beautiful beaches. But we haven’t sat back and watched it happen. Instead, our local communities have taken to the beaches with bags and helped cleaned up.

Unfortunately, there is still much more to do but people are uniting to make it happen. One person with one bag could easily make a big difference to one turtle!

Beach cleans are probably the largest environmental volunteer event in history. So, grab a bag (a biodegradable doggie poop bag will do!), grab your mates, and get on down to the beach and be part of history! You could even have a competition to win some lollies if you collect the most trash.

Take Action:

Get Involved in a Beach Clean on the Sunshine Coast

Get involved in a Beach Clean Near Brisbane

Fundraise to Support a Queensland Coast Care Charity

There are plenty of Queensland coast care charities to choose. On the Sunshine Coast there’s Coolum Coast Care, or there’s Great Barrier Reef Foundation and Sea Shepherd.

Ocean Crusaders operate around Brisbane too.

Take Action

How about a sponsored swim or a shark drawing competition to raise money for your favorite Queensland coast care charity? Just ask and they are sure to want to help you get started.

Plant Trees

Trees and forests are one of our most powerful tools to combat climate change and provide food and habitat for the species of the world. But our planet is currently losing trees at a staggering rate. In fact, about 27 soccer fields of forest are lost every minute.

Trees are amazing and filter the air and protect us from climate change. They also keep our land healthy and provide food, energy and income to communities. What’s not to like about trees? So, why not plant trees yourself? (in a designated area obviously!!)

Take Action

Plant your own tree or Donate to plant a tree

The Usual Stuff

Of course, you can always be doing all the usual stuff to make the world a cleaner place, like reducing your use of plastics, reducing your carbon footprint and energy consumption, making sustainable seafood choices and enjoying the ocean responsibly.

Further reading – ‘How Can I Protect the Ocean‘

Educators & Schools

We have some great FREE ocean resources and activities on our website in our Human Impact section, including: Plastic Diaries, Plastic Ocean Life Cycles, Human Impact Presentations and more.

Or why not book an incursion so we can come in with our team and inspire the kids with a live marine animal program?

Dive into SeaWeek 2022

SeaWeek 2022 will be celebrated throughout Australia from 5-13 March. The theme this year is Our SEArch – what will you discover? It’s all about the fact that the Ocean is largely unexplored. This is a fascinating topic and a great reason for exploring all things relating to the ocean in schools and childcare settings this month. So, here’s some fascinating info about the ocean floor to set you on track, and ideas that will engage and inspire kids to want to learn more. Time to dive into SeaWeek 2022…

Is Most of the Ocean Unexplored?

Experts believe that more than 80 percent of the ocean floor is unexplored and has never been mapped. It’s crazy to think that a far larger percentage of the moon and the planet Mars has been mapped than the ocean on the planet where we live!

However, it’s probably not surprising when you consider that the ocean covers more than 70% of the surface of the earth. So, we are talking a huge area, with enormous variations in depth, much of which is very difficult to reach.

How Deep is the Ocean?

The depth of the ocean floor varies hugely, from the shallow blue waters of much of our coastline, to the darkness of the deep, deep ocean. So, to answer the question, “How deep is the ocean”, it’s tricky to give one answer. However, it’s generally agreed that the average depth of the ocean is 3.7 km.

What’s the Deepest Part of the Ocean?

Nowadays, we talk about the earth’s ‘one’ ocean as each named ocean (such as the Pacific Ocean) within it is connected to at least two other oceans, creating one whole ocean.

The deepest part of the ocean is in the Pacific Ocean. It is called Challenger Deep, after the HMS Challenger, whose crew first sounded (measured) the depths of the trench in 1875.

Challenger Deep lies at the southern end of the Mariana Trench and is around 10,984 metres deep. Compare that to Everest, which is 8,848 metres high, and it gives you an idea of the kind of depth we’re talking – about 11km. That’s deep!!!!

How do we Measure the Depth of the Ocean?

Measuring the depth of a body of water is called ‘sounding‘ or ‘sounding depth’. In order to measure the depth of the ocean, ships and boats use a sonar (Sound Navigation and Ranging) device, which sends sound waves to the bottom of the ocean and measures how long it takes for an echo to return.

We hope we have given you some ideas to get you thinking about celebrating SeaWeek 2022. Please see our blog and links below for more info.

Celebrating SeaWeek 2022

Read our BLOG ‘Celebrate SeaWeek Australia’, for ideas to celebrate SeaWeek 2022 and inspire kids to want to learn more about the ocean and to want to protect it

Free SeaWeek 2022 Poster

Other Ocean Events 2022

SeaWeek 2022 is hosted by the AAEE (Australian Association for Environmental Education). If you are planning to run a SeaWeek event, competition, or activity, they’d love to promote it! Email: seaweek@aaee.org.au for more information.