Category Archives: Resources & Activities

Rock Pools Rock!

A treasure trove of marine delights hides in plain sight along our coastline.

Rock pools are tiny but complex ecosystems, where only the hardiest of inhabitants survive the onslaught that nature throws at them.

Pounded by waves, whipped by the wind and exposed to the sun, the creatures who lie within have learnt to adapt to their constantly changing world.

At high tide they are connected to the greater ocean environment, but when the water level drops, they are isolated, and vulnerable to predators and the elements.

Water temperatures can vary by as much as 20 degrees in the shallowest of pools from the intensity of the midday sun at low tide, to the flushing of cooling currents when the shoreline floods again.

Making the most of available shelter is the key to survival in the inter tidal zone. Sea urchins wedge themselves into cramped crevices, sea stars and sea cucumbers cling to the underside of rocks, making them often invisible at a casual glance.

Spotting the life inside these pools takes patience and care. Small fish will dart to the edges when noise, vibrations or shadows alert them to potential predators but stay quiet and still for long enough and they pop back out.

A carefully concealed creature can give away its hidey-hole by one misplaced limb that can take minutes of constant gazing to spy.

And while it may be tempting to delve a little deeper into the darker patches, beware the dangers that lurk within.

Blue ringed octopus are only little but their venom packs a punch – one bite from these highly venomous cephalopods can kill a human in minutes. A hands off approach with rock pools is the safest option.

But if visiting the coast is not a practical option, Ocean Life Education can bring the rock pool to you in a safe yet interactive incursion designed to showcase the animals that live around our beaches.

Sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea urchins can all be carefully handled during our visits to schools, early learning centres and special events, as we explain the important role our oceans play in keeping our planet healthy.

We offer a wide range of programs that align with the Australian curriculum and cover topics such as adaptations, habitats and human impact.

Let Ocean Life Education inspire your students to become interested in coastal environments and as they look, listen and touch their way to a greater understanding of the marine world, they will start to see why rock pools rock.

The Cost of Christmas

“Tis the season for excitement and excess… and while our waist lines and bank balances may bear the brunt of our festive good cheer, the oceans suffer too.

Every year Australians spend more than $16 billion celebrating Christmas (which is almost $1,000 per adult!) – half of that goes on gifts.

The vast majority of presents come shrouded in plastic –  the enemy of all things marine.

In Britain alone, 125,000 tonnes of packaging is purchased at Christmas – multiply that by all the other countries who have also bought into the December consumer frenzy and that’s a whole lot of waste that needs to be dealt with.

When it comes to gifts, ideally we should embrace the idea of experiences over physical items – a ticket to a Marine Biologist for a Day Program run by Ocean Life Education will be remembered long after the holidays have passed!

Likewise, donating to your favourite charity – be it humanitarian or conservation will help improve the balance on this planet.

But if products need to be bought, how the packaging is disposed of becomes paramount – artificial floating debris gets ingested by curious marine life making it the scourge of the sea.

Most plastics and cardboard can be recycled – but not the polystyrene foam often used to protect electronic presents.

The paper the gift comes wrapped in also takes a massive toll on nature – it’s estimated 50,000 trees are harvested every year in Australia just to produce the colourful embellishment that is ripped and discarded within seconds of reaching its recipients.

Paper is a preferable choice to foil but a better option is to use homemade wrapping created from recycled material or reusable presentation boxes.

Batteries too have become a major headache for the environment – 8,000 tonnes of them are thrown away in Australia every year.  Switching to rechargeable options has a third less impact on the planet.

Ocean Life Education has a range of programs that help to inform people of all ages about ways to be more mindful of our footprint on earth – our mobile aquarium can come to you for all sorts of occasions, giving the gift of interacting with our beautiful marine animals.

Being conservation minded in the festive season is not about sucking the joy out of Christmas – it’s about finding a way to celebrate that doesn’t cost the earth it’s future.

New Year Resolutions

plastic_ocean1_634x423Ok let’s be honest – a few weeks into January and most of our New Year resolutions have already fallen by the wayside – destroyed by all the excesses that make summer so much fun!  And while it’s fantastic to want a fitter, more fabulous you, the time has come to devote our energies to fixing the environment instead.

The health of the ocean is declining and even if you don’t live within coo-ee of the coastline, chances are this will still impact on you at some stage.  Its estimated more than one third of the world’s population depends on seafood for 20% of their animal protein.

And while issues like overfishing and global warming need to be tackled on a large scale, there are many simple steps we can take to improve the quality of our waterways and the lives of their inhabitants – not just for us but for generations to come.

Here are 5 achievable resolutions for 2018…

1.   The last straw! They may be convenient – but at what cost?!  Not only do straws clog up our landfill, but they’re amongst the top ten items found on beach clean ups.  They’re not recyclable and they take hundreds of years to break down – a big price to pay for a single use item with a lifespan of around 20 minutes on average!  Reusable glass, stainless steel and bamboo varieties work just as well in your smoothies and don’t cost the earth!  http://www.biome.com.au

 2.   BYO Cup!  Disposable coffee cups are another item that just won’t go away – no matter how much we try to ignore them.  It’s estimated our caffeine addiction is adding 60,000 kg’s of coffee cups to land fill and the environment every year.  And while no-one is suggesting cutting back on your favourite brew, taking your own cup can make a world of difference.  And if one of the many glass or ceramic varieties aren’t practical, there are collapsible coffee cups that are easy to cart around.  https://cupy.com.au/

 3.   It’s in the bag!  The problem of single use plastic bags is well documented to the point that several states including Queensland are now planning to ban their use.  And while it does take a little more effort to BYO, sea turtles of the world will thank you!  Unfortunately, your average green turtle cannot distinguish between floating flimsy plastic and their favourite food – sea jellies.  And with the added bonus of being less likely to break than the plastic imposters, reusable bags are a great way to show you care!

 4.   Take 3 for the Sea!  It’s simple, doesn’t take much effort and could help save the sea from turning into plastic soup!  Every time you’re near a waterway just pick up three bits of rubbish and dispose of them.  The beauty of this environmental movement is any age, any fitness level can help create a cleaner coastline and prevent further waste from ending up in the sea.  Imagine what could be achieved if everyone of us did this simple task every day!   http://www.take3.org/

 5.   Learn more about our impact!  Ignorance is not bliss – the more we know, the better equipped we are to prevent environmental problems getting any worse.  Read up, keep across local conservation issues and help educate children about being responsible global citizens right from the start.  Ocean Life Education has made it our mission to care for the sea and all who live within it – help us to spread the world through one of our fun filled programs.  https://www.oceanlifeeducation.com.au/programs

 

 

 

It’s Christmas Everyday Underwater

xmas-tree-worm-8It appears that nature outdoes us when it comes to festive displays.  Coral reefs showcase their decorations all year round in a vibrant celebration of Christmas…or more particularly, the Christmas Tree Worm.

These colourful creatures (Spirobranchus Giganteus to the scientifically minded!) are found in tropical waters all around the world.  They catch their microscopic prey in spiky bristles, which are coated in sticky mucus for added mealtime security.

But what you see isn’t all you get with these segmented worms – only the crown is visible – 2/3 of their body lies hidden within the coral.

And while it’s obvious camouflage is not one of their skills, they have the ability to retreat very quickly into their hole if danger lurks close by.

At Ocean Life Education we love everything “Weird and Wonderful” – especially when it comes to marine creatures.   The crazier looking, the more colourful the display – we’re hooked.

In fact we enjoy it so much we dedicated an entire program to all things that little bit different underwater.

Want to know how a mudskipper breathes out of water?  Why a stone fish has a face only a mother could love?  How a nudibranch gets its technicolour coat? Why a northern stargazer always looks up?

We have the answers and we love sharing our passion for all things quirky in the sea. And we’re constantly learning as well.  Only 1/3 of the estimated one million creatures living in our oceans have been identified – so just like our colourful Christmas Tree Worm –  much remains hidden, waiting to be discovered.