The Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre in Western Australia

The marine life and marine environments in Western Australia are spectacular. The coast stretches from the tropics all the way down to the northern edge of the antarctic Southern Ocean.

A great place to begin a discovery of these coasts might be with the Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre (NMDC) situated at Hillarys Boat Harbour on the Sunset Coast of Perth’s northern suburbs. 

The Centre display was conceived around three major themes: marine biology and ecology; knowledge-driven management; and people and communities. It contains live exhibits (aquaria), interactive displays, touch screens with high-quality multimedia content, LCD screens, objects, viewing windows into working laboratories, artworks, a gift shop, and education programs. Represented by Bruce Mackay, Michael Burke, Michelle Dwyer and Sandy Clarke

Education doesn't stop there, however. MarineDiscoveryWest education programs stretch the length and breadth of the coast from Albany to the Pilbara and up to the Cocos and Christmas Islands. 

To find out more please click here.

Catalyst: Animal Action: Desert Gobies - ABC TV Science

Catalyst has provided a story on a little fish who has been living and loving on inland oceans from tiny muddy ponds to the engorged Lake Eyre in water that can be twice as salty as the ocean. Click on the link below to have a look at the short video clip and other information about these amazing little gobies being studied by Monash researchers.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2817612.htm

Steven Cowley: Fusion is energy's future | Video on TED.com

Steven Cowley: Fusion is energy's future Video on TED.com


"Physicist Steven Cowley is certain that nuclear fusion is the only truly sustainable solution to the fuel crisis. He explains why fusion will work -- and details the projects that he and many others have devoted their lives to, working against the clock to create a new source of energy."

To visit the TED website click here

Global Warming Art

From Global Warming Art
"Global Warming Art is the result of a dream that the public and educators should have easy access to the same data and results that have framed the scientific discussion of global warming and climate change."

There are several very interesting things to look at on this site and not the least of which is the Sea Level Rise Explorer - a tool to view any place in the world and get an idea of areas most at risk from the impacts of rising water. You can zoom in on various localities by zooming and dragging the cursor.

To see the colourful graphs and charts as well as the background as to why they are presented by the author please follow this link:  http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Global_Warming_Art:About

CORAL REEFS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - a new Australian Education and Action book

CORAL REEFS AND CLIMATE CHANGE published by CoralWatch and the University of Queensland is a guide for education and awareness. It is a collaboration between educators and researchers explaining the science, issues and remedies. It provides tools for understanding the complex dynamics that shape our living reefs.

A CD comes with the book that incorporates both field activities and guided research projects to assist everyone who is interested in taking a closer look. The Coral Health Chart is a flexible tool that allows contribution to a global reef database possible.

To find out more about this new resource please visit CoralWatch or click here.

To access more free Coral Bleaching and Climate Change online education materials visit the AUSMEPA website:  http://www.ausmepa.org.au/effects-of-climate-change-on-coral-bleaching/

AUSSIE OCEAN EVENTS March 2010

Gearing up for March 2010 you will might want to consider how to celebrate the following events. Sometimes it might be direct involvement, sometimes it is just spreading the word to give others the chance to get in there and make a difference.

March Events

1-7     NATIONAL SEAWEEK: Oceans of Life; ours to explore, ours to restore
2        BUSINESS CLEAN UP DAY
5        SCHOOL CLEAN UP DAY
7        CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY8
7-13    GROUND WATER AWARENESS WEEK
15-19  INTERNATIONAL POLAR WEEK
22nd   WORLD WATER DAY

The Pirate Primer: Mastery of the Language of Swashbucklers and Rogues

From Baird Maritime:
The Pirate Primer: Mastery of the Language of Swashbucklers and Rogues Wednesday, 12 December 2007 04:56
Author: George Choundas
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books

"At first thought you would wonder why anyone would bother to put together what is effectively a dictionary of pirate language."

"However, when you proceed into its 470 extensively and carefully researched pages you begin to realise two important things. The first is that so many pirate expressions are still alive in modern English usage. The second is that this book, very surprisingly, provides an excellent means of improving the serious reader’s grasp of English."

"Beautifully produced and clearly and concisely defined it is a fascinating and relevant combination of pirate history, dictionary and thesaurus."

Har, there me lads and lasses, I think I'd better have a look at this one and you may find some interest in it too!

Ocean Showcase on Google Earth

Dive in

Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 5:30 PM
With the launch of Google Earths new Ocean Showcase, you can now tour the ocean from the comfort of your web browser using the Google Earth plugin.

Follow along as National Geographic explorer, Sylvia Earle, narrates a tour through highlights of the Explore the Ocean layer in Google Earth.

To visit the Google LatLong Blog article click on the link
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/02/dive-in-to-our-ocean-showcase.html

Redmap is tracking biodiversity movements in TASMANIAN waters -- Plus -- Marine Climate Change in Australia 2009 REPORT CARD

REDMAP is a Spot-Log-Map website for community change monitoring This Mahi Mahi image from the Redmap website provides us with an example of one observation of a commonly tropical species recorded in Tasmanian waters. Is it an anomaly or will there be more sightings?

"All animal species have a preferred temperature range that they like to live, feed and breed in, and marine creatures are no different. As our waters warm up, species change their distribution, or range, to keep pace with the temperature changes. In the southern hemisphere, range shifts and extensions are usually in a southerly direction as species shift pole-ward to avoid the warming waters of their usual habitats. Capturing species range shifts can be difficult due to a scarcity of marine monitoring programs and the often short time frames of such studies. Fishers, divers and other people enjoying or working off our coasts have a huge depth of knowledge and Redmap is a website where we can record your valuable information."

Tracking who is on the move in our Australian waters will help us better understand and manage our precious marine resources. To view the Redmap website click here.

REPORT CARD on the Impacts and Adaptation Responses in the marine environment

Althought we don't have Redmap programs in all Aussies states as yet, we can look at the National Report Card for 2009 that summarises present knowledge on marine climate change impacts, knowledge gaps and adapatation responses in Australia.

Key findings in the Report Card indicate that ocean temperatures in south (east and west) have warmed the fastest. The flow of the East Australian Current has strengthened and this will continue. There are indications that biodiversity is changing in the south-east of Australia in response to warming temperatures and the stronger East Australian Current. Additionally Great Barrier Reef coral growth rates are likely to decline over 10% citing ocean acidification and thermal stress. To view the 2009 Report Card click here