All the family can learn how to protect and preserve our oceans at the annual Marine Science Day taking place this Saturday.
Sustainability is the overriding theme of this year's free event hosted by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) at its Ferry Reach campus in St. George's.
There are a host of different activities that revolve around our natural marine environment taking place from 11am to 4pm including a remote ROV exploration, boat tours, Wacky Science experiments and the chance to try and stump BIOS director, president and senior scientist Tony Knap with tricky questions.
People will have an opportunity to go out on the BIOS station's in shore water vessel the Stommel and tow a plankton net to collect organisms that are floating in the ocean in the water. They are then taken back to the lab and examined further.
Dr. Knap said: "You get little shrimps, copepods phytoplankton sometimes some larvae. No one can really believe that there's so much material in such a small amount of ocean water and of course - these organisms are very pretty when we look at them under the microscope. It's very popular."
Ask the scientist
For the first time there will be a series of Ask The Scientist sessions where children and adults are encouraged to ask scientists questions about anything from hurricanes and coral reefs to ocean chemistry and marine biology.
"We have a number of scientists who have expertise in different areas including senior scientist Andrea Bodnar who is involved in an aging experiment," said Dr. Knap.
"She is going to investigate how marine animals have developed strategies to fight off cancer and also how some sea urchins do not age. Dr. Mark Guishard, head of the Bermuda Weather Service has a display on hurricanes."
There will be opportunities to hop aboard the research vessel the Atlantic Explorer for a tour and there are also remote ROV submarine tours which people can control from the Station and watch on a TV screen.
Children can enjoy the Wacky Science sessions and learn a number of crazy experiments that they can do at home and show their friends.
"The experiments we do include finding out how carbon dioxide is generated," explained Dr. Knap. "We do that one with a chemical and some Coca Cola but that's all I'm going to say!
"They can also see how a vacuum works and find out how the oceans are being acidified by carbon dioxide.
"We relate the experiments back to the natural environment - this is very Bermuda centric."
This is the first Marine Science Day that so many community groups come together to contribute to the day. There will be the Greenrock Road Show and community groups Keep Bermuda Beautiful, the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Bermuda Bluebird Society and the Ministry of Works and Engineering Waste Management.
Community groups
"We have expanded it to other groups in the community. This is the most extensive it has ever been - we wanted to get everyone together at the same time," said Dr. Knap.
There are plenty of other activities to keep children and adults entertained throughout the day including a marine themed puppet show and face painting for the kids.
Mr. Knap said one of the biggest threats to Bermuda's marine environment is the effect of Co2 on our coral reefs.
He explained: "The biggest threat right now is the increase of carbon dioxide levels which is leading to a more acidic ocean.
"Experiments we have done show that it is affecting the growth of the coral reef. We have just received a grant from the Natural Science Foundation in the U.S. to work on this.
"The day is a really good way for people to learn about the marine environment and the things BIOS and other groups are doing to help."
BIOS has regular Wednesday tours that start at 10am, you get to see a video and get a tour.
Scheduled activities:
Marine Science Day runs from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, September 19 at the BIOS Station's Ferry Reach Campus in St. George's. Admission and parking are free.
- Stommel Research Cruises: Meet at the dock every half an hour from 11.15am.
- Wacky Science: On front lawn every hour from 12pm until 3pm.
- Puppet show: On front lawn every hour from 11:30am.
- Greenrock School Roadshow: In Hanson Hall. 12:15 and 2:15pm.
- Ask the Scientist: On the front lawn.
- Dr. Andrea Bodnar: A talk on strategies to fight off disease and infection. 12:30pm to 1pm.
- Dr. Tony Knap and assistants: Try to stump the BIOS director. 1pm to 1:30pm.
- Dr. Thaddeus Murdoch and assistants: Coral reef ecologist at the Bermuda Zoological Society talks. 1:30pm to 2pm.
- Dr. Kristen Buck: Sea water chemist into heavy metal. 2pm to 2:30pm.
- Jeanette Loram: Marine molecular biologist interested in aging of sea urchins and adaptions of coral to climate change. 2:30pm to 3pm.
- Rick Murnane: Climate science specialist and programme manager for BIOS's Risk Prediction Initiative. 3pm tp 3:30pm.
