Ocean First Education brings the sea to life through high-quality, innovative marine science education and creates lifelong students and stewards of the sea.
Ocean First Education teamed up with California Ocean Alliance’s Dr. Ari Friedlaender and Dr. Caroline Casey on a voyage south to learn more about marine mammals and the technology needed to study them. As part of One Ocean Expeditions’ final trips of the season, the goal of this trip, for us, is to gather 360 videos, HD videos, and enough imagery to bring the Antarctic wildlife and scenery to the palm of your hand.
Click to read more about the trip from One Ocean Expeditions.
Curious about marine mammals? California Ocean Alliance offers a selection of Marine Mammal Scientist-in-Training Programs every summer for interested high school students. You can click to learn more about their programs.
Stay tuned for more marine mammals from Ocean First Education and California Ocean Alliance as we are currently in development of a new short course dedicated to the unique lives of marine mammals.
The dive community asked, we answered. Our latest short course, Manta and Ray Ecology is coming soon.
Several years ago, we partnered with Scuba Schools International (SSI) offering a selection of our short courses as non-diving specialty classes. While enthusiasm continues to grow for these various ecology courses, there was a request - more a demand, really - for a course that specialize in manta rays, those giant kite-shaped fish that seem to glide playfully around divers and snorkelers alike. Given our own affinity for these gentle giants, we couldn’t let the opportunity pass. At the same time, we felt it important to give all Batoids, the flat sharks, their due, and thus the Manta and Ray Ecology course was created.
In the coming weeks, we will be editing photos, developing graphics, and creating videos to bring sawfish, skates, southern stingrays, spotted eagle rays, and oceanic manta rays to life as we delve into their life histories, ecological importance, how to interact with them in a safe and respectful manner, and perhaps most importantly, how you too can contribute to their global conservation.
Look for our short course, Manta and Ray Ecology this summer, and available through SSI this fall. Until then, check out those not so dorsolventrally-flattened cartilaginous fish in The Truth About Sharks, also available as a non-diving specialty through SSI.
When asked about the future of our ocean, many people may take a grim and often pessimistic stance after considering modern day news and statistics – none of those people are ever found in the TIDES program. Roughly one month after our trip to Belize with a group of educators, scientists, filmmakers, and middle school students, it’s hard to feel anything but optimism. The amount of grit and determination demonstrated by kids and adults alike goes to show that nothing is lost.
Read more about our latest TIDES trip to Belize in our latest blog post by Klara Fejer.
