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Gifts for the ocean lover: For kids of all ages edition

December 10, 2014 by 6 Comments

Still looking for that perfect gift for a certain little one? I have to admit I am the aunt that likes to wrap up books (yes, and usually one of these ocean-themed children’s books). However, in the spirit of the giving during the holiday season, and in watching little eyes twinkle, it’s fun to also wrap a little something extra. Here are five gift ideas for inspiring a love of the ocean in the next generation:

HorseshoeCrab1. Stuffed horseshoe crab (pictured) from the Partnership of the Delaware Estuary, Inc. Shop: It’s a steal for just under $13! Over the years I have managed to acquire a lot of these and with that my four-year old now thinks horseshoe crabs are cuddly and cute and isn’t intimated by them when she sees them along the coast. She even brought this into preschool for the letter “H”! Proceeds help the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Inc.

2. Polar Bear from Vermont Teddy Bear: I hear this bear loves warm hugs! “He’s made of super-soft and cuddly, long white fur and his adorable, long Polar Bear snout features a realistic nose.” Made in the USA.

3. Coastal inspired linens and clothes from Wish Kingdom: Wish Kingdom is made from the finest cotton fabrics and trims. All items are pesticide and formaldehyde free. Each applique’ is cut and sewn by hand, so no two are alike. Made in the USA.

4. Match stacks game – sea things from Abe’s Market: “Even toddlers who are too young to play a memory game will love matching and stacking the shapes and vibrant colors while exploring and enriching their vocabulary.” Made in the USA.

5. Ocean Discovery Box from Green Kid Crafts: “Our entire family got in the fun to play pin the tail on the whale. It was hilarious! So thankful for the memories you provide.”

HGurkeesere are some gifts for the big kids that love the ocean, too.

1. Barbados natural rope sandals (pictured) from Gurkees: Who knew they’d make great beach walking shoes in West Virginia? Not only that, but there is also some fun candles, belts, and keychains.

2. Custom map and nautical chart jewelry and accessories from Chart Metal Works: Need I say more? Well, it can get better … the products are made in Maine. Definitely a gift to be treasured!

3. Long time, no sea pillow from Uncommon Goods: Handmade from recycled materials and completely on sale.

4. Mermaid bottle opener from Waypoint: I mean, what’s not to love? It looks like it was found during a shipwreck expedition! It’ll make a great story for anyone.

5. Seashell planter from Ten Thousand Villages (fair trade retailer since 1946) : “Spiraled seashell in creamy ceramic holds a cascade of vines or flowers. Handcrafted in Vietnam.”

24173_zoom16. Sportsman sunglasses from Randolph Engineering: “Designed for the outdoor enthusiast, this extremely durable frame stands up to harsh conditions in high style.” Made in the USA.

7. Sea of love poster (pictured) from Uncommon Goods: Printed on 100% recycled newsprint paper, this 12 x 18 inch print features 12 hand-drawn illustrations and a message of love and is a great gift for the couple that loves to spend time at the ocean. Made in the USA.

8. Taps, tees, pint glasses and a whole lot more from the Dogfish Brewing Company: It’s an idea for the beer girl or guy on your list. And, why not toss in one of these nifty ice buckets from Mr. Ice Bucket made in New Jersey for over 50 years. I’m sure there is a ton of great stuff from your local brewery or winery as well.

9. Food, food, food from the Fresh Lobster Company, LLC: Yum, yum, yum in the tum, tum, tum. Corny, but need I say more? I live in Virginia and am so grateful for every opportunity to travel to the coast for fresh seafood … a gift where it was delivered to my door would be amazing! Shipped from sunny New England.

10. Beach to boat tote from Skipper Bags: Gorgeous, multipurpose bags with lots of great options and colors. I think there is even a code to save on shipping. Fill it with some beer or wine and you have a great hostess gift if you’re traveling over the holidays. Made in the USA.

Filed Under: Inspiration, People, Random Fun!

What you need to know about World Shorebirds Day: Saturday, September 6th

September 2, 2014 by 1 Comment

world-shorebirds-day1000My husband isn’t happy about this … But, recently, I have found a new love of birds. It’s because we live in the woods and not near the ocean, so those flighted friends have stolen my heart just like fish did back some many years ago. My husband thinks it is hysterical since we grew up in Cape May County, NJ and birders are synonymous with “tourists”, a group to which locals have a love/hate relationship. But, I don’t care … I can hardly contain my excitement for this Saturday – during World Shorebirds Day!

The celebration was proposed and organized by György Szimuly, a well-known bird conservationist based in Milton Keynes, England. Szimuly set out to promote and celebrate shorebirds.

Find out the differences between a seabirds, shorebirds, wading birds here.

“The idea to hold a World Shorebirds Day was inspired by the ongoing conservation issues we have been facing,” Szimuly said. “I think that setting a commemorative day for shorebirds will give conservation bodies and individuals another chance to educate.” He continues that “This is not particularly a citizen science program, but rather an effort to raise awareness for the importance of regular bird monitoring as the core element of bird protection and habitat conservation.”

“I think the global shorebird counts are a good get-together event,” Szimuly said. “I asked birdwatchers to book their site now, where they can go counting shorebirds on the 6th and 7th of September.” There are hundreds of sites and counters already registered for the World Shorebirds Day. The ‘booked’ sites can be seen on the event’s Google Map. https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z3yRwAVo2mAw.k42bDqIRe7a4.

Follow the activities and learn how to submit data of World Shorebirds Day on the website blog and Facebook page.

Filed Under: Animal Homes, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Environmental Education, Inspiration, People, Places, Random Fun!

Animal dating profiles from Sun and Moon

September 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Check out this “What would an animal online dating site look like?” cartoon from the fabulous Rosemary Mosco of Sun and Moon (science and nature cartoons). Love the status of the sawfish.

People are good at creating catchy user profiles on dating sites. Many are great, majority are okay, and some are just plain crazy or weird. Some people go on dates where they really meet with other people, while some prefer to do it online on sites like makemoneyadultcontent.com or similar dating sites. We often overlook the fact the animals and insects too have been “dating” from the beginning of time. What if they had the opportunity to be creative and express their selves? Here is what it would potentially look like:

animaldatingprofilesUsername for a horseshoe crab on a dating site? Limulus love, of course!

Filed Under: Conservation, Environmental Education, Random Fun!

Saltwater vs. Freshwater: Why droughts are a real problem

August 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Earth’s surface is about 70% water. But, only 1% of that is accessible freshwater (i.e., found in lakes, rivers, streams, and ponds). McGraw Hill pulled together this beautiful infographic illustrating the amount of water on the surface of the Earth that humans can actually use (‘Just a drop in the bucket’, so to speak). Consider this reality when thinking about the serious situations in California this summer with “its third-worst drought in 106 year“.

MCGRAW-SALTWATER-23AUG-2012CS5

http://www.pinterest.com/mcgrawhilled/make-learning-fun-inspiration-for-teachers-student/

 

Filed Under: Conservation, Ocean Conservation, People, Science Communication

What’s it like to be a Maine lobsterman?

July 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Are your kids interested in a career on the water? Sounds like a great time to check out this video and go out lobster fishing with the award winning Aqua Kids! They’ll learn from teen lobster fishermen in Maine some of the challenges of the job (e.g., timing how long their nets are in the water, regulating the size of “catchable” lobsters). But, most impressively what is on the young lobstermen’s mind is how to make sure their practices are sustainable.

Aqua Kids motivates today’s youth to take an active role in protecting and preserving our marine environments.

 

Filed Under: Crustaceans, Environmental Education, Ocean Conservation

Wordless Wednesday | Limulus Love

July 16, 2014 by 1 Comment

 

LLSunsetFor more images from Beach Chair Scientist, please visit Flickr.

Filed Under: Atlantic Horseshoe Crab

What’s in a name? Game: “Fishy” Fourth of July Edition

July 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Can you match the scientific name to each of the fish from this Independence Day-themed trio? Leave your answer as a comment. Even better … also, try to identify each one by their common name.

BCS_ColorfulFishFourthEdition

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July, everyone!

Filed Under: Bony Fishes, Fish, Random Fun!

Beyond the beach: What else is there to see this summer at the shore?

July 2, 2014 by 1 Comment

Taking a trip this summer to the beaches along New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, or North Carolina? Don’t forget there is a lot to see beyond the sea. Late last month my family and I were back home briefly and decided to check out the Nature Center of Cape May. It was the perfect venue to brush up on some local natural history, view wildlife over the Harbor (with a pair of their lender binoculars), get an up close look at some terrapins and snakes, check out the colors in one of the multiple butterfly gardens, and even had time to get creative at the arts & crafts table. What is your favorite nature center spot at home or on vacation to the shore?

The view from the Observation deck and tower.

The view from the Observation deck and tower.

ColoringTable

Two of her favorites: Drawing and animals!

GiftShop

The Nature Center of Cape May is free admission, but they bring in funds through fundraising events, summer camp, and the gift store.

InvestigatingTerrapin

We had fun looking at the terrapins. To learn more on them check out this post from last summer: http://beachchairscientist.com/2013/06/25/12-truths-about-diamondback-terrapins-please-see-8/

SlowDownRecycleCrafts

A mural, made by the summer campers, reminds everyone it’s important to go slow on the causeways this time of year.

NatureNook

I fell in love with this sign!

The mission of the Nature Center of Cape May focuses in providing quality environmental education experiences, encouraging stewardship of the harbor area and other natural areas, and promoting volunteerism as a rewarding means of community involvement and service.

Filed Under: Conservation, Environmental Education, Inspiration, Ocean Conservation, People, Places

The short and sweet of horseshoe crab spawning

April 29, 2014 by 2 Comments

You may have heard about the phenomena of horseshoe crab spawning … but, do you really know what’s going on? It’s when hundreds of thousands of these ancient arthropods (dating back 400 million years!) make the journey to low-energy sandy beaches along the Atlantic coast, predominately along the Mid-Atlantic region (highest concentration found along the Delaware Bay), around the time of the full and new moons of May and early June to spawn. Here’s the distilled version of the horseshoe crab spawning saga complete with the words you need to know (i.e., “pedipalps” and “satellite” male) if you want to be considered a horseshoe crab expert. Who doesn’t?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachchairscientist/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachchairscientist/

  1. Journeying from intertidal and deeper waters, male horseshoe crabs arrive near the beach waiting for females.
  2. As the females come closer to shore, males attach to the female’s abdomen. The extra claw, or “pedipalps”, is what the male uses to attach itself to the females.
  3. Not just the one … but, many “satellite” males follow the conjoined pair.
  4. The females dig a depression about 5 to 30 centimeters deep in the upper part of the beach and deposit the clusters of eggs.
  5. External fertilization occurs – Allows for a little extra competition from the “satellite” males!
  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 multiple times per season, laying 3,650 to 4,000 eggs in a cluster (usually an estimated 88,000 eggs annually!).
  7. In 2 to 4 weeks after fertilization, planktonic larvae hatch from the eggs. Some slow moving larvae may even winter within the nests and hatch out the following spring.
  8. After hatching, larvae swim for about six days before they relax in shallow waters to molt into their first juvenile stage in approximately 20 days.
  9. For the first two to three years of life horseshoe crabs molt many times over, growing a quarter of their size each time. Once sexual maturity is reached they slowdown their molting to once per year.
  10. Horseshoe crabs mature around 10 years of age (or 17 molts) and are known to live to be approximately 20 years of age.

For more information on horseshoe crabs and “99 reasons I am in Limulus Love” check out my horseshoe crab page here.

Filed Under: Arthropods, Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, Beach, Invertebrates, Marine Science

Penguins and pebble proposals

April 25, 2014 by 3 Comments

Have you seen this floating around the internet these days “33 Awesome Marriage Proposals You Couldn’t Say No To“? Well, I’m a romantic so I read them all and boy was I excited when I made it to #32 … all about that cute and fluffy flightless bird, the penguin. Check out the image below:

penguinproposal

I was a little annoyed at the generalization (not all penguin species participate in this practice), but then remembered the point of the article is sharing undeniably adorable proposals, not teaching marine science. Where did this statement come from? Well, most likely this was swiped from the movie Good Luck Chuck. See the scene below:

So to shed a little light on this generalization here goes it … The Gentoo and Adelie penguins are the two species out of the 17 known species of penguins to participate in this practice. According to the “Observations on Animal Behaviour” blog “During courtship, the male will present the female with a pebble as a gift. If the female accepts the generous gift, they bond and mate for life. These pebbles hold considerable value and they are also symbols of affection toward a mate. It’s actually quite touching that he would give one away when he’s fighting ferociously to defend his pebbles.”

Gentoo penguin

Gentoo penguin

Adelie penguin

Adelie penguin

Happy World Penguin Day!

Filed Under: Birds, Marine Science, Penguins, Vertebrates