It is gearing up for summertime so if you see a jellyfish on the beach, report it here. They actually want to hear about all your fun and exciting ocean finds. And best of all there is no registration – so get to it!
Marine & Freshwater Environmental Education
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Superlatives of the sea
This past Friday I had a particularly curious and enthusiastic fifth block Oceanography class. All of their questions were marine science related so I broke out some notecards and asked them to write all of their burning inquiries down. I wanted to tackle them thoughtfully … here I am! My students are amazing inspiration and […]
Maryland moves closer to banning microbeads
Reported on the Baltimore Sun’s B’More Green blog, “Consumer products such as toothpaste and cosmetic scrubs containing tiny plastic “microbeads” could be banned from store shelves in Maryland after 2018 under a bill unanimously approved Thursday by the state Senate”. These means that if the bill passes the House, “Maryland will be the second state […]
CITES recognizes important marine species
You might think that sharks are a predator that we want to eradicate, but that’s far from the truth of the matter. For a healthy ocean we need the top predator. For 5 species of sharks – oceanic whitetip, scalloped hammerhead (pictured below), great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, and porbeagle sharks – there was some inspiring […]
Is a starfish really a fish?
No. The classic common name is very misleading. Scientists and environmental educators are transitioning their language to seastar when referring to this animal because, well, it is not a fish. The seastar is in the same family as the sea urchin, sea cucumber, sand dollar and a few others that all have these things in […]
Who are the top celebrity ocean advocates?
Image via Wikipedia Wow! What a fun question to research, thank you! (You’ll surely notice I was picky because there are many environmental activists in Hollywood but and tried to keep the list to those that focus on primarily oceans.) I am such a fan of giving back no matter how much I believe we […]
Spend your tax refund at United by Blue!
United by Blue is an organization that is dedicated to making and seeing a difference in our world, with particular attention on the oceans. Brian Linton started the company in May of 2010 and sells amazing apparel, jewelry, and bags and makes certain to remove 1 pound of trash from the world’s oceans and waterways […]
Playing well with others? Dissecting the tension between the scientist-educator community
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge”. Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) German-Swiss-U.S. scientist “The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions”. Claude Levi-Strauss (1908 – 2009) French anthropologist and ethnologist “Those that can’t do, teach”. […]
Facts about ‘Finding Dory’ friends
Maybe it’s because I’m a full-time teacher now, but my favorite character in Finding Dory is the Sting Ray. I mean, if it wasn’t for the class trip to learn about migration Dory – the blue tang with short-term memory loss – may never had thought about “going home” and the trek to look for […]
Ninja-like crustacean
Excerpt from the Blue Planet. Do you have a question for the Beach Chair Scientist? e-mail info@beachchairscientist.com.
In what way can a beach be compared to a desert?
…It’s Charismatic Microfauna! Well, yes there’s the sand, but there is also an unrecognized and perhaps even shocking biodiversity that lies not quite below the surface. Would you believe me if I told you that in a single handful of wet sand you could be holding a community of organisms equaling, if not exceeding, the […]
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Top posts & pages from BCS …
- Hurricane vs. Cyclone vs. Typhoon
- A House for Hermit Crab
- How to handle a horseshoe crab
- Snot's your house
- Wednesday Wisdom: Various quotes (Alaska scenes)
- A naturalist's must-see destination: Fossil Hunting at Bayfront State Park in Chesapeake Beach, MD
- Belly biology creates lasting memories
- Five awful puns about courtship in the sea
- Horseshoe crabs confirmed as members of arachnid family
- Beyond the bag: Other plastics being banned
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