World Oceans Day Event LIVE from the Galapagos!

The Living Oceans Foundation is pleased to present two live presentations from 
the Gal?pagos as part of World Oceans Day, June 8, 2012!
 
On the June 8, 2012 at 3:30PM EST, join the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans 
Foundation and the Ocean Project, featuring "Her Deepness" Sylvia Earle, on a 
live call to the research vessel Golden Shadow in the Gal?pagos.  This 
transcontinental conversation on coral reef research will include photos, videos 
and coral reef news direct from the sub-aquatic research site near Darwin 
Island. Dr. Earle and the science team will discuss current studies on rare 
coral reefs at the north of the Gal?pagos archipelago; how the Gal?pagos species 
respond to El Ni?o-driven temperature fluctuations; and why that may give us 
hope for corals? ability to be resilient to future climate change.

Visit www.livingoceansfoundation.org to view the live webinar or come downtown 
to the Smithsonian's Baird Auditorium in Washington, D.C. to watch LIVE with 
Sylvia Earle. 

In addition, at 10:00AM EST on June 8, LOF Chief Scientists, Dr. Andrew 
Bruckner, will be hosting an education webinar titled ?The Galapagos: A unique 
field laboratory to assess the effects of climate change on marine 
environments.? This webinar is open to all high school students, teachers, and 
members of the public. 

Both events will be streamed from the Living Oceans Foundation website. Visit 
www.livingoceansfoundation.org for more details. Details should be posted this 
week. A flyer is also attached.

Please distribute to others that may be interested.

Sincerely,

Eddie Gonzalez

Education Director
Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
8181 Professional Place, Suite 215
Landover, MD 20785
240-624-2285

The world's second largest coral reef is under threat, off the coast of Belize.

National Geographic Video

The Belize Lionfish Project

Lionfish at The Terrace, Turneffe Atoll. Photo by Blue Harbor.

The spread of lionfish throughout the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Belize is being monitored by ECOMAR and our partners.  In December 2008 after the first lionfish was observed in Belize, ECOMAR raised the alarm and in partnership with the Belize Fisheries Department began educating stakeholders by distributing Lionfish Toolkits that included posters, dip nets and fact sheets. In 2010 ECOMAR partnered with COMPACT and GCFI to increase project activities and to reach a wider audience. In 2011 ECOMAR continued its outreach campaign with the production of many materials with one common message, "Eat Lionfish!"

Read more.....

Some Photos from Our January Visit to Turneff Flats...

 This is a Solitary Gorgonian Hydroid attached to the tip of a Sea Plume. 

Click on any photo to enlarge.

 This Flamingo Tongue was moving to a different Sea Fan for lunch.

A Pederson Cleaning Shrimp with eggs! Note the transparent body and legs.

Half Moon Caye at Lighthouse Reef is home to a Red-footed Boobie rookery. Magnificent Frigate Birds also nest on this caye.

Great Lakes ice cover down 71% since 1973

Ice cover on North America's Great Lakes--Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario, and Erie--has declined 71% since 1973, says a new study published in the Journal of Climate by researchers at NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Read More....

Mapping Ancient Civilization

For a quarter of a century, two archaeologists and their team slogged through wild tropical vegetation to investigate and map the remains of one of the largest Maya cities, in Central America. Slow, sweaty hacking with machetes seemed to be the only way to discover the breadth of an ancient urban landscape now hidden beneath a dense forest canopy.
Read more....

Informational Meeting Tonight

An informational meeting will be presented Thursday, March 22, 2012 at the Science Resources Center, 10001 Route 60, Fredonia, NY at 7:00 PM.  For directions or additional information please call Helen Domske, Sea Grant Resource Agent at (716) 645-3610 or Garry Dole, Science Resources Coordinator, Erie 2 BOCES  at (716) 679-3419 or 800-344-9611 ext. 2598 (from 716 area code).