Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Featured Teacher At Sea
The mission of NOAA's Teacher at Sea
(TAS) program is to give teachers a clearer insight into our ocean planet, a greater understanding of
maritime work and studies, and to increase their level of environmental literacy by fostering an
interdisciplinary research experience.
Our currently featured Teacher at Sea is Sarah Raskin. Below is the blog from her recent
Bell M. Shimada cruise in CINMS.
DAY ONE:
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NOAA's research ship: the Bell M. Shimada |
The Bell M. Shimada, my home away from home for the next six days!
Today marks my first official day aboard the Shimada as part of NOAA's
Teacher at Sea Program. NOAA stands for National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. My name is Sarah Raskin and I am an
educator at Haydock Academy of Arts and Sciences, a public middle school
in Oxnard, CA. For the next week, I have the opportunity to join NOAA
scientists from across the United States on a deep-sea science
expedition in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. I am hoping
to bring back what I learn to the students at Haydock and to paint a
picture of what it is like to work on real-life science out in the
field.
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The scientists starting from the left: Peter Etnoyer, Rick Botman, Branwen Williams, Andrew Shuler, Erin Weller, Will Sautter, Steve Holz, Leslie Wickes, Andy Lauermann, Chris Caldow, Dirk Rosen, Mike Annis, Laura Kracker. |
The location for our expedition is in the waters off of the coast of
Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in Southern California. The Channel
Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) covers 1,470 square miles of
water surrounding Santa Barbara, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and
San Miguel Islands and is home to a large amount of diverse species. On
this expedition, scientists will use an ROV (a remotely operated
underwater vehicle) to examine deep-sea coral and the water chemistry
around those coral beds. One of the most surprising facts for me before
beginning this journey was to learn that coral grows in cold water
deep-sea habitats, having only previously associated coral with warm
water environments.
During this expedition, scientists will also look at
how the corals are affected by ocean acidification. It will be
interesting to see what their findings are: how do our actions on land
affect organisms, such as coral, that live in the deep sea?
The scientists will collect live samples of the coral to take back to their
labs for further ocean acidification testing.
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Anacapa Island (Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary) |
Throughout this trip,
scientists will also use sonar to map the ocean floor. The information
gathered from the sonar will help provide direction for where to send
our ROV. The new images generated from the sonar could also be used to
bring up-to-date sea floor maps of the Sanctuary, many of which have not
been updated since they were created in the1930s! Another feature of
the sonar is to map out locations and quantities of fish populations in
the area. This information is vital to sanctuaries and marine protected
areas, as it contributes important information about why these areas are
important to protect.
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Fire drill on the ship |
Science in the field is much different than science in a laboratory
setting. There are so many factors to take into account: weather, ocean
conditions, the working conditions of the equipment and many more
unforeseen circumstances. The scientists and ship crew must each do
their parts and work closely together as a team to make the research
possible. During the first day aboard the researchers have faced quite
a few challenges... Maybe because we set sail on Friday the 13th?
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A picture of me in the survival suit |
The morning began with impromptu safety drills. Similar to the fire
drills that we have at our school, the ship also conducts regular
drills. Today we had both a fire drill and an abandon ship drill. The
abandon ship drill prepares the crew for an emergency event that would
require us to leave the ship immediately. It also involved donning a
safety suit, a giant red neoprene wetsuit that is designed to keep you
warm if you needed to jump into the ocean.
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MARE's Beagle ROV |
Later in the afternoon, the team
took the ROV out for its first outing of the trip. Chris Caldow (the
expedition lead) and the scientists from Marine Applied Research and
Exploration (MARE) chose a spot on the ocean floor that was sandy and
flat with few physical features to snag on for its initial run. The
ROV, which is named the Beagle, is an amazing piece of machinery. It is
designed to be able to function in depths of down to 500 meters. It is
also equipped with a high definition video camera that will take footage
of what is going on under the sea. If the scientists see something of
interest, the Beagle ROV has a manipulator arm to collect samples. The
arm feature is also used to deploy different types of sensors that will
keep track of information, such as temperature, over a longer period of
time.
The launch of the ROV was exciting. Most of the crew gathered around to
watch its release, and as it made it's way down to the sea floor, it
began streaming video footage to monitors inside of the laboratories on
the ship. It was pretty incredible to be able to see the bottom of the
sea floor with such clarity. So far, we have spotted multiple species
of rockfish and an egg case of a skate. I can't wait to see what
tomorrow will bring!
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Watching streaming video footage from the ROV |
Back to one of our challenges: the key sonar machine is currently out of
order. When things break on a ship, it can be a bit tricky to fix.
It's definitely not as simple as running to the nearest hardware store
to pick up a new piece of equipment. When something is not working out
here, it can involve scuba diving under the ship to fix something or
sailing back to the mainland if there is a real issue. So tomorrow
there will be a boat coming out to meet our ship and bringing with it
equipment and a trained sonar technician to hopefully solve our
problems. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
Update: Science in the Field
The Beagle ROV journeyed into the depth once more last night. This time
the mission was to find deep-sea coral beds, in particular one species
called Lophelia pertusa, and bubble gum coral.
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Lophelia pertusa |
The MARE team (Dirk Rosen, Andy Lauermann, Steve Holz and Rick Botman)
worked with scientists Peter Etnoyer, Leslie Wickes, Andrew Shuler and
Branwen Williams to locate a coral bed that they had visited previously
in 2010 and 2014. Using GPS coordinates, the MARE team was able to
locate the exact site of the coral bed that Peter and his team had
worked with in earlier years. There were quite a few high-fives and
cheers of excitement in the lab when the ROV made its way to the
familiar patch of bright red bubble gum coral.
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Branwen and Dirk scout the sea floor for coral beds |
The team dropped a
temperature gauge at that location that will take and record a
temperature reading every five minutes for the next six months. After
that, Peter and his team will return on a second expedition to retrieve
the device. The temperature gauge is tied to a rope attached to a lead
weight and a flotation device covered with bright reflective tape.
Andrew explained that the reflective tape would stand out in the
headlights of the ROV, making it much easier to spot when they return
for it half a year later.
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Andrew holds up one of the temperature sensors that will be deployed with the ROV |
The Beagle also retrieved its first coral sample of Lophelia pertusa,
which it brought to the surface. Picking up samples from the deep in no
easy feat. Andy and Dirk control the ROV from the deck with controls
that look similar to something you would find on a video game consul.
Sitting along side them, scientists Peter, Leslie and Branwen direct
them to which coral specimens look the best for their sample. Then
using either the manipulator arm or a shovel like feature on the boat,
the ROV controller works quickly to scoop the organism into a basket
attached to the front of the machine.
Once the ROV safely made it back on board, the scientists worked quickly
to get the coral and its little inhabitants such as deep-sea brittle
stars and crabs, into cold water tanks as fast as possible. While the
coral doesn't seem to mind the pressure difference between the deep-sea
and surface, it does not handle the temperature differential as well.
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Leslie removes coral for storage in the fresh water tanks |
The team also took water samples from the water near the coral sites,
which they will test later for pH. They are hoping to find out whether
coral changes the composition of the water surrounding it. In order to
collect the water samples, Branwen Williams (a scientist and professor
from Keck Science Department at Claremont College), Leslie and Andrew
retrieved water samples using a CTD-niskin rosette. They took water
samples at the depth of the coral beds (approx. 290 meters) and then
every 25 meters up from there. Once they filled bottles with the
water, it was important to immediately "fix" the water samples. This
means putting a poison, such as mercuric chloride into the water sample
to kill off any living organisms, such as zooplankton or phytoplankton,
that might be photosynthesizing or respiring and changing the pH levels
of the water samples. This gives the scientists a snapshot of what the
water chemistry is like at a particular place and time.
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Leslie, Andrew and Branwen retrieve water samples |
DAY TWO:
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A beautiful day aboard the Bell M. Shimada in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary |
Happy Pi Day everyone! The second day on the ship was productive and
incredible. The weather was fantastic throughout the entire day, with
hardly any wind and a sheet glass ocean. The stillness of the water
made it easy to spot wildlife, and during the day we saw multiple pods
of dolphins, sea lions, and a variety of sea birds such as cormorants
and brown pelicans.
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Retrieving the Beagle ROV from its first dive of the day |
The beautiful weather also made for smooth conditions to launch the ROV.
The ROV took three dives today at different locations and depths each
time. Peter and his team picked the locations around the Islands,
staying true to spots they had visited in previous years. Part of their
research involves looking at the same coral beds over the course of many
years and recording what they observe and noting any changes that may
have occurred. They are observing how the coral, specifically the
species Lophelia pertusa, reacts to changes in pH levels and
temperature. This information is important in finding indicators for
how our ocean is being affected by warmer temperatures and ocean
acidification.
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pH scale |
So what exactly is Ocean acidification? As humans, we release carbon
dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and have been doing so in large
quantities since the Industrial Revolution. Carbon dioxide is released
during combustion, when we drive our cars, power our houses and
factories, use electricity, burn things, cut down trees, etc. The ocean
acts as a sponge and absorbs about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere. However, as levels of CO2 rise in the atmosphere, so do
the levels of CO2 in the ocean. This is not great news for our ocean or
the organisms that make their home there. When CO2 mixes with seawater,
a chemical reaction occurs that causes the pH of the seawater to lower
and become more acidic. This process is called ocean acidification.
Even slight changes in pH levels can have large affects on marine
organisms, such as fish and plankton. Ocean acidification also reduces
the amounts of calcium carbonate minerals that are needed by
shell-building organisms to build their shells and skeletons. The
damage to these shell-building organisms, including many types of
plankton, oysters, coral, and sea urchins, can have a negative ripple
effect throughout the entire ocean food web. An important part of the
mission of this trip is to see how ocean acidification is affecting
different types of deep-sea coral, such as Lophelia pertusa, that use
calcium carbonate minerals to build their skeletons.
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A close look at the basket star |
The scientists and the MARE team conducted three ROV dives throughout
the day. The first dive brought up an outstanding Lophelia sample, and
along with it a bizarre deep-sea creature called a basket star. Basket
stars are a type of invertebrate that are related to brittle stars.
Even though they feed mostly on zooplankton, they have long spindly arms
that can reach to over a meter in length. It was astonishing to be
able to see this alien looking creature alive and moving!
DAY THREE:
Sunday 3/15/15: After long hours and a late night, the MARE team
was able to get the manipulator arm on the ROV up and running, after
having technical difficulties with it during the first half of our trip.
This was perfect timing for the first ROV dive of the day in the waters
between Santa Cruz and Anacapa Islands. The goal of this dive was to
find scientist Branwen Williams a type coral known as acanthogorgia.
This coral is incredibly beautiful; tall, fan-like and golden in color.
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An Acanthogorgia with a cat shark egg case |
Diving Deep: The ROV was dispatched into the water and soon sunk to
around 200 meters. As it cruised along the ocean floor the team watched
as a variety of rockfish scuttled by. The ROV has two sets of lasers
that shoot out in front of it, each spaced 10 centimeters apart. This
gives the scientists an idea of the size of objects or organisms that
pass in front of the camera.
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Andy and Dirk work the controllers while Peter, Branwen and Leslie watch closely nearby
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The team located the Acanthogorgia habitat and got to work collecting
samples using the manipulator arm. The manipulator arm reminds me of
the claw game found in most arcades. Andy remotely operated the arm,
while Dirk worked simultaneously to control the ROV. Together they were
able to collect three exceptional samples, including two Acanthogorgia
corals attached to hefty rocks. Each time the manipulator arm reached
towards a coral, the whole crew of the Shimada held in their breath in
suspense. Would the arm be able to grasp its target? The live footage
from the ROV is now being streamed throughout the entire ship; in the
lounges and staterooms too, so Andy and Dirk had a quite an audience
cheering them on!
The samples made it back to the ship safely. Branwen prepared the coral
to take back to the Keck Science Department of the Claremont College
where she and her students will conduct their research about this little
known species of coral. Thinking about the effort it takes to research
deep-sea coral; involving ROVs and commissioning ships to reach their
remote locations, it's no wonder we know little about them and so much
more about their shallow water relatives.
DAY FOUR:
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The Shark Cat along side the Shimada |
The visiting sonar technician left this afternoon on NOAA's Shark Cat
boat after working diligently to fix the ship's sonar system throughout
the past few days. As of now, the ME 70 sonar is up and running. This
equals exciting news for the sonar team that has been waiting patiently
to begin their projects. The Shimada actually has two sonar machines;
one works with a single beam, while the other, the ME 70 has multiple
beams that can cover a much greater amount of territory in the same
amount of time.
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Mike and Will look at data generated from the sonar system |
How does sonar work? Sonar technology is a way for us to create images
of what is below the surface of the ocean. The sonar system, which is
attached to the bottom of the ship, sends out an acoustic signal towards
the ocean floor and then measures how long it takes for the sound to
bounce back to the boat. By measuring this, the sonar creates a picture
of the depth of the ocean floor in that area.
A secondary measurement that is also occurring when the sonar machine is
running is called backscatter. Backscatter measures the intensity, or
loudness, of the sound as it echoes back to the ship. The softer the
sound when it reflected back means the softer the type of surface it is
bouncing off of, such as sand. The louder and more severe the sound is
equates to a harder surface floor, such as rocky ledges. As Andy
explained to me, think about bouncing a ping-pong ball on a carpet vs.
hardwood floor. The ping-pong ball will have a much stronger bounce off
of a hard surface v. a softer one. Will also explained that based on
the backscatter sound we can determine fine details such as whether the
sand is fine or coarse.
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Pamphlet for the Simrad multibeam echo sounder |
Both of these sonar features create an image of what the ocean floor
looks like, its physical features, habitat types and any potential
hazards that may exist below the surface. This is critical for creating
nautical charts and it is also important for the navigation of the ROV,
so it doesn't stumble upon any unexpected obstacles while traveling
underwater.
Another feature that sonar is used for on this ship is to measure fish
abundance. The sound waves travel down and bounce off of the fishes'
swim bladders. Swim bladders are gas filled bladders found in many fish
that helps them stay buoyant. Using this method, scientists could use
sonar to gauge fish populations, instead of catching fish to see what is
out there.
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An example of an image created by the sonar system |
So far in the trip, Laura Kracker and her team (Mike Annis, Will Sautter
and Erin Weller) have been using the working sonar to map fish
populations in the area. Tonight, however, they will use the ME 70 for
a test run to map out areas of the Channel Islands National Marine
Sanctuary that have never been mapped before! This data could be used
to create brand new nautical maps, to help scientists have a better idea
of what the hidden part of our sanctuary looks like and to determine
which regions might be best habitats for fish or coral. Tomorrow, the
ROV team will send the ROV to the sites that were mapped the previous
night to check out features that were discovered on the seafloor and to
explore the newly mapped regions.
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The Bell M. Shimada by the Channel Islands |
When setting out on this journey, students asked me what life would be
like living on a ship. I spoke with several of the crew members on the
ship about what it is like to be out at sea for days at a time. So
here is an image of what it has been like so far, from the perspective
of some of the crew and from my own experiences:
The Bell M. Shimada is an enormous ship, over 200 feet in length. I
have been here for four days now and still have not explored the entire
place! The ship is approx. six stories tall, though on the ship they
refer to the different levels as decks, not stories. The Shimada is run
from a platform on the third deck, known as the bridge. The steering of
the ship takes place from the bridge and there is always an assigned
lookout person, whose job is to look out the windows to see what is
going on around the ship. The bridge is also equipped with radars that
can detect boat traffic or other obstacles. A lot of communication goes
back and forth between the scientists in the ROV command room and the
bridge. The bridge must ensure that the ship stays steady and follows
the ROV during its dive. If the ship moves too much it can yank the ROV
around or the cables from the ROV could get caught or damaged under the
ship.
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One of the staterooms |
The areas where we sleep on the ship are called staterooms. Almost all
of them consist of bunk beds and have a toilet and shower area. I am
rooming with Erin, one of the scientists working on the sonar mapping
project. Erin and her team work during the night after the ROV runs, so
typically she is going to bed shortly before I wake up for the day. We
have both been working hard to stay quiet enough to let each other catch
up on our sleep!
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The lounge/theater |
The Shimada has many features that I was not expecting on a ship, such
as an exercise room equipped with treadmills and weights. We even have
Internet access here! Another unexpected feature is the lounge/ theater
room that is across the hall from my stateroom. It has plush reclining
chairs, a huge flat screen TV, and all the DVDs you could ever hope to
watch, including the newest movies.
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The ship's exercise room |
When talking with the crew about what they love most about their jobs,
many of them referred to how being part of a NOAA boat allows them
incredible travel opportunities. One person I spoke with has been to 52
different countries throughout his career with NOAA! Another benefit of
a maritime career such as this is that NOAA pays for part of your
education. It requires special schooling and credentials to be able to
be an engineer or commanding officer on a ship, and NOAA helps offset
those costs. One of the biggest challenges of the job, however, is
being away from family and friends for such long periods of time. Some
of the crew explained to me that they may be out at sea for 30 days at a
time, sometimes even longer.
One great perk to life aboard is the food. Two chefs prepare all of the
meals on the Shimada for us. Similar to our lunch time at school, the
meals are served at the same time each day in what is called the mess
hall. If you oversleep and miss breakfast, not too worry; there is
cereal and other snacks available around the clock. They serve
breakfast, lunch and dinner on the ship, and we have even had the treat
of fresh salads and homemade desserts!
The ship stays running smoothly thanks to the help of the engineers and
crew members. They work behind the scenes around the clock to keep the
ship afloat.
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The view from the flying bridge |
My absolute favorite location on the ship is called the flying bridge.
It has 3 tall chairs that look out over the ocean and an almost 360
degree view of the sea. The chairs have been used on previous
excursions for scientists to sit and count marine mammals as part of
their survey. It is a great place to watch the sunset from.
DAY SIX:
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Peter and I with the students' cups tied to the CTD Niskin Rosette |
7th and 8th grade students from Haydock Academy of Arts and Sciences in
Oxnard, California, along with elementary students from South Carolina,
decorated Styrofoam cups that Peter and I took with us on the Shimada.
We brought these cups to show our students the amazing power of
underwater pressure. The depths at which the ROV and CTD Niskin Rosette
traveled during the voyage were much further than a human body could
physically handle without being in some sort of pressurized submersible.
Human bodies currently experience air pressure when we are at sea
level, though we don't feel the pressure because the fluids in our
bodies are pressing outwards with the equal amount of force. However,
once you start traveling underwater, the greater the pressure of the
water pushing down on your being. As one NOAA website states: "For
every 33 feet (10.06 meters) you go down, the pressure increases by 14.5
psi. In the deepest ocean, the pressure is equivalent to the weight of
an elephant balanced on a postage stamp, or the equivalent of one person
trying to support 50 jumbo jets!"
(https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pressure.html)
To illustrate how powerful the water pressure is in the deep ocean,
Peter and I used Styrofoam cups to demonstrate this concept. First, we
stuffed paper towels into the cups so that they would retain their
shapes during a dive down to the bottom of the ocean floor. Next, we
attached the cups to the CTD niskin rosette. The crew launched the CTD
into the ocean and it plunged downwards to a depth of 550 meters. As the
cups descended deeper and deeper, the increasing water pressure
compressed the air out from between the Styrofoam beads that make up the
cup. What was left was a significantly shrunken version of our cups.
Here are the before and after pictures:
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The cups before the dive |
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The cups post-dive |
The CTD niskin rosette also collected data as it traveled downwards.
Water filtered through the machine and sensors gathered information
about temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, and dissolved oxygen levels.
The tubes on the CTD could also be programmed to collect water samples
at certain depths, which they did on the return trip to the surface.
This allowed the scientists to collect the water to test for different
water quality factors at a later date.
Today, the scientists and Shimada team were joined by media crews from
the LA times and the Santa Barbara Independent, along with some of
NOAA's education outreach specialists. The reporters took a tour around
the Shimada and they interviewed the scientists about their important
work. From Peter Etnoyer, and his team's work on Lophelia and ocean
acidification, Branwen Williams' research on deep-sea coral, Laura
Kracker and team's mapping of uncharted Sanctuary regions, to the MARE
team's innovative ROV technology, the media had quite a bit to report
about!
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Gathering around the acanthogoria sample |
The reporters were even able to watch the ROV take its final dive of the
trip to collect one last acanthogoria sample. One of Branwen's and
Peter's goals is to be able to determine the ages of these beautiful
organisms through the work they do. If they are able to create baseline
data for how old an acanthogoria is, based on size and height, then
there will be less of a need to collect these specimens in the future.
Instead, they will be able to determine age based on looking at the
footage during an ROV dive and using the laser measurements on the ROV
camera to decide how old the coral is.
Until next time... My journey on the Shimada finally came to a close
today. NOAA sent out their local research vessel, the Shearwater, to
meet us in the waters off Santa Cruz Island. Many of the scientists,
along with the MARE team and myself boarded the Shearwater and watched
as the Shimada became smaller and smaller in the distance. It was very
sad to say goodbye, but Chris Caldow and the sonar team will continue on
the Shimada with their important mapping of the Sanctuary for the next
several days.
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Sunset in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary |
Being able to explore the seldom-visited parts of our sanctuary with the
scientists and NOAA crew was a once in a lifetime experience. The
research these scientists are doing to unconver the hidden depths of the
sanctuary is also helping to illustrate how our actions on land have a
direct impact on our oceans.
When we learn more about these rarely seen regions of our Sanctuary and
about the deep-sea organisms that make their home there, these places
and creatures become something that we grow to love and care about. This
exploratory research is so important, because as someone on the trip
said; "we cannot protect what we don't know is there." This is
especially relevant for myself and the students from Haydock, because
the Channel Islands truly are our backyard; we can see the Islands and
Sanctuary from the shores of our city of Oxnard. When we feel a greater
connection to a place such as the Channel Islands National Marine
Sanctuary, we are more likely to take part in the stewardship and
protection of it for our future generations.
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was
loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our
Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children" (unknown)
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