Sea Notes

No Ordinary Snail

There’s always something going on in the Kelp Forest Touch Pool.  Right now you can see the giant keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata). This is no ordinary snail. The body of a keyhole limpet can grow to be almost 10 inches long (our largest is about four inches). It’s named for the large “keyhole” in the middle of the shell, for excreting waste (visible in the middle of the black area in photo). This intertidal animal is soft to the touch and adheres to surfaces with its large foot. Senior Aquarist Barbara Utter found these limpets, along with other species, while diving in local reefs. The exhibit also contains a juvenile horn shark , juvenile wolf eel, rockfish, scorpionfish, kelp bass, gumboot chitons and a warty sea cucumber.

Fish Tales, Great White Style

Two tales of great white shark research: One that the researchers will be talking about for a LONG time, one involving our white shark team that you can check out during Discovery Channel's Shark Week on July 31.

In South Africa, a group doing a population study of great whites off Seal Island, was stunned when a 10-foot, half-ton shark leapt out of the water and landed in their boat. According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, it was stuck on deck for more than an hour til researchers were able to free it and get it back into Mossel Bay. The shark apparently swam off, none the worse for the wear -- after a bit of help, as reported here (with a photo of the shark in the boat).

As one of our colleagues said, on hearing the story: "It's my dream and nightmare rolled into one!"

John O'Sullivan, who leads the Monterey Bay Aquarium white shark research project, says it's not surprising for great white sharks to do well, even after an extended time in conditions where they can't swim freely through the ocean.

John said that many of the young great whites the aquarium & its partners tag in southern California come to us from commercial fishermen who catch them accidentally in their nets. The fishermen hold the young sharks, often for several hours, in small holding tanks. Based on data from the electronic tracking tags we place on the sharks, they do very well after release.

Our field team are back in southern California this summer and in addition to tagging juveniles, will be looking for a suitable candidate to bring back to the Aquarium to our just-reopened "Open Sea" exhibit. Stay tuned for news on that front!

Our research project -- as well as research in South Africa and at Guadalupe Island off Baja California -- will be featured in "Great White Invasion," program that kicks off Shark Week 2011 on the Discovery Channel. "Great White Invasion," which explores why great whites hang out in coastal waters, airs on Sunday, July 31 at 9 Eastern/Pacific time. Check your local listings for details.

Art and the Open Sea

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s newly renovated Open Sea exhibit is best known for amazing animals, including giant green sea turtles, ocean sunfish, speedy tunas, puffins and more.

But it also has an artistic streak. That’s because in the Open Sea’s final gallery, Ocean Travelers, visitors are introduced to artists and activists Chris Jordan, Alyssa Irizarry, Alison McDonald, Bryant Austin – who have devoted their work to conserving the world’s oceans. Each live animal exhibit in Ocean Travelers is paired with an art installation to raise awareness about the threats facing those animals. Visitors learn what they can do to ensure safe passage for the unique fishes, sharks, sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals that live in the open ocean. Nearby, short video clips of the artists explain the motivation and passion behind their work.

Shark Teeth

Photographer Chris Jordan’s piece, Shark Teeth, represents the thousands of sharks killed each year for their fins. Viewed from afar, you see a yin-yang image of two species of sharks encircling a mercury symbol. Move closer and you see the image comprises thousands of fossilized shark teeth.

Sea Turtle Murals

In 1996 a group of artists set out to create a series of sea turtle murals along the 1,000 mile-long Baja Peninsula. Most of the artists were self-taught and in collaboration with the conservation group, El Grupo Tortuguero, agreed to create beautiful sea turtle murals if given paints, brushes and food. Alyssa Irizarry, a Tufts University student, was curious if the murals could help turn the tide in local communities away from consuming sea turtles to protecting them. Her findings showed the murals did indeed help change attitudes and behaviors about endangered sea turtles. Her admonition: “Keep on painting!”

Message in a Bottle

Australian Alison McDonald created Message in a Bottle, a dozen sculptures that examine the relationship humans have with plastic. McDonald’s installation features meticulous cutwork using recycled plastic to create delicate algae. The piece invites viewers to re-shape their thinking about plastic and its often disastrous effect in the open sea and on land.

Giant Whale Photo

Bryant Austin of Santa Cruz, California, creates life-size photographs of whales. In the Open Sea, you’ll be eye-to-eye with a black-and-white composite photograph of the face of an endangered humpback whale calf. Austin captured the photograph on a Hasselblad portrait camera while free-diving in the Kingdom of Tonga. After composing a series of photographs, he digitally stitches them together and produces a profound, life-size representation. Through his creations, Austin and the group Marine Mammal Conservation through the Arts hope to inspire change within countries that continue to hunt or harm whales.

Each artist featured in the Ocean Travelers gallery uses different materials to create their pieces, but the common thread is an awareness of environmental issues affecting the oceans and a clear message of how visitors can help conserve the oceans and ensure safe passage for transoceanic animals.

-Angela Hains