Sea Notes

Hi, I'm Simon Willig

Hi, I'm Simon Willig. I’m 12 years old and currently live in Redwood City, California. I love the oceans and all that lives in them. I'm a 2008 Official Explorer for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Over the next several months I hope to get you more interested in the oceans through the Sea Notes blog.

Right now I'm doing simple things like using compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycling and eating sustainable seafood (to learn more download the Seafood Watch pocket guides). These are all easy things that you can do to conserve the oceans.

I also like working with the organization Save the Bay at the Palo Alto Baylands reserve. (I’ll tell you more, later; keep reading.) I’ve been working with my friend Ayla (2007 Official Explorer) to create a PowerPoint presentation and assembly kit called "Save Our Seas" (S.O.S.) that can be presented at schools in your area. Come to and see Ayla and me present S.O.S, and find out how you can present it, too.

As an Official Explorer, I am excited about learning all I can from the aquarists (scientists who work at the Aquarium doing research and taking care of the animals). I also love educating the public on how to save the oceans and how to eat sustainable seafood by passing out Seafood Watch pocket guides.

February 23-24 was Shark Days at the Aquarium, my first event as an Official Explorer. I was both nervous and excited before the event.

First, we had the passing of the torch (or in this case the vest) ceremony from the 2007 Explorers. We talked about what we were looking forward to as an Official Explorer (which is basically everything). Right after getting the vest, I put it on and got down to business. I had a great time working at the event booth with 2007 explorers Ayla, Sierra and Eduardo, and 2008 explorer Alexa. We had fun helping each other figure out the answers to the Sharks and Rays activity booklet, taking turns helping Aquarium visitors find their way around, and discussing our favorite exhibits.

I had great fun at the sevengill shark feeding where divers held pieces of fish on poles. Sharks swam by and bit off the fish. It was awesome to see these huge sharks prey like they would in the wild. Later, I went with Ayla, Sierra and Alexa to Jellies: Living art and Wild About Otters to pass out Seafood Watch cards and learn more about jellies and freshwater otters.

A couple weekends later I found myself in the new exhibit Splash Zone staring at a wall of eel burrows. Among these strange, but beautiful snakelike fish were snowflake morays, honeycomb morays, white mouth morays and zebra morays. I also had a chance to see leaping blennies (cute little grey fish that actually do jump onto low rocks), and leafy sea dragons (a close but cooler relative to seahorses that camouflages amazingly well by having leaflike green appendages). I saw cuttlefish (a cousin to squid and octopus that, like its relatives, can change its skin to thousands of different colors) and a personal favorite: nudibranchs, which are brightly colored sea slugs that have stinging tentacles.

The next weekend I went to the Palo Alto Baylands with my mom and the organization Save The Bay. I helped plant native vegetation such as common yarrow and common aster to help the indigenous plant population recover and grow. I had a blast learning more about the San Francisco Baylands and their history while helping conserve the oceans.

Stay tuned to learn more about Explorer activities in my next entry. Until then (and always), this is Simon saying: THINK OCEAN!

New Bloggers Joining Us

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, lots of folks are working every day to protect the oceans and ocean wildlife. In the Sea Notes blog, you've heard regularly from two of us. Now we're going to add two new voices

Each year the aquarium selects Official Explorers -- young people between the ages of 10 and 13 who serve as ambassadors for the oceans during many special events here. They meet with visitors, take part in activities like Underwater Explorers SCUBA sessions and find ways to help shape a future with healthy oceans.

Our 2007 Official Explorers recorded their experiences in journals posted to our own website. Now we'll share their thoughts and observations here.

Each year, they've proved to be amazing, articulate advocates, as you'll discover in the months to come.

So here's an introduction to Alexa Stefanko of Burlingame, California and Simon Willig of Redwood City, California our 2008 Official Explorers. Alexa, age 12, has helped raise funds to save the Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo, California, while Simon, also age 12, is co-creating (with 2007 Explorer Ayla Besemer), “Save Our Seas,” a program for kids who want to teach other kids about ocean conservation.

Look for their bylines in the blog throughout the year.

Generation X-traordinary

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we're always looking for ways to inspire the next generation of Ocean Stewards. But often, it is they who are inspiring us! Take Ayla Besemer, age 10 of Colorado, one of our 2007 Official Explorers. Ayla has been visiting the aquarium since the age of 6 and had always had a love for the ocean, even though it wasn't in her backyard. Since becoming an ambassador last year for the aquarium and for its conservation mission, Ayla has worked tirelessly to tell everyone, especially her fellow class mates, about the issues she's been learning about and spreading the word about what we can all do to help. Here's an excerpt from her final journal entry for the year (You can read more about her year, and that of her fellow explorers on our website).

WOW! What an AMAZING year! I have had so much fun, and learned a lot too!  From live radio shows, to helping with the Aquarium's albatross; from working behind the scenes prepping the sea otter's training toys, to cooking sustainable seafood with Chef Dory; from Underwater Explorers to Science Under Sail; the list of adventures goes on and on.  I have had a majorly (is that really a word?) FANTASTIC year.

But more important than all the fun things I did, I also learned tons about our oceans. For instance, did you know there is a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean mostly comprised of plastic! Guess how big it is? Some estimates put it at twice the size of Texas! That is huge! I also learned that kitty poop flushed down toilets, or carried away in storm drains, can hurt the otters off the coast of California . And, if we keep fishing at our current rate, some scientists believe our oceans will be fished out by the year 2048! That's only 40 years from now.

As the year is wrapping up, I have started working on a very special project with one of the new Official Explorers, Simon Willig. This project is called Save Our Seas. It is a PowerPoint presentation about our oceans; the danger they are in; and how kids like you can help! We are still working on it, but soon we hope kids everywhere will be presenting it to their schools and kids they know!

I want to thank everyone at the Aquarium for this INCREDIBLY fantastic year.  Who knew when I set foot into the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time at 6 years old, it would become such a big part of my life! I learned this year that each and every person who works at the Aquarium has a deep love of the ocean. They are dedicated to sharing all they know with kids, so we can work side by side to help them protect and save our mysterious, beautiful, and magical oceans.