Sea Notes

Simon's Summer!

As an Official Explorer for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I get to attend the special celebrations throughout the year. October was "Otter Days" to celebrate sea otters and river otters. As usual, Alexa and I helped at the event booth. We helped aquarium-goers on their way and told them about all the otterly cool things we had going on. I also had the chance to introduce Michelle Staedler (a sea otter researcher) and Mika Yoshida and Jen Cacciopo who work with the sea otters here at the aquarium. Ms. Staedler talked about sea otter tracking and researching in the field, which was very interesting. I got the chance to look at a booth all about sea otter tracking. Over all, I had a blast learning about Sea and River Otters and I can’t wait until Feathered Friends Day in November (22-23).

Over the summer I went to a marine biology sleep away camp on Catalina Island. I had a great time there learning about Catalina’s terrestrial and marine life. I was able to see big rays, an octopus, a shovelnose guitarfish, a California sea hare (a type of sea slug) and many fish, while snorkeling. I also got a chance to go SCUBA diving, sailing on a catamaran, canoing in an outrigger, kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking. After the camp I stayed with my aunt and Uncle in Laguna Beach. I woke up early one day to see the tidepools when the tide was out. I found striped shore crabs, purple sea urchins, ochre sea stars, lots of types of anemones, and sculpin.

In August I volunteered at the Marine Science Institute summer camp in Redwood City. I was an intern for two sessions: Ocean Naturalists, which is about marine organisms, scientific equipment, and how to take fish, invertebrate, and plankton samples; and Estuary Explorers, which is about the complex San Francisco Bay Estuary ecosystem and the animals that live there. In both sessions I sailed on MSI’s boat the Robert G. Brownlee and caught 3 bat rays (including a tiny baby one), barred perch, and bay shrimp in a trawl net. I also caught spider crabs, tortellini snails, and polychaetes in a mud grab and lots of plankton in a plankton sample.

What a fun summer! I hope you had fun too! ~Simon

Think OCEAN

At the recent World Ocean Day event, Ayla Besemer (2007 official explorer), Alexa and I (this year's official explorers) had a booth about saving the oceans. At the booth we had wrap-n-mats, which are plastic coated cloths that are a reusable substitute for plastic bags.  We also had reusable water bottles, reusable lunch bags, and cloth napkins. These things make up a zero waste lunch.

We showed the public how they could take part in saving the oceans.  We passed out Seafood Watch pocket guides and "Think OCEAN" cards. Think OCEAN lists 15 super easy things you can do to conserve the oceans starting today. On the list are simple things like recycling, carpooling, and changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs. While talking with aquarium-goers we referred to the presentation Save Our Seas, which is about ocean conservation. We explained that you could learn three main things from the presentation: what the ocean gives us, why the ocean is in trouble, and most importantly, what you can do to help.

Ayla and I presented Save Our Seas at Trinity and Oak Knoll Schools in Menlo Park, Bear Creek Elementary in Boulder, CO and at World Ocean Day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We quizzed the audience on their knowledge of the ocean by asking them questions about the pacific trash vortex, the age of the ocean, bottom trawling, and a lot more. In the first section we showed the audience why we should conserve the oceans. We explained that the ocean gives us a lot of things like food, a mode of transportation, and a place to have fun. Next, we went over major topics like overfishing, all types of pollution, and global warming. In the final section we talked about recycling, eating sustainable seafood, and other ways to save the ocean. Ayla and I had a blast giving this presentation to more than 150 people in the aquarium's auditorium that day!

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.