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nautical nomads talk!

4/25/2018

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Asta and Andrew are excited to share their adventures with you next month with the support of the Blue Water Sailing Club!
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Sea wolves and salmon bears!

9/21/2017

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For years I've been shamelessly obsessed with the incredible books by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read. Today while checking out the Pacific Wild website, I found free downloadable teacher's guides to two books, The Sea Wolves and The Salmon Bears! Do yourself a favor and dive into "Canada's Galapagos" The Great Bear Rainforest!
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Horseshoe Crabs...Alien or Ancestor?

10/31/2014

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PictureHorseshoe diagram from Exploringnature.org.
  • Horseshoe Crabs are known by their latin nomenclature as Limulus Polyphemus. Limulus, in latin, means sideways motion; polyphemus is the name of the cyclops of Greek myth who was blinded by Odysseus.











  • NATURAL HISTORY
    ​

  • Horseshoe crabs are thought to have evolved between 300-520 million years ago. This means that they have existed since the time of the dinosaurs, and were here before the evolution of land plants, insects, and humans.   Check out this great article on what the Horseshoe crabs have evolved through!

  • Some people refer to horseshoe crabs as a “living fossil”-meaning a species that has retained the same body plan for millions of years, and represents a “sole surviving lineage from an epoch long past” (mnn.com)

  • Horseshoe crabs are not actually that “crabby” at all. Originally classified by Linnaeus in 1759, the Horseshoe crab is actually a distant relative of the crustaceans, and a more closely related to Arachnids, which include species like spiders, ticks, and scorpions.


ANATOMY
  • Horseshoe crabs are protected from the environment by a hard exoskeleton. 
  • The females are usually larger than the male horseshoe crabs, with a carapace (or outer body shell) of up to 60 cm.
  • These animals can also weigh up to 5 kilograms.
  • Horseshoe crabs have six pairs of appendages.
  • You can tell a female from a male horseshoe crab by looking at it's first set of appendages. Males have a pair of mating claws commonly known as "boxing gloves". Females have pincers similar to those seen in other crab species.
  • When it's time to mate, the male uses his boxing gloves to hold himself onto the female's carapace.
COOL ECOLOGY FACTS
  • Did you know that horseshoe crabs also provide valuable real estate for other marine creatures? Epiphytic plants and epizootic animals can live on the surface of the horseshoe crab's carapace.
  •  Scuds, ghost anemones, Asteriids, snail furs, blue mussels, barnacles, sea strawberries, seal lettuce, red beard sponges, eastern oyster, northern rock barnacles, skeleton shrimps, sand builder worms, bushy bugulas, hard tube worms, flat worms, oyster drill eggs and Agardh’s red seaweed all make their home on the backs of Horseshoe Crabs!
PictureClose-up photo of a horseshoe crab's compound eye. Photo courtesy of sciencephoto.com
  • OH THOSE EYES!
  • Horseshoe crabs can have up to ten eyes. Most of them are found around the top of the carapace, but some even have eyes on their long, thin tail. These eyes vary in their complexity. Some are simple eyes, with only photoreceptors, while others are large and complex. The eyes found on the back of the horseshoe crab have up to 1,000 photo receptor clusters, known as ommatidia. Each ommatidia has a lens, a cornea and a cluster of photosreceptors. 



  • Horseshoe crabs have the largest rods and cones of any known animal. The rods and cones found in the eye of a horseshoe crab are approximately 100 times the size of  the ones found in the humans eye. In spite of the number of eyes,horseshoe crabs still have "poor" eyesight used only to sense light and locate mates.

PicturePhoto courtesy of Steve Greer Photography.
 LIFESTYLE
  • Horseshoe crabs have no known predators in the sea. Their only concern for survival comes from human consumption.

  • Humans have used Horseshoe crabs as bait for other commercially collected species, like the American Eel and the Conch (a type of Whelk snail). They also have traditionally collected Horseshoe crabs as food for other farmed species, such as pigs and poultry. Leftover horseshoe crab material was also used as a crop fertilizer, up until the 1970s.

  • Traditionally collected only as By-catch, horseshoe crabs are now commercially harvested, mainly for medicinal purposes.


PicturePhoto courtesy of http://www.lehsd.k12.nj.us
BLUE-BLOODED, THROUGH AND THROUGH

  • Horseshoe crabs have blue blood-baby blue in fact! This is because horseshoe crab blood contains copper as it's oxygen carrying molecule, unlike our blood, which uses iron.

  • In the 1950's, a researcher named Frederick Bang discovered something amazing about horseshoe crab blood. He looked at a special type of cell found in horseshoe crab blood called amoebocytes (more information here) and found that they contain a chemical called coagulen. Coagulen's job is to detect invading bacteria-and to stop it in it's tracks. When the coagulen detects even a part per trillion of bacteria or it's endotoxins in the horseshoe crab's blood, it releases a gooey gel that coats the bacteria completely,and kills it. This prevents the bacteria from spreading through the crab's body, and keeps it protected.
  • Coagulen is so good at what it does that it is now used all over the world to detect bacteria in many medicines given to patients by injection. When doctors want to administer a medicine to a patient, they first test it using the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate Test.
  •  Bacteria can be detected by mixing the medicine with extracted coagulen. If there is bacteria is present, the coagulen will trap them in a thick gel, visible to the human eye. If no bacteria is present, the coagulen will not react. ​
  • The only way to get the Coaguluen for the LAL test is to harvest live horseshoe crab blood. Biomedical companies harvest up to 30,000 horseshoe crabs per year, and take approximately 30% of their blood at a time.
  • Horseshoe crabs are harvested during their mating season, when they congregate on the sandy shoreline in shallow water. Once taken, the horseshoe crabs are returned to the area where they were found.
  • 1 quart of horseshoe crab blood is worth approximately $15,000 dollars US.
  • Horseshoe crab blood has also been  used in cancer therapy reserach, leukemia diagnosis and to detect vitamin B12 deficiency. 



CURRICULAR LINKS:
 BIG QUESTION:
What about the Horseshoe crab has made it so capable of survival and reproduction?

Why has it lasted in the ocean as long as it has while other similar creatures might have died out?


Here's some questions you could ask your class to think about after learning about Horseshoe Crabs:

  1. Why do you think that Horseshoe crabs would need amoebocytes? What about where they live might make them prone to having bacterial invaders?
  2. Do you think Coagulen would work in human blood? Why or why not?
  3. How do you think harvesting the blood effects the Horseshoe crabs?

Lesson Plans and Activities:

  1.  For a lesson on how horseshoe crabs are connected with seabirds and intertidal ecology, check it out this lesson plan from The US Fish and Wildlife Service.
  2. For a great  high-school level biochemistry or chemistry lesson, try out LAL lab by Gary Kreamer of the Delaware Aquatic Resources Education Center. 
  3. For lessons on the horseshoe crab's compound eyes, external anatomy and molting behavior, check out horseshoecrab.org's great lesson plans!
  4. For your own 3D model of a horseshoe crab, check out the Deleware Sea Grant's life-sized model set!

References:
  • The Atlantic Online. Feb 26, 2014. "The Blood Harvest." Accessed online October 31st, 2014.
 
  • Mitchell, B. July 27, 2014. How we Harvest Horseshoe Crab blood to Save Lives. Inhabitat article.
          Accessed online October 31st, 2014.
  • Sacred Heart University. "Horseshoe Crab History." Accessed online October 31st, 2014.
  • Sea Kayak Chesepeake Bay. "Horseshoe Crab-Living Fossil-Champion Survivor."Accessed online October 31st, 2014.
  • Marinebio.org. "Horseshoe Crabs:Limulus Polyphemus."Accessed online October 31st, 2014.



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Earth Day Enrichments!

4/22/2014

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Pictureimage from: http://www.visitrenotahoe.com/
April 22nd is 


Earth Day!

What does Earth Day mean to you? How does the ocean fit in with your idea of ocean protection? 






Earth Day has grown over the last 40 years to become the world's largest international environmental celebration.

The event was inspired by the beginnings and successes of grassroots environmental activism on a community level. The event was originally credited to Senator Gaylord Nelson, a man also known as the "Conservation Governor".

In spring 1970, Senator Nelson proposed a national teach-in on the environment to send a message to Washington that public opinion was solidly behind a bold political agenda on environmental problems.

"He insisted that the national office would not try to shape a uniform national protest—this was to be a day for people to act locally.

 "This is the time," Nelson insisted, "for old-fashion political action." (EPA 2014)

Using the support of a network of dedicated, passionate students, Senator Nelson began "Environmental Teach In Inc". The organization worked to promote the event, support local organizers, and promote political actions that protected the environment. 


 According to the EPA, 20 million Americans—from 10,000 elementary and high schools, 2,000 colleges, and over 1,000 communities—took part in the inaugural Earth Day event. People of all ages, races and occupations felt drawn to the event, and in fact, 1 in 10 Americans across the country participated in the very first Earth Day. 

The event summoned the political favor for environmental regulations. Shortly after the event,"President Nixon and many in Congress rushed to lend their support to the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and stringent amendments to the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts." (EPA 2002). Since 1970, Earth Day has stood for the power of environmental interests, and continues to be a great way to remind everyone how much we rely on the natural environment.

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Senator Gaylord Nelson from www.nelsonearthday.net
PictureImage from http://www.vallejopeoplesgarden.org

"Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time not the resources to organize the 20 million demonstrators who participated from thousands of schools and local communities. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself."







PictureImage from caglecartoons.com.
















So what can you do to protect your planet and support environmental protection?



Here are ten great resources for ways to celebrate with Mother Earth!!


 1. Attend an Earth Day Celebration or Teach In. 
 Many cities in both Canada and the US organize Earth Day events. Check your local newspaper or the EPA's website for event listings and locations.  You can even participate in Earth Day events through Twitter! Check out Earth Month's Twitter Chats.


  2. Go out and Appreciate Nature!
Take fifteen minutes out of your lesson, activity or day to go for a walk, sit in silence or just play outside. There are many known health benefits to spending time outdoors, and it helps you to truly understand why protecting the natural environment is so important. Open your senses, calm your mind, and look closer at what surrounds you!


3. Get to know your eco-heroes.
 Here's a great lesson plan from ReadWriteThink that helps students understand the major voices in the environmental movement.


4. Organize a Toy or Clothing Swap! 
   Reduce your need for new products by trading with others! There are probably plenty of items in your home that aren't useful to you anymore. Why not bring them into your school, workplace or community center and give them away to others! You might even come home with something new yourself. Check out this video made by the Super Stewards of Port Alberni to learn more about it.

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5. Upcycle to create some great new toys!
Check out the Kid's Activity Blog for some great ways to use recyclable materials to create new toys for your kids or students!


6. Grab a good book. 
There are plenty of good books that promote environmental protection out there for all ages. Check out babble.com's guide to Excellent Earth Day Kids Books,  or PBS'S Green Reads for recommendations.



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7. Take part in NASA'S  #GlobalSelfie Event
Join NASA April 22 as they encourage people all over the world to step outside and celebrate environmental awareness.  Anyone, anywhere on the globe, can participate by posting a "selfie" with their local environment as a backdrop. Post your photo to Twitter, Instagram or Google+ using the hashtag #GlobalSelfie or to the event groups on Facebook and Flickr. Photos tagged #GlobalSelfie will be used to create a mosaic image of Earth. For details on how to participate, visit:
 
http://www.nasa.gov/globalselfie/
 

8. Research  A Cause and Get Involved!
 Real, effective solutions are created every day by people like you and me. If you can think of a cause, you can find a community to help you with it! You can create pledges, petitions, and online letter mailing campaigns. "Be the change" in your own community!


9. Support Environmental Education Funding For the Future.
    Join the Earth Day Network in completing their challenge of A Billion Acts of Green. 
    Sign the petition to ensure that there is continued support of  "The National Environmental Education Act; important EPA grants; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Bay-Watershed Education and Training Program and Environmental Literacy Grants; or the University Sustainability Program, among others."




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10. Make your voice heard.   Take the time to speak to your friends and family about the causes that matter to you. Write an article. Make a video. Find a whole new way to express what you think needs to be said.

 It may feel like it's common knowledge, but many people aren't aware of environmental issues in their own community. The more we discuss our problems, the faster we will find solutions. 


What will you be doing this Earth Day? Let us know in the comments below!!



References and Resources:

Layton, Julia. "Top Ten Ways to Celebrate Earth Day." Howstuffworks article. Sourced online April 21, 2014.

Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. May 6, 2013. "Gaylord Nelson and Earth Day: the making of the modern environmental movement." Retrieved online April 21,2014. 
http://nelsonearthday.net/index.htm


USEPA. March 14, 2014. "Earth Day Info". Retreieved online April 21, 2014. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/students/earthday.htm

Roach, J. April 21, 2014. "Earth Day 2014: How it BEcame a Global Environmental Event." National Geographic Online Article. Retrieved April 21, 2014. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140421-earth-day-2014-facts-environment-epa/#close-modal
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Volunteers at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney BC! 

11/17/2013

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Asta and Andrew are excited to start volunteering at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney BC!

They'll be happy as these two wolf eels, mated for life, swimming in the big tank at the SODC. With some luck, we'll be able to develop a program to bring Biology 11 classes from the Saanich Peninsula in to learn about the plants and animals temporarily hanging out at this incredible interactive facility!
Link: Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre

Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Be a locavore!  Finding food in BC

11/17/2013

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With the rising price of fuel and the threat of climate change looming like a thundercloud on the horizon there are plenty of reasons to eat locally grown produce. First nations thrived for unnumbered generations on our fertile coast before pineapples were ever flown in from Hawaii at New Years. So we've accepted the challenge to find our food!

On the menu this week:

Fresh Dungeness and Red Rock Crab from Cadboro Bay!
Wild Coho salmon from Sooke!
Coon-Stripe Shrimp from Caddy Bay!
Chantrelles and Bolete mushrooms from the forest!
Harvest vegetables from the garden and apples from the trees!

Eating locally has never tasted better!

Photos: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Asta "On the Road" for Science World! 

10/31/2013

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Asta showing a tiny caterpillar a hissing cockroach at Abotsford senior centre on Halloween!

For over 5 years Asta has been part of the team at Science World doing science demonstrations for kids all over BC! Get inspired by science!

Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Asta diving with a Giant Pacific Octopus! 

8/19/2013

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In the summer of 2010 Asta got the opportunity to go searching for the elusive 7 gill shark off the coast of Vancouver Island! A 10-day dive trip out of Rendevous dive adventures in Bamfield, BC was chilly to say the least, but (believe it or not) about 10 seconds after this video was shot, a 3m long 7-gill shark appeared from the depths! Check out the Six-Gill video! Both videos were shot by Rob Roy.
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Winter Camping with SMUS

3/20/2013

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Andrew had the opportunity to take his class Winter camping!

While teaching math for the experiential program at St. Michaels University School
, Andrew got to take a group of students to Mt. Washington on Vancouver Island to learn about avalanche safety, back country skiing and all the skills needed for Winter camping. Now that's a classroom with a view!
Link: SMUS Experiential Program

Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Art donation to the Surfrider foundation

11/30/2012

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An original spraypaint-ing on canvas donated to the Surfrider foundation for an art auction supporting the fight against oil tanker traffic on the BC coast.
Link: Vancouver Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation

Photo and Painting: Andrew Murgatroyd
Vanna White: Asta Mail

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Sailing lessons with the Murgatroyds

11/28/2012

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Andrew and his dad Michael, a licensed sailing instructor, got the chance to take students from the St. Michaels University School boarding house sailing on their C&C 34 Zambezi.

Andrew and Michael have been teaching students how to sail keel boats at SMUS for many years, and love to take students out on the water, often for their first ever sailing adventure!

Here Alex, Joaquim, and Edward share a true West Coast experience with Captain Michael!
Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Sharing Hidden Gems of Vancouver Island

8/15/2012

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There are some special moments in teaching when you get to share something truly unique. Although these magic times can happen in a classroom, it is when students are out in the world, experiencing nature for themselves and chasing their own natural curiosity that teaching is effortless and fun.

When the students of Kansai Daigaku Chutobu arrived in Canada from the populated Japanese city of Osaka it must have been quite a shock! Within no time they were improving their English in the classroom and challenging themselves in the Canadian wilderness. They were so keen to learn about their environment they made an extra effort to communicate in English with their Canadian "buddies". While they lauged and played it seemed as if the cultural differences just melted away in the awe of Goldstream Park's "Niagara Falls"

Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Sea Lion Caves

8/15/2012

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Getting off the beaten trail can have its benefits!

While hiking in a top secret location Asta and Andrew found a most amazing wonder! A Steller sea lion cave!

From a safe distance you can see hundreds of these amazing creatures. This near-threatened species ranges from Russia to California. Some of the bulls weigh nearly as much as Asta's hybrid car!

Wikipedia link: Steller Sea Lion


Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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Taki Gakuen Junior High School 

3/18/2012

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Andrew was the Activities Coordinator and ESL teacher for the Taki Gakuen Junior High School ESL Program at St. Michaels University school.

These 42 boys came from Japan to improve their English and make Canadian friends!

They got to experience some amazing activities such as whale watching and hiking in East Sooke and Goldstream Park.

Here is an invented activity called Fly Paper for the closing day "Amazing Race". Students use duct tape to fix a team member to the wall. When the time runs out the chair is removed and whomever sticks to the wall the longest wins! What do they win? The soccer ball made out of all the balled up duct tape of course!

Photo:Andrew Murgatroyd

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A sense of place in a Garry Oak meadow

3/12/2012

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This Garry Oak is emblematic of Southern Vancouver Island, and while Andrew was teaching Geography and GIS mapping to the Experiential Program students at St. Michaels University School they were able to develop a "sense of place" on Mt. Tolmie in Victoria BC. Developing a sense of place means going beyond drawing maps and counting species, but truly experiencing the sounds, smells, warmth and elements of an ecosystem; it involves imagining what that place might have looked like in generations past, and what it may look like in the future. So stop, sit, listen, feel and reflect. 

From
the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team 
"
Collectively, Garry oak and associated ecosystems are among the most endangered in Canada. Once common in coastal areas of southwest British Columbia, less than 5% of these ecosystems remain in near-natural condition. Most of the remnants are in isolated, fragmented communities that have no connection to other Garry oak communities"
Link: Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team

Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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SELSA Summer Camp! 

7/1/2010

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This is team COHO!

Andrew's class of 30 students from Quebec, Spain, Mexico and Taiwan stayed in Victoria for the summer to improve their English at Saanich English Language Summer Academy (SELSA).

This amazing program is run by Phil Ohl of The Leader's Edge. Students take classes in the morning and do fantastic activities in the afternoons. Students learn about Canadian culture and go on adventures like Whale Watching, Zip Lining, Caving, Kayaking, Dragonboating, Camping, Teambuilding, Sports and a million more fun activities!

Hey... ho.... CO.....HO!!!!!!

http://selsa.ca
Photo: Andrew Murgatroyd

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LiteraSea is a website about education, ocean literacy, marine science and current events written by Andrew Murgatroyd and Asta Mail
Andrew Murgatroyd BSc.
andrew@literasea.ca


Asta Mail MSc.
asta@literasea.ca

  • Welcome!
  • Blogs
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