May 2021 – Seabed Habitats

World Ocean Day Seminar on cold water corals

This Tuesday June 8th at 1300 BST for World Ocean Day, Dr Aaron Lim of Green Rebel Marine will be giving a seminar on “Mapping and monitoring cold water coral habitats offshore Ireland. The talk will introduce cold water corals habitats, how we map and image them, how we monitor them and some recent findings from offshore Ireland. We have wanted to organise an event about cold water corals for a while on this blog so this is particularly exciting for this year’s World Ocean Day! Don’t miss it- register below for occasional updates and zoom link.

Tales from a small aquarium

Today our seminar series recommenced with a seminar by Dr Noirin Burke of the Galway Atlantaquaria in Galway, Republic of Ireland. Noirin emphasized the importance of a small aquarium with a BIG impact- taking part in collaboration with numerous organisations- from doing beach cleans to wellbeing and yoga events to outreach events with Marmo the octopus! Animal rehabilitation and educational role of the aquarium are all important in helping improve the ocean literacy. With different programmes such as the Inishbofin Summer School and “The real map of Ireland” about ocean exploration. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the state of our environment, but through collaboration with schools, the mission to create an ocean literate society in Ireland can be achieved. Noirin went on to talk about ocean literacy and the 7 principles of ocean literacy. A big thank you to Noirin for sharing her experiences and enthusiasm for all things marine and the importance of ocean literacy for society today as well as in the future.

Ocean literacy is an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean.
-Noirin Burke

Resources

European Marine Science Educators Association –EMSEA

Explorers.ie

Irish Ocean Literacy Network

UNESCO Ocean Literacy

UNESCO Training on Ocean Literacy

seabed habitats seminar series

Ocean literacy: Tales from a small aquarium

Pleased to announce that the next Seabed Habitats Seminar on Tuesday 25th May at 1300 BST will be by Dr Nóirín Burke of the Galway Atlantaquaria on “Ocean Literacy; and its role in a sustainable ocean. Tales from a Small Aquarium.”

Dr, Noirin Burke, is the Director of Education at Galway Atlantaquaria, a native species aquarium, on the West coast of Ireland. In her role, Noirin has been involved in ocean literacy education, both formal and informal for over 10 years. In this talk, she will provide an introduction to Ocean Literacy, and the seven ocean literacy principles. The concept of an ocean literacy society will be explored, along with tools for sharing and evaluation and tips for engaging.

The webinar will take place on Zoom link available by email. Please sign up below or email seabedhabitats@gmail.com!