Hello to all our lovely Sea School Followers!

Today we are officially switching over to our new blog found here:

http://sanibelseaschool.wordpress.com

And not to worry, all our archived content is moving with us. Hope you have a lovely day!

Sx3 Scavenger Hunt!

The scavenger hunts continue! The Sea School’s winter fund raising event begins with a series of Sea Fandango scavenger hunts. This year, as with last year, Lily & Co. is the Master Sponsor. Each week a clue will be published in the paper and posted online at sanibelseaschool.org . The first person to find the location of the Sea Fandango token will be rewarded with a true treasure from Lily & Co. and the winner is posted online. The prize is a free to the winner and there is no obligation. That’s the spirit of this ocean celebration.

This year Sanibel Sea School’s ocean celebration will culminate on February 20 with the Sea Fandango event at The Community House. Join the fun of searching, finding, getting and giving or just come to Sea Fandango without scavenging! Sanibel Sea School is a 501(c)3 dedicated to marine conservation through experiential education. All proceeds from Sea Fandango will go to scholarships and operating expenses.

We'll be posting our clues on here, but their primary source is the Island Sun and the Islander. Check back soon for this week's clue!

Scavenger Hunt

Clue Number 2 has been found! Check back this week, either on the blog or in the Island Sun for the next clue!

SX3 Needs Volunteers!

Sanibel Sea School is looking for volunteers! We need enthusiastic, responsible people to help us with things like educational programs, facility upkeep, and writing for our blog. If you’re interested in volunteering, e-mail Leah@sanibelseaschool.org or call (239) 472-8585 to discuss opportunities.

Summer Camp Registration Begins!

We are putting the final touches on our plans for Summer Camp 2010, and we are so excited about all of the fun we have to look forward to! Each week of camp has its own theme and different activities, but there are some things we do each and every week. We go surfing every single day, and on Fridays we have our famous Surf Paddling Competition! There is always artwork, journaling, and macramé jewelry-making. We take beach walks, seine for fish, and go snorkeling all the time. Every Friday, we have a cookout for lunch and a Milk and Cookies Slideshow to look forward to. Below you will find week-specific descriptions of what we’ll be doing at camp this summer. We hope you’ll join us for summer fun and learning in our island ecosystem!

Snappy Shrimp Week (June 21-25)
Ages 4-6

Snappy Shrimp Week is a week for the little ones. We are happy crustaceans that go pop, pop, pop! We will study these tiny sea creatures that can make louder-than-life sounds underwater. We will catch, dissect and even eat shrimp, perform shrimp skits, and learn about underwater sounds in our noisy ocean lab! During Shrimp Week, we will focus on helping our youngest campers get comfortable in the water so they will be prepared for many more fun summers on Sanibel.

Dolphin Week 1 (June 28-July 2)
Ages 6-13

We will spend Dolphin Week learning about one of the world’s smartest creatures – maybe even smarter than humans! We are going to spend lots of time in the water this week. We’ll talk about how dolphins communicate and use echolocation, we’ll divide into pods to play games, and we will go snorkeling and canoeing in Dolphin habitat. We’ll also take a Dolphin Cruise to watch these marvelous marine mammals in their natural surroundings – we will observe how dolphins surf behind boats to save energy and we’ll imagine and write about what dolphins must think when they see dozens of humans watching them!

Coral Reef Week (July 5-9)
Ages 11-15

Older campers will spend Coral Reef Week exploring coral reefs to better understand the intricacies of this fragile ecosystem. We will take a three-night camping trip (yes, we will be roughing it in tents!) to Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys, where we will spend our days boating, snorkeling the reefs, and bonding with friends over the nightly campfire. We’ll learn about the structure of coral, why coral reefs are so important, and how humans affect coral ecosystems. We will also have a visit from a coral reef scientist. Because coral reefs have so many inhabitants, this week will be a great opportunity to see an amazing diversity of marine life!

Sea Turtle Week (July 12-16)
Ages 6-13

This week campers will focus on the sea turtle’s epic journey to adulthood. We will learn about the challenges sea turtles face, like habitat destruction, poaching, flooding and predation. We’ll also study the sea turtle’s life cycle, and how female sea turtles return to their place of birth to lay eggs! During Sea Turtle Week, we will spend lots of time on the beach searching for evidence of these marine reptiles on Sanibel. We’ll have a visit from a turtle scientist, who will take us on a sunrise beach walk to look at real sea turtle nests. If the timing is right, we might even get to help dig a nest! We will also talk about conservation and how to help endangered species. We will make wearable turtle art, and spend afternoons snorkeling in Sargassum seaweed, prime habitat for sea turtle hatchlings!

Manatee Week (July 19-23)
Ages 6-13

Manatee Week campers will learn about the lifestyle and interesting history of this large and charming endangered species. We will learn about their vegetarian diet, the difficulties of being a slow-moving marine mammal, and how scientists study manatees. We’ll also study ways to protect manatees and we will make videos and posters to help educate boaters about manatee protection ideas. There will be plenty of snorkeling in the seagrass beds, and we will take field trips and boat rides to manatee hangouts in hopes of seeing these creatures up close. This week we will also do tie-dyeing – we’ll try to make enough circles on our t-shirts to represent our age, just like manatees have growth rings in their ear bones that help us determine how old they are!

Shark Week (July 26-30)
Ages 6-13

Many people are scared of sharks, but it’s a fact that you are more likely to be killed by debris falling from the sky than you are to be the victim of a shark attack. This week we will overcome our fear of sharks by realizing that they are not vicious killers, but predators on the same level as dolphins, eating for survival. We will do a dissection to study the unique physical features that allow sharks to be successful apex predators, and we will look at the many different species of sharks in the ocean, focusing on the ones we find around Sanibel. We will make a shark piñata, and we will try to catch small sharks for our outdoor tank. To prove to ourselves that we are no longer scared of them, we’ll all get in the water to release our sharks at the end of the week.

Dolphin Week 2 (August 2-6)
Ages 6-13

We will spend Dolphin Week learning about one of the world’s smartest creatures – maybe even smarter than humans! We are going to spend lots of time in the water this week. We’ll talk about how dolphins communicate and use echolocation, we’ll divide into pods to play games, and we will go snorkeling and canoeing in Dolphin habitat. We’ll also take a Dolphin Cruise to watch these marvelous marine mammals in their natural surroundings – we will observe how dolphins surf behind boats to save energy and we’ll imagine and write about what dolphins must think when they see dozens of humans watching them!



Tuna Week (August 9-13)
Ages 6-13

This week we will be scientists who study large pelagic fish. We’ll learn about the amazing Tuna, especially the Bluefin Tuna- a unique fish that can grow up to 14 feet long, weigh 1500 pounds, and accelerate faster than a Porsche! We will talk a little bit about overfishing, and create a “Save the Tuna” mural to raise awareness about this endangered species. We will build a giant Bluefin Tuna blimp, and we’ll take the boat a few miles offshore to dive in and enjoy pelagic fish habitat while getting over our fear of deep water.

Horseshoe Crab Week (August 16-20)
Ages 6-13

During Horseshoe Crab Week, we will pretend to be paleontologists, studying the prehistoric horseshoe crab to find out how they have managed to survive for millions of years. We will search for fossils, track horseshoe crabs on the mudflats, and use scientific gadgets to take salinity readings in their habitat. We will learn about how these creatures reproduce and what’s so cool about their blue blood. At the end of the week, we will write conclusions about why we think these animals have been so successful throughout history. We’ll also talk about other tough survivors, like tilapia, cockroaches, shrimp, and parchment worms. Campers can look forward to mud flat walks and horseshoe crab calligraphy this week!

Eagle Ray Week (August 23-27)
Ages 6-13

Let’s go on an underwater safari with the leopard-patterned Spotted Eagle Ray! We’ll learn about where eagle rays fit into our island ecosystem, and how they manage to find food with such flat mouths. We’ll go snorkeling to look for rays, and we’ll make a giant Spotted Eagle Ray by tying rafts together, then take a ride on it’s back! We will also have a visit from an island local who spends lots of time around these magnificent creatures.

Sea Star Week (August 30-September 3)
Ages 6-13
Sea stars are natural superheroes, performing amazing feats like regenerating their limbs, throwing up their stomachs, and prying open clams! This week, we’ll be the stars of our own skits, make comics about our own ocean superheroes, and have a “sea star splash,” where we will decorate island sidewalks with sea star artwork and facts. We will also make a giant model of a sea star as a collaborative art project. We’ll snorkel in the bay to look for sea stars and their relative, the sea urchin. Then, we’ll dive in to the Gulf of Mexico to study the third echinoderm on Sanibel, the sand dollar!

Our summer camp programs cost $230 per child per week. There is a one time non-refundable registration fee of $50. Upon registration, you will be asked to pay a $50 deposit per child per week, and the remaining amount can be paid at the start of your child's camp program. Inquire about scholarships.

Call (239) 472-8585 or e-mail Liz@sanibelseaschool.org to register. We're looking forward to having fun with your kids this summer!

Where is All the Water?

Take a minute to picture a body of water in your mind. Is it a lake, pond, river or ocean? Not all of us are lucky enough to live near the sea, but nearly everyone walks, bikes, or drives by a body of freshwater every day. Even if we don’t see it on a daily basis, we bathe in it, drink it, and use it for cooking. Because freshwater plays such a prominent role in our lives, it can be easy to forget about the vastness and importance of the salty ocean. It is also difficult to comprehend how little freshwater actually exists on Earth.

NOAA recently published a series of surprising statistics about the distribution of water on our planet. I knew that the ocean was huge, but I was amazed to read that it holds 97 percent of the water on Earth. Only three percent of the water on Earth is fresh, and 69 percent of that is frozen in glaciers and icecaps. An additional portion of the freshwater on our planet is in the atmosphere and underground. Rivers, lakes and ponds may seem common, but they account for less than one percent of our water!

I created a pie chart to help illustrate the distribution of water on Earth.

Next time you drink a refreshing glass of water, keep in mind that accessible freshwater is a very limited commodity on our planet. You can do simple things to conserve this precious resource like turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth, shortening showers, and disposing of chemicals responsibly. You can find more ideas here.

Also, remember that the ocean is huge- making up 70 percent of the Earth’s surface area! Due in part to its large size, it plays an important role in global temperature regulation, and provides food, livelihood, and enjoyment for millions of people. All rivers lead to the sea, so by protecting our freshwater resources we are also protecting the ocean. Because the ocean connects every continent, individual actions can have a worldwide impact. Let’s all do our best to make that impact a positive one.

Young Ocean Authors

We just finished the first week of Peace Camp 2009, and what a great week it was! We learned all about interactions in the ocean, improved our teamwork skills while playing fun games, drank hot chocolate, and collaborated on beautiful works of art. Campers were also given Rite in the Rain journals (the waterproof notebooks that scientists use in the field), and they wrote about topics relating to our lesson each day. In addition to dunking their journals in the ocean to prove that they are indeed waterproof, campers pondered and journaled about things like what they would do if they were invisible, drew fabulous sea creature sketches, and used their creative skills to write ocean poetry and ocean carols. At first, some campers were skeptical about the idea that writing can be fun, but by the end of the week everyone began to enjoy their journal time, finding sunny spots in the yard or cozy corners in the building to think and write. At the end of the week, we asked campers to choose their best work for our Young Authors blog, and we were highly impressed by their talent. Here is what they picked to share with you:

Beach Poem By Casey Mason

I went to the beach
Picked up a starfish
And set it free.
I saw a dolphin
And shouted out with glee!

My Poem By Zofia Costa

I went down to the sea
And I saw an anemone
I played with my father
Down by the water

Mutualism By Eve Plank

My example of mutualism would be a shark and a remora. The shark provides food for the fish, and the remora fish cleans the shark!

If I Were Invisible…. By Audry Paul

I sometimes think about what it would be like if I were invisible. First off I would play hilarious pranks on everyone! I could turn my sister’s shower cold without her even noticing, and I could sneak on airplanes and go to Hawaii. Oh the endless possibilities! Sometimes I would be sad though. My mom couldn’t see me, and nobody would want to play with me. What an interesting topic!

Pompano Artwork By Audry Paul

The Blissful Night: An Ocean Poem By Chase Desiderio-Taub

The night is blissful and not even the ocean is scurrying.
The night was dazzling with beauty.
The sunset was descending slow and gracefully.
The blissful night.

Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins An Ocean Carol by Kaelen Jurek

(to the tune of Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel)

Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins
They love to splash and play
And when the sun comes out
With dolphins we shall play!
Hey!

An Example of Competition in Nature Artwork By Jaime Gustafson

Mutualism in My House Writing and Artwork By Campbell DiCarlo

I love my doggie, Bailey. I feed her and she lets me lay on her in return.

Crashing Waves By Grace Paul

The waves crash
Disturbing the shells
The ocean is peaceful
All is well
What happens in the depths is hard to tell.
The ocean is peaceful
All is well

Surfing Writing and Artwork By Austin Desiderio-Taub

I like to go surfing at the beach when everyone is watching where I’m the star of the whole entire beach.

Fish By Anonmymous

Fish, jumping swimming
Shining scales on sleek bodies
Shoot through calm sea waves

Limericks By Emma Neill

Surfing in the Waves
Snorkeling in some caves
Water could be warm
Jellyfish in a swarm
I love Sea School all the days.

The sun is hot
The water is not
The water is cold
Some people are bold
They dive in the water
And show you what they’ve got

If I Were the Sea By Rachel Wexler

If I were the sea
Not a whale or a bee
I would roll on my back
And the gulls would scratch me
If I were the sea
I would find the key
To being the most perfect sea I could be

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chase Desiderio-Taub is nine years old and lives in New Jersey. He likes the ocean and helping people.

Austin Desiderio-Taub is a seven year old from New Jersey who loves to surf.

Kaelen Jurek is a nine year old who loves to surf and make macramé bracelets.

Jaime Gustafson is a seven year old from London, England. He likes to ride his bike and play in the park.

Casey Mason is nine years old. She loves playing with her dog and collecting cheese hats, because she is a Green Bay Packers fan.

Zofia Costa is six years old and lives on Sanibel Island. She likes to draw and play on the beach.

Eve Plank likes to eat good food and draw.

Campbell DiCarlo loves her dog, has brown eyes, and is allergic to wheat.

Audry Paul is eleven years old. She plays the trumpet and loves bulldogs and the color red.

Grace Paul is twelve years old. She is an athlete and enjoys running, basketball, football, soccer, and softball! She also loves the ocean and all animals.

Rachel Wexler is twelve years old. She loves to have fun and enjoys animals.

Emma Neill is ten years old. Her favorite animal is the sea turtle and she likes surfing.

Peace Camp at Sanibel Sea School

What a great week we have had at Sanibel Sea School. This week and next, we are having a Holiday Camp and this year we have called it Peace Camp. We have latched on the most salient point of our Holidays Season – the message of Peace.

In traditional Sanibel Sea School style, we are teaching peaceful and some not-so-peaceful relationships in the sea. During these two weeks, we are examining and exploring symbiosis. To biologists, symbioses are long-term and meaningful relationship between two species of organisms – and they may not always be peaceful. On each day, we study a new type of symbiotic relationship.

We have explored mutualisms where each individual benefits; we have explored competition where each is negatively impacted. We have dived into the depths of camouflage to examine the hide and seek games that can exist between predators and prey.

And, today our topic is altruism, when we will learn about giving of ourselves with no expectation of immediate returns – our human example of altruism is stewardship.

Our stewardship today includes a trip down to Bailey’s Market to sing Sea Carols to our friends, neighbors and island visitors. We have written Sea Carols - lyrics to the tunes of many popular Holiday songs and we will serenade our fellow islanders with no expectations for our efforts.

Pretty amazing stuff, this Ocean Love.

Why So Many Seashells?

Olivia Frejka searches for treasures at Lighthouse Beach.

Sanibel Island is world-renowned for its abundance of seashells, and if you look hard enough on any day of the year you are bound to find a few good-looking gastropod specimens. Our island’s curved shape causes it to act like a shovel, scooping up shells from the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, Sanibel Island is the result of thousands of years of accumulation of ocean deposition. If you’ve strolled along the beach on Sanibel over the last few days, you probably noticed that there is an even higher than normal abundance of usually hard-to-find shells. It’s tempting to write this plenitude off as an early holiday gift from nature, but we biologists are always looking for more plausible answers.

So many seashells.

Often, shells accumulate on the beach in large quantities after large-scale natural events like harmful algal blooms and hurricanes, but shell pile-ups can also occur in the wake of a typical winter storm. Mollusks in the ocean die from predation and other natural causes, leaving their exoskeletons behind. These exoskeletons accumulate on the ocean floor, and when storms blow across the Gulf, the shells are washed up on the beach from far out at sea. Biologists dub these deposits “death assemblages” – a fairly morbid name for such a treasure trove from the depths. When there is a long time period between storms, more shells accumulate, waiting to be pushed to shore. Before Saturday, Sanibel hadn’t seen heavy wind and rain for many weeks, so to the delight of beach-combers, collectors, and ocean enthusiasts, the storms brought in piles of fabulous Lace Murexes, Alphabet Cones, Fighting Conchs, Olives and Turbans among other bivalves and gastropods.

This week, we have had an incredible Holiday Peace Camp. All week long, excited campers have returned from Lighthouse Beach with pockets, nets, hats and buckets full of spectacular shells. We gathered 28 gallons of the beautiful white Lucine bivalve to use in art projects during camp and throughout the year.

Our Lucine Mosaic.

If you haven’t visited the beach this week, you should grab your shell bag and head for the nearest access. You’re guaranteed to return with a wealth of great seashells, and this is an excellent opportunity to find that long-coveted Junonia. Happy shelling!

Fabulous finds.

Green Giving

Are You Making a List and Checking it Twice?

As the holiday season is again upon us, we would like to remind you to keep our environment in mind while doing good for others.

Many companies are turning to “green” advertising as a way of marketing their products to the public. While perusing the internet, I found gift ideas ranging from the practical (nice reusable shopping bags) to the absurd (“eco-friendly” snow-globes and organic aftershave). I think that during the shopping bonanza of the holidays, it’s important to keep in mind which purchases are necessary, or at least which are the best.

For example, your clownfish might really appreciate a new toy, but if you really want to do something for a fish, why not help many sea creatures in need by donating money to the cause of ocean conservation?

At the Sanibel Sea School, we believe in the spirit of giving, and we know that gifts can be obligatory and that giving is just plain fun. This holiday season, we encourage you to give wisely by choosing meaningful gifts for friends and family instead of just “things.” We invite you to join us in finding creative ways of giving that provide meaning, reduce waste and make the world a better place, and we created this guide to help you!

First Things First

During the holidays, our mailboxes are stuffed with catalogs, many of which end up directly in the recycling bin without a glance. Between the trees required to make the paper, the chemicals used in printing, and the fuel used for delivery, catalogs are very draining on the environment. These days, nearly every major retailer has a website, so why not be more efficient by ditching the catalogs and doing your holiday shopping online? The Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service allows you to control the junk mail you receive. You can cancel catalogs and those annoying credit card offers. I registered with this website last year and it takes a few months to start working, but it is definitely effective.

While we’re on the topic, another way you can save paper (and money!) is by finding alternatives to store-bought wrapping paper. Black and white newspaper looks great with a red ribbon, and the comic pages are a fun wrapper. You could also have your kids decorate brown paper grocery bags to use as gift-wrap. Their art will be more meaningful to family than store-bought paper.

If you plan on purchasing magazine or newspaper subscriptions as gifts, consider an electronic subscription. It’s environmentally friendly and usually cheaper than the paper version.

The Gift of the Outdoors

Instead of video games or clothing, set your family up with an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. An annual pass to all of the National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands in the United States is an inexpensive gift that the whole family can enjoy. If you don’t live near a national park, check out local wildlife refuges (Sanibel’s Ding Darling offers a duck stamp that permits access to the wildlife drive for a year).

Glacier National Park, Montana

You could also consider giving a gift certificate for surfing lessons or taking a snorkeling trip. These activities will foster an appreciation of the natural environment and help your family stay healthy and active.

Another idea is to save fuel by giving your family a trip to a nearby destination. Rather than traveling long distances to relax and explore, pack up the kids, the dog, the grandparents, the parakeet – whatever your unit is – and head down the road for a long weekend of exploration to some out of the way, but nearly local place. You will have a great weekend and the whole family will enjoy the anticipation and planning of your mini-vacation.

The Gift of Learning

Try to remember what your friends and family have expressed interest in over the past year. If your mom has been glued to the Food Network, now would be a good time to buy her a series of culinary classes. Many such classes are available online.

If your kids love the beach, sign them up for a program or two at Sanibel Sea School! It’s fun to get gifts that last past the holidays, and gifts of learning often lead to a lifetime of enjoyment.

Anna Schuster enjoys a day of learning at Sanibel Sea School

The Gift of Livelihood

Last year I received a goat for Christmas from Heifer International. My landlord would have lost his mind if I started keeping livestock in the backyard, so it worked out perfectly that I never had a chance to meet my ruminant. Heifer is an organization that allows you to purchase livestock and have it sent to people around the world (domestically and abroad) who are living in hunger and poverty. You can give the gift in a friend’s name and they will receive a thank you card with a picture of their animal and an explanation of the organization’s work. The Heifer organization delivers the animals in breeding pairs and provides training to the recipients about how to make the most of their new livestock. Instead of eating one goat, the community is taught to breed their pair of goats until they have a herd, then collect milk, make cheese, and start businesses to sell the goods. I love this idea because I think it really encompasses the spirit of meaningful giving. Personally, I would much rather have a donation made in my name to Heifer than receive one more pair of slippers.

A Tanzanian boy enjoys a gift to his family from Heifer International

Truly Blue Giving

At Sanibel Sea School, we like to think blue instead of green. After all, 70 percent of our planet’s surface is covered in water. All rivers lead to the sea, so all of our choices and actions ultimately affect the ocean. And, environmentalism is really about ocean conservation – so remember that blue is the new and true green.

If you’re shopping for that granola friend who wants to save the planet, and you want to buy her a tangible, eco-friendly gift, buy something that the recipient can actually use to make her lifestyle more “blue.” Avoid buying things labeled “organic” or “green” just because they seem to be an environmental answer. Always remember: your goal is to give a lasting gift that truly warms the recipient’s heart.

Some good presents for the eco-people in your life: a Brita filter paired with reusable bottles for the whole family. Buy a set of paint pens and take the time to decorate and personalize the bottles, so your friends will enjoy it every time they take a sip. Many companies make nice reusable shopping bags – there are beautiful girly patterns available as well as more rugged styles for men.

An indoor plant or herb garden is a useful gift that will help improve air quality, and people usually love a good bottle of organic wine. Try to find unique locally grown products; in SW Florida, we have mangrove honey, which is a truly exotic gift for your snow-bound friends.

If you’re shopping for clothes, Patagonia makes high quality clothing that will last for years. They also donate a percentage of their profits to a variety of environmental organizations.

There is also a great program through World Wildlife Fund that allows you to adopt an animal in a friend’s name. Your friend will receive a stuffed animal and some information about their new adoptee, and the money helps support conservation efforts for that animal in the wild.

The Gift of Service

Many of us have enjoyed a gift from a spouse, child or friend that was truly about giving. It can be a pass to sleep-in late, an IOU for a foot rub, a back-rub, a morning coffee at the local coffee shop, a promise to mow the lawn, or day of dish washing. With a few 3×5 note cards, a couple of colored pencils and some imagination you can produce a gift that is sure to be enjoyed.

Time is our most valuable commodity, and if you give someone you care about the gift of your time, you will find that you both enjoy it more than a box of chocolate – well, maybe not a box of chocolate, but at least you won’t have to work it off at the gym.

Shop for Good

Regardless of which gifts you buy, you can add meaning by using GoodShop. It’s an organization that allows you to shop at the stores you already frequent online, but a percentage of your purchase is donated to a charity of your choice. Choose Sanibel Sea School or another worthy cause as your organization, and you can make contributions as you purchase for the people on your list. This can really add up over time, so make a difference by making GoodShop your shopping venue!

Most importantly, remember to give of yourself this holiday season!

Happy Holidays!