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BLOG POST Listening for Clues About Sonar’s Effects on Marine Mammals Many animals depend on their eyes to navigate, find food, locate mates, and for other important activities. But marine mammals often rely on sound—sometimes far more than sight—for such crit...MORE STORIES


	OCEAN STORY MORE STORIES The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Two Years Later On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the oil-drilling rig Deepwater Horizon caused...
	VIDEO MORE VIDEOS Investigating Nutrient Pollution's Impact on Mangroves At Carrie Bow Cay in Belize, Dr. Candy Feller explains her research on the effec...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Witness to a Plastic Invasion It blew in for two solid days: a flotilla of plastic forks, soda bottles, rubber...

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

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					The Great Pacific Garbage Patch May 6, 2013 - 8:10AMThe “garbage patches,” as referred to in the media, are areas of marine debris concentration in the North Pacific Ocean, circulated by the North Pacific gyre. The gyre spreads across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the western US...

Investigating Nutrient Pollution's Impact on Mangroves

Apr 26, 2013 - 9:47AM

At Carrie Bow Cay in Belize, Dr. Candy Feller explains her research on the...

Oil’s Impact on Marine Invertebrates

Oct 9, 2012 - 9:17AM

In the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill, what is the effect of oil on...

SPOTLIGHT


Ocean Trash Plaguing Our Sea In the Pacific Ocean, four ocean currents merge to form the North Pacific gyre, also known as the North Pacific Subtropical...

The Invisible Loss: The Impacts of Oil You Do Not See Jun 9 2010 - 9:23am Since late April, the world has watched a devastating oil spill from a BP drilling rig spread throughout the Gulf of Mexico and become one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the United States.	The Oil Spill, Two Years Later Apr 20 2012 - 2:44pm Two years ago last week, on April 20, 2010, an explosion on the oil-drilling rig Deepwater Horizon caused the largest marine oil spill in history, gushing nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil over the course of three months.
Oil Samples in the Gulf Jul 26 2010 - 6:22pm Oceana’s Pacific Science Director Jeff Short, an environmental chemist who formerly worked for NOAA on the Exxon Valdez spill, collects samples of mousse oil in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon spill. The sample will be analyzed by Dr. Ed Overton at LSU to establish the chemical...	Netting an oiled pelican in the Gulf of Mexico Jun 16 2010 - 11:36am Carl Pellegrin (left) of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Tim Kimmel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepare to net an oiled pelican in Barataria Bay, La., Saturday, June 5, 2010. The pelican was netted and transported to a facility on Grand Isle, La., for stabilization...
Ocean Trash Plaguing Our Sea Sep 20 2011 - 11:52am In the Pacific Ocean, four ocean currents merge to form the North Pacific gyre, also known as the North Pacific Subtropical High, which spans the western US to Japan, and Hawaii to California.	Marine Ecologist Jeremy Jackson Discusses Oil Spills Jun 23 2010 - 12:38pm Marine ecologist Dr. Jeremy Jackson and a team of researchers conducted an in-depth study of the effects of a 1986 oil spill on the coast of Panama. In this video, Dr. Jackson discusses the study, its lessons for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and major threats to the ocean...
Lecture: One Year After the Gulf Oil Spill Apr 26 2011 - 5:02pm On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, opening up a well that pumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the ocean. It was the largest spill in U.S. history. In this presentation given at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on April 19, 2011, experts discuss...	Design Your Own Bag Sep 15 2011 - 12:05pm Marine debris damages habitat, entangles wildlife, helps transport invasive species, and harms marine animals that mistakenly ingest the trash thinking it is food. As part of the Smithsonian's Art's and Science program, the museum hosted "DYOB: Design Your Own Bag." The program aimed to...
New Findings on the Effects of Noise on Whale and Dolphin Behavior Mar 29 2011 - 1:27pm Marine mammals around the world face many challenges due to interactions with people, from overfishing and entanglement to vessel strikes and disturbance from human sounds. Dr. Brandon Southall discusses recent findings from SOCAL‐10, a research project about the effects of noise on the behavior of...	A Current Event in the Classroom: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill May 10 2010 - 6:10pm Sometimes, a tragic event can become a powerful teaching opportunity. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has the potential to capture students’ attention and stimulate discussion on topics like: • biology and ecology (How will the oil effect wildlife and the environment?), •...
Cleaning an Oiled Pelican in Louisiana Jun 2 2010 - 9:25am Dr. Erica Miller of the Louisiana State Wildlife Response Team cleans oil form a pelican in Plaquemines Parish, LA. Wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico have been heavily impacted by an ongoing oil spill that began April 20, 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded and sank.	2011 Student Summit on the Ocean & Coasts Webcast, Part 3 Mar 28 2011 - 3:02pm Recorded Feb. 15, 2011, this video from the Third Student Summit on the Ocean and Coasts includes presentations that were given by delegations from the Monterey Bay Aquarium (2:30), Oregon Coast Aquarium (16:40), Texas State Aquarium (30:10), Georgia Aquarium (44:00), South Carolina Aquarium (59:00...
Google map of invertebrates in oil spill region Jun 4 2010 - 6:34pm The National Museum of Natural History's Department of Invertebrate Zoology has developed an online map that provides information about invertebrates in the National Collection from areas impacted by the oil spill. In the Gulf of Mexico, over 57,000 invertebrates (points on the map) from 5,789...	Flounder Faces Pollution and Overfishing in Baltic Sea Sep 14 2012 - 12:33pm For centuries, the Baltic Sea has provided European flounder (Platichthys flesus) and other fish for millions of people. Since the early 1980s, the nations surrounding the sea have coordinated their efforts to protect its health through the Helsinki Commission.
Science in a Time of Crisis: Searching for the Plume May 10 2011 - 3:28pm Part 4 of a 6-part series describing Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's efforts to understand the scope and impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Searching for the Plume" describes a research cruised aboard the R/V Endeavor on which WHOI scientists found and mapped...	Teaching Your Students About Marine Debris: a Classroom Activity Sep 15 2011 - 11:14am Have you ever gone to your favorite coastal or lakeside beach and instead of having a fun day in the sun you were faced with a trove of trash? How heartbreaking it is to see waters and shorelines littered with items that you have at home, that maybe you’ve even recently thrown away.