SEA 



SCIENCE 



Resource Grant Program, which encourages 

 partnerships between the commercial fishing and 

 academic communities. 



Such individual projects within the overall 

 expedition have specific research goals, but the 

 data and observations often fit into larger policy 

 issues — such as selecting Marine Protected 

 Areas or identifying essential fish habitats. 



FROM SEA TO SCHOOL 



While researchers are studying schools of 

 fish, schools full of children eagerly follow 

 research cruises via the Internet. 



Paula Keener-Chavis, education coordina- 

 tor of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration, is 

 working with the National Undersea Research 

 Center at the University of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington, the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, 

 North Carolina Sea Grant and other agencies to 

 help teachers take undersea lessons into more 

 classrooms. 



During Islands in the Stream, educators 

 gathered at UNC-W to learn more about the 

 expedition and even chat with the scientists 

 onboard, thanks to satellite phone technology. 



'This is an exciting new initiative for 

 marine education," says Lundie Spence, former 



North Carolina Sea Grant marine educator, who 

 now directs the Southeast Center for Ocean 

 Science Education Excellence. (See related stoiy, 

 page 4.) 



"The Ocean Exploration missions have a 

 mandate to spend 10 percent of funding on 

 education, so this is a significant opportunity for 

 North Carolina schools to get new, lively yet 

 relevant content and materials," adds Andrew 

 Shepard, NURC associate director. 



Flo Gullickson, a Guilford County high 

 school teacher, says lessons such as "All That 

 Glitters" — which explains bioluminescence — 

 fit her courses. "It is very impressive to see how 

 visible light enters the deep ocean and why 

 animals have certain colorations." 



Students in her classroom begin to 

 understand the underwater experience that takes 

 the breath away from even a veteran marine 

 educator. 



Baird saw the light effects on her first dive 

 in the sub — down 2,900 feet at The Point. 



"We saw just a few fish, but there were lots 

 of amazing shrimp with long flowing antennae. 

 The bioluminescence was incredible. It was like 

 being in a glowing snowstorm," she says. 



"I love being at sea," she adds. □ 



Join the World of 

 Ocean Exploration 



So, you want to be an Ocean Explorer? 

 Check out http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/ to read 

 logs of past voyages. Expeditions this year include: 



• The "old growth forests" of the Oculina 

 Banks Marine Protected Area off Florida will be 

 the site for an expedition starting in late April 

 that includes a NASA ship normally used to 

 recover space shuttle rockets. 



• The recovery of artifacts from the USS 

 Monitor continues off" the North Carolina coast 

 this summer. 



• Seafloor seepage of oil and gas — and 

 the reaction of deep-sea communities — will be 

 explored this summer in the Gulf of Mexico. 



For details on the 2002 Islands in the 

 Stream mission, you can also go to www. 

 naturalsciences.org and follow links to the 

 education pages with daily logs, curriculum 

 materials, and students' e-mail questions and 

 the researchers' responses. 



The National Undersea Research Center 

 at UNC-Wilmington enables teachers and 

 students to follow missions in the Aquarius 

 undersea lab off Florida. Go to www.uncw.edu/nurc. 



COASTWATCH 29 



