Gray’s Reef was a new shade of green on St. Patrick’s Day!

Gray’s Reef participated in Savannah’s historic St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

With over 100,000 people lining the streets to cheer for the parade progression, and more than 200,000 others tuned in to live coverage of the event on local television and streaming webcast, this event put Gray’s Reef in front of a sea of Savannah’s residents and visitors. Riding in on a wave of enthusiasm, with a lifesize inflatable North Atlantic right whale calf harnessed to the float, and with staff and volunteers costumed as sea critters and jovial jellyfish, Gray’s Reef made a real splash at this popular event.

Gray’s Reef seized the parade opportunity for the first time this year with a goal to raise awareness of the sanctuary, and of the upcoming FareWhale Festival.

Sea Grant interns aim for grad school

Two Sea Grant/MAREX interns plan to enter graduate school later this year.

Maeve Snyder will pursue a M.S. in Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina. Her anticipated research will focus on the effects of climate on the biogeography of marine intertidal invertebrates.

Cara Lin will enter the Doctoral program at Georgia Tech for a Ph.D. in Biology with a concentration in ecology and evolution. Her interests are in aquatic chemical ecology

UGA grad students solicit citizen-scientists help to track invasive seaweed

Two UGA grad students working in the Byers Lab at Priest Landing are asking citizen- scientists to help them track invasive seaweed. Kaitlin Kenney and Linsey Haram devised the project that asks visitors to the Jay Wolf Nature Trail dock to take pictures of the shoreline and post them on social media.

“We hope citizen scientist will to assist our lab in tracking the fine scale changes in abundance of Gracilaria vermiculophylla, an invasive seaweed to the Georgia coast,” Kaitlin said. “They will take a photo of the sandbar site using the bracket to ensure that every picture is from the same angle and then post the pictures with a specific hashtag to social media sites or by emailing their pictures to us. Once collected, the pictures create a time-lapse image of the selected site.”

For more information please visit:  https://snailsnotwhales.wordpress.com/

Marine Extension presents The Georgia Shore Program June 7-21

The UGA Marine Extension will present a two-week course aimed at teachers and focused on the Georgia coast from June 7-21. Except for a $100 non-refundable deposit, the fees for the course will be covered by an “Improving Teacher Quality” grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The course will begin with an overview of basic marine ecosystems in coastal Georgia. Activities aboard the R/V Sea Dawg will include biological sampling of the estuary and water chemistry analysis. Laboratory activities will include the collection and identification of plankton, invertebrates and fish. Participants will explore scientific inquiry methods with applications for classroom use.

“They will complete all the steps necessary to design a research project, collect data and report the results in a fun way,” said MAREX educator Mare Timmons.

The two-week course is based at the UGA Marine Extension Service Marine Education Center and Aquarium.  Housing will be  dormitory style and cafeteria meals are provided during the course with the exception of a few “dinners out”. Participants must be able to stay onsite for the entire program; commuting is not allowed. The dorm and cafeteria are air conditioned, yet much “classroom” time will be spent outdoors. Moderate physical activity is involved and participants should be in good health. Enrollment is limited to 16 students.

For more information and application instructions, visit: http://marex.uga.edu/graduate/ or contact Mare Timmons at mare@uga.edu.

Sanders re-elected to COL board

Skidaway Institute Executive Director Jim Sanders was re-elected for a three year term to the Board of Trustees, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, March 2015-2018.

The Consortium for Ocean Leadership is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that represents more than 100 of the leading public and private ocean research and education institutions, aquaria and industry with the mission to advance research, education and sound ocean policy. The organization also manages ocean research and education programs in areas of scientific ocean drilling, ocean observing, ocean exploration, and ocean partnerships.

The Ocean Leadership Board of Trustees consists of 14 Trustees elected from among the membership, who are charged by the Members to represent the best interests of the broad ocean research and education community.

Students get excited about underwater robots in the Savannah Science Seminar

by Amy Rath

Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary uses underwater robots (remotely operated vehicles or ROVs) to remotely observe the natural resources found within the sanctuary and surrounding areas, and as a way to get middle school, high school and college students excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Students working in teams to design remotely operated vehicles(ROVs) during the Savannah Science Seminar.

Jody Patterson, Volunteer Coordinator for Gray’s Reef, is also the Southeast Regional Coordinator for the MATE ROV Competition in Savannah, Ga. She is worked with 36 students from secondary high schools in Chatham County as part of the Savannah Science Seminar through January 21st. The focus of this sanctuary program and workshop was to develop stewardship for our ocean and marine habitats by engaging and inspiring students and educators with ocean observing technologies.

Gray’s Reef hosts film festival, launches new foundation

by Amy Rath

Our 2015 Gray’s Reef Ocean Film Festival and the launch of the newly founded Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Foundation has left Gray’s Reef staff and the Savannah community buzzing with energy and motivated to plunge into the new year with a renewed sense of inspiration for protecting our ocean and Gray’s Reef. Special guests included oceanographer, conservationist, and National Geographic explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle with her film Mission Blue, and visual effects specialist and Deep Sea Challenge film director John Bruno.

Sylvia Earle receives a Lifetime Achievement Award on stage with Billy Causey, Southeast Regional Director of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Complimenting these exploration films was Swain’s Island, bringing light to the natural system, history, and culture of the Sanctuary. A few other very special guests to the festival included our own fearless leader, Director of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Dan Basta and Regional Director of the Southeast Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Region Billy Causey, with President and Vice President of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation Jason Patlis and Allison Alexander, and NMSF board member Jim Crowley.

Awards were given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Winners of the 2015 Emerging Filmmakers Competition.

An all-hands-on-deck event, the success of this weekend festival is attributed to the commitment of the full staff of Gray’s Reef with more than a dozen volunteers, and the additional support and attention of these national and regional leaders.

The line-up of films this year brought an estimated 1,500 guests to the ocean film festival held at the Lucas Theater in historic downtown Savannah. The weekend kicked-off with a gala to launch the Gray’s Reef Foundation, followed by a two-day schedule of fascinating and inspiring short and feature-length documentary films, and wrapped up with a party on the stage of the theater. For the first time this year, the ocean film festival presented an opportunity to raise support not only for ocean conservation initiatives, but also for the research, resource protection, and community outreach programs of Gray’s Reef through the new Gray’s Reef Foundation

MAREX interns organize first Youth Ocean Conservation Summit

By Maegan Snyder

Fifty middle and high school students from 15 Georgia cities and five states attended Georgia’s first Youth Ocean Conservation Summit on Feb. 28 at the University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island.

The event was sponsored by the UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, units of the Office of Public Service and Outreach, and organized by Georgia Sea Grant Marine Education interns Cara Lin, Beth Smith, Maeve Snyder and Sean Russell. All of the day’s activities focused on empowering youth participants with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to successfully launch ocean conservation projects in their own communities.

“The summit provides a unique opportunity for students to come together with their peers, learn about ocean conservation issues in their local communities and start to develop solutions for those problems,” said Russell, who earned his bachelor of science degree in biology in 2013 from the University of Florida, and founded the first YOCS in 2011 at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida. “When we look at the big picture, it’s overwhelming and many people simply don’t know where to start. I think the most important thing we want students to take away from the summit is to just start somewhere and take action.”

Keynote speaker Cathy Sakas, chair of Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and co-founder of Ocean Exchange, a conservation advocacy group that links other organizations together to promote solutions to ocean conservation problems, kicked off the day. She provided participants with an introduction on how to effectively communicate messages regarding ocean conservation, as well as inspiring stories of ocean stewardship.

“The Georgia coast is small, but we have a major impact on the entire ecosystem,” she said. “You have already taken the first step in making a difference just by being here and learning about these important issues.”

Students also attended a panel discussion on environmental conservation with representatives from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Georgia coastal advocacy organization One Hundred Miles, Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary and UGA Marine Extension.

In the afternoon, students had the opportunity to work on action plans for their own ocean conservation projects with mentors from numerous conservation organizations and activist groups. The projects ranged from organizing community cleanup efforts and rebuilding oyster reefs to raising awareness on preventing plastic pollution and marine debris.

“I came to the summit because I wanted to enhance my interest in marine biology and learn what I can do to take action and save the environment,” said Sarah Katherine Bass, a sixth-grader from the Habersham School in Savannah. “If this generation doesn’t take charge, then who will?”

Bass and two other students from the Habersham School plan to create a series of YouTube videos and other social media accounts that show the causes of marine debris and what it can do to the various animals in the ocean. Their goal is to encourage people to not just help the environment, but also spread awareness of marine debris and its impact.

After the event, students were connected to the Youth Ocean Conservation Team, a worldwide network of past summit participants and other ocean conservation advocates who are dedicated to protecting marine ecosystems. The team continues to provide support to participants throughout the year, connecting them to resources that support their projects and allowing them to collaborate with other young people who are passionate about similar conservation issues.

“Young people bring new ideas and an incredible enthusiasm to the field of ocean conservation,” said Russell. “I’ve been very impressed with how these students have stepped up and became leaders in ocean conservation. I truly believe that if each of us does one small piece, that can really add up to have a big impact.”

The Georgia Sea Grant Marine Education Internship Program began in 1987. The program awards one-year internships to four recent graduates to serve as educators for the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island. Interns live onsite for 50 weeks and teach students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. Interns also conduct outreach at local schools by judging science fair projects, teaching during science nights and field-testing their educational curricula. Georgia Sea Grant is now accepting applications for interns for the 2015-2016 academic year. For more information, see http://marex.uga.edu/sea_grant_internship/.

Contact: Anne Lindsay, 912-598-2355, lindsaya@uga.edu

Gray’s Reef presents FareWhale Festival

The Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary hosted the second annual FareWhale Festival at the Tybee Island Pier on Saturday, March 21.

FareWhale Festival exhibits on the Tybee Island Pier

The FareWhale Festival used a play on words to invite the public to celebrate the northward migration of the North Atlantic right whales as they begin to leave their calving grounds offshore of Georgia and Florida to return to the cooler seas off the New England coast near Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

Two children negotiate the right whale obstacle course.

Gray’s Reef recruited 17 exhibitors to join in the venture to bring to light the plight of the critically endangered whales by educating visitors through fun activities and relevant information.  The exhibits and activitries included a photo booth; a  right whale obstacle course (whale tails provided); interpretive beach walks provided by Cathy Sakas; a whale presentation given by the Tybee Island Marine Science Center; and an inflatable right whale that is 22 feet long (about the size of a one year old calf). Tybee Arts Association sold ocean or right whale inspired artwork with ten percent of the proceeds going to the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

“We estimate that around 500 people attended the event, almost double from last year,” said Abby Murphy, one of the organizers.

Gray’s Reef partnered with the Sea to Shore Alliance to host the event.