Online Underwater First! Live Broadcast Science Classes from the Aquarius Habitat
KEY LARGO, FL — It is distance learning taken to the extreme as marine science classes are taught live from beneath the ocean for the first time. Project SeaCAMEL aquanauts will broadcast from Aquarius, the world's only undersea research station, November 12-14th.
Experts will bring coral reef science to students and ocean enthusiasts around the world via satellite and the Internet from Conch Reef, located 4 miles off Key Largo and 60-feet beneath the sea in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The mission is the first in a series of online sea-to-shore educational programs sponsored by the Maryland-based Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, a non-profit organization focusing on ocean research and conservation.
The university-level science experiments will use high-tech undersea tools to collect data, but the broadcasts will also have broad appeal to younger audiences. Numerous schools, museums, and aquariums across the country, in Mexico and Great Britain are expected to participate. A curriculum for 8th-12th-graders is also available online from project partner Immersion Presents. Support for the live broadcasts will be provided by Media Arts.
Live Online Broadcasts begin Monday, November 12 at www.seacamel.livingoceansfoundation.org and www.uncw.edu/aquarius.
Class Schedule:
Monday Nov 12 , 7-8 PM: The Reef at Night
Tuesday Nov 13 , 11-12 Noon: Reefs under Siege
Tuesday Nov 13 , 2-3 PM: Sponges: the Reef's Filters
Wednesday Nov 14 , 11-12 Noon: The Boundary Layers of the Reef
Wednesday Nov 14 , 2-3 PM: Aquarius as an Artificial Reef
At Gloucester High School, in Gloucester, VA senior Michael Crockett play a special role in the mission by sending online commands to an underwater robotic fish, Fetch1. It will be a unique experience controlling a free-swimming surveillance vehicle from 1,000 miles away over the Internet.
The aquanaut team includes: Mark Patterson, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Living Oceans Executive Director Philip Renaud, USN (ret); Chief Project Scientist Annelise Hagan; videographer DJ Roller and Aquarius crewmembers Craig Cooper and Jim Buckley.
Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and managed by the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
Info for Media and Academic Institutions:
To schedule pre-mission and live underwater interviews with the Aquanauts and to obtain satellite transponder settings (AMC-2) or an Internet 2 link, refer to contacts below.
Contact Info:
Terri Taylor
Project SeaCAMEL
Public Affairs Officer
Tel : 412-512-9272
E-mail : zeolite@verizon.net
Dr. Ellen Prager
Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base
NURC/UNCW
Tel : 305-451-0233 ext 206
E-mail : pragere@earthlink.net
Website : Living Oceans Foundation