EDUCATION FOR PLANET EARTH

$7.95

Issue 92

Spring 2011

A New Look at Marine

Education

Healthy Bodies Lead to Healthy Oceans

Ocean Monitoring Devices Transform Learning
Seaquaria in Schools
PM40069238

Build Your Own Watershed

Folklore and Ocean Literacy

A Closer Look at Plastics in the Worlds Oceans

Editorial
Issue 92, Spring 2011
General Editor
Tim Grant
Editorial Assistant
John Cooper
Editing
Rick Searle, Krista Zala, Tim Grant and John Cooper
Regional Editors
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Ann Coffey
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Board of Directors
Judith Benson (BC), Pat Clarke (BC), Cam Collyer (ON),
Tim Grant (ON), Gail Littlejohn (ON),
Monika Thoma-Petit (QC), Della Webster (NB)

 
 


 
in Canada.
Design and Production
Cover illustration by James Paterson; cover design
by Michael Kelley; printing by Annex Publishing and





  

by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest
Alliance.
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Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.

Ryunosuke Satoro

ELCOME TO THE SPECIAL MARINE EDUCATION issue of

Green Teacher. Mounting troubles with the worlds oceans have
been at the forefront of news for more than a year now: shrinking


        

and increasingly acidic waters as the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, to name
some of the most dire. Lately, we have seen devastating evidence of these
connections with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
and tsunami in Japan. Disasters like these remind us
how connected we are to the ocean and emphasize



  



together before we can make lasting improvements.
A decade ago, marine educators and scientists
across the United States came together and hammered

 
 




understanding which they called ocean literacy. (See
the list on page 42.) These principles and their respective core concepts now serve as a framework for countless teachers around the world keen on incorporating
ocean sciences into their classes.
The ocean is vast and varied. Accordingly, you will

  
 
 

In our section on new technologies, Ali Hochberg
and Chris Levesque write about using real-time data
to bring science into classrooms. Advances in ocean observation systems
use cabled networks, remote buoys and even remotely-operated underwater
vehicles to monitor ocean health and stream it online. These advances offer
exciting potential for scientists, students and the public to understand marine
systems. They also help us to respond immediately to important events, and
use hard data to shape our long-term actions. Also in this section, Jessica
Neely describes how to use Google maps for student collaboration in mapping local and marine habitats, and Andrea Swensrud writes about joining a
program in which classrooms connect in real time with the underwater work
of marine biologists via live feeds.
As the ocean is connected to every aspect of our living planet, so too
should marine education employ every aspect of formal and informal learn
 
 





 
but in drawing, critical thinking, making complex ideas clear, and communicating and collaborating with others. Carlie Wiener, Martin Keeley,
Darius Kalvaitis and Cassie Gurbisz and their co-authors describe how
to use and develop such skills while teaching about important parts of
marine ecosystems that we may overlook. Karen Linsky et al write about the
connections between global folklore and principles of ocean literacy.
The marine environment is astoundingly complexno one person could
know all the ways in which the oceans systems connect with our lives. It
can take considerable effort to grasp the individual ideas and see how they




   



 
more meaningfully we grasp our connections with the marine environment,
the more likely we are to remember them.
We hope that these activities, experiences and ideas will motivate you to
bring the ocean to your educational programs and classrooms in meaningful
ways.
Rick Searle and Krista Zala work for Ocean Networks Canada Observatory in Victoria, British Columbia. The Observatory consists of the VENUS
and NEPTUNE Canada networks.

Page 2

GREEN TEACHER 92

Photographs: Alison Neilson

Environmental Justice in the Azores

Fishers perspectives on marine conservation need to be heard in education programs
by Alison Neilson

semi-autonomous region of Portugal, the Azores

consists of nine small volcanic islands in the Atlantic
Ocean, midway between Newfoundland and Lisbon.
Around 240,000 people call the Azores home, and the population varies with intermittent currents of travellers, departing
emigrants and returning retirees. For centuries, sailors,

   

 
 

whales have stopped by. Fish dominates the cuisine; whale
watching has taken over from whaling and the waters splash

   
    

Could there be a better place for knowing the sea?

Seascapes of our imagination

From the smallest island of Corvo (6.5mi2/17km2) to the
largest of So Miguel (288mi2/747km2), there are few places
 

 !

sprout from rocky outcrops, and are sported on the shoulders
of men carrying buckets of their catch of chicharro. Its
easy to imagine eager youth running to pull in the lines of




"

 

!
their cousins living in America, many Azoreans have no

#

 

    


 

   




 
  

the lives of their sea-going neighbours.
I came to know about this split between those who work
on the sea and those who work on the land while doing
research throughout the islands. Although whaling museums
in the Azores distinguish small-scale coastal hunting from
industrial whaling, tourists lump both together as an indisPage 14

criminate, bloody slaughter. Retired whalers are largely

invisible to whale watching tourists, and few tourists hear
the stories I heard from the whalers in which they spoke
with awe and respect for the animals. Fishers are also regularly stereotyped as greedy and uncaring. The intimate
ecological connection both groups have with the ocean is
rarely seen as such by others.
Fishers told me about the joy they felt when watching the

 



 
as the apprehension when they knew a pod was feeding from



 


 


sorrows for sons lost in storms and fear when their husbands
were late to return to port. Many spoke of great respect for
the ocean and how their heartbreak at leaving the sea had
compelled them to return to the islands after seeking a
better life in America.
Realizing that I was hearing perspectives not well
known, I began to share my work directly with the public.
$  

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Sharing the Sea mailart workshops. After reading from
 #
 

  
' 
talk about his experiences, participating youth created
their own images of the sea to be sent to nearby islands.
The Association of Wives of Fishers and Boat Owners of
Terceira participated in this workshop as well and helped
me to see the importance of the direct participation of

 


Heroes and villains

Environmental justice involves an analysis of those who




 

 
those who pay the greatest price or receive the greatest
  


 

GREEN TEACHER 92

harms are not distributed equally. People of colour, manual

labourers, indigenous peoples, women and children receive
unjust harms related to their environments.
 


 
 

 




*

 
+




 



3  



$9

   



   

< 
struggle to support their families after the moratorium on

" 
 


 

  
 



 
 
 
restaurants. Fish for the European market are increasingly
caught off African and Asian coasts, creating greater global
+


A more subtle form of environmental injustice is related
to perspectives and voice. Marine conservation issues are
complex; some questions and concerns will necessarily take
priority over others. Lesser-known issues which are not


 


 


communities, are then not considered part of the concept
of the ocean, and will not be incorporated in government
policies. The perspectives of the people most affected by
such issues need to be heard at all levels in order to avoid
creating or contributing to further social inequities.
Environmental education has been concerned with
social, cultural and political issues for a long time, yet
educators can easily continue to exclude people by the lim


 
= 

 
stakeholders ensures that multiple perspectives are within
the frame and included in educational discourse.

Welcoming broad participation

Marine education in the Azores has been performed by
numerous organizations, including the network of Ecotecas
on each island, the G- Questa Association for environmental protection, the Azorean Observatory of the Sea and
Friends of the Azores Ecological Association, amongst
others. Many of these are part of REMA, the Network for
Marine Education in the Azores whose goals also include
democratic participation of members. These groups organized in 2009 to create RCE Aores: a Regional Centre of

Expertise for Education for Sustainable Development. RCE Aores is part of the United
Nations worldwide network of organizations
supporting the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development through cross-sector
educational activities in partnerships across all
levels of education.1
In September, RCE Aores held a workshop




ers were highlighted in a deliberate attempt to
promote environmental justice. Fishers were
involved from the start in planning this workshop. One of its goals was for teachers, many
of whom are from mainland Portugal, to meet
local people and learn about Azorean ideas of
marine biodiversity.



 
     
 
The opening presentation by the Association of Wives of
Fishers and Boat Owners of Terceira introduced marine




$
 
from a Canadian university reinforced the importance of
the cultural and spiritual aspects of biodiversity. We closed
the evening with the local parish priest speaking about the
numerous local traditions of the sea.
Over the next two days, the group participated in various
activities, discussions and presentations. Biologists shared


 

 
teaching strategies, but the privileged position was given to

@




the workshop meant that they played a prominent role, rather
than being pushed aside as the ones that need to be educated.
Further collaborations are now developing between organiza


 


ties and those that had been working primarily in education.
Collaboration across sectors and between university



 X
work cultures create challenges, but sharing responsibility
and commitment to these broad networks builds relationships and trust that can make seemingly impossible things
happen. This broad participation also enables educators
to better deal with the politics and complexities of marine
 





 



Despite these disagreements, members of both groups often
share common concerns about the sea. Networks that foster
participatory education serve the cause of environmental
justice by making space for the voices and leadership of
those whose perspectives have been ignored. Fishers can
then speak from their own experience and knowledge about
issues that are important to them, and make important contributions to sustaining the oceans.
Alison Neilson lives on Terceira Island, and is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of the Azores and the
coordinator of RCE Aores. Information about her research
on perspectives of the sea can be read on http://edumar.
ning.com/.
Notes
1. United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development, 20052014. See www.desd.org.

GREEN TEACHER 92

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