Saturday, January 31, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Tracking with the Marion Natural History Museum
We will meet at Washburn Park to do some tracking and search for other evidence of wild animals with naturalist and experienced tracker, Jennifer Carlino. Jennifer has volunteered with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Department for many years and has trained with the likes of biologist Scott Jackson. Please remember to dress warmly. You may want to bring a pair of binoculars or a camera to document your findings. Cost for the program is a $6/person donation to the museum.
Friday, February 6, 7:00 – 8:30 pm: “The Right Whale Sedation Story” with Dr. Michael Moore
Woods Hole Marine Biologist Michael Moore will present his new strategy for sedating right whales to enable dis-entangling. Mr. Moore has devoted much of his career to understanding the endangered North Atlantic right whale, which are too often the victims of human activities. Since coming to WHOI as a graduate student in 1986, Moore has investigated why populations of North Atlantic right whales have not rebounded as they could have in the eight decades since whaling was outlawed, while their South Atlantic cousins have. Moore and colleagues at the New England Aquarium and elsewhere, as part of the Right Whale Consortium, have come to recognize that the specie lives mostly in a highly “urbanized” ocean, where ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements are a constant concern.
As a result, Moore has studied various pharmacological and mechanical tools to help restrain or sedate large whales so that they can be cut loose from ropes and fishing gear. These efforts include the development of methods of injecting large whales with sedatives or antibiotics. Moore and colleagues Becky Woodward and Jeremy Winn have also modeled the interactions between fixed fishing gear and large whale body parts and conducted engineering tests to determine how rope interacts with whale baleen.
This program promises to be an interesting one, and preregistration is strongly recommended. Please preregister at the museum’s website: www.marionmuseum.org. Cost is a $6 donation to Marion Natural History Museum.
Friday, February 27, 7:00 – 8:30 pm: Family Program – BUGWORKS!
Join Bugworks! on Friday, February 27 for an interactive evening featuring live invertebrates. Topics will include insect life cycles, characteristics, defense mechanisms, historical significance, and more. We’ll also compare insects to other arthropods such as millipedes and arachnids. Join us as we peer at a praying mantis and marvel at millipedes! Program will be held at the Marion Natural History Museum. Cost for this program is a $6 donation to the museum. “This program is supported in part by a grant from the (name of local cultural council), a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.”
Friday, March 6, 7:00 – 8:30 pm: Beyond the White Shark – Sharks of New England with Dr. Tom Burns
Dr. Tom Burns has been photographing sharks for over 20 years. His pursuit of shark encounters has taken him around the world. Years of in-water interactions with sharks, often without the barrier of a cage, has allowed him to obtain a real perspective of these intelligent animals. Based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, it is the sharks of New England that have become his focus including the mako shark, basking shark, porbeagles and the rare hammerhead and tiger sharks. Beyond the species profiles, Dr. Burns will give the audience background on how he dives, photographs, and interacts with these different species. Some might be surprised to learn that he never uses a shark cage and will sometimes use aerial spotters for encountering sharks such as hammerheads. The presentation will include some of Dr. Burns’ stunning photographs which have been published in numerous magazines. Location: Marion Natural History Museum, 8 Spring Street, Marion, MA. Cost: $6 donation to the Marion Natural History Museum.