Dolphin Talk

OK, so there isn’t much that you and I can do about most of this. I have no control over toxic nuclear waste. I have no control over chemical plants and their manufacturing processes. I have to have gasoline to go to work. I do not have the option of public transportation. I have to have electricity. There are many modern conveniences that I cannot live without because they are no longer conveniences; they have become necessities to survive and work in the modern world.

However, there are a few things I can do to make a small impact in the world. I do not have to use plastic bags from the grocery store. There are many alternative ways to get my purchases home. Even paper is better than plastic because it can be recycled so much easier. I recently witnessed a custodian at a large national chain empty the plastic bag recycle container into the trash dumpster. Perhaps the biggest culprits are plastic bottles. They can and should be recycled. They can be used again with very little energy input. I am campaigning at my school to place plastic recycle containers in our cafeteria. I already have a container in my room and several teachers are making use of it. At the recent TAKS ELA administration, every student in my school was provided a bottle of water by the PTA. At least 50% of them brought a bottle from home. We generated over 1500 plastic bottles in 1 day. I shudder to think how many we produce a year.

I also have a battery recycle container in my room. I have 24 graphing calculators for student use. That’s almost 200 batteries a year to keep them operational. How many tons of lithium and nickel, lead and copper do we add to the landfill each year? I have made my recycle efforts available to the entire campus. I recycle plastic, metal, paper and batteries in my classroom. My students have accepted this and participate fully.

Am I making a huge difference in the world? Probably not. But I am making a difference where I can and maybe I am influencing a student or two to change their behavior. I encourage you to become a part of the solution and start thinking about what you can do to become a better citizen of your community. We all have influence over our students. Let’s use it to encourage them to see solutions rather than complain about problems. Are we going to be embarrassed when those archeologists 500 years from now excavate our civilization or are we going to share in the excitement?

Editor’s note: Please see BOTTLED vs TAP on page 9. Diane has written another excellent article entitled “Garbology 101” that will be published in the next Dolphin Talk.

CAST Workshop Proposals/Musings from Mark continued........................... 2

Corals to Classrooms Workshop information.................................................. 3

Motel, social, auction, NMEA info................................................................. 4

Squid Link/ Brown Pelican............................................................................. 5

Teachers Wanted to Pilot Grades 6-8 Curriculum Guide................................ 6

Saving the Kemp’s Ridley Turtle.................................................................... 7

Bottled vs. Tap................................................................................................ 9

NMEA/TMEA Officer Information.............................................................. 11

Membership Application............................................................................... 12

It seems like we just finished CAST 2007 and it is time to get ready for this year. The deadline for short courses and workshops is April 30th, so if you are interested in being a part of the TMEA STRAND, send your workshop proposal to Mark Stamp by April 15. We had a great STRAND in 2007 with 2 ½ days of workshops all in the same room, which makes it so much easier for your audience to attend. TMEA’s fieldtrip to Pedernales Falls was great!

If you’re interested, email President Mark Stamp <stampm@pearlandisd.org> with your workshop proposal, and he will see that it’s listed under the TMEA STRAND so your workshop will occur in our designated room.

Corals to Classrooms:

A Workshop Celebrating International Year of the Reef 2008!

Sponsored by Texas Marine Education Association

Hosted by Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

What are corals? How do they build reefs? Why are the coral reefs of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico so special and unique? What does all this have to do with the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program? Join the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and the Texas Marine Education Association as we celebrate International Year of the Reef in 2008! Learn about the stunning coral reefs in Texas and Louisiana's back yard from April 25-27, 2008. Tour a turtle hatchery where NOAA raises loggerhead sea turtles, the same species that is most abundant at the sanctuary's coral reefs. Try out six different classroom activities, ranging from lower elementary to high school. Pick up cool video footage of the sanctuary and additional activities to try at home. Have a rollickin' good time at the annual TMEA fundraiser auction on Saturday evening. Finish the weekend with a fun and informative Jetty Crawl along the Galveston seawall. Remember to bring your collecting gear if you want to bring stuff home from the jetties to your classroom aquarium.

Participants will receive 10 hours continuing education credit from the TX State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC), applicable toward maintaining teaching certification in Texas.

Friday evening - April 25, 2008: Optional social gathering. Location to be determined.

Saturday - April 26, 2008

8:30 - 10:45 am

Intro to FGBNMS and coral reefs (with focus on International Year of the Reef)

Lectures accompanied by three activities:

q plastic glove polyp

q Lego reef building

q watershed activity

15 minute walk to turtle barn

11:00 - 12:00 Tour of NOAA Fisheries turtle barn (note presence of loggerheads at FGBNMS and other coral reefs)

12:00 - 1:30 LUNCH

1:30 - 2:00 Coral spawning lecture and activity

2:00 - 3:30 Coral reef monitoring lecture and activity

3:30 - 4:00 Coral coring (paleoclimatology) activity

4:00 - 7:00 DINNER ON YOUR OWN

7:00 - 10 PM TMEA Annual Auction

Sunday - April 27, 2008

8:30 - 10:00 Jetty crawl or beach walk (possible collection opportunity for your classroom aquarium)

10:30 - 11:00 TMEA business meeting. All members, be sure to attend. Your input is needed

If you’re interested, ACT NOW! Registration is limited and almost FULL.

Download a registration form from our web page: http://statweb.org/TMEA/

Gaido’s Seaside Inn at 3802 Seawall Blvd.is offering TMEA rooms (no Gulf view) for the very special rate of $55.00/night for the nights of April 25^th and 26^th. The ten rooms reserved are filled but a few might still be available at the lower price(first come, first served). Other rooms at a higher but still reasonable for Galveston may be available. Make your reservations ASAP by calling the number below and giving them your credit card #. Tell them you are attending the TMEA workshop. This offer ends on April 14^th.

Come join the fun and support a worthwhile cause. Auction proceeds provide student and teacher scholarships that can be used at marine camps, summer institutes, CAST and NMEA registration, etc.

You’re encouraged to bring items for the auction - anything sea related and classroom curricula items are always popular.

The Georgia Association of Marine Education (GAME) invites you to spend a week in coastal Georgia with ocean enthusiasts from around the world. Come celebrate the exciting field of marine science and Georgia’s take on marine education.

Act now to get the great hotel rates in downtown Savannah. Registration is now open for the conference. Take the following link to the conference home page or go to the TMEA web page and take the link there:

Many years ago I attended a NMEA conference and in one of the workshops a fifth grade teacher from New York showed us how to dissect, cook and eat squid. Because of this experience, I became the so called “squid expert” on my side of Houston. A few years ago the conference was held in Connecticut and I was fascinated when Dr. Clyde Roper spoke about his quest for the giant squid. I recently received an email announcement that Dr. Roper would be speaking to GOMMEA, the NMEA Chapter in Maine. Needless to say, I was sorely tempted but a plane ticket was out of the question. Fortunately for all of us, his website was listed and after visiting it, my squid knowledge increased immeasurably.

“As an invertebrate, a squid has no bones. A feather-shaped blade, or gladius, helps support the body and serves as a site for muscle attachment. It is made of chitin, like your fingernails. Cartilage (tough, gristle-like tissue) surrounds a squid's brain.”

Over the last three decades, I have dissected many squid and have pulled out dozens of “pens” or “feathers” but I had never heard the term “gladius,” nor knew that it is the site for muscle attachment, nor did I realize that it was made of chitin! WOW! I had always known that the pen was a vestigial shell but that was all.

In 27 years of teaching, one of my favorite experiences occurred on a field trip to Port Aransas, Texas in May of 1997. On that day, my students and I traveled by Jetty Boat from Port Aransas across the channel to San Jose Island to cleanup marine debris.

We began our cleanup after being dropped off on the island, starting at the jetty and working our way eastward down the beach. In two hours, we had cleared over 1,000 pieces of debris from a mile of beach, the majority made of plastic or Styrofoam. We tabulated our results and started back to the jetty.

After walking halfway back, we saw a sea turtle stranded on the sand. The push of the surf had washed it up the beach, leaving it exposed on the wet sand (see picture). At first, we thought it was dead, but then it raised its head. But, lacking strength, the head fell back down an instant later.

After a short discussion, we thought it best to carry it back out into the water. So, two guys lifted the turtle, one on each side, and carried it into the surf. They let go and as they walked to shore, we watched.

As we watched, the waves pushed the turtle closer and closer until it landed on the sand. We tried again. The two carried it out and let it go. Again it washed ashore.

It was clear we needed a new plan. We decided to carry it back to the Jetty Boat, whose dock was one-half mile away. The Jetty Boat was the only way we could transport it ourselves. And the dock was the only place someone else could come to pick it up. Although I was unsure of the laws, I thought that handling a protected species probably wasn’t allowed. But we had no choice.

So, the guys lifted the turtle and we began our march to the dock. Before starting, one-half mile didn’t seem like much, but soon reality set in. The turtle likely weighed 75-100 pounds and didn’t have handles, so was dropped on the sand several times. The guys struggled with the weight and frequently rested.

We found beach driftwood and used it to make a carrying platform. Although the carrying became a little easier, the platform didn’t do much to decrease the animal’s weight. Rests became longer and more frequent.

But finally we made it to the Jetty Boat dock. To our surprise, we were met by two individuals, one from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and one from the ARK (Animal Rehabilitation Keep) in Port Aransas. I’m not sure who contacted them, but obviously we attracted the attention of someone who knew whom to call.

The one from the ARK, Andi, inspected our turtle. She said it was an adult Kemp’s Ridley, the most highly endangered of all sea turtles. Andi lifted its rear end, and after peering underneath, pronounced it a “she.”

The two lifted the turtle and carried it off. Several days later, we inquired at the ARK and were told our Ridley had a bacterial infection and was being treated with antibiotics.

Several weeks later, I got the news. Our turtle had fully recovered and had been released. When I told my students, they were thrilled.

I know better than to believe she thinks of us. After her release, she probably did what sea turtles do. And the one thing I hope she did was to mate and have hundreds of offspring. If she did that, then we helped save not just her, but a whole species.

“Saving the Kemp’s Ridley” and “Bottle vs. Tap” were originally published in the February issue of The Midden, the newsletter of the Galveston Bay Area Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists. Reprinted in the Dolphin Talk with the authors’ permission.

Dr. Steve Alexander received his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Houston, where he took his first course in marine biology from Nick Fotheringham the senior author of Common Marine Invertebrates of the Northwestern Gulf Coast. He then attended Louisiana State University where he received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Marine Sciences. After graduate school, he joined the faculty of Texas A&M University at Galveston where, for 10 years, he taught courses in marine ecology, marine food chains, and microbiology. Dr. Alexander then relocated to Waco where he spent the next 17 years as a Professor of Biology at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. There, he taught courses in ecology, invertebrate zoology, and microbiology. But his favorite course was Natural History Expedition to the Texas Coast taught in the summer. He led 27 trips to the Texas coast, where he exposed a total of 275 students to aspects of marine biology. The previous article is an account of one of those trips. He is now retired from teaching and lives with his wife Pam near Galveston. Most recently, Steve has been very active in the Galveston Bay Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists and has worked with the Friends of Galveston Island State Park where he shares his vast knowledge to the delight of Master Naturalists, GISP park visitors and school children. Steve will be sharing his expertise at the Sunday morning Jetty Crawl on April 27th as part of the Corals to Classrooms workshop. We welcome Steve as a TMEA member!

“Bottled vs. Tap” author Diane Humes grew up in Texas and Michigan, graduating from The University of Michigan, B.S. Botany and Zoology, M.S. Biology. Following her husband’s career, she has moved to Arizona, Massachusetts, and back to Texas. A Texas Master Naturalist for 8 years with the Galveston Bay Area Chapter, she concentrates on wetland and prairie restoration and does water testing for the Texas Stream Team (formerly Texas Watch).

by Diane Humes

Most Americans get their drinking water from one of 53,000 community water systems. It comes from the faucet at an average cost of $0.002 per gallon. The states and the EPA regulate 91 drinking water contaminants with stringent and rigorous testing and reporting, as required by the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act, enacted in 1974 after a nationwide study showed water quality problems in communities across the U.S. Since 1999 providers have been required to send each household a yearly water report by July 1. This allows you to know how well your tap water conforms to safety standards. By 1994, 83% of community water systems met all requirements; by 2002, 91% had met all standards. Drinking water in the U.S. is some of the safest in the world. However, the nation’s drinking water infrastructure is aging; many cities installed water pipes before World War 1. In 2003 the EPA estimated that almost $300 billion in infrastructure repairs would be needed in the next 20 years to ensure the nation’s safe drinking water. This has led some to feel that bottled water may be safer.

U.S. sales of bottled water, at a cost of $3.00 - $4.00 per gallon, have grown from nearly negligible to over 60 billion bottles per year in the last 10 years. That’s 200 bottles for very man, woman, and child in America. That is big business! The marketing images on the bottles evoke towering mountains, pristine glaciers, and crystal clear springs, but this is not necessarily true. Fiji Water does come all the way from Fiji, but not all are so exciting. One quarter to 40% of bottled water is municipal tap water re-packaged, possibly with additional treatment. The FDA regulates bottled water; however, standards are weaker than EPA standards for tap water. For example, E. coli is allowed in bottled water, but not in tap water. Reporting and testing requirements are in no way comparable. Whereas the EPA requires water testing 100+ times per month, FDA requires testing once a month. Also, the 60-70% of bottled water that does not cross state lines is exempt from any FDA standards. The NRDC stated that there was no reason to assume that bottled water was superior to tap water or had fewer microbial or chemical contaminants. The plastic bottle itself may leach phthalate (regulated by EPA) into the water, for which there is no bottled water standard.

We are entitled to drink safe, clean water. If you are really concerned or have health needs, you need stricter water purification. You should make sure your water has been further treated by reverse osmosis distillation, UV radiation, or use of absolute 1-micron filtration to eliminate smaller or resistant disease-causing organisms. Find out what is in that bottle of water. Consider installing a home filtration system. Carry your water in a stainless steel thermos.

Bottled water is sold in durable, cheap, convenient PET (polyethylene terephthalate) containers, an easily recyclable form of plastic, but recycling rates for plastic bottles are less than 25%. Most head for a landfill – but the rest create lots of litter. Plastic is light and floats and is blown about in the wind All rivers lead to the sea; the Houston Ship Channel is a frightening repository of plastic of all types, probably washed down storm drains. The Wetland Restoration Team had to stretch a trash boom across the treatment marsh on Bray’s Bayou to keep out all the bags and bottles that floated in. Of the 200 billion pounds of plastic (not all for bottles) produced in the world, Greenpeace estimates 10% ends up in the ocean.

Once a plastic bottle gets to the ocean, it can float on winds and currents for miles. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch or North Pacific Gyre is an area in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas where currents circle lazily in a clockwise fashion and trash has collected – the largest landfill in the world in the middle of the ocean. Trash accumulates in the gyre, churning in the waves, more plastic by weight than plankton.

Studies estimate than 80% of ocean trash has originated on land and 60 – 80% of it is plastic.

Bottles Actually, the oceans are awash in plastic trash and there are 6 gyres swirling around the globe. Many studies document the harm to marine life from ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic; when the plastic bits become small enough to be eaten by zooplankton the plastic will work its way up the food chain until it is truly in all living tissue on the planet.

Plastic has been around for about 50 years. It is made from oil; it takes 1.5 million barrels to manufacture a year’s worth of those handy bottles. It can photo-degrade, meaning sunlight will cause it to become brittle and crumble, but it does not decompose. No microbes have yet evolved to eat it – break it down into its building blocks. It can break into smaller and smaller bits, but will remain a man-made polymer – possibly hang around in the environment for 1000 years.

Total world water is finite and freshwater for drinking constitutes a mere 1% of the world’s water. The WHO estimates individual basic water requirements are 50 liters (13.2 gal) per day—for drinking (5), cooking (10), bathing (15), sanitation and hygiene (20). Worldwide water use varies greatly, with sub-Saharan Africans using 10 - 20 liters per day, Europeans using 200 liters per day, and Americans using 300 - 400 liters per day. World human population exceeds 6 billion people. In 2000 about one third of the world’s people had less water than the WHO basic water requirements; more than half the world’s rivers are polluted or depleted in their lower reaches from overuse. World population is projected to rise to 9.3 billion by 2050, and industrial water use is expected to increase along with the population. It is projected that within 25 years humans will consume 90% of the world’s water, leaving only 10% for other species.

We have a steady, reliable and cheap source of clean, freshwater for drinking, such as at few other times in world history and few other places in the world today. Yet, many people, Americans and others, are choosing to forsake ordinary tap water for the convenience and perceived benefits of bottled water. Both seem dubious when we consider the added costs for transportation and packaging and the cost to the environment. What would a marine educator drink? What would you drink?

References

Blumenfeld, Jared and Susan Leal. “The Real Cost of Bottled Water,” San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, February 18, 2007.
“Bottled Drinking Water.” WHO Fact Sheet No. 256, October 2000.
“Bottled Water, Pure Drink or Pure Hype.” NRDC, online version of March 1999 report to FDA.
Glennon, Robert. Water Follies. Washington, D. C.: Island Press, 2002.
Tiemann, Mary. CRS Issue Brief for Congress, Safe Drinking Water Act: Implementation and Issues, updated May 3, 2006. Order code IB 10118.
“Water on Tap, What You Need to Know.” EPA 816-K-03-007, www.epa.gov/safewater, October 2003.
“What’s On Tap, Grading Drinking Water in U.S. Cities,” NRDC, June 2003.
Weisman, Alan. The World Without Us. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007, pp. 112-229.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm
www.safe-drinking-water-.org

TMEA is an affiliate of NMEA and many of our members attend the conferences held in July. The next NMEA conference will be held July 21-25, 2008 • Savannah, Georgia. With lectures from world-renowned experts, fieldtrips with the host chapter to the best places, and socials that give you an opportunity to enjoy new and old friends, this NMEA experience is not to be missed! Take the button on the TMEA web page to find out more about the Savannah conference.

NDo you have marine-related news or classroom activities that you are willing to share with other marine educators? Would you like to make comments or suggestions for improving the Dolphin Talk or TMEA? This is a joint effort, let us hear from you!N

Please keep your membership current! Provide the following information and send with appropriate dues money to:

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If the date on your address label is highlighted, it is time to mail in your dues!