Environmental Education Week Ends (but EE lives on)!

To commemorate the end of Environmental Education Week and to usher in Earth Week, the Living Planet Aquarium courteously provided some great ocean facts (and we decided to add some extra fun). As you are aware, EE Week focused upon oceans and our relationship to them, so, enjoy these exciting tidbits of which you might not have been previously aware. Thanks TLPA!

• Did you know that a tsunami is a usually caused by an earthquake, volcanic eruption or coastal landslide and is a large ocean wave that can travel at speeds up to 600 mi/hr?! Most tsunamis happen in the Pacific Ocean, but can occur in any body of water.Here's a somewhat sensationalistic, but powerful video from CBS News showing some of the effects of the recent Tsunami that swept into North-East Japan.

• Did you know that scientists are now looking to our oceans to help solve the problems of climate change? For instance, windmill blades are now being manufactured to mimic the fins of humpback whales in order to increase efficiency.

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• Did you know that if you like fishing you could turn it into a career by becoming a fishery scientist? Fishery scientists do things like tag sharks and monitor their movements. They also help come up with alternative methods for harvesting seafood and monitor fish populations.

Here's the Fisheries Science Wikipedia Page

• Did you know that about 25% of the creatures in the ocean live in coral reefs? There are 5,000+ species of fish alone living in coral reefs! Scientists consider coral reefs to be the “rainforests of the ocean.”

Even as Rainforests dramatically shrink, Coral Reefs are supposedly disappearing about four times faster.

• Did you know that most of the water that Utah receives as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet and hail) originally comes from the Pacific Ocean? That means that your water could have been the same water a Great White Shark swam through!

The precipitation from the Pacific arrives on one of the two northern Jet Streams. The trajectory is further determined and complicated by the tilt of the earth's axis, rotation, ocean currents, etc. Utah gets much of its water from the Gulf of California.

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