The Ocean Project

We had a guest speaker at the aquarium yesterday from The Ocean Project. The Ocean Project does major market research about the ocean and shares that information with zoos, aquariums, and museums (ZAMs). This allows the ZAMs to use that research to better format their programs to fit audience wants and needs. It was very interesting to listen to the speaker and find out what we need to be focusing our film on. It gave me lots of ideas to share with the students (who were supposed to be in school and unable to attend). One of the biggest issues that stuck out to me was that many people do not understand the connection between the climate and the ocean. There are 7 ocean literacy principles (7 things every person should know about the ocean) and number three is that the ocean and the climate are inextricably connected. Unfortunately we're not getting this across. So I'm struggling now to get an activity or two into my curriculum that helps to drive home this point. I'll be spending lots of time pondering. Any thoughts are appreciated.

The Ocean Project

After surveying more than 22,000 adults they found:

• Conservation is not a top of the mind concern. People are more worried about the economy and national security.
• In a poll of 20 things people are most concerned about, the environment comes in at number 20.
• Climate Change is the elephant in the room and most people don’t connect it to the ocean
• People believe the issue of climate change is overstated
•   People generally think the ocean is in good shape, even during the oil spill
• Kids 12-18 think climate change is the most important concern in the US and are more willing to take action than adults
• People expect aquariums to tell them how to make changes
• Actions are more important than education: if they get involved in the actions they will educate themselves
• We need to focus on solution steps. The public is interested in solutions not problems

It was a very interesting talk and gave me some ideas on what we need to focus on. The great thing is that our audience is exactly who we should be focusing on. Today the students should be meeting with a local diver to talk about lionfish in our area. We've been out of school for a few days due to snow, so we'll see if he's still coming to meet with them. Hope I gave you something to think about today.
Thanks~ Megan

· S