what can we do to help?

[squidboymom]

As a family, we are very concerned about the decline of marine ecosystems. Our son wants to know what he can do, at 8yrs. old,to help. I wonder if he could do something with the pictures he draws? Any ideas are welcome!

[cephalopodcast]

As a family, we are very concerned about the decline of marine ecosystems. Our son wants to know what he can do, at 8yrs. old,to help. I wonder if he could do something with the pictures he draws? Any ideas are welcome!

Google around for Zander Srodes. He started his ocean conservation efforts at the age of eleven and his story is quite inspirational.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20060918/NEWS/609180441

[neurobadger]

Make copies and sell the copies somewhere?

[squidboymom]

Thanks for the tips. That article was really neat! I also had a similar thought about him selling copies. I think I might call one of our state parks near the coast and see about any programs or ideas they might have.

[neurobadger]

If you have access to a scanner and know how to retouch it via Photoshop or some other program, do that and keep a copy of the files. You may be able to do a lot with them.

Open a Cafepress or Zazzle store with his drawings on them and donate the proceeds.

[DWhatley]

I am the AdoptACoral Coordinator for The Coral Restoration Foundation (http://www.coralrestoration.org)so I will recommend adopting a line nubbin that will be outplanted on a coral reef next year. :grin:

[squidboymom]

I'm getting ideas now. I think I might be able to set up some kind of event with one of the local restaraunts we sell pork to near the beach. I'll be keeping the coral in mind...any whale or squid foundations anyone can recommend as well?

[mucktopus]

That's great to hear your son wants to help out! The first step is for him to decide on something he loves and wants to protect. From there he can choose from lots of ways to help- remembering that passion and well-informed word of mouth are extremely powerful. For example, even without giving a penny if he wants to protect the oceans a great way to do this is by eating sustainable fisheries products. If he tells others about Seafood Watch then he could help lots of people avoid choices and purchases that harm the environment.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

If your family wants to fundraise, then there are lots of ways to do this (but again homework and speaking about it to spread the word help - IF that's something he wants to do). In one of the places I've worked kids used to paint and sell postcards, and the proceeds went to a village education project. What to support should be in line with what he loves- in general lots of projects needing funding (at all scales) can be found online. In searching these, it helps to see groups that tell you what projects or actions they are involved with and how the money will be used- as well as examples of successful past projects. If you're not finding the information you need to make a decision about whether or not you are interested in their group, then don't hesitate to contact someone from the group to ask questions. Or if you're son isn't able to find the right NGO/non-profit he likes, then consider finding out which professors or grad students may be doing fieldwork to understand those animals- supporting student project is a great way to learn a lot about the oceans with little money. But if you want direct protection and conservation action, then look into a non-profit or NGO.

I don't know of any squid conservation foundations- some populations are protected through fisheries legislation. It would be worth looking into the latest on who's spearheading the work to conserve the Sepia apama in southern Australia. For marine mammals- this group http://www.whaleadoption.org/ seems to have a good variety of ways to help out whale conservation, at many different levels of giving (though I don't know the group myself). The NGO that I work for, Conservation International, has a good website for finding more information about marine conservation (I especially like the everyday solutions in the "discover our solutions" tab).
http://www.conservation.org/act/get_involved/protect_oceans/Pages/save_a_mile.aspx

If you are interested in protecting coral- we work to protect the global center of coral (and reef fish) biodiversity. One of our sites, the amazing Ayau Atoll, is working hard to stop compressor/cyanide fishing for the aquarium and life reef fish trades (which kills coral and lots of other animals): http://www.conservation.org/sites/marine/initiatives/seascapes/birds_head/pages/birdshead.aspx

No matter what your son wants to support- this is wonderful that he's interested in helping out- and his most effective means of doing so is to spread the word and inform others!

[tonmo]

Great thread - stuck & tweeted!

[squidboymom]

Thank you! I'm going to check out all the links you sent. We are also going to talk to the events coordinator for the restaraunt I was thinking about. I think I might also give a list of seafood no-no's to the chef. He's pretty open-minded. Roy wants to try draw pictures, get some framed and maybe auction them off or something similar. It may take into the summer to get it all together, but it'll keep him busy. Does anyone know of ceph or whale field work needing funding? I thought that sounded neat. I've got some research ahead!

[mucktopus]

That's great!!!

Associate Professor Robert J.S. Beeton (http://www.uq.edu.au/uqexperts/profile.php?staff_id=2517) wrote a good report on the conservation status of Sepia apama. He might know the most recent, active ceph conservation projects needing funding.

[squidboymom]

I have been trying to e-mail Prof. Beeton this morning,but it keeps bouncing back. Thank you for the info. I will keep
trying.

trying.

[squidboymom]

Just wanted to thank you all for being so wonderfully generous with all of your suggestions. I'm looking into them all and making lists! One thing I've learned...most people have no idea how much we are affecting marine life.

[cephlapodlover]

That's really cool that at eight years old your son is already interested in helping others (marine life). Also he must have a great mom to go out of her way and help her son on his "project".

Also I browsed your sons pictures and they are really good!

[cephlapodlover]

One thing I've learned...most people have no idea how much we are affecting marine life.

People are very focused on their own lives so they really just don't pay attention to ocean life :hmm: And, a lot of people also really just don't care...

[squidboymom]

Roy tries to tell his school friends about conservation and paying attention to the world around them, but they have no frame of reference. He gets really discouraged sometimes, which is why we want to help him with this project. He'll be so pleased that you like his pictures! He's already informed me that he's going to need lots of paper,pencils and markers.

[neurobadger]

Sounds as if your kid is going through some of the same things I went through as a kid, although conservation was less my thing than the more experimental, theoretical aspects of science.

Perhaps you can find a nature center in your community that has educational programs. I used to volunteer at one as a wee rugrat and there were programs for kids of all ages.

The disappointment is going to happen. Prepare him to encounter more of it as he gets older, if he's in similar shoes to the ones I'm in. This will not only help him conserve his energy, but will also steer him toward those who will be his allies. Help him learn to seek out those who care about similar things.

[Mike Bauer]

Sound like you are doing the right thing already, supporting him. Take him to you local aquarium and they have different kinds of support programs and later when he is older then he can volunteer part time to learn more about what his passion might be; save the whales or help the sea turtles. Good job! so few really care.

[squidboymom]

It's nice to hear stories of other people's youthful struggles. I'm going to let Roy read today's posts when he gets home today. We are making plans this summer to start taking him to are closest state park on the coast. Unfortunately, we don't have an aquarium close by, but I'm sure we ca locate some resources.

[Mike Bauer]

Here is a link to go with his drawings. Looks like he is interested in a arthiteuthis squid.
http://www.google.com/search?q=architeuthis+squid&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=wIm&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsikTaeCC4HcrAH76I2ICw&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1469&bih=732

[Mike Bauer]

I take it he has been watching the Discovery channel lately? The had a show on about giant squids and the Whales that eat them. They caught one of the giants alive for the 1st time ever and showed it on film. They did kill it to get the proof they wanted and show it to the world, maybe that is what he is trying to save?

[squidboymom]

Yep...Architeuthis is pretty much a staple here at our house. Roy's ultimate dream would be to work with Steve O'Shea someday. Right now we're just working on getting through second grade though! I think Roy would rather do "field work" than homework. We have to keep telling him that he has to learn the basics now so that he can do bigger things later on.
Drawing the pictures is one of his ways to study the animals and sort of "get to know" them, I think.

[neurobadger]

I don't know if Steve O'Shea is coming to TONMOCON, but plan on coming to TONMOCON in October! It's in DC this year.

I am hoping at least one dissection happens, and I'm hoping they use a Humboldt squid from Squids4Kids. If nobody else more qualified steps up to do the dissection (because I'm still an undergrad), I will do it myself, since I've cut into seven of these things before. (I think it might also be fun, for those kids and young-at-heart adults, to make a tentacle print or, if there's enough ink, an ink blot.)

Has he expanded his interest to other cephalopods, such as the Giant Pacific Octopus or the common cuttlefish?

[squidboymom]

He is concerned about sea life in general, but I would say that the giant squid is his favorite. He actually ha been drawing them for a while now. It's only been recently that we found the Discovery documentaries. He's very worried about the squid and also the whales...no squid and whales can't eat. I
Actually think our conservation efforts may be leaning towards protecting open-ocean and deep water species. I found two really interesting orgs. this morning...'Global Bioderversity Initiative', and 'High Seas Conservation.org'. Anyone heard of them before?

[squidboymom]

Roy actually does like giant octopus, Humbolt squid and cuttlefish. In fact, he and his little sister have a model of a giant octopus that battle with their
giant squid and sperm whale models! We got them from "Leave Only Bubbles". By the way..TONMOCON us on the calendar. It would be awesome to do some squid dissecting!

[cephlapodlover]

I've never heard of those places. But, now that you've mentioned them I'm forced to look em' up. :tongue:

Wow, that's so cool that you care so much about this topic! *glares at own parents*

[squidboymom]

I think my last replies got lost...sorry! Great pictures, by the way. Archituethis and Mesonychotuethis are frequently sighted fighting undersea battles in our living room!
Roy and his sister also throw in a sperm whale and giant pacific octopus...just to even the odds. He loves all things "ocean", but definitely has a soft spot for the big squid. He's worried about open-ocean bottom trawling as it relates to the squid populations being able to have a safe place for their eggs...no squid leads to bad news for the whales.

[neurobadger]

I have a little piece on Humboldt squid that I entered in a contest at io9.com that you might enjoy reading and condensing down for him. I'll PM it to you.

[squidboymom]

Got your pm, and sent a message back. Guess I should have looked for
this morning's post on page 2.
Too much squid on the brain, I guess. Ha! Anyways, I spent some time researching online this afternoon and spoke to a nice young marine biologist at marinebio.org...it's a great sight...very informative! He gave me some leads to follow on open ocean conservation. Gonna check them out tonight.

[Mike Bauer]

That is a lot to be worried about for a 8 year old. Good that he cares but remind him that the sea and life have a way of working things out and that everything will be ok in the end. God has a way of making things work out!:wink:

[squidboymom]

Very true. We try to remind him of that. He is a worrier,so we try to keep things upbeat. He's convinced that someday the whales and squid will find ways to take back the oceans for themselves.
He has great faith in their abilities!

[neurobadger]

Did you get the paper?

[squidboymom]

Well, I tried, but I must be doing something wrong...I've never used google docs before...I opened an account so I could look at the paper, but I can't seem to pull the paper up. Roy's dad isn't as tech. challenged as I am,so he said he would try to pull it up on his work computer.

[mucktopus]

Actually think our conservation efforts may be leaning towards protecting open-ocean and deep water species. I found two really interesting orgs. this morning...'Global Bioderversity Initiative', and 'High Seas Conservation.org'. Anyone heard of them before?

That's excellent to hear. We need to protect a diversity of marine habitats- including and especially deep sea areas, and in the tropics especially these often get overlooked- but are nonetheless essential to marine connectivity and the future of our oceans. High Seas Conservation doesn't list new projects or successes, so may not be active anymore. I'm not especially familiar with the Global Biodiversity Initiative, but imagine it might be like the Coral Triangle Initiative- a guiding principal and intellectual framework around which funding agencies and governments can prioritize the work the fund/sponsor/take on. It might take some searching to find out who is doing work under this priority. One thing to consider with this is that it likely funds a lot of taxonomy, evolutionary, and population genetics work- absolutely necessary for our understanding of the oceans, but not always (though sometimes) directly applicable to conservation action/management on the ground in the near-term, depending on the area/taxonomic group being studied. For example an understanding of reproductive barriers and gene flow (i.e. population genetics) is essential to protecting some lineages, such as salmon or marine mammals. But not all projects might have this level of applicability. You'd want to decide yourself about the particular project.

For protecting deep-sea/open ocean habitats---The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (http://www.phoenixislands.org/help.html) takes this to heart in ways that few MPAs worldwide can match. One of the largest protected areas in the world, PIPA covers coral reefs, seamounts, and deep-sea pelagic ecosystems in a combination of 'subsistence use' and 'no-take' zones. The New England Aquarium (http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/index.php) is a strong and dedicated conservation partner in the Phoenix Islands, and they are very forward thinking when it comes to protecting deep-sea areas, especially seamounts. Both NEAq and PIPA websites offer up lots of information about active projects with direct management/conservation science outcomes, and other general information about ocean ecosystems.

Also- as someone who sees a fair share of threats to marine ecosystems, it can be easy to get discouraged. But your son should know he's part of a large and growing community of people who care tremendously for the oceans, work very hard to protect them, and are making lots of progress. For example- I just got back from an island that used to be a favorite overnight spot for turtle poachers. It is now strongly protected by community members who patrol the beaches nightly, measuring every female they can- last month alone they recorded 120 turtle nests laid on the island! All 100% protected now.

[Mike Bauer]

I would like to remind everyone the scope of this project is to help an 8 year old boy help save the planet. Draw pics, display artwork, join/start school support groups/clubs. Lets not get to deep here. His drawings are great keep up the good work. Save the squids or the whales, I support both! The key here would be to find other kids his own age with the same interest "ocean life". Lots of movies and videos he can see of other thing that he can be more involved in or maybe take him whale watching, that changed my life.


Mother humpback guarding calf while it eats from a bubblenet.

[mucktopus]

Draw pics, display artwork, join/start school support groups/clubs. Lets not get to deep here.

He is probably a very bright child and seems fairly motivated, so why stop in the shallows? If he has this level of enthusiasm, we may as well help direct him to websites that have good solid information about what interests him. By reading up on the situation that's out there- the biology of the animals, real threats he can do something about (smart seafood choices, not littering, etc), what's being done, etc. he can give people something tangible through his drawings, and feel a sense of community. It's great to show people something beautiful about the world but why not also share with simple, informed, and free ways to protect that beauty?

[squidboymom]

We are wlcoming all suggestions to help with this project. As a mom, my job is to filter out the stuff he can't handle or understand yet. Everyone here ha something different to offer...conservation efforts are multi-faceted..simple and complex. Keep the ideas and information coming...from pictures to websites...it is all good!

[squidboymom]

BTW... Roy love the pictures you guys sent this morning..and the descriptions that went with them. I think I might call the New England Aquarium today. They really are doing some good work.
I spoke to the Marine Biology Conservation Institute earlier this week, and they are going to be one of our organizations for sure. There are some good things going on there.

[Mike Bauer]

Sound like a winner to me! Good luck and make sure to keep it fun and interesting. Please let us know of his progress. When he reaches 12 see if he wants to take beginner scuba classes then his world and you will change for sure. :snorkel:

Have a few more pics:

[squidboymom]

Thank you. Those are great!

[Mike Bauer]

No problem, anything I can do to help. I am glad you like them.

[neurobadger]

According to the Facebook page, Steve O'Shea will be at TONMOCON IV this year.

[squidboymom]

We're putting it on our family calendar. Might be a day trip for us though. Gotta lot here to take care of. Roy will have to bring some pictures.

[squidboymom]

Wanted to give an update on our project. I got a call back from the director of a marine mammal rescue in our area...the MEER institute. We are sending her some of Roy's pictures today, and are going to make plans to visit there soon. She and I talked about Roy maybe drawing some coloring pages for her to give to schoolchildren and maybe a coloring book. I'm also looking into making a calendar to use for fundraising using his pictures. He is really excited! We are also planning to attend a volunteer training next month, so we can volunteer with them. Hoping to learn about our local ceph populations and how they are faring as well...whales gotta eat.:-)

[squidboymom]

Forgot to post the link..www.meerinstitute.org

[DWhatley]

It sounds like Roy is not the only one hooked on cephs :wink:

The link does not seem to work and I can't seem to find a reference to the meerinstitute other than a save the turtle pdf

[squidboymom]

Sorry, I misspelled! Here is the name and the link: MERR institute....www.merrinstitute.org
Hope thi works know.

[squidboymom]

Oh...yeah...I'm a little hooked on cephs now too! They really are fascinating. :-)

[mucktopus]

Very cool!!