coastline Ocean's Week Web Resources
What's in Your Ocean?

Activities for Farallone View Ocean's Week 2009

Frequently Asked Questions About Our Oceans
Click on a question to find out the answer.

What is Oceans Week at the Elementary Schools?

Oceans Week is a week long inquiry into the interconnecting relationship of the Oceans and humans. While the main emphasis of Oceans Week is the better understanding of the impact between the Oceans and the human population, it is also about empowering our students into becoming future stewards for the protection and conservation of our local coastal community as well.

Oceans Week usually has an overarching theme which is integrated into the 6 grade level strands being taught at each level.
The 6 strands are: Kinder — Sandy Beaches, 1st — Rocky Shores, 2nd — Tide Pools, 3rd — Wetlands, 4th —Kelp Forests, and 5th — Open Oceans.

Not only do the students learn about their specific area of study through hands-on activities, literature, writing, art, music and scientific investigations. they are also exposed to a number of lectures, presentations, and speciality programs specifically tailored to each grade level strand.

Oceans Week is also a time for parents and community members to showcase their own Ocean based passions, activities, jobs, and careers.

Why is the Atlantic Ocean warmer than the Pacific Ocean?

The temperature of the surface waters in the Atlantic Ocean are maintained by the constant flow of sea-surface currents. These currents travel clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The Gulf Stream is the current which brings warm water up from the Equator and flows along the Eastern coast line. The Gulf Stream also redistributes the heat from the Caribbean to the cold North Atlantic.

The current that flows down the West coast line is much colder, because it is traveling from the Arctic Ocean traveling back to the warm waters of the Equator. Upwelling is another important fact as to why the Pacific is colder than the Atlantic. Upwelling refers to cold, nutrient rich water coming to the surface from depths of over 50 meters. It is created by wind blowing across the ocean surface and pulling the surface water with it.

Click the maps for a larger view.

What are the conditions that create Mavericks Giant Waves?

Mavericks is the location for giant waves that occur during certain times of the year. The conditions that must be in place for the giant wave to happen are the weather, the season (meaning the strength of the ocean currents), the marine geography, and the winds. If conditions are right, a nationally famous surf contest happens once a year. For more information visit www.maverickssurf.com

What type of marine mammals are found in our Pacific Ocean?

There are about 50 known species of marine mammals in our Pacific Ocean that include otters, dolphins, seals, seal lions, and whales.Some common marine animals that you may see on the coast are harbor seals, elephant seals, California seal lions, Stellar seal lions, otters, bottlenose dolphins, commons dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Orcas or killer whales, gray whales, Humpback whales, and Blue whales.

OUR BACKYARD

Fritzgerald Marine Reserve. Marine reserve in Moss Beach protects marine plant and animal species. www.fitzgeraldreserve.org Low Tide www.fitzgeraldreserve.org/lowTides.html Common Animals www.fitzgeraldreserve.org/common_animals.jpg

Guide to Coastside plants and habitats. Half Moon Bay (HMB) botanist Toni Corelli put together a guide to local habitats and plants. Every Coastsider wandering our open spaces should print out a copy. Download guide link published in coastsider.com

Elephant Seals at Año Nuevo State Reserve. Thousands of human visitors hike through a colony of elephant seals that give birth and breed on shore each winter. The Reserve is located 28 miles south of HMB. www.parks.ca.gov

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located approximately 100 miles south of HMB. Explore site to learn about ocean life, take a virtual tour, or plan a visit. www.mbayaq.org

Get outside and explore the Bay Area. www.sfgate.com/getoutside/

Marine Mammal Center. Through education the goals are to increase appreciation of marine mammals and inspire action to protect the marine environment. Home page: http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/ Kids only www.marinemammalcenter.org

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a federally protected marine area of central California's coast that includes HMB coast. Visitor information, photos and web cams on web site: http://montereybay.noaa.gov

Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Association organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and habitats of over 1200 sq. miles of open ocean, coastal waters, bays, and estuaries. www.farallones.org San Francisco has one of the nine Visitor Centers. Explore: www.farallones.org/explore/index.php

OCEANS
Ocean Link
Ocean Habitats
Save Our Oceans
Rocky Shores.
Ocean Oasis Field Guide. www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/index.html
SEA Shedd Educational Adventures (SEA). SEA contains a treasure trove of aquatic resources about global oceans for student and teachers. www.sheddaquarium.org
International Ocean Habitats. http://www.panda.org/news_facts/education/middle_school/habitats/oceans/index.cfm
Oceanography emagazine. http://explorations.ucsd.edu/Voyager/Web_Features/

MARINE MAMMALS
Marine Mammals Project
Pacific White-sided Dolphins. Shedd Aquarium Resource: www.sheddaquarium.org/whitesided_dolphins.html
Harbor Seals
Guide Marine Mammals. Common marine mammals of southern CA. www.msc.ucla.edu/oceanglobe/pdf/marine_mammal_guide.pdf
Friends of the Elephant Seals is an organization that support the seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, on the California coast, north of the entrance to the Hearst Castle. www.elephantseal.org
Gray Whale Migration. http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/whales.html
Sean Otters & Kelp Forests
Friends of the Sea Otter
Kelp Forest
Ottery Recovery Vancouver Island http://oceanlink.island.net/seaotterstewardship/index.html
Dive Into the Kelp Forest
Otters. Shedd Aquarium Resource: www.sheddaquarium.org/seaotters.html

OCEAN SPECIES

Fish and Wildlife Services. The mission of this organization is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. www.fws.gov

Giant Pacific Octopus. Shedd Aquarium Resource: www.sheddaquarium.org/giant_pacific_octopus.html

Sea Stars. You may call them starfish, but don’t let the name fool you. Shedd Aquarium Resource: www.sheddaquarium.org/seastars.html

The Shark Foundation is committed to the protection and research of sharks.
FAQs www.shark.ch/Foundation

CLIMATE

San Mateo Coastal Climate www.californiagenealogy.org/sanmateo/climate.htm

Coastal Beach Weather Conditions. www.findlocalweather.com/pinpoint/us/ca/san+mateo+coast+state+beaches/current16210.html

Weather station at Cunha School in HMB. www.aws.com/wx.asp?id=CMSSM

Voyager - Earthquakes. http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/Education/Learning_Resources/Voyager_for_Kids/earthquake/

Voyager - Tsunamis. http://explorations.ucsd.edu/Voyager/Web_Features/2007/Apr/Tsunami/

Currents: Water on the Move. http://explorations.ucsd.edu/Voyager/Web_Features/2007/Mar/Currents/

BIRDS
National Audubon Society. Learn more about Audubon’s bird conservation work. www.audubon.org
Sandhill Crane Tours. www.dfg.ca.gov/regions/3/cranetour/
Local coastal birds
Uplands: Anna’s Hummingbird Barn Owl Barn Swallow Black Phoebe Brown Towhee Cliff Swallow Loggerhead Shrike Northern Harrier Redtail Hawk Red Wing Blackbird Song Sparrow Turkey Vulture Meadow Lark Peregrine Falcon * *endangered	Marsh, Slough and Mudflats: American Coot Black Shouldered Kite California Least Tern * Cinnamon Teal California Clapper Rail * Dowitcher Great Blue Heron Great Egret Forster’s Tern Long billed Curlew Marbled Godwit Marsh Wren Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Snowy Egret Pied-billed Grebe Western Sandpiper Willet	Salt Ponds: American Avocet Black necked Stilt California Gull Dowither Pied-billed Grebe Ring billed Duck Ruddy Duck Snowy Plover * Western Sandpiper Willet Open Bay: California Gull Canvasback Double-crested Cormorant Brown Pelican * White Pelican

COASTAL HISTORY

Spanishtown Historical Society— Half Moon Bay History www.spanishtownhs.org/about_shs.php

Half Moon Bay History www.visithalfmoonbay.org/history-culture-pk.html

Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center – Coastside History
www.halfmoonbaychamber.org/community_info/coastside_history.html

Lighthouses of CA. www.rudyalicelighthouse.net

Pigeon Point Lighthouse. www.lighthousefriends.com

Jan. 2009