Aquarius live broadcast, If Reefs Could Talk

Hi everyone

I have been watching the live broadcast from Aquarius, Wow it is an amazing place. Scientists called aquanauts live on the Aquarius habitat for several weeks at a time and they are studying the nearby reef. 

The air in the undersea habitat is at the same pressure as the surrounding ocean so they can live there quite happily.

It is also this air pressure that stops the water coming into the habitat through the moon pool, the entrance for the divers into the surrounding water.

Today is the day for my question. At the beginning of the programme they gave me a shout out and showed a picture of me on the screen behind the person hosting the live broadcast.

The host is reading out my question for the scientist to answer

My question was.

“While I was travelling in the US earlier this year investigating global environmental issues with NOAA I learned about a very scary problem called ocean acidification. Is the reef near "Aquarius" showing any signs of damage from acid oceans”?

Bye for now, Ed

Aquarius undersea laboratory

Hi all


I have been invited to take part in a live broadcast from the Aquarius habitat which is on the seabed 9 miles from the Florida Keys. You will probably member I visited Florida a few times on my travels. I came very close when I was at the NABS Youth Summit earlier this year. We were due to dive near the Aquarius and look in through the window, but sadly it was too stormy so we changed to another safer dive site.

Ken Stewart, who I met at the Youth Summit, is also working with this NOAA project with the National Association of Black Scuba Divers and the Multicultural Education for Resource Issues Threatening Oceans program. African-American schools and Latino public schools will be taking part. In fact all the shows will be broadcast in English and Spanish. It was Ken who invited me to join in with one of the live broadcasts.

During these live broadcasts, schools who are watching can send in questions and have them answered live during the broadcast. Ken has invited me to send in a question too.

Scientists on the Aquarius

On my way to NABS YES

Hi all

Next stop will be the NABS YES at Florida. NABS stands for National Association of Black Scuba Divers and YES is the Youth Education Summit.

I have enjoyed the different sites I have visited here in the US more than words can say (but if you have read my earlier blogs you should at least have some idea). Even so, I have been particularly excited about the chance to visit and take part in the Youth Summit since I first heard about the project earlier in the year.

I am looking forward to meeting Ken Stewart who has been making a short video clip about my adventures. Ken is the Programme Director (and co-founder) of the Tennessee Aquatic Project (TAP).

TAP is a program that helps at risk and inner city youth, aged 8 to 18 year, to connect to diving and the ocean. Even more importantly, TAP provides a complete approach to personal development and support system which I am told will help them change their lives for the better. The ocean is a great way to make this happen as it is a place that is both exciting but also still holds many mysteries and of course we are all connected by the ocean too!

To find out more about the TAP project, follow the link below

http://tennesseeaquaticproject.org/

Ken has been using my adventures to help teach his TAP students about the ocean. Ken and the students have been following my adventures when they meet each Saturday. My visit to the Youth Summit will mean that they will become part of my adventures as well.

I am really proud to have the chance to be involved in this very special project and can’t wait to meet everyone – including the kids who appear in the Ed the Bear video clip Ken has been working on.

Bye for now, Ed