Aquarium Audio

"Shark!" The mere word evokes fear in many people! In recent history, shark attack upon humans has been one of the most feared (and most misunderstood) natural dangers to man. In reality, it is the shark that has become the hunted.

In 1997 Captain Charles Moore discovered plastic in the ocean in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Dubbed the Great North Pacific Garbage Patch, this estimated three million tons of plastic debris is still growing in the Northeast Pacific between Hawaii and the West Coast. He spoke at the Aquarium on March 6, 2012.

Painter, photographer, and naturalist J.J. L'Heureux shared her photographs and stories from her eleven years of annual expeditions to Antarctica during her lecture on March 20, 2012.

In his lecture on February 15, 2012, Michael Mann discussed the “Hockey Stick,” a graph he created with his colleagues to depict changes in Earth’s temperature dating back to 1000 AD. Dr. Mann is a member of the Penn State University faculty, holding joint positions in the departments of meteorology and geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute.

In his lecture on April 24, 2012, Dirk Rosen described a typical cruise day and shared film clips showing the launch of a remotely operated vehicle and footage from MPA sites. Rosen is the founder and president of Marine Applied Research and Exploration (MARE). He has more than twenty-five years of design, build, and operations experience with remotely operated vehicles and manned submersibles.

In his lecture on February 7, 2012, Bruce Perry covered the evolution of the Continental Borderland and its effects on the current circulation, wave action, and biology of the Southern California Bight (the Southern California coast running from Point Conception to Mexico). Perry holds a BS and MS in geology, teaches oceanography and geology at local community colleges and universities, and has extensive on-the-job training in physical oceanography.

In his talk with Jeanine Jones on January 25, 2012, Jackson discussed recent scientific discoveries are revealing new information about atmospheric rivers—the concentrated streams of moisture that originate over the Pacific Ocean and cause major winter floods in California. Jackson is the meteorologist in charge for the National Weather Service serving Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

In her talk with Mark Jackson on January 25, 2012, Jones discussed recent scientific discoveries are revealing new information about atmospheric rivers—the concentrated streams of moisture that originate over the Pacific Ocean and cause major winter floods in California. Jones is the interstate resources manager for the California Department of Water Management.

Dr. Ellen Prager presented stories and images about the organisms that inhabit the oceans' depths and how they are connected to our food supply, the economy, jobs, and in biomedical research and biotechnology in her lecture on January 19, 2012.

The Plastic Perils of the Pacific highlights the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean and how it affects the animals that live there. Dissolving Destinies, a 3D animated film, addresses ocean acidification and follows a crab through a coral reef. Strathmann is an assistant professor of animation at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

Crisis management expert Ian Mitroff has co-authored a book with Can Alpaslan addressing what steps we can take to better anticipate and manage crises, such as the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11. Swans, Swine, and Swindlers: Coping with the Growing Threat of Mega-Crises and Mega-Messes explores the concept of messes—webs of complex and dynamically interacting problems—and then provides tools and frameworks to deal with the crises of today and tomorrow. Mitroff is a professor at the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant University in San Francisco.

In her presentation on December 1, 2011, Wendy Williams will teased out fact from fiction based on the findings in her new book, Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. “Kraken” is the traditional name for gigantic sea monsters. The book examines the world’s enthralling cephalopods, including the octopus and the cuttlefish, and explores their otherworldly camouflage and bioluminescent abilities.

Henry Pollack spoke at the Aquarium on November 9, 2011 on the topic of warming in the Arctic. He is an emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan, where he served as chairman of the department of geological sciences and associate dean for research in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He is a science advisor to former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Project and a contributing author to the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report.

Julie Skoglund, who spoke at the Aquarium on August 16, 2011, has worked for International Bird Rescue since 2004. She has been the rehabilitation manager at Bird Rescue’s Los Angeles location for the past four years. After the Gulf oil spill, she designed and built an oiled bird center in Alabama and managed bird care in Louisiana.

Rosit Dagit, who spoke at the Aquarium about the impact of climate change on sensitive species on September 1, 2011, has been a researcher with the non-profit research and education foundation Oceanites and the Antarctic Site Inventory since its inception in 1994 and a senior conservation biologist with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains since 1988.