Imagine this, you're a fishing guide in Florida. You have a job that you love. You spend your days taking tourists a few miles off the coast for some of the best fishing experiences of their lives. Life has been good. But what would happen to your livelihood if the waters you fished became polluted? What if invasive species came and wreaked havoc on the natural wildlife population? Your career and the financial well-being of your family is based on the health and safety of your local marine ecosystem. This is just one way that National Marine Sanctuaries benefit local economies!
It is estimated that around $8 billion is generated each year in coastal and ocean dependent economies, where National Marine Sanctuaries are located. Industries like sustainable tourism and responsible recreation benefit from the healthy ecosystem that a national marine sanctuary provides.
When it comes to these ocean parks, there are many different ways that they can benefit a local economy both directly and indirectly. Tourism is one of the largest contributors. Millions of visitors come to these beaches, go diving and snorkeling, surf the waves, book fishing charters and visit local museums and restaurants when in the area. Of course, this is all dependent on a healthy National Marine Sanctuary that's worthy of a trip.
Another, less obvious way, that these marine treasures boost community moral by increasing the quality of life for people living in the surrounding homes and neighborhoods. Clean beaches and abundant wildlife in the area lead to a more desirable living situation for people that appreciate being in the outdoors.
It's safe to say that National Marine Sanctuaries create economic benefits that make them a desirable designation for each and every community that they are apart of. Watch the video that highlights a few people who've based their livelihoods on the health and benefits of their local National Marine Sanctuary. For more information and resources related to National Marine Sanctuaries and Monuments, head to Sanctuaries.NOAA.gov and marinesanctuary.org!
Protecting our waters is extremely important for the well-being of the ocean, the marine life that lives there and all of us. Cleaner coastlines and oceans mean we can continue to enjoy our beaches for swimming, fishing and recreation. That's a big win for everyone! So what can you do to help? You can start at home, or at school, just like the kids in the video did!
Reduce the amount of garbage you make. The less garbage we have on land, inevitably means less garbage ends up in the ocean. You can reduce your garbage footprint by recycling and using recycled materials. Cut down on single-use plastics, use a reusable water bottle, canvas grocery bags, skip the disposable forks and spoons and choose paper over plastic when given the option. It doesn't take much effort to make a big dent in the amount of trash you're sending to the landfill. Buy items that come in less packaging. Have you ever purchased something that comes inside a bag inside a box inside a clamshell plastic case wrapped in shrinkwrap? Choosing to buy items free from unnecessary packaging is an effective way to cut down on waste. Also, your support of companies that package items responsibly could encourage other companies to follow suit. Buy or borrow used items when possible. Humans in general should really think twice about buying so many things. Do we really need them? What if the item you're planning on buying could just be borrowed from a neighbor instead? Or challenge your school to have a "Zero Waste Week" and join hundreds of schools around the country working to reduce waste.
You can help take care of a local stream! Garbage that finds its way into a local stream or river will very likely end up in a larger body of water. Taking care of streams and rivers can include picking up waste, removing invasive species of plants and/or planting trees and other plants native to the area. Getting together with a group to work on a project like this can be fun, and can make a big difference for your community and the marine ecosystems even if you don't live near the ocean. Many schools have environmental clubs and you can even become an Ocean Guardian School too!
Make a difference at a beach near you! Even if you're just visiting for a nice day by the water. Pick up trash others have left behind. Be sure to take all of your trash with you when you leave as well! Also, look online for local efforts to clean-up a local waterway. There may already be a group in your area taking care of the local shoreline. If not, what's stopping you from starting your own?
Change doesn't happen overnight. These things take time. But with small steps, big changes can be made in our environment and in our marine ecosystems. This video highlights some small communities that have made great strides in marine conservation and rehabilitation. Talking to your teacher or members of your community is a great way to start to see if they can help with ideas for your school. For more information and resources related to marine conservation, and National Marine Sanctuaries and Monuments, head to Sanctuaries.NOAA.gov and marinesanctuary.org!
Watersports are an awesome way to have fun on the water! But before you dive in, it's important to know some basic safety guidelines and rules. When it comes to wakeboarding, this means knowing hand signals to communicate with the people on the boat, and of course - PFDs!
Did you know that sturgeon have been around since the age of dinosaurs? No kidding - That’s a 150 million years! Discover this and more by watching the four parts of this science show and reading the information below. And to take this learning adventure into your classroom, have your teacher download the free Companion Discussion Guide at the bottom of this page so everyone can share in the fun of this inquiry based learning.
That makes sturgeon one of the rare remaining "living fossils" that still survive on Planet Earth. These huge fish are native to the Great Lakes region and had extensive and large populations in pre-settlement times. However, as settlement took place, people removed more fish than what the population could sustain because they are such a vulnerable fish species that take decades to reach maturity - plus they don’t spawn every year. In the late 1800s, dam construction on the Wolf River prevented the sturgeon from returning back to Menominee Tribal lands. That impacted both the fish and their cultural importance to the Menominee people. To help both the fish and preserve the cultural importance of the sturgeon to the Menominee Tribe, the Wisconsin DNR, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin have collaborated in a cooperative project to restore sturgeon to the upper Wolf River. This Into the Outdoors program and the related Serious Science videos and lesson guides explore the fascinating world of these living fossils and their relationship with us humans.
The four (4) parts to this Sturgeon Conservation episode of Into the Outdoors combined with the Classroom Discussion Guide below, will pack your brain with more fish science than a sturgeon has eggs! Well, almost. Share with your class. Everything here is free, fun and so interesting that you may want to become a scientist!
Plus, the educational partner noted below supported the video and companion lesson content here for all of us to learn from. They also offer other learning opportunities on their website. So click on their logo to discover more!
As you watch all four videos in this series on forming your high school bass fishing club, you might consider taking notes on all the things you learn about catching bass, aquatic biology, different aquatic ecosystems, electronics and relationships. And if you think that this starter list is impressive, just wait until you begin team fishing with your friends in either friendly competition or in real bass tournaments.
In this final segment, we'll explore some of those things you'll learn, then offer some advice on what to expect when your team actually enters a fishing tournament in the LEARN MORE section below.
If you can identify several physical differences between largemouth and smallmouth bass by watching our handful of classroom videos here, just imagine all you'll learn about bass as you continue to lean from fishing, catching and sharing your adventures with your club and other teams. And if you think about it, belonging to your bass fishing club will expand your knowledge of:
You can probably add a bunch more to this list of what you'll learn in your bass club. But the bottom line is that over time your bass fishing club can help you mature into a "professor of bass-ology" while building relationships that can last a lifetime.
To learn some tips on how you and your team can fish in bass tournaments, explore the LEARN MORE section below.
For all kinds of other helpful information and resources on how kids can learn where-to and how-to go fishing, explore our companion KidsFishing.US website. To discover more about becoming a future angler, visit our educational partners that helped make this video, webpage and lesson possible by clicking on their logos below.
And if you decide to fish, you really need to get serious about being a safe angler. So take the complete online boating and water safety course using the link below.
Official Boater Safety Courses
and Boat Safety Education Materials
Discover the challenges scientists face when attempting to reconnect rivers that have been dammed for 100 years.
Because most people can’t see them, doesn’t mean that they’re not ruthless killers swimming beneath the waters of our Great Lakes…
It’s hard to believe that an invasive species, a prehistoric throwback that’s been around for 340 million years with over 100 hooked teeth and a thirst for blood could nearly destroy the biggest freshwater fishery in North America.
It not only could happen, it did happen. To discover how this “predator in paradise” invaded the Great Lakes and why it’s so deadly to fish, watch this video and share the classroom lesson activity with your teacher.
Your idea of an invasive species will never be the same again!
Maybe it's only natural that us humans rarely think about how our actions today might impact others or the environment 100 years later. That was especially true back in the late 1800s when a fledgling America roared into the 20th Century. We needed lumber, electricity, transportation, and fossil fuels to feed the growth spurt of our young nation.
So we built dams. Lots of dams on lots of rivers, both big and small. We built some to last for centuries, others just using dirt and wood. They generated electricity, created backwaters, and we used the power (weight) of elevated water to drive grain and lumber mills (thus the word "mill pond" - a reservoir of water behind a dam that's used for driving a mill-
Despite all the dam-good intentions, (mostly to make someone money), over time the dams grew older, backwaters filled with silt, they became idle and failed to generate enough power to bake a pizza or grind a loaf of bread. One solution was to simply walk away and let some later generation deal with it. Besides, what harm would it do just leaving it alone?
Sadly, the fact is, nothing lasts forever. And communities began discovering two things about old dams: 1) old dams can become hazardous and fail, endangering property and lives downstream, 2) old dams prevent aquatic and related ecosystems from functioning as they had evolved to do over millennium. In short, dams created a stagnated ecosystem that restricted healthy movement of nutrients and species within a watershed. Not cool!
Well then, let's just blow those old dams and make the world right again! Ooops not so fast, partner. While all the dam building was going on, something else happened as us humans also built new waterways to "help" our expanding society. And in some places, such at the Great Lakes region, we unwittingly allowed invaders to enter those huge ecosystems with devastating results. Watch the video here and read the Learn More section below to get the bigger picture of this invasive species story and its impact on our Great Lakes. To wade into the latest information and research on our Great Lakes and invaders, explore the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's website.
But if you really want to explore the world of invasive species, and wrestle with the challenges of reconnecting rivers around the Great Lakes, have your teacher and classroom download the free lesson activities below and watch the Sea Lamprey and Connectivity Conundrum classroom videos here (thumbnails in the upper right) so you can share in the peer-driven learning about the "de-evolution" of our Great Lakes and how scientists try to restore ecosystems while controlling invasive species.
Plastics never go away. Think about that. Every water bottle, every plastic bag, every clamshell container you use, in one way or another, is here forever. Sure, they may not always look the way they do now, but the reality is that they break down into smaller and smaller pieces and in many cases, end up in the ocean. How does that happen? All marine debris comes from people, it can enter the ocean and waterways from land through littering, poor waste management practices, storm water discharge, and extreme natural events such as tsunamis and hurricanes. Debris can also come from ocean-based sources, such as fishing vessels, stationary platforms used for offshore oil and gas, cargo ships, and other large vessels.
Plastics in our oceans and water ways play a huge role in disrupting our fragile marine ecosystems, and it's not just fish that are affected. It's estimated that plastic waste kills up to 100,000 sea mammals and over one million seabirds each year. In fact, for a baby sea turtle, ingesting just half of a gram of plastic can prove deadly.
Fortunately, there are many organizations that focus directly on reducing and reusing ocean plastics in innovative and imaginative ways. In the video on this page, you'll be introduced to one of those groups, The Million Waves Project, which was founded based on a simple question: "What if doing something was better than doing nothing?" It's ideas like that, and motivated eco-minded individuals that have the potential to change the world for the better. So watch the video, hopefully it inspires you to think outside of the box, and possibly spark the idea in you that changes the world in ways not yet imagined.
For more information and resources related to the harm that plastic plays on our marine ecosystems and information about our National Marine Sanctuaries and Monuments, head to Sanctuaries.NOAA.gov and marinesanctuary.org!
Imagine this. You and your family are getting ready for a perfect day of fishing, you've looked forward to it all week, only to sit out on the boat watching the day go by without a single bite. “Where did we go wrong?” you ask yourself. You're not alone, this happens to countless anglers every year. But fear not, the answer, more often than not, lies in how the weather affects fishing. And today, you’re going to learn some basics every angler should know about how fish react in all kinds of weather.
Fish are just like people in that they prefer certain kinds of weather over others. Some fish don't like the rain and will go deeper underwater. Other fish love a good downpour. When it rains, insects get knocked into the water, so these fish will stay close to the surface looking for a meal.
Fish like largemouth bass will come closer to shore on windy days. This is because small panfish like bluegill and sunfish will be pushed toward the bank with the wind, or will follow insects that are blown to the bank. The bass eats those small fish so naturally follow along.
Contrary to popular belief, a nice sunny day is not always the best day for fishing. When it's too hot, fish can become lethargic. To beat the heat, fish usually go deeper into cooler waters. This is one of the reasons why people tend to fish early in the morning or early in the evening during the summer when the temperatures are a little cooler. Fish will bite more during a cold front, as that front displaces the heat they were attempting to avoid.
There are many weather factors that play into a successful day of fishing. In this video, our expert angler goes through some of those factors as our Into The Outdoors crew attempts to catch the big one.
As you’ll discover in our video library of Getting Families Fishing episodes and the related educational topic videos, fishing, and boating are fantastic ways to spend time with family, learn about conservation, enjoy the outdoors, AND learn about aquatic science and yourself.
So take a moment and explore the dozens of videos on fishing and aquatic science here. The custom learning videos you'll find there are designed to share with your entire classroom. You’ll also find other educational content, including custom lesson activities that blend peer-driven learning and hands-on activities. Now go learn to catch fish!
And for even more information and resources related to fishing and boating, head to TakeMeFishing.org and DiscoverBoating.com. To learn more about America's Getting Families Fishing Initiative, head to the Future Angler Foundation.
