2014

Welcome to the New Year everyone!  We are looking forward to another great year of marine education, awareness, and outreach.  Just last Wednesday we had our first school group for 2014.  Hahaione Elementary School along with volunteers Mike, Larry, Chris, and Mary came out for an extraordinary Expedition to Moku o Lo'e.  The program was a buzz of eager and engaged young people, excited to identify their catch of plankton and to dig into the gorilla ogo in search of invertebrates.  During the invertebrate identification lab, one of the students found what I presume to be a Smoky Nudibranch (Dendrodoris fumata).

Smoky Nudibranch (Dendrodoris fumata). Image by L. Weaver

We even found a live Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia utriculus) in the old saltwater swimming pool.

Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia utriculus). Image by L. Weaver

On the boat ride back to He'eia Pier, Larry continued his tradition of Q&A, rewarding correct answers with pocket-sized prizes.  Hahaione Elementary School's visit was a fantastic start to a new year, and hopefully all our programs throughout 2014 will be just as successful.

Thank you all for your contributions and helping make the Community Education Program a success.

-Leon