WORK EXPEREINCE AT DPI QUEENSCLIFF

MDC Volunteer Lauren.D. reports on her work placement at DPI Queencliff...

As part of my university studies at Deakin University the unit Professional Practice requires the completion of 80hrs of work experience. I decided to undertake this placement at Queenscliff’s Department of Primary Industries in the Aquaculture department as I am very interested in this industry. Also, I was familiar with the area, projects and staff due to volunteering at the Marine Discovery Centre. This gave me a foot in the door to secure a work experience placement.

Oysters in general anthesitic to relax the mussel
allowing extraction of the larvae by gently
squirting water inside tehe shell

So far I am loving placement. I have gained huge amounts of industry knowledge and have met many interesting people. Two projects that I have participated in include the abalone offshore trials and the oyster hatchery.  Last Wednesday we induced spawning in the oysters. This was achieved by anaesthetising the oysters to extract larvae. In the end we obtained around 11 million larvae. It was amazing to be a part of and very interesting! I have also learnt huge amounts on the very successful mussel hatchery. I would definitely recommend the aquaculture department to others wishing to take part in placement – it’s awesome!

Larvae caught in the grading seives,
the larve is the black - gray material

Once the larvae had been graded we placed them
into these tanks according to there developmental
stage and began feeding algae

SUCKING SLURPING SEAHORSES

Seahorse feeding time with Georgie & Tess....

Seahorses are named for their equine profile. Although they are bony fish, they do not have scales, but rather a thin skin stretched over a series of bony plates arranged in rings throughout their body. Each species has a distinct number of rings.

Seahorses are ambush predators, feeding primarily on crustaceans, mostly shrimp. At the MDC the seahorses are fed a variety of foods: live amphiods, plankton but mostly brine shrimp.

 

Brine shrimp (aka sea monkey's)

hard to see in an aerated tank 

Tap tap tap, this is how we get the
cheeky little shrimp out of the net



They swim very poorly by using a dorsal fin, which they rapidly flutter and pectoral fins, located behind their eyes, which they use to steer. Seahorses have no caudal fin. Since they are poor swimmers, they are most likely to be found resting, with their prehensile tails wound around a stationary object.

 

One sweet seahorse waiting patiently
for its food. Clinging to the seaweed
with its prehensile tail - a tail adapted
to grasp and/or hold objects.

They have long straw like snouts, which they use to suck up food, and eyes that can move independently of each other, much like a chameleon.

 

Slurping up a little shrimp like
we would slurp up a tasty milkshake

Georgie & Tess love seahorses xx

Clay-mation!

Today marked the beginning of a new technological revolution for arts and crafts at the Marine Discovery Centre with iPads being used for the first time!

On a busy Friday at the MDC, the kids came in droves to see not only the variety of marine wildlife on display but also to participate in the arts and crafts activities, including regular craftwork and then our new addition to the school holiday schedule - dubbed "Clay-mation."

Children were first given some brief instructions on how to use the new technology and were then paired up to create some awesome homemade marine based cinema using just plasticine and the iPads. Essentially, all it requires is the free app loaded onto the iPads, some coloured paper and tape to make a marine background stuck to the wall, and then some imagination and some clay to use it with!

The kids had a blast and soon we had some great videos to show for our newfound technology!





Luisa, Jordan and Ted with their Clay-mation plasticine models!



Each pair came up with their own individual motion capture story to tell and we had some great ideas including a surfing story, a beach scene, and even an Inter-tidal zone theme!



An Inter-tidal Zone movie in the making!



Surf's Up!

 



The kids hard at work directing their fishing video!





All in all, the new activity proved to be a big hit with the kids and is sure to be in the future as we continue to improve on our arts and crafts department for kids these holidays! Go MDC!

Videos of the children's creative motion capture stories are available for viewing at www.youtube.com/seaclaymation

Thanks Tim for your assisstance and great report. Today not only marked the beginning of iPads and clay-mation at the MDC but it was also Tim's first day as an MDC volunteer. What a blast! 

Tuesdays with Peter.P

Long standing volunteer Peter.P tells us a bit about what he does during his volunteer time every Tuesday at the MDC...

I have been a senior volunteer at the Marine Discover Centre every Tuesday for the past 6 years. I began as an interpretive volunteer and eventually took on other responsibilities.

My daily duties consist of:

- Cleaning and tidying the Preparation Room.

- Compiling & maintaining an inventory of preparation supplies.

- Laboratory equipment maintenance.

- Ensuring that their are enough habitat series poster packs made up & beach combing poster rolled for all the school groups and other visitors to the MDC each week.

- I also compile a monthly newsletter for the Marine Discovery Centre. This contains some interesting articles I put together on local ecological and environmental issues. I also suggest ways in which we can mitigate pollution within our marine and freshwater habitats. These aquatic habitats support rich plant communities and incredible marine life.

- Whilst I do all these tasks with great pleasure my real passion remains for being an interpretive volunteer. Here I get to share my knowledge on Victoria's marine environment with MDC visitors. I usually talk about the importance of aquatic communities, the various aquatic habitats and how we should car for them. I discuss effective natural resource management with a focus on the effects of pollutants on fish populations.

I thoroughly enjoy my time as a volunteer at the MDC. All the staff and volunteers are really friendly, knowledgeable and share a passion for our marine environment. I find every volunteer day so interesting and valuable. The MDC is such an excellent centre for students and the general public to learn about Victoria's aquatic environments with a diverse array of habitats close by and the magnificent Swan Bay on its doorstep.  I look forward to continuing my role as an MDC volunteer for years to come.

Thanks Peter, you're a great help! We'll be sure to say g'day if we are ever in on a Tuesday!

There's something about Amy

Remember Amy? She worked as an Education Officer and Volunteer/Work Experience Coordinator for the MDC from November 2006 to February 2009 – after starting out as a grade 10 work experience student and subsequent volunteer for numerous years. Where in the world is she now? Just a week after finishing her contract with the MDC in Feb 2009, Amy was on a plane to move to Vancouver to start a new life with her long-distance boyfriend Darren and to continue her work in Marine Education... ahhh... the things we do for love...

AMY'S SNAPSHOT SINCE LEAVING THE MDC:

March - May 2009

Educator: 'Gently Down the Seymour'

Seymour Salmon Hatchery, BC,Canada 

 

From beach walks in the Australian summer to freezing cold days in many, many layers of warm clothing conducting education programs with primary school students that came to the hatchery (which was covered in 3 feet of snow!) to learn about Pacific Salmon life cycles, stream habitat surveys, forest ecology and freshwater invertebrate collection and identification.

 

May - September 2009

Interpreter

Vancouver Aquarium, BC, Canada

Working with the Interpretive Delivery Department at Vancouver Aquarium (not interpreting language, but rather the animals, their life history traits and conservation issues) this was Amy’s first experience conducting “shows” on microphone – from Beluga whales to hissing cockroaches!

 

September 2009 - present

Curriculum Programs Coordinator

Vancouver Aquarium, BC, Canada

Back in her element: the core of this role involves coordinating the Aquarium’s school programs and the volunteer educators who conduct the programs – Amy facilitates the field trips and leads the class’ education program, but the volunteers are the ones who do the bulk of the teaching for students in small groups of 5-8. The Aquarium offers over 20 different school programs each year from preschool to grade 12, with 150 volunteers to assist! Over the past 2 years Amy has focussed her niche within her team of 4 coordinators to proffessional development workshops and resources for teachers, supervising & mentoring student teachers, evaluation methods, customised education programs and improving marketting and communication methods internally and externally.

 

“I miss my MDC co-workers and volunteers… not to mention snorkelling and exploring sandy beaches! Hope to be back on Aussie soil in the near future! Thinking of you all and hoping you’re happy and well.” - Amy

Thanks Amy, we miss you too and enjoy hearing your lovely voice recording every time we call up the MDC office!

It's Science Week!

Three super sweet & friendly vols, Elly, Kirsten & Laura (aka the three musselteers), report on their time lending a hand at the MDC trailer during Living Science...

On Sunday the 14^th of August the MDC participated in the first 2011 national science week event Living Science at the Queen Victoria Market. The event was all about exploring the science of food. There were plenty of activities for everybody to enjoy!



The focus of the MDC stand was the Mussel industry and how DPI are working to improve mussel farms in Port Phillip Bay. Samad is a researcher at DPI working on mussel farming and told us all about the interesting research he is working on to improve mussel stocks. The MDC trailer had lots of information and resources available about sustainable fishing, Port Philip Bay and of course the touch tank, which everyone loved.



We met Tubby the Robot, who provided lots of entertainment for the children...as well as us.




He even came with his own robot fish!

 

CSIRO had a demonstration on how to make your own sherbet, which tasted just like Wizz Fizz. All you need is: 1 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking powder), 1 teaspoon of citric acid and 6 teaspoons of icing sugar. Sift all the ingredients together and you have your very own sherbet. Pop it into your very own marine decorated paper bag to make the experience even better!



Here we are filling out some surveys about our Science Week experiences, we of course rated it very highly.

We got lollies to reward our efforts...

...and even a free pen!

Melbourne Uni had a really cool demonstration about the science of making chocolate. We didn’t realise there were so many steps involved in making chocolate. Roasted cocoa beans are very bitter and we much preferred tasting the final product.

We all had a great day at the market and learnt lots. We hope everyone who visited our stall, had a great experience and learnt all about the mussel industry, once they realised we weren’t actually selling mussels. Many people asked us if the mussel ropes on display were for sale. They weren’t!

 Yumo! Thanks ladies!

Whale watching in Port Philip Bay

Many of you will know Alan and Mary long-time volunteers and now occasional staff. A truly dynamic duo, Alan an underwater cinematographer extraordinaire and Mary a world renowned prestigious underwater photographer, wowzza!

Alan and Mary some how have an incredible knack of attracting envious and magic marine experiences. Some call them whale callers, some think they are really marine animals pretending to be humans, others think they are humans pretending to be marine animals… but here at the MDC we call them just damn lucky!

 

Over the last three weeks when the sun was shinning and the whales were calling, Alan and Mary headed out on their boat to scout Port Philip Bay for some of their marine mammal friends.

Low and behold each of the three weekends they went out they came across glorious Humpbacks off the Mornington Peninsular. Last Saturday they came across four males and one female off Mount Martha!

 

It appears that for the first time recorded in the bay these massive marine mammals are mating! Alan and Mary observed some battle wounds on the males who are busy fighting each other over the lone female. It appears that the barnacles present on their bodies are cutting into their skin as they push, shove and hit each other. Alan and Mary have been logging their observations with the Dolphin Research Institute and ensuring that their humpbacked friend don’t stray into the bays shipping channel, ensuring no large container ships cause any unnecessary harm.  

 

To view more of Mary’s photos visit her Marine Life Image Library. You may have already seen some of her photos in the media. Some of her pics of her humpbacked friends have recently featured in the Herald Sun.  

Alan and Mary truly are lucky ducks!