Nature

Monthly Archive: December Natu

From Poop to Plankton: Working Together to Conserve our Ocean’s Gardeners

Posted: November 6, 2017 - 16:41 , by ROM
Asha de Vos, P.h.D. holds two bottles of freshly collected blue whale poop off the coast of Sri Lanka. Photo Credit: Oceanswell

Guest blog written by Environmental Visual Communication student Meghan Callon

From the ROM’s recent “Out of the Depths” Blue Whale Exhibition to the upcoming Canada’s Oceans: Towards 2020 Symposium, the ROM has had a big focus on our oceans this year. In fact, there have been many eyes on Canada’s oceans recently. The Society for Marine Mammalogy Conference was held in Halifax, NS, just two weeks ago, bringing together some of the greatest ocean thinkers from around the world. There, Dr. Asha de Vos gave a keynote speech describing her journey to understanding how blue whales act as our ocean’s gardeners. Check out this blog to learn more about the incredible story of blue whale poop and the researcher who studies it!

True Blue Detectives

Posted: September 4, 2017 - 12:22 , by ROM
ROM technician Oliver Haddrath extracting a DNA sample from blue whale tissue. Photo by Connor McDowell

Guest blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Connor McDowell

The Royal Ontario Museum has marked yet another first for science with the Blue Whale Project. This achievement could hold keys to the conservation of this majestic, endangered mammal – not to mention a deeper understanding of the unique evolutionary history of the largest living animal on Earth. The beginning of this story starts two thousand kilometers away, on the shores of Newfoundland, Canada with something so small that you can't see it with the naked eye.

Smudging Blue: Honouring the Spirit of Our Whale

Posted: August 17, 2017 - 13:20 , by ROM
Kim Wheatley drums and sings an Anishnaabe blessing to the skeleton of the blue whale. Photo by Rachel Brown

Guest blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Rachel Brown

Kim Wheatley is an Anishinaabe mother and grandmother of the Shawanaga First Nation. Read this blog to hear the story of how EVC student Rachel Brown met Kim at the ROM, where she offered a traditional prayer and blessing for the bones and heart of ‘Blue,’ the whale - the star of Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story.

Our Future is Deep in the Ocean

Posted: August 15, 2017 - 13:36 , by ROM
蓝鲸展馆的由来。| Entrance to the Blue Whale Exhibition. 照片由吴昊康 | Photo by Shawn Wu

Guest blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Shawn Wu 

Written in Mandarin, this is a story about the Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story exhibition and the powerful role these magnificent creatures play in our oceans.  

Singing the Blues: The Mystery of B105

Posted: August 9, 2017 - 14:23 , by ROM
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A blue whale diving into the Gulf of St Lawrence off the coast of Gaspé. Photo by René Roy

Guest blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Viridiana Jimenez

The ocean’s largest and most iconic animal, the blue whale, can produce sounds that cross entire oceans and can be heard from one end of the planet to the other. With humans’ increased presence in the oceans, how are these charismatic giants affected by—and adapting to—our noisy activities? In this blog we follow the story of a single whale, B105 “Invasor”, and muse on how it may have changed its ways to contend with our cacophony.

The Woman Behind the Biggest Heart in the World

Posted: August 2, 2017 - 19:12 , by ROM
ROM Mammalogy technician Jacqueline Miller with sword in hand in a fencing match - always up for a challenge. Photo credit Jacqueline Miller

Guest Blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Fenella Hood

Knife in hand and knee-deep in rotting blubber, Jacqueline Miller is about to do something that has never been done before: carve out a blue whale's heart for preservation. Enveloped in its stench and racing against decay, she cuts deep into the tissue beneath, sure in her knowledge of anatomy but ever wondering: Will this even work? Read on to learn more about one of the team members behind the world's biggest heart in this blog by EVC student Fennella Hood.

A Superior BioBlitz

Posted: July 27, 2017 - 15:46 , by ROM
The insect team travels with nets in hand on a chilly morning towards the dock. Photo by Adil Darvesh

Guest blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Adil Darvesh

Most BioBlitzes tend to span a 24-hour period, but this was no typical BioBlitz. Read on to see what made the Big Trout Bay BioBlitz on the North shore of Lake Superior different!

The Journey of the Lost Water Bottle

Posted: July 18, 2017 - 19:03 , by ROM
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A photo of the skyline where a plastic water bottle stands next to Toronto’s CN Tower. Photo credit: Cristina Bergman

Guest blog written by 2017 Environmental Visual Communication student Cristina Bergman

I will travel the ocean for hundreds of years. I will see more wildlife and more extinction in my lifetime than any human that has ever walked the earth. I fit in your hand, but can be more powerful than a blue whale. I am a plastic water bottle and this is my story.

Habitat the Game Update for #Bioblitz150

Posted: June 21, 2017 - 14:19 , by ROM
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A cartoon image of a Blanding's turtle

ROM Biodiversity is excited to announce an update to its content on Habitat the Game, celebrating the upcoming Rouge National Urban Park Bioblitz!

5 reasons to be excited for BioBlitz Canada 150 in Rouge National Urban Park

Posted: June 2, 2017 - 21:07 , by ROM
Two young girls peer into a jar at the insect they just captured with a net during a bioblitz. Photo by David Coulson

While intensive biological surveying has taken place in the Rouge Valley before, this was before the creation of Rouge National Urban Park and a doubling in the park’s size. We are keen to make history by bringing this amazing citizen science event to Canada’s first and only national urban park for the very first time! 

Here are five reasons to be excited about Bioblitz Canada 150 in Rouge National Urban Park, written by Guest Author Omar McDadi from Parks Canada