Scientists doing recent cetacean research around the Antarctic Peninsula have noticed that the Humpbacks whales are staying about a month longer along the Western Peninsula. Students will be asked to come up with a hypothesis for why the whales are staying longer. Then, students will look at and analyze the scientists’ whale tagging data. Students […]
The use of technology is critical in studying Humpback whales. Students will explore the use of tagging technologies in the research being conducted in the southern ocean around Antarctica. Students will simulate this tagging data in the classroom and will need to analyze, model, and interpret their data.
In this lesson, students will be using the BLAST tool to compare mitochondrial DNA samples from unknown whale species to known sequences. Prior to this activity, students should have learned about cellular structures and DNA structure and function. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) may be a new concept for many students, since biology classes primarily focus their […]
Research programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) encompass the entire ocean, from the surface waters to the deep seafloor, and from the coastal zone to the open sea. The need to understand the ocean in all its complexity and variability drives MBARI's research and development efforts.