Aquarius Mission 2007
If Reefs Could Talk: LIVE!!

Join the Aquarius Team LIVE!! From September 17 through September 23 as they listen to the secrets the reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary have to tell. You will experience, right along with the Aquanauts, 24/7 what it is like to live beneath the waves.  World renowned sponge biologists Dr. Niels Lindquist and Dr. Chris Martens will give you a first hand look into how reefs interact as a real life colony with many moving parts, and many daily issues that impact them. Watch as they perform their scientific experiments with sponges to better understand these complex organisms and what they have to tell us.

Follow along LIVE at OceansLIVE.org where participants can watch the expedition 24/7 with special NOON EDT shows based on specific topics related to the mission goals and objectives.

The schedule for the daily shows is as follows:

If Reefs Could Talk

Monday, September 17

12 NOON EDT -Join the Aquanauts as they go through their specialized mission training to enable them to saturate for 9 days in the Aquarius Habitat.

Tuesday, September 18

12 NOON EDT- Join the Aquanauts as they move in to their underwater home. You are invited for a special tour of the habitat, and to learn how eating and sleeping are not taken for granted!!

Wednesday, September 19

12 NOON EDT- Join the Aquanauts as they discuss the important science tasks that will be taking place during the mission.  The Aquarius is an important technological tool to enhance scientist’s abilities to perform many studies that might not be able to take place without the habitat as a tool.

Thursday, September 20

12 NOON EDT- Join topside diver, and National Science Coordinator for the National Marine Sanctuary Program, Dr. Steve Gittings as he discusses threats to reefs not only in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, but worldwide.  Multiple guests will discuss the reef’s decline and what needs to be done to help them recover.

Friday, September 21

12 NOON EDT- Join host Scott Donahue, scientist for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary as he explains what we can do to stop the reef’s decline.

Saturday, September 22

12 NOON EDT- Join host and topside diver Dr. Ellen Prager via the Aquarius Habitat as she discusses the science missions hosted by the Aquarius Program.  She will also be answering questions from viewers sent throughout the week.

Chat with Team Aquarius

Please join us on an internet chat room with team Aquarius to a mission at Aquarius Reef Base seven miles off the coast of Key Largo, FL in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Register and enter your questions and comments into the chat room. Our mission staff will answer your questions from both mission control, and from inside the Aquarius habitat. Here is the link you will need to register and enter the chat room:

http://www.nurc.net/chat

Some chosen questions will be answered live on our Team Aquarius daily shows airing at NOON daily. Be sure to tune in and follow our team as they discover what the reefs have to tell.

Bringing the Ocean into the Classroom

Join Aquanauts Dr. Chris Martens and Dr. Niels Lindquist, as well as Dr. John Bruno topside as they lecture live back to their university classrooms.  These special lectures will be hosted live for their classrooms, as well as the general public via OceansLIVE.org. 

Another exciting component of the mission is bringing 3-6 grade classrooms LIVE to the habitat. Treasure Village Montessori Charter School in Key Largo, FL, as well as eighty students from Lincoln Elementary in Alpena, Michigan.  The Lincoln students will view the feed from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary to enable them to be connected LIVE to the Aquanauts and topside divers.  All of the classrooms will learn more about the Aquarius Habitat, coral reefs, and what they can do to protect them.  Each education show will be broadcast live on OceansLIVE.org to benefit schools across the country.

Below is the schedule for the live university lectures:

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 5:00- 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 20, 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Another exciting component of the mission is bringing 3-6 grade classrooms LIVE to the habitat. Treasure Village Montessori Charter School in Key Largo, FL, and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary with classroom visitors will be connected to the Aquanauts and topside divers to learn more about the Aquarius Habitat, coral reefs, and what they can do to protect them.  Two shows will be broadcasted live on OceansLIVE.org to benefit schools across the country.

Below is the schedule for the live school lectures:

Wednesday, Sept.19, 10 -11 a.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2-3 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 21, 10-11 a.m.