We took part in a Meet the Scientist webinar, the first of 8 that we signed up to, on Wednesday. We met Louise, a Marine Biologist. The children thought that it was very interesting. There was a lot of information in this short webinar. Louise explained very well, through photos, drawings and short videos, the job of a Marine Biologist. She said that she began studying to be a Vet and then changed to this new career. The children felt that they they knew very little about this job and a few of them thought that it may be something that they would like to look into when thay are older. Louise has worked in many of the oceans including the Indian and the Atlantic. She uses an ROV and she has gone down in a submersible. The children learned about the continental shelf which is approximately two football pitches deep. This is too shallow for her studies in marine life. The actual depth of the ocean in places is 5000m, about five times the height of Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain. There are mountains under the sea. Louise takes samples and photos and DNA from marine life that she is studying. Some animals and plants in the ocean release toxins and liquids to protect themselves from predators and the chemicals in these can be used in antibiotics and in cancer medicines. Did you know? Coral is an animal! Many of the children were surprised with this! We are looking forward to hearing from the other scientists over the next few months.
