Welcome to EarthWatchKids.net! I created this space for you with the help of my dear friend, Marc Atwood. Marc is really good at designing and building spaces online. He's a little bit like the architect, Mr. Langford, who came to speak to us at school last year about the homes and spaces he builds. Although you can't actually live in the websites and blogs my friend, Marc, builds online, you can definitely open the doors of this internet space and look inside. I invite each of you and your families to follow me this summer as I prepare to travel to Monterey Bay, California, and the little harbor village of Moss Landing. Beginning July 24th, I will be a field scientist and volunteer on the Earthwatch Expedition, Marine Mammals of Monterey Bay. (see: Project Location: Maps and Images)

I'll be using EarthWatchKids.net to write to you about my adventures. This blog is an online journal, where stories can be shared with friends. It's also a great place for you to let me know what you're doing and where your adventures are taking you this summer!

Monterey Bay is a National Marine Sanctuary and because it is protected, it attracts all kinds of amazing marine mammals, including harbor seals, sea lions, humpback whales, porpoises, and bottlenose dolphins. In the center of Monterey Bay, right along the Pacific shoreline, is a tidal wetland known as Elkhorn Slough (pronounced true), where all kinds of birds, fish, plants and insects begin their lives. Elkhorn Slough is safe place for wildlife because it is sheltered from the strong waves and currents of the Pacific Ocean. Here in Elkhorn Slough, with its squishy, muddy bottom, where researchers and field scientists arrive by foot or by boat, my job will be to watch and observe the behaviors and habits of a very special marine mammal: the southern otter. Together with other Earthwatch volunteers, we'll watch and learn as much as we can about how southern otters use their home in the marshland, and what they need to be healthy and happy.

Fun Otter Fact #1:
Otters back feet are flat and shaped like flippers. This makes them really great swimmers! They can hold their breath for five whole minutes, so they dont need a snorkel.




Original article can be found here: http://www.earthwatchkids.net/subBlog.asp?bID=126