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Our oceans contain the greatest diversity of life on Earth. From the freezing polar regions to the warm waters of the tropics and deep sea hydrothermal vents to shallow seagrass beds, marine organisms abound. By donating to Oceanswell, you are helping us do what we do best – explore, discover, protect, educate and give the oceans a voice. No amount is too little and your support is greatly appreciated.

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Last Wednesday, we wrapped up a fintastic Ocean Hero Huddle focused on the coelacanth- a prehistoric marine creature that seemingly came back
from the dead!

#Repost @ashadevos (@get_repost)
・・・
Join me tomorrow (24th February) at 4 pm EST where I will share a little excitement from out here on the ocean!

This is the first live classroom experience from the #OceanXplorer.

Happy world whale day!
🐋
Did you know that pilot whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family? Did you know they were named pilot whales because it was thought that each pod followed a ‘pilot’ in the group?
🐋

#Repost @parrotfishcollective (@get_repost)
・・・
📣 SOUND ON 📣 Ocean noise is pollution too 🚨Traveling 5 times faster in water than air, sound is the most effective means for whales and marine life to...https://www.instagram.com/p/CLmVdMUBYvC/?igshid=uoxb5xmt1rms

Are you a Sri Lankan student? Are you involved in research or interested in building a research career? If you answered yes to any of these, we need your help!

Last Wednesday, we wrapped up a fintastic Ocean He

Last Wednesday, we wrapped up a fintastic Ocean Hero Huddle focused on the coelacanth- a prehistoric marine creature that seemingly came back
from the dead! This creature not only fascinated and boggled scientists and the public alike, but also helped the world learn a lot about evolution and our fishy ancestors. Our ocean heroes were quite excited to learn about this new friend and shared a lot of cool facts that they had discovered while doing their research for the session. Find out more about this once extinct creature, its rediscovery and what makes it so important for science by swiping through the slides. The discussion was based on a TEDEd video (@tededucation) titled ‘The coelacanth: A living fossil of a fish” by Erin Eastwood. Illustrations by Naduni Mallika Arachchi @nadunimallikarachchi #oceanherohuddle #coelacanth

#Repost @ashadevos (@get_repost) ・・・ Join me

#Repost @ashadevos (@get_repost)
・・・
Join me tomorrow (24th February) at 4 pm EST where I will share a little excitement from out here on the ocean! This is the first live classroom experience from the #OceanXplorer. This National Geographic Education talk with myself and @etspencer will be aimed at ages 8-14 and cover shark tagging, submersible dives, and life aboard the coolest boat in the world. To register click on the link in my bio or click here https://bit.ly/2ZJKeP1 @oceanx @oceanswellorg @natgeoeducation

Happy world whale day! 🐋 Did you know that pilo

Happy world whale day!
🐋
Did you know that pilot whales are one of the largest members of the dolphin family? Did you know they were named pilot whales because it was thought that each pod followed a ‘pilot’ in the group?
🐋
We filmed this pod of pilot whales off the south coast of Sri Lanka during one of our field expeditions. We find this video so mesmerising and hope you do too! Keep following @ashadevos for more whaley cool adventures and don’t forget to follow us for more even cool science and facts about whales and their secret lives (and so much more)!
🐋
#worldwhaleday #pilotwhales #dolphins

#Repost @parrotfishcollective (@get_repost) ・・

#Repost @parrotfishcollective (@get_repost)
・・・
📣 SOUND ON 📣 Ocean noise is pollution too 🚨Traveling 5 times faster in water than air, sound is the most effective means for whales and marine life to communicate across the ocean’s vast expanse. But their acoustics are slowly sinking below a thickening layer of human-caused noise. Did you know? Sri Lanka is situated on the path of one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. 🚢 With the increasing industrialization of the ocean over the past several decades — human-caused noise is starting to overwhelm the natural ocean soundscape. And the impacts are now being documented across marine ecosystems, from whales down to plankton 🌊 🐋 Sound is very important for whales to understand and interact with their environment. Whales rely on sound for communication, to attract mates, to maintain social interactions, and for mother-calf bonding. Baleen whales, particularly humpback whales, are known for elaborate songs that the males sing as a breeding display. Since whales are dispersed over vast ocean basins, their vocalisations need to travel over a large range to be heard by other individuals. The natural sounds of the ocean sounds like a veritable symphony yet, we've silenced the soundtrack of the healthy ocean and replaced it with artificial sounds that we create. Humans may not be able to perceive underwater sound very well, but whales and other marine animals have evolved over millions of years to detect and emit sound across a range of frequencies 🎶 Much of our understanding about whales in Sri Lanka is thanks to the tireless work of Marine Biologist & Nat Geo Explorer, Dr. @ashadevos, and her work through marine conservation research and education organization @oceanswellorg ⬅️ Follow their important work to gain more insight about Sri Lanka's marine life 🐳 Massive thanks to our friends at @oceanswellorg for providing us with the data and research to develop this post in time for #WorldWhaleDay. Animation @zevlandes
Words @lostinceylon

Are you a Sri Lankan student? Are you involved in

Are you a Sri Lankan student? Are you involved in research or interested in building a research career? If you answered yes to any of these, we need your help! We are interested in understanding the existing soft skills and those that you think are important for early career researchers in Sri Lanka. Soft skills are non-technical skills that relate to how you work (such as effective science communication), and are crucial when conducting research. You can help us help you by contributing 5 minutes of your time by filling out this survey either here http://bit.ly/3s4HBna or by clicking the link in our bio titled ‘Surveys’. Thank you for your time and support! #surveys #research #skillsbuilding

How do marine scientists conduct research? They as

How do marine scientists conduct research? They ask questions and then use lots of tools and techniques that can help them answer them. They use drones to measure the lengths of whales and assess their health (check out our Tiny Desk Adventure episode on this to learn more by heading to https://oceanswell.org/tiny-desk-adventures or by clicking on the ‘Tiny Desk Adventures' tab on the link in our bio!), they head out to sea armed with cameras to photo-identify these animals (learn more about this by watching our photo identification video at www.oceanswell.org/media or by clicking the "Media" tab in our link in bio), they visit stranded, dead animals and take down data, and even go down in submersibles to find out about creatures that live in the deep sea! Sometimes, they don't even leave their bedrooms! Our Oceanswell team member, Chiran Weeraratne has written a piece about doing marine science from his bedroom which we think is an absolute MUST READ! Curious? ! Check out our newest blog post for more! Head to www.oceanswell.org/ocean-chronicles or click on the link in our bio titled “Ocean Chronicles” to read about this wonderful tool that helps us study species out in the sea from the comfort of our homes (perfect for Work From Home times!)! Also, check our stories for a Q&A on BRUVs and ask all your burning questions from our team! @kavindu_chiran #oceanchronicles #blogpost #bruvs

The Friday before last, Hafsa gave a talk to the

The Friday before last, Hafsa gave a talk to the S Thomas’ College Senior Environmental Club about our project on the natural variability of Mount Lavinia beach. Over 60 students attended the hour long webinar to learn about all aspects of the research. Hafsa talked to the students about everything from preparing to go in the field, to some of the science that we do (it’s simple really!). She described our side-projects looking at bycatch and the change in sand composition along the coastline - and why it happens! This was an amazing opportunity to connect with students from the school by the sea, just a stone's throw away from our survey site. At Oceanswell, we believe it is important to share our science and the process in the hope that it will inspire the next generation of young scientists and marine enthusiasts. Engaging the general public lets us share the magic of our oceans and encourages students to contribute towards marine conservation. Interested in reaching out to our team for a talk? Email us at info@oceanswell.org with all the details. @hafsajamel
#oceanswellbeachvariability

Last month, our ocean heroes challenged Hafsa and

Last month, our ocean heroes challenged Hafsa and Naduni to set up an OHH about a prehistoric creature. Challenge accepted! The duo found the perfect creature for our next event! Are you interested to know more? Are you below the age of 15, and love discussing and sharing cool facts about the ocean with others like you? Well then, come join in the fun at this month’s Ocean Hero Huddle! Head to www.oceanswell.org/events or head to the link in our bio titled “Events” to sign up for our 9th Ocean Hero Huddle happening on the 17th of February from 5-5.30pm IST on Zoom! #oceanherohuddle

ꜱᴛʀᴀɴᴅɪɴɢ ʀᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ
𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫: Supipi Weerasinghe (@supipiw)
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 07th February 2021
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Dehiwala
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬: Hawksbill turtle
𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬: 1
𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡: Unclear
𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Had several barnacles on its body
𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: 72cm If you see any stranded species along our coastlines please don't hesitate to get in touch with us on info@oceanswell.org or by sending us a message on our social media. #strandingreports