Salty Topics: Underwater Soundscapes of Coastal Florida

Join us for the all new Marine Science Speaker series at Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center.  The winter/spring 2012 series will be held on the 1st Thursday of February, March, April, and May.

The air-water interface is a difficult barrier for acoustic energy to overcome and most of us are not aware that the underwater environment can indeed be very noisy. Biological sources of sound production range from invertebrates to mammals, but the most prolific source is associated with courtship and spawning behaviors of fishes. Non-biological sounds may be generated by weather and boats. Acoustic energy travels further than light in turbid coastal environments and represents the most efficient communication channel over longer ranges.  

James Locascio received his Ph.D. from the USF College of Marine Science and is currently a post-doctoral scholar at Mote Marine Laboratory.

Thursday evening we will also unveil the interactive exhibit "Discovery Reef" from Mote Marine Laboratory that will be on display at Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center for the month of March, http://seatrek.org/exhibits/discoveryreef.html. 

 We are happy to host the series at Weedon Island Cultural and Natural History Center at 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St Petersburg, FL 33702, with refreshments donated from the Friends of Weedon Island (http://fowi.org).

6:30p.m.  Refreshments

7:00p.m.  Salty Topics