The Marine Institute, alongside the Explorers Education Programme, will be showcasing the new RV Tom Crean and its work in marine science at the 2022 Galway Science and Technology Festival this weekend.
Families are invited to the Bailey Allen Hall at the University of Galway on Sunday 13 November to learn more about Ireland’s marine research vessels and creatures of the deep sea.
Patricia Orme, director of corporate services at the Marine Institute said, “The Galway Science and Technology Festival serves as an excellent opportunity for the Marine Institute, and our Explorers Education Programme, to nurture students’ interest in marine science. We look forward to welcoming parents and children to learn more about the importance of our ocean and the work our scientists do on our marine research vessels.”
Discover the survey work undertaken by Ireland’s newest research vessel, the RV Tom Crean, which featured on RTÉ’s Nationwide this week, as well as the RV Celtic Explorer — which are both based in the Port of Galway.
Learn more about some of the unique features of these vessels and why they are important for fisheries research, seabed mapping and climate studies.
You will have the chance to meet marine scientists and find out what it’s like to survey our seas on board. There’s also the opportunity for children to enter a competition to win a LEGO City Ocean Exploration Set and an ocean-themed book hamper for their primary school.
Join the Marine Institute’s Explorers Education team and check out ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Deep-Sea Species’ activities. Discover some of the adaptations that deep-sea species have acquired for surviving in the ocean’s most inhospitable environments.
Visitors of all ages can get a closer look at the RV Tom Crean as well as the RV Celtic Explorer in Galway this weekend | Credit: Jason Clarke
Take part in the ‘Great Explorers Challenge’ to light up the angler fish circuit, and play the ‘Match the Deep-Sea Species’ game to learn how life persists where there is no light, little oxygen, and where temperatures are close to freezing. Take a close look at dogfish sharks and baby flatfish in the Explorers display tanks.
The Marine Institute will also be showcasing the work of one its research projects, EuroSea, in the Orbsen Building on Sunday. The EuroSea project brings together 53 organisations working across the European Seas and the Atlantic Ocean in order to improve the coordination of Europe’s ocean observing and deliver information and solutions to support decision-making in the areas of climate, ocean health and maritime activities.
As part of the iFADO project, the Marine Institute will be involved in a talk on Thursday 17 November about the project’s mission to release a fleet of mini-boats from each country of the European Atlantic facade.
Students involved in the programme worked together to prepare, deploy, and track their very own mini-boat, in order to collect information about ocean currents, weather, and technology. The mini-boats are directed to different communities and schools around the world, providing students with the opportunity to learn about different cultures. Book a place at galwayscience.ie.
The Marine Institute’s exhibition ‘The Wild Atlantic – Sea Science’ is also open at Galway City Museum. Free to visitors, the gallery features exhibitions on climate change, surveys at sea, the SmartBay Observatory in Galway Bay, as well as seabed mapping, amazing scientific discoveries and creatures of the deep. In the Remotely Operated Vehicle Simulator, explore ocean depths like a marine scientist and discover cold-water corals, shipwrecks and a rare shark nursery.
For more information on the 2022 Galway Science and Technology Festival programme, which runs from Sunday 13 to Friday 25 November, visit galwayscience.ie.
