the-circles-of-life:Mola molaOcean Sunfishft. AnnAnn is a volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium, but her

the-circles-of-life:Mola molaOcean Sunfishft. AnnAnn is a volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium, but her current goal is to study at the master’s level in Museology, a study of museums. She wants to know how museum and aquarium can educate people in an engaging way.It’s a common practice for aquariums to employ a docent to guide visitors, but her interest — the field of environmental interpretation — goes beyond that. it’s a way of doing those things.Instead of bombarding visitors with animal facts, Ann helps people connect with nature. She wants people to find a meaning, which fuels exploration and learning from within the guests’ hearts. “It’s one of the most enjoyable moments when you see someone’s face light up because that connection gets made!” she says.Ann herself has experienced this awe when she met an Ocean Sunfish in the large tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, California. She was so impressed, she ended up studying marine science at CSU Monterey Bay to spend more time with the fish.“For me, it represents the best of the ocean: quirky, derpy, and not particularly charismatic in the general sense,” Ann refers to the fish’s shape, which looks like a giant fish head, floating without a body in the water.Despite the peculiarity, it has evolved to do amazing things. It dives deep without a swim bladder. It also grows to be the heaviest known bony fish, even though it primarily feeds on jellyfish. Many would be surprised to learn that the sunfish is related to the better-known pufferfish.The sunfish challenges our ideas of what ‘fish’ look like, inviting us to learn more about how it lives, behaves, and evolved. it makes us look beyond what’s visible. Ann thinks this is particularly crucial now that there’s a rampant denial of basic science, often motivated by politics, like back in the Dark Ages.Though we’ve learned so much about nature in the past few centuries, the knowledge isn’t spread evenly. But she’s confident that people’s curiosity will prevail, and once again we can advance our collective understanding of the world.“I don’t know how long that will be, but science really can’t be denied, because it’s not a belief system, just a way of learning.”—Ann is a life sciences volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium. Get to know Ann, marine life, and Museology / Environmental Interpretation.Science & Personal Twitter · Science Only Twitter · Website—My main blog · Ko-fi · Patreon -- source link
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