Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 30 Nov 11;
SINGAPORE: The dolphins at the heart of the controversy surrounding Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park (MLP) will play an important role in educating the public on conservation, said the park's vice-president Peter Doyle.
The MLP, which opens next year, will be home to 25 dolphins. Their captivity has been the subject of controversy in recent months.
Mr Doyle said conservation begins with education, and the dolphins are an integral part of the process.
He announced an initiative under which students in Singapore will get a hands-on experience with marine life at the MLP.
The programme is a collaboration between Resorts World Sentosa and Sea Research Foundation's (SRF) Mystic Aquarium in the United States.
Mystic Aquarium is known for its educational programmes and marine animal research.
The JASON Project, a multi-media and science programme by SRF and National Geographic Society, will also provide content for the programme.
The JASON Project was founded by acclaimed oceanographer Dr Robert Ballard, who also discovered the RMS Titanic more than 70 years after it sank.
Mr Doyle, who announced the initiative to more than 250 principals and educators from some 70 schools on Wednesday, said: "Zoos and aquariums are an integral part of the conservation initiative and aquariums with marine conservation are critical. Conservation begins with education.
"We've got facilities, state-of-the-art animal hospitals and a team of professionals. And we're developing programmes which give people a chance to learn hands-on experiences which take it to the next step because people remember more from what they experience.
"Aquariums are huge proponents of education, conservation and research and that's exactly what we're going to do here."
The MLP said the programmes will be aligned with the developmental needs of the student population, which stands at about half a million. For example, younger students will learn about the conservation of the horseshoe-crab species unique to the region. Older students will learn about their mangrove and mudflats habitats.
Other programmes will include becoming 'researchers for the day' - where students get to take blood samples from marine animals - as well as guided tours. The curriculum will be an enhancement to classroom learning, with teachers working with MLP to plan lessons for their classes.
- CNA/fa
Students to get exposure to marine life at Resorts World Sentosa park
Programmes for schools will be offered by Marine Life Park
Amelia Tan Straits Times 1 Dec 11;
ABOUT 250 science teachers and principals were at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) yesterday, not for theme-park rides, but to find out how their students can benefit from the Marine Life Park there.
The park will be rolling out education programmes targeting students from preschool to tertiary level when its opens next year.
It will be home to about 150,000 marine animals, including 25 dolphins which animal activists have been lobbying to release back to their natural habitat.
Yesterday's talk at RWS introduced the educational offerings, which include internships and guided aquarium tours.
RWS has inked a three-year partnership with Sea Research Foundation, a United States-based non-profit organisation, to work on a marine environmental curriculum for students.
Teachers interviewed said they were excited by the possibilities to expose students to a variety of marine life and research projects, and to get them to learn more about professions such as veterinarians and marine biologists through internships.
The teachers said the dolphin issue may be raised by their students and they see it as a way to spawn a discussion on conservation.
In recent months, there has been public debate about whether it is appropriate for RWS to showcase the dolphins caught in waters off the Solomon Islands, near Papua New Guinea. They are now housed at Ocean Adventure in Subic Bay in the Philippines.
Ms Ng Oon Hui, who teaches cell and molecular biology and biochemistry at the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, said: 'The students may ask questions about the dolphins.
'One way we can address their questions would be in getting them to see for themselves how the dolphins are treated at the park. And they can decide how they feel about the issue.'
The director of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's school of life sciences and chemical technology, Mrs Tang-Lim Guek Im, said: 'The hands-on experience that our students have in marine life is currently on a small-scale and ad hoc basis.
'The park will be able to offer a structured programme to help our students learn more about marine life.'
The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) recently filmed a video of trainers introducing basketballs and hula-hoops to the dolphins at Ocean Adventure.
It approached RWS for an explanation as the latter had said before that it had no plans for animal shows.
RWS replied that balls and hoops encouraged play activities among dolphins in zoological environments and reiterated that it had no plans to feature animal shows.
Marine Life Park to roll out educational programme
Monica Kotwani Channel NewsAsia 30 Nov 11;
SINGAPORE: Singapore students will be able to gain a unique insight into marine life through an internationally- acclaimed curriculum at Marine Life Park (MLP), which opens next year
This is a three-year collaboration between Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), where the MLP is located and Sea Research Foundation's (SRF) Mystic Aquarium.
Contents for the curriculum, which is still in its planning stages, will come from the Mystic Aquarium, known for its educational programmes and marine animal research.
It will also come from the JASON Project, a multi-media and science programme by SRF and National Geographic Society.
The JASON Project was founded by acclaimed oceanographer Dr Robert Ballard, who also discovered the RMS Titanic, more than 70 years after it sank.
Vice-president of MLP Peter Doyle, who announced Wednesday the initiative to more than 250 principals and educators from some 70 schools, said the programmes will be aligned with developmental needs of the student population, which stands at about half a million.
For example, younger students will learn about the conservation of the horseshoe-crab species unique to the region.
Older students will learn about their mangrove and mudflats habitats.
Other programmes will include becoming "Researchers for the day", where students get to take blood samples from marine animals.
The curriculum will be an enhancement to classroom learning, with teachers working with MLP to plan lessons for their classes.
"All of our programmes will be focused on Singapore and Southeast Asia. That's really our key message," Mr Doyle said.
MLP will be home to 25 dolphins, whose captivity has been the subject of controversy.
Mr Doyle said conservation begins with education and the dolphins are an integral part of the process.
"Zoos and aquariums are an integral part of the conservation initiative. And aquariums with marine conservation are critical," he said.
"Conservation begins with education, so we've got facilities, we've got state-of-the-art animal hospitals and we've got a team of professionals.
"And we're developing programmes which give people a chance to learn hands-on experiences, which takes it to the next step, because people remember more what they experience.
"Aquariums are huge proponents of education, conservation and research and that's exactly what we're going to do here."
- CNA/wk
