Georgie's Journey
around the world
Click here to start!
The Atlantic ocean
hi there! My name is Georgie Lobster. I'm what's called an "American Lobster" and I am 87 years old!
I'm here today to talk with you about how climate change has affected me and the ocean i live in. after that, i'll introduce you to my friends around the world!
(scroll down)
NOW, AS MY NAME GIVES AWAY, I'M FROM THE AMERICAS. TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, I'M FOUND OFF THE COAST OF THE USA and canada IN NORTH AMERICA.
I'm going to focus more on the USA for a moment, though.
My species of lobster loves the east coast of the united states, and i am no exception.
I grew up off the coast of north carolina, where the yellow "X" is. I loved it there and lived in those waters for fifty years!
East Coast
After fifty years, though, the waters started to warm. We weren't sure what was causing it but we knew our shells hurt and we were sweating a lot. So we moved.
I moved North with my family and we lived near new york for a couple years before it once again started to heat up. We made our final move up to the coast of maine.
Once we were in maine, I asked some of the other lobsters if they knew why the waters were warming. "yes, it's something called climate change", a young blue one told me. "it's causing all sorts of problems. I bet if you asked around you could find out more!"
So that leads me to where i am now. i've been on a mission to find out as much as i can about climate change since then, and i've decided to go on an adventure around the world!
I would love if you could join me. i'm going to travel to every ocean i know of, and i've given you a map so you can come with me! if you're ready to learn, click the globe in the corner!
hi there! My name is Georgie Lobster. I'm what's called an "American Lobster" and I am 87 year's old!
Hover over an ocean color to see it's name and click on an ocean to join Georgie on her journey! if you'd like to go back to georgie's story, click on the atlantic ocean.
Pacific Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Southern Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Click on an ocean to meet someone new and learn more about how the ocean's are changing! if you'd like to go back to georgie's story, click on the atlantic ocean. happy traveling!
All done with your journey? click here!
Welcome to the Southern Ocean! As it's name implies, we're As far south on earth as you can go. I'm meeting my friend Alex the southern elephant seal here, but I don't see him yet. Do you?
Oh, here he is! he was hiding behind that kelp, wasn't he? great spotting!
hi Georgie! I'm glad you and your friend could make it!
You're here to learn about how my life is being affected by climate change, right?
Yes, after i moved to maine i learned more about it and became curious as to how it was affecting others around the world.
Well, you've come to the right marine mammal! let's go!
Welcome to our kelp forest! as elephant seals, one of our favorite meals are fish, and the kelp forest has plenty! our other favorite food is found deep, deep underwater...
Sources
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/elephant-seals/
i
Squid! our other main food source is squid, which we often find deep underwater. we're still waiting to fully see how climate change will affect us but we know one thing: our food is being driven away by warming waters.
Southern Elephant seals are "traditionalists", meaning they have certain ways of doing something and don't want to change it. in our case, most of us hunt in specific places, and refuse to go to new hunting grounds.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/group/elephant-seals/ https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/changing-climate-conservative-elephant-seals-suffer/
this can be dangerous, because if all the fish move away and we still have to eat, it could mean our populations will go down quickly.
the good news is that some of us are becoming more adventurous. it won't be enough to completely save us if the fish leave soon, but it is positive because it means we could find new fishing grounds!
But that's the gist of how we're being affected. a lot of it is up in the air right now, it's going to depend on how seriously humans take the evidence they've found. Hopefully they'll start making some changes, like biking or walking places instead of driving!
i hope the fish stay where they've always been, alex. thank you for teaching us about the issues plaguing your species.
keep in touch to let me know if there's more i can do to help! and i'm sure my friend and I will be sure to spread the word on how we can help.
Well I don't know about you, but alex's story opened my eyes to some issues that i didn't know were happening in the southern ocean. i feel very ready to start telling people, and to learn even more.
click the globe in the corner to keep exploring, otherwise, thank you for joining me on my journey!
Alright, we made it to the arctic ocean! The arctic ocean is located at the very tip top of the world. There's a lot of cool animals that live here, but do you know one snow-loving species that doesn't?
penguins! they actually only live in the south pole, where the southern ocean is. Our friend Alex might know some. that's just a fun fact for you while we're waiting on our friend, luna.
Arctic ocean
lots of cool animals
Speaking of luna, here she is! hi, luna!
Hi georgie! hope you've been doing well up in maine, i heard you moved there recently.
i did, the waters there are great! i'm here to ask about your waters, though. ready to show us around?
that's great. and absolutely! we're going to head up to the surface, so let's get going!
So up here in the North pole, we're used to cold water and lots of ice, like the iceburg over there.
my species of seals use the ice to rest, meet spouses, and raise our kids. it's a very nice life and we're able to make snow dens for safety!
https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/155/video-annual-arctic-sea-ice-minimum-1979-2019-with-area-graph/
over the past couple decades, and especially the last few years, a lot of the ice has been melting earlier in the year and re-freezing later in the year .
This makes it very difficult for us to keep Ourselves and our kids safe. A lot of times polar bears find us, because our dens can collapse.
I've even heard some human scientists say that by the year 2050, the summers may be completely ice free.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/22/global-warming-summer-arctic-sea-ice-gone-2050/2999426001/ https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/arctic-sea-ice/
We're trying our best to survive, but we really need the human's help, especially their big businesses.
one thing an individual can do to help let the businesses know they need to change is by protesting with groups such as the "climate march" or writing letters to the big businesses.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/22/global-warming-summer-arctic-sea-ice-gone-2050/2999426001/ https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/arctic-sea-ice/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/climate/companies-climate-change-financial-impact.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2018/10/25/why-and-how-business-must-tackle-climate-change-now/#f778f384712b
I hope that was helpful to you and your friend, georgie! i know it can be sad, but it's the truth of what's happening and if we try hard enough I know change can happen.
that was very helpful. thank you so much luna for telling us about your life and what's happening up here in the arctic. we'll be sure to follow your advice!
we're going to continue on with our travels, and keep learning by the map. have a great day, luna! see you later!
hi, georgie!! i'm so glad you could make it, it's been ages since i've seen you and i came up with a list of what i want to talk to y'all about!
Evan, it's so good to see you! i'm so glad we are able to visit you and that you're ready to talk to us!
the indian ocean is so beautiful, i'm loving the waters and the bright colors that are everywhere.
aren't they great? the waters can be a bit darker when i travel with my school. it's wonderful! but anyways, let's get started!
now, i'm a yellowfin tuna and one of my main food sources is something called phytoplankton. the pink streak above me is a group of them!
phytoplankton are very, very small animals and we have to eat a lot of them to survive. that's where the problems start to come in.
some scientists are saying phytoplankton numbers have been dropping about 1% every year since the 1950s.
this means that they're becoming harder and harder to find, and we're not getting enough to eat. our population is more at risk now though because of it.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-study-shows-oceanic-phytoplankton-declines-in-northern-hemisphere http://www.fao.org/in-action/commonoceans/news/detail-events/en/c/1176240/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/phytoplankton-population/ https://phys.org/news/2019-05-phytoplankton-decline-coincides-temperatures-years.html
along with our phyto friends going away, overfishing has also become a major problem.
humans have always fished us, but over the past couple of decades they have started to overfish. this means that they're taking more of us out of the ocean than we can replace. so our population is going down a lot.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-study-shows-oceanic-phytoplankton-declines-in-northern-hemisphere http://www.fao.org/in-action/commonoceans/news/detail-events/en/c/1176240/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/phytoplankton-population/ https://phys.org/news/2019-05-phytoplankton-decline-coincides-temperatures-years.html https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/yellowfin-tuna https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/report-state-of-indian-ocean-yellowfin-tuna-stocks-getting-worse
it can be scary, but there are also a lot of humans trying to help us, like you!
a couple things that you can do to help are joining an organization like the world wilflife fund, and checking for the "marine stewardship council" seal of approval when you buy fish!
that's great information, evan. we'll be sure to watch for that sticker when we buy food, that way we know it was caught with you all in mind!
we hope the phytoplankton start to come back, i know the warming water's isn't helping much.
thanks! and I hope they start to come back too. we'll have to wait and see, though. i hope you have a good rest of your journey!
thanks, bye evan! see you later! and you know what that means, explorer. back to the map!
Hi Ellie! explorers, this is my friend ellie, she's a blacktip Reef shark. she lives off the coast of australia right now, at the great barrier reef!
Hi guys! welcome to the pacific ocean, or at least one part of it!
that's right! the great barrier reef is awesome. did you know it's the largest coral reef system in the world? there's over 1700 different species that live here.
That's so many different animals! this reef is so cool, i wish i could live here. i have heard that there's some bad things happening though. is that true?
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/the-reef/animals
Unfortnately, it is. one of the major issues here right now is 'coral bleaching'.
there are very small animals that live in coral to give it its color. An example is that orange coral below, the type of animals that live in it make it orange.
when the oceans start to heat up and become more acidic though, the animals leave the coral and leave behind a white skeleton of it. click on the eye to see.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html
WHEN A LOT OF CORAL BLEACHES AT ONE TIME IT IS CALLED A "MASS BLEACHING EVENT".
AFTER A MASS BLEACHING EVENT, A LOT OF FISH HAVE TO LEAVE SINCE THE CORAL USED TO BE THEIR HOME OR FOOD.
WHEN THE FISH LEAVE, I HAVE TO LEAVE TOO BECAUSE THEY'RE MY FOOD SOURCE.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html https://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/climate-change/coral-bleaching/bleaching-events.html
the good news is that although climate change is making recovery difficult, there is evidence of the corals trying to regrow and some of the animals coming back!
the reef has a long road ahead of it, and so do i. one simple thing you can do to help with ocean acidity if you're a human is check the bottles of sunscreen to make sure they're reef safe!
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html https://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/climate-change/coral-bleaching/bleaching-events.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/reef-resilience.html https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-coral-bleaching-and-how-we-can-stop-it https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html
healthy reefs and oceans are important for the earth. it's good to know humans can start to help just by checking their sunscreen.
it is important! i hope you have a good rest of your journey, georgie! bye!
thank you, ellie! good luck with everything! explorers, are you ready to go to your next ocean? click the map to join me somewhere new!
Wow! i don't know about you, but traveling around the world has opened my eyes to a lot of effects climate change is having on different species.
we learned a lot about the hardships they are facing - coral bleaching, melting ice, fish leaving, and warming waters. i had no idea what i was experiencing here in the atlantic was just a part of it.
Wow! i don't know about you, but traveling around the world has opened my eyes to a lot of effects climate change is having on different species
The good news is that our friends from the different oceans gave you advice on what you can do to help us. i made a list for you on the next page!
Georgie's list for fighting climate change
1. Ask your parents to check sunscreen with you before you buy it to make sure it is ocean and reef friendly. 2. Join other people that want to help our environment by protesting - join your local climate march with your friends and family to let everyone know you want to help! 3. Encourage your parents to look for the "Marine Stewardship Council" sticker when they buy fish. 4. Try walking, biking, or rollerblading places when you can instead of driving. Carpooling is also good! 5. Write to the politicians in your town to let them know you need their help to save the environment!
(In no particular order)
Thank you so much for coming with me today! i know with your help differences can start to be made. go out there and rock the world!
