Collaboration: the art of science
On the Halifax waterfront, the Canadian Sea Turtle Network will show a continuous underwater video of leatherback sea turtles eating jellyfish, framed by artistic jellyfish created by staff, volunteers and public members of all ages using different mediums.
Often science and art are considered opposite ends of a rival spectrum: individuals and things are either one or the other. But, what in life fits neatly in one box? Our Nocturne project is titled Collaboration: the art of science. It includes submissions from scientists, educators and public members combined into one display, just like the collaboration that is required to conserve an international endangered species like the leatherback sea turtle.
The Canadian Sea Turtle Network (CSTN) is a charitable organization working to conserve endangered sea turtles in Canadian waters and worldwide with the help of scientists, commercial fishermen, coastal community members, and the public. Leatherback turtles are the most common sea turtles found in Atlantic Canadian waters, and a primary conservation focus for the CSTN.
Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles in the world. They migrate to Canadian waters every summer from June to October to feed on jellyfish. This feast increases their weight by about 33% and fuels their migration back south to the nesting beaches in Central and South America.
The CSTN focuses on both research and education to achieve our goal of conservation. Research is conducted off the coast of Nova Scotia and on the beaches in Trinidad, where approximately 60% of leatherback sea turtles found in Canadian waters go to nest. In the warmer months, the CSTN operates a kiosk on the Halifax waterfront. The Sea Turtle Centre, open and free to everyone, provides a summer home base for the CSTN’s public education and will be the site for this Nocturne project.
Our project will include jellyfish made from umbrellas, lights, reused plastic, paper, and fabric by our staff, volunteers and children visitors to the Sea Turtle Centre over this past summer. We will also have a screen and projector showing underwater videos collected by our scientists and collaborators of leatherbacks eating jellyfish in Canadian waters using a “critter cam” temporarily suction cupped to leatherback sea turtles swimming at sea. Staff and volunteers will be on hand to interact with the public and answer any questions about the science and art of leatherback sea turtle conservation.
