On June 10, a large science popularization event called “HI SUBMARINE” was held in the SIO, adding color to this year’s World Oceans Day and spreading the theme of “To protect the marine ecosystem and ensure the harmonious coexistence of man and nature”.

This year’s Ocean Day Science Popularization Event was undertaken by the Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences, MNR, co-organized by the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, MNR, and the State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics. Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum joined in the event and contributed a wonderful science popularization stage play “Qian Xuesen”. This Open Day event attracted nearly a thousand citizens in the province to experience the charm of the ocean in the SIO. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of viewers explored the ocean and the unknown through the entire network video live streaming platform.

Various marine life species

After a year of specimen maintenance and production, the Marine Science and Technology Exhibition Hall of the SIO displayed all new specimens of deep-sea fish, marine birds, crustaceans, etc. during the World Oceans Day. Children who came to visit saw not only the Antarctic penguin, the “living fossil” Latimeria, but also the huge complete mola mola and the Astrolirus patricki, the world’s top ten new marine species in 2020 named by the researcher from the SIO. Why is it named Astrolirus patricki? “This is because of its special life habit - it likes to live with deep-sea sponges to get more food, just like Patrick Star and SpongeBob in the cartoon.” the science popularization teacher on site told everyone.

On the first floor of the exhibition hall, the skeleton specimen of melon-headed whale, a national second-class key protected wild animal, was also displayed. Dr. Zhai Hongchang from the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics told those children, “Whales may be stranded when subject to human interference. Here is a melon-headed whale that was stranded but failed to be rescued. It is very difficult to rescue large whales. Protecting the environment is our best protection for wild animals.”

Sincere science popularization reports

Three science popularization reports on this year’s Open Day were from Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum, Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, and Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences. Children felt the scientist’s spirit of cherishing his motherland and devoting his life on the spot through the popular science play “Qian Xuesen”. In the experimental show “Playing with Water”, the counselor of the Provincial Science and Technology Museum started from the familiar “water”, and allowed children to more intuitively understand why hot water and cold water sound different when poured into a glass through interesting interaction. That’s because both the viscosity and temperature of water can affect the sound of entering the water. Why does seawater taste astringent and salty? That’s because in addition to sodium ions, there are also a small amount of magnesium ions in seawater.

Dr. Zhang Haifeng brought “The Adventures of See Turtles”, and vividly and intuitively popularized the knowledge of see turtles to children, leading them to walk in the deep sea and listen to stories such as the Difficult Survival Path of Little Turtles, the Story of Saving Turtles at Sea. Zhang Haifeng also shared his viewpoint, “The Earth does not need our protection. We are not so much protecting the Earth as protecting ourselves.”

“The Song of Ice and Fire - Exploration of the Arctic Ocean” from Researcher Ding Weiwei led everyone to explore “Why is there turbulent eruption of magma beneath the frozen Arctic Ocean?” “Why is there strange hydrothermal ecosystem in cold, deep water with no light?” In addition to science, Researcher Ding also showed the adorable polar bear, the beautiful and dazzling aurora, as well as the life of scientists on the ship. The vivid photos and interesting videos made the audience truly experience the hardship and joy of scientists in marine scientific investigation.

Interesting scientific investigation interaction

In order to meet children’s enthusiasm for participation, multiple interactive explanations and instrument experience projects were also prepared for the Open Day event. The “Science On a Sphere” spherical science display system can condense what is happening in the ocean on the sphere curtain.The Secret of Ocean Current, The Past and Present of Typhoon were showed at the event site, and both the ocean current and typhoon were displayed on this condensed “Earth”, allowing children to feel the power of nature more directly through explanation.

Although it is impossible to get close to the ocean, the interactive experience of the ocean bottom seismometer allowed children to know how the ball senses subtle vibration changes. The mystery of its floating and sinking in the ocean was also showed in the on-site experiment of Argo buoy. The two booths became the main battlefields for children’s practical operation. The Deep Sea Light project team from Zhihu collected a large number of sounds from the deep sea and transformed them into visible, audible and interactive science materials, allowing children to hear the sound of the sea bottom.

In the magical “Micro World” exhibition area, a drop of seawater was magnified hundreds of times under a microscope, so that children can see a strange ocean world; The underwater adventure VR experience area is also a very lively area, where people can see the three-dimensional video captured by the “Jiaolong” submersible at the mid-ocean ridge. With special glasses, people can enter the underwater world composed of black chimneys emitting black smoke, dense mussels and banareia, etc., and experience the scene of the initial birth of life on Earth...

The ocean has gone through billions of years since its birth. It is the birthplace of life, a driver of global climate change, a breeding ground for biological resources, as well as the enrichment place of mineral resources. We have taken a lot from the ocean and have the responsibility to maintain its health, so that the ocean can continue to provide strong support for our sustainable development. Every year before and after the World Oceans Day, the SIO will hold a variety of science popularization activities, planting the seeds of curiosity about the ocean in children’s hearts and making them more intuitively understand the significance of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.