Wonders of science phenomena series#
Each of these discoveries is designed to move you closer to unlocking a series of playful visual effects that allow you to visualise the wonders – transforming the real world around you. At each new point of interest, you discover challenges with a cryptic clue to search and identify the subject matter in your surroundings. The core gameplay loop is designed to encourage people to head out into the world and discover the science hidden in plain sight – similar to a large-scale treasure hunt. Building on the affordances of the Lightship ARDK and inspired by Niantic’s vision for a real-world metaverse, we wanted to bring science into our world to make it more relatable, understandable and valuable.ĭesigning for a primarily younger audience, we set out to develop a location-based game that encourages kids and families to get outside and explore the world through eyes-up play. Just as humans might favour one hand, the walruses favoured one flipper and tusk for foraging on the ocean floor.From the outset, the ambition of Wonderlab AR was to extend the Science Museum’s mission beyond their site-specific locations and help more people make sense of the science which shapes our lives. Frasier and her co-authors theorize that this shows a “handedness” among the Maritimes population. Mary’s University in Halifax has argued that this Maritimes walrus was distinct-both physically and genetically-from its modern Arctic counterparts.Įvidence from Sable Island suggests that the left tusk of Maritimes walruses tended to be shorter than the right. These animals were hunted heavily for their ivory and were last seen on the island in the late 1800s.īiologist Brenna Frasier of St. The shifting sand dunes of Sable Island sometimes uncover tusks, the remnants of a walrus population that was once found throughout the Maritimes. Skull of a Maritimes walrus found on Sable Island (photo: Brenna Frasier).Īny remote island will have its relics and vanished presences.
Resighting survey for banded Ipswich sparrows on Sable Island, spring 2020.In the spring of 2020, the Ipswich sparrow research crew was unable to travel to Sable Island because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and so the spring “resighting” survey was carried out by Parks Canada employees. To better understand the breeding and migration habits of the Ipswich sparrow, researchers band the birds and then try to spot as many individuals as possible in the species’ wintering and nesting habitats. This little bird, writes Andy Horn of Dalhousie University and the Sable Island Institute, “doggedly gambles every spring that it will find that sole sandspit in the great wide ocean.” There’s a mystery associated with this sand-coloured bird, also called the “Savannah Sparrow princeps subspecies.” It winters up and down the east coast of North America but breeds almost exclusively on Sable Island. And there’s one bird that everybody is always glad to see-the Ipswich sparrow. Sable Island is part of a key migratory flyway, with many bird species (over 350) recorded. Grey Seal Research Program, Winter, Sable Island – Paul LeBlanc, 2019.is deafening.” As for the smell, he adds, “this is something that can only be described by experiencing it yourself.” In fact, it’s the biggest grey seal breeding colony in the world.ĭescribing this colony, Paul LeBlanc, an assessment technician for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, writes, “the cacophony of moaning, hissing and snarling.
Wonders of science phenomena free#
Being free of predators, the island makes a perfect nursery. On clear days, the horizon seems as big as the world.ĭuring the seal breeding season, this spree for the senses is cranked to eleven.įrom late December to early February, the beaches of Sable Island can get a little crowded when as many as 400 000 grey seals come ashore to mate and give birth. The air is filled with the scents of seaweed and aromatic wild plants like bayberry and juniper.
In good weather or bad, your senses are constantly being reawakened on Sable Island.īreakers crash on the shore and withdraw with a soft hiss. Breeding season for grey seals at Sable Island National Park Reserve.
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