Text Box: The West Indian Manatees are large, gray aquatic mammals, with bodies that taper down to a flat paddle-shaped tail. They have two forelimbs called flippers. Their head and face are wrinkled and they have whiskers on their snouts and are believed to be closely related to the elephant. Manatees are very gentle, very slow-moving animals, that are completely herbivorous and spend most of their time feeding and resting. They are found in shallow slow-moving rivers, estuaries or coastal areas. Because they are mammals they must surface every few minutes to breathe air. Manatees have no natural enemies and can live for up to 60 years. However due to humans hunting and capturing these defenseless creatures they are now endangered and some species are even extinct. They are now protected by law and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Dolphins are beautiful animals. They have a robust body that tapers towards the end, with distinct beaks and pectoral and dorsal fins. They have grey coloured bodies with white or sometimes blue underbellies. They have a thick layer of fat beneath their skin called blubber that keeps them warm. Dolphins are mammals and give birth to live young and nurse them with milk. They are very intelligent and sociable animals. They use a process called echolation to communicate with each other as well as to navigate and find food (they feed mainly on fish). They tend to live in families that are normally led by a female. Most species are found in marine waters, however there are a few freshwater species. Humans are the greatest threat to dolphins as a result of pollution, habitat destruction and overfishing. They are now endangered and are protected by international laws. Text Box: The first session of “An Afternoon with a Scientist” for the 2009/2010 school term kicked off on September 30th, 2009. The two schools invited to participate were St. George’s Girls Primary and Infant and St. Aloysius Primary. Both schools attended with approximately 170 students in total. The guest presenter was Ms. Dorsia Brooks, Education Outreach officer for the Natural History Museum of Jamaica at the I.O.J. She did a presentation on Wildlife Conservation, which included several short video clips showing the factors that threaten wildlife, she also mounted a wonderful exhibition consisting of specimens of endangered animals, highlighting local wildlife here in Jamaica some of which are endemic to Jamaica such as the Coney and the Text Box: Our Marine Mammals

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Text Box: An Afternoon with a Scientist

 Iguana. The presentation was followed by some fun-filled scientific activities in which the children demonstrated what they had learnt from the session.

St. George’s Girls Primary School students at “An fternoon with a Scientist”

A part of the Wildlife Exhibition at   “An Afternoon with a Scientist”