by Dot Cannon
What holds one hundred fifty elementary and middle-school students spellbound?
Try–a presentation on art and oceanography by two “rock stars” of ocean studies.
That’s exactly what happened, this morning at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific, as noted marine-life artist Wyland and National Geographic Explorer in Residence Dr. Sylvia Earle kicked off the annual Wyland National “Water is Life” Art Challenge. The Art Challenge, presented through Wyland’s nonprofit Wyland Foundation, is a month-long free art program, open to all secondary and elementary-school students in the nation.
And it was providing these visiting students a field trip they’d never forget.
Introducing the renowned oceanographer, Wyland said, “Sylvia Earle is to the ocean and conservation what the Beatles were to rock and roll.”