The Raincoast Speaker Series is a long-running social and educational phenomenon! Each winter season, we invite the community to brave the rain and join a panel of experts for in-depth discussions about locally, regionally, and globally relevant issues. New this year we will be offering the series in parallel in Ucluelet and Tofino - that means two opportunities to see each speaker! Attend all 5 topics for your chance to win a prize.
This year’s theme is “Charismatic Microfauna”. Whether you are into bugs that break down decaying forest debris and turn over soil or sea butterflies that help us monitor ocean acidification, there is something to capture your heart in this year’s Raincoast Speaker Series.
Pteropods are the most beautiful and fascinating snails you’ve never heard of! Commonly called “sea butterflies”, these tiny planktonic marine snails spend their entire life in the water column swimming using two “wings”. Pteropods are important for two main reasons: they are a major food source for other marine organisms, and they contribute significantly to the biological carbon pump that helps regulate our climate. Studies have indicated that pteropods may be negatively impacted by ocean acidification dissolving their shells. If pteropods disappeared, the effects would be seen throughout the food web and in the biogeochemical cycles of the ocean. This talk will highlight the bizarre and wonderful biology of the pteropod Limacina helicina, and explain how ocean acidification may be threatening them along with many other marine species.
Cost: $5 at the door.
