Science+Museum+Cafe-+Antarctica

=Expedition to Antarctica:= The teen activity night theme for march was the Exploration of Antarctica. The speaker, Alex Rothburg, is an Ichthyologist, someone who studies fish. Mr. Rothburg had gone to Antarctica to study fish, mostly ice fish. He discussed the food chains that lead to the depletion of certain fish populations in Antarctica. He also explained how many seals and whales were by-catch in commercial fishing operations in this area of Antarctica. Antarctic fish have an antifreeze proteins which protect them from the freezing temperatures of Antarctic water. Mr. Rothburg explained how explained was how climate change is effecting Antartica's various food chains and how they affect populations in Antarctica or remote areas.

The seminar began with a game of Extinction Bingo. The speaker, Mr. Rothburg was fascinated by extinction and death. He explained how death can be studied in order to better understand life. During this game of bingo various terms were explained to us. For example, a troglodyte is a prehistoric human or caveman and also a type of fish. And saltwater tolerance is when an organism can withstand large amounts of salt, like various plants and fish.

Mr. Rothburg had gone to Antarctica to better understand evolution and extinction, however, if climate change and global warming continue to threaten and deplete our world of the ice caps, these explorations would not be able to happen in the future. When the climate changes, there is an effect on the food supplies, disrupting food chains. In Antarctica there are several large pieces of floating ice, broken off from glaciers because of global warming. This problem of ice melting and breaking off can cause sea levels to rise, causing more severe hurricanes and flooding, problems we that we see at home.