World Oceans Experience Series 2022
Join us for a 3-part series exploring our oceans! All presentations will be virtual at 7pm. Reserve your spot with the buttons below.
March 24th – Voyage from New Hampshire to New Zealand
With Jeff and Molly Bolster
Former Gundalow Company Executive Director Molly Bolster, and her husband Jeff, retired in 2018 to sail around the world. Far from seafaring novices, they nevertheless had not embarked previously on a voyage this ambitious. Just the two of them, watch on and watch off, they sailed their 40-foot cutter from New Hampshire to New Zealand — before Covid-19 shut the ports of the world to yachts. Join us as Molly and Jeff recount the challenges and satisfactions of a small boat voyage nearly half way around the world, richly illustrated with their photos.
March 31 – Rigs to Reefs: Re-purposing and Re-imagining the world’s offshore oil and gas platforms as some of the most productive marine ecosystems on the planet
From Blue Latitudes with Emily Hazelwood and Amber Sparks
In our daily lives, we all contribute to the global demand for offshore oil and gas, by driving our cars, turning on the lights in our homes, and continuing to rely on plastics. This demand has led to the development of thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms in almost every ocean on the planet. Although intended to produce oil, the complex latticework structures of the platform jackets harbor some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. Many of these platforms are aging relics, leftover designs from an era in hot pursuit of developing and extracting the world’s offshore oil reserves, with little thought given to their eventual removal. However, as the global economy has begun to shift away from traditional petroleum based energy resources towards renewables, the removal of many of these structures has become inevitable, and the technical, economic and environmental implications associated with their decommissioning must now be addressed.
April 8 – Brian Skerry
During his 24-year career as a National Geographic magazine photographer, Brian Skerry’s work has evolved from a purely natural history focus to highlighting problems in the ocean and illustrating solutions. With Luminous Seas, Brian takes us on assignment with him into the sea and guides us through his storytelling journey. His artistic interpretation of issues such as overfishing, climate change and endangered species combined with celebratory treatment of animals like sharks (giving them a ‘makeover’) and showing the value of marine protection, provides visual context for the pivotal moment at which we find ourselves in history – a time when we understand the problems, know the solutions and simply need the will to act.
Brian Skerry is a photojournalist and film producer specializing in marine wildlife and underwater environments. Since 1998 he has been a contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine, covering stories on every continent and in nearly every ocean habitat. He is currently at work on his 30th feature story for NGM.
Virtual Gundalow Gatherings & Science Cafes 2021
The spring 2021 presentations have concluded! Thanks to the 668 attendees for watching 7 presentations with us this spring. Check out our Speaker Series onboard the Gundalow this summer for more, happening on Tuesday evenings.
February 25 – “Faka’apa’apa” with Blue Latitudes
Vava‘u is the island group comprising one large island and 40 smaller ones in the Kingdom of Tonga. In the years since Tonga banned whale hunting, an important piece of the local economy has become swimming with whales. But will this new form of ecotourism be sustainable? Join us to watch the documentary film, “Faka’apa’apa,” by Blue Latitudes Foundation, and then chat with the nonprofit group’s researchers Emily Hazelwood and Amber Sparks.
March 4 – A Virtual Tour of New England Lighthouses
The lighthouse is a pervasive icon in our culture, often used to symbolize positive qualities like faith, guidance, and strength. Jeremy D’Entremont’s presentation, Lighthouses of Seacoast New Hampshire and Southern Maine, will focus on the rich history of the lighthouses between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and York, Maine, featuring primarily the fascinating stories of lighthouse keepers and their families. The lighthouses covered in Jeremy’s presentation will be Portsmouth Harbor Light, Whaleback Light, White Island (Isles of Shoals) Light, Boon Island Light, and Cape Neddick “Nubble” Light.
Speaker: Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 21 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation, founder and chairman of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and historian for the U.S. Lighthouse Society. Jeremy has lectured and narrated cruises throughout New England. He is the webmaster of www.newenglandlighthouses.net and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s podcast, “Light Hearted.” He has appeared in many national TV and radio programs speaking about lighthouse history and preservation.
March 25 – Water Over the Dam: resolving conflicts between beavers and human communities
Beavers create dams to raise water levels so they can build their homes in the water. Humans are one of the biggest threats to beavers. Trapping, water pollution, and habitat loss through drainage of wetlands are common occurrences that negatively affect beaver populations. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department manages beavers in the state and attempts to maintain populations wherever the animal’s presence is beneficial. Learn more at our Science Cafe.
Speakers:
Matt Tarr, Wildlife Biologist, UNH Extension, Durham, NH
Patrick Tate, Wildlife Biologist, NH Fish and Game, Concord, NH
Jim O’Brien, Board of Selectmen, Hopkinton, NH & Director of External Affairs, The Nature Conservancy, Concord, NH
April 1 – All Things Oysters
Brianna Group of TNC teams up with Brian Gennaco of Virgin Oyster for a night of all things oysters. Brianna will talk about restoration in the Great Bay and their SOAR program that partnered with oyster farmers for restoration during COVID. Brian will talk about the farm and shucking demonstrations – oysters and shucking knives are available for pickup or local delivery too!
April 29, 2021 – Wood Island Life Saving Station
A presentation from Sam Reid
The Wood Island Life Saving Station Association in Kittery, ME will be the only of its kind with a marine railway, once used to launch rescue crafts into stormy waters with hardy surfmen onboard. But to top that, WILSSA has now acquired an SR pulling surfboat, named the Mervin F. Roberts, named in honor of the longtime resident of Old Lyme, Connecticut. The Coast Guard had acquired only about 100 of these boats in the 1930s and 40s, and the 26.5-ft Roberts is expected to be the only one still usable in the water. Will it soon slide down the station’s reconstructed marine railway? Join our discussion with WILSSA president, Sam Reid, to learn all about it!
History of Wood Island: The Portsmouth Harbor station was built on the island in 1908, when it was manned by the Life Saving Service. The rugged surfmen of this agency would set out in wooden surfboats during the stormiest of seas to rescue mariners in distress, saving hundreds of lives over the years. In 1915, the service was merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to create the U.S. Coast Guard. The Wood Island station was eventually abandoned to relocate operations to the Coast Guard’s current site in New Castle, New Hampshire. The structure fell into disrepair after decades of neglect, and WILSSA was created in 2011 to save it from demolition. (words from Seascoastonline.com article)
May 6th – Traces of the Trade: Portsmouth’s connection to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
A presentation by JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director, Black Heritage Trial of New Hampshire
Institutionalized slavery in Colonial America provided immense wealth and material culture to many European immigrants and their descendants.
Portsmouth, like Newport RI flourished as a shipbuilding city and like Newport, the town grew wealthy from the trade of kidnapped Africans and its secondary goods. This conversation with JerriAnne Boggis, Executive Director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, will focus on Portsmouth shipbuilding history and the towns economic dependent upon the international slave trade.
JerriAnne was previously Director of Diversity Programs & Community Outreach at the University of New Hampshire. She was named by the New Hampshire Humanities Council as one of the 40 most influential New Hampshirites who have vastly enriched human understanding.
This presentation is sponsored by ReVision Energy. Their mission is To lead their community in solving the environmental problems caused by fossil fuels while alleviating economic and social injustice.
May 13th – Learn How to Paint Your Own Historic Gundalow
A painting workshop by Todd Bonita
Todd’s work is represented by 10 art galleries in New England, Florida and the UK, and is in hundreds of corporate and private collections worldwide, including that of President George H. W. Bush. Painting is his full-time occupation. He owns and operates the Todd Bonita Art Gallery in Ogunquit and Portsmouth and is co-owner of the Ogunquit Summer School of Art, where he teaches painting classes and art workshops year-round.
A supply list can be found here: supply list
