Description

Evolution takes place over long spans of time, but what if with the right tools we could see it happening in our coastal waters? Discover what the DNA of Killer Whales can tell us about their past and their future.

In our seventh series of the season we explored DNA and how the Vancouver Aquarium is using DNA research to gather evidence about Killer Whale genetic diversity and recognize the evolution of a new species of Arctic Lion's Mane Jelly Fish!

What did we do today?

• We went behind the scenes to our Jellyfish Research Lab where we raise jellyfish.
• Compared Parent and Offspring DNA code to discover the paternity of a Killer Whale calf
• Isolated our own DNA, uncoiling it so that it was visible to the naked eye!

Questions to ask your Junior Biologists

1. What does your DNA look like?
2. What can you learn from looking at Killer Whale/ Jellyfish DNA?
3. What does a juvenile/baby Jellyfish look like?

See your Jr. Biologists in Action here!

Do you have questions for Club Volunteers or our Coordinator, Danika? Ask away on our Discussion Board!

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Task

Try our "I Will Survive" Quiz!

Living things can't survive everywhere in the world, so they become specialized to live in their home area. These natural homes of a living thing are called their HABITAT. But do all animals live in the same HABITAT (their natural home)? Each animal has different features such as legs, flippers, wings, or fins which help them survive (stay alive) in their HABITAT. These are called ADAPTATIONS, and these ADAPTATIONS are special to these animals. You won't have the same ADAPTATIONS to survive as these animals will either! See if you can figure out which ADAPTATION belongs to which animal!

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Learning Objectives

• The Marine Mammal Research Program’s Conservation Genetics Lab
• The Jellyfish Research Lab
• hands on - how we extract DNA.
• Things we look at with the DNA
  • Species ID – from a prey sample or from a dead animal
  • Killer whale populations – identifying which population a particular animal came from by looking at the DNA
  • Paternity testing – this is how we start to understand different mating patterns in killer whales

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