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Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5725 Remote, isolated, rugged, and sometimes inaccessible, Channel Islands National Park can be challenging to experience. Now, through advanced technology, the Channel Islands Live Ocean Webcam brings the park's prolific and diverse marine environment directly to you. The Ocean Webcam is part of an educational partnership between the National Park Service and Ventura County Office of Education, which includes live presentations from the islands and surrounding waters and webcams that connect viewers to bald eagle nests, seabird rookeries, and the iconic Arch Rock. The Ocean Webcam was generously donated by Teens4Oceans, an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to empower the next generation to become impassioned stewards for their oceans through education, experiential learning, scientific research, and innovative technologies. "This webcam is captivating and immerses one into the kelp forest and intertidal environments that are home to nearly 1,000 different marine organisms," said Channel Islands National Park Superintendent Russell Galipeau. "We are grateful to Teens4Oceans for this webcam that we expect will connect millions of viewers to these incredible resources each year." Established in 2007 by students and educators at Kent Denver High School in Colorado, Teens4Oceans uses submersible web cameras to introduce marine ecosystems into classrooms. They involve students in the design, building, patent process, and deployment of the cameras to stream high-definition video of the ocean through the Internet in real time. They have cameras at six sites in California, Florida, and the Caribbean. The innovative web cameras are designed specifically for durability in harsh conditions. They have a patented self-cleaning robotic housing that employs a magnetically driven cleaning arm to reduce maintenance costs and optimize the video feed quality. Channel Islands Park Foundation, the park's principle charitable partner, contributed to the Ocean Webcam through financial support of transmission hardware and new video conferencing equipment for the Channel Islands Live program. To learn more about the Teens4Oceans program visit: www.teens4oceans.org To view Channel Islands Live programs and webcams visit: https://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/channel-islands-live-nps.htm For the Channel Islands Park Foundation visit: http://www.ciparkfoundation.org/
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Last updated: February 28, 2015