What Is The Jellyfish Project?

The Jellyfish Project is an environmental initiative focused on generating awareness about the state of our world’s oceans through music and live performance. The Jellyfish Project is designed to stimulate conversation about a sustainable future. The program is offered FREE of charge to all BC high schools and middle schools. Sessions consist of a performance by the band followed by a discussion period. Topics include overfishing, marine plastics, ocean acidification, and sustainable solutions. If you would like to bring The Jellyfish Project to your school, please email info@thejellyfishproject.org.

“When we accepted Mindl Beach Market’s offer to perform at our school we were a little unsure of what we would get. What we got was a group of very talented young musicians that kept our students riveted for seventy five minutes. The students were engaged throughout the concert and many commented that it was the best musical assembly “ever”. The music had a wide range of styles that seemed to connect with all of the students. We appreciated their environmental message directed at keeping our ocean’s healthy. We are already looking to have the group back for another concert.”

-Wayne Friesen, Principal of Highland Secondary School in Comox, BC

FAQ

Q: Which students does The Jellyfish Project target?

A: The Jellyfish Project is designed to be presented to high school students of any grade and background. The material is relatively simple and the music can be universally appreciated. It’s up to the principal to decide who is in the audience!

Q: Our school doesn’t have a theatre. Can we still have The Jellyfish Project here?

A: Absolutely! We’ll set up in any room you have. We’ve played small multi-purpose rooms, band rooms, theatres and gymnasiums. We have all our own sound gear and we know how to operate it.

Q: We can’t take a whole bunch of students out of class. Will you perform to just a couple classes?

A: You bet! The Jellyfish Project has been presented to anywhere from 60 to 300 students. If we inspire just one student, it was well worth our time.

Q: How long is a Jellyfish Project session?

A: Sessions are typically 75 minutes. That breaks down to a 45 minute performance, a 15 minute presentation and a 15 minute question and answer period. That being said, we are very flexible. We’ll work with the time slot you give us. We are also available to do multiple sessions in a day.

Q: How long does the band need to set up/tear down?

A: It takes the band about 90 minutes to set up and about 60 minutes to tear everything down.

Q: Is it really free?

A: Yes, 100%! The aim of the project is to give back to the community that has supported Mindil Beach Markets. But if the students want to buy MBM merchandise so we can put some gas in the truck, we won’t say no!

The Jellyfish Project and MBM

We believe, that as musicians and performers, it is our responsibility to speak about issues that are important to us and important to our planet. As a band, we all grew up within a stone’s throw of the Pacific Ocean and spent much of our childhood on beaches and in the water – swimming, fishing, and playing in the sand. These experiences planted seeds that have grown into a passionate desire to contribute to our planet by spreading awareness about our oceans’ current state of crisis, and to offer suggestions as to ways people can take part in its healing.

Why do we, MBM, think that Ocean Health is so important?

Ocean health is necessary for the survival of our planet and the oceans are dying rapidly. Most of us won’t survive if the ocean’s die. Our mission is to encourage you to include sustainability awareness and action as one of your core values, so that you can be conscious of how your decisions might impact ocean health, your health, your future = OUR FUTURE.

Why do we need our oceans?

The world’s oceans are our lungs. Plankton, or algae, on the surface of the ocean, produce most of the air we breathe. The oceans are also responsible for the fresh water we drink, the food we eat, and they even fertilize the coastal forests.

“This is the second time we’ve had Mindil Beach Markets come and they’ve been really, really great both times. They’ve got great music and a great message and if you have the opportunity to have them, please welcome them in to your school. It’s totally worth it!”

-Tessa Davis, Music Director of Revelstoke Secondary School in Revelstoke, BC

Why are oceans dying?

The oceans represent 99% of the biosphere on Earth, and they are seriously sick because of carbon emissions, plastic, over fishing, toxins and pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.

Why the Jellyfish?

The jellyfish are the canaries in the coal mine in regards to the fragility of the world’s oceans. They are opportunistic organisms that take over environments that are available due to over fishing, over heating and acidification of the oceans, and lack of oxygen. They are the ultimate survivor, and have populated our oceans for three billion years. So when we notice that there are more and more jellyfish in our oceans, that’s an indicator that there’s something wrong.

Quick facts:

• Since 1950, with the onset of industrialized fisheries, we have rapidly reduced the resource base of large fish species to less than 10 percent from the tropics to the poles, which means that we have to stop eating fish that aren’t sustainable.
• The consumer is buying over-packaged products, and a lot of the plastic packaging ends up in the ocean. The Pacific Gyre, for example, is a large mass of plastic twice the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Sea animals, turtles and birds eat the plastics which lines their stomach and causes starvation, and the plastics leach toxins into the water.
• In the last 30 years, 30% of our coral has died due to global warming and the acidification of our oceans from excess carbon in our atmosphere. Coral supports 25% of all sea life.
• Algae or plankton produces most of the air we breathe and there is a 40% reduction in algae globally.
• Algae grows on the surface of our oceans, but in order to grow, they need light and nutrients. Global warming has increased the surface temperature of the water, creating thermoclines or separate regions differing in temperatures which restrict the colder, nutrient rich water below from upwelling into the warmer surface. Simply put, if the waters don’t mix, the algae aren’t getting the nutrients they need, so they die. Algae are also dying because of acid rain.

What is the Jellyfish Project Curriculum?

Created by Dan Kingsbury Sr, think of the Jellyfish Project curriculum as a template that you can contribute to, and learn from.

It is a curriculum developed for teachers in grades 4 – 7 as a Resource Guide so that teachers can teach about urgent ocean sustainability issues that affect plants, animals, humans and OUR FUTURE. The curriculum has links to online resources, short videos and a comprehensive list of related sustainable education products designed to increase our awareness so that we can become more sensitive to our environment and what we can do to contribute to the health of our planet.

The Jellyfish Project Resource Guide is a powerful education tool, it is FREE, and looking for a home in the classroom as a pilot project. All you have to do is contact us with an email address and request a PDF draft of the Jellyfish Project Units with “learning outcomes” that are compliant with most subjects. contact@mindilbeachmarkets.com

Unit outlines:

• Children’s Rights: food, clean air, clean water, healthy environment.
• What do you know about ocean health?
• Research online videos, newspaper articles, pro and con, then come to a consensus of understanding as a class. Students teach each other.
• Strategize effective actions for being responsible to ocean health? What would that look like?
• Commit to actionable steps towards a goal or agreed upon outcome.

Do you know a teacher who teaches Grades 4 – 7? Do you know parents who want their children to have this kind of education?

The idea of the Jellyfish Project has been “embraced” by the Vancouver Aquarium, Sunshine Coast School District #46, and local governments.

What can you do to help?

• Pass the word around that the Jellyfish Project is about SAVING THE WORLD through a united appeal for nurturing our oceans back to a peaceful vibrant state of balance and sustainable health.
• Be a contribution in service to something that carries on long after you are gone.
• See yourself as a champion of sustainability, not a victim.
• Be curious. Ask questions. Don’t take things for granted.

10 simple things you can do to protect nature:

(courtesy, the David Suzuki Foundation)

1. Reduce home energy use by 10%.
2. Choose an energy-efficient home and appliances.
3. Don’t use pesticides
4. Eat meat-free meals one day a week.
5. Buy locally grown and produced food.
6. Choose a fuel-efficient vehicle.
7. Walk, bike, carpool or take transit.
8. Choose a home close to work or school.
9. Support alternative transportation.
10. Learn more and share with others.

Take notice. Take action. Change the world.

And remember to slow down because we’re all traveling around the sun at the same speed.

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Daniel Kingsbury
daniel@thejellyfishproject.org
1-888-610-3341 ext 2