How to get more ocean savvy?

[Thalassa]

I want to be able to talk about the ocean as a mermaid. However, as I discussed in another post I live in a desert and have only been to the ocean a total of 4 or 5 times in my life. I'd like to study up on it and be aware of current issues as well as be able to answer questions/give presentations on ocean life.

Here's the rub: I'm not sure where to find reliable sources of information. I don't want to give out wrong info to kids, and as a educator I'm painfully aware that even some "nonfiction" books contain fallacies (whether because they were considered fact at the time the book was published or because the author/editor/publisher decided to water down the truth or that it was cute). Dry (pardon the pun) books and articles tend not to hold my attention, but I can make it through them if I think of it as studying. My main concern is the reliability of the information.

So, ocean-savvy mers: Where do YOU get your information?

[Merman Dan]

Video: Discovery/BBC Blue Planet (http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/blue-planet/blue-planet.html) ($9.99 on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/the-blue-planet/id308833888))
Print: DK Publishing OCEAN (http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-American-Museum-Natural-History/dp/0756636922/ref=pd_sim_b_1) ($18.45 on Amazon)

Or you could set up a saltwater aquarium :)

[deepblue]

Every day I read blogs, websites, and whenever I can listen to ocean related podcasts. I know they're reliable because I make sure to get my info from or linked from what we know are the top universities and science sources. There are some really great websites that are great sources of reliable information.

The Ocean Portal - easy to navigate, you can find basic or more detailed info here.
http://ocean.si.edu/

Monterey Bay Aquarium's site has some basic info.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/climate/default.aspx?c=ln

NOAA's Ocean Explorer site
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/

Interactive Oceans
http://www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/

The BEST ocean related podcast- well my favorite, anyway. :D Naked Oceans from the Naked Scientists.
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/oceans/

Some great and educational blogs:
http://deepseanews.com/
http://marineconservationblog.blogspot.com/
http://blog.marinebio.org/
http://marineconservationblog.blogspot.com/

[Thalassa]

THANK you, merfolk! This will be great! *delves into research*

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

You might look into a class on oceanography, if only to sit in or to check out what books they use as texts. I took an oceanography (under the geoscience heading) class at Penn State (which is landlocked as well), and the professor used Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us. I also found Anita Ganeri's The Oceans Atlas (published by DK) to contain a bunch of interesting facts for younger audiences, including why water appears blue to our eyes.