Surf's up with DAMSL!

Cool new tool lets kids see underwater images from eastern and western hemispheres

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Ever wondered what a French Angelfish looks like? Wanted to explore the Great Barrier Reef? Or wanted to check out how fish camouflage themselves? Using the University of Miami's free, online interactive database, the Digital Atlas of Marine Species and Locations (DAMSL), you can. Just surf on over to www.damsl.org.

DAMSL has images taken by photographer Myron Wang and his wife and dive partner, Nicole, over the last 40 years. The Wangs donated their collection of more than 5,000 images of beautiful fish, corals, invertebrates and other marine life so the Rosenstiel School could help create a way to share these photos with students of all ages, teachers, divers, ecosystem scientists, and others interested in our oceans.

Users may search the DAMSL database by geographic location or by type of marine life. Each search will yield a thumbnail image with information on the marine life depicted, including scientific name, common name, kingdom, class, family, genus and species, the date collected and geographic data.

Before launching the site high school students from MAST Academy (Miami) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale) dove in and tested DAMSL. Teachers and students found this new way of studying marine life a refreshing change from learning though traditional textbooks. In addition, the students were thrilled to discover unique creatures in regions to which they may never have traveled.

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