'Whales in Motion' program comes to Tybee Island Marine Science Center
Offers people with blindness or low vision a unique experience to learn about whales.
Offers people with blindness or low vision a unique experience to learn about whales.
Offers people with blindness or low vision a unique experience to learn about whales.
There has long been a fascination with right whales, and now a new program is giving a segment of the population that normally couldn’t relate to that species that opportunity.
It wasn’t your typical performance for members of the Savannah Philharmonic Monday. The music they played is part of a new, innovative program geared toward people with blindness or low vision called 'Whales in Motion,' which uses data gathered by scientists from whales.
“So in our project, we took that data and we turned those behaviors, those foraging patterns, into 3D tactile sculptures where a person can run their hand along the path of the sculpture to understand how the whale is moving through water and foraging for food," said Terry Wolkowicz, education director for Sound Explorations.
That allowed participants from the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision to engage in hands-on learning about the right whale with a little bit of music added to the process.
“So in front of that person is a musician who watches their hand and performs on a melody that has the same shapes and contours as they're perceiving, as they traverse the sculpture model," said Wolkowicz.
“It really, truly feels wonderful when the music is going along right along with your hands and guiding it and guiding the sculpture," said Laura Robertson, a program participant. "And by the time you get to the end of the sculpture, it is magnificent.”
And for the people of Tybee Island Marine Science Center, they’re just happy to be one of the first places to offer this program.
“This is the first time in our history that we've ever tried to do something like this," said Chantal Audran, executive director of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center. "And it's a proud moment to fill this room with education that is understandable and an outreach for every community.”
A total of six participants from the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision gathered for the program.