Sisbro Performs a Pirate Earth Day for NOAA Marine Sanctuary
To celebrate Earth Day, the Friends of Thunder
Bay National Marine Sanctuary brought the live show of
Laura and Robert Sams' Sisbro Studios to NOAA's Great Lakes Maritime Heritage
Center theater, in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The show was a pirate-filled, water-themed, rollicking "edutainment" opportunity
for families to celebrate Earth Day together in Northern Michigan. Visitors watched Sisbro's award-winning underwater children's film, The Riddle in a Bottle, and they enjoyed some behind-the-scenes stories about the making of nature documentaries. How did they get so close to the sea turtles and dolphins? How did they find all the frog species calling at night? Why did they decide to make a film and book about water? One of the
program highlights featured Robert Sams singing a pirate song from the movie, which follows the pirate's journey to find a lost peg leg from an inland pond to the Great Lakes to the ocean. 
The program also featured tips about how to make a nature-based book, using their award-winning book A Pirate's Quest as an example. "We hope to inspire kids to tell their own unique stories," Laura Sams said. "The world is full of inspiring things, and on Earth Day, we have a chance to think about all the ways the Earth can inspire us all - through films, books, art and music."
The Samses' performance was part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary's second annual Earth Day fair, which hosted approximately 500 northern Michigan students in grades 3-6. The event highlighted various environmental topics and included exhibits and displays featuring invasive species, recycling, a river watershed model and underwater robot demonstrations.
The Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary is one of 14 nationally protected marine areas in the United States, though it is the only freshwater area! Located in northwestern Lake Huron, Thunder Bay is adjacent to one of
the most treacherous stretches of water within the Great Lakes system.
Unpredictable weather, murky fog banks, sudden gales, and rocky shoals
earned the area the name "Shipwreck Alley." Today, the 448-square-mile
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protects one of America's
best-preserved and nationally-significant collections of shipwrecks.
Fire, ice, collisions, and storms have claimed over 200 vessels in and
around Thunder Bay. To date, more than 50 shipwrecks have been
discovered within the sanctuary and an additional 30 wrecks have been
located outside of the sanctuary boundaries. Although the sheer number
of shipwrecks is impressive, it is the range of vessel types located in
the sanctuary that makes the collection nationally significant. From an
1844 sidewheel steamer to a modern 500-foot-long German freighter, the
shipwrecks of Thunder Bay represent a microcosm of maritime commerce and
travel on the Great Lakes.
It also has a Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, with a free exhibit hall. Experience the Shipwreck Century as you battle the fury of a Lake Huron storm aboard a 19th-century schooner. Explore a shipwreck without getting wet! The site features immersive maritime heritage exhibits, an HD theater, wooden boatbuilding workshop, a gift shop and exciting programs and events throughout the year.
