** All events are free to Explorers Club members and guests unless otherwise noted.

RSVP is required to 610-896-4776 or CJGERVAIS@aol.com
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Saturday, August 28
St. Clair, PA
Fossil collecting field trip
Meet at 11:00 AM

Spend the daysearching for 350 million year old fossil ferns from the Carboniferous Era that are preserved in excellent condition. Suggest you bring protective eye ware, rock hammer, chissel, carring bag or wheeled cart, lunch and plenty of water. Directoins will be sent to those that RSVP.

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Wednesday, September 8
Academy of Natural Sciences
Philadelphia, PA
19th & The Parkway
6:00 PM
Program & Reception
Subject: The Secrets of Priest's Grotto

In the spring of 1943 Ukrainian jews were less with no safe place left to hide, except perhaps below ground - in a cave. This is the story of how several families chose this option, and fought to survive during one of the darkest times in history. Faced with isolation, sensory deprivation and the constant threat of starvation, each of them adapted quickly to their hostile new environment. They built lanterns from old bottles, gathered water from the cave’s lakes and defended their entrance against the Nazis with their lives. In the end, they never relented in defense of their underground fortress.

This talk by American caver Chris Nicola FR'04 includes photos from Nicola National Geographic Adventure magazine sponsored 2003 expedition, as well as from those of subsequent visits; bringing the audience up to date new discoveries over the past seven years, and the development of a feature film and documentary, as well as the creation of a special museum exhibit near Priest's Grotto Cave.

Following the lecture, Nicola will sign copies of his book, THE SECRET OF THE PRIEST'S GROTTO.
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Fall Migration Whale Watch Study
Saturday, September 11
Cape May, NJ
Time: 11:30 AM
Cost: $38 per adults & $25 children (under 12)

Join members of the EC as we embark on a three hour tour off the waters of Cape May, NJ to observe the annual fall migration of Humpack, North Atlantic Right and Finback Whales. These magnificent marine mammals make their annual mighration down the Eastern Seaboard from Newfoundland to their winter breeding frounds.
More information to follow.

Please arrive at the Miss Chris Marina at 11:30. Our boat, The Cape May Whale Watcher leaves promptly at 12:00 Noon. Captain's Jeff Stewart, Sr. and Jr. are both Master Captain's with decades of experience. (www.capemaywhalewatcher.com)

                
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Cheetah Conservation
October 21
Academy of Natural Sciences
19th & The Parkway
6:00 PM - Reception & Lecture
Speaker: Dr. Laurie Maker
Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund
Namibia
www.cheetah.org

Dr. Laurie Marker will travel from the country of Namibia,  to discuss the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, is a unique and the most specialized member of the cat family and can reach speeds of 70 mph. Unlike other cats, the cheetah has a leaner body, longer legs, and has been referred to as the greyhound of the cats. It is not an aggressive animal, using flight versus fight. With its weak jaws and small teeth, the price it paid for speed, it cannot fight larger predators to protect its kill or young.               

             

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1st Annual Marine Science Symposium
Galloway, NJ
October 16, 2010
Theme: Ocean Conservation
Atlantic City Aquarium

10-12 speakers from colleges, universites and Dept of Marine Fisheries of NOAA will present topics pertaining to marine science conservation on Saturday, October 16. Optional field trips in the Atlantic City area will take place on Sunday, October 17.

Cost: TBA
Person that wish to present contact the Symposium Director at:
PHLExplorers@aol.com or 610-896-4776

Persons that wish to make a donation or sponsor the event contact:
609-214-3967 or fidico@hotmail.com
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Friday, October 29
Program & Reception
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA
Subject: Rediscovery of Sir Hubert Wilkin's Submarine: NAUTILUS

Explorer Club member Dr. Stewart B. Nelson will give a talk that is an outgrowth of The Explorers Club Flag Expedition he led in 2005 in which the re-discovered Sir Hubert Wilkins’s historic submarine Nautilus at the bottom of a Norwegian fjord.

Many considered it foolhardy but Australia-born explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins was determined to be the first to use a submarine to cross the Arctic Ocean by way of the North Pole.  At the Pole, he planned to drill up and rendezvous with the airship Graf Zeppelin.  A decommissioned U.S. Navy WW I submarine was leased in 1930 and extensively modified for under-ice operation.  Christened the Nautilus, the submarine reached the icepack but sabotage forced a return to Bergen, Norway and there the world’s first Arctic submarine was scuttled in a fjord in late 1931.

In September 2005, Dr. Stewart B. Nelson led an Explorers Club Flag Expedition that re-discovered the mostly forgotten Nautilus.  The Wilkins-Ellsworth Trans Arctic Submarine Expedition of 1931 is certainly worthy of being remembered.  Among the civilian crew of his submarine Nautilus was diver Frank Crilley, a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and scientist Harald Sverdrup who would later become director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California
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An Evening with Wildlife Conservationist
Jim Fowler
Program & Reception
Thursday, November 4
Academy of Natural Sciences
19th & The Parkway
Philadelphia, PA

Explorers Club Honorary Chairman and World famous wildlife conservationsit and former Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom's host Jim Fowler will be speaking to share his life work of saving endangered species and preserving habitat.