Just Another Day in NYC

The alarm went off and I was very groggy.  I slumped back into my bed.
It was light outside, and the temperature was mild. It was all a trick. The weather would reach the upper 90s today.
Our first stop was ground zero.  It was close the furthest in the other direction, so why not start there first, and have all the close stuff done together? The only problem: the trains running to that area were down today. We picked up and started walking. It wasn't that far right?A good walk later we arrived at a metal cross constructed from . It didn't really hit me what were seeing, I guess. I wasn't struck by it immediately. We crossed the road to St. Paul's Chapel, where a memorial of sorts existed. Walking amongst the graves immediately set the tone-somber. In the days following 9/11, the chapel had served as a sanctuary for those who needed shelter after the attacks, and a place for workers and volunteers to recharge. Several exhibits in the chapel, documented the day. Never had I felt so strongly about the attacks as I did when I entered this chapel. I walked alone, in solitary thought, feeling as if in a library. Somehow, I don't think I would have heard anyone, the ambient noises blended to white noise, and I was too lost in my thoughts to notice, walking quietly along the wooden floors. I felt a pain in my heart looking at each heartfelt exhibit. One of the displays that made me feel the most intensely was a structure composed of pictures. The pictures were of people who disappeared or lost their lives that day. I felt a small pain along the bridge of my nose, looking at all the smiles, like ghosts, looking at me from the pictures.

As we left the chapel, no one spoke a word. There was a silent depression, like a black cloud, hanging over us. The wordless walk lasted through the gates. I don't know who reached for who, but all of a sudden, Bryce and I were holding hands.
"That was really sad," he said. I nodded in agreement, saying yes, feeling sweeping grief and relief in the broken silence.
There was a moment of perfect understanding, the epitome of giving and taking between us. We understood exactly what the other needed, squeezing tightly for a moment longer. Then the sadness passed and we let go. This moment would last with me for a long time, and I was glad to have such a good friend by my side while I experienced it.

The day was full of walking, my feet already tired from the morning's trek.  We made a stop in Chinatown, my heart set on getting a purse in one of the small shops. My former purse had recently decided against life. I also silently dreaded other people watching me embarrass myself. I didn't want to look like an idiot and buy a purse for full price, but I knew I was terrible at haggling.  Even though I knew the prices were automatically set high, with the expectation of negotiation. The first shop was a flop.  Nothing spoke to me loud enough to make me embarrass myself. I walked away, head down. We passed several small shops on Canal street before I decided to brave another store. I found one I thought I liked, and the woman pulled it down for me, but I didn't pick it up.  When I asked her how much it was, she said $35. I knew I wouldn't pay that price. Luckily, Bryce stepped in and asked if I wanted to leave. I said yes, slightly saddened.  As I turned to go, the woman immediately spoke up. It was working. I told her I only had 20 dollars.  She sighed, exasperated. Her husband fussed at her, obviously in Chinese, and she agreed to $21. I paid her and hurried out of the shop before my good luck could run out.  I must have looked like an idiot, an enormous grin on my face. I felt an enormous amount of pride in the sale, and the purse was now worth more than I could have imagined. Away from the other purses, I stroked it, feeling a softness I had not noticed before. Bryce also remarked that it was my color, which I realized, though ostentatious, very much was. I smiled again, clutching my purchase.
We took a walk in Central Park, perhaps one of the most filmed parks in the whole of America. People swarmed; it was a lazy, hot summer afternoon that many had come to enjoy. Green benches lined the entire park, many filled with people.  I wondered at them; how many people had had life-altering, heart-wrenching conversations on these benches? How many decisions had been made there? I longed to take pictures of people deep in conversation, but decided I was too shy and too obvious to do so.

More time was spent walking in the zoo--there were so many animals. The poor polar bear looked so hot, and I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of this strange, hot summer location. I silently hoped his water was cold. I couldn't decide if I was opposed to zoos or not-I did see it as a valuable tool for education, and certainly enjoyed my time looking in all the windows. I took an awesome picture of a marmoset, and once again proved a good picture is only patience away.

We ate dinner in Ellen's Stardust Diner, where all the waiters and waitresses are aspiring broadway stars. The food was alright, but the dancing and singing never stopped. I enjoyed it, but after food, was ready to go home. With a quick swing by the sights, we were ready to get on the train and go home.
I revelled in exhaustion caused by a full, action packed day in the city.

A Chat with Carl

Waking up, I could feel my hands shaking, jitters running rampant through my arms and legs. 
Today I would call Carl Safina, and talk to him for the first time in five years.
You have to understand--when he said keep in contact, I didn't.  I got caught up with school and life, and what was a shining memory among stars that I reached for in my quest to become a marine biologist, remained only that.  Fate had given me a second chance, and I hoped I was brave enough to take it.
Ring. Ring ring ring. A warm voice answered on the line.  In a nervous tone that I hoped did not become an endless slurry of thoughts, I explained who I was.  He agreed to meet me later this afternoon.
I tried to capture my thoughts, but they were fluttering around my brain, making it feel blank. What would I ask? No response.  What would I say? No response.  Aside from some very general pre-formulated questions, my brain was refusing to cooperate with me today. I put it to the back of my mind as I picked up The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and began reading.  I was sucked into fantasy world while my thoughts flitted and eventually gave up at trying to create anxiety.
Work went quickly enough--and then there I was, striding up to him as he stood amongst a group of people, chatting. We walked to a quiet room, and I realized he was a lot shorter than I remembered.  But his face was kind and open, behind glasses that made his eyes magnified.  Whether I interpreted this as more warmth, or just a sensible oddity, I don't know.
I asked him the most common sense and almost taboo of questions--it felt taboo because I was in no way a close friend or someone he knew, but here I was, almost insisting we catch up as if it was such.  He played along, although the air felt a tad strained.  But he continued to talk, and we filled 30 minutes, chatting about details and grad school.  He had the heir of a mentor, and I felt it.  I was most suprised at his last parting words. 
He thanked me for searching him out, and wished me luck.  After an odd, but nice conversation.  And he thanked me again, invited me to call or email when I pleased, and shook my hand.  It was odd, but I felt better, I felt worth.

Work was also productive.  The PCR I ran yielded very good results.  8 out of 10 of my samples showed DNA, in very clear bands, meaning something had been amplified. (This was minus the positive and negative controls.)  I felt a little glow in my heart--what I was doing was actually working, my meticulousness was paying off.  The DNA was there, and could be sequenced, meaning we could identify what the baby Lemon Sharks had been eating. The bottom samples are mine--all mine.

Another Day at Work

So I felt the need to talk about my day at work today.
I have been having a hard time at work.  I've felt frustrated, tired, stepped on, and pushed around.  Today started out no different.  As I trudged through the forest, I tried to shake the sleepy from my eyes, and get over my small frustrations.  I was a little snippy as well.  Now was the time for solitary.
The work pounded into me a sense of being, and calm. This is where I lived, making sense of something small, losing myself in science.
Just before lunch, the gel we were working on was ready to look at.  The samples we were trying to isolate DNA had been sitting in the stomach of a shark, where is fell prey to digestion and could potentially be heavily degraded.  If they were degraded, we wouldn't be able to get usable genetic information from the shark's last meal. 
I had slaved a little over these samples, being meticulous and careful with the DNA I knew would be hard to extract.  Today, the results of running them on an eletrophoresis gel would tell me if my efforts were fruitless or not.
In an amazing stroke of fate, about half my 19 samples had visible bands, with about 7 being very visible.  It was odd how something could make me so happy, but I suppose that's why I was in science.  It was the little things, there was where we found joy.
I prepared my proudly visible samples for PCR, and stuck them in the machine.  I was elated. I felt the work I put into them, the care come to fruition. I felt belonging and sense of place.  I felt science.
The walk home alone differed greatly from the first.  The tracks of the day were John Mayer, and I looked at the forest in the afternoon light with a special, happy Sara glow.  I felt accomplished.

The evening held grocery shopping and chats with Steven in his car, and all felt right, all felt calm.  Now to see what new days would bring.

Bimini-In Retrospect

Alright--now I know I've been a negligent poster. And for that I am truly sorry!!!
Now to catch up.
Mostly, I want to talk about one of our last days on Bimini, the day we went out for the vertical long line. A long line is just like what it sounds like-a very long fishing line (and very thick cable) with hooks down the line, and of course bait attached to these hooks. It takes time to set, and with the weather being what it was, we weren't sure we were going to be able to do it. It catches large sharks--and when I say large, I mean, LARGE sharks. Not quite great white size, but big.
I'll start with our ride out there. We went out in a large caravan type boat, the kind they use for tours. As we set out, I was amazed at the color of the water. It was a brilliant deep blue, almost a royal blue. I'm pretty sure I got teased for my remarks about how "blue" the water was. I was simply floored. Something about the light made reflect in one of the most beautiful shades I've ever seen. It was like the colors you see in your dreams, like the from outerspace sea blue, but brighter.
We sat patiently on boats as they pulled up the line. A couple sharks were anchored, and we jumped out to swim to the first of 3 we would see that day. Swimming out into the ocean scared me. It seems like a silly thing that a budding marine biologist would be scared by the ocean, but I was surrounded by the fathomless depth. I was surrounded by the fabulous blue, and it spread beneath me, endlessly, seemingly with no bottom. I caught myself stuck, holding my breath. I wasn't sure if I could, lost in my thoughts the deep. I would remind myself, and suddenly gasp through my snorkel. The ocean was so massive, so deep.
The third shark brought to the top we were allowed to swim up to, and take a picture. I, sadly, had not known how close we could get to it, and just barely gripped the dorsal fin. Even in that small part of the shark, I could feel the limitless power. This was an immense being, that could take my life in seconds, yet held here stationary by hooks and line. After swimming away, I drew in fast giggles, almost searching for air, amazed at my luck. The giggling was anxious and in awe. What did I do to deserve such fortune?

I am content recounting this last experience in the Bahamas, for it pretty much sums up my experience. One of amazement and extreme luck. Although I don't miss the sand fleas, or the constant sweating, and especially not the horse flies, I miss the waves of heat, blasting me in warmth. I miss swimming amongst 20-odd baby lemons, holding still until they were almost swimming into my face, with eyes that match their skin, and feeling the fear, but also excitement. I miss seeing them look into my eyes as I looked into their's, feeling the danger and the love. I miss the days of grabbing my snorkel gear, and heading into the open ocean, for a day amongst the reef. I miss the reef club, and the camaraderie of the shark lab folks, living in the endless summer attitude that they clung too. I miss the days out on the skiff, riding the waves. I miss the days of never-ending time.

Internet FAIL

So...I realize it's been more than a week since I posted last. I have not had internet for a while, but it is also a little bit my fault for being lazy.
A lot of stuff has happened, and all the time on the island seems to melt together. I hardly notice the passing of hours in the day, and they quickly fade into nights I do not wish to sleep through. And all of a sudden our time is almost up.
Some time last week (my memory of time is a little fuzzy) we went for a snorkel on the reef and the southern-most part of the island.  The fish were absolutely amazing. My favorite was the juvenile yellow-tailed damselfish. It was a deep blue with (what else?) a yellow tail. All over it were bright blue dots that looked much like little sapphires bejeweling the small fish.  There were all sorts of coral, from boulder to fan to brain. I was struck by the absolute explosion of color.  Yellows, greens, blues, oranges. It was beautiful.  I saw angelfish with white and black stripes, and huge fish with blue and brown scales.  I saw lionfish and trunkfish.  And although it looked as nothing was happening at the surface, closer inspection revealed holes in the coral that teemed with life.  There were lots of sting rays, many of them buried in the sand, and a Spotted Eagle Ray swam past, very much making me feel like I was swimming through Finding Nemo.
We also went on a similar snorkel out to see sharks.  We went out to Triangle Rock, and watched as the tour guide fed Reef Sharks and Blacktip Sharks.  I saw a lot of the same fish, including a cute one that had teeth sticking out and fins on top and bottom that moved front to back, not back and forth.
We had a couple more stomach eversions, and found a shark with suspicious chicken or rib looking bones in its stomach.  This was bizarre, because as you can imagine, that isn't normally on the lemon shark's usual menu.
Monday was a long day in the lab. The funny thing is, I hardly noticed the time passing at all. I had to create a table of shark length by clasper length. If you don't know what claspers are, let me enlighten you.  They are the male reproductive organs of the shark. They are just little attachements below the pelvic fins on the shark.  Over time, they grow and calcify--as the shark matures.  We were plotting this data, one, because no one in the lab had done it before, and two, because it would help show the maturing of a shark, and we assume the female shark would mature at about the same rate.
Yesterday, we were out on a search for the Manta Rays that were rumored around somewhere.  After a bit of fruitless searching, we were tooling around the beach, just walking around collecting shells and sea glass. All of a sudden, we hear someone shout "Demian!" and there is a boat, with one of the shark lab guys in it. And you know what he was doing? Chasing down a Manta Ray. This might sound silly, but I had no idea they were harmless. We climbed up in the boat, amazed at our luck.  Sean (the shark lab guy) was catching footage of the ray, and happened to see us.  He pulled up the boat right alongside the ray a couple of times and let us jump in and snorkel with the ray.  The first couple of times, I didn't really get too close, because this creature was amazingly fast, and in the shallows, felt there was nowhere to escape except getting away from us.  The third time however, by some odd chance of fate, I ended up swimming out a little deeper with him.  For what was probably 2 minutes, but felt like half an hour, the ray slowed down to a glide and let me swim alongside him.  The ray was huge, and probably had a bigger wingspan than I did.  He was jet black, and swam with his mouth wide open, flapping his large wings.  Little silver fish swam in his mouth, and a long, skinny silver fish under his belly.  All of a sudden he was gone, and I was left breathless. It was a once in a lifetime experience. 
Now that I have internet, the time is becoming more elusive, and all the more real. I can feel the days slipping past and the real world catches up with me, and island time slips away, like a parallel universe.  The white sand, the blue water, the humidity and warm weather, all the fish...I'm going to miss it.  I'm going to miss the days as they escape me.
I have postcards to write but not send, and write in our REU blog, which you should check out if you want to see what we all have been doing! http://reubimini.blogspot.com/

Big Action Day

So I haven't posted in a while...and I feel slightly guilty. I let the exhaustion take over and unmotivate me. I just had so many things to write about, I felt overwhelmed, and these past couple of days I've just wanted to use my free time to nap. The sun and the bugs and the water just takes everything out of me here.

The first day we went to the shark lab. Everything about that lab screamed home to me. It screamed close knit community, fun, and summer. The smell of sunscreen and bug spray wafted up to my nose. Smells that meant summer, coming from my bare shoulders. Sunscreen reminded me of the pool, and a brief vision of my memory spending cool nights at the top of the slide tower flashed through my mind. Standing above the whole pool in the fading daylight, watching everything, mostly to myself. The dark blue rails and the large red panic looking button, the fairgrounds of Cache Valley to my right. That meant summer. The lab was stocked with three long shelves (maybe 6 or 7 feet long each) stocked with DVDs and VHS. This reminded me of E.T. and Back to the Future for some reason, and called out my 90s childhood. Every detail like that in the room spoke to me, telling me I would love it here. The tables had been painted with beach designs and generic shark stencil. The space was crowded and outdated, with up to date details of lab equipment peeking out of every corner. They took us to the shark pen, and watched as baby lemons swam around us. My mentor got is first shark bite, a gash to his arm, but it wasn't too deep. He'll never live that one down.

Yesterday was an epic day. First we started by snorkeling in the shark lab pen. Watching them swimming in circles with each other was mesmerizing. There was a moment when a shark looked like it was swimming for my face. Pure instinct caught up with me, and I flinched. As soon as I did that, the shark dodged me in our imaginary game of chicken. After that, I'm pretty sure we walked 3 or 4 miles each way on our trek for the ever elusive sheepshead minnow. We trekked through mangrove and forest, on small side roads. In Bimini, almost everything is a side road. We passed a reasonably priced restaurant at the airport, which was laughably small, and there was promise to come back here, since everything was so expensive here. I got some small scratches on my right ankle from vines we climbed over to reach a murky looking freshwater pond. We joked around that we were member of Team Zissou, looking for our "jaguar shark." Since the Life Aquatic is one of my favorite movies, I gobbled the reference up. It felt a little bit like I had found my people.

Today was game day. We were going out to do stomach eversions. A French film crew (who nobody seemed to know anything about what they were filming) came out with us, and they didn't want to introduce too many characters, so I was kept out of the whole process. It was ok, because you know, it would have been cool, but it wasn't really what I was out here for. I was wearing my best, bright blue bikini, and I was ready to deal with some sharks. I was allowed to hold one while its stomach was everted. It wasn't completely under, because it kept wiggling. Eventually we just had to call it and put it back in the pen. I was overtaken by...the majesty? of these creatures. I couldn't quite explain it, but even in these babies, there was beauty. The beastial magnificence of it tossing it's body back and forth as we caught it. I was entranced. I got to hold it, which was so amazing.

Later, after much napping, we had a group dinner. The food was so delicious, and there was no scrounging for veggie food. The rice was so moist, and I gobbled up beans, salads, and squash. Who knew when I would eat a meal like this here, again. Fresh food was so limited.

Right after dinner, we headed back to the lab to separate stomach samples. We only got 3 samples, but it was ok. They talked a little about the MHC genes, and about a study they were hoping to run. The whole purpose of our project was to see if we could actually sequence partially digested food bits. Then from that, if we could, we could see if the sharks were actually preying on the weak fish (fish with MHCs that made them more susceptible to disease and parasites) or just a random assortment. This got me excited. I wanted more than anything to do my Ph.D. here in the shark lab, and the possibility seemed a little likely, like a shimmer of hope. I graduate in a year, so who knows?

A little while after we finished, one of the volunteers came in saying there was lemon sharks by the docks just outside the lab, which was a little irregular. They figured that when they were loading stock for the film crew to see Tiger sharks, it must have attracted them. They set out a line and caught one of the sharks. This was...phenomenal. No one expected them to be here, and the shark crew catching them late last night, as they would do every night this week, had only caught one, as far as we knew. I felt incredibly lucky, to see all this action, on the chance weekend that I had been here.

The one thing I kept thinking on the way back to the condo was that I missed my Dad. I stared at the stars and longed to hear his voice. In an odd twist of fate, he talked to me on facebook that night and my jones was settled for a while. Now I lay in bed, hopefully to sleep, for I have to go to work at the same time tomorrow.

I know this is a long post, and thanks for bearing with me.

Bimini

Today was my first day in the Bahamas.
MAN is it hot here.
I was drenched in sweat in less than an hour. Maybe that's a bad visual for everyone, but it was very hot and humid out.  Suddenly though, it all hit me. I had gotten my passport stamped, for real, and was in another country, about to deal with some lemon sharks.  This was amazingly cool.
Is amazingly cool.
I swam in the Atlantic Ocean today. They water was bright blue, and crystal clear.  I wore my new blue bikini because I think it makes my face light up, and looks good against the contrast of my brunette, somewhat dark hair.  The water was so warm, but also very salty.  I am, however, a fish.  I felt like flopping around and playing in the surf all day.  I borrowed Isaac's snorkel for a bit, and immediately I saw a silvery-white fish (a big one) and a conch shell with some cute little plant creatures growing on it.  I picked up to look--the inside was so brilliantly pink.  A soft pink fading into a sunset-y bright pink I had never seen in any conch before.  I wanted to find a brilliant one to take home--even though I knew I had no room in my luggage.  They said one was ok, so alright.  I would find another sunset conch and bring it home. The sand was pebbly and full of chunks of little shells, and the waves pushed over me, almost as if suggested I follow them down into the watery depths.  I could have stayed all day.
The town is quaint, and it looks as if local business is suffering, under what seems to be pressure from the resort.  It pains me a little, but it is still a nice, warm, BEAUTIFUL location, where I am collecting shark samples. (Or rather their vomit samples)
My hair is poofy and the food options are looking expensive and slim.  I think I can make it, however, if I am very frugal and think ahead.  I really want to go scuba diving here, because what other chance do I have to do something so wonderful again?  Not in Utah, and not soon.  So I must take advantage of the location now.
Tomorrow I go to see the lemons, as Demian calls them.  Exciting! More soon.

Finally

We finally started work.
And boy is it stinky handling shark stomach samples. Although, I have to say, shark vomit smells better than dead mice. Weird how that works out, isn't it? Especially since vomit usually makes me, you know, vomit.
It was slow, stinky work, because I had to measure out 0.015-0.025 grams of sample, and change the blade and weigh boats every time (I have to folks, not an option not to, can't risk contamination!) However, and here is the true scientist hiding inside me, I still thought it was insanely cool. I found a sample with a very complete fish vertebrae. I geeked out a little at that. It's the small things like that that make science all the worthwhile for me. Seeing something small, but new and fascinating. Piecies of organisms, once in the belly of a shark, here, lying before me.
I poured an agarose gel, which I had never done before, so that was exciting to learn. It was a lot quicker that the acrylamides at home, but I imagine a lot more expensive. It was a relief to spend 5 minutes pouring a gel as opposed to 30. I sort of wished the people around me were a little more invested in my process of discovery. But I suppose I only feel that way because right now I don't know how to do anything, and it's all about their projects. So I will wait. I am hoping the trip to Bimini will guarantee me a little more time with Dr. Chapman (although it's probably going to be busy round those parts, so I can't be guaranteed that. He's a very busy and popular man, and I, am just a lowly undergrad.) I am excited to be working on a project all my own however. Well, all my own plus all Allison's own. Sure, they set up the topic, but it really seems like it is mostly ours and we can fool around with it. It will be a little of our own pioneering. If it really works. So far, original samples fail to show any fruitful results...
I try not to be jealous of all the other students constantly doing field work...I know my time will be in the Bahamas, when I'm catching lemon sharks and extracting their stomach contents. That does put a little gloom on the time coming back from the Bahamas, because I know my time will be consumed by agarose gels and smelly extractions. But the thing is, I find the beauty of science in those things, and will be happy to be doing it. Also, it was really cool that I personally got to extract samples of Great White Shark vertebrae today. Now that's what I call a cool sample!
I just wish I had cool questions and a better understanding of the project. I am sure in the coming weeks I will gain a better understanding, so I just try to relax. My impressions of Stony Brook change daily. One moment I think I want to go here for grad school, the next moment I am not sure I do. They seemed very focused on oceanography, which is fine, but I am really heart and soul to the core a biology student, caught in the trappings of living things and their many surprises. And not so much the ground they are swimming upon...
We'll see. It is a long way from home, but it seems to be a good program. I want to strive and learn, and I find myself needing to do that constantly.
I want a challenging and supportive environment. I hope to find that here. I hope to find my way in marine biology. I also hope for warm nights and sunsets and relaxing, inbetween all the learning. I want to have a real summer here in New York.
Today I put on the bracelet my aunt and cousins picked out for me. I hadn't noticed before, but there are little red gemstones on the arms of the starfish. It made me smile and want to start a charm bracelet, with some meaning, to chronicle my marine adventures. Somehow the jewelry they get me always tends to grow on me, and I really began to feel attached to this bracelet. I thought of Madeline L'Engle's books, the ones that touched me so. A Ring Of Endless Light (and the following and preceding books) will always be my favorite reads. I wish I had brought my copy.
Tomorrow I will see if I need to re-extract the vomit samples. Yum! Saturday early I leave for Bimini, and hopefully I get my laundry done before then!
Catch you on the flip side.

The Big Apple

Today we went to New York City.
There's a lot to see in the city, and I found out I'm really not much of a big city person. I like to sit and take things in, and there certainly aren't many places to do that in downtown New York City. Plus, we didn't really have anyone with us who knew the area, and I always like when people tell me little interesting stories.
However, we did go to see the New York Public Library, and walked past lots of famous buildings, with a final destination of Central Park. For me, it was just too many people, too many things going on, too hot, and too humid. It was an interesting experience all the same. I got an icecream cone, and the train ride was actually really nice, so I guess those are both pluses.
In the movies, they always make New York City look like there aren't that many people in it. But I guess that's because they are filming, and they kind of cut the people out as much as possible. Maybe they even film in the off season, if there is one. I don't know. And pictures people take never quite do it justice. I guess people try not to stand in your picture.
All in all a day of adventure and sight-seeing. Above picture I took, in case you were wondering. In Times Square.

Whale Sharks

So...you may be saying to yourself, Sara, you don't study whale sharks. And it's true, I'm not. But tonight, I had the unique pleasure of being driven to the Southhampton Stony Brook Campus to attend a talk about these magnificient creatures, by the Dean of Students at SoMAS himself. He didn't give the talk, but...he's pretty much the man. And organized it.
I guess I knew they were magnificient, and I knew they were huge, but I guess I never realized that they were the world's largest fish. I knew they were called whale sharks because they were sharks as large as a whale that fed on plankton, and sometimes fish eggs and krill. It is always nice to marvel in the magnificence of the ocean and its many marvels--particularly its creatures.
Dr. Al Dove gave the talked, and I was particularly soothes by his Australian accent coupled with his ability to talk publicly and at a level most everyone could understand. So many times I think scientists get caught up in their technical jargon that the public loses interest and fails to see the take home message. Fails to see the meaning behind it all. I guess I am a little bit higher in my scientific understanding than the general public, but I found it quite understandable and enjoyable.
Some new facts I found out about whale sharks:
- They dive to depths of more than 1600 km. At depths greater than that, the sensors shut off, but we know it's at least that deep!
- They eat fish eggs. Who knew?
- No one knows where or when or how they spawn. We know that they do. That's all.
- No one knows where they go when they aren't in there congregational areas. That's astounding!
- They have a fascinating filter feed system. I guess the water gets pushed out of the filter holes, but not particles of food.
- They can retract their eyes. How cool is that?
So, pretty much, I have concluded that whale sharks are awesome. They have some at the Georgia Aquarium, which is where this guys works, but he used to be a professor here at SoMAS, and that's why he came back for the talk. Cool, right?
I am constantly astounded!

A Semi-productive day

So my phone died and I was banished to phone store hell for nearly 2 and half hours.
But in the end it was ok.
I started out today by going to read papers by Dr. Chapman, or at least the reading he assigned us. I read a paper he sent me, which was titled "Long-term natal site-fidelity by immature lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) at a subtropical island." It was a study trying to determine if Lemon sharks stayed near their nesting place for an extended period of time. I found it very interesting and it rose a couple questions, especially about why they used the algorithms they did and how they determined which algorithm to use. The complexity of designing such an experiment astounds me and I hope one day to be able to conduct such a great experiment.
Now to the other part of my day.
I had to go to the verizon store because my phone was broken. Graciously, the grad student in charge of us undergrads drove me to the phone store. Apparently I didn't have access to the account, so I lost it. I started crying pathetically in the phone store. The grad student was there helping me the whole time, allowing me to use her phone and talking to the salesman while I talked to my mom on the phone. Eventually the manager came over, and by some happy accident, gave me a new phone, the same model as I had before. On top of that the grad student took me to get a coffee, her treat. I was so grateful. I felt helpless to do anything for her, so my hope is that I can do the same for others in a difficult situation. My best repayment I can hope for is to help some student in distress, and soothe them through their stress (or as the case may be, tears) in a time of need. Pay it forward.
We leave for Bimini in a week, and so I am beyond ecstatic I have a phone. Karma is on my side lately.
More to come!

FIRST DAY!

So today was officially my first full day in Long Island.
After getting in late because of flight delays last night, I pretty much ate and conked out. We had pizza at this really funky Italian place in a strip mall. That sounds weird, but inside it was actually pretty good. The food was way good, and I was really glad to eat, even though the pizza slices were huge. Everyone was really quiet on the way home, but I figured they were really tired. I didn't have a pillow, but thank goodness I had sheets. I was too tired to actually notice.
The next day was early, especially considering the two hour difference. Being dressed and ready at 8:30 was a bit of a task because that was really 6:30 Utah time. But suprisingly, despite bags under my eyes, I felt ok and stayed awake.
We had bagels for breakfast, and of course I downed some coffee. We had a quick tour of campus, and got our ID cards. I absolutely can't get over how green it is here. Everything is green...there's trees everywhere, and all sorts of grass. If I get a chance, I will add a picture of the green. There's a small pathway through some woods from the dorms we're staying in to the School of Marine Science, where everyone is working. It feels like we are in a different world for five minutes until we get to our labs. Thankfully, we were warned about the poison ivy and ticks. I'll keep an eye out, I promise. And so the bug craziness begins.
We ate lunch in what I think was the student union. I tried some crazy vegan salad with fake chicken. You would never find that stuff back home, at school in the Union, so I tried it. It's funny to me how big the campus is, comparable to the U, but how different it is. There are SO many eating options. There are lots of buildings with different cafeterias.
I got a door of the buildings, and the building I'm working in is Challenger. Next to us, Carl Safina works in the Endeavor building (or so I'm told.) We'll see if I meet up with him later on, my mentor said I would.
Speaking of my mentor, I finally met him! His name is Demian Chapman. He told us what we would be working on, and I'm excited to report it may very possibly involve some shark wrangling. I am hoping my skills as an champion undergraduate mouse catcher will come in handy. He showed the other undergraduate working with me and myself some shark fins. I guess they try to match that genetic samples of that to actual known species, so they can figure out what's being sold, and create a library. It sounds like our work has a chance to be diverse, and we will be making a library of shark stomach content. I'm excited for the Bahamas in about a week, because the bulk of our field work and sample collection will be there.
Stay tuned for more updates, I know more is bound to come!