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!