Today was an extremely long day...I woke up at 4:30am to be at the bakery by 5. When I left the house, the wind was roaring--I bundled up, but it was all I could do to keep on the sidewalk (I did get blown off course a few times). I finished up at 9am and headed over to the lab. I forgot to mention that yesterday morning, while feeding the dogfish, I noticed that they had given birth to six babies! All six were extremely healthy, and had no yolks (the life support in the dogfish womb) so they were ready to take on the world. Apparently, all the dogfish babies that are born there have died in the past, so they wanted to euthanize them. I convinced them to set up a tank though, and another intern and I took over responsibility. I was so attached! I checked on them several times yesterday and today to make sure they were ok. Today however, they were not looking very good--not eating...The nutrients they get from the yolks are supposed to keep them going for a while after birth, but a few of them seemed to be weakening, and force feeding just seemed to stress them. I was getting very concerned. Eventually, I realized that there was really nothing I could do if they weren't going to eat the food I could provide them with and I requested to take them outside to the ocean to let them try to make it on their own. It was really quite emotional--like Free Willie--the other intern sang the Micheal Jackson song...
I hope they make it...I grew very fond of them for only knowing them for a short time. It feels like it was longer. I really felt a special bond with them--I was responsible for them...for a day.
Anyway, I spent most of the day doing animal care for the cuttlefish. It seems that since winter is coming, we will no longer be able to feed the hatchlings amphipods because they bury into the sand in winter. If we can't feed them amphipods, we need to get them to start eating fish and squid soon, or they will die. There are two other interns here with me and they will only be here for three more weeks. Since they need to get their experiments done in that time, it is up to me to get the hatchings to eat. That is all well and good, and I do enjoy taking care of the cuttlefish, but I am feeling a little overwhelmed since I need to get my experiments done too, and after December, I will only have about a month left. Unfortunately, the ball didn't get rolling on experiments until recently, and things don't seem to be going my way... Also, since I have volunteered to do image analysis too, I need time to analyze. I think I may have taken too much on, but I didn't realize how much animal care would be involved. It seems that over the summer, there was an animal care intern who took care of the cuttlefish, but now it is up to the current interns (who signed on for an experimental internship, not a husbandry one...). But I am enjoying myself. It is just a matter of getting everything done, while finishing up my applications, and keeping sane.
I finished at the lab at three and then headed back to the bakery to work until 9pm. Now, time for bed. Sweet dreams of dogfish and tentacles.
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