Today, on my way to the aquarium, I saw this.
In case you can't read the license plate, it says "MO OIL." Gross. I was so disgusted, I thought I would take a picture for you all to enjoy. Don't worry, it was stop and go traffic so I wasn't taking pictures while driving. I kept wondering whether this particular human being who owned this monstrosity was aware that we are living in Hawaii where, a) there is no need for a vehicle this large (even a small car with four wheel drive will get you everywhere you need to go) and b) gas is not extremely accessible. We are on a tiny series of islands in the middle of the Pacific. We are the most isolated group of islands in the world... This seems like the most ridiculous car to own here. Again, gross.
Anyway, I was on my way to the aquarium because they recently had a female day octopus who laid eggs. It was an interesting experience because I was suddenly the "expert." I was being praised for my experience with octopus mothers and babies. I hadn't necessarily thought that I had done much of anything over the past four years except struggle to get my PhD proposal together, but apparently, I've accomplished something in the process. It felt pretty good to be able to talk about this species and realize, "Hey, I know what I'm talking about!" We looked at the eggs under the scope and I could tell what stage of development they were in. Hopefully, this will be the start of a collaboration involving the rearing of adorable baby octopuses!
Dave and I saw a nice little ray the other day over by the pier. It was being followed by a whole bunch of fish. He took a great pic of it.