Here we go...

(I wrote this the second day I was in Madagascar, but due to slow wifi, I am only posting it now--now that I am in Mauritius...)

Or rather here I go. And also, I guess I already went (got here yesterday), but please indulge me so that I can get this down chronologically. I am off on a possibly delusional journey of self discovery and nature immersion beginning in Madagascar, gliding though South East Asia and ending in Japan. I wonder how many women embarked on a I-need-to-figure-my-shit-out trip after Eat, Pray, Love came out. I'm sure I'm not the only one and the travel industry must be very thankful. Regardless, I am here in Africa and ready to squeeze the most out of this island in the next ten days. Advice to fellow travelers: you need more than ten days in Madagascar. Nonetheless, I will do what I can a take everything Madagascar can throw at me in that time. So far I have seen the Queen's palace, ridden in a taxi-brousse for three and a half hours, seen the largest lemurs and the smallest chameleons in the world, and eaten a spectacular green peppercorn steak and banana flambe! Feeling pretty chuffed with my progress so far.

I arrived in Antananarivo yesterday after 20 hours of flying and promptly set out to do something before the sun went down (which is when my taxi drivers hinted I would be abducted by hooligans).  When I asked if I could walk to the Queen's palace, the lovely woman at reception told me that I could walk there no problem. I think in the States when someone says you can walk somewhere, we think it is about fifteen minutes away max, so I was surprised when I walked three miles straight up a steep hill through frightening traffic. But the view was worth it.

The palace is perched high on atop the hill, giving the queen the perfect vantage point to throw her enemies to their deaths.

The palace burned down in 1995 but this is the reproduction built in stone. They didn't quite finish due to lack of funding, but it is still impressive.

At the entrance to the palace, there is a sacred gate where circumcisions are still performed today.  It is tradition for the father or an uncle to eat the foreskin.... no comment. 

Alright, posting this is causing problems. Blogging may have to wait until I am in more reliable wifi locales. 

SEATTLE!

I'm exploring the Pacific Northwest for about a week and I started off with two cold water dives yesterday.  These were my first cold water dives and they were fantastic! The fauna is so different from what I saw in Hawaii.  The most memorable parts of the dive were the towers of beautiful metridium anemones and the lingcod we found trying to feast on an octopus! The octopus was still alive and definitely fighting back, wrapping its arms though the gills of the lingcod.  Please forgive my terrible videography, I'm still learning how to use my GoPro.

Dr. Teeth sings ODB Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Pretty sure, I've posted this before, but it's worth another watch.

Want

Want these

Spanish Dancer

Here is a video of a spanish dancer that my friend and I encountered in the shallows of Lanikai Beach. A spanish dancer is a large nudibranch that can undulate in the water to move from place to place.  The movement of the swimming is said to be reminiscent of a flamenco dancer, hence the name spanish dancer.

So cool!

awesome

this

Bobtail squidding

The other evening, I joined the HIMB Education program to hunt for bobtail squid.  Bobtail squid are not actually squid at all, but cuttlefish.  One of the big differences between squid and cuttlefish are the feeding tentacles that hang out of squid's mouths all the time, while cuttlefish keep their feeding tentacles tucked inside their mouths, shooting them out when necessary. Bobtail squid are adorable cuttlefish that look like little swimming dumplings.  

It was a beautiful evening on Coconut, perfect for bobtail squidding.  They bury themselves in the sand during the day and come out at night to feed, so all we had to do was wade around in the shallows and look for little swimming dumplings. Unfortunately, after an hour and a half, we still hadn't found one. But then, one of the interns, who was snorkeling in deeper water found two of the smallest bobtail squid I have ever seen! Adorable!

The most interesting thing about bobtail squid is their ability to counter-shade with the help of bacteria called Vibrio fisceri. The bacteria live in a light organ on the underside of the bobtail squid and they fluoresce in response to the brightness of the moon.  That way, if there is a predator under the bobtail squid, it looks up and instead of seeing the shadow of an animal blocking the light from the moon, the predator sees nothing. It's like an invisibility cloak for a bobtail squid. Pretty incredible symbiotic relationship. Yay science!

Corpse Flower

A few weeks ago, the corpse flower at the botanical gardens was blooming.  I was very excited and dragged Steven along to check it out with me.  Apparently, we JUST missed it! Bummer, but we got to see a few of the different stages and I took some photos.

First of all, the corpse flower, or Amorphophallus titanum (which to me sounds like it translates to "giant misshapen penis") is so called because when it blooms it reportedly smells like rotting flesh. Delicious! The smell attracts pollinators (only a few species of which we have in Hawaii), and then the corpse flower sort of crumples in on itself, only to bloom another seven years later. In the picture on the left, you can see me standing next to the flower that just bloomed. The spadix is the large fleshy spike in the middle of the flower. It has turned brown because it just bloomed, but usually it is pale green (like the one on the right). The leafy "flower" part around the spadix is called the spathe.  When the flower blooms, the spathe open up to about 3m in circumference.

The botanical garden had a few of the corpse flowers, so they opened one up to show what it looks like inside.  The little stalks are where the pollinators wriggle around to transfer pollen they pick up as the crawl into the spathe.

 Below is a picture of the bugs that typically pollinate these plants. The Carrion Beetles are really the most useful to the plants, but since we don't have those in Hawai'i, the botanical garden does the pollinating by hand. Sounds like a fun night! Albeit a bit stinky.

 There were also a selection of lovely orchids, some of which I photographed below.

And finally, a selection of some of the seeds from the garden. I love the variety!

Radio Show!

Last week, I was invited to participate in an AM Radio Show called All Things Marine. As this was my first appearance on the radio for science (I had a radio show in college--TEN YEARS AGO), I was both nervous and excited. Things began well, I had been sent questions to prep myself for the show and I had practiced my answers laboriously in the car on the way to the studio.

When I got there, we went into the studio and our hostess took our picture. You can see from the picture that I am already tense (my shoulders are practically touching my ears) to say nothing of the fact that the microphone is covering half of my face.  Dr. Ruth Gates spoke first about her incredible research into "Designer Reefs," or coral reef ecosystems that seem to be highly adaptable in response to climate change.  Then, Dr. Brian Glazer spoke about his work in the deep sea and the loss of their incredibly expensive ROV (remotely operated vehicle).  During the whole time they were speaking, I was continually rehearsing my responses to the questions I was prepared to answer. Of course, as soon as it was time for my interview--our hostess began with a question that was NOT on my list of prepared questions! While it was a perfectly acceptable question--"tell us about your research," it was not what I was expecting! Thus, sending me into a spiral of jerky, inarticulate, confused answers for the next ten minutes! The worst moment was when she asked me to explain the genetics I was doing.  I froze. All possible explanations ran through my mind: do I talk about Mendelian inheritance? What do people know about? How do I explain genetics in 30 seconds or less? Ahhh! I settled on sex chromosomes. I thought most people are familiar with X and Y sex chromosomes and so I could try to explain it in that context. However, instead of a fully coherent explanation of sex chromosomes, I just said...."SEX".... And then nothing.... Radio silence.... Until I was able to recover and begin making words come out of my mouth. But during the rest of the show, I was hyper aware that I had just said the word SEX and just the word SEX very awkwardly, followed by what felt like an eternity of silence. Needless to say, this was not my proudest radio moment.  I'm not sure I even really remember what followed. I could listen to the podcast, but I have one of those terrible afflictions where listening to the sound of my own voice makes me nauseated, so I think I'll skip it. You are welcome to listen, if you are so inclined. The podcast can be found here, although as of today (5-27-14) it does not seem to be up yet.  I am told it will be available soon, though. 

More posts to come. I am in hyper-procrastination mode...

Moving On from ainslie henderson on Vimeo.

Very moving.

Illustrated Guide to a PhD

This is a good little infographic on what a PhD is.

An interesting infographic on the fate of Biology PhD students. I suppose I am in for ? number of years in a post doc and very little chance of a faculty job.  Lots to look forward to!  Well, actually, as long as I get a job, I'll be happy!

Ocean Heroine

(No, the title of this blog is not a reference to a new found opiate from the seas, in case you were confused.)

I know I have been neglecting my blog these days, a fact made more tragic because I haven't informed the world that I MET SILVIA EARLE! She is a personal hero, an ocean advocate, an adventuress and a scholar.  Dr. Earle was here in Hawaii to participate as a judge at our annual Tester Symposium where students can present their current research.  I was privileged to have dinner with her and fellow grad students on the first night of the symposium. She gave an excellent talk encouraging everyone to remember to harness our childlike curiosity about the world.  It's true that was why I originally got into science.  I remember being excited to learn about strange esoteric creatures and the journey of their evolution or the mechanisms that make the digestion of pitcher plants work or how discus fish feed their babies with the mucus on their skin.  All aspects of science and the planet and the universe are fascinating, but sometimes I forget that when I am bogged down in one particular vein of my research.  Dr. Earle is certainly inspirational and I am so grateful to have met her.
 

If that weren't enough of a treat, I also presented at the symposium and won an award! I talked to everyone about octopus mating behavior, showed a couple of kinky videos, and presented some results (albeit statistically boring results). Silvia Earle even asked me a question! I was pretty thrilled.  You may notice a small pink box in my hand. This was a "special" award they gave only to me of pink fuzzy handcuffs! Glad to know my research brings out a sense of humor in our group of scientists. All in all it was a lovely experience and a nice break from writing. Things have been rough these days in the dissertation write up.  I realized however that the PhD process seems more an exercise in perseverance than intelligence. And I will persevere-- I do have Finnish blood in me, after all--SISU!

Must Watch

Slow Life from Daniel Stoupin on Vimeo.

This incredible time-lapse shows some of the oceans invertebrates in a light you may not have seen before. It's quite magical to see the polyps as they evert out of the coral, or the undulation of the tentacles on the anemones. Enjoy--FULL SCREEN!