Al-PACA!!

Last night I went to my first party on the Cape--in Falmouth. My fellow intern friends were throwing it, and I think it was a success (especially because I won at Beirut twice). Even though I was a bit stuffy, I had a good time and woke up feeling much better today.
This morning we went to the farm of a woman we work with. She has a sort of petting zoo area set up and a small restaurant and artisanal gift shop. Since we know her, we got to go in the enclosed area with the alpacas which were so beautiful and soft. Also, we saw some donkeys whom we went to pet and I was really surprised that their fur was similar to the alpacas. We saw some shetland sheep (which when I saw, I thought of mom), rabbits and goats. Hmm, ok, I guess I have now just named a lot of farm animals and I sound like I went on a field trip with my elemetary school or something. But it was fun.
Afterwards, I went to get my first big purchase of groceries at SHAW, the Falmouth grocery store where they play creepy Christmas music and everyone likes to put their cart in the middle of the aisle so you can't get past them without politely asking them if they can move and they respond with a dirty look... But, I succeeded in getting my $85 worth of groceries and barely made it to the bus back to Woods Hole (5 miles away from Falmouth). Meanwhile, I had seven bags with cans, pickles, milk, and other heavy products and about a mile walk after the bus stop. Needless to say, I was nervous for the walk back. I got off the bus and immediately had a casualty--my bag with tomato soup and corn and kidney beans and tomatoes broke. And I still had to walk a mile! I trudged up the hill, stopping for many breaks, and hoping some kind stranger would take pity on me (they never did). I finally made it home and put away groceries--but it doesn't look like I bought anything! And I had no roommate witnesses to see that I had contributed to the refrigerator... Oh, well, I'm back and there is milk for tea, and tea for the mornings, and makings of chili for dinner, so I'm happy.
Time for a shower and some cheese.

sick

poop-i'm sick. i even talked to my mom last night and she said "don't get sick," and now i wake up the next day full of snot in my brain. ugh. poo.

Oysters!

Is it already Thursday? Apparently it is... Anyway, today I went to Martha's Vineyard to collect oysters for a grant project that the vet at the MBL is doing. We took the ferry over to the island and then got into the back of a truck to drive to the site. Don't think that that was easy--it was freeeeeeezing! I was bundled up in my hat, gloves, and winter coat pulled over my head. The only part of me that was exposed to the elements was my cheeks which are now thoroughly wind burnt and pink. When we got to the site (which was beautiful) we went out on the boat to collect the oyster baskets (I'm not sure the actual terminology).
There were three lines with fifteen baskets each which we had to sort (dead and alive) and count. While it may seem like this wouldn't take too long, it took about seven hours to finish--but it wasn't without its perks. It sounds tedious, but I really enjoyed being out in the field, collecting data, seeing new organisms. We saw some green amphipods that looked like the small runt cousins of stomatopods with strange boxing glove appendages it used to try and right itself. I learned about a parasitic worm that is infecting the oysters causing the fishermen much frustration, and I'm sure economic woes. What this grant is trying to do is to find some oysters that are resistant to this particular parasite and once identified, they will seed the next crop.
I met a fisherman who gave me some pears that he had collected which were sweet and delicious. People are so friendly and so eager to make you feel welcome here.
When I came home, I had the place to myself and cleaned up the kitchen (as a payment for all the free food and beer I have been given!) and now I am going to try and get a full nights sleep before a long day tomorrow, followed by my first party in the Hole.

First Fatality

I'm sure I won't continue writing everyday, but at the moment, everything is still new and exciting. Sadly however, today as I was feeding the cuttlefish, one of them did not try to eat its juicy piece of fish...and it turned out it had died over night. I thought something was wrong when its tentacles were pulled back in rigor mortis showing a face analagous to a death grin. Apparently this happens quite frequently as cuttlefish are very fickle animals and any small change in the environment wreaks havoc on the animals. They've recently changed the water temp and we are crossing our fingers that no more animals will die.
I got to play around a little with the experimental set up and see how the cuttlefish reacted to different substrates. I'm eager to get started on my experiments!
Tomorrow I am going to "The Vineyard" (Martha's Vineyard) to collect oysters. I am clearly a neophyte because when I was told we were going the "The Vineyard" I thought we were going on a wine tasting field trip--thankfully I did not say this out loud.
My roomies caught some clams today and are now making dinner. It smells delicious! I've been invited to join them, and I will not turn them down. Then after dinner, I've been invited to go out to a local bar :). People are so welcoming here!
I'm exhausted but having fun--and I haven't even started working at Pie in the Sky yet. I think I will be making something like 7 dollars an hour (oh yeah!), but at least it is better than what I am making now....

A friend of mine sent me this link. This is the guy who I work with!

Cuttle Me

Today I went in to work at 7:30 and learned the ropes in the animal care center; cleaning sea star tanks, talapia, sea urchins, horse shoe crabs. And I also met a lot of new interesting people doing research on things other than cephalopods (although how cool could their research really be? :) ). Then, after feeding the cuttlefish (we fed them squid today which I find somewhat unethical...but they actually didn't seem to like them very much--it's like they know) I found out what my project is going to be and I am really psyched.
The basis of much of Roger Hanlon's research is that cuttlefish camouflage (all camouflage for that matter) falls into three categories: uniform, mottled, and disruptive. Much of the research on disruptive camouflage has already been done, and I will be working on the neglected (but equally as fascinating) subject of uniformity. Using different substrates I will try to evoke a response of uniform camouflage pattern, which on the surface seems pretty easy, but it has been seen to be quite varied. So, I am in for a long and exciting research process.
I also found out today that I will soon be starting work at the Pie in the Sky (a well known food service establishment here in Woods Hole), so I will finally be starting to make some money (whoohoo!).

My hands still smell like squid from cutting them up this morning...I have washing my hands so many times. I think I will likely smell like fish everyday until the end of this internship...

First day fighting cuttlefish

Ok, so not really fighting, but some of these guys are really aggravating when they don't do what you want! But first things first. I arrived Saturday to Woods Hole during a wicked storm what I believed akin to a hurricane, but the locals reassured me it was no where near as bad as a real hurricane. The house was without electricity and I was unable to plug in my precious computer to keep connected with the world until today.
Today was my first day at work, and after the obligatory orientation, I started my first task: feed the cuttlefish. The small ones get amphipods (imagine jumping potato bugs mixed with shrimp that like to get into your hair and on your face) and then are fed some small grass shrimp too. The big ones get big pieces of fish cut up and put on a sick to lure the cuttlefish near.
After feeding , we went outside to replenish the grass shrimp stock by scraping a net under the dock at eel pond to see whether they might jump inside of their own accord. Rather stupidly, they did, and we caught about a hundred very easily--more food for the cuttlefish! Also, there were amazing barnacles and tunicates and ctenophores aplenty!! I was so excited to see my marine invertebrate friends in the water so close to where I work.
I've also volunteered to come in early, at 7:30, to help with other animal husbandry, so I will be very busy and very cold by the end of the day (my socks were soaked through), but tomorrow I will bring more suitable shoes.
I'm still unsure as to what my specific experiment will be, and I was informed that there would be a meeting to figure it out. But watching other experiments, I became very excited, and I hope I will still be excited after I begin mine! The cuttlefish as test subjects seem very temperamental and a lot of time is spent waiting for them to calm down, but they are so cute that I forgive them.
At the end of the day, I had to siphon out the tanks of the cuttlefish to make sure they stay clean and hygienic. Of course, I had forgotten how to use a siphon correctly, and had to fill it up with water about five times throughout the cleaning. I'm sure I will soon get he hang of it though.
I bought myself a celebratory bottle of wine and came home to electricity (hot shower!). After recently discovering some friends of mine live here in the "Hole" as the locals call it, I tried to contact them, but they seem to be out in the field doing research. But my new accommodating roommates took me to a stir fry dinner and bred pudding get together.
So I am making friends, and taking in the beautiful scenery. Walking home today in the dark with the stars to lead my way (and the occasional, useless, dim lamp to guide me) I saw the boats docked in Eel Pond with the lights of the MBL behind them.
I'm exhausted but happy at the end of my day :)

Also, my new shampoo smells like an armpit.
People say there are lots of coyotes here (although I have yet to see one and I think they are pulling my leg).
People are really friendly here and I am still trying to get used to it. They say hello and I answer too loudly and more as an afterthought "HI!" so that I think I will soon be known as the village idiot...