 |  |  |  |
 | |||
|
19 June 08 I have been incredibly busy since school let out last month. I'm back to going to the gym (finally, after a full year of lazy), working on renovating our house, helping a friend with repairs and redecorating his place, working one 9 - 11 hour day a week at the Marine Mammal Center plus now I'm on-call a second day each week. I can't remember the last time I had a day just spent sitting around the house. We have a dive vacation coming up next month. We're going back to Roatan, and this time taking along six friends. It should be a lot of fun! However, I've been so busy that I haven't even had a chance to anticipate the trip. We will have a good friend who will be staying in the house and watching the cat, so at least the important stuff is covered. Now that I'm on-call again, I've been going out on rescues every week. They're often anti-climactic, like the failed attempt at Pier 39. Other times they are grueling, like when we caught a sea lion north of Baker Beach and then had to carry him, in a crate, on a steep, narrow trail up a 200' cliff. And sometimes they're nothing at all, like the "invisible seal" last week at the south end of Ocean Beach (if we can't find it, we can't rescue it). This morning I got a call about two harbor porpoise carcasses - a fetus/newborn and (presumably) its mother - out near the horse stables at the San Francisco/Daly City border. We necropsy all dead cetaceans to determine cause of death, so I was sent out to make sure the carcass was still there, and to assist with its retrieval. I drove out there, hiked ten minutes down the sandy trail to the beach, and found the two animals. The carcasses weren't too old, as they hadn't yet started to smell. The adult was about 6 feet long and 150 pounds. The fetus was maybe a foot and a half long, but missing its skull* and flukes. I wasn't looking forward to carrying such a large animal up such a large hill and was about to see if I could rent a horse from the stable to haul up the carcass when I got a call saying the vets were on their way to do a necropsy on the beach. *Whew* Here's to hoping I don't get another call this afternoon. I need a few hours off. -- * The porpoise fetus' skull had been removed, leaving only the scalp behind. The California Academy of Sciences collects marine mammal skulls for its collection (if you saw the Skulls exhibit there several years ago then you've seen the results of their efforts) and the skull of this fetus was definitely removed by someone who knew what they were doing. Although if it were someone from Cal Academy, I don't know why they didn't also take the adult's skull. Of course, it could have also have been removed by a member of the public. If I had come across the dead animals, and no one was around to see me, I sure would have taken their skulls! 30 May 08 Many, many years ago, when I was growing up and dinosaurs still roamed the earth, I remember being disappointed in people who still listened to all that ancient 60s and 70s rock, stuff that was 10 or 20 years out of date at the time. I felt that those people should stop living in the past, and start listening to modern stuff, and all that. Now it's the 2000s and what are my friends and I listening to? Eighties stuff. But this is different! We're not *only* listening to stuff from the 80s. And our stuff was better than that old 60s stuff. And besides, the stuff the kids today are listening to is crap. 30 May 08 I've mentioned it before, but I don't care for Twitter. At least not the way I see it being used, where people post a bunch of one-liners that don't make sense unless you're already part of the conversation. But there's an exception to every rule, and the Twitter exception is Jhonen Vasquez. I can't decide if the guy is a genius, or completely insane. I think he is probably a little bit of each. 25 May 08 As I get older, I'm getting a kick of seeing myself change. Sometimes I end up thinking, "Ohmygawd, why did I dress/wear my hair/act like that?!", but other times it's more subtle. And I can usually only see the changes in hindsight. The latest big thing I've noticed about myself is how I handle responsibility. In every position I've held, starting from my first full-time job at age 16, I wanted to be in charge of things. I'm responsible and capable and enjoy demonstrating that, so I always strove for positions and titles that reflected such, as well as for the respect that came with a job well done. (The flip side of that is that I have no respect whatsoever for people who use manipulation or connections to attain positions or titles, but that's a different story.) A few months ago at work I was asked to assume the position of Assistant Supervisor, and my Supervisor told me she would like me to eventually take over her role. I'm one of the few crew members that shows up every week and can do everything necessary, and my perfectionist tendencies fit quite well with our particularly anal-retentive crew, so you'd think that I'd relish the idea of my hard work being acknowledged with a new title. But, oddly enough, it doesn't matter. In fact, instead of being excited, I found myself doubting whether I was the right person for the job. Weird. I wonder why I've had such the change in perspective? Maybe it's a sign of old age or something :P 23 May 08 Hmm, somehow I got very busy. I had my last final on Monday and I had planned to spend this week celebrating the end of the semester by sitting around the house, doing nothing. But somehow my plans went awry and that did not happen. A Monday afternoon meeting turned into a four-hour ordeal with my brain turning to mush at the end. Tuesday I worked for ten hours, from 6am to 4pm (although that was less than last week's 12+ hours!). Wednesday was a two-hour meeting in the morning (brain left somewhat intact at the end), then I spent the afternoon working on a fun project. Thursday I had planned to spend catching up on phone calls and paperwork for the assorted projects I am working on, but then got a call about an injured sea lion and headed to Pier 39 to check him out. Pier 39, the touristy shopping area next to Fisherman's Wharf, has a large population of resident sea lions that hang out on the docks there. The marina staff keep an eye on them, and call the Marine Mammal Center if they see a problem. There is one sea lion in particular with something around his neck that they called us about. I went to look at him and he was an adult male, thin but not emaciated, with a ring of raw tissue around his neck from an entanglement. Most likely it is a packing strap or a piece of fishing net, but it needs to be removed before it either causes infection or strangles him; it is very likely the reason he is underweight. I waited on the dock for the rest of the rescue team, accompanied by the NOVA film crew, to arrive. Once they did, a large crowd gathered around to watch the impending excitement. We snuck up next to the sea lion with our nets and herding boards, got to within 8 or 10 feet, and rushed him. But he was too quick and dove into the water before we could get him netted. He came up onto the dock a few minutes later but was very wary, and eventually went back into the water. When he again came back onto the docks, he strategically placed himself next to a bunch of even larger sea lions for protection, at which point we packed it up and went home. NOVA now has a very unexciting unsuccessful rescue on tape. If only we could communicate to this guy that catching him would mean we could remove whatever is strangling him, and allow him to heal. 15 May 08 I went out today wearing only jeans and a tank top. Wait, you may not realize the significance of this, so let me explain: I am one of those people who always gets cold. Sweaters, knee socks, and hoodies are part of my regular wardrobe. I've slept with an electric blanket more often than not. And I'm quite happy travelling to tropical countries and staying in places without air conditioning. Keep in mind I live in a city where summer temperatures often stay in the 50sF, and fog means I can go days or weeks without seeing the sun. As if that isn't enough, temperatures can change from warm and sunny to chilly and foggy within the span of an hour or two, and the way to tell San Francisco residents from tourists is that the residents are the ones who leave the house carrying a sweater on what appears to be a sunny day. Today it was so warm I left the house in a tank top, without the requisite back-up sweater, and I didn't regret it at all! Last night we went for a walk and I was warm in a sleeveless top and sandals, which is crazy because we pretty much *never* have warm nights here. However, we also usually never have more than three nice days in a row, so expect the fog to come rolling in tomorrow. 11 May 08 Right now I'm studying for one of my Biology finals, and I'm reviewing forms of asexual reproduction. One of those forms is parthenogenesis, and every time I read that word the phrase "Big black nemesis..." goes through my head. Obviously I've been tainted by the 80s. 4 May 08 I've had a bunch of things in my head lately that I've wanted to write about, but for some reason I just haven't been able to find the correct wording. Although wording shouldn't matter because I'm not writing to impress anyone; I'm just speaking out loud. Still, for some reason I occasionally hold back. Today wasn't exactly a lazy Sunday for me. I washed: a lot of dirty clothes, my car, some dishes, and myself. Susan and I met for lunch, then indulged our internal architectural voyeurs by going to look at open houses. In Sea Cliff and Pacific Heights. In the $10 - 22 million range. Did you know that for $16 million you can buy a house on the cliff above the ocean with the Best. View. Ever. (of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands), and with so many floors and rooms that you can get lost within? I want a house that I can get lost inside of! This semester of school will be completely done and over in two weeks. I can't wait! I am really burnt out on school right now, and began toying with the idea of quitting. But I don't really want to quit, especially now when I'm at a point where all the fun classes (the upper-division classes in my major) are ahead of me. Plus I have a nice three-month break coming up. So I signed up for one class next semester (Biology of Fishes), and I plan on filling up my free time with work at The Marine Mammal Center, California Academy of Sciences, and maybe even going to the gym again! 23 April 08 Well, yesterday was an interesting day of firsts for me. After over two years of working at The Marine Mammal Center, I finally got bitten! It's a risk you take when working with any animal, and the risk is a little higher at TMMC in that we work with wild animals and zoonotic diseases, so it's usually just a matter of time until you become chomped upon. This elephant seal pup (keep in mind our pups weigh between 75-100 lbs.) got me when we were tube feeding him; my partner was restraining the animal as I was inserting a tube down his throat so that he could be fed when he lunged forward and perforated my finger. However, most importantly, we successfully completed the tubing ;) Since working at the Center I have been filmed for the local news, for Korean tv, and possibly also for the BBC. But yesterday I was filmed for a show I actually watch - PBS's Nova! The Nova crew will be on-site for the next couple of months gathering footage for an upcoming special. Usually when we're featured in the media they (understandably) focus on the rescue and rehabilitation portion of our work; Nova is instead supposed to be concentrating on the scientific aspects of the Center's work. I'm guessing most people outside the marine mammal community don't realize the scientific and research contributions TMMC has made over the years; I know I certainly did not until after I started there. Who knows if I'll make it into the final cut, but regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing the special. In other news, just three more weeks of school, then sweet, sweet summer vacation. 14 April 08 I often hear about big news events via LJ, but here's one big item I haven't seen anyone talk about - the West Coast salmon fisheries have been all but shut down. Have people not heard about this? Last week the Pacific Fishery Management Council ruled that all commercial salmon fishing in California and Oregon will be cancelled for the 2008 season. In addition, the Washington fishery will have its quota slashed by 80%. A limited amount of recreational fishing will be allowed in Oregon and Washington only. This needed to be done because breeding stocks of Chinook and Coho salmon are at an all-time low. Some say this is because of dams blocking their breeding routes, but I'm sure that overfishing also contributes to the problem Overfishing has already caused a complete collapse of the north Atlantic cod fishery. Cod landings off Newfoundland went from a high of 800,000 tons annually in the late 60s, to almost zero in 1992. Similarly, the Nova Scotian cod fisheries experienced a 96% decline in the volume of cod caught between the 1850s and the present day. And that's just cod. One out of four marine fish stocks have been depleted worldwide, and predatory fish (including sharks) populations have declined by up to 90% over the last century due to poor fishing practices. If you eat fish, there is one simple thing you can do to help: make sustainable choices when eating seafood. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program provides you with a downloadable, wallet-sized card to help you make the best seafood choices. Or point your mobile phone's browser to mobile.seafoodwatch.org to access the list. I don't want to preach, but I love the ocean and the critters within so I figure it would be wrong for me to just watch them disappear without saying anything at all. 13 April 08 Have you ever noticed how your tastes improve as you get older? I know mine have. That's why the beer I buy costs more than $3.99 a twelve-pack, and why McDonalds is not an option when we're going out to dinner. I suppose part of the reason for that is you're often making more money in your 30s and 40s than you were in, say, your 20s, so you have the ability to enjoy "better" things. But I think the real reason is that you're exposed to more things as you get older, and you begin to realize that you have real choices covering an entire gamut; when I was 20 (or 30, for that matter) I didn't know that restaurants did the chef's menu + wine pairing thing, but nowadays I find that's about the best way to get an excellent meal. But I've also found a downside to living "the finer life," and that's some of the other people it attracts. I don't care how rich I get or how "refined" my tastes get, I never want to (and probably never could) become one of those snooty people. You know the type: ostentatious, classist, only interested in status. I'd much rather be the crayon-colored-hair person who destroys the expectations that others might have (I've lost count of the number of times I've been treated as a second-class citizen simply because of my hair color, but that's a separate rant). Here's to life getting better as one gets older (and wiser). 7 April 08 I seem to have acquired a new job! Keeping with my tradition of putting in many hours of unpaid labor at world-renowned research and conservation institutions, I will be a diver at the Steinhart Aquarium at the new California Academy of Sciences! I will be diving in the large exhibit tanks, doing cleaning or feeding or whatever needs to be done in there. I'll be wearing a full-face mask with a microphone and be able to talk to the people outside the tank, which sounds like it could be fun. The Academy doesn't re-open until the end of September, but we're supposed to start sometime during the summer, basically after the tanks are set up (they're currently dry). There is no diving along the coast of San Francisco, but how funny is it that I'll be able to dive *in* SF?! | |||
 | |||
| [ me ] [ musings ] [ mischief ] [ music ] [ home ] | |||