Natanya Levine, Author at Boston Sea Rovers Summer Internship

Woods Hole

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Dock

I spent the last week in Woods Hole in Cape Cod. I stayed with Peter and Maria Symasko and was hosted at the Marine Biological Laboratory by Dr. Roger Hanlon. On Monday, Dr. Hanlon showed me around Woods Hole, and some of the different buildings. He introduced me to many of the researchers in his lab and explained the areas of research he was focusing on. He explained some of the major research projects that are planned out for the future, and the current ones that were underway.

I spent all of Tuesday with Bill Grossman, the Dive Safety Officer at the MBL. The dive program at the MBL is small, so Bill took me out on a few different collecting trips. We went to collect quahogs and do some plankton tows. In the afternoon, we went out again, this time on the bigger boat, the Gemma, with half of the embryology class. We did some plankton tows and dredged the bottom, turning up all sorts of cool things. I tried to get a sea star to eat a mussel while the plankton separated and revealed all sorts of developing life. I never realised how much lived in the water until I saw this.

On Wednesday, I helped Corinne Cramer, one of Dr. Hanlon’s interns, with her work on cuttlefish. Cuttlefish change color to camouflage or stand out from their surroundings, and they do this instantly. The Hanlon lab is studying a few different aspects of this camouflage. Corinne’s work involved the reaction of the cuttlefish to unnatural backgrounds. I helped her set up the experiments and run the trials. It is time consuming work, because you have to wait for each animal to be settled before taking a picture. Each animal has a different temperament, so some were agreeable, while others were easily disturbed.

On Thursday, I went across the street to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to work with Ed O’Brien and Kim Malkowski. Some other Sea Rovers joined us, and Kim toured us around. We got to see the Exosuit in action! It was awesome to listen in to the communication between the suit pilot during the dive and the monitor in the control room. The Exosuit is a one atmosphere suit, sort of like a human shaped submarine. It can dive to 1000 feet, but at Woods Hole, they were only diving to around 50-60 feet for training.

I went back to the MBL on Friday, and spent the first part of the day in the tank room. The tank room is a massive aquarium that houses the animals for various experiments. I helped feed and clean, and release some newly hatched skates back into the wild. I went back out on the Gemma in the afternoon to do one more collecting trip before heading home.

I had a great experience in Woods Hole. Thanks to everyone who made it possible!

New England Aquarium

The New England Aquarium is departmentalized, and each department runs separately, and has a separate staff of co-ops, interns, and volunteers. The best thing about working at the aquarium was getting to work with so many different, passionate people. As part of my internship, I got to bounce around and spend a day or two with a bunch of the different departments.

Getting into the giant ocean tank with Dan Dolan and volunteer Mack McBrine.

I began by working with the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT). I met with Dan Dolan and Evie, a co-op student from Northeastern University. I spent three days working with the GOT. There are about 130 species of fish in the GOT, and a lot of the day is spent prepping food and and feeding the fish and turtles who live on the large artificial reef in the center of the aquarium. I got to dive in the tank twice, and feed Myrtle.

Myrtle is a green sea turtle who has been at the aquarium since it has opened. She weighs about 550 pounds, and is estimated to be about 85 years old.

I spent a day with AMC and vet services. We did rounds, and went through the entire aquarium, asking each department about their animals. We also took care of the animals that are off exhibit and living in AMC. On the day I was in, there was a trunk fish with a fungal infection on his face. He was getting his mediation through his food, so we prepped his food and made sure he ate.

I went to the Quincy Rehab center where cold stunned sea turtles are rehabilitated. During the colder months, the facility is full with turtles, but during the warmer months, a lot of the turtles had been cared for through the winter and were ready to be released into the wild. On the day I was there, they were doing a stress study to test the effects of transportation on loggerhead turtles. It was really interesting to see them in action.

The northern fur seal Roxie during a training session with Marie.

The volunteers in marine mammals have a very coveted position, so I was very lucky to help them out one day. The Marine Mammal Center at the aquarium currently has two sea lions, six harbor seals, and seven northern fur seals. The seals and sea lions had such strong and distinct personalities. It was a great experience to see the trainers work with their animals.

I finished up my time at the aquarium with three days in with the penguin exhibit where I worked with two Northeastern co-op students, Sydney and Brendan, and Paul Leonard. There are three species of penguins at the aquarium, African penguins, little blue penguins, and the rockhoppers. Each penguin wears a bracelet on its wing that identifies them, but after a few days, I was already starting to tell them apart without that. Like the seals, the penguins, especially the rockhoppers, had very strong personalities. A typical day with the penguins involves food prep, feeding, cleaning the islands in the exhibit, and another feeding and more cleaning in the afternoon. I really liked working with the penguins.

Overall, I had an amazing time at the aquarium! I’d like to thank everyone I worked with. I am sad to leave.

A Week with Rick Simon

I just got back from a great week in Connecticut with Rick Simon and his wife Erin. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side, and it rained for most of my trip, so we did not do a lot of diving, but we did have a great dive in Ft. Wetherill. I tried out my new DUI drysuit!

Rick and I did some work on dive planning and dive safety, using the mnemonic O D I G T M L (Oxygen, decompression, inert gas narcosis, gauges, temperature, mission, logistics), and we talked about tech diving. He showed me his rebreathers, and how to set them up, and he taught me about the different kinds of rebreathers, and the situations each was best used in. We discussed the advantages and limitations of the different styles.

Diving in my new DUI drysuit in Rhode Island with Rick Simon

Despite the rain, Rick and I spent a lot of time in the Manta Industries shop. I learnt a lot about how to run a manufacturing business. Rick showed me how to make a reel, and then we practiced with it on land. I really got to see all sides of Manta Industries, from the raw materials to finished goods. It was amazing to see how carefully each item was made.

Rick designing and patterning the pants for the exosuit.

On our last day together, we made pants to protect the legs of an exosuit on a deep dive. I’ve never done anything like that before. My sewing skills were not that impressive, but luckily Rick was there to show me how it was done.

I had a great time with Rick and Erin, and I came away knowing a lot more about running a manufacturing business, the dive industry, and diving itself. Thanks Rick!

Undersea Divers

I went up to Undersea Divers in Beverly to meet Bobby Boyle. He is a strong supporter of the internship program, and Sea Rover’s Diver of the year in 2013! Bobby donates gear every year to the intern.

Bobby generously donated a wetsuit, BC, regulator, computer, tank, hood, and gloves this year.

DUI Demo Day

I went to the DUI Demo day at Stage Fort Park on May 10th. It was a day I’ll never forget.

I got to test out my new DUI drysuit. I went diving with Vin Malkowski. We did some mask clears, air sharing, reg retrievals, and I got the feel of my new drysuit.

I talked with Dick Long (the founder of DUI) between my dives. I warmed up my hands in electric gloves and he explained DUI’s heated undergarments. It was so warm.

After lunch, I got back in the water with Vin and did a second dive. Stage Fort Park is a very sandy site, but there I saw a lot of crabs, and the water temperature wasn’t that bad, especially in a drysuit!

North Carolina Wreck Expedition

The coast of North Carolina is a ship graveyard, and the sea is filled with beautiful shipwrecks and warm, semi-tropical water. East Coast Divers sponsered me to go, and it was the most amazing diving I have ever done.

We drove down to North Carolina and then dove for the next three days. Prior to the trip, I did my wreck certification with Alex Dulavitz, one of the owners of East Coast Divers. Alex is a wonderful teacher, and has a lot of experience with technical diving.

I spent my first two days of diving in North Carolina doing the checkout dives for the wreck class, and the third day I got to practice the skills I learnt. I have never dove in such clear water, and I was awed by the life. I love the schools of fish, and I got to see so much sea life that I have never seen before.

Christian Ponce took some amazing photos on the trip, including this one of a shark with a weight caught on it's lip. — Christian Ponce took some amazing photos on the trip, including this one of a shark with a weight caught on it’s lip.

We dove five wrecks. Each was unique and interesting. The Sparr was a beautiful. It was an artificial wreck sunk in July of 2004 as part of North Carolina’s artificial reef project. It was a deep wreck, and it was a hang out for sand tiger sharks.

I dove the U-boat on the third day, and it was everything a dive should be. It was deep and clear and warm. It was one of the best dives of my life.

It was my first time diving out of the North Shore, and an experience I will never forget.

For more photos from the expedition, check out some of Christian Ponce’s pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisponce/with/14086788017

Backscatter

I went to visit Mike and Fred at Backscatter in New Hampshire. They showed me how to set up the camera systems used by the Sea Rovers Intern. There is a GoPro system and a still camera set up for me to use during my summer as the intern.

Fred also showed me how to edit photographs, and some of his from a recent trip to Bonaire. His photographs were beautiful, the colors were vibrant and the compositions were strong and interesting. He showed me some different editing software. Once I’ve taken some of my own photos.

Fred also showed me how to repair strobes.

I really enjoyed my time with them, and I am excited to go out diving with Mike in June.

Boston Sea Rovers Show

Friday night at the speakers reception with Amy Giannotti, Terrence Tysall and the other interns.

I flew in from England on Thursday night before the weekend of the Sea Rovers Conference. I got up early for the COMS (Career Opportunities in Marine Science) day. I really enjoyed the broad variety of speakers at this event. I was always interested in marine biology as a child, and the school groups that attended were very lucky to attend this presentation.

Amy and Terrence from the Cambrian Foundation gave a presentation about STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and gave an overview of opportunities for students to get involved with cave explorations and scientific diving.

That evening, I went to the Friday night party, where I was formally introduced to many other Sea Rovers and friends of the Sea Rovers. I also learnt a lot about the rituals and traditions of the Sea Rovers that night.

Saturday morning, I drove up to Danvers where the Sea Rovers exposition takes place. The show fills the hotel. I was really impressed by the scale. In addition to the exhibit hall, there was an exhibition filled with diving relics and three rooms for presentations. I spent most of the day at presentations.

I attended the film festival on Saturday night, where I watched beautiful footage shot by some of the best underwater videographers in the field.

Kate, Rick, Ryan, Kim, Daniel, Rachel, J.P., and me

I spent Sunday going through the exposition hall, and watched a few more presentations. I wrapped up the show with J.P. Sullivan’s presentation on his internship last year. His experiences were very interesting, and I am very excited to be presenting my own experiences next year.

I was very tired when I left on Sunday evening. I went straight to the airport, and flew back to England.

I really enjoyed my time at the Sea Rovers show. It was my first dive show, and I met a lot of really fascinating people and had a great time. I can’t wait for next year.