Author: Sofia Grabiel Butler

During my first week at WHOI with Kim, I had the opportunity to meet for an afternoon with Sea Rover Dr. Roger Hanlon at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. As someone who loves all things cephalopod, it was amazing to meet Dr. Hanlon and talk about his work studying cephalopod behavior! We talked especially about some of his current research into what cuttlefish camouflage actually looks like to the predators the cuttlefish is trying to fool. I learned that he met one of his research partners at the Boston Sea Rovers Clinic, and Dr. Hanlon walked me through what they’ve been working on in the past few years.

Cephalopods like cuttlefish and octopuses are in complete control of how they appear to the outside world, and are able to change their color, pattern, and texture within the blink of an eye to match their surroundings. The question Dr. Hanlon and his team are asking is what the camouflaging animal looks like to other sea creatures, since they all perceive color differently. Some (like us) have three color receptors, while others have two or four, or more! Mantis shrimp famously have twelve color receptors in their eyes, which let them see thousands more colors than we can imagine. To understand this, Dr. Hanlon built a camera with sixteen color receptors, to be able to pick and choose receptors to imitate shark-vision or fish-vision. Dr. Hanlon was really kind and walked me through some of the hardware and software he’s been using to gather that data. It was so amazing to see!

Dr. Hanlon took me on a brief tour of the MBL labs, and I got to meet some of the cuttlefish, squid, and octopus that live there. They all had fun names, which I loved. One cuttlefish, Inigo Montoya, was very suspicious of the strange humans in his room, and changed his skin to have eyespots on the back of his mantle and a rippling white rectangle in the middle. Dr. Hanlon (the Cuttlefish Whisperer) has been studying cuttlefish for so long that he knows exactly what each display means, and was able to translate it for me!

I had a wonderful time talking with Dr. Hanlon. I was already interested in cephalopods, and in behavioral research, but talking with him made me really excited for my own journey as a diver and scientist. We talked about how we both prefer spending time in the ocean rather than in a lab, and he gave me some great pointers about using photography as a part of research. I’m heading to the Backscatter Digital Shootout as a part of my Internship, so I’ll be keeping his advice in mind as I get more familiar with underwater photography.

I will forever be grateful that Dr. Hanlon took the time to meet with me and show me his research, and for how interested in encouraging my own journey he was! It was a fascinating afternoon with a fascinating man.

– Sofia

My Internship has officially started! I spent the first several days in Cape Cod with Sea Rovers Vin and Kim Malkoski (the current BSR president!). Neither of them have seen me dive before, so we did several check-out dives to assess my buoyancy and to practice some skills. It’s been a while since I was in a drysuit, so it was really helpful to get that practice in too.

My first day was a big one: Vin and I went through all my gear, making sure I had everything I needed and that it was all set up correctly. We did our first check-out dive and since the weather was so lovely, and stopped for ice cream on the way home (Vin and I are both big on ice cream, I’ve learned).

That night, the Malkoski family and I drove up to Boston to see the first showing of Sea Rover Keith Ellenbogen’s short film Space to Sea: The Gulf of Maine’s Ocean Wilderness at the Museum of Science. We got to see the film on the huge IMAX screen of the Museum’s Mugar Omni Theater, and Keith spoke about the process and inspiration behind the film before showing it again. The images were all stunning, and did a great job showing the importance and beauty of New England’s ocean ecosystems. My favorite part of the film was a transition from a dark water column full of plankton fading to become stars in the night sky. It was a great night, and there were plenty of other Sea Rovers in attendance to support Keith!

In addition to my checkout dives with Vin, I also got to spend some time at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, where Kim is the Dive Safety Officer! We dove off the dock at WHOI, and I got to meet some of Kim’s colleagues and learn more about what she does in the Dive Office. 

I had the opportunity at the very end of the week to join the DAN Diving First Aid course that Kim was teaching – with so many researchers heading out soon, plenty of people needed to renew their First Aid and Rescue training. We learned how to properly give CPR, bandage wounds, recognize decompression sickness, administer emergency oxygen, and a whole lot more! I’m really grateful that Kim had me join the class, I feel much more prepared as a diver. It was also great to get a glimpse of some of the training that scientific divers like those at WHOI have to go through before they can join expeditions!

– Sofia