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My next stop was with NOAA and Sea Rover Mark Dixon. We went out collecting oyster cages for a study looking at the impact of oyster beds on fish life. The fish are monitored through GoPros attached around the cages. When the cages were pulled up I was able to see some of the fish and other life, like crabs, cunner, gunnels, and black sea bass. As the cages were placed on the deck fish and crabs fell off of it. The young cunner have a small black spot on their dorsal fin, while the gunnels are slender almost eel like fish. Water samples were also taken to look at the water contents. Studies like this are essential to find out the potential impacts of aquaculture and how the oyster industry should handle factors in the environment. Thanks to Mark for taking me out on the boat for the day.

My next training was at East Coast Divers with Sea Rovers Nick Fazah, Kim Malkoski, and Zach Wahlen, doing my perfect buoyancy class. I learned about changes in buoyancy and how to control it through an entire dive. I had a blast practicing in the pool with free divers and other divers crowding the pool trying to avoid them filling and emptying my lungs maneuvering around them all.

I spent the next few days with Vin Malkoski working on my dry suit training. I donned my DUI drysuit donated by Faith Ortins, and jumped into the green waters of the New Bedford test pool with Vin. Once we nailed down my weight system, we practiced buoyancy control and flipping around if I ever get inverted. I had a lot of fun flipping around just getting use to diving in what some people relate to a ziplock bag. But I felt comfortable and way warmer!

After a few more practice dives we went on my first dive on the Chester Poling. It was my first time on the wreck and it was amazing to see the wreck that I had heard so much about. The cunner were in full form, schooling around us. We also saw a few sea ravens hanging around. Then up the mooning line we went and just like that I was drysuit certified!

 

My last day the the New England Aquarium was spent working with the rescued sea turtles at the rehab center in Quincy. A discrete industrial building, that looks nothing like it would house animals, is filled with quarantined animals, the sharks and rays that had been removed days before and the rescued turtles. When I had arrived there were only 6 turtles left from the over 200 that had been rescued. Many are rescued from being cold stunned or getting stuck in the arm of Cape Cod trying to migrate. They were divided into four tanks. Each gets regular check ups and is fed a certain diet, yet another example of how caring and individualized the aquarium is. While I was there I watched as turtles got check ups, weighing them, checking their vitals and looking at their shell making sure it was all healthy and didn’t have dents or scratches. After taking care of the turtles we headed down the wharf to get a few live crabs from the trap to give to the turtles as something of enrichment and to keep them on a healthy diet. The turtles can be pretty picky eaters and would just pass by the crab while other would lunge at it.  

While I was at the rehab center I got the chance to watch a necropsy of a year old seal that had washed ashore. When I got into the room there were four or five people standing around the body that had been cut open ready to be dissected. I watched as each organ was carefully removed and samples taken and photos of anything abnormal. It was fascinating to see the body be taken apart and all the little parts that help the seal to function. For a while the head was lying on the table next to me as the heart and lungs were taken out and placed next to it. It was gruesome to watch but oddly interesting as well. The final diagnosis was that the seal likely died due to complication from emphysema of the lungs.

The week I spent at the New England Aquarium was awesome, I learned a lot and it was fantastic to see the inner workings of the aquarium I had been to so many time before. Thanks to Dan Dolan for a great week.

I spent my next day working with the team from marine mammals, who care for and train the harbor seals and fur seals. I first worked in the kitchen divvying up fish for each of the fur seals. Then the team and I headed over to the harbor seals to do training with them and feeding. I watched as they performed tricks like opening their mouth, jumping, rolling around, waving, and presenting their flippers. Theses skills are important not just for the audience to watch for enjoyment but for when the seals are in need of medical care or are getting a check up. It was lots of fun to see the seals playing around and having so much fun. Later in the day I got to do some enrichment with them throwing toys at them and balls of fish in ice. We also sprayed them with a hose and watched them play around having lots of fun. It was great to work with the seals and see how much work goes into training and getting to know each animal on a personal level.

I spent my next day working with Charlie Innis the director of animal health for the entire aquarium. Right when I arrived at the aquarium I headed up to the top of the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) where a team of divers were removing the bonnet heads sharks to be sent to the rehab center in Quincy. The tank was going to be treated for Crypto by lowering the salinity of the tank which the elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) wouldn’t be able to handle. The sharks were caught then rushed down to a waiting truck that carted them to Quincy. After the bonnet heads were safely on their way Charlie showed me around the aquarium pointing out all the animals that were being treated for something or he had treated them and they were healthy and on exhibit. After that we headed down to treat a soldier fish for a eye problem giving it the last treatment of eye drops. It was astonishing to see a fish getting eye drops and how much Charlie and the Aquarium care about every single animal. After taking care of the fish we headed back up to the top of the GOT and removed the cownose rays while everyone watched the procedure. The divers caught them and transported them down the elevator and out to the truck just like the bonnet heads.

Charlie explained to me that this was a pretty relaxed day which was just astonishing. After lunch I headed to watch a presentation about southern right whales populations and the threats they face. It was interesting to hear the factors such as birds scratching the backs of the whales that would hurt their population. We then went to a presentation by one of Charlie’s team about a project he had worked on studying a mass pilot whale beaching killing over a hundred individuals and their health. My day spent with the health team was really amazing just watching all of the small everyday tasks and bigger unexpected problems that they face.

The next department I worked in was the cold water marine department, which houses marine life from Eastport ME, the West Coast, and of course the octopuses. My morning started by helping clean sand for tanks for incoming fish and invertebrates from a recent collecting trip to Eastport. When I wasn’t washing sand I would spend my time playing with the two octopuses. Their names are Freya and The Professor, both have very different personalities. The Professor is a little younger and smaller, while Freya is larger and is right up with the public, The Professor sits behind Freya in another tank. Playing with the both of them it’s hard to not think that they are intelligent creatures. They investigated me by pulling my arms into the tank, I made sure they wouldn’t pull my arms too far, the people watching would be pretty freaked out to see an octopus pulling a human arm into its tank. It was amazing to feel each of the suckers working independently pulling and tasting at different strengths while the octopus changes color and texture. At one point Freya began to pull my hand towards her beak and that would really hurt so I pulled my hand back feeling the full muscular power of octopus. Working with Freya and The Professor was a mesmerizing experience that really made me see them on a different otherworldly level, it was truly amazing.

 

 

The next day at the aquarium I worked with the penguins. The New England Aquarium has three species; african, rockhopper and little blue. Each is very different and has distinct personalities. I worked first with the little blues, the smallest species of penguin. They were molting their feathers so I cleaned up the feathers from the water and washed off the rocks they sat on. As they all huddled together in a tight clump I brushed of all of the fish they had digested or regurgitated. It smelled pretty bad at times. After lunch I worked with the rockhopper penguins who were much more aggressive and hungry. I fed them some fish sticking it in their faces till they ate it. Each penguin is monitored, making sure every single one gets the right amount of food and that no one is falling behind. Some were very eager to eat and would peck at my fingers and swim around me bumping into my back, others would sit far away from me and I would have to walk up to them and coax them to eat. After feeding them I went around cleaning the bottom of the enclosure scrubbing away algae and any food scraps. At one point I was walking around the rock when one sitting on a rock crapped on me. A family saw it happen and burst out laughing, it was a lot more fun for them than me, needless to say I thoroughly washed out my wetsuit.

I arrived at the New England Aquarium bright and early to meet Dan Dolan, friend of the Sea Rovers and long time aquarium volunteer and diver in the GOT (Giant Ocean Tank). Once I met Dan he brought me up to the dive locker and kitchen where I dropped off my stuff and got to work preparing fish food. I pulled apart squids, debeaking and depending them. I then got some lettuce ready for Myrtle the green sea turtle. Myrtle weighs in at 540 lbs, and is the oldest and one of the most iconic animals at the aquarium. The rest of the morning I fed the needle fish pieces of shrimp and fish, and Myrtle the lettuce I had prepared.

Then I headed back into the dive locker and got geared up to do a dive in the tank. A few of my friends got to come and see me as I went into the tank and took pictures with me. I got to pat a green moray, and rub Myrtle’s back. I swam around looking at the many fish species from schools of grunts to the hog fish and french angels. My personal favorite was the black drum fish. A kind of ugly looking brown fish about three or four feet long that has short barbles under its chin. At one point a grouper came near it and I found out why it’s called a black drum. It started making this deep booming drumming noise scaring the grouper away. It was amazing to see inside the tank that I had walked around so many times before.

 

My last day at the National Aquarium was spent looking around at the exhibits that I didn’t get to see the rest of the week. I couldn’t dive because I was flying home later that afternoon. I looked around at the Rainforest and Australian galleries and their complex tanks. The diversity of life at the National aquarium amazes me. There is something from every part of the globe here for everyone to see. I had an amazing week and did five awesome dives, thanks to Holly, Billy and Wally for hosting me!