Breaking In

What would field work be without a few hurdles?

I’m down in the lower FL Keys helping with a PhD student’s project on bicolor damselfish.  The hardest part about the work is that we are collecting live samples.  In other words, I’m fishing.  …with aquarium nets.  …on scuba gear.  …chasing spry little fish from 1-6cm all over the reef.  Obviously there is some difficulty there but we’re using a strong anesthetic to help us sedate the fish.  It’s still difficult but without it there would be no hope of catching any.  There have been other issues such as equipment breaking, not having what we need, weather not cooperating, etc but for the most part we have been able to anticipate most of those problems.

The problem that I never expected happened even before getting in the water.  When we got to the hotel (more of a motel/restaurant/dive center) at 9:30pm, we were given a set of keys and told to go to room 24.  Hungry and exhausted, we were surprised when the door opened an inch before being stopped by the chain that can only be locked from the inside.  Perplexed, we returned to the key givers and explained our situation to which we noted a facial expression similar to ours.  Thinking through our options (which included yanking the door open and breaking the chain, at the suggestion of the hotel staff), I decided to break in through the window to which the hotel staff did not object.  Prying the window slats open, I managed to pop the screen out being careful not to knock over the lamp in front of the window.  Weaseling my way up to the window, I slid in head first and face up into the lowest open window panel.  It’s not the first time I’ve gotten into a locked room and I’m sure it won’t be the last, but it was one of the most rewarding.  It turns out that it's a suite with two entrances so the back door we were trying to access had been locked then the previous guests walked out the other door.  The keys the hotel gave us were ineffective on the other door so we weren't sure which door connected through.  At any rate it was a fun little adventure.

Since then, everything has been working smoothly.  The other non-fish collecting news I have is that I bought a 3-piece collapsible spear for shooting lionfish.  The benefit is that it can break down and fit into a small space that I can keep with me on every dive without any hassle at all.  I’m excited to try it out for the first time and I’m sure I’ll have photos to come.

In bed by 11:45, awake by 6am for a long day of research.  Goodnight!

P.S. I’m still behind on posts so keep an eye on my earlier days to see any new posts.

22 June - Florida Keys

Today was a very standard typical day.  I didn't see anything too far out of the ordinary even though team 1 spotted and photographed a manta ray.  The only other noteworthy piece of news is that there was a storm that popped up halfway through my lunch break so we spent an hour and a half driving South to outrun it.  We were successful and finished the day strong.

21 June - Florida Keys

We did 5 dives today but the big news is that the Heat won the NBA Championships 4-1 over the OKC Thunder tonight!  It was a 15-point margin after a well-fought game on their home-court.  had they lost this one, they would have fought for the title in OK City for games 6 and 7.

LET'S GO HEAT!

20 June - Florida Keys

Today the conditions were too rough for diving so we stayed dry all day long.  It was decided that conditions up in Key Largo would be better than in Key West so we spent the day puttering our way North in no hurry since we would not be diving until tomorrow regardless of how early we got here.

I spent my time eating, sleeping, reading, talking, reading/sleeping, eating, playing dominos, watching the film The Birdcage, playing euchre, eating, talking on the phone, and then coming to bed (not exactly in  that order).

Hopefully tomorrow will be better conditions for diving and I'll have stories of being in the water instead of sitting on a boat developing cabin fever.  here's to better diving tomorrow!

19 June - Florida Keys

What an unexpected turnout for today.  The first round of diving was full of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, waves, swells, and low visibility.  This made for lots of difficulty getting back onto the boat via the ladder.  Being the last team out of the water for the first round, I was surprised to see the next team in dry clothes.  It turns out they decided to cancel all diving the rest of the day.  I spent the remainder of it eating lunch, reading, napping, watching movies, talking on the phone to Christina, then watching the Heat go up 3-1 against the Thunder in the finals.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day of diving.  I guess I'll find out when I wake up!

18 June - Florida Keys

Well here I am back on the Spree.  Mel is still not my best friend and still has the personality of a ticked off drill sergeant.  I will continue to be nice to her and expect only scowls or complete disregard in return.  This trip is only 7 days, 3 days shy of the last cruise.  The diving is not expected to be world class but at least it's diving.

My dive buddy Katie and team member Amanda both work at Biscayne National Park where Christina works.  I haven't heard anything about Katie but Christina has said good things about Amanda.  The 4th team member, Ben, is the wild card.  He seems pretty cool but time will tell how compatible we are.  Hopefully everything is wonderful.

So here's to another 7 days on the Spree with what is expected to be foul weather.  Let's make thebest of it and have a great time.  Ready?  Go.