Look for a future post to see our final count.
-Chris
Giant Ocean Tank Divers Blog
12/18/09
#67: What's Happening - Counting Grunts
It's that time of the year again - our annual census of the Giant Ocean Tank critters. Some species are harder to count than others, for example the smallmouth grunts. Check out this video of the school, and see if you can count them yourself. A smallmouth grunt has 5 or 6 yellow stripes on its elongated cylindrical body, and yellow fins.
12/10/09
#66: Dive Buddies - Fall Interns, Sammy and Kristen
Hi Blue and Happy Friends!
So we are seeing our last days as interns at the most wonderful and colorful organization in both of our whole worlds! Although, we will be back as volunteers for as long as we can. How could one go from hanging out with little burrfish and being caressed by Mystic, to then not? We remember our first days diving (Kristen was a good thirty minutes late to her check out dive ...), and how we were absolutely nervous to get into the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) for the first time. We thought our ears would never adjust to the almighty twenty-three-foot depth. However, they eventually did! From then on, everything was 100% awesome.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
We had so many exciting experiences in and out of the GOT. For example, we saw necropsies of lookdown fish, trunkfish, porcupine fish and a little baby fresh water turtle. Sam went herring net collecting and handled the anacondas and Athena the octopus (who gave her cute little hickies). We also went to offsite holding tanks where we cared for young sharks and rays. Yet, one of our most memorable experiences was when we greeted over twenty juvenile green and Kemp's ridley sea turtles, who arrived at the Aquarium after beaching themselves on the Cape.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
You could say we never have an average, boring day here. Our favorite part of the day was obviously diving in the miniature ocean. Sometimes it was weird to see rain and snow outside right before we jumped into the 76-degree water.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
- Sam and Kristen
See photos of Sam (as an angelfish) and Kristen (as Where's Waldo?) diving in costume from the Aquarium's Fish, Fun and Fright event here. You can also read about the Aquarium's Summer and Spring interns.
So we are seeing our last days as interns at the most wonderful and colorful organization in both of our whole worlds! Although, we will be back as volunteers for as long as we can. How could one go from hanging out with little burrfish and being caressed by Mystic, to then not? We remember our first days diving (Kristen was a good thirty minutes late to her check out dive ...), and how we were absolutely nervous to get into the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) for the first time. We thought our ears would never adjust to the almighty twenty-three-foot depth. However, they eventually did! From then on, everything was 100% awesome.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
We had so many exciting experiences in and out of the GOT. For example, we saw necropsies of lookdown fish, trunkfish, porcupine fish and a little baby fresh water turtle. Sam went herring net collecting and handled the anacondas and Athena the octopus (who gave her cute little hickies). We also went to offsite holding tanks where we cared for young sharks and rays. Yet, one of our most memorable experiences was when we greeted over twenty juvenile green and Kemp's ridley sea turtles, who arrived at the Aquarium after beaching themselves on the Cape.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
You could say we never have an average, boring day here. Our favorite part of the day was obviously diving in the miniature ocean. Sometimes it was weird to see rain and snow outside right before we jumped into the 76-degree water.
However, nothing can compare to when we fed our favorite fish. We loved it when some of them came right up to us--giving us their cute puppy eyes--and swimming away excitedly when we fed them. It was like we gave them the best birthday present ever.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
Nevertheless, we must say goodbye to our seven millimeter wetsuits, for now, and hand them off to the next group of interns. We would like to thank everyone who worked with us and put up with our shenanigans. Also, we want to thank the best supervisors in the universe. You were always playful, answered our millions of questions, and are fantastically passionate! It was inspiring and endlessly hilarious to work with you!
We miss you already; especially the 600 fishes who gave us kisses.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
Nevertheless, we must say goodbye to our seven millimeter wetsuits, for now, and hand them off to the next group of interns. We would like to thank everyone who worked with us and put up with our shenanigans. Also, we want to thank the best supervisors in the universe. You were always playful, answered our millions of questions, and are fantastically passionate! It was inspiring and endlessly hilarious to work with you!
We miss you already; especially the 600 fishes who gave us kisses.
- Sam and Kristen
See photos of Sam (as an angelfish) and Kristen (as Where's Waldo?) diving in costume from the Aquarium's Fish, Fun and Fright event here. You can also read about the Aquarium's Summer and Spring interns.
12/2/09
#65: Our Reef Residents - Up Close with Bimini the Nurse Shark
Our female nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) is named Bimini after an island in the Bahamas. She's about 9 years old and is 7.5 feet long. She weighs 175 lbs. (You can read more posts that mention her here, here and at the very end of this one.)
Bimini is a strikingly beautiful shark and one of my favorite animals in the exhibit. Without anthropomorphizing her (that means giving her human features) too much, she's got spunk. I remember one time when I was sitting at the bottom of the tank just watching her be her sharky self. When she got tired of being stared at, she knocked my mask off my head and swam away. Gotta love that attitude!
I decided to take some photos of Bimini so our blog readers could see her up close too. I hope you enjoy them.
Here are two photos of her snout.
These are her long barbels (used to find food).
Here you can see her broad, sub-terminal mouth.
(If you're interested in shark teeth, check out this earlier post.)
Here's an eye and tiny spiracle (small upside-down U shape to the right).
You can see inside her gills in this one.
Here's a close up of her dermal denticles which protect her skin (this is why she feels sandpapery to the touch).
-Sarah
Bimini is a strikingly beautiful shark and one of my favorite animals in the exhibit. Without anthropomorphizing her (that means giving her human features) too much, she's got spunk. I remember one time when I was sitting at the bottom of the tank just watching her be her sharky self. When she got tired of being stared at, she knocked my mask off my head and swam away. Gotta love that attitude!
I decided to take some photos of Bimini so our blog readers could see her up close too. I hope you enjoy them.
Here are two photos of her snout.
These are her long barbels (used to find food).
Here you can see her broad, sub-terminal mouth.
(If you're interested in shark teeth, check out this earlier post.)
Here's an eye and tiny spiracle (small upside-down U shape to the right).
You can see inside her gills in this one.
Here's a close up of her dermal denticles which protect her skin (this is why she feels sandpapery to the touch).
-Sarah
12/1/09
#64: Why does John Hanzl Live Blue?
Recently the Aquarium launched the Live Blue Initiative, an online tool that allows people from all over the world to share their commitment to protect the blue planet. The divers are sharing their own live blue profiles describing how they care for the oceans. Here's a look at Dive Safety Officer John Hanzl's Live Blue profile.
John Hanzl
Dive Safety Officer
Complete the Sentence:
I live blue because the ocean is both my passion and my second home.
Why do you care about the environment?
The question really should be "How can you NOT care about the environment." It is what makes life possible. Without it our planet is nothing but an airless, lifeless hunk of rock.
How has your environment affected your career/education decisions?
My love of nature in general, and of the aquatic world in specific, is what led me to make a drastic change in careers many years ago. I transitioned from career in electrical engineering to being a diver for the New England Aquarium and is a decision I've been grateful for ever since.
Read more here and follow this link to see John's plot of ocean in the Phoenix Islands.
John Hanzl
Dive Safety Officer
Complete the Sentence:
I live blue because the ocean is both my passion and my second home.
Why do you care about the environment?
The question really should be "How can you NOT care about the environment." It is what makes life possible. Without it our planet is nothing but an airless, lifeless hunk of rock.
How has your environment affected your career/education decisions?
My love of nature in general, and of the aquatic world in specific, is what led me to make a drastic change in careers many years ago. I transitioned from career in electrical engineering to being a diver for the New England Aquarium and is a decision I've been grateful for ever since.
Read more here and follow this link to see John's plot of ocean in the Phoenix Islands.
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