pre- hurricane update 9/18

Local houses and businesses were preparing early for the storm by boarding up. The station did this as well.

While it is pretty windy here, we're certainly not seeing any of the hurricane yet. The palm trees especially look quite elastic, but also prone to snapping in their middle. We'll see. The hurricane has lessened to a category 2. However, it is still moving quite slowly and could cause major damage to the island.



Various hurricane parties and monopoly games have started here. I think most people are using the internet to send last minute reassurances as none of us know how long we may be without internet. We probably will have it for another nine hours or so, but that is just a guess.
I like
www.stormpulse.com
with 'clouds on' to get a picture of the oncoming storm.

A cat that hangs around the BIOS station has joined our company for the night. No one really knows what to expect but I think we're all interested to see what it is like, and anxious for it to start. Waiting is hard.

Hurricane Igor is coming- and we're preparing

So, for those who don't know, there is currently a hurricane brewing in the North Atlantic projected to pass right over Bermuda. The hurricane is HUGE and it, unfortunately, is moving very slowly so even though it will likely go from a category three to a category two right around the time it passes over, it will cause a lot of damage on its way across.

I hope no one will worry too much. The buildings on the island in general, and especially at the BIOS station, are built with sturdy materials (often rock) and made to withstand these frequent storms. Today in the lab we neutralized acids, put away glass materials and in did much in the way of hurricane proofing.

We have been warned that we will likely loose internet access for a couple days but I will be sure to update this page when the danger has passed.

'Home' for the next three months

www.bios.edu




From across the bay- my first image of the place



Wright Hall- used to be an insane asylum or housing for Tb patients- rumors are conflicting.

A picture post to accompany the previous entry

The day begins


Sylvia Earle and staff from Time Magazine. It was a press day out to sea.
(By the way, I am proud to say I was NOT the 'seasick research assistant' the author notes):
www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2016556-1,00.html

Also, Look for TIME magazine later this month for an in-depth feature on Sylvia Earle and her wish to establish and expand marine protected areas–in particular the Sargasso Sea.



Ms. Earle waves goodbye to the pilot boat that directs us out of the bay and away from calm seas.



The CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth Measurement) of this leg. It went down about 3000 feet.



The contraption is wheeled into the garage and each canister is measured. The one that collected from the deepest ocean felt quite cold.

Out to Sea

10/4/10
12:51 86.4 degrees

Today was QUITE the adventure filled day… This morning three of the girls including myself woke up at 600 to catch a taxi to the Atlantic Explorer. We traveled 18 kilometers into the Sargasso Sea to conduct a water sample from the surface down to 3000 meters. It is part of a time series data collection process that has been executed in that same spot since 1942, which is pretty significant.
Also significant was the fact that a writer from Time magazine and the famous oceanographer Sylvia Earle were there to partake and record our adventure. I had looked up Sylvia prior to the journey and she really is quite a role model. But she is also approachable and relatable, and I feel blessed to have met her considering i’m in the process of becoming a budding biologist.
I got a little nervous as all of the professors and researchers at the station keep telling me how my research mentor is so smart, or is so diligent… etc etc. No one has said- Mike? Aw he is the chillest! But I have been told that he is doing some of the most significant work at the station at the moment and is quite accomplished in terms of publications.
On the ship we were shown emergency plans and left to our own means as we traveled an hour plus to hydrostation S- where our measurements were to be made. I gabbed with Tony- the director of BIOS and listen shyly to Sylvia Earle, and spent every second worrying about doing a self body scan to be sure I wasn’t feeling sick. The swells were pretty bad as a result of Tropical storm Fiona, but I ended up keeping down the little lunch I ate: a mix of hunger held back by fear.
This evening, we got back to the station and bizarrely, the world was rocking! Did you feel it, reader? It has still not gone away completely. I am very excited to go back out on the boat, but I’m also quite nervous about getting sick. Wish me luck.

Lastly tonight there was a welcome party at the BIOS lounge Passing Wind. Most of the REUs and I got together before for some fun and games and then went on over. It was starting to rain which felt SO GOOD and we noticed a couple of the giant bull frogs one sees squished in the road came out to enjoy.

It was an exciting day… and I’m looking forward to being rocked to sleep by lasting sealegs

H

addendum

by the way, in keeping with my Cuba blog, I've chosen a color scheme that i think suits Bermuda. Pink and blue are the colors of the buses, the buildings, the sand and the sea.

First Bermuda Post

Well, day nine in Bermuda. Complying with the desires of my parents and a few others, I’ve decided to start another blog this one pertaining to Bermuda. I won’t be insulted if this is never given a second glance (or if I am writing this to my immediate family only… that’s fine too). I don’t think it is as important or nearly as interesting to blog from Bermuda. If one has the money, he or she can fly here and stay a couple days, and Bermudians are certainly welcome to spend their money in the United States as well. However, I would like to start this blog with the realization of the astounding number of similarities I see between Cuba and Bermuda (and of course the United States) and the warning that this will be a venue where I will compare the two places. I will also start with a promise- one that I truly hope I can keep- I hope to maintain this blog as more of a photo-journal than a written entry account of my time here. I had desired to do the same in Cuba but the internet simply would not allow it. So, be prepared for some explanations of the obstacles I encounter throughout the microbiology research I am doing here, and more random thoughts and observations I remember to jot down (or type later?), and also some photographs taken during my three months on the tiny British territory, Bermuda.