Back to the Bahamas...Next stop, Hawaii!!

Outside, the pollen is flying and temperatures are beginning to soar, so it’s time to get out the suitcase and get ready for travel blog season! I'm looking forward to being "on the road again" because this year has been extraordinarily busy for me. I've finished my main doctoral coursework, completed my comprehensive exams, worked as a marine science graduate teaching assistant, and did other things like the subjects of today’s post: a wedding in the Bahamas, an environmental conference, and writing (and receiving) a grant that will send me to Hawaii!

First, though, a big “CONGRATULATIONS” to my brother and (new) sister-in-law who got married in March! They got married on a cruise ship that took us Freeport and Nassau. The wedding was beautiful, and we had so much fun with the whole family together. I even managed to wake up early for a spectacular sunrise on the first full day of the cruise. However, once I got home, my supervisor spent about 20 minutes of a meeting one week going on and on about how awful cruise ships were for the marine environment. Afterward, I did a little research and found this NOAA website and this EPA website about cruise ship impacts.




Apparently, once the cruise ships are on the “high seas” outside of any nation’s exclusive economic zone, they are not under strict environmental dumping laws, so a lot of the waste from the ship gets pumped out in the water. I know the cruise lines would probably say that the waste is just a “drop in the bucket” since the oceans are so massive. But the cruising industry is expanding so rapidly, so I doubt that claim will hold true for long.

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Some estimates say that the average American produces 4.4 pounds of garbage, 350 grams of stool, and generates 265 liters of gray water (waste water from washing dishes, showering, etc.) each day. If you’re on a 3,000 person cruise ship, how much waste is potentially being pumped in the ocean over a three day cruise? Check out this metric website for conversions.

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On another aquatic environmental note, I learned some things about freshwater pollution that I never knew were problems at the most recent Environmental Education Alliance conference. For example, did you know that the exact same thing that happens in your arteries when you eat fatty foods can happen in the drain pipes leading out of your house??? When you rinse off your plates, pots, and pans after making a meal, all the fats found in the food you’re washing off can build up, a little at a time, in the sewer lines. This can cause complete blockages in the pipes, which can cause man-holes to overflow into streams. Check out this F.O.G. You Tube video of FOG from New Zealand. It's an excellent explanation of the issue (with a slightly hilarious New Zealand-er twist.) Also, cleaning up the blockages is a HUGE waste of taxpayer money and completely preventable. So wipe out that residue left in your ice-cream bowl with a paper towel before putting it in the dishwasher! By the way, I also learned at the EEA conference that the same goes for pharmaceuticals: Check out this e-article called "Fish on Drugs" to see what happens to fish populations when you flush drugs down the drain. Here's some more official information: EPA on Pharmaceuticals in water

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We take a lot of things for granted with our waste. Make a list of ALL the things that go down the drain in your house on a typical day. What could be some possible effects of these things? What steps can you take to lower the amount of gray water?
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One of the last sessions I attended at the EEA conference was called “A Smorgasbord of Web-Based Tools for EE,” and I had to share these two websites for all the teachers following my blog. Here is powerpoint for the session , and a list of helpful websites. They had some incredible suggestions!

On a completely different (and much more positive) note: I’m headed to Hawaii! Last fall, a colleague and I wrote an Improving Teacher Quality grant for a program known as Project ISLE: Integrated Science Learning Experiences. Since then, Project ISLE has been funded, we’ve recruited a dozen teachers, and we’re busy planning an incredible science learning experience. The teachers will spend one week at the Kilauea Military Camp in Volcano National Park on Hawaii’s Big Island (June 7-14). While there, we will study volcanology, astronomy, and a little marine biology and conservation. Next, we’ll take a short flight to Maui where the teachers will stay at Camp Olowalu and study island ecology, marine biology, and marine conservation (June 14-21). Both locations have WiFi access, so I will try and post about my adventures each day. We’re headed out a week early to get ready for the teachers, so you can expect updates starting June 2nd!

Also coming up, in July I’ll be an intern for an Environmental Education course that goes on field trips to places like recycling centers and organic farms, so I’ll be sure to bring my camera! After that, I will be officially ABD (which stands for All But the Dissertation)! I think my husband might be counting down the days... :)

Snowed in! (This is Georgia??)

Hello! Long time, no post! Anyone who’s completed a graduate degree will tell you that spare time is a rare commodity, and last semester was no exception! However, due to the great feedback I received from my former students, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to post more frequently. Also, being SNOWED IN provides a lot of free time, so I thought today was a perfect day to start!

North Georgia received between 6-8 inches of snow over the past few days, which means that the entire city of Atlanta has shut down. According to local news, Atlanta has only 11 salt trucks. I guess it doesn’t make financial sense to have extensive winter weather traffic equipment since Atlanta usually only gets one or two snowfalls a year. However, that means that the slightest accumulation of snow=stay home! Check out this picture of the street in front of our house...Well, I guess you'll have to take my word for it that there's a street under there!



Question: How does this snowfall compare to the norm for North Georgia? The Atlanta metro area spans over 7,000 square miles. How many salt trucks do you think it would take to keep the roads clear during a major snow/ice storm?
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Here in the Linsky household, we’re making the best of it. For example, Roman, (a.k.a. the best dog ever) LOVES the snow. He is constantly sitting by the door asking to go out, so he and I took a little hike today.




Question: How does your dog react to snow? Based on Roman’s characteristics and your knowledge of selective breeding, what do you think Bernese Mountain Dogs were bread for? (Hint: they used to be known as “the poor man’s horse.”)
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We were not the first to go hiking in the woods by our house, but according to the tracks we saw, we were the first human and dog. Since we couldn’t see where the path was, we decided to follow a deer trail.

Question: What tracks have you seen around your house? Use this track identification website to help you find out. Why do you think those animals were there?



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Along the way, we didn’t see any deer (or any other animals for that matter), but we did see plenty of lichen and fungi, some of which were really pretty.



Question:Why do you think lichen and fungi seem to thrive in the snow while snow and maples lose their leaves?



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At the end of a deer trail we came across these ovals in the snow under the brush of a Chinese Privet. At first I thought they were just random mud puddles, but then I realized that this is probably where the deer slept last night.



Question: Besides their fur coat, what other adaptations (behavioral and physical) do White Tail Deer have to stay warm on freezing winter nights? (Hint, look at the shape and location of the spots…)
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An end to the summer in New York

I can't believe how fast this summer FLEW by. It seems like the last day of school was just yesterday! I guess that's what happens when you go on five trips in two months. I ended the summer just relaxing with family in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. We spent a week hiking, reading, cooking, swimming in icy cold water, playing games, and enjoying the cool mountain air...Well, maybe "cool" is an understatement--it was downright COLD at night and many times throughout the day. Anyway, the experience was a very nice change of pace from our busy lives. Our cabin was built in 1910, and it didn't have a TV, a phone, AC, or any of the other luxuries we tend to consider "necessities" down south. Necessities or not, it was nice to be unplugged for a week. Here are two pics of me hiking and one of a little brownish red squirrel the size of a chipmunk. The squirrels up there are so much cuter than the grey ones we have...They're also really really LOUD. I didn't know such a small animal could make such a loud noise.




So, I'm sad to say that my summer adventures have come to a close, but my new adventure at UGA has just begun. My school started just yesterday with a great first class. I also have three more classes today, another on Thursday, and prep session for the labs I'm teaching on Friday. I start teaching three sections of the labs for MARS 1010, Introduction to Oceanography, beginning next week. So students sign up for MARS 1010, go to the lectures three times a week, and then come to me for the lab portion of the class. I'm excited about teaching college kids, but I already miss my amazing seventh graders from last year--Going from 12 year olds to undergrads is a big jump! I really hope all my old students will keep in touch!

Several of you have asked whether I'll keep my blog going. Even though I'm not traveling as much, I'd like to keep posting anything interesting I see. I love taking pictures and love sharing them with my former students, friends, and family even more! Also, I do have two more trips planned. At the end of September I'm headed back up to New York to see a good friend's wedding, and in March I'm headed out on a CRUISE for a destination wedding (woohoo!) So check back for those and other around campus updates. Also, if you think of something else you'd like to see on here, please let me know! On that note, for those of you who read all summer--thank you!! Which was your favorite?? I'd love to know what you all think.

Take care, and check back soon!
Love,
Lindsay

SO much has happened!

So much has happened since I posted last!! It's hard to decide which pictures to post! Check these out... On my last Sapelo day we went seining for fish. That's when you take a giant net and stretch it out into the ocean off the beach, then turn around and come back to see what you caught. You can see the other group in the deep end through the ropes of this group. The net was 300 feet long! Found a puffer! It didn't like being picked up so much, so it puffed up with air (and floated when we put him back in the water.) I've now started my fourth trip, on St. Catherine's Island (which is AMAZING!) I'm doing a sea turtle conservation internship helping to save these little guys. This is a Loggerhead hatchling that was a "straggler" in the bottom of a nest. We dug them out and pointed them toward the ocean. Incredible. This has been my view for the past few days: from a John Deer Gator. They are SUPER fun to drive. Here we are going up a pretty steep hill. We got trapped on the beach because of high tide. Here's another one of me and a baby turtle. Adorable. St. Catherine's has a partnership with the New York Zoological Society, so there are all kinds of amazing exotic animals on the island. Here is a member of one of the Ring Tailed Lemurs that wander around. Apparently, there are six different troops! They really loved our Gators. They would lick the salt from the ocean off the sides and look in the glove boxes for food. I had to snatch a bag of peanut M&M's from one of them. We're releasing the babies tonight at 8:30, so check back for another video soon. Hatchlings almost always emerge at night when there are fewer birds to gobble them up.

The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography

It is so good to be back on the Georgia coast! I absolutely love it down here--I love the marshes, the wildlife, and being surrounded by some of the most knowledgeable coastal ecology professors and scientists in the world. Here at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, you can pick up a shell on the beach, walk over to a prof and here its scientific name, ecological niche, and natural history. It's science nerd heaven!

Anyway, we've had a great couple of days. This picture was taken on our way out to Wassaw Island, which is a National Wildlife Refuge. This dolphin swam right up to our boat looking for handouts. Our professor said that there are more and more "Beggar Dolphins" in the water these days because of people tossing them one of their freshly caught fish or what have you. However, while it might be fun to see wild dolphin up close, when they get into the habit of swimming close to boats they also have a much higher risk of being hit by propellers. That's why the state will fine boat captains $20,000, seize their boats, and revoke their boating licence if caught feeding these adorable creatures. No thank you.


During our backstage tour or the UGA Marine Extension Aquarium, Lisa and I got an up close view of Eddie the 3 year old Loggerhead Sea Turtle. Thinking that he was about to get fed, he swam right up to the edge of the tank with his mouth open wide. I had to take several pictures of my friend and Davis colleague, Lisa, here. Her image kept coming out blurry due to her jumping up and down in excitement. :) I love hanging out with fellow science nerds.



My turn! No, Eddie, my fingers are not food. He could easily snap one off with that beak designed to crack open clam shells.



So here we are on Wassaw Island. Way back in 1898, the US government built this Gun Battery on the island because of the Spanish American War. Believe it or not, this little fort was built 600 feet inland behind the dunes! Rising sea levels have buried most of it in sand, and the top of it is under water at high tide.

Did anyone ask for evidence of climate change? Well, here you go.



Here's some more. A knot from a dead oak tree that once stood in the middle of a maritime forest (that's now on the beach).



I forgot to mention our purpose for going to Wassaw. We went with a Skidaway scientist to map the north end of the island using this fancy GPS/GIS thingy. As we walked the "wet-dry" line on the beach, this contraption sent a signal to a satellite about ever second or so. Apparently, it's accurate down to 40 centimeters (much better than your average car GPS!)



When we got back to the institute, we overlaid the data we took on top of an older aerial photo of the north end of the island and compared that with previous years. Our line is the pink one and the other two lines are from 2006 and 2001 (I think.) You can really see how much the island moved! People forget that barrier islands are really just giant mounds of sand, so waves and storms move the sand around from place to place. This means that it's actually pretty stupid to build houses, hotels, and anything else permanent on oceanfront property on barrier islands because the beach has a really good chance of washing away eventually and leaving your house in the ocean. And don't get me started on sea walls! (Oy.)




Yesterday was our last day at Skidaway, so we took a hike through marshes out to a little hammock. A hammock is a small island surrounded by marsh that usually don't have beaches. All the hammocks we've seen around here have these dead trees along the edges because the trees can't tolerate the salty water encroaching on the hammocks. They make for cool pictures, though. :)



In a few hours we'll be taking the ferry out to one of my FAVORITE places in the whole world--Sapelo Island (sigh...) I'm convinced that there's no other place like it in the world. Most of the island is owned by the state as a wildlife refuge, and UGA has an amazing research facility there also. But possibly the most interesting part of the island are the permanent residents. The only people that live there all the time are the descendants of the slaves that worked the island plantations WAY back before the civil war. The government deeded the land to the freed slaves, and most of their families never left. The relative isolation has preserved their Gullah/Geechee cultural heritage (or at least way more than anywhere else.) Fascinating.

Trip #2: Jacksonville!

Two trips down, three to go! I just got back from visiting family in Jacksonville and had a great time. We ended up taking some neat pictures. And today marked the first day of my Skidaway/Sapelo trip.

First of all, though, look at the new friend Roman made! Well, he was acting like this mama Whitetail deer was his new friend, but she didn't seem to like him very much. When Roman ran out of the house on this day, she CHARGED the fence out of protection for her little fawn. At first I thought she was going to jump over and send Roman back to the Emergency Vet. But she just stood right there and kept a close eye on him. She stayed long enough for me to take several pictures and two short videos!



Here's her baby. Aaaw


OK, here we are in Florida at the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. Honestly, I really wasn't that excited to go, but I ended up having a lot of fun! This is a portion of the pirate exhibit. Apparently, pirates would stick people in these hanging metal things and dangle them off the ship as a warning to other pirates or do-gooders. Here's my husband John modeling this lovely little number. (I think he looks good in there, don't you? I wonder if they'd let me borrow it sometime...Kidding! ;)


This is a big green screen that leaves a white image of your body on it after a bright light flashes.


So Ripley's had this rotating tunnel that you walked through (a.k.a. holy-wanna-puke-your-brains-out), but it made for some SUPER cool pictures. (By the way, to get this picture, I made John stand still inside the barfy tunnel for almost a whole minute--what a good sport!)


Here's another one. I didn't expect it to turn out like this, but it's still sorta neat.


Tomorrow we're going to Wassaw Island and using a $3K Global Positioning System to map the north end of the island to see if it has moved at all. Barrier Islands are basically just GIANT piles of sand, so they move a little bit with the currents and waves each year. I'll let you know how it goes and the cool stuff we see!

Home again!

It's probably a good thing that I wasn't able to post pictures in San Salvador because I took over 400! I would have done nothing but blog. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.


The beach in front of the Gerace Research Center. Not a bad place to take a class, huh?


A sea urchin on the beach in front of Snapshot reef.


This is another one of my favorite spots on the island: The San Salvador Lighthouse.


When we were getting ready to head out for a day of snorkeling, one of the teachers in our group noticed this little baby mocking bird that had fallen out of its nest. He resembles a grumpy old man, doesn't he?


We went to a spot on the island known as "Trash Beach." Apparently, the offshore ocean currents wash up more trash on this beach than anywhere else on the island. It's really sad to walk around and see trash (mostly plastic) from all over the world. I found this piece of driftwood shaped like a question mark and thought it very appropriate on several levels.


Historians believe this is the spot where Columbus FIRST landed after his maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Spain erected this memorial in San Salvador several years ago.


I loved this little beach among the gorgeous rock formations.


I caught myself in "artsy" mode several times a day--the beauty of San Salvador could turn anyone into a photographer. This shrub/rock combo is one of my favorites.


The morning of our last day in paradise, I walked out to North Point with a group of teachers. This is North Point inlet between San Salvador and Cut Cay. Earlier this week we rode down the current that flows through this inlet.



This was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Known as "Grotto Beach" this beach has it all--a nice sandy bottom, a few beautiful reefs for snorkeling, a healthy dune system, gorgeous rock formations to the right of it, a nice covered area with hammocks and picnic tables, and crystal clear water that resembles a swimming pool. I could have stayed there the whole week.