By Anders, Colette, and Julia

A Lovely Lecture

In all likelihood, most reading this blog aren’t exceptionally well versed in the radical world of rockfish. Oftentimes, when faced with unfamiliar science, it can be extremely difficult to work past the inexpressive style and surmount the barrier of confusing jargon.

While some scientists (like Sasha Seroy) choose to combat this issue with art, others choose a more comedic path…

This morning, we had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Dr. Milton Love, a scientist and humorist working at UC Santa Barbara. While he has experience in a broad range of fields, our discussion today mostly concerned the ecological value of offshore oil rigs. Dr. Love shared with us both scientific and personal wisdom. His approachable demeanor had us asking constant questions, whether they be about science or personal. All puns aside, it was lovely to speak with him today.

Captain’s Orders

There are always multiple stages of every issue. In science, while a critical aspect is research and documentation, equally important is actually taking action on that work.

Today we spoke with world-famous ocean conservationist, Paul Watson.

Captain Paul Watson has been a lifelong steward and advocate for our planet. At only age 11 he spent his summers releasing beavers from hunting traps. Later in his journey, he co-founded Greenpeace, directed Sierra Club, and began the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; one of the world’s leading marine conservation groups. 

While to some Captain Watson is an inspiration and a hero, others purport he’s an eco-terrorist and extremist. He philosophizes: “it doesn’t matter how thin the line is if you don’t cross it”.

From what we gathered, Watson believes that if critical action is being taken and still we receive backlash from governments and corporations, then something is wrong. “The earth has been around for 4.5 billion years, yet we still think it was made for us”. 

It was so kind that Captain Watson was willing to take the time out of his busy day to speak with us. He left us feeling inspired, (full of quotes), and ready to save the world.

Exploring Octopodes

For the second time this week, we dove into octopuses and their many talents.

University of Washington graduate Willem Weertman gave us a detailed explanation of his graduate school thesis exploring octopuses’ ability to track odor plumes (, odor released and carried by some sort of current). Recently, he’s been busy building a flume at Friday Harbor Laboratories for use in his future studies.

Those Who Came Before Us

As an excellent end to the busy day, we got to speak with a former Salish Sea Sciences member, Ayla Ridwan. She is currently a senior at Friday Harbor High School and is an intern at FHL where she is looking at fish and soon, sharks.

It’s awesome to see how her experience with Salish Sea Sciences opened such an incredible door of opportunity, we hope to be just as fortunate. Just as Captain Paul Watson suggested today, “What you do in the present will define what the future will be”.