Hailey: Master of Marine Vertebrates

I'm officially done with my Marine Vertebrates class, and I have to say that I'm really going to miss it.  I know it's a "marine" class and I will therefore love it, but this class has been just fabulous.  It's definitely been my favorite so far on the island.  My professor, Jim, was awesome.  This guy is hilarious and awkward and so incredibly entertaining- lecture was fun (almost) all the time.  And I only say "almost" because no one, and I do mean no one, can make 3+ straight hours of lecture entertaining the whole time.  But Jim got pretty close.  He made fun of manatees and their lack of quality high-fives (due to their unfortunately tiny brain) and shared his fear of gulls attacking him to make him throw up (it's a kleptoparasitism thing...and not an irrational fear. I'll explain in the next paragraph).  He just said lots of really lame puns and nerdy jokes, and it made learning fun and easy. I love science humor: intellect and wit= two of my favorite things!

Rabbit Trail: (These always come in handy)
So this kleptoparasitism thing... Gulls, a type of seabird, do this thing to eat where they attack another bird that just ate and makes them "throw up" their food.  It's not the gross throw up you're thinking about.  Birds store their food in a "crop" in their throat before they eat it.  So a klepto-gull will make them spit it out.  The klepto-gull gets to be lazy and eat throw up... WIN-WIN! Am I right?! Anyways, Jim fearing that one will attack him and make him throw up isn't really irrational.  In fact, let's all fear the birds that work like Ipecac! Run awayyyyyyy!  Bet you didn't know birds were so scary- makes those sharks look pretty cuddly now, huh??

Back to the strait and narrow:
My fabulous class. We were constantly told to think like a fish. Be the fish.  Be one with the fish.

"Put yourself in the fins of a fish"

Well seeing as I'm a mermaid (shh!  It's a secret!), this was not too difficult.  But it did train me to have a new perspective.  I wasn't just studying and memorizing facts about these animals-- I was understanding them: how they work with their body type and environment, how they've evolved, why they work the way they do.  These gulls don't just practice kleptoparasitism for the heck of it- they do it because it's energetically favorable.  Gulls are very intelligent birds, but flying takes a lot of energy, and if you need food and can't find any except in another's throat- you're going to eat it.  It's called survival, and it's the #1 goal of all animals (See, I told you Rabbit Trails come in handy).

I definitely see myself going into this subject again soon.  It fed my my shark obsession, and now I want more. Ya know, if you give a mouse a cookie.... Well I'm the mouse and the sharks were my cookie.  In the words of Oliver, "I want MORE!"

I should also mention that I'm pretty good at Marine Vertebrates too... got a 100% on my Lab Practical, which was 50 questions of scientific Latin names and fish anatomy that needed to be spelled correctly, and I aced my Final this morning.  Didn't get the percentage back yet, but I have an A in the class! Yay! I've done well with everything in this class because it's so very interesting and I want to LEARN ALL THE THINGS! Really, I do! Another sign that I've chosen the right major.  I just can't wait to see where it leads me!

"There are as many beautiful stories as there are drops in the ocean. How will you write yours?"

I don't know exactly how I'll write mine yet.  But whatever happens, I know I'm going to love it!  I mean, it's a drop in the ocean and I love the ocean, so my story's bound to be a great one.  

What's coming up:

My next class starts on Monday: Marine Ecology.  I have no idea what I'll be learning or doing, but I will find out soon, and I'll let you all know as soon as I can!

This weekend:  

FREEDOM and NO STUDYING... Translation: BEACH. And more importantly, my best friend Hannah is coming to visit me!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Like she'll be here in 15 minutes.  AND I CAN'T FREAKIN WAIT! I have missed her so much, and I'm super happy we'll get to enjoy some time on the beach together!  My bestie and the beach.... that's a quality combination right there!  Oh, and this was decided last night when I was procrastinating on studying for my Final... Spontaneity strikes again! Gosh, don't cha love it?!  I know I do!

Also, Shout out to Rebecca because I wish you were coming too, but we'll just have to use this as another excuse to go to the beach in the future!  42 days until I get to see your face!