What is it really like to do research?

If you love the outdoors, you would love being a field biologist. To those of us lucky enough to get this opportunity….there is nothing better. But not every day, just like every other job, is perfect. For our work, we depend on two major things….our boat and the weather. Both decided to give us issues as soon as we arrived for our field season.

June 1, the day we arrived, was actually the first day of hurricane season for the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. And low and behold a tropical system started to develop over us and the Yucatan. This kept us under rain and wind for our first three days.

We finally got to put the boat into the water on our fourth day. Got the boat to the gas pump at the marina. Tried to leave, but the steering wheel was tight. Steering lines are notorious for getting corroded and freezing up. It is just a given that you will have to replace these every so often. Was super tight, but I had managed with not much effort to just get across the water to the marina and then to the gas pump. This time, no budging. Had to get another boater to help us, getting them to try and move the engine (which is what the steering will control), while I tried to pull on the wheel. When the wheel suddenly came off! Completely! Have had a lot of stuff happen to our many boats over the years…but that was a first.