Ask A Grad Student: Lauren Divine

Summer is ending and with it ends the summer survey season. (Luckily for me I'm heading out on a fall survey, so I still have sea days to look forward to!) Fisheries graduate student Lauren Divine went to sea last year and wanted to share her experience with everyone, especially those of you who haven't had the pleasure of taking a "cruise" in the Chukchi Sea!

Age: 27

Degree: BS Wildlife and Fisheries Management, MS Biology, PhD Marine Biology (in progress)

Current City: Fairbanks! Golden Heart City!

1. Describe your project, in 4 sentences or less.

My project looks at snow crab in the Alaskan Arctic (Chukchi and Beaufort Seas). I am interested in how they fit into the benthic food webs in this region because they link lower trophic levels to more charismatic species such as walruses, seals, and whales. I'm also interested in how many snow crabs are actually in the Arctic, where they can be found, and how big they are. Finally, I hope to look at the likelihood of a fishery for snow crabs opening in the Arctic under future climate changes and fisheries management scenarios. BOOM.

an arctic snow crab! AHHHHHH!

2. You recently got to work in the Chukchi Sea (I am trying to contain my jealousy). What was the biggest challenge you had working on deck, and how did you overcome it? What was the best/craziest/most amazing thing you saw out there?

The biggest challenge for me wasn't the time on deck, it was the massive amount of time that we spent inside the boat. I was expecting to be on deck a lot more than we actually were because the catches were small, so adjusting to the large amount of time on a small vessel was the most difficult. Getting out on deck was the highlight of the day! I also battled sea sickness for about a week and a half, so getting out in the fresh air helped me a lot.

icy fresh air!

The most amazing thing I saw was a polar bear on a huge floating ice berg. We had been floating close to the ice edge for a few days and seen lots of bergs, but this one had an exceptional guest!

oh hi!
(This image was taken as an observation of a marine mammal sighting aboard a NOAA chartered vessel for scientific research. This animal was well past the required distance from the vessel at all times and did not appear to show any reaction to the presence of the vessel. The vessel proceeded at a safe speed until the animal was out of sight.)

"I'm just chillin' out" - polar bear

*ba-dum-bum*

3. Why Alaska? What's your favorite thing about Fairbanks?

I was coming out of a master's program in Statesboro, GA and was really looking for a challenge and an adventure. This fit what I was looking for! My favorite thing about Fairbanks is the extreme light during the summer! I am outside all the time, the gardening is fantastic, and everything about the summers is worth suffering through the winters for!

live life Alaskan!

4. You're a mom - how do you juggle classes, research, and parenting? Was it a difficult choice to get your Master's degree as a mother, or was it a pretty straight forward, go get 'em plan?

I had Brynn as an undergraduate. I was fortunate enough to get to take a year off after graduation and spend time with her (while guiding rock climbing trips!). I decided to get a master's because I had not been having much luck with the job market after graduating with my BS, so the choice was kind of made for me. The master's program was certainly a learning trial. I am very thankful that I have a good support system in place. If an emergency comes up, I can always count on a friend or family member to take Brynn for a while. If Brynn has an emergency, I have the flexibility in my schedule to take care of it and catch up on my work later. I have been known to tote Brynn to a meeting or sit through the occasional lecture with my little side-kick watching iPad cartoons with headphones on! I think everyone goes through their own challenges during graduate school, mine are certainly not unique. One thing I will say, however, is that I have learned how to be very productive with the time that I have; it is what you make of it after all, right?

eeeeh - baby crab!

(it's almost as cute as Brynn)

5. What is your favorite piece of crab paraphernalia?

Good question. I am certainly lacking in this department... I don't own crab jewelry or clothing. I do have a head scarf that is pink and has tiny blue crabs and corals on it. That is probably my favorite, along with my "Snow Crab Love" mug! Thanks Molly! :)

You're welcome, Lauren! Thanks for sharing your photos!

Crab Weddings

( from an Oregon travel ad)

I love weddings. Love them! And it's not just because my wedding was the happiest day of my life, or that my oldest friend's wedding was the most fun I've ever had. (That link will bring you to the FLASH MOB my husband, my sister, my parents, the whole bridal party, and most of the guests participated in!!!)


It's because of the celebration of love FOOD! Bacon-wrapped sausage, sockeye salmon, Dungeness crab, oysters, cupcakes, s'mores - it's all so good! So, because I've been inspired by all the celebrations of two people becoming a family, here I present some crustacean-themed wedding inspiration:

If you're lucky enough to live near water, fresh seafood is always welcome at any event (unless your family has any allergies... maybe you should check that before serving an all-crab buffet...).

steamed blue crabs can take a crab boil up a classy notch or two

You know how I feel about Dungies - if you can serve them freshly
(and properly) prepared like at this Pacific Northwest wedding, then go for it!

I love that not only did they serve lobster, but this couple really embraced

the glamour that comes with a lobster bib

And if eating crab just isn't your thing, maybe you can work in a costume or two like this amazing couple:

the groom and his friends surprised the bride with a "Little Mermaid" rendition 

(photographer Trista Lerit's website)

Want more inspiration? Check out these search results from Pinterest!

links: invitations, bow ties,

personalized mallets, Maryland-themed groom's cake, and place cards

Talk about brain freeze!

This poor little Chionoecetes crab was wondering around the sea floor, minding his own business, when something tempting bubbled up in front of him, just begging to be eaten. Little did he know that it was actually a methane seep. Little did I know that methane bubbles, at that depth and pressure, could become frozen solids! The skin of the methane bubbles, methane hydrate, froze to the crabs chela and mandibles as the crab was trying out this strange new treat frozen gas bubble.

The video, captured by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, is a little dry (which is surprising for an underwater video! Hey-oh!) but if you wait about 1 minute into the video, you'll see the little gas-mustachioed crab:



You can almost hear him going, "What the!?!?" Luckily it looks like he can still move his mouth parts and has full use of his claws, so hopefully this has just taught him to be a little less adventurous when trying new foods.

PS - I'm not entirely sure, but I'm willing to bet that this guy is a Chionoecetes tanneri, or grooved Tanner crab. (Thanks for making me guess, MBARI! You know how I am with scientific names!) The clues? Thanks to my Biological Field Techniques for Chionoecetes Crabs (Jadamec et al., 1999), I first looked at the way the crab's sides jutted out.

"oh, hi!"

We can tell that he's not Chionoecetes opilio or C. bairdi because his branchial region sticks out farther than the area below, called the lateral margin. Next, his carapace has a deep notch in the branchial ridge as opposed to a shallow one with a little spine in the middle on C. angulatus or a super shallow interspace on C. japanicus.

You can even make a T (for tanneri) by putting an imaginary line across the top of his branchial ridge:

see it?

What do you think? Either way, he's a cute crab with one heck of a story to tell his friends!

(Thanks to Ashwin Sreenivasan for the link!)

Krill Kill

One of the awesome things about my job is getting to interact with scientists who are working all over Alaska. Barrow is hosting some scientists right now, and they've been kind enough to share some photos taken in July.

nothing says summer like sea ice on the beach!

The researchers witnessed a neat feeding frenzy near Plover Point involving that most ubitquitous of crustaceans: krill!

 check out those chromatophores!

You may remember seeing krill in this post from Antarctica and in this post from the Gulf of Alaska. They are EVERYWHERE! And just about every marine animal seems to benefit from them in one way or another.

krill-filled water

What made this frenzy special was these krill were washing up dead on shore, so the birds were scooping 'em up right by the beach.

"nom nom nom" - Sabine's gull

Why were they washing up dead? Were they poisoned? Was the water hypoxic? No! Let's not sensationalize this, OK people? Since the ice had retreated from this area and the wind was just right, fresh water may have been pushed out from Elson Lagoon around Plover Point and shocked the little marine critters. The birds just happened to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of it!

Plover Point is right on the edge where Elson Lagoon and the Beaufort Sea meet

"I'll take my krill on the rocks, please."

The scientists just happened to be there too for some beach seine surveys. Hooray for great timing!

a beach seine topped by krill as they are washed ashore

Friday Fun at NOAA

Last Friday (July 26th) was the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute open house, and man was it fun! The lab hosted tours, an interactive touch tank, NOAA partners in research and management, and had yummy refreshments courtesy of the Ted Stevens Foundation. I was on aquarium duty, so I got to meet people right as they came in and answer any questions they had about the fish, crabs, and other animals in the facility's aquaria. If you didn't have a chance to make it out, don't worry: I took notes!

The TSMRI (that's our little acronym for this lab... scientists and their abbreviations, amirite?) entrance has these lovely metal "walls" that line the sidewalk leading to the front doors. They make me smile with their shiny rockfish and herring, but what really catches my eye is the little metal Dungeness crab.

see it?

oh, why thank you, welcome crab!

What can I say, I love metal dungies! Even nerdy Lord-of-the-Rings-referencing ones. Moving in to the building you are greeted with our largest aquarium (there are three more around the back). It holds several species of rockfish, some sculpins, sablefish, dolly vardin, kelp greenlings, and a lingcod.

lots of things to ooh and aah over

It also currently holds some snazzy red king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus) and some cheeky Dungeness crabs (Metacarcinus magister)!

Hi, gorgeous!

SFOS student Jennifer Stoutamore took time to say "Hi"

to her fellow king crabs on her way to the UAF table

this Dungy was photobombed by a greenling

Aside from the aquarium and the great tours through the lab, the touch tank was a huge crowd pleaser! It was stocked with sea stars, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, lyre crabs, Tanner crabs, urchins... the list goes on and on!

holding a hermit crab - outreach in action

a Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) showing off

his perfect M-shaped mouth and bright red eyes

Check out KTOO's coverage of the event here to see more photos and hear the open house in action. Thanks for stopping by!

Tour the NOAA lab in Juneau!

Saturday July 27th is Ted Stevens Day in Alaska. Say what you will about Senator Stevens (his life certainly wasn't boring), but the United States has protected and managed fisheries because of the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, passed with no small effort from Sen. Stevens (R-AK) and Sen. Warren Magnuson (D-WA). You probably know it as the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The highlights:
 

Promote safety of human life at sea

(I was certainly thankful for this as a fisheries observer!)

Prevent overfishing while reaching an optimum yield

Manage fisheries based on the BEST scientific information available

Take into account the importance of fishery resources on fishing communities

and minimize any negative impacts to those communities
(obviously a big deal up here!)

Limit bycatch mortality

(this affects a lot of groundfish fisheries that may scoop up

our beloved crabs as well as their intended catch)

I paraphrased these from a pamphlet at my work. Where is that, you may be asking? Why, at the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute. Thanks for asking. We're hosting an open house and giving tours of the NOAA facility tomorrow to celebrate Ted Stevens Day, and you're invited! Swing by July 26th anytime between 2:30 and 7:00 pm to take a tour, handle some sea stars at our touch tank, and nosh on snacks complimentary of the Ted Stevens Foundation. I'll be there working (SCIENCE!) and hanging out by the aquarium to answer any questions you may have, crabby or otherwise!

Ted Stevens *hearts* king crabs

Summer means Dungie-eating season!

It has been super sunny in Juneau which means two things: little work is actually being accomplished and lots of fish and crabs are being caught! One of my favorite recipes I learned last year is

Pasta with Vodka Crab Sauce

This is so easy and amazingly addictive. I start by wrangling my ingredients:

Pasta - I like penne with this, but I'm sure any will do
1 cup Dungeness crab meat (or more!)
1 jar vodka sauce, or make your own
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 roma tomato, diced
Parmesan cheese for topping

(the wine in your Snow Crab Love mug is optional)

First I get my pasta going: bring salted water to boil and throw the pasta in!

Next I like to saute the garlic in about 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Once it gets nice and translucent, I add the vodka sauce.

I wait to throw my crab meat and diced tomato in until the very end because I don't want the crab meat to get over cooked and the fresh tomato gives a nice contrast to the smooth sauce. What I like to do is drain the pasta once it's cooked, add the crab and tomato to the sauce, then toss the pasta in the sauce.

I serve the pasta immediately and like to top it with a healthy amount of Parmesan cheese. I have yet to snap a photo before eating it, but it looks something like this:

(from here)

Try it out and let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Change it up and make it your own:

I use a vodka sauce most of the time, but I've also tried this with a sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce which was super tasty!

Have you ever had garlic scapes? Holy buckets, my friends, they're good! I sliced up a couple scapes similar to the way you might cut up scallions and threw those into a batch instead of my minced garlic. The result was a mild garlic flavor with a fun fresh crunch that really livened up my pasta.

Do I think this would be great with cheese tortellini? Yes! How about ravioli? Why not!?!