Not for the weak stomached!

The fact that February is about to be over is a concept that I can't seem to grasp. Where is time going? Does real life happen this fast? I sure hope not. You so often here that life is too short, so that you eventually don't even acknowledge or ponder the fact that life, really IS too short. I dread the day that I think about my months here as just another chapter from the past. Enough of this, onto more exciting news.

I spent yesterday (Saturday) with my marine mammals lab course, as we traveled four hours away to a marine lab in Esbjerg. The facility is a public aquarium and seal center, but also a lab for Danish marine research.  After a very early morning (they are becoming a common theme here) departure, we arrived at the center and immediately jumped into action. The facilitator showed us to a lab where five seals were patiently lying on a bench for our attention.  It quickly became apparent that they were all dead, as one was hauled onto a dissection table and layed out for measurements. We watched as the researcher noted all observations and measurements, then procedeed to dis-assemble the plump little seal. The animals all come from local shores, where they are usually found to be resting on the beach, too exhausted or sick to try and evade people. This usually indicates that something is wrong, and they are taken in for inspection.  Years of rehabilitation programs have shown that sick seals, once fixed up and/or returned to the water, most likely appear again with the same issues. So most protocol now calls for humane putting down of the animals once they show up sick on beachs. Their bodies are then sent to the marine center for necropsy. And so this is what we were going to be doing for the day. Less than an hour later all nine of us stood at seperate tables, with our own specimens. Mine was a female, who died in October and had been frozen until we got them.  My partner and I measured the body stats, checked for injuries and body lice, and then proceeded to the first incision.  You don't need a lot of details (the pictures should show plenty), but we collected blubber layer measurements, kidney, liver, muscle and lung tissue samples, and checked for parasites in the lungs and heart. We determined from the amount of nematode parasites (worms) in the lungs and trachea, up to 4 and 5 inches in length, that the seal had a level 2 invasion which was to blame for her appearance on the beach. Cuasing exhaustion and leading to hunger, she would have eventually starved.



The instructor first showed us the procedure, before we got out own seals to work on.

Very interesting, I had never disected such a large animal, or anything that had not been heavily chemically preserved before hand. We spent some time looking at harbor porpoises that go throuugh the same process at the lab, most of which wash up after drowning in nets. I arrived home by about 9:30 that evening, and had a great night with a bunch of friends at our commune. Last night I got to catch up with my Mom over the phone for a while, its always reassuring to talk to your Mom, no matter how independent you think you are. Although I am loving my time here, I definitely miss my Mom and sisters, so many things I would show them here! This week will probably pass quickly, as we have our long study tour for Sustainable development next Sunday to Friday. I look forward to it, we are heading to northern Germany and then Amsterdam to look at numerous places related to the class. The morning after I return, one of my close friends from grade school days is coming up for his spring break, and I plan to show him a great time here in Scandinavia!



Harbor porpoise, very peculiar looking animals!