Traveling Marine Biologist: New Friendships Created; Reuniting Old Ones

Meghan on Helideck; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 09.2007

Shortly after only a few days onboard, I adjusted to working offshore, living on a ship, and displayed the ability to effectively detect marine mammals within the vicinity. In addition, I demonstrated the capability to follow proper protocol and when to take action if needed. Mary Jo or MJ witnessed this and in result, Meghan my lead was reassigned to a new boat working on the prospect. I was appointed lead on the project and anxiously awaited Meghan’s replacement. I have to admit that I was sad to see Meghan transfer to another boat; I felt that I could have learned a little bit more before she disembarked. Regardless, I was curious who was working this project with me now and who I was going to supervise?

Meghan with Fog Horizon; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 09.2007

I remember saying goodbye to Meghan as she finished packing her bags. Meghan told me that her relief and the others were already onboard. As I made my way to the bridge to see the “surprise” guests, I walked around the corner and saw Whitney smiling ear from ear when she first recognized me! She ran over and gave me a huge hug; at that moment we must have talked a million miles a minute! We had so much to catch up on – I was really happy that she was onboard. The other two girls were Kyle and Taylor – now instead of 200 males and 2 females, we totaled 200 males and 4 females; better ratio! I was excited to have more girls onboard - this meant more girl talks, more girls for the guys to flirt with (besides me!), and most importantly it is awesome to have female companionship. The girls were a great addition to the crew. We split up 2 people on each shift – Kyle with Taylor and Whitney with me. Whit and I worked the noon to midnight shift, while the girls worked the midnight to noon shift.

Whitney and I During Sunset; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 10.2007

Me, Whitney, and Kyle our First Picture Together; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 11.2007

Whitney and I Before Sunset; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 11.2007

Whitney and I "Gangster" Face; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 10.2007

Whitney and I on Helideck; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 10.2007

Reflection of my times with Whit - our greatest moments:

1) “Camping” on the helideck as winter approached. It was wicked cold outside, especially being on the water! I recall us bringing hot chocolate, snacks, blankets, and my iPod to the helideck during our afternoon shifts. Honestly, those were the times that brought us together.

Whitney's Enthusiastic Expression for Redskins Playing; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 10.2007

2) Crazy photo sessions – I swear every week we would find a new pose to photograph. My personal best were Whit’s jumping photos when her beloved NFL team the Redskins was playing on the weekends. My second favorite was our “gangster” face. Good times!

Posin' Fools on Helideck; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 10.2007

3) The “breaks” that we never took – while on our noon to midnight shift, we worked 4 hours on and 2 hours off (someone was always on duty). Most of the time we spent our breaks observing marine mammals together. Who needed a break anyways?

Whitney Sporting her Phi Mu Windbreaker and Binoculars; Atlantic Ocean: Texas Horizon 10.2007

4) One of my treasured moments with Whit was when I was sick for a few hours after dinner. We were taking turns every hour with the IR scanner. This particular night I was very nauseous and could not go outside in the cold weather to complete my scan. Not only did Whit volunteer to take my turn, but she made me hot tea, tucked me in with a blanket while I was sitting on the chair, and played Sex and the City on her laptop. There were no words for her kindness; this was such a sweet gesture! Wow, talk about an amazing friend – now these are hard to find! After I started feeling better that night, I offered to make up for the hour that I missed by doing three IR scans back to back. Bless her heart, Whit would not allow me to do this. This is one of the many reasons why I adore Ms. Whitney Marie Williams!

Renae and I; Boston, Massachusetts 11.2007

I thoroughly enjoyed working with all my colleagues on the Boston, Massachusetts project, but there were two that really made an effort to get to know me on a personal level. Renae and Annya were the definition of sweet and awesome girls – both were really into getting their master’s soon and showed off their intelligence relatively often. Since I worked the majority of the project, I worked on the Texas Horizon, the tugboat Megan Miller, and was placed mainly wherever needed at any given time.

Renae and Annya both worked on the Texas Horizon with me – which was how I had become really good friends with them. I remember not only fun moments with each of them, but also several in-depth conversations about cetaceans and their environment. It was very refreshing to have a few biologists to discuss this with – I discovered were all very enthusiastic when we spoke about our natural surroundings. Renae had worked on the opposite shift of me, but we still managed to find time to chat. She had this witty sense of humor, good head on her shoulders, and a very kind-hearted personality – it was no wonder we got along so well. Annya and I worked on the tug boat Megan Miller and had the opportunity to get to each other better during this rotation. She was really easy to talk to and quite adventurous like myself.

Amanda, Jim, and Annya at Karaoke Night; Gloucester, Massachusetts 11.2007

Taylor and Meghan; Gloucester, Massachusetts 11.2007

Several times during the month we were able to come ashore – here we partook in our “traditional” karaoke get-togethers and hung out with some of the same locals in the pubs. On special nights we were able to meet up with other boat crew working on the same project. I remember quite a few karaoke nights – this was our regular routine where we would involve the locals in our somewhat decent singing sessions! My preferred karaoke song was “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia. All the locals seemed to know this song and the colleague that I was with at the time normally would join in a duet with me. I reminisce one night when I was able to recruit 3 other female colleagues to join me!