The Journey of a Marine Biologist

“I have no idea what I am doing, but this will probably be fun and a good experience for me”

By Emmie (ELASMO)

“I have no idea what I am doing, but this will probably be fun and a good experience for me”...This is a quote I have been living with for the last few months, since new things repeatedly have been coming my way, and this volunteering experience is no exception. Mantas, whale sharks, sharks, turtles, eagle rays, whales… Yes, the list of gentle giants of the sea that I always have wanted to see is a long one. But why just try to see them when you also can work with them and contribute to their conservation and thereby make sure more people are able to see them?

Marine biology; the field I have wanted to work in ever since I got courage enough to put on a snorkel, a mask and a pair of fins to look into the world beneath the waves. It was scary at that time, but I knew that I was about to miss out on something if I didn't decide to just do it. And who would know that 14 years later, I would end up in Isla Mujeres to work with manta rays, together with Karen and her great team as well as other people from around the world with similar ambitions? In other words, getting into the program was a great opportunity to discover this field again as well as develop my skills, but what exactly did I give myself into?

It is hard to take in everything and let it sink into you of what actually has happened the past few weeks. Since applying, less than a month before leaving my home country, everything has happened so fast. To have seen a manta and a whale shark side by side is more than a privilege and these little moments when they show up are just breathtaking. On one of the field trips, there were no other boats around than our, and the only one who was in the water was me. It is a feeling of freedom to be swimming around in a place where there is no land in sight and you can move wherever you want to without having to think of anything else. At this moment, a manta had just shown up, which I took the ID of. She departed and from there, I was completely alone in the nearby area, or so I thought. I turned around and there was another gentle giant there: A whale shark. The people on the boat started to call me out: “Tiburon!”. The reaction to this situation might not have looked so much to the world, maybe like a “Oh-hello-there-gentle-giants-nice-to-see-you”-kind of look. Well, to be fair, how do you react to something that stunning when you might doubt what you have just witnessed? There is something special about moments like that, maybe too big to process in the moment.

To be a part of science can be really enjoyable. But of course, it is not always what you think and the reality is different. In present days where social media is taking over the internet, you might see these beautiful pictures of sharks, whales, turtles etc. and think that science would be something cool to do. But in reality, it is a lot of data processing, managing the economy around it, networking and other important details that have to be included to make science and conservation efforts pay off. But even so, all these different tasks make it a variable field where no day is like the other and can therefore be enjoyable in that sense. I personally found this variation of tasks enjoyable. When swimming with a manta for the first time, I had a hard time keeping up with them since my fins were short, much shorter than the other volunteers, which limited my speed in the water.

Mantas are fast, faster than you might think since they usually look so slow and peaceful on videos. And therefore, I left the research area without a single ID of a manta the first day. Luckily, I was able to borrow a pair of fins in the boat which helped me keep up with the mantas much better the second day, and I left the research area with 6 IDs that day. Struggles always come your way wherever you go, and everything is not always perfect, or goes as you planned. You just need to accept that fact and contribute with your own abilities the best way you can. While this might seem like a cliché, it is something I have learned more about here. Constantly thinking of doing everything perfectly, thinking you are not good enough or that you might fail in some way were thoughts I had at some moments. But after thinking it over a bit, I came to the conclusion that being able to be a part of conservation is not about you, or your achievements, or doing everything perfect or to prove anything to anyone. It is about what you have in that breathtaking moment when you for the first time see the animal you have always wanted to see in front of you, and what you can do and contribute with, to make sure other people are able to see the thing you see right now. The animal and the future of the animal do not care about what you cannot do. This is just the matter of what you already got and what you can do with it to make future generations see that majestic animal as well. Everyone can always contribute to something with their own strengths. Conservation of animals and wildlife would not be complete without different people doing different things for the same purpose.

The thoughts from the previous paragraph were born somewhere and I will tell you more about that place. After field trips, snorkeling trips or after a swim in the turquoise sea around the island we hung our wet clothes at this place:

The rooftop of the house we lived in. Usually we got up there, left our clothes and that’s it. But, for me, the rooftop was something more, somewhere where I could have some alone time, collect my thoughts and just live in the moment. Often during early afternoon when it was the hottest and when the sun was the strongest, was the perfect time to stock up on some vitamin-D for the upcoming winter in my home country where this is a major shortage. Just laying over the chalk white fence and looking over the lake and the sea behind it, while a breeze from the sea gives you a soft embrace was something enjoyable that was needed almost every day. You never know what you could see from those little moments of calmness from the rooftop. I would recommend it for birdwatchers and for everyone who just needs a little break. Everyday there were frigate birds soaring over the turquoise sea and cormorants fishing in the little lake.

Sometimes the pelicans passed by, probably searching for some fish in the turquoise sea, or rinsing themselves in the lake. Sometimes the osprey soared by, checking if there was some prey to catch by the sea or in the lake, and possibly hovering a few seconds when it spotted its prey. The white heron also passed along the lake a few times and was flying between the bushes and resting on the branches. But also, aside from the peaceful nature around the lake and the sea, the rooftop also lets you observe the everyday life of the people living on the island. Moreover, at the moment of writing it was late in the evening and I went up to the rooftop again to grab my clothes. That was where I saw a massive thunderstorm over Cancun that we all later on watched from the rooftop. The lighting stroked almost every second and it put up a really great light show on its own.  

Besides field trips, data processing and exploring Isla Mujeres, I have worked on fish identification for fish species that attach or follow the manta rays. This is a time-consuming, but also a relaxing task that requires an eye for details to distinguish the different species from each other. To identify the species, I used an identification key, or guide, that I brought with me from home, only with fish species that are present in the Caribbean Sea. The identification keys on the website Fishbase were also helpful for this mini project that were often done during the evenings in the kitchen of our house. You sit down on the kitchen’s sofa while getting a tiny breeze from the open windows and doors as the fan is spinning to spread the breeze around the kitchen and cool it down slightly. Simultaneously, people are driving around in golf carts and mopeds on the street outside, maybe they drive home, to downtown or a hotel. The little sounds that these nights give you; the spinning from the fan, traffic running on the street and the voices from the people passing by, made the night more enjoyable and oddly keeps my focus in check while figuring out whether the fish on the screen is a round scad or a mackerel scad. And of course, with all these names of all fish, autocorrect always thinks these names are wrong and wants me to change it. But not today autocorrect, you can’t always be right!

“I have no idea what I am doing, but this will probably be fun and a good experience for me”. Yes, I am going back to this quote again, because we have almost reached the end of this post. You might not know exactly what you are doing sometimes, but if you know that it could possibly make you grow as a person and improve your skills related to something you like or feel ambitious about, do not hesitate to go for it. It might seem intimidating sometimes, but in the end, it will be worth it. That is exactly what I did when applying for this program, and I have no regrets. This has been a great opportunity for us all that will hopefully lead us somewhere in life and prepare us for careers in this field of conservation and marine biology. Every single person, every single time something was working with me or against me, every moment of peace and calmness, every moment of intensity. Yes, every little detail has made me grow as a person and develop my skills in the fields I have wished to work in for so long: Conservation and marine biology.