Additionally, staying at the Duke Marine Lab campus gave me the opportunity to meet top researchers in the marine and conservation biology fields and meet students who shared similar interests. Duke held weekly seminars featuring renowned biologists who presented their research on topics ranging from endangered marine fishes to GIS tracking technology. In my free time, downtown historic Beaufort was a fun, quaint place to explore with friends.
As a NOAA intern, I had the opportunity to work with marine biologists and aquatic veterinarians to:
- Observe/assist with sea turtle and dolphin necropsies
- Help prepare kits for dolphin live capture cruise
- Assist with sea turtle aging (skeletochronology) research
- Catalogue negatives of dolphin dorsal fins for photo-identification research
- Respond to marine mammal strandings
- Prepare tissue samples from necropsies for histopathology research
Field work:
- Health assessment and tagging of sea turtles captured in fishermen's pound nets
We accompanied a local fisherman in his jetty to help him fish his pound nets and in the meantime, hoisted up any turtles that found their way into the pound of the net. Blood, urine, and cloacal samples were collected on each turtle and measurements were made. Turtles were flipper and pit-tagged and then released.
- Dolphin biopsy project in Hilton Head, South Carolina (last week of internship)
Crossbows with biopsy punches attached to the tips were used to collect skin/blubber samples of estuarine and off-shore bottlenose dolphins. The samples are used for genetic and stable isotope analysis to gain a better understanding about dolphin group dynamics and migration. Each boat had a “shooter”, a photographer, a boat driver, and a data recorder (me). It was an awesome teamwork experience with marine biologists from around the country.