here's what caught my spirit in April

happy spring - it's great to be alive

a friend of mine's selfie

the adventures of the SEA TEAM

this is the classroom at my granddaughter's middle school
and this is the after school club called Sea Team

it's so cool

the room is full of aquariums

this is Em and her friend cleaning the turtle tank

so cute

they are all responsible for a tank

this is Em's

the goldfish tank - they look pretty darn healthy to me

this is a fish in the largest tank

these guys are in the same tank - they are huge

 they are Em's favorite and of course they have names

she knows all of them all and I can't remember any of them, sorry

this is a very large saltwater tank

it has many colored fish and a couple small shrimp,

sea stars and some living coral

it is my favorite

the next one is marked caution

because they are breeding fish

there were hundreds of tiny babies

pretty proud of our girl and the club 

this is their new shirts

one of the sponsors for the shirts was the 

Lemon Bay Conservancy - a local environmental non-profit

they invited the Team to get out in the field and help them with

Tarpon Tagging**

that's a lot of kids for Saturday morning at 7 AM

the biologists come down from Mote Marine Laboratory

to tag juvenile Tarpon

they are the authorities here in SW Florida

here's the boat out dragging the net for fish

this is a small saltwater inlet off Lemon Bay

in a new area they recently acquired and call the Wildflower Preserve

the best part about this weeks tagging

was that it was being filmed for "Field and Stream" magazine 

watch for our photo in next falls issue.....

the kids were happy and had a great time

even if they got a little wet and dirty

now they are pulling in the net

we didn't get any fish at this site this week

but last Saturday we got a big one here

now they are putting the boat in the next site

waiting for the net to be dragged

last week Em wrote down the data for the biologist

(who by the way is a woman and a great role model)

the Tarpon

she was very proud to be chosen for this special job

this is interesting I thought -

the fish sort of go into a coma

and if you just put them in the water - they drop like a stone

but if you wiggle them like they would wiggle - head opposite tail

they wake up and swim away....

there are of course 

some dangers to being in the field

happy to say we did not lose any kids to alligators

that day

**1.  I am not now and have never been an advocate for fish tagging or any       other kind of biological tagging 

   2. I am not interested in Tarpon, they are not normally a fish for eating,             they are a trophy fish - again SW Florida

really guys??  this is gross 

much more beautiful alive than on your wall

and 3.  I will need to write a separate blog on what I have learned about the "environmental" non-profits here in the playground of the wealthy....

almost the end of March - so before I forget

here's my favorites for the month

 coral growing on an underwater statue 

part of a group off the coast of Grenada called

"Vicissitudes"

1. a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.

in memory of the slaves that were brought there

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
   
4. here is the whole work - it forms an artificial reefvery powerful and very sad
   

1. 
   
2.  more cool science information

 check out these octopus eggs!

and

 these amazing pregnant sea horses

watch the male sea horse give birth here - you gotta see it

yep, the male, that's what I said

http://www.wimp.com/seahorsebirth/ 

nature is amazing - check out this flower 

J. we need to grow some of these

and

this is wonderful news!!!  very personal

when I graduated from Western Michigan with my degree in Biology

I took a job with a company that did lab testing

read - animal testing

IT WAS THE MOST HORRIFIC THING I HAVE EVER SEEN 

I was in what they called "acute toxicology" 

which meant we injected shampoo and make-up into the eyes of

mice, (ok nobody really cares much about mice)

rats (same)

but then bunnies - I love bunnies

the final straw was with the baboons - they broke my heart

our job was to inject, keep track of the time it took until they went blind

so you could have the luxury of thousands of shampoo choices...

every time a new one came on the market - we had to test it

The guys on my team realized I could not handle it so they made me the 

report writer

still it made me sick and I did not stay long at all....

and I think of it every time I buy shampoo

now for a happy photo

the Sand-hill crane

 is a common and exciting sight in SW Florida during the winter

what is not a common sight is to see the baby

last winter while driving a back road, I saw the golden baby feeding

near it's mother - it was magical

and this - I love science

they had nothing like this when I was in chemistry

it makes so much sense and puts it in perspective

or this kind of graphic 

wow!  that is actually scary......

OK now let's get political

 happy 80th birthday!!

 she said: "A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men."

right on Gloria!!

BUT STILL

how about these jerks

and then we still have these two...

 we never should have let these dogs in

and we are paying for it now

I hate to be the one to tell you Mr. Abbey but.....

we seem to have sadly woken up from that American Dream

and then words of wisdom from my favorite critic

no one says it better than

the Dali Lama

I love this man

 for my granddaughter - our tiny dancer

Sarah Jessica Parker: 

"My Feet Are DEFORMED From Years of Wearing High Heels"

Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-style/news/sarah-jessica-parker-my-feet-are-deformed-from-years-of-wearing-high-heels-201383#ixzz2xSEFdGFc 

so toe dance or forget heels I guess

and

here's one for my daughter 

 that is her motto

we need this pool in our yard

and this 

is Stienbeck's famous boat that he and Ed Ricketts

combed the Sea of Cortez with in the late 40's

the book was a constant companion when I was combing

Baja in the late 70's

it showed up in Port Townsend recently in this bad shape

I hope someone will restore her and give her

her proper place in history

ps if you haven't read it, it's a wonderful book

"The Log from the Sea of Cortez"

full of great stories and fascinating biology of that area

published in 1951

and finally this crazy image

my friend says it reminds her of writing

I am thinking it is a commentary on reading

looks to me like someone does not love books the way I do

what do you think?

Peace

ps thanks to all my friends who help me find these great photos