Did I mention that I used to study boobies?

Published 29 Sep 2005

Well, now that I have your attention, I’m going to wow you with my full-on bio geekiness.*

Some of you know that in a former life, I was a biologist. I have a Master’s degree in Biology, which I earned after 3 grueling years studying charismatic birds (masked and blue-footed boobies) in a tropical paradise (the Galápagos Islands). I also happen to have a scientific publication about Waved Albatrosses. Then for some reason I morphed into a web designer. That, however is a post for another day. I also married a biologist who makes his living studying mammals, preferably rodents.

I think that we are probably the only two geeks on the planet that have a Tivo box full of Nova, Discovery Science, and National Geographic Explorers. I recently had to ask a bunch of Brits what the good American shows are… but that’s another story. Last night we did watch the Bob Dylan documentary, right after finishing up “Marsupial Madness”. Our friend Terry featured in a show called “Nature’s Nightmares: Eaten Alive”, proudly showing off the flesh-eating bacteria he picked up in Peru. You can also hear our friend Joe on public radio, discussing the bat detecting software he wrote.

So maybe you could humor me as I share my extreme excitement over the first ever photos of a live giant squid that were published yesterday. Think about it— this is a huge animal that is a major food source for other huge animals, such as leatherback turtles and sperm whales, that no one had ever seen alive. This is almost as big as the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker earlier this year.

What I love about these kinds of discoveries is that it reminds me of how little humans matter in the big scheme of things. Despite our best efforts to mess up our planet, nature is still able to give us the finger and go on with her own plans. We think we know all there is to be known, and are cocky enough to think we know how to “save the planet”, but in reality there are whole universes of stuff out there that we don’t know the first thing about. This is an important thing for me to remember periodically, when my ego gets the best of me.

Anyway, I’m excited about the squid.

• All of you that clicked through just because of the title owe me a beer (that means you Matt Robin!!).

Filed under Animalia