As underwater researchers, we have the happy task of carrying out our work in some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring, and sometimes inaccessible places in the world. As we jump into the water each morning, it is always accompanied by a sense of gratitude and joy that this is our “job,” and that the only suit we have to worry about wearing is a wetsuit.
It is easy to block out the surrounding view when you are engrossed in bolting cages onto experimental concrete plates, and surging water and high pressures are making the work much harder. This morning, however, a movement out in the deeper water column caught my attention. Looking up, I saw a magnificent manta ray, with a wingspan surpassing 12 feet, soaring through the water with effortless grace and speed.
Of course, for every hour that we spend in the water, we spend 50 in the laboratory poring over samples or stationed in front of the computer writing grant proposals. Even so, we cannot deny the grandeur of the Galapagos as the setting for our research, and we are constantly reminded of this fact by moments of close proximity to some of the ocean’s most fascinating wildlife.
- Robbie Lamb
It is easy to block out the surrounding view when you are engrossed in bolting cages onto experimental concrete plates, and surging water and high pressures are making the work much harder. This morning, however, a movement out in the deeper water column caught my attention. Looking up, I saw a magnificent manta ray, with a wingspan surpassing 12 feet, soaring through the water with effortless grace and speed.
Of course, for every hour that we spend in the water, we spend 50 in the laboratory poring over samples or stationed in front of the computer writing grant proposals. Even so, we cannot deny the grandeur of the Galapagos as the setting for our research, and we are constantly reminded of this fact by moments of close proximity to some of the ocean’s most fascinating wildlife.
- Robbie Lamb
