If you stood in the center and twirled around, this is what my cozy Wright Hall bedroom would look like. (Click to enlarge.)
Here I am again, back in the Triangle. It’s hot and pretty and just like I remembered… terrible water pressure, loud-ass frogs, and super delicious ginger beer. I started straight back in on work and am SO ready to plow through two field days this week. (It’s been a little over six months since my last dive and I cannot wait to get a fix.) I also just started the background training for TA-ing our Coral Reef Ecology class, so check back soon for some crash course posts on cool underwater communities!
Sidenote: I found this maddeningly adorable hippo at the Boston Int’l Airport and I can’t stop kissing him. He’s kinda sorta the perfect travel companion.
COOK STRAIT GIANT WETA (Deinacrida rugosa)
The giant weta is a killer example of island gigantism. All Deinacrida species have been living exclusively in New Zealand for the past 190 million years (that’s longer than dinosaurs!) with almost no genetic change. Even though their name is Maori for “God of the Ugly Things,” they’re actually quite docile, vegetarian, and often kept as suburban garden pets. They don’t kick, bite, or fly, and their bodies are so heavy that they can’t even jump. I WANT.
Photo by Sid Mosdell, 2011
Susan Hiller, Night Waves
Nine archival digital prints
2009
“Alas! Victor, when falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?” — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Tuna sammies! Inspired by my recent hive viewing.