Something Colossal this way comes!

So, as usual, I've gotten busy with life and work, and forgotten to update this little piece of the internet.  It's not that the Octopus hasn't been wandering, far from it, he's been travelling all over! (Hmmm, where did I put those vacation pictures)...

*ahem* I digress.

For now, I have news that CANNOT. BE. IGNORED!

The focus of my phD is a family known as Cranchiidae (or the glass squid).  Most of which are fairly small, delicate animals that live in the deep sea.  However, one member of the family is not small... in fact, it's often referred to as Colossal!  You may recall when I first moved to New Zealand, I was awed by the size of the one on display at Te Papa (in Wellington).

Pretty darn cool, right?  Well...

Te Papa has found ANOTHER specimen!  

Myself and the rest of the AUT squid team have been asked to come down and examine this specimen!  We will also be answering questions from the public!  And some of the investigation will be live streamed online!  (More on that soon)

Of course, everyone's favorite cephalopod adventurer will be present to oversee the operation! 

This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I'm thrilled that I get to share it with you!

For more reliable updates on what is happening in the squid lab, follow our twitter account: ALCESonline.  That way, you will find out what our other squid scientists are working on! 

...

Now I really do need to figure out where I left those vacation pictures.... hmmmmmmm.

London: Day 2+3

Day 2 of London was spent visiting the London Museum of Natural History.  I got a chance to look at their collections and take note of some important specimens I will need for my phD!  It was a great opportunity for me, and I look forward to visiting them again!  I was able to have a quick peek at the very large giant squid they have their!  This was particularily exciting as the AUT squid lab will be doing giant squid dissections next week, and I will still be away. 

 

Day 3 was spent travelling to Stonehenge!  It was such an amazing experience and I felt very humbled to be in such a spectacular location.  The stones are so large, and it's intriguing to imagine how the henge was constructed. 

 

 

Day 1: London

Hello all!  After about 24 hours of flying, we landed in London! 

 

London had a lot of expected things!  Amazing landmarks:



 

Amazing people:

 

And we also saw some unexpected things... like this gigantic fish!

 

 

Turns out the London has a fantastic little aquarium!  They put a big emphasis on shark conservation and breeding!

On our first morning, we dropped in to visit the Queen....

... but she apparently had a prior engagement. 

Oh well, I'm sure she'll be free for tea tomorrow.

 

We got a birds eye view of the city from the London Eye!

 

Day two looks promising as I will be visiting the cephalopod collections at the National Museum of London.  They have a lot of important specimens to view for my phD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hello from jolly ol' England!

Flying in to London

We boarded the plane.

And had a brief layover in Shanghai!

Now we are resting up in London, and off to Dublin in a few days!! 

Ready for an adventure!

Bags are packed! Where do you think this adventure will take us?

A new kind of adventure

Hello everyone!

    Many of you are probably wondering why I haven't been wandering quite so much recently.  Well, the distance started because I was in the final stages of finishing my Master's thesis!  I submitted it towards the end of 2013, and received very good feedback from my review panel.  Although it caused a lot of sleep deprivation, the end result was absolutely worth all the work I put in! 
If you are interested, the final product can be viewed in the AUT library collections here!

    After my thesis was finished I returned to Canada for several months.  I enjoyed spending time with my family and catching up with my friends in Maple Ridge! 

    Some highlights from the time home was visiting family in Calgary and getting to travel to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller (officially known by children 27 and under as "THE DINO MUSEUM!" 

 

I was also very honored to be able to speak at TonmoconV!  A wonderful convention where cephalopod enthusiasts gather to discuss current ceph-y affairs, research, and general frivolity.  

And of course, I was able to enjoy Christmas at home with my family!

    Now I am beginning a similar but surprisingly different adventure!  I have returned to New Zealand to being working on a phD!  I am extremely excited about continuing on with my research on glass squid, and I look forward to the challenges this next degree will bring me!
    Coming back to AUT feels very different than it did for the first degree.  I already had a place to live, I had friends waiting for my return, the staff at the University knew who I was already, and I was able to quickly start working.  I have been in NZ for three weeks, and am quickly getting back into my daily routines.  Watch this space!  More to come on my exciting new adventure soon!

Thanks for reading!!

Auckland Museum: My ocean

Everyone knows I love going to Museums!  So I was thrilled when I was invited to explore a new exhibit at the Auckland Museum: Moanna - My Ocean.  It explores life across the shorelines of New Zealand, to animals living in the depths of the ocean.

The ocean is home to animals that are both small (ex. plankton) to large (ex. great white sharks).  Each live in different environments, and this exhibit does a great job of highlighting some of the special features of each.

Explorers start at the shoreline, looking at birds of the coast, and then moving on the animals that live along the continental shelf.  For instance, did you know that the Snapper actually lives up to it's name, and has a pretty scary set of teeth on it?  One of the highlights of this part, was a 3D movie, which was housed in it's own 3 dimensional, sea urchin inspired, theatre.  (If you ever have an abundance of leftover pool noodles, now you know what to do with them!)

Next, visitors move on to the pelagic (mid-water) zone.  This area displays several large sharks (life size replicates of actual sharks living in the Hauraki Gulf.  However, if they were real sharks, you wouldn't be able to do this!
This area also has a 360 degree screen, which shows the behaviour of schooling fish.  The fish are not part of a movie, but actually have individual artificial intelligence.  They move via a programmed routine, and react based on what predators are thrown at them, and how neighbouring fish move.  That being said, the show is not the same twice!  It was really exciting to watch! 

Finally, we moved into the dark depths of the deep-sea. 

Many of the animals that live in this area are unique, and modified to live in a part of the ocean that is very cold and dark.  Explorers can experience the feeling of all the pressure that one would experience living under all that water.  What a squeeze.  It's hard to imagine that even at a depth like that, many animals (such as this crab) grow to incredible sizes! 

After visiting the depths, visitors return to the shoreline, where they can examine a few more coastal species of birds, urchins, sharks, and this wonderful yellow boxfish! 

If you are in the Auckland area, I would highly recommend you visit this amazing exploration of the ocean around New Zealand!

Education Update

I'm afraid that the Wandering Octopus has not been on any fantastic adventures recently, so there have been no blog updates.  However, I would like to share with you what is going on in my life.

I have been working hard over the past two years working on a Master's degree at the Auckland University of Technology.  My thesis has been written and is currently being reviewed (insert dramatic music here).  It is 90 pages long, and over 20,000 words.  I feel extremely accomplished in the work I have submitted, and I am anxious to get the reviewed manuscripts back so I can begin working on the final edits.  However, this will not be happening until early August (so I have about a months break time).

I have been working at AUT over this semester, teaching an entry level scientific writing course, and invigilating final exams.  Now that all of that is done for the semester, I finally have a few weeks to breathe. 

My time in New Zealand is coming to a close, and I will be returning to Canada at the end of the month.  (But hopefully, I will have time to go on one or two more adventures with the Octopus before I fly out).  However, I hope to return here next year to begin a phD, as I am enjoying the topic that I am working on, and hope to expand my research to a larger group of squid! 

Thank you all for continuing to follow me, supporting me, and showing interest in my adventures!

Aaron & the Wandering Octopus

The Octopus in Brazil

First of all, I would like to mention that taking three back to back flights to get to Florianopolis, Brazil was possibly not the greatest idea in the world.  That was a VERY long day.

However...

I made it!  Waking up in Brazil the next morning was amazing, I had a lovely view of the ocean from my window.  Most days we had beautiful sunrises, which made the fact that we were getting up at 6:30 slightly less painful.  That being said, the early wakeup calls were worth it, because I had a fantastic time at the conference.

I know that the idea of a room full of scientists studying cephalopods would not be an exciting prospect for many individuals, but I was in my element!  There were some amazing presentations of the work being done in cephalopod research right now, including some amazing video footage of rarely seen species from the deep-sea.  I gave a 15 minute talk about my study species, which went really well.  I received many compliments from people whom I look up to in the scientific community.  We finished the conference with a closing gala dinner, which had a diverse array of food, and some Brazilian entertainment.

Despite the lovely weather in Brazil, I spent most of my time indoors, so did not take full advantage of the sun.  I did have a couple of days of being a tourist before heading back to New Zealand.  I discovered that Florianopolis is home to projecto Tamar, which rehabilitates injured Sea Turtles.  It was an amazing experience to come so close to these beautiful animals.

 I spent the remainder of the day wandering around Florianopolis, which is an island off the Brazilian coast connect by a bridge.  The city is full of tropic parks, sandy beaches and colorful buildings.

On the ride home, I had an overnight layover in Rio de Janeiro.  Once there, I stayed around the corner from the Copacabana beach.  One of the things that has always been on my bucket list, was to see Christ the Redeemer.  I was thrilled to be in Brazil, so I went to see it.  However, when I got there, the mountain was covered in a thick cloud, and I was told there was not visibility at the top.  But did I let that stop me?  Noooooooooooooooope!  I started climbing the hundreds of stairs to the top of the mountain, and eventually, the statue came into view.  After about 20 minutes of waiting, the clouds cleared for a brief instant, and i was able to snap of few pictures and enjoy the monument I had journeyed to see. It also has a great view of the harbor the city is built on.  I was also glad to meet some of the locals.

Brazil is a beautiful and interesting country to visit, however, make sure you know a little Portuguese before you go... it'll make the trip slightly less stressful.  For the most part, the locals spoke little English, but they were very helpful to tourists who obviously didn't know any Portuguese.

Thank you Brazil for a wonderful trip!  I hope the next time I visit I will be able to experience more of your beauty, and less of the inside of a conference hall!

The future is Brazil!

I am excited to announce that the Wandering Octopus and myself will be travelling to South America in a little over a month.

I have been accepted as a speaker at the Cephalopod International Advisory Council Symposium (CIAC) in Florianopolis, Brazil! Brazil is a country that I have always dreamed of traveling to, but never thought i would have the opportunity. I'm so excited, both to be travelling to this exotic location and to be presenting the research I have done in front of the Worlds leading Squid and Octopus experts.
 
I'm hoping that despite my busy travel schedule, I will have an opportunity to bump into this guy...

The Octopus in Tasmania

Last week was the combined New Zealand/Australia Marine Sciences conference in Hobart, Tasmania. Heather, the octopus and I flew over for the week to enjoy multitude of amazing speakers, and to present our own research to the scientific community.

Hobart is a harbourside city on the southern tip of Tasmania. (So in the middle of winter, it's a bit chilly). It prides itself on it's Seafood, and there were many floating fish and chipery boats in the main harbour. We also made a new friend in "Jeremy" the Pufferfish, who was lazily swimming around the harbour. Hobart is also a very historical city. It is situated at the base of Mt. Wellington, so it's a bit hilly, but makes for a very picturesque hillside. Many of the important buildings in Hobart are made of the original sandstone, which makes everything look like it's from a different era.
The conference was held at the Wrest Point hotel, but we stayed in the Pickled frog Hostel, which was about a 10 minute bus ride away. The conference center was located right on the water, which was great because we had amazing, sunny weather the whole time. We woke up fairly early in the morning, and caught a bus to the conference. Every day we had several keynote speakers to get our minds working. We would then break for morning tea, before heading off to a day of presentations. Most of these were given by students, like myself, or researchers at other institutions. The topics ranged from whales and dolphins, corals, ocean warming, pollution, deep-sea food chains, and of course SQUID (which was totally the most interesting topic).
At the end of the week, we had a gala dinner, which included a three course meal, a live band, marine themed decorations, and dancing. It was a great way to finish off an engaging (but exhasuting) week.
My only regret was not being able to see any live Tasmanian devils!

The Octopus gets a vacation.

I apologize for all the time I have been away from my blog. In all honesty, I have been extremely busy with school and my new job, and havn't done anything worth posting about... until now. It's fall break here at AUT, so the octopus, Heather and I decided to take a wee vacation over to the island of Waiheke. It's about a 40 minute ferry ride away. It's a beautful lush island with lots of nature trails, quaint boutqiues and beaches! (However, the buses only run once an hour, so if you miss them, you end up taking walking trails around the island... which end up being alot of hills and stairs!). We stayed at the Bioshelter backpackers, a hostel that prides itself on being environmentally friendly. It's got a very unique design, and looks more like a Bali resort on the inside. Probably the most notable room in the whole hostel is the toilet, which is rather unqiue! Each room has several beds in it, but as it was not busy, we got a room to ourselves! We spent the day familiarizing ourselves with the small town of Oneroa, and especailly familiarizing ourselves with the beach! (It's a hard job, but somebodies got to do it) Waiheke is very much a vacation island, so every cove seemed to have boats tied up in it. We spent the afternoon snorkeling, and collecting sea shells. We finished the day off enjoying a pizza on a beach front bistro!

The next day brought warm sunny weather. We decided to do some more swimming. This time, we hiked around the north tip of the island to Ray island. It's not accesible by road, so we had the entire beach to ourselves. We spend hours looking through the tidepools, and swimming in the crystal clear waters. We then decided to call it a day, and took the ferry back to Auckland. A short vacation, but relaxing none the less.

The Octopus goes to Sydney

The octopus and i went home for Christmas, and on our way back were able to stop off for a few days in Sydney, Australia. It wasn't ALL touristy stuff, I actually went there for my friends wedding. but seeing as we were in the area we took the opportunity to do some sight seeing! Sydney is probably best known for two things: the Opera house

and the plethora of unique exotic animals that live there.

The octopus and I got a chance to visit the Sydney Aquarium, and were greeted by the coolest statue ever (made entirely of Lego I might add). In the aquarium, the octopus had a chance to catch up with a distant counsin. (Look closely, there is a cuttlefish in that picture). We also joined my friend Meaghan on a glass bottom boat ride, this allows you to get up close and personal with some of the fish in the tropical aquarium! We also got up close and personal with some very large sharks!

Afterwards we visited some of Australias natives. We saw Kangaroos, crocodiles, dingo, the cassowary (much cooler in real life), and of course, the cuddly Koala!

Had a great time in Sydmey, it was just too bad that my visit there was so short! I'm looking forward to whenever I have a chance to return and explore more of Australia!

Christmas in Squidland

So, first and foremost! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Christmas in Auckland is VERY different to those in Canada!

When walking around downtown Auckland, you can't help but notice the holiday cheer. Images of Santa, department store window displays, decorations hanging in Malls... wait... are those guys wearing... SHORTS? What is with this weather! As I am used to the wet and chilly winters of Vancouver during Christmas, I'm finding the Summer weather of the Southern hemisphere is NOT putting me in the Christmas mood. Seriously, who wants to order a hot holiday beverage from Starbucks, when you're slathering on sunscreen?

Despite the inescapable weather, I have managed to partake in several holiday traditions, both old and New.

Heather and I put up a little Christmas tree in our apartment, and made some paper decorations for it, including a squid themed, angelic tree topper! We also made some delicious sugar cookies and decorated them. And finally, hung some stockings on the odd chance that Santa visited our house!

Heather and I went down to see the Santa Clause parade. It was a bit of an odd amalgamation of floats. There was the usual: Christmas trees, Frosty, and Rudolph... as well as several unexpected guests: such as Mickey Mouse, Pikachu, and a life size dinosaur! Luckily, the big guy made an appearence! (I was ready to see him in a hawaiian shirt and board shorts) But it was a good start to December, and really displayed the Kiwi holiday spirit!


The octopus and I walked down to the harbour one night to see the "Telecom christmas tree", which is made out of several hundred LED lights. It is constantly changing color and pattern, and below the tree they have been bag chairs so you can look up and watch the light show. There are also several phone booths with a direct line to Santa, so you can make your Christmas phone call!

This year was my first experience with "Glow", a Christmas concert/service put on by St. Lukes church. It is a huge event, selling 10,000 tickets. Each person gets a glowstick and the whole concert is done in the dark. It has a really cool effect as you shout your favorite Christmas carols at the top of your lungs!

Now, I'm ready to head off to the airport and take a plane ride home for the Holidays! Enough of this sunshine, bring on the snow! (fingers crossed) My bags are packed with the essentials... well, maybe a few more shirts...

"Sir, are you smuggling dophins in your luggage?"
"Noooo, whatever would give you that idea..."

Bon Voyage!

An Octopus for all seasons

Spring has sprung here in New Zealand. The Octopus and I decided to take a trip to the Auckland Botanical Gardens to see what was in bloom.


The gardens are quite expansive. It took me several hours to walk around them, and I'm fairly sure that I didn't see everything. They contain area's of edible plants, native plants to New Zealand, prehistoric palms, and a large strongly scented rose garden. There are currently 21 statues created by logal artists displayed in the gardens, which were inspired by nature. These ranged in size from small water lillies made from recycled plastic, to a giant pohutukawa (the new zealand Christmastree). Interesting journey through nature and art... although sometimes the garden stated the obvious.
So whether it's sitting on a swing, feeding the birds, or just having a think: enjoy these activites outdoors! See what amazing colors spring has to offer. (This offer only available in New Zealand during December... all other locations offer is void.)

The Octopus visits Queenstown

Thank you everyone for your patience. I know it has been several months since I last posted anything. I'm afraid that the joys of school have overtaken my ability to adventure! On my spring break I went down to New Zealands South Island and visited Queenstown! For those of you who live in Vancouver, it would be like visitng Whsitler. It's a ski city! We stayed at a lovely hotel called the Sherwood Manor!
After arriving in town, the first thing you notice is the Mountains! It reminded us alot of the Rockies back home! We spent the first afternoon wandering around town, and took a gondola ride to the top of a nearest mountain. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking!

Day two involved sunshine and more mountains! Can I just say that the weather reports predicted rain for the entire visit we were there, but it was amazing weather! (I guess the weather forcasters are equally as accurate in New Zealand as they are in Canada!) That morning we took a cruise around the lake that Queenstown is situated on. It had a great view of the surrounding area (and the mountains), and the captain even let the octopus drive the boat for a while! We then took a bus to Arrowtown, which is a small village 30 minutes outside of Queenstown. I was established during New Zealands gold rush, so Arrowtown is a very historical area.

Day three involved and early morning. We got on a charter bus and began a 4 hour trip to Milford Sound, on the West Coast of New Zealand. This invovled driving through the mountains (quite literally, we had to go through a tunnel and everything). On the way, we got to see some wildlife, including the worlds only Alpine Parrot: the KEA! The boat ride around Milford was amazing. Tall mountains with huge waterfalls cascading down them. It was very picturesque. We even made some new friends on the boat! We also saw a penguin, and some seals! The boat took us right up to the base of one of the falls! It was close enough to touch it!

The next day we boarded a jet boat which raced up and down the lakes and rivers of Queenstown. It went extremely fast (hence being called a jetboat), and wizzed around rocks and logs! The boat only needs about 3 inches of water to drive, so it can go reeeaally close to the shore!

On our final day, we went up to the ski slopes. I'm not much of a skier, but the Octopus really wanted to make a snowman. Instead we went snowtubing, which is totally alot more fun than skiing. After a long day of snow, we had a quite flight home!

I had a great time in Queenstown, and wasn't able to do everything that it had to offer, I guess that means I'll have to go for another visit! :)

The Octopus in Wellywood!

The Octopus and I travelled down to Wellington to find some squid, and boy did we find them!
Wellington is an amazing city filled with a mixture of classic and modern architecture, and a variety of bright colors! We started our adventure by looking through shelves of jars of squid, to try and find specimens that matched the ones we were all studying. There ended up being alot of jars.... many of which were mine. (I get to go through ALL of them again! oh goody). After our first day, we finished up and walked down to the Te Papa national museum. There we got to see the only preserved Colossal squid in the world!

It was a huge deal! (As made apparent by the "Colossal Squid plush animal". We also looked at the collections at NIWA, and found a few more specimens (some this time that were much larger than those that could fit in a jar).
We then got a chance to travel around the city, and see some of the sights. We walked around Parliament, travelled up the mountain on a trolley car, and then spent the afternoon trying to treck around the botanical gardens ("Follow the Green Arrows" was not a helpful guide!)
After a busy five days we boarded a flight home!

This was thr safety video travelling to Wellington....

This was the safety video travelling from Wellington.....


Well, at least Air New Zealand knows how to make a tedious safety video entertaining, I'll give them that.

I had a wonderful time while I was in Wellington. It reminded me alot of Vancouver. Lots of rain, but a very pleasent atmosphere. I'm sure I will be visiting again, and I look forward to it.

The Octopus is sky high!

So, in a few of my previous posts I have mentioned "Skytower".

We finally had a chance to go up it and see the view. It's a nice 360 degree view of Auckland.
Both the glass elevator, and the oberservation deck have several glass floors in them. But don't worry, its TOTALLY safe! (see, it's as strong as concrete... transparent concrete)!
The view of Auckland is incredible, you can even see where I live! While your up there, you can peruse the various dining establishments you may want to visit when your feet hit the ground!

ROTORUA: cold, wet, smells like eggs...

BUT! It's fun as anything!

We took a chartered bus down to Rotorua, a small town in the central North Island of New Zealand. Rotorua is famous for being built around a geothermal hot spot. It's full of geysers, as well as hot springs. Now, with all the sulphur in the area, the first thing you notice is... it smells like eggs.

HOWEVER! It is still a tourist destination. It's set on a picturesque (totally mis-spelled that) lake, and surrounded by mountains and farmland. Upon our arrival we went to our hostel and checked in, and then stumbled around a nearby geothermal park until dinner time. At this park, we found a covered foot bath, filled with naturally heated mineral water. People communally wash their feet in it. It's really cool, and your feet feel happy afterwards (or at least mine did). We grabbed some dinner and then looked for some evening entertainment.
FUN FACT: Rotorua has ZERO nightlife. Eating IS the nightlife. However, we did find a movie theatre, and watched a movie.

We woke up the next morning and left to find a breakfast location. This is when we found Milly's all day breakfast! What a wonderful place! We visited there several times! The food was basic, but really good. From there, we donned our rain gear, and trudged off into the weather (yes, it poured the first two days). We walked around the Rotorua museum where we learned about the history of the town, and about the local culture. After that, we took a nearby path which led us through the lakeside geothermal fields. Despite the rain, it was probably the most beautiful experience I've seen. Being surrounded by white smoking rocks, and thick bubbling mud on a rainy day may sound a bit dull, but I couldn't beleive how in awe I was of this barren landscape. Due to the rain, the Octopus did not have a chance to explore as much.

On the third day, the Octopus, Heather and I took a bus out to Rainbow Springs Wildlife refuge and Kiwi Encounters. It's kinda like a zoo, except that it also displays the native plants of New Zealand. At rainbow Springs they also raise Kiwi eggs. This gives the young birds a 70% better chance at surviving in the wild. I was really impressed with the work they were doing to help strengthen the Kiwi population. Since Kiwi's are a bit photo shy... we took a picture with this giant Kiwi statue...

After visiting the Kiwi's, we took a stroll through the New Zealand Countryside to go ZORBING!
For those who don't know what zorbing is. It's a huge air filled bubble, that they put you inside of, and then roll you down a hill. If this isn't awesome enough... they also put water in it. It's like a waterslide... on spin cycle! The ride lasts maybe a minute at best, but was a blast!

On the final day in Rotorua, we hiked to the Red Wood Forest. I'm always amazed at the natural beauty of Red Woods, and walking through the forest was relaxing. (Kinda the point of the vacation). Of course, Red Woods are HUGE! You need multiple people just to hug them. We then headed back into town, and took a bus back to Auckland.

If you enjoy the diverse beauty of nature, or the rush of Adrenaline, or if you just really like the smell of eggs... Rotorua is a great place to visit. I would go back there... but remember to bring a book or something to read in the evenings!