Author: Julie Walker

*please re-read the heading to the tune of "teach me how to dougie" by Cali Swag*
Yes, I grew up on the water, and yes I sort of study fish now... but one of my short falling (no jokes about my height please) is not knowing how to cast net. Thankfully, friend of Osborne Lab Nicole Bishop, was kind enough to teach me the ways of the waterman, and agreed to make this video with me to educate the masses. 

So please enjoy our educational programming, and maybe pass it on and teach someone else how cast net.. or dougie... to each his own  

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Today we have a special guest blog from our summer intern Holly Keepers, reflecting on her summer here at Whitney Laboratories

​I feel like just yesterday I was writing a hello message to you all. And yet it's already my last day here! I’ve been studying hermit crab behavior and how they are affected by noise pollution. Doing this experiment meant I needed hermit crabs… A LOT of hermit crabs. In total, I collected about 120 crabs from the shoreline in two days. I kept all of these crabs in two holding tanks in the lab. Sadly, a lot of them ended up dying. I feel like a failed parent. I think I’ll have to hold off on having ACTUAL kids for a looong time considering how many of my “fake babies” died this summer…. 

Anywho, after I was finished with my experiments, I let them all go back into the sea. I secretly wonder how the other hermit crab’s reactions will be when they are brought back into the wild. They will probably be telling their hermit crab friends I GOT TAKEN BY ALIENS …. And no one will believe them :( Poor guys…. Also how quickly will they change their shells since I painted on them?? Someone who works here has told me she will email and message me whenever she happens to find a labeled hermit on the beach in the future. Maybe I’ll have updates for you later, even after I stop reporting to Julie? Future-vision…. (The line of labeled hermit crabs being released back into the wild! Good luck little guys!) ​

Anyway, it's been an amazing summer. This is my first time working as a real intern and a scientist! I loved everything I did and I learned a lot. Namely, things don’t always go as planned, and although that may be frustrating, sometimes it all works out for the better. SCIENCE MOSTLY MEANS PERSEVERING. Things go wrong ALL THE TIME. I mean, I wasn’t supposed to have this internship in the first place; I was supposed to be placed in Raleigh, NC. Things fell through and VIOLA! I’m suddenly in the car on the way to FLORIDA?? It's absolutely crazy. 

I’m really happy I had this summer to experience what it actually means to be a “scientist”. PLUS most of the people I worked with were women?? That’s super awesome. 

I feel like I’m repeating myself a lot, but I can’t help it. Trying to condense my feelings about the summer into a short blog post is really really hard. All I can say is if you have an opportunity to work at the Whitney Lab for Marine Sciences…. DO IT. You won’t regret it. ​