The great thing about this job is that I’m always learning. New corals, new techniques, new science… New life skills! For instance, you can fix an expensive and essential piece of diving equipment with zip ties:

And the other day, we learned how to start CRIOBE’s charismatic little car, which basically involves hotwiring it:

The innards of Gerald, the geriatric car

Fellow North American researcher Sarah Davies has named this charming contraption Gerald after coaxing it around the island one day. We took him to a potential experiment site yesterday, and think it fits. Gerald has lost the movement of his windows and is missing two of his mirrors. He is also not fond of second or fourth gear, and loudly complains when we force him to drive either too slowly or too quickly. This state of affairs made us feel slightly out-of-place when we visited the Hotel Intercontinental – for science!

Another potential site for our experiment – the Hotel Intercontinental. Conveniently located near a dolphin enclosure and landscaped paths to over-water bungalows. Ah, and its an easily accessible site with lots of monitoring by hotel staff to ensure the experiment’s not bothered.

Gerald makes a young new friend

On our return from the hotel, I gained another life skill. Leech removal! Not sure where I picked the little guy up, but pulling him off with fingers didn’t work, nor did trying to shave him off with a knife. Luckily, Jerome’s girlfriend Christina, who is with us for the trip on a semi-vacation, was experienced with leech removal since a trip to Malaysia. Sure enough, a couple pinches of salt coaxed it to simply let go.