Changes in Latitudes

This weekend I earned my dry suit certificate. Dry suit diving proved to be quite a challenge, and I definitely need more practice. There seemed to be so many things going on! Marius and I took the course together out in an area slightly west of Bergen city center called Laksevåg (Salmon Bay) with Nemo Classic Diving. The course consisted of: A couple hours of theory: our instructor went through the manual with us and showed us the different exposure suits. Then 2 dives. The first dive was on Saturday, and the primary purpose was to get us used to diving in the dry suit. I was given a dry suit that turned out to be one size too big! I was getting air leaking out of my neck and water seeping in towards my chest. Every time I would add air into my suit it would escape through my head and then suddenly I found myself either rapidly sinking or shooting up to the surface! Marius and the other girl in our group had a great dive, meanwhile I was bobbing from 10 m depth to the surface. Wa...

A rather delayed post of my last day in Iceland - sorry about that. Well, Marius and I were staying at a hostel that was not optimal for our trip, called Capital Inn, located 30 mins outside of town (by foot). And our room smelled soooo bad because the other two guesrs in our room had drank alcohol the night before so the B.O. was TERRIBLE! So we got up relatively early on Sunday and brought our things to the city to have breakfast where we had eaten dinner a couple night before called Glætan - not the best food, but a good value and atmosphere.  We knew we wanted to squeeze in the Blue Lagoon before we left and it turned out that the bus only goes from the Lagoon to the airport twice a day: noon and 2pm. But we were still going to do it even though we only got lne hour there. It was a bit hectic but we made it and got relaxed once we entered the water. It was definitely a place we will have to visit again! So a tip for anyone going to Iceland and want to squeeze in the Blue Lagoon...

Saturday (the 28th), I took Marius for a day trip for an early birthday present. It was an 11 hour excursion which included a soak in a hot spring, some waterfalls, and a hike on a glacier. The guide had some intersting stories and we even saw the infamous volcano that erupted in 2010 (and nearly ruined our Thailand trip).  It was a pricey trip, but for me it was worth it since our guide could tell us more about the eruption and the glacier, as well as some Icelandic history. Oh and a big thing to mention - the weather was FANTASTIC! --> a geyser on the way to the hot spring --> he was excited to warm up in the river --> the glacier we walked on; looked dirty due to all of the ash

Long day of talks, some very interesting an others not really my interest, but Marius arrived Thursday night. My talk was on Friday, the last day of the conference. I was nervous because the room was massive. I tried to keep it shorter than 15 minutes for any questions but there were none. Another recent Master grad also wasn't asked questions, so we believe the older guys perhaps didn't want to scare us -- and it was also the last day of the conference.  The weather was very nice on Friday, so Marius and I walked around the coty a little bit before the log walk to a hostel I booked for the weekend. Glad I took part in the conference as it was a valuable experience and was able to make some contacts at NOAA. I was also told that my talk was a highlight for one pf the sessions :)

Wednesday began with my 7am scandinavian high carb breakfast (all they eat is bread), and was followed by a talk by keynote speaker Doug Butterworth from South Africa. He talked fishery quotas in terms of a bank account.  I left earlier to explore the shops while they were open. Bought myself some Icelandic wool yarn - maybe for a nice pair of socks? After I took a 10km joggig trip around the city to find the spots for Marius and I to see the next couple of days. It was great! And finished the night with a pizza that was called the Americana but with ground lamb meat! Not a very nice taste for pizza.  --> "I don't speak Icelandic" -->yarn! --> the old harbor --> best view of the city --> interesting fellow

Today I sat in a session that is called Responses of living organisms to climate change and variability. It sounds very interesting, and some of it is...but I don't know how many more abbreviations I can remember for these talks using models.  Guess I should write these things down ... --> 8am walk to Harpa

Photos from my first 2 hours in Reykjavik --> "The Sun Voyager" statue by the harbor --> Harpa Conference center  --> inside Harpa, waiting for the session on marine litter --> I may as well be a Norwegian

I flew to Reykjavik this morning for the long anticipated ICES Annual Science Conference. I will not present until Friday, but I'm looking forward to the talks and hope to make connections for potential employment.  It is about 50 degrees F and overcast, but looking out I can see clear blue sky to the north. Marius will join me on Thursday and listen to my presentation.  I'm staying at the Best Western, which is fairly pricey but it is near the conference - Harpa Concert Centre.  --> the Blue Lagoon featured in the inflight magazine.  --> Statues at Keflavik airport --> Statues on the drive to Reykjavik

GoPro video from our snorkel/sunset cruise in Key West. Click Here!

Missed updating stuff on here from August, but it was very busy! My month of vacation after completing my degree :) We went to the US from Oslo via Brussels and Toronto. We landed in Toronto, and were picked up by Mom and Dad after numerous customs checks. Driving over the border was another experience - 30+ minutes of questioning and even a vehicle search! But we got home and Carolyn made us a great scallop dinner. The second night home a few good friends from high school came over. It is always nice that every time I go home I can be sure that they will stop by to say hello and catch up. The first week home was reserved for my best friend Katie's wedding. It was a lot of fun and a great kick off to our vacation...and Marius was the belle of the ball! After the wedding we spent a couple of days with my Mom's side in the Grand Rapids area. But Marius was mostly excited about seeing Florida. We flew into Fort Lauderdale and Divya met us there. We rented a couple of c...

[Preliminary survey tracks for the vessels involved] Tomorrow we get into Tromsø for the end of the survey. I didn't give any updates because, well, it was about the same everyday. So the last 3+ weeks have gone by quite fast and it will feel weird to be back in Bergen Monday night. I have gained many new skills on this survey, and my colleagues hope that the institute will have a place for me because I am also "efficient, positive and hardworking" (not to toot my own horn). We are currently headed south from Bjørnoya (Bear Island) located approximately 74 degrees N and 16 deg E. We have hauled in tens of tons of Atlantic mackerel (makrell), slightly less than optimal amounts of herring (sild), lumpsucker (rognkjeks), and wild Atlantic salmon (laks). Some of the more interesting fish we brought in included:  håbrann (Lamna nasus), English: mackerel shark (possibly porbeagle) langebarn/snake blenny torsk/cod (juveniles less than 10 cm long) hyse/haddock ...

Getting into a routine: Sample, eat, gym, sleep, eat, sample, sleep, eat... Pulled in three wild salmon. The cook will make them for lunch or dinner in the next couple of days. Sun is shining today. Life is good :) [Herring Oil Factory (Sildolje fabrikk) Pit-stop in Egersund to fix the trawl.] [Gulls lined up in a row waiting for dinner] [Wild Atlantic salmon]