Built (not) To Last

...and the worse things have finally occurred. When I went to my sampling site a few hours ago to monitor my sea cucumbers, the pond water was really warm, so warm that it was already considered a hostile environment. I together with Ma'am Ruth's RA (Research Assistant) recorded a short underwater video because she wanted to see the current condition of the pond.

The underwater condition was really different compared to my previous visit. It was really murky, which made the monitoring more difficult. While searching for my pens, he told me that in the 27th of May, they recorded the highest water temperature ever... at 42 degrees Celsius! We directly went to my pens and sad to say, we didn't find even a single Holothuria scabra. We surmised that all of them have died due to the extreme pond conditions.

We already did everything the best we could just to maintain the right temperature of water. We have already increased the frequency of pumping fresh salt water from the sea which resulted to an increased electric bill by up to 300%.

All of our efforts didn't pay.

So now, I have to tell my adviser about this tomorrow. I still have the data since January. I have so many possible solutions running in my mind about this predicament of mine. My data have been in jeopardy for months because of El Niño. My babies can no longer tolerate the intense heat of the pond.

And I expect major revisions starting from the objectives of my study. Major overhaul.
Don't get me wrong, I am not panicking right now.

Live Like We're Dying

It's already the fourth month since the introduction of my sea cucumbers to the pen. So as early as 0730, I swam into the 6,000 sq meter pond and I was shocked of what I saw: mass grave.

I was really, really surprised to see some dead sea cucumbers. It was really gruesome. In each pens, I saw four or five dead sea cucumbers and it looks like they were victims of a suicide bombing. Yeah, I think you have already surmised it right, their guts were open. Some of them were flat but all of their GI tract were missing. I first thought my sea cucumbers were attacked by those nasty crabs.

Since it was daytime, the recovery rate is lower since majority of them have already burrowed in the pond substrate. Just so you know, Holothuria scabra are nocturnal species. I still picked them even if they looked sick (or worse, dying).

I went back to land together with my research associate and did some measurements. I asked him whether my sea cucumbers were attacked by the predators and he said that the sea cucumbers in his pond, which is located a few meters from mine have also suffered the same predicament. They have this grayish discoloration on both of its ventral and dorsal side and secrete this slimy mucus from its anus and/or mouth.

According to the RA, this is probably caused by sudden changes in salinity and water temperature of the pond due to the abnormal weather. SEE? Because of El Niño, my thesis experiment has been compromised. I had the first sign of it last March 21, when one of the sea cucumbers eviscerated. You know, when sea cucumbers are subjected to stress, they vomit their own gut.

I will send this report to my thesis adviser later and wait for some possible actions to answer this serious quandary of mine. :(

Thesis it!

I was really, really happy upon learning that two of the sophomore Biology students (incoming Junior this first semester) had chosen Dr. Ruth U. Gamboa aka "Inang Dagat" as their thesis adviser. I'm so glad that they'll be joining our grandHolothuria project. So I sent one of Inang Dagat's thesis advisee a wall message on Facebook. It goes something like this:

Me: And so I've heard the news. Gamby na pala adviser mo? Welcome to the cluuuuuuub!
Jel: Wahahahah! Yes!! :)) Guess we'll see more of each other. Woohoo! Hindi na siya nagiisa uyyyy :))
Me: YEHEY MAY KASAMA NA AKO! Kayo ni Frece diba?
Jel: Yeah! Hahaha :)) Talking 'bout being in the oddest bunch.
Me: Yeaaaaah! So ano, may topic ka na?
Jel: Ohhh.. Determination of Genetic Variation of Holothuria scabra in Different Regions of Region XI.
Me: Ahhhh! Nice! Sinuggest ko iyan last year kay ma'am but apparently she didn't want me to do that study since the grow-out of sandfish in an earthpond has not yet been finished. Galing naman! Gagamit ka pa ng mga kagamitan sa Molecular Biology lab!
Jel: Yes! I'm sooo excited na talaga! :)) Sayang I was thinking about doing my own study: Regeneration gene into sea cucumber DNA! hahaha! That way, propagation wouldn't be a problem :))
Me: Nice! Pero naku, aabutan ka niyan ng more than two years sa thesis mo! :D

I'm so glad that they chose Inang Dagat as their thesis adviser. Inang Dagat hasn't handled a thesis adviser for more than five years until I came last year. Now that I'm halfway through with my experiment (statistical analysis isn't included in this part) I would always wonder why I'm actually enjoying my thesis despite hearing some terrifying stories from the upperclassmen regarding my thesis adviser. I thought Inang Dagat was a terror adviser, but I was wrong. She would always ask me whether if I've already monitored my sea cukes or not. She would constantly remind me about the things that I should accomplish within this month. Everything is already planned.

Well, I think great minds think alike. Haha! =)

Can't wait to be with my future Holothurian mates!

Go Holothuria!

Hurray for funded thesis!

The author would like to thank DOST, BFAR and ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research) for sponsoring my thesis. :)