Aquarium of the Pacific

I was in Long Beach, CA last week for the Pacific Seabird Group meeting. We spent one evening at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Super fun! My favorite meeting. Lots of good friends that I get to see once a year. I've missed the past 2 meetings so it's been 3 years since I've seen a lot of folks. Some images from that night:
wolf eel & sea star

can't remember what these guys are but they are CUTE!

outdoor displays for the kids.
or in our case, PSG members

amazing shark exhibit - shark egg casings with live embryos!

Met up with Dave and his family after the meeting. More photos soon!
We're in Hawaii right now!

The past 4 weeks

have been CRAZY!!! I started my PhD at UAF in January. I'm also working on several projects on the side through my business (Sedna Ecological). We went down to Seward to work on the house several weekends ago. Dave went back to Fairbanks and I stayed in Anchorage for the Marine Science in AK Symposium for 1 week. Then went down to Seward for 1 week to finish sample collections from the eiders at the SeaLife Center. As soon as I got back to Fairbanks, I had 1 full week of lab instrument training at UAF for PhD project. Then I went back to Anchorage for 2 days of meetings. The rest of this week has been packed with everything that I need to get done before we leave for California/Hawaii on Tuesday night! Below are many images, mostly from my 2 weeks in Anchorage and Seward.

on the Seward highway - field trip for school kids? snow machining in Turnagain Pass?

Westchester Lagoon, Anchorage

taking a mental health break from the conference with Adrian on the Coastal Trail

Celebrating Ann's birthday with an evening ice skate on Westchester Lagoon

view of downtown Anchorage from my hotel room

I went for a walk out to Tonsina with Beaté and Daisy in Seward

ahhhhhhhhhhh. I miss the water.

kayaking in the winter! how peaceful.

happy Daisy

Ann & I had got some bird love in at the SeaLife Center.
I don't know when I'm going to get back down there!
Thanks Tasha!!!

squid, silversides, krill, clams - yum!

kittiwakes are so cute.

poor Rain. he always loses his head feathers.

old squaw. I mean long-tailed ducks.
murres
King eider. Charles. Camilla is his mate.
rhinoceros auklet

tufted puffins

the rhino auklet baby!

drive from Seward to Anchorage

Turnagain Arm

Spent some time with Heather, Paul & Coal in Anchorage on my way back to Fairbanks.
It is so fun to watch Coal grow into a little person! Auntie Shiway misses you!

Coal's 'going poo poo' face

Parks Highway

The Igloo

Gorgeous drive home.

Ooof. I can't wait for vacation. We're going to California on Tue night. I'm going down to Long Beach for the seabird group conference, then back up to Oakland to meet up with Dave and his family. Then we're off to Hawaii for 10 days! can't WAIT for a proper vacation.
no working allowed!

Haiti - donations

Sam recommends the following organizations for making donations to help Haiti:

missionaryflights.org
visitationhospital.org
partners in health