Happy New Years!

I am very blessed this year; Marc and I will be ringing in the New Year with friends we haven't seen for awhile. Emily is flying in from colorado tomorrow (!), and Monae with be coming up from Conventry on saturday. We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends come into town!

Continued fun with the camera

More of the cats (Marc was playing with the camera to, got the angry midnight shot) and when I went in to work today got some shots of the seals.

New camera

I was blessed with a wonderful gift from my parents, a new camera. I had fun trying it out with a cat photo shoot.

Hiking the Pentlands

To enjoy our time off together, Marc and I went on a hike in the pentland hills. It was very typically Scottish...foggy mountain views, and we even had sheep crossing the road.

New Gatty Residents

When we returned from the Isle of May, we brought five weaned pups back with us. Three of which I had followed from birth, and put pictures of on here (but there names have changed). Ryan, one of the pool technicians here, took all the photos when they had just arrived at the facility. I will have to take some new ones, they are getting more muscle and growing into their adult forms.

It is a odd system; I don't know of any other facility that brings in animals for a year to study, and then release back out into the wild. But in this species, it seems to be advantageous for the individual; survival rates in the first year of life are 40-50%, but after that it is 90%. By bringing them in, we are giving them better odds of survival. And learn lots about the species at the same time.

Clark, previously referred to as Gene (Simmons).

Bud, previously referred to as Sinatra (Frank). He still has a bit of his pup fluff (lunago) since he is probably the youngest of the group. he has since lost the fluff, and has the darkest coloring of the group.

Zola, previously referred to as carborator pup (this name change is definitely an improvement for her. I had just called her that because her mom made a very unique vocalization that sounded like a car engine. I haven't heard her make the noise yet)

Angel, from another students project. She was named because she is so sweet

Yoza, also from another students research, named after a tv character who is particularly grumpy

Paris

Marc and I had a wonderful weekend trip to Paris, a perfect little holiday before the christmas craziness. We stayed at a lovely groupon discounted hotel about 3 miles outside of the city centre, which gave us the chance to wander around in some non-touristy areas. It was right up against the river Seine, which is beautiful to walk along, and takes you right up to the eiffle tower. We also took a wonderful tour of the Louvre, wandered around Notre Dame, explored a christmas market, saw the bastille, and visited the Arc du triumph. The food was wonderful; lots of criossants and baguettes, and of course crepes. Though drinks are horribly expensive; a cup of tea or coffee runs you 4-5 euros! Restaurants were all closed at night to, we didn't find anywhere outside of downtown that served past 6pm. So instead we dined on bread and fruit and cheese, so we were happy. We also saw some of the real life; there were large tent cities on the outskirts of Paris, and lots of begging on the metro (very creative ways as well; some people asked one on one, some made loud anouncements to groups, some gave out postcards with requests, another guy played guitar and sang). It was great to just listen to the beautiful language; Marc's high school french lessons came flooding back.

Marc in front of the Louvre; the new pyramid entrance was designed by Pei
(makes New College dorms seem all the classier)

Pantheon

A highlight of the trip was going up in the towers of Notre Dame.
We heard the bells up close and it is the best view of the city!

One of Michelangelo's slaves. There are two from the series at the louvre, both unfinished worksBastille

Venus de Milo

Happy Holidays!

It has been wonderful to be home, and enjoy all the holiday festivities. Marc and I put up a small fake tree, and lights in the windows (the cats think they are wonderful toys). And for me, I could care less about the 'christ' in 'christmas'....it is just a time of year to take time and appreciate your family. A friend of mine from the Isle, Paula, pointed out celebrating Newtonmas as an alternative to the religious hubbub, and I think it is brillant :) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_people_celebrate_Newtonmas

End of field season

We have returned from the Isle of May. It was a wonderful experience; more of a holiday than work. I will try to be good about posting; I as work my way through all the data gathered I will continue to post lovely pics of the seals. Also, we will have new seal pup arrivals at the Gatty possibly tomorrow, so you can expect some good updates about them!

Internet is working!

The internet is cooperating, so I will take the opportunity to post some wonderful pics from a beautiful sunny day!

Pressure systems

Unfortunately the weather systems have not been favorable for maintaining our internet connection, and I have not been able to post much and pics won't load up. Our current plan is to return next Tuesday, so when I have a good connection I will post up all the pics I have been saving up!

Why yes....

I know exactly how cute I am

*wink wink*

Break in the weather

During a break in our windy windy weather, Sinatra and his mom caught some zzz's in the sun.

Windy weekend

So far we have been extremely lucky on the isle; beautiful warm sunny days. But not today! It is a particularly windy day, and it is predicted to be even worse this weekend. The water has massive waves, and sea spray is being thrown across the island. It is to bad for us to get any work done, so it will probably be a quiet weekend doing what things we can, and waiting the front out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving! I have lots to be thankful for, having such wonderful family and friends, and having the opportunity to work on my own research on an Isle full of baby seals. How can you not be grateful when baby seals are playing with sticks all around you?

One days difference

The pup pictures from yesterday? This is the same pup. Loosing fluff, and coming into her spots. A huge difference in just a day...within a day or two she should be fully molted.

Almost finished cookin'

Born on November 4th, this is where she has gotten to today. Pretty impressive for 2 1/2 weeks

Metamorphosis

To go from this:

To this:

One must shed tons of white fluffy hair in massive piles and ackward stages.

Currently the pups I have been following from birth are going through this. Piles of pup fur are everywhere, and hairballs fly everywhere on a windy day.