Late-Night Visitors

we had a surprise sometime late last night, one of the animals we are
interested in, the spectacled eider, stopped for a visit. Actually, about
two dozen of them. One of the crew looked out, and they were just perched
outside on deck. They are considered threatened, and we are analyzing the
ice algae and benthic communities here in part because these eiders feed
on the clams that live on the bottom. They can dive up to 300 feet
looking for food. The really geeky science part is, a few of them pooped
on deck, and Matt, our eider guy, scooped it up and saved it. Even worse,
we have another scientist on board that was able to identify their food by
the shells left in the poop, and was able to identify some parasitic worms
in the sample also. These are the kind of geeks I have been hanging out
with.
Trying to hold on to my sanity,
Steve