Aquarium Excitement

Today at the aquarium I was introduced to the world of Marine Chemistry and it was amazing. It started off with simple tank-side tests of pH and salinity.  The tools for those recordings I often work with at my day job so the excitement was minimal.  BUT, once I collected all that data, I asked my boss if he needed the nitrates tested. (I knew this was my chance to get into the elusive 3rd story lab, only accessible by a special key).

He looked at his watch and said, "Yes, I think we have time for that."  Inside my head: "YEEEEAAASSSS!!!!"  Party dance to music.  Real life response:  Stupid grin.

We head up and I see the best view from the aquarium.  Behind a fancy microscope with was probably worth my future firstborn, was the most serene and colorful tidal creek, dunes, and ocean scene I have seen in a while.  Once I got focused on the actual lab, my boss began instructing.

Nitrate testing is very time sensitive.  You break the tip off of a vacuum-sealed vial with power inside the liquid you are testing.  You shake it for 1 minute.  Then you let it rest for 5 minutes while you zero out the testing machine with some of your water sample.  Then at exactly 5 mins you run the sample, a wave of light passes through and a number appears on the screen.  Easy as pie...but time consuming.  So each volunteer makes up their own way to run multiple samples at once in a ballet of movement all based around timing.  I however could only run 2 samples at once before blowing up my brain.

I had just broken the tip off of two vials when the real excitement started.  An aquarium worker busted through the doors to the lab!  There was a flashing light behind her and a siren (neither I could sense due to the 1hr firewall that surrounded the lab) .  "We are evacuating the building!", she called out.  I looked at my vials.  I didn't think we could get out and back in 5 mins and I didn't want to leave my experiments.  "Do I have time to finish my tests?", I asked thinking only of the stopwatch ticking away.  "NO!", was the reply as I was hurried down a stairwell.

Once outside, we learned that a over-zealous worker pulled the fire-alarm when a machine started smoking up a pump room.  But by the time the fire-marshal declared it safe to return, my stopwatch was well above 5 mins and my samples were toast.  BUT, it was exciting!

Next week should be equally exciting if my boss follows through on the promises of this week.  He says that I will don a wet-suit and snorkel in our estuary tank scrubbing oysters with a toothbrush.  Um!  SNORKEL IN THE AQUARIUM!!!!  YESSSSS PLEASE!  Fingers crossed that he remembers.