Being a tourist

Sao Jorge (photo from Wiki Commons)

The Azores are unlike anywhere I have been before. Although the landscape is absolutely stunning, there is actually not much tourism on the islands that I have visited. I think one of the main reasons for this is because they don't have any beaches at all, (they are too young). This immediately puts off a lot of people! The land rises up out of the sea in a dramatic way in most places I visited, and and the closest thing to a beach I saw was small, abrasive, volcanic boulders.

Santo Amaro

Green, untouched woodland that covers a lot of the islands

Volcanic coastal rock

The Azores are famous for the marine life that lives in the surrounding waters. In fact, one of the biggest tourism draws to the islands is its diving and whale and dolphin watching boat trips. Unfortunately I haven't had time to do any diving  (next time!) but I did get out on a boat for a morning when I had some time off!

Whale and dolphin spotting!

Although as you can see from the sea state in the pictures it wasn't the nicest of days to go whale spotting (the weather is really changeable here) we did see loads of dolphins! Four different species in total that put on a display for us that lasted a few hours.

Common dolphin (Delphinus depphis)

Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)

Ok that's enough dolphin photos.... we also saw spotted dolphins and risso's dolphins. Unfortunately because the sea wasn't that calm we didn't manage to spot any whales (you have to watch for the air being expelled from their blowholes). Gives me a good excuse to come back anyway :)

Old whaling boat and truck

Sadly though, these awesome creatures that bring people to the islands every year were actually hunted by the islanders until the 1980s. The whaling industry supported the inhabitants of Pico, and around the island there are still lots of signs. There are a few whaling museums that have been set up in the old whaling stations that although  are pretty upsetting, are definitely worth a visit for an education.

I have also climbed to the very top of Mount Pico, the highest point in Portugal, rising to an impressive 7713 ft above sea level. One thing I would definitely recommend is making sure you take suncream and enough water. The day I climbed it looked cloudy from the ground but you soon climb higher than that.... and I will have the tan lines to prove it for a while!

Mount Pico, on a rare clear day!

Happy and burnt at the top!

The town of Horta (where the University was), on Faial Island is an infamous stopover for sailors crossing the Atlantic, and is the home of Peters Cafe Sport Bar - famous for their gin and tonics and a the scrimshaw museum upstairs! On the bar there were loads of adverts for people wanting crew to help out on boats sailing back to the UK.... now if I didn't already have a plane ticket...

Graffiti on on the marina in Horta, Faial

So that (unfortunately) brings me to the end of my Azorian adventure for now. As brief as it has been, I have definitely made the most of my time here.. and hopefully one day will come back. It has been great to get experience at the University out here, and I'm really excited about spending time in the lab back in the UK... who know's what we will find!

Sunset over Faial

Sampling sharks and rays

The last few days have involved me finding as many samples as possible of the species of deep sea shark that we are interested in, subsampling them and packaging them up to take home. Although this may seem like an easy job, you have to be very careful when you are subsampling so as to avoid cross-contamination. Even the tiniest part of tissue sample could contaminate the DNA of another sample. This means sterilising equipment thoroughly after each sample with ethanol and a flame.

As well as the samples of Etmopterus, whilst I was at the University I also collected some samples of some ray species as there are some very interesting research questions around them. Andrew has previously published research (see here) that Mediterranean and Atlantic populations of the longnose skate are genetically isolated suggesting that there is little (if any) contact between each group. This has had important implications for developing effective conservation and management measures for this threatened species, and highlights why projects like this are so crucial.

I was also surprised by (and also probably surprised) the Ambassador for Mozambique who was being given a tour of the department one day while I was in there!

From the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

So after multiple flights, trains, buses, ferries and taxis I am in the Azores!! On the mid-Atlantic Ridge, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Top of Mount Pico from the Plane - the highest point in Portugal!

After hearing I was successful in my application I had to liaise with Stefano's collaborators at the University of the Azores to find a time when they would be able to accommodate me in the lab... which ended up being sooner than I had anticipated!

I also had to think about how I was going to transport the tissue samples I was going to get in my luggage on the way home. They have to be preserved in 100% ethanol so that the DNA in them does not degrade... something airlines do not let you travel with!

To get around this I have brought with me some silica beads for a backup set of samples - something that other people have apparently used to dry out the samples before transportation.

I am welcomed to the University of the Azores by Gui, one of Stefano's collaborators who shows me around the building and introduces me one of his PhD students who will show me the techniques.

Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores

One of the most interesting bits of research that I learn about while I am there is the CONDOR Seamount Project. Because of the volcanic nature of the islands, there are hundreds of seamounts around the Azores, and they are incredibly important not only biologically to marine life, but economically too.

View of Pico from Faial

The project involves a fishing ban on the seamount for a period of time to investigate the dynamics of populations without fishing pressure and is supported by the local fishing community and the government. They also do a lot of outreach with local high schools on Faial and neighbouring island Pico.

 I also realise how small a world marine biology is when I hear that Gui previously worked with somebody who used to work at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth during his PhD!

To monitor the diversity on seamounts and around the Azores, every year they do multiple cruises and they take small tissue samples for genetic analysis from certain species. Thousands of samples are stored in temperature controlled rooms, and it is my job to go through them and find the right ones to subsample...!

The beginning...

Earlier this year after completing my Masters I attended the 10th Marine Biological Association Postgraduate Conference. This is a conference aimed at early career marine biology researchers that was hosted this year by Aberystwyth University. At the conference one of the keynote speakers, Prof. Stefano Mariani gave a particularly interesting talk on a subject I have always been fascinated by - the use of genetics to determine how individuals of the same species interact with each other. One part of his talk focused on an investigation into how you could use molecular genetics to help reconstruct the process of colonisation of the Azores (an isolated group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic) from a fish that normally lives by the mainland. Naturally, when I got a chance I quizzed him about his work and if he know of any possible research opportunities I could get involved with to further my knowledge in this subject!

After a few emails after the conference I found out that Dr Andrew Griffiths was one of the scientists in his research group at Salford University. Andrew was someone who I had actually discussed a Masters research project with the previous year (weird coincidence!!) and there was a possibility to join up with a bit of work that he was currently involved with. They were investigating the deep sea shark genus, Etmopterus. 

Like us, sharks are K-selected animals, which means that they have long life expectancy and invest more energy into fewer offspring based on the assumption that they will have a higher survival rate. Although usually an effective life strategy, with the amount humans are exploiting the sea, conservation concerns about these animals intensify. The main aim of this project is to understand the demographic past of these sharks and estimate levels of connectivity around Europe, and my contribution of obtaining samples from the Azores will be able to tell us how much gene-flow (reproduction) there between individuals of different populations from such an isolated place.

With Stefano and Andrew I put together an application to the Alasdair Downes Marine Conservation Fund for me to travel out to the Azores, to work with the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries at the University of the Azores, on Faial Island, where I will get the opportunity to work with fisheries experts and obtain sub-samples of deep sea sharks to bring back the the UK for subsequent molecular analysis in Stefano's lab at Salford University, Manchester.

The Alasdair Downes Marine Conservation Fund awards small grants to projects that will make a difference to marine conservation and education, whilst also contributing to the career and development of the recipient. Amazingly, I was extremely lucky and was successful in my application!

Thank you!


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