Surprise on a vacation

Surprise last minute additions to travel plans can sometimes turn out to be so delightful. Last year, while on a wonderfully relaxing vacation to British Columbia, we disembarked from an impressive ferry ride that landed us in Victoria. Deciding to grab a quick bite before heading off to the Butchart Gardens, we stopped at a popular fast food place. While in conversation there with other patrons, a local gentleman shared details of a spot that sounded interesting. A lighthouse at the end of a pier/breakwater- a portrayal enough to get us to drive to Ogden Point, Victoria. I have always been fascinated by lighthouses and sailboats and decided to check this one out. As we walked to the lighthouse, a little kiosk greeted us with several displays on marine life found in the area. There was a lot of activity on the breakwater, some divers were preparing to dive, a remotely operated vehicle/camera was being lowered in the water by some students, while others observed creatures pulled out temporarily from their habitat by divers. In the water, jellyfish were abundant and they glided along in what looked like a lot of a debris. I was disappointed that the place was not well maintained. However, in just a little bit, it dawned on me that it was not trash, they were huge beds of Kelp. The dying fronds looked like trash from a distance. Little fish were feeding on detritus and suddenly, I was going back in time! 20 plus years ago! This was exactly what I had perused scores of times as I surveyed literature for my research. It all came back, our field trips to the mangroves and to Dona Paula, collecting samples, keeping things ready in the lab- the pine pollen, the autoclave, the tea strainer, the bleach, the little grinder and the tiny petridishes, most of all Raghu's patented running seawater chamber for identifying the thraustochytrids under the microscope- that was such a fascinating thing to observe (and no, I didn't forget the rabbits and the ELISA)! My mind was also flooded by a myriad of memories about the people, who in their own little ways taught life's lessons, each adding some zing with their unique personalities. Our lab help's trait of forgetting to label flasks carrying water with various salinities as he autoclaved them in multiples, forcing us to do it all over again, a senior lady's exclusive method of weighing fish on the new digital scale, people coming in early to 'book' 2 hour slots on the computer or the UV chamber. It felt like it was just yesterday. As I looked down into the water here at Ogden Point, I wondered which thraustochytrids I would find in these waters, and what kind of strides the field I had left all those years ago had made. I hadn't kept up with it. My mentors, Chandralata Raghukumar and Sheshagiri Raghukumar, both renowned scientists, taught me to pursue a subject with passion. Thank you! Their dedication to their work was/is nonpareil.

My personal post doctoral research began 15 years ago on a topic diametrically opposite to the one I had worked on. Understanding Autism- an absolutely unrelated but completely engaging field! As I accidentally stumbled into a world similar to the one I had left behind many years ago, a quick recap of how life had shaped up flashed before my eyes, with an important lesson that I learned along the way- life isn't about the destination, it's about the journey! Here are some pictures of the 'marine' aspect of it.