So there are some things that really sound strange unless you're a Marine Biologist. Over the past 2 weeks doing field work in Hawaii, I've collected a few quotes that exemplify why this is the best profession... and how its easy to forget.
John - "Howzit?"
Diane - "Did any of your girls turn into boys yet?"
John - "Not yet."
Random guy - "That would be a really awkward question in any other place."
[It made perfect sense here though. John is studying a species of fish that changes gender to make sure that there is always a dominant male. In the absence of a male, a female (often the largest) changes into a male - coloration (in this case a stripe), gonads and all.]
Someone in the distance during a night snorkel to collect coral eggs - "Did we just swim through a warm patch or did someone pee?"
[It was actually a warm patch. The coves and lagoons warm up during the day and then flush out the warm water into the cooler ocean mixed waters as the tide receeds. While it wasn't pee, the group would soon be swimming through a milky water filled with coral eggs and sperm. Yum.]
Diane - "I really don't want to go snorkeling today."
Kate - "Suck it up, its the last day."
[Poor us. We have to snorkel in Hawaii for our work, and have the audacity to complain!]
Diane - "I have the worst booty tan lines."
[In this case, my tan lines are on my ankles due to my swim booties that I wear with fins.]
