[00:00:00] Speaker A: Mishaps, close Calls, Unbelievable Encounters and Aweinspiring moments. The world of conservation, tourism and research.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Is a wild adventure.
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Even with the most meticulously planned expeditions, things don't always unfold as expected.
Welcome to Rewildology, the nature podcast that delves into the human inside of conservation travel and rewounding our planet. I'm your host, Brooke Mitchell, conservation biologist and adventure traveler.
Today, we're launching a thrilling new miniseries called Conservation Chronicles Tales from the Field.
Every month, I'm sitting down with a former guest to explore the most unforgettable.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Tales etched into their memory.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Our first storyteller in this series is Allison Kusick, a PhD candidate at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a visionary behind the Fjord Phyto Project, and an experienced polar guide. Oh, brace yourself for the unexpected as she recounts heart pounding moments from navigating Antarctica's fickle weather to extracting Amazonian parasites.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Once you've enjoyed Allison's captivating stories, you can dig deeper into her remarkable journey and groundbreaking research by diving into the archives and tuning in to episode 75.
So whether you're a seasoned conservationist or simply an outdoor enthusiast, prepare to be sucked in by Allison's incredible adventures and her tireless efforts to protect our planet's precious ecosystems. Today on rewatology.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: Awesome. Allison welcome back to Rewatology, girl. I am so excited today because we are on a beach somewhere in our minds, around a beach campfire, and we have a nice cocktail in hand. Well, we actually do have beverages in hand right now, and we're wearing our blankets and flannels. And you were about to tell me this wild story that you recently experienced sometime in your career. So set the scene for us right now in this story.
[00:02:33] Speaker C: In this story, we're very far away from a sunny beach campfire. We're actually going to go to Antarctica, where I work also. Great to see you again.
Happy to be on the show. I love this idea.
So we go to Antarctica, where it's really cold, but not as cold as it could be because it is technically the summertime down there, and I'm on a ship, one of the tour expedition vessels, and I conduct my work on tour expedition ships. So pretty luxury there. But it was around Christmas time what was this? In 2017, and it was my very first time on the peninsula with the tour expedition industry. So for me, everything was, like, so new and so amazing. And the person who kind of orchestrates what's happening the operation is the expedition leader. And so the expedition leader asked everybody on the staff, what is your Christmas wish? And as a scientist, I was interested in looking at this one fjord in Antarctica called Anvord Bay. And in Anvord Bay, there's a very popular site people like to go see penguins at called Nico Harbor. And so it's like shapes like the boot of Italy. So you have to imagine it's a very long fjord. And at the end, it kind of has the little boot shape, like a heel and a toe. And so the tour ship was going to stop at the mouth of the fjord and put people on this little island called Useful island. And then that was going to be like, maybe a three, four hour excursion. And then the next stop was going to be down in that fjord at Nico harbor. And so my wish was to be able to get dropped off in a boat where I could take this little boat and do a transect with one of the other very experienced seasoned guides down the length of the fjord. And then when the ship was done with their operation at Useful island, they would come to Nico to set up for the afternoon operation and we would arrive and be there. And so I thought, how cool would that be? Like, do this transect. Because my research stems off of a project that had a five year study of that fjord called fjord eco. And so I was like, oh, I could kind of recreate that transect and compare it to past years. So I didn't know if this was going to happen for me, right, it's just a Christmas wish.
And so Christmas is getting closer and closer, and then December 25 arrives and the expedition leader pulls out all our wishes, and I get granted my wish. And so I'm like, yeah, I get to do this.
We didn't have guest passengers with us. It was just me and another senior polar guide. And so we are loading up the boat of the things we need. And I'm like mapping out the five different stations that I want to kind of do and divide the fjord up and calculating. Maybe it's going to take us like 5 hours because we're in a little boat, and then we have to stop and take about an hour at each station or 40 minutes. We're trying to do it as fast as we can. And so we start at Useful island.
We grab this long range radio because we're going to be too far away from the ship to use our handheld radios.
The long range radio has this super long antenna on it. And so it was down like this, but it's like hanging. And so I grabbed it and jumped into the boat. And as I grabbed it, it caught on something and snapped. And I was like, oh, my God, my first time down here. And I just snapped the antenna of the long range radio on my Christmas wish transect. And so are we not going to be able to go? And the guide who is with me, he was like, don't worry about it, it's still going to work. We'll just kind of jerry rig it when we need to use it. And so we're like, let's just go. So we get in, the operation starts, people are going to the Useful Island and we're starting. We go to our first station. Everything's going well. We go to our second station. So at each station, we're, like, dropping instruments in the water to measure temperature, salinity. We're collecting samples so I can understand the microscopic life, the phytoplankton it's the fjord phytosampling protocol. And as we're hitting, probably we leave our second station, the water starts to change. Like, you can kind of see it was smooth, but then the deeper we're going into this fjord, it's, like, getting darker and kind of choppier. And I was like my first time down in the peninsula, I don't really know this environment, so whatever, that's what the ocean does. And we go further and further, and my guide likes to do the full throttle, so he's just like and I'm holding this wind meter in the air, and I'm, like, looking at it going up and up and up, and I'm like, Gusts are coming. And at first, we're like, Whatever. A gust. Antarctica is really windy, so it's like a 20 knot 20 miles per hour gust of wind is fine. A 30 miles per hour gust of wind fine. But it started getting steadier and steadier. And so we get to our third station, and we're starting to set up, and the Zodiac is now, like, rocking like this. And then the waves are coming into the boat and kind of, like, getting the floor all wet. And I'm like, this is a little concerning to me. And I'm holding the wind meter up again, and the, like, 30 knot gusts are holding pretty steady, and then they're going a little higher. And then I'm thinking, like, okay, I don't want to be a baby and say, like, I feel scared because it's my first time here, and I'm with a very seasoned, like, 20 years guide working down here, so I trust him. And so I start to say, like, are you concerned about the change in weather we're experiencing? He's like, oh, it's fine. That's just what happens in Antarctica. And I'm like, okay, so we're finishing up, but then it just started to get more steady winds and stronger gusts, to the point where I was like, you know, I don't actually need to die for science.
The gusts were holding steady and to the point where I was like, I'm starting to feel worried too, because now the little waves coming in have little white caps on them because the gusts are just, like, blowing, and it's cold water. It's like negative 1 Celcius water. So when it hits your face, it's just like insta freeze. And we're all bundled up, and we're trying to do science with our little fingerless gloves on, and it's just like, maybe we just call it maybe this isn't the day.
And so we're like, okay, let's put the long range radio up and check in with the bridge. And so we raise the broken antenna, and I'm just sitting there holding it, and he radios in, like, bridge, bridge, zodiac, whatever this is, driver.
And so the bridge is like, putting out all call all Zodiacs back. Catabatic winds have come out of nowhere. Everybody abort the missions, abort operations. And we're like, oh, dang. Okay, it's not just us. So catabact winds are they happen in Antarctica. So it's like cold wind or cold air at the top of a glacier, starts picking up speed and is gravity driven so then it just can come off a glacier really cold and super fast. And so, like, Antarctica environment changes within ten minutes. And so we're, like, trying to book it back to Useful Island, and we have to now start helping shuttle people off the island because they're on this exposed mountain of rock and they're like, not a younger demographic. So they're having trouble doing this hike in this boulder field. And so we start doing shuttle runs, but it's like the gusts are coming and we're getting sprayed with water and people are literally, like, crawling on their hands and knees down the mountain. And I'm just like, this is insane. And I'm not going to tell my boss this because my PhD advisor, she would not be okay with this. But I didn't actually end up doing that transect for Christmas. But five days later, the weather turned nice and we got to redo the whole thing. And I did end up doing the transect on a beautiful, crystal clear blue sky day. But that was my first introduction to how crazy Antarctica can get in a matter of minutes. And little mini rescue operations you have to be prepared for because you never know what's going to happen.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. And the fact that was your first day out and about your first trip, we're just going to throw you into Mother Nature here. Hope you survive.
[00:11:13] Speaker C: Yeah, and I'm not like a big maritime seagoing person background at that time. Now I've accumulated over 300 days in Antarctica, so I've seen a lot worse, actually. I've been now in situations that have turned worse, but yeah, it makes you feel so alive and invigorated. I'm just like, oh, my gosh, this is an environment where literally humans are not supposed to be because nature is so raw and powerful here.
So, yeah, I felt alive, but I also did feel terrified.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Well, okay, now I got to know about these other stories. Did something actually bad happen on one of these days?
[00:11:54] Speaker C: Nothing bad. Like knock on wood, nothing bad has happened or will happen yet to me. But there was a similar situation.
One of the operators I worked for, we would do fly in cruises. So you go to one of the islands in the South Shetland Islands, which is like, next to the main Antarctic Peninsula. And there's a research base there that has an ability to fly in people. So like, 75 passengers can come fly in, and then you bring them to the ship. And so if it's too cloudy, you can't fly people because there's no real airport there. It's all visual. And so you just kind of have to wait if you're the ones on the ship, until the clouds clear enough. So when they leave the airport in Chile, they have enough time to get to the peninsula, which is about two and a half hours flight. But then they'll bring new people and so then your ship people are transferring, so you do a swap. And then they have to fly back two and a half hours. So they need a weather window to stay open for that long. And the models that they can predict that it won't close up again because if the cloud cover comes low, then they can't you don't want people stuck there because there's no real facility to like, there's no hotel or lounge room to hang out in. And so there was a day where we had been stuck for three or four days, and so people are kind of getting anxious. They're like, missing whatever they had booked after they want to get off the ship. There's really no more entertainment we can provide because we've kind of gone through our show for that week. And so we're digging into the bottom of the barrel of expedition stories from your lecture team, like playing games, bingo, like movie night.
But we can't also go do excursions because if you're away from the ship for too long and people are on, like, an island nearby doing an operation, and then you get the call that the flight's coming. It's not enough time to get everybody back on the ship, get all their luggage and then go because it's just too complicated. So you are really kind of stuck on the ship, but there is one little island we could go visit. So we did put people on the island and it was fine in the beginning. And then on the radio, I hear the cruise manager say to the expedition leader, like, hey, not sure what your wind gauge is reading, but on the bridge the wind's starting to pick up. And from the looks of it, it doesn't look like it's going to be good. And then five minutes later, they call again and they're like, it's getting stronger, like 30 knot gusts, gusting to 40 knots. Like, maybe we should get everybody back on the ship. And again, within ten minutes, everything totally changed. And I got designated to get put in a dry suit, like a kayaking dry suit.
And then all the expert top drivers were assigned to be driving to bring the boats in. And this beach was very steep and very big pebbly, so it was kind of like you couldn't really get your footing. And the people on the beach were already kind of segregated and waiting for the boats to come in, and so they were kind of trying to stay out of the gusts of wind. But the beach master had everybody lined up and ready like it was going to be game time. As soon as that boat came in, we drive in the boat. The driver has to spin the boat to do a stern landings because that beach the way it is. The waves just crash on it super high. And so it's better to spin the boat and then load people in. And then you're taking waves face on and you just can then drive away easier.
And so I was the boat catcher. So as I'm on the shore, but as the boat comes in and spins, I'm part of the team that has to help spin the boat and then hold it. And I'm tall, so I was, like, touching the ground and I catch the boat. You also want to make sure the engine doesn't cut you with the propeller or the transom. So you're trying to coordinate. It feels very like football, sort of. And the beachmaster is like, making the calls and telling them what to do and grab the skirt and flip the boat. Go. And then people are trying to load into the boat, but they're getting scared because the waves are coming in. And then I'm holding the lines on the Zodiac. But then, because that beach is really steep, when the wave comes in, I get lifted up. There was, like, points where I was being lifted and I couldn't even touch. And then I'd go back down and I'm like, I'm tall, like I'm 510, but I'm also the one who's near the shore, nearest to the shore. And so the people coming on just want to hang on to me. And I'm like, I can't hang on to the boat and have you hang on to me. You got to use your legs. You have to use your own legs and get yourself in this boat because I can't hold it and try to help you get in. And so it ended up being like another guide on the land jumped in the boat because the driver also can't help because the driver is trying to hold the tiller and not let the nose of the boat get caught sideways. So another person jumps in the boat and is trying to just pull people in because I think with fear, people get paralyzed and shocked or they go like jelly legs and they're just like, stand up, please stand up.
And the shape of the Zodiac is like a big bulbous kind of rubber pontoon thing. So it's not easy to kind of get yourself in there. And so once people are in there, it's like the waves are crashing, the wind is gusting, it's ice cold, people are crying.
And then we sit with them and we send them off the last boat. It was like then you have to get through the waves to get back to the main ship. And the main ship is trying to adjust itself to give us a lee so we can get up to the side of the ship and then get people off.
Yeah, they're crying. Everybody like, you're also trying to maintain composure. You're like, this is cool. We got this. No worries.
And we're, like, calling the bridge, like, the captain, can you please turn the main ship to give lee?
And we're all hiding behind the main boat. And the expedition leader, it was, like, kind of I don't know. I felt like they were like, Mel Gibson and Brave Horse. They're just, like, one at a time would, like, go. And you had to be very calculated, and you had to also, when you're emptying your boat and putting it back on the hook, you have to drive up to the hook, hook it immediately. But the whole thing's just moving. Like, the ocean's moving, and the wind is blowing, and it's, like, miserable but invigorating. And so we get back on board. Everybody's safe, everybody's alive. And the energy that evening was, like, on fire. It was just like everybody's adrenaline was so heightened. And to this day, there's people on Instagram that will just like, we connected because of that experience we shared together, where we're like, we survived.
And then they're teasing themselves because they were crying, and it was like the industry is never putting itself in danger. There's always risk assessment, but Antarctica is one of the most extreme environments on Earth, so, of course you have to be prepared for it changing. And the guides are incredibly experienced, but it can be pretty gnarly.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: And wow, my gosh, I'm speechless.
I do tourism and I go to some pretty remote places, but I do not have a story like that.
[00:19:37] Speaker C: Holy crap.
Yeah, that's another one I don't share with my well, I think I did tell my advisor that one because we're safe. I mean, it is a safe operation, but it comes with risk in that environment.
That's why it's the same with scuba diving. As a scuba diver, I got certified, and they're like, you're good to go. You've only been in the ocean five times, but you are a rescue dive certified now. And I was like, I don't feel qualified at all to be so I went through another program that was, like, really rigorous training. So I feel like knowing how to handle a situation when it goes bad is what builds the confidence to then just be in that environment in a regular situation, because you then know you could handle it.
[00:20:22] Speaker B: It's so funny you bring that up, because I've recorded a few of these. Now, they have not been launched yet, but let's just say the mishaps were dive related. Okay.
They were all diving.
Go ahead.
[00:20:40] Speaker C: Oh, sorry. Oh, I was going to say another environment that humans aren't supposed to be in. Yeah.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: Literally, the medium is not for us.
Water, that's not our thing. We might have come from there, but, man, we are not there now.
[00:20:57] Speaker C: Yeah, okay.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: Well, those are wild stories, but I have to guess that you have pretty incredible, fantastical stories as well. From your time down there, do you have any animal encounters or whale encounters or anything like that that just blew your mind?
[00:21:23] Speaker C: Yeah, the wildlife down there is incredible. So it's not just about the penguins, though. The penguins are very cute. There's incredible whale and seal wildlife down didn't I grew up in Washington where we have the southern resident orca pod. And so I'm familiar with orca in a sense, until I went to Antarctica and there's all these other types of orcas, like type ABCD, and I was just like, what?
What do you mean there's other types of orca? And so there was one situation where this has happened twice now that I've been able to see this. It's like definitely Nat geo style documentary things we witnessed down there. So there was a pot of orcas, and usually they always have a baby orca with them, so they're trying to teach them how to hunt. And their technique is to there's usually seals, crabby eater seals that will lay on the ice flows or the sea ice, and then the orcas will come up and try to create a wave to knock the seal off. And I remember the first time seeing that, we waited probably for 2 hours to see what would happen, and nothing really did. I mean, that was happening, but they didn't get the seal in the end. But this year, in February, we were down pretty far south on the peninsula, almost to 70 degrees south, and we ended up coming into this bay where there were orca spotted. And so I was actually one of the team of biologists with two whale researchers from a UC Santa Cruz lab. And so who's been on the show? Yeah, I love Ari. He's amazing.
Yeah, I just saw him in San Diego a couple of weekends ago.
I'm so glad you guys finally met.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: Oh, my.
Keep going.
[00:23:26] Speaker C: So we went out and we were the first to get a boat and go.
The two whale biologists wanted to try to get drone footage to launch up and see what was happening because from the water perspective, we could only tell that there were maybe like four orca and one giant male. And so we went closer and closer, and it's like you got to Envision. This is like surrounded like 360 degrees around you, just glacier that comes straight to the ocean and then sea ice and brash ice and just ice all around you. And it was kind of a kind of glassy mirror day to start, but eventually the winds picked up and so we jetted out there and they launched the drone. And then they were looking and realized that there were actually twelve or 13 orca and that there were two different groups and they were trying to hunt these crab eater seals and so they eventually got it. And one of their strategies of how they eat is to rip off the skin. And so eventually to all the other guests came out on the boat. So we were just watching this spectacle, like, holy crap, we're witnessing this group of orca that maybe nobody has ever seen, or maybe it's only been seen by other whale wildest a couple times. And here we are just like, witnessing this event. That's incredible. Like, what you turn on, David, attenborough's our planet, and here we're just sitting here watching. It's amazing.
[00:24:57] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. So how long was that sighting from?
[00:25:02] Speaker C: Yeah, so you're supposed to rotate out so you're not next to the whales for too long. It's like one of the mandate guidelines from the tour industry. Ayato and so we rotate out, but the experience lasts about 3 hours. So you're kind of like giving space and then giving a break, and then if they move to a new location, it's regulated in that way by the whale watching guidelines. But yes.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
[00:25:33] Speaker C: The more I talk to you and.
[00:25:34] Speaker B: Re, the more I'm just like, I need to get down there. Jesus.
[00:25:38] Speaker C: I think too in later season, like February, March, I don't know. There's just been so many incredible like, the Humpback whales have migrated from the equator down to feed in Antarctica. I mean, that's what they're going down to eat. This rich source of a crustacean called Antarctic krill. And so you have the ability to just have your boat there and turn off the engine. And then a humpback will just come surface feed right in front of you. Or three will do a bubble net and then all three these big mouths just like, engulf krill. And sometimes you can even see like a little krill just be like, jump out of the water.
And those are moments, too, especially if it's like the golden hour and the sun's kind of low and everything's just glowing. You're just like, is this real? Am I actually having this experience right now? Am I hallucinating?
[00:26:30] Speaker B: Ayahuasca is this real experience?
[00:26:35] Speaker C: It's incredible.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
Keep planting the seed. I'm going to dream about whales tonight.
[00:26:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I hope you do.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: Okay, now, I know that, yes, a lot of your work has focused on Antarctica and phytoplankton and all this amazing cold weather stuff, but I know that's not everything that you've done. So what about stories from either past lives and past research or any of the other stuff you've done? Does anything stick out from that time?
[00:27:11] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh, yes. I have so many stories. I think probably my most famous story that gets told a lot amongst my friend group is before I became an oceanographer, I tried two and a half years to be a field biologist for terrestrial systems. And so I studied songbird diversity and squirrel habitat, youth and macaws and parrots and biodiversity in the Amazon jungle. And so there was one expedition I did where I went to a research center in the Peruvian Amazon. And when I landed, it was the wet season. So it was maybe was this January, February.
And so I brought a lot of dry clothes, but I also brought mosquitoes were going to be a problem. And so I brought 100 I think it was like 100% DEET. And when I landed and opened my bag, the DEET had melted the plastic bag it was in. So I was like, I'm not using chemicals.
If it melted that plastic bag, why would I want to put that on my skin? And you have malaria pills and other vaccinations you get. But I was a little bit cavalier in this attitude of like, I don't need mosquito repellent. Like, I'm going to eat a bunch of garlic or something.
So I was down there for almost two months in the south part of Peru, in the Amazon, and it was like an eight hour riverboat ride to get to this research station.
And that research station is known for studying macaws and how macaw conservation, and yellow, blue macaw, scarlet macaw, red green macaw, and what they like to use for nesting material. But my job was to go hike through the jungle every day and try to find where these different macaws were nesting. And we had natural wood nests or PVC pipe nests or wood box nests. And we would climb up into the trees to check on these baby chick macaws, which was amazing. They're like little dinosaurs. They don't have feathers when they're born. It's so cute.
And when we would get to these places, it's muddy. We're like, in mud that goes up to your calves. It's almost like quicksand. And that it just, like, sucks your boots in. And then our clothes would get wet and stinky, and we just do our laundry in a bucket. And so your clothes are kind of hanging and kind of still dirty and not ever really getting dry because the sun wasn't really coming out very often. And that was my time down there. It was amazing. When I got home, I started to have these mosquito bites that I thought they're really itchy, but maybe they'll go away. And then they never went away. They just kept getting itchier and bigger. And so I started to jokingly say to my friends, like, oh, it's my bot fly. And they're, you know, Shut up, Allison, that's gross. Don't talk about that. And I was like, yeah, but this is now going on the third week, and these mosquito bites aren't going away. And in fact, morning and night, it feels like somebody has a little knife and they're cutting me, like, cutting away at my body.
And you can see the red welt, but it had kind of like a middle hole that was sort. Of uzi.
And so I had one on my side and one on my back and one on my head. And I was just like, yeah, okay, this is know in the jungle, I knew you could get a flesh eating bacteria called leshmaniasis, or you could get botfly. And this is staying local, so I'm going to guess maybe it's Botfly for real. And so I'm one day sitting at work, and this is up in Seattle, and I decide I'm going to just go to the walk in clinic. And so I go across the street to the walk in clinic and the doctor's like, what are you here for? And I was like, well, I work in the Amazon. And he's like, oh cool. You work for Amazon? And I was like, the actual Amazon jungle in South America. And he's like, oh cool. And I feel like too, I'm getting older. And now the doctors are my age or younger. And so I'm just so so I was like, yeah, I was in the jungle. And I think that it could be probably botfly parasite maybe. And he's just looking at this tiny little red thing on my side and then one on my back, probably thinking like, well, this girl's just complaining about what?
And so he was like, okay, well, I'll prescribe you antibiotics. And in ten days when you're done taking them, come back and we'll see if it's still a problem. And as he left the office to go write the prescription, I was just feeling really irritated. This is a segue, but mostly because in college, in biology, I wanted to do biology, but you have to also compete with all the premed students who just want to get the A's and the good grades. And so I've always kind of had a chip on my shoulder for that. So I was like, oh, this is so annoying. So when he came back, I was like, Doctor, I'm no doctor, but I am a scientist. And if this is a parasite, an antibiotic will not kill it. So do you think maybe you could just cut into it and see if it is a buttfly parasite? And he was like, you want me to cut into it? And I Pop Pimples. So I'm like, yeah, treat it like a pimple.
Cut into it, get into that, just pop it, do something. And so he's like, okay. He kind of got excited. And he's like, I'll be right back. And he comes back with his tool cutting kit and his little eye thing that lets them see and his lidocaine to numb the area. And so he starts with the one on my side, and he's like got his little thing. And he's like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I see something. And I'm like, what is it?
And he's like, I think it's definitely a thing inside of you. And so he pulls out this gooey looking tube and in my head, okay, right before I went on YouTube and Googled botfly, and they're like disgusting, monstrous little bulbous things with, like, shark rim teeth all around them. And the YouTube videos, they're massive. And so the thing he pulled out, I was like, I don't know, that doesn't look right. That doesn't look like what it should be. And so he's like, okay, I'm going to keep going in. And he's like, digging around and then he eventually gets the head out, but it's to me disappointingly small. It was like, maybe bigger than a sesame seed. And I was just like, that's it. So I was like, do you have a microscope here? And he's like, yeah, let's go check it out. So we left whatever room and went to the microscope in the back. And we're like under the microscope with this thing on a slide. And I have photos of this. It's like the shark rim hook teeth around the head of the bot fly. And what he had pulled off was the breathing tube snorkel thing that they use. So as they're eating into you, they're still like pooping and breathing out this tube. And that's what you usually see on the surface is like a red bump with that hole. And so I was like, man, that one's small.
And so I was like, okay, try for the one on my back now. And he couldn't find it. It was like crawling away from him. And so I was just like, Right, well, he cut like a 1 CM incision in me to try to find it and just was nowhere to be found. So he bandaged me up. And that night I actually had a friend who works in the EMT try to find it, and he couldn't find it. And I was like, what is with these doctors? They can't find the pop fly?
And so I bandaged it again, and all night felt it scraping away at me. And the next morning I went back to the doctor and I said, okay, I think it's at the surface now because it was like being suffocated. So they'll try to crawl to the surface. And so he ripped off the bandaid and sure enough, the little snorkel thing was sticking out and he pulled it out and got another one. And then I was like, by the way, there's another one on my head here, so could you try for that? And he's like, okay. So he goes for the one on my head and again can't find it. And then he brings in another doctor in to try to find it. And they're both digging around up there, and the scalp, I guess, bleeds a lot. And he actually said to me, I'm not going to keep looking for this because I don't make enough in malpractice insurance that if I accidentally paralyze your face, I can't afford it. And I was like, the whole time I'm egging them on. I'm like, get it, get it. But then I'm like, you know, actually, I appreciate that boundary. I don't want my face to get paralyzed either.
I took my bot flies back to work, and I had really high powered microscopes at work, so I took a lot of photos, and then I put a blob of vaseline on my head. And all day I was just sitting there working on the computer. So when people are coming by, they're like, what is on your head? And I'd be like, I'm suffocating my bot fly. And they're like, what?
And then that evening, I went home and asked one of my housemates to look at it, and it looked like a little gray hair just sticking out. And so she kind of got the courage to dig in and squeeze it like a pimple. And out it came, and she made a little happy bot day hat. And then I saved them.
I saved them, and I called them what? Sideswiper, backstabber and scalper and yeah, this is the grossest part, but I want to turn them into resin jewelry.
Oh, the worst part, actually, was insurance charged me for foreign body removal, like $700. And I was like, this is not a foreign body. This is me. Like I am Botfly. They have eaten my organic carbon tissue to become their bigger selves. So we are same. It's not foreign. And the guy on the insurance line was like, I'm sorry, ma'am, but that's not going to cut it.
Dang it. My biology logic isn't working.
Yeah, that's the botfly story.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh, I am speechless right now. A mix of, like, that was amazing and so creepy. There's something about parasites that just I think we all have our things that just make us give us the Heebie GB's. Even us in biology. Like, for some reason, broken bones. If a bone is in a spot that it shouldn't be, and parasites. I don't know why those two things creep me the f out, but holy moly.
[00:37:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, I do recommend because it's like a violation. You're like, excuse me, I didn't invite you into my body. Yes.
And then what is it? The monsters in me? I think botfly was listed as, like, one of the most terrifying ones on that show. And personally, if you're going to get a parasite, I would recommend botfly, because really, they're only going to pupate in your skin for six to eight weeks, and then they fall out. And if you want to get rid of them yourself, you just need to suffocate them and then they'll be at the surface and you can kind of, like, pull them out. You don't need a doctor to do it. You can just do it yourself versus.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: Like, inside your internal organs or something like that.
[00:38:32] Speaker C: So I think, too, the adult fly will lay its egg on a mosquito. So when the mosquito lands on you, the heat from your skin melts the egg and then it starts growing. Or the adult fly will just lay its eggs in your clothes. So I'm like, I either got it when it laid, it in my clothes because how would I on my side and my back or it's because I didn't wear mosquito repellent. And I think in places like that where bot flay is prevalent, they iron their clothes like the heat will kill it. And I wasn't doing any of those things.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: Hindsight's 2020.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: Now I know.
Now we all know.
[00:39:10] Speaker B: Now, everyone, public service announcement, bring D or some sort of very intense mosquito repellent and iron your clothes if you're going to the Amazon.
[00:39:19] Speaker C: Yep.
Yeah, this is all fun part of the field experience.
[00:39:26] Speaker B: These are the real stories.
[00:39:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:39:28] Speaker B: We publish papers and we talk about our academic stuff or anything else that we're building and doing. But this is what happens in between.
[00:39:36] Speaker C: These are the in between things.
[00:39:37] Speaker B: That everyday life that happens to us.
[00:39:41] Speaker C: Yeah. It doesn't make it in the publications or the conference talks. Exactly.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: It's like, here's all my amazing statistical science data stuff and then let me talk about my bot flies.
[00:39:53] Speaker C: Yeah. What did it actually take to get that data?
[00:39:55] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
Oh, gosh.
[00:39:59] Speaker C: Amazing.
[00:40:00] Speaker B: Those are such good stories. Oh, man, my wine is pretty much gone.
[00:40:05] Speaker C: You've entertained.
[00:40:08] Speaker B: I do have to ask, it's been a while since you've been on the show, so do you have any updates or anything that you can share with us about anything?
[00:40:18] Speaker C: Yes, I know it has been a while. It's like, how is time flying?
First of all, updates. I have not yet finished the PhD, but I see the end on the horizon, so I'm working towards that. And what does finish it mean? I am still trying to answer that myself, but basically doing the really focused deep dive into analyzing all of the data that's come from the sampling efforts of the guides and the travelers that go on the tour ships to Antarctica. So through the Vido program, like, what is all the data telling us from years of collection? So what are the updates on that? Yeah, just hundreds of samples to sort through, which is happening. So I guess one update is that it is happening and I'll have it all wrapped up and published. We present at conferences, which I try to put all that information online so that whatever we did present is also a viewer could go look at it, try to keep people up to date and also feel a part of the process. Like the people who get to go to Antarctica get to experience part of the data collection process, but then what happens afterwards, so there's not as much connection. So it's trying to build those stories. And then we also one super exciting thing that happened was we got funding from a NASA grant called a Scope Seed Grant. So it's for early career researchers to start becoming, like, a Pi of their own. So I got this funding to work with a team education team with NASA called Oceanos. And so my colleague in Argentina and I went to Puerto Rico to try to bring polar science and the connection and importance of Antarctica to students living in on tropical island in Puerto Rico who may have never also had their own ocean experience. So we're trying to bring that story to them and then also show them tools and ways you can do science with low cost instruments and get people involved in the scientific process. So that has been super fun, and I actually tried my hardest to become as fluent as possible in Spanish this year. So I presented everything in Spanish, probably with the thickest American accent ever, but I can definitely speak in Spanish about Antarctica and Phytoplankton, but about my life, no. Like, I could not tell any of these stories in Spanish, so that's my goal for next summer because we got a second year of funding. So that's been a fun extra. Little thing since we've talked is trying to how to get Polar to more people, like, how to get Antarctica to more people.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: Those are fantastic updates. Oh, my gosh, I'm so happy. Yeah, because your episode was 75. Yeah, literally almost.
[00:43:04] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:43:04] Speaker B: I released episode 150 tomorrow for context. So it's literally, like, literally 75 episodes ago.
[00:43:14] Speaker C: Dang, that's crazy. That's awesome.
Yeah, I have it on my list to catch up with all the episodes that I've missed.
Wow.
[00:43:28] Speaker B: Listen to Ari's. I got to throw out listen to Ari's.
[00:43:31] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:43:32] Speaker B: I'm so happy you two have met. Oh, my gosh. I'm going to message him immediately after this, be like, you met Allison. I talked about you so many times. I was like, have you met Allison? He's like, no, I know about her, but we haven't crossed paths. I'm like, how is that possible?
[00:43:47] Speaker C: When I saw him, I met up with him and a group of people at downtown San Diego, and I was like, yeah, we've met before, but and he's like, kind of had that panic look on his face, like, oh, no. And I was like, no. It was like at a polar research or like, a Polar themed research conference in 2016. I think before any of my stuff was real, it was just a concept idea. I had a poster at this conference, and I remember just like, you have a fan base of your scientists that you admire. And so I just remember standing in a circle where he was tangentially talking, but I didn't ever actually introduce myself. So, yeah, I was like when I saw him, I was like, don't worry. We haven't actually had any conversations that you've forgotten. We've actually never spoken before. But I have been in a physical presence with you years ago. And he's like, oh, thank God.
[00:44:43] Speaker B: That's wonderful. I love this community. I love this conservation community. I love all the people that I meet through this show.
You're all doing amazing work and it just makes me so happy when you all get to meet each other.
Ah, you need to know each other. You need to know each other and you guys do now. So my work is complete in Antarctica since yeah, not really, but that way, yes.
[00:45:07] Speaker C: That's where we need to launch off to the Polar stories.
[00:45:10] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. Yes.
[00:45:14] Speaker C: You like more work?
Never. I'll always it's fine. That's all.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: There's a never end of stories. There's never end of conversations to so but on that note, Allison, this was absolutely amazing. Thank you for sitting down with me around our imaginary campfire and having just like I said, very entertaining. My glass of wine is gone.
[00:45:35] Speaker C: Almost done. Yeah, she's like and gulp. We're good.
[00:45:43] Speaker B: I so appreciate it. But yeah, keep on being amazing and can't wait to share these stories with everybody.
[00:45:49] Speaker C: Well, thanks for having me. It's so fun to talk to, as always. And thanks, everybody, for listening.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: Thank you for joining me on this wild adventure today. I hope you've been inspired by the incredible stories, insights and knowledge shared in this episode. To learn more about what you heard, be sure to check out the show
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[00:46:30] Speaker B: Mean the world to me.
[00:46:33] Speaker A: Also, please follow the show on your favorite social media apps, join the Rewildology Facebook group, and sign up for the weekly Rewildology newsletter. In the newsletter, I share recent episodes, the latest conservation news, opportunities from across the field, and updates from past guests.
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A big thank you to the guests that come onto the show and share their knowledge with all of us. And to all of you aldi listeners, for making the show everything it is today.
[00:47:34] Speaker B: This is Brooke signing off.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: Remember, together we will rewild the planet.
