You Will Always Smell Like Fish (and other reasons to be a marine ecologist)

This week, we were lucky enough to join another talk from Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants. This time, we heard Erin Spencer, a marine ecologist, talk all about the work she has done with Red Snapper and Hammerhead sharks.

Before this talk, If you had asked me what a marine ecologist does, I would have said something along the lines of “Oh, they work with fish and plants and stuff”. Though that’s not exactly wrong, its not quite right either, What Erin’s work really revolves around is the interactions between humans, animals, and the environment, specifically with marine animals. To help us get a better idea of what exactly she does, Erin talked to us about two of her projects.

The first was studying mislabeling rates of red snapper all along the East Coast. As she traveled from North Carolina to Florida, she bought over 60 samples of Red Snapper from various supermarkets and sushi restaurants, and took DNA samples from each to determine if they were actually Red Snapper. When she first told us about this project, I didn’t think that there would be a high rate of mislabeling. I thought that there must be certain standards that businesses have to uphold, which should include making sure you are selling the same thing you are advertising. I was very surprised when she said that over 72% of the Red Snapper samples that she tested were not Red Snapper, and 100% of the Red Snapper from sushi restaurants was not Red Snapper.

These mind boggling statistics stunned me, and made me realize that there must be a large problem in the way our fishing industry is run, for such common fish to be so wildly mislabeled. One way that Erin suggested we make ourselves more educated and aware, and help to solve this problem is doing a little research before we buy seafood. One way that we can do that is through Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Food Watch, a website that helps you determine the safety level and fishing rates of different types of fish.

Erin also talked to us about her current project, studying predator-prey relations with Hammerhead sharks off the coast of Florida. Hammerhead Sharks are a critically endangered species because of overfishing, slow reproduction, and other reasons. Erin and her team are studying the movements and habits of these sharks by attaching a little package to their fin. This package contains a number of things, including a camera, a biologger to track speed, and a number of tools to collect different data. Though this research has been put on hold for a while because of the pandemic, this still fascinated me.

What Erin also mentioned is the fact that Marine Ecology is not all about the research. There is a lot of time and effort spent behind a computer screen, just like the rest of us. In order to go on these amazing trips to collect this type of research, Erin writes lots of Grants, explaining what her goals are and what she will do with the money. After she collects the research, its back to the lab or the desk, to find out what it all means or to write it up and publish it for the world to see.

All of Erin’s work is very interesting, with subjects ranging across vast different topics, but the connecting factor is that she is researching influence. What factors of the environment impact each other in what ways, and how can we help make sure that they stay that way or get better. Though Marine Ecology is not something that I would think to pursue, this talk certainly gave me a much better idea of the importance of studying our oceans and the species within them.

Here is the full video, feel free to check it out!