Quando se está na última semana de uma viagem ou expedição, a nossa cabeça começa a pensar principalmente em 3 coisas: Ponto 1. Rever o que falta fazer? Ponto 2. Avaliar como tudo correu  Ponto 3. Fazer as malas e preparativos para o regresso O que estas questões estão relacionadas com javali, borboletas e lulas do Oceano Antártico? Tudo!

Na verdade, as nossas redes só apanham 4-5 espécies de lulas, então ao estudar os boluses (tudo o que os filhotes dos albatrozes não conseguiram digerir desde que nasceram até deixarem o ninho, que inclui todos os bicos das lulas que foram consumidas por eles) estudei cerca de 40 espécies de lulas. Algumas ainda nunca foram apanhadas em redes, então as lulas têm nomes provisórios como Galiteuthis stC sp. ou Chiroteuthis sp. F. Com todas as amostras planeadas para este ano já analisadas, ponto 1 está solucionado. O ponto 2 é importante. Depois de tanto trabalho (foram cerca de 6 000 bicos de cefalópodes analisados de mais de 50 amostras de diferentes anos), os resultados foram positivos. O próximo passo será analisar ao detalhe estes resultados. Além das colaborações estabelecidas, permitiu consolidar este trabalho junto destes colegas. Além disso permitiu também expandir experiências pessoais, que também são importantes nestas viagens a trabalho durante tanto tempo (mais de 1-2 semanas longe de casa).

When we are in our last week of a research trip or expedition, it is essential to focus on 3 main aspects:

1. What still needs to be done?
2. How everything went?
3. Pack and get ready to return

What these questions have to do with wild boar, Monarch butterflies and squid from the Southern Ocean? Everything! I have been in New Zealand since 12 March. The project aimed to study the role of cephalopods (group of animals that contains octopods, cuttlefish and squid) in the Southern Ocean, using wandering albatrosses as biological samplers. As research nets only catches 4-5 species of cephalopods, and wandering albatrosses catches 40-50 species, studying the beaks of cephalopods in boluses (indigestible items, including beaks, regurgitated voluntarily before they fledge) is perfect. This year I studied around 40 species of squid from the Southern Ocean. Some has never been caught in nets, so we have species called Galiteuthis stC sp. or Chiroteuthis sp. F. With all samples planned analyzed, this point 1 is done. Point 2 is pretty important. After analyzing about 6000 cephalopod beaks from more than 50 samples, the results were positive. Beyond work, it is important to maximize my stay far away from home. The institute organized a Wild Food Challenge in which Brian (a Maori) cooked wild boar, wild pork, wild goat, Puha which was excellent learning more about other cultures. Also, it was great witnessing the Monarch butterflies (that only live for days to weeks). Finally, in point 3, there are numerous meetings need to be done prior my departure to make sure that everything gone according to plan and preparing the meetings at home….one thing is guarantied…the jetlag!

I wake up normally at 7am. I have usually a work skype call (just to give you an idea, I had 4 this week, as most collaborators live in Europe) or check emails. 8am: time to have breakfast, pick up my bike and go the institute. Lab or office work for 2 hours. Lunchtimes are usually working or football. If its hot, we might go for a swim. Shower, get back to work…usually until just before 8pm (as my office keys stop working then). Get on the bike again another 20 minutes of pleasure: go up a hill and then enjoy riding down the other side of the, towards Wellington. Turn on National Radio Antena 1, time for the Portuguese morning news while having dinner (as the time difference is 12 hours; NZ is ahead). This week it was special because I met Mark Fenwick, the scientist that helped to put the colossal squid in the New Zealand Museum Te Papa…noticed a poster on it in his office while passing by. Just brilliant man! Me, I am still happy with working with their beaks….found in the diets of top predators…hummm, time to get back on the bike;)

Muitas vezes é algo imediato: ao ver, ao ouvir ou a sentir. Mas muitas vezes é sabendo o contexto que faz apreciar ainda mais essas coisas… saber que para ficarmos fascinados pela Capela de Nossa Senhora da Encarnação no Casal Vasco (Fornos de Algodres; fotografia do Municipio de Fornos de Algodres), bastou ler um pouco mais sobre a sua história (com várias pedras sigladas da época medieval) que vai até aos tempos românicos. Para a sinfonia de Dvorák, saber que esta sinfonia foi levada por Neil Amstrong na viagem à Lua na missão Apolo em 1969. Quanto à manta, basta notar a dedicação da Rita a fazer crochê à medida que a manta cresce e cresce…   Todo este contexto faz-nos ficar mais fascinados com o que nos rodeia… no meu trabalho é igual. Quando fui convidado para vir à Nova Zelândia para analisar amostras da dieta de albatrozes, desejei logo saber mais sobre a história por trás do estudos destes magnificos animais nesta parte do planeta!   A investigação em albatrozes na Nova Zelândia tem sido conduzida há décadas, com Kath Walker e Graeme Elliott fazendo um trabalho estraordinário com estas aves. A sua visão para estudar os diferentes aspetos de ecologia alimentar dos albatrozes Gibson e Antipodas levo-os a recolher boluses (são aglomerados de elementos não digeríveis que são regurgitados voluntariamente pelos filhotes dos albatrozes antes de deixar o ninho, que inclui principalmente os bicos de lulas e polvos mas também penas, pequenos plásticos, entre outros) nos últimos 22 anos!! Ao identificar os bicos à espécie, podemos começar a perceber o que estes albatrozes andaram a comer no mar. Mais ainda, estas espécies de lulas e polvos são muito difíceis de apanhar com redes de pesca, tornando essa informação ainda mais valiosa. Nos anos 1990, Mike Imber da NZ Wildlife Service, já tinha verificado que havia umas diferenças entre as dietas das duas espécies de albatrozes. Depois disso, Kath e Graeme fizeram rastreio com aparelhos de geolocalização (com erros de 150-180km), que mostravam que os albatrozes iam a diferentes zonas dos oceanos. Agora tenho o enorme privilégio de seguir os passos de Mike Imber e com os colegas David Thompson e Soniya MacArtney…vamos continuar com a história….

What leads you to enjoy even more seeing a nice chapel, listening to a classical music symphony or feeling the smoothness of a small blanket made by crochet? Sometimes is learning more about its context. More information about an amazing beautiful chapel that it was built in the Roman times, that the 9 Symphony of Dvorak was taken by Neil Amstrong on his trip to the Moon in 1969 and that the crochet blanket was made with so much love and care. Such context really makes us more fascinated of what surrounds us…. in my work is the same…
 
Research on albatrosses in New Zealand has been carried out for decades, with Kath Walker and Graeme Elliott doing an amazing work on the conservation of these amazing seabirds. They vision to study at different aspects of the feeding ecology of Gibson´s and Antipodean albatrosses (at Auckland and Antipodes Islands, respectively), took them to collect boluses (indigestible items that are regurgitated voluntary by albatross chicks, prior to fledging; these include cephalopod beaks, but also feathers, fishing hooks, fishing lines, amongst other items) for the last 22 years. By identifying the cephalopod beaks to species level, we could start looking to where these albatrosses might feed. In the 1990´s the NZ expert on cephalopod identification, Mike Imber from the NZ Wildlife Service, had already found a tiny sample that Gibson´s and Antipodean wandering albatrosses had markedly different species of cephalopods in their diets. Following this work, Kath and Graeme were able to satellite track them, in order to truly understand their foraging ecology, along with their feeding ecology, both extremely useful for their conservation. Boluses started to be collected again in 1995 when the albatross populations crashed and Kath and Graeme wondered if they were still feeding in the same areas. Using geolocation data loggers (location errors is bigger, up to 150-180 km, but they last longer, more than 2 years), both showed that their sea distributions expanded (going further but getting less food), though there were still going to the Tasman Sea (Gibson´s wandering albatross) and the Pacific Ocean (Antipodean wandering albatross). I, along with David Thompson and Soniya MacArtney, have the huge privilege to follow Mike Imber´s footsteps and aid Kath and Graeme to assess the cephalopod component of the diet of both wandering albatross species, through boluses….let´s the story continue…