The Lion alongside the Sitka fuel dock, ready to head out again.
Yesterday I officially resigned from my position as Assistant Engineer aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion (I will make all the social media and website updates eventually, but not today). I spend nearly four years on the Lion working with incredible people, and meeting fellow travelers from all over the world who were united by their sense of curiosity and wonder at the natural world. In my own small way I was part of a team of people who facilitated experiences with nature in ways that will hopefully help protect the places I have come to love.
During the course of my time on the Lion I have been through the Panama Canal 40 ish times, watched red fish-eating bats hunt off our stern in Central America, scratched the noses of baby gray whales in Baja California, watched humpback whales cooperatively bubble net in Alaska, become a cold water diver (of all things) and so much more. (And hopefully I will remember to expound upon those experiences a bit in further blog posts). There is more out there than I ever imagined, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been part of the crew of the Lion. Hopefully I will only be saying "goodbye for now".
Ultimately I am leaving the Lion because spending more than half the year away from home is wonderful but not sustainable in the long term. In the more immediate future I am leaving the Lion because I have been hired to work as a Marine Technician aboard Antartic research vessels. In my new role I will facilitate Science through the operation and maintenance of data gathering equipment, driving/caring for small boats, and generally being the set of hands that can do the manual labor of Science in a cold marine environment. I leave tomorrow to meet the research vessels in Concepcion, Chile. It's been almost four years since I've been the new kid, wish me luck.
I will be back at the beginning of August, and shortly thereafter I will be teaching indigo dyeing at the Wool Scout Retreat hosted by Sarah Hunt of FiberTrek, Jani Estelle of Starcroft Fiber Mill, and Mary Jane Mucklestone. I believe there are a few spots still available.