Position: Squid taxonomist and conservation geneticist When I was in high school, I decided that I wanted to work on squids so I applied for Marine and Freshwater Biology at uni. I was inspired by Steve O’Shea—the giant squid hunter (world famous in New Zealand). I...
Position: Fisheries scientist On my first sea trip I was at St John’s, Newfoundland. As we left the harbor, we had a malfunction with the engines and the engines died. St. John’s has a narrow harbour that leads to the open ocean. South of us there was a peninsula that...
Position: NIWA Fisheries modeller On this voyage I nearly stepped on some slime that washed out an oreo stomach. I like stomach slime, so I picked it up. Turns out it may be a new species of squid. Who’d’ve thought? Cool. I’ve been working at NIWA for 6 years and 9...
Position: Independent marine scientist I was a fisheries observer in South Georgia and one day there was a fire on a Korean fishing boat, so we helped with a response. We needed to give oxygen to the recovering crew. The ones who were a little better were challenged...
Position: NIWA fisheries biologist/cephalopod parataxonomist I have a big cephalopod beak collection which Heather Braid has DNA barcoded to know what species they are. We can use the beaks to find out the size, species, sex and maturity of squid. Beaks can be used to...