All good things must come to an end

After two weeks of diving and snorkeling the beautiful waters of Moorea to collect sea anemones, my time on the island was coming to a close. Which meant it was time to pack all my gear and specimens. My dive gear was dried by the tropical breeze while I packed up my laboratory equipment. The specimens I had collected had been stored in 10% formalin or 95% ethanol. For transportation, I removed the specimens from their jars filled with liquid preservative, wrapped them in damp gauze, and sealed them in plastic bags. I packed them all into a box and sent them back to the Biodiversity Institute in the US via FedEx. Finally, I re-packed my suitcase with everything else I had come with (plus a few souvenirs) and flew back to the US.

Once back in the US, I sent all the paperwork regarding my collecting work to the administration at the KUBI. They checked the documents to make sure that the specimens were collected and exported legally, and then allowed them to be accessioned in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology collections. I unpacked the specimens and put them in their final resting place – jars full of formalin in our museum! The photo shows some of the jars full of specimens I have collected in my time as a graduate student, including the new ones from Moorea.