I did water quality in the morning and my results were consistent with what I had expected, so no surprises there. But it did turn out to be pretty eventful. I hadn't been paying attention when I grabbed my water sample, so when I got back to the lab I realized that I had captured a moon jelly. Since I was doing my sample during a short block, I did not have time to dump him back out into the harbor and get a new water sample. Instead I just worked around him, and poured him back into the harbor when I was done. I am not sure what happened to him, but I hope he is still alive and kicking right now, because we really bonded. (Side note: I referred to the moon jelly as he, because I named it David, after Captain Bill. This is partially because Captain Bill is my senior project advisor and partially because the moon jellies carefree attitude reminded me of Cap.)
Aside from my water quality today, I read from my senior project book, Shucked. In it, Erin (our heroine and narrator) had just made the transition from a “boot” to a “suit.” In other words, she has transferred from the manual side of oyster farming at Island Creek Oysters to the business side. One of her first experiences on this new side was to visit Shaw’s Crab House, one of the more prominent raw oyster bars in Chicago. Each year Shaw’s inducts an “oyster loving personality” into their Hall of Fame and celebrates this induction with an oyster reception and dinner. The affair, as described by Erin, seems to be a very formal event.
The section made me laugh, because I had all but forgotten that oysters are in fact a luxury food item. All this time I have been worry about the cost of oysters, getting slimy dealing with them, and reading about the tremendous effort that goes into growing them, but I really hadn’t considered the main perk of oyster farming: the oysters themselves. I hadn’t really considered them at all until I read, but I came to realize that I have no idea what oysters taste like. Of course that seems ridiculous, because I am basing my entire project upon them, but oh well. I guess that just means I will just have to go out and try them.
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