Jake, the SeaDog here. I knew you'd want to meet Heather, because she is a student just like you! Heather is a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa.  Here's what else I learned from Heather...

Heather, what is your favorite animal?  My favorite animals are cephalopods of all sorts! Octopus, squid, cuttlefish, nautilus, and argonauts. I've also always had a thing for big cats--lions, tigers, cheetahs, etc. As a kid, I asked  for an ocelot every year for Christmas. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I never got one.

This is a pic of me with a cheetah in South Africa. I know I'm not a terrestrial biologist, but I still love some charismatic megafauna (aka awesome land animals)!

What do you study?  I help out my advisor studying very rare and important deep sea corals. People don't know too much about them, and almost every time we go for a dive, we find new species! They are like fragile flowers of the deep.

How did you get interested in the deep-sea? I saw a program on the Discovery Channel when I was a kid about deep-sea squid, and I was hooked! The exciting mysteries that the deep held were endless and fascinating. I wanted to know more about it, explore it, get to the bottom of it! The most exciting thing is that  we are seeing things that have never been seen before. If a deep sea squid is found, it's already dead or dying :(  So my biggest dream would be to see a deep sea squid at the bottom of the ocean.

What's your most amazing experience with an ocean animal or in the ocean?  Every time I go snorkeling or SCUBA diving, it is an amazing experience. I am always excited to be in the ocean, seeing new things, really exploring the small things. I've always been partial to invertebrates (animals without a backbone) because I feel like they are the underdogs of the ocean. When I see a nudibranch or jellyfish, or any other invertebrate, I always want a closer look. My most memorable experience would have to be the first time I saw an octopus. I was in a tide pool in Costa Rica when a wave came and brought the  smallest red octopus I have ever seen next to me. It swam slowly around my body and then was washed back to sea. In that short moment, I knew I wanted to study octopods forever!

What is the coolest animals you've ever seen in the deep sea?  Clearly, I love octopus and squid, so you will know my answer! I saw a dumbo octopus in the deep-sea and it was amazing. They have what looks like ears (which are really fins) on the side of their head that flap and help them swim. They look like dumbo the elephant flapping his ears.

What are two things you do in your home to help the environment? I always recycle and turn off the lights when I'm not using them.

What are you hoping to learn/discover on this research cruise? I am hoping we can find some new coral species to add to our understanding of their history. Also, I am excited to learn about the research that other scientist are working on. I know very little about vertebrate species (fish, in this case) and I am thrilled to be a part of a cruise that is looking at fish species, too.

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