Vikki the Vet Sails to the Seychelles
After her work in Rwanda and Uganda Vikki the Vet decided to treat herself to some R & R.
Vikki the Vet has always wanted to see the Seychelles so she decided the time was now or never.
The Seychelles are a group of islands in the Indian Ocean.
The Seychelles lie approximately 1500km east of the Horn of Africa.
The Horn of Africa is comprised of these countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia.
Vikki the Vet spent four leisurely days sailing to the Seychelles.
Once she got to the Seychelles, Vikki the Vet spent three exciting days exploring the islands.
The first place Vikki the Vet visited was Victoria.
Victoria is the largest city in the Seychelles.
And it is on the main island of Mahé.
After checking in to her hotel, Vikki the Vet went scuba diving.
While exploring the coral Vikki the Vet saw a school of reef sharks sleeping side by side.
“They look like a can of sardines,” Vikki the Vet thought to herself.
And then Vikki the Vet saw a sailfish.
Sailfish are the fastest fish in the water.
If they were on the highway they’d honestly get stopped for speeding.
After her dive Vikki the Vet read a book on the beach.
And then she had a bath.
And then she went to bed.
On day two Vikki the Vet was up at the crack of dawn.
Vikki the Vet took a boat to Praslin Island.
Praslin Island is home to an internationally recognized nature reserve.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO promotes sharing and caring across all boundaries.
Especially in the areas of education, science, and each other’s cultures.
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a famous palm forest.
And it’s famous for the sea coconut seed.
The sea coconut seed only grows in the Seychelles.
And it’s the largest seed in the world.
Vikki the Vet spent the entire day on Praslin Island.
On the last day of her trip Vikki the Vet went to La Digue Island.
La Digue is just a hop and a skip from Praslin.
La Digue has beautiful beaches and a serious amount of seashells.
While Vikki the Vet was walking along the beach on La Digue she saw four females carrying clipboards and cameras.
Vikki the Vet went up and introduced herself to the nearest woman.
“Hello,” said Vikki the Vet.
“Hello,” said the woman.
“I’m Vikki.”
“And I’m Hannah,” said Hannah.
“What is it you are doing here?” asked Vikki the Vet.
“We’re counting and classifying seashells,” said Hannah.
“How many seashells are you counting?”
“We’re doing an analysis of all the Seychelles.”
“You’re counting all the seashells in the Seychelles!” asked a skeptical Vikki the Vet.
“No. Not at all,” laughed Hannah.
“My sisters and I are doing a statistical analysis of the types and numbers of seashells in the Seychelles.”
“We’re doing approximations based upon our research.”
“Pretty accurate approximations but not exact numbers.”
STATS 101
Statistics is the science of analyzing large quantities of data in order to make inferences about even larger sets of data.
In other words:
You have to have a significant sample of something.
And once you have a significant sample of that something you can make educated guesses about that whole something.
While not exact, the better your statistical analysis is, the more precise your predictions will be.
Hannah has three sisters.
Her sisters are Anna, Ava, and Eve.
Hannah and her sisters are all working in the Seychelles.
Hannah is a statistician.
Anna is a marine biologist.
Ava is an oceanographer.
And Eve is only eleven, but she’s probably the brightest of the bunch.
There’s no telling how far she will go.
Eve is working with her sisters for the summer but she’ll be back for school in September.
The ever-curious Eve came up to her sister Hannah and Vikki the Vet.
“Hello,” said Eve.
“Hello,” returned Vikki the Vet.
From a distance, Hannah saw Anna waving her hand.
“It looks as though Anna and Ava need to show me something,” said Hannah.
“So I’ll leave you in Eve’s capable hands.”
“It’s been nice meeting you,” said Vikki the Vet.
“And you as well,” said Hannah.
“So where do you start when you’re sorting out seashells,” said Vikki the Vet as she turned toward Eve.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” answered Eve.
“Even though some crustaceans and some echinoderms look like seashells only mollusks can accurately be classified as seashells.”
“So the first thing you have to do is separate your mollusks from your crustaceans and echinoderms.”
“And you can tell the difference between all of these?” asked Vikki the Vet.
“It isn’t that hard,” answered Eve.
“Crabs and lobsters are your classic crustaceans.”
“While sea stars, sand dollars, and sea urchins are your standard echinoderms.”
“And how about mollusks?” asked Vikki the Vet.
“Mollusks are a bit more complicated—but basically— they break down into 6 different classes with shells.”
“You’ve got gastropods, cephalopods, and scaphopods … and then you’ve got your bivalves, your monoplacophorans, and your polyplacophorans.”
“Whoa! Whoa! Hold your seahorses!” said an overwhelmed Vikki the Vet.
“I’ll grant you their class names are kind of confusing, but basically, it breaks down like this:
Gastropods are sea snails and slugs.
Cephalopods are squids and octopuses.
Scaphopods look like little walrus tusks.
Bivalves are oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops.
Monoplacophorans sort of look like miniature Smurf hats.
And Polyplacophorans look like little shields.
“Wow! How do you remember all this?” asked Vikki the Vet.
“I just pay attention to my sisters,” answered Eve.
“It’s all about who and what you pay attention to.”
“It’s great to see you’re so interested in nature,” said Vikki the Vet.
“It’s sort of my thing,” said Eve.
“It’s been a real pleasure meeting you, Eve,” Vikki the Vet continued.
“And you as well,” Eve answered.
“Good luck with your work,” said Vikki the Vet.
“And fingers crossed you don’t run into any sampling errors.”
“Thanks,” said Eve.
And now you know an amazing amount about seashells.
And if you’re interested—you may want to lookup the life of Ms. Mary Anning.