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abbeydias

@abbeydias

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frequently mistaken for a fish

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Best water everrrr!!! Harvesting glacier berries to hydrate Lake Fryxell camp :-) also this ice is like…. Multiple millions of years old. MILLIONS!!!
When the lake is frozen solid, this is how we collect our drinking water! Before we can do our science, we have to make sure the team has food water and shelter. This is the best camp chore.
#antarctica #fieldcamp #polarscience #glacier #nsfb047 by @abbeydias

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4 months ago

🎉 Help us welcome @abbeydias to the @sunflowerstarlab board of directors! 🎊

Abbey is a scientific diving and boating safety professional with a background in kelp forest ecology and science communication. Her masters work focused on growing bull kelp on the northern California coast, an area which has lost more than 95% of the historic kelp cover. She uses underwater photography, video, and stories to help connect people to environments which are often inaccessible.

Scientific diving has taken her around the world from Antarctica to the tropics, but consistently her favorite dives are those in the northern Pacific Ocean looking for sunflower sea stars. She is dedicated to seeing this key species return to the coastline and is grateful to be part of the team supporting Sunflower Star Laboratory, and our organization is grateful to have her on board!

#SunflowerStar #Conservation #Kelp #Restoration

📷: 1) Abbey at Friday Harbor Laboratories’ Sea Star Lab, photo credits to Rachael Karm and Chloe Schwab
2) Sunflower star UW selfie, Whidbey Island WA taken in Bodega Bay, California by @abbeydias

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You saw them in @the_last_forests_project film, and now the story is out in @natgeo! A small constellation of 18 sunflower sea stars was found in August of 2025 in a small cove in Sonoma County, the largest and southernmost population of Pycnos found in the state since seastar wasting disease decimated over 99% of them in California. @underwaterpat joined up with @the_last_forests_project’s @marco_mazza and @abbeydias to document the first ever “Pycnopalooza,” lead by featured-in-the-film scientist @rachaelkarm.

Research divers collected water samples, genetic tissues and ecological data about these stars, which may hold keys to sunflower star repopulation efforts as kelp restoration work continues to ramp up. Until more “Seasquatches” are found, you can watch these super Pycnopalooza sea stars in action in The Last Forests Project on YouTube, and/or read more about this discovery at our link in bio!

📸 1-5 @marco_mazza
📸 6-8 @underwaterpat

#sunflowerstar #pycnopodia #worldoceanday taken in Sonoma Coast by @abbeydias

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4 months ago

Frozen lakes are cool!!!
#antarctica #lakefryxell #polarscience #research #glacier by @abbeydias

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5 months ago

During summer in Antarctica, the sun never sets! Early season, it just goes behind the mountains out here in the Dry Valleys. The sun makes a big ol circle in the sky and the shadows change depending on the time of day :-)

p.s. I miss the people of Antarctica

#antarctica #antarcticscience #polarscience #sun #research #exploration #glacier taken in McMurdo Dry Valleys by @abbeydias

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6 months ago

Let’s make a dive hole! This process took us about 60 hours from start to finish. I couldn’t record all the drilling because I also needed to focus. Thanks to everyone who helped!!! #B-047 #NSFB047 #antarctica #icediving #scientificdiving #polarscience #polardiving #icehole #ice #antarcticscience #polarresearch taken in Lake Fryxell by @abbeydias

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9 months ago

Most of the things we do in McMurdo before heading to the field! Would not be possible without all the support staff there to help! From the dive locker to the galley, it truly takes a team! Thank you! Our training begins even before we get on the ice, and covers such a wide range of topics. This is really important for increasing our safety, mission success, and inclusivity in the field! #fieldwork #antarctica #fieldsafety #training #camping taken in McMurdo Station, Antarctica by @abbeydias

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9 months ago

Come with me to our remote field station in Antarctica :-) The travel is long but it’s always exciting! Thanks to all the folks who work so hard to get us here and support us while we are doing our science. More videos to come! #antarctica #fieldscience #polar #travel by @abbeydias

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9 months ago

The Underwater World of Microbes (Part 3!!!) These microbial mats look “otherworldly”. But are they? No doubt these microbes are difficult to relate to (no eyes, ears, blood, brains, leaves, or flowers). But, I’ve learned that they are in fact the most worldly things on this Planet Earth! Diving in Lake Fryxell is like traveling back in time. These microbial mats are a living model of the microbes that were some of the first oxygen-producing photosynthesizers on Earth. Without them, we would not be living and breathing today, which is why we travelled to Antarctica to study them. Coincidentally, you can see my umbilical (diver air supply + communications line) under the ice in this photo. I think it’s an interesting juxtaposition of a modern versus ancient way to breathe :) #antarctica #nsfb-047 #lakefryxell #scientificdiving #underwaterphotography #uwphoto #scidive #polarscience #polardiving #timetravel #biogeochemistry #earthhistory microbial mats underwater in a glacial lake in Antarctica by @abbeydias

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10 months ago

The Underwater World of Microbes (part 2). Sometimes, the lift-off mats break away completely from the benthos and float up to the underside of the ice. The mats which stay afloat all summer can continue to photosynthesize under the ice and may become frozen in the following winter. Their buoyancy is so delicate that a gentle bump of diver bubbles can knock them back down. I had to sneak up on this one to capture a photo :-)
#antarctica #microbes #underwaterscience #scientificdiving #polarresearch #icediving #uwphoto taken in Lake Fryxell by @abbeydias

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10 months ago

The Underwater World of Microbes (Part 1): Microbial mats in Lake Fryxell photosynthesize during the austral summer over a 4+ month period of 24/7 daylight. Cyanobacteria produce oxygen which nucleates as bubbles within the cohesive mat. In shallow water, enough trapped bubbles cause the mat to buoy off of the lake floor, forming unique shapes and structures which we call “lift-off mat”. Stay tuned to learn more about what our team is studying! (NSF project B-047). Each black cube on the scale bar is 1cm :) #antarctica #antarcticresearch #polardiving #underwaterscience #scientificdiving #geobiology #microbes taken in Lake Fryxell by @abbeydias

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10 months ago

Happy Thanksgiving from the McMurdo Dry Valleys!! by @abbeydias

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a year ago