Sadly, our time in Berlin came to an end and the next stop on our program was Büsum. This town is located in the northernmost portion of Germany and is on the North Sea. I didn't really know what to expect from Büsum because everything I heard about it was that it was a vacation spot for....the older generations. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and had a great time over the past few days.
We started off by visiting a seal center that takes in abandoned seal cubs and nurses them back to health before being released back into the wild. Unfortunately, all of the seal pups that the center had when we visited were still in quarantine and we were unable to see them. Even though we couldn't see any seal pups, it was really neat to see how the center worked and learn about the work they do. They do have a small amount of permanent resident seals because they are unable to be returned to the wild.
The coolest part of the Büsum visit was getting to help out with some necropsies at the Aquatic Wildlife Center, which is a part of the Hannover veterinary school. We were able to perform necropsies on a seal and harbor porpoise! I have never worked very closely with marine mammals, so this was very exciting for me. We were pretty lucky in that the animals we were working on had died from some interesting causes. The porpoise actually chocked on a fish (didn't know that could happen) and basically suffocated to death. The seal had an intestinal volvulus and was found to be recently pregnant. I liked that I was able to make comparisons between the marine animals and the animals that I had previously dissected. The necropsies took several hours to perform but it felt like no time at all! This is definitely the best hands-on experience I have had so far on this program and am looking forward to learning more about marine animals in Dr. Pine's course in the fall.
We also got to go to a really nice restaurant for a fancy dinner that is owned by one of the seal hunters in the Büsum area. I know, I know....I did just say "seal hunter," but don't worry, he is a really cool dude! This man owns a restaurant (and cooks delicious food by the way) and works as a seal hunter to go out and rescue abandoned seal pups and take them to the local seal center. The name "seal hunter" comes from historical context, and he is actually one of the people responsible for keeping many seals alive. He can euthanize an animal, if necessary, if it is too sick or wounded after being abandoned and wouldn't survive the recovery process. He had some really great stories and we were able to find out more about all of the seal hunters and their cool jobs. Everything he does as a seal hunter is voluntary and actually takes time away from his real job and earning money. I have a lot of respect for everything he has to do to keep the seals well.
Büsum also has some of the largest mud flats in the world after the North Sea draws out during low tide. The program arranged for us to have a mud flat hike and it was like being a kid again! We walked through the mud flats barefoot with a biologist showing us all of the different species living in the mud. The mud got pretty loose in some areas and I sank in to my knees! It was a lot of fun stomping through the mud and getting stuck.
Büsum was great and we were able to meet a lot of awesome people while we were there. Looking around town it was definitely a vacation spot for the older folks, but I had a really awesome time. I don't know if I would go back simply because I think we experienced most of what the town has to offer but I'm glad I got to visit!
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