A rare trait in female life history - nature’s idea of social support systems
Postcard 15th December ‘24: Aarhus
Menopause in females is a unique and genuinely fascinating thing.
I have not heard a single post-menopausal woman in my personal surroundings saying any such thing. It is usually portrayed as suffering through all the hormonal changes that affect anything from physical to psychological aspects of going from being a menstruating being to - well - not having a period anymore.
Some might even wonder (ruminate about) why that is happening to female beings while men keep their reproductive features till much later in life.
During a cosy Christmas seminar on Wednesday, where each of our lab members would present a little bit about their research, Dr. Mia Lybkær Kronborg Nielsen, talked about her PhD research on prey sharing among Orcas. While this was super interesting, her research's introduction and reasoning left me with an epiphany.
In nature, rarely any physiological feature is evolving without a valid reason.
Mia started her presentation by stating that “Menopause is a rare trait in female life history”. There are only a few species that happen to go through menopause. Namely, humans and some larger marine mammals - like Orca. For most beings on this earth, there is no such thing as a life beyond the point of being reproductive.
Which makes some brutal but natural sense.
Why sustain life (which requires energy intake) if it does not provide any benefits to the species' overall survival?
Mia continued explaining that there is another shared characteristic among species with female members terminating their reproductive function halfway through their lifespan: Those species live in complex and tight social structures. Communities with hierarchies and roles. These species have developed (or probably even boosted) abilities to ensure the species' survival by adding social bonds, such as social support, knowledge sharing - and resource sharing.
A pod of Orca whales is usually led by the oldest female - a matriarch. She teaches advanced and individualised hunting skills to the other members of the pod. But the oldest females in the pod also share their prey with others most frequently. Mia’s research found that they even decide carefully who gets the prey - sharing most with their adult daughters since this will ensure the survival of their offspring, too.
And now I am wondering: Are we getting menopause all wrong? Have we lost the ability to see that this stage of life is inherently meant to nurture and nourish our families or whoever we call our closest of kin? I still have some years till menopause. But I like this perspective very, very much.
About this week
This week was super busy but also a lot of fun:
Monday: Couple of meetings, finalising a first draft of my official PhD plan and making travel arrangements for a marine acoustics course in Marseille in February.
Tuesday: Received my very own safety working suit (It’s an immersion survival suit but to wear while working on a boat - not just for emergencies). Perfect timing for the field work on Thursday! Went to Hot Bikram Yoga after work. Wow, that was hot and sweaty and felt so good!
Wednesday: Full day of lab presentations, general lab meeting and a delicious Christmas potluck.
Thursday: Field trip to retrieve some of our SoundTraps that have been out since summer. Got 2, still 2 more to go. Then arrived back for the Biology Department Christmas Party.
Friday: Cleaning of equipment, PhD planning meeting, Ecoscience Department Christmas Party 😄 The perks of being a cross-departmental PhD.
Living Danishly
This week changed my mind on Danish food. We had a potluck with the lab where everyone would bring a SAVOURY dish that reminded them the most of Christmas where they are from, and then there was a 3-course dinner/lunch at both Christmas parties.
I love the simplicity (meaning whole and fewer ingredients, incl. spices) of the traditional Danish cuisine. Probably the reason why most think it is not the most glamorous choice of food. However, most traits back to traditional food conservation methods like pickling, graving, sprouting, fermenting…My favourites are:
Pickled herring eaten with rye bread (I feel my digestion actually likes it and will try it more), and then you add either a special curry sauce, mustard sauce, beetroot salad, sour cream or mayonnaise
Smoked or graved fish filets (especially Greenland halibut and salmon)
Battered flatfish
Duck breast
Kale cooked with butter and heavy cream
Oven-roasted beets
Jerusalem artichoke and parsnip with Christmas spices (cinnamon, clove)
Caramelised potatoes
Caramelised almonds
A creamy and rich rice pudding with vanilla, almonds and cherry sauce —> This used to be considered a super posh dish since all ingredients were expensive and luxurious (rice, heavy cream, vanilla, almonds)
Further traditional dishes that I was not too much of a fan of:
Liver pate (warm and cold versions)
Pork belly (don’t like pork in general)
Crunchy dried pork fat that is eaten as a snack, like chips/crisps
Herring-apple-onion salad
Small tarts that you fill with asparagus, chicken and a white bechamel sauce
On my screen
Sven suggested watching the Christmas action movie “Red One” on Friday night. The trailer looked quite fun. But honestly, would not recommend, it was way too strange for my liking.
But we also started watching the British Spy Thriller series “Black Doves” on Netflix. The cast includes Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire, Andrew Buchan. And holy moly, it’s full of dark and tense sense, humour and plot twists!
Random things I learned/want to learn
Some useful nautical knots to secure the boat but also connect the different pieces of equipment to ropes and anchors.
Things that made me smile, laugh, think, cry or curse this week
Smile & laugh
Trying to remove a sea squirt that had found its home on one of our equipment pieces - and accidently squished it a bit too hard and it squirted on the back of my colleague.
The amount of shots that come with Danish Christmas Parties (no, I did not join that tradition 😆)
The funny videos and presentations delivered during the two Christmas parties
Think
A better way to organise all my personal and work ToDos throughout the week since right now, it’s all a mess of different written and “stuck in my head” lists accross different media and devices.
Cry & curse
Switching from crocheting to knitting again since I want to knit some cosy winter apparel. But every time I attempt knitting I get super frustrated since something goes wrong and I have to start all over again. Maybe I should simply see if I can crochet wrist warmers and a beanie instead of knitting them 🤣
Up next
If you think this week was busy, it’s not going to be much different next week.
By the time this postcard hits your inbox, I am going out on another field trip, but this time with a slightly bigger vessel to retrieve some equipment close to the Copenhagen island.
Further things on the schedule for next week (other than general work things):
Receiving our (temporary) Danish car
A meeting with the communal dining group at our community housing
Taking care of the cat of one of my colleagues
Heading to Germany for Christmas on Saturday (including packing and organising for the trip 😄)
Hopefully another Hot Yoga Training session
Hug,
Beautiful
Thank you
I love you!
GOD Bless!!!
❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for this. Am appreciating that nature always has some good reasons for its actions/inactions.