by 2nd mate Andrea Ray Kosta
Where are you from? Chewbiak, Alaska
Where does your name come from? My mom named me after a ship called Andrea Dories which sank.
What level of education did you achieve? I have a bachelors degree in marine biology and went to grad school for marine mammal physiology.
Did you enjoy your time in Grad school? (Shakes head no) Yes…
How did you get to the Oceanus? I got into the maritime as an undergrad. I taught, marine biology to children, on a day boat. We did sea water analysis, looked at plankton, measured salinity and temperature as well as looked at nesting seabirds, sea lions and whales. I did that all summer and then stayed on as a deckhand before returning to school in the fall. I did that my entire college career and by the time I graduated I had enough hours to get my captains license. I worked for National Geographic for a few years, went on a couple of expeditions, went back to a captain’s position, directed an education program and then ended up going to grad school, but I didn’t finish. I ended up disgruntled with my grad school experience and preferred being at sea to being in a lab. I got a job offer to be a marine tech and AV on an Arctic research vessel so I left my job. I did that till October, then went on another research vessel as chief mate. Afterwards I did various contract work delivering privates yachts for people from Alaska to the states. Eventually that lead me here.
Where did your love of the sea stem from? When I was like 3 years old I feel in love with the ocean and I wanted to be a marine biologist ever since.
What’s it like being one of the only female crew members on this ship? It’s pretty typical. Most vessels don’t have other women crew members. It’s very uncommon. I’ve worked with one other women that was a mate, and I’ve worked with a number of female deck hands a lot of them come from more of a commercial fishing background. There are not a lot of women at sea. It seems like it’s the last industry in the US to open up to women. It has a lot to do with a reluctance in the maritime community to allow women into the field. For a long time there was this superstition about women being bad luck at sea and a lot of it might have stemmed from the fact that there might be a kindling romance on board and some guy is getting benefits and the others would just get jealous about it so it was bad for crew morale.
What’s the best experience you’ve ever had at sea? It totally has to do with wild life. I’ve been completely shut down by whales rubbing their bellies along the haul of the boat. I’ve touched gray whale calfs; I’ve kissed them. I like collecting birds in the morning and send them on their way if they spend the night on the ship.
What’s the worst experience? Let’s just say it had to do with a fire onboard a ship, it turned out just fine, but when there’s a fire onboard a ship that’s surrounded only by water on all sides it’s not the best thing.
Do you think you make more or less money than males who may be doing your job right now? With this particular operation it’s the same pay. The university has already predetermined the pay and you have to have specific qualifications. I have worked a couple of jobs where I definitely have gotten payed less because I happened to be a women.
So I think it’s obvious, but do you prefer the sea to land? I love both and I need both in order to feel balanced.
Do you ever feel like you’ve missed some important part of your life because you’ve been out at sea? You definitely miss stuff, last season I’ve missed the death of some people and I’ve missed their memorial services. I have had times where people in my family have been ill, and I’ve quit a job to go home and be with them. You do have to make sacrifices. For some of the guys that are out here and have babies on the way they have to refuse a work contract because they have to be home when the babies are born. For people’s families it can also be difficult because the partner that’s home feels like they’re raising their children on their own so it’s really difficult for relationships. Fortunately for me, my partner was a commercial fishermen for years and he’s a single dad so he has to stay home and he knows what draws me to what I do.
-Danisse Toro
