Wow, seems like a long time since I've written a trip report. A
little too long. Here we go
We waited for perfect weather for this one, and finally got it. This is a tough
trip to plan, because the principal scientist has to drive down from North
Carolina, so with winter weather being what it is, we really have to plan well.
We hit the nail on the head with this one, kind of. We planned for a Sunday
evening departure, and the forecast was still for 3-5 for Monday morning, so we
delayed 12 hours, and left on Monday the 16th around 10 AM. Night time was as
important as daytime for us, because we wanted to put a fancy sonar on a stick
over the side to see large schools of fish. Think fancy fishfinder. We would
survey for a couple of hours each night, then anchor up, then dive during the
day. Water temps were in the high 60's, vis was OK at 50 feet, very little
current was encountered. Spree has a new navigational system (again), this time
Apple computers based so it won't crash, so I spent a lot of time learning how
to use it.
One of the first things we noted was the huge numbers of blue runners and
pelagic mackerel (king, cero, wahoo) at the site. Not so many black grouper.
They were there, and exhibiting spawning behavior, but not in the huge numbers
we'd hoped for. The other first thing we noted was that the lionfish population
had exploded from last year. Last year we saw none. This year we killed 54, and
saw probably 200 more. This doesn't bode well for the Flower Gardens or Tortugas
North Reserve. Those babies are here, and here to stay. I'm told that they are
fun to poke, however.
We had seas dropping the whole time, from 2-4 the first day on the way out, to
less than 1 foot by the time we came home. We set out 6 new acoustic receivers,
and recovered 3 that we set out last July. The acoustic receiver listens for the
Black Grouper to make sounds during spawning. It also hears snapping shrimp,
passing boats, and the cursing of divers who discover that lionfish have taken
over the reef.
It was a great trip, a fine way to shake down the Spree after her shipyard
period (ask Mel about me plunging a stopped up sink sometime), and we had great
fun whacking lionfish and keeping tally. Crewmember Jamie Knobles definitely won
the lionfish death and destruction contest, with 19 total killed. Of course, he
didn't have any other job to do but take pictures and kill lionfish, so it
wasn't really fair. Congratulations anyway.
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Capt Frank
M/V Spree
Stock Island, FL |
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