Student Connection

June 13, 2000  Greetings from the TOWNSEND CROMWELL. We are currently on the Lobster Assessment cruise: TC-00-07. We left Honolulu, last Tuesday and are now working on the reef that surrounds Necker Island catching and counting lobsters.

Lobsters are caught with traps called "pots". The pots are baited with fish and thrown over the side with a line attached to them with a buoy at the end of the line. The pots sink down to the bottom where they sit overnight so the smelly fish can attract the bottom dwelling lobsters. The lobsters crawl into the pot to get at the bait, but find that they can't get back out. The next morning we come back and find the buoys and pick them up and pull on the line with the pot hauler and bring the pots up one by one. The pots are opened and the lobsters are pulled out (if there are any) and the trap is re-baited to be tossed back in the water at another location in the afternoon.

The lobsters are then brought into the wet lab where they are identified by species and gender. The scientists then measure a few parts of there bodies. Some of them are frozen for later analysis at the lab. One of the studies is to measure chemicals in their bodies called fatty acids to see if the same fatty acids show up in monk seals. This will help determine how big a part of the monk seal diet is fulfilled by lobsters.

Next week we will describe the night time operations. Check back with us on Monday June 19th 2000.

Other Reports for this Cruise

June 13

June27

Last modified June 13,  2000