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Current Cruise: TC-01-01 Coral Reef Assessment January 31- March 01, 2001
February 19, 2001
Jarvis Island is behind us now as we approach beautiful Palmyra Atoll. The Townsend
Cromwell is rolling around vigorously in the waves created by strongtrade winds. The waves are traveling westward
and the ship is traveling northward so the seas are hitting the starboard side every 6 seconds or so. On days like
these you pay a lot of attention to where you put your coffee cup. At dinner you have to hold on to your plate and
tip it to counter the rolls or your spaghetti will end up on the table or your neighbors lap. When we reach
Palmyra, we will work from the waters off the west side of the island to take advantage of what protection from the
weather the atoll provides.
Jarvis Island was as we remember it, much
like Howland and Baker, but a little larger. The divers say there were lots of sharks like Howland and Baker, but
they seem grow bigger at Jarvis and a little more curious. The divers made the same observations last year.
We arrived a little behind schedule due to wind and currents that slowed us down so
we had to work fast to get done what we needed to do. We arrived at 4 in the afternoon and only had a few hours of
daylight left. In that short period of time we managed to get four sono-buoys placed, two strings of five lobster
pots set, A deep fish and benthic ecological assessment dive in, and conducted 4 habitat mapping dives. That night
we did three CTDs, and ADCP transects around the island.
On the second day, we landed the shore party so
that the two US Fish and Wildlife scientists could count birds and nests. They also installed a bird call for
phoenix petrels in an attempt to lure them to nest here. The ship's Navigation Officer installed a GPS antennae
mount as he did on Baker and conducted a geographic mapping survey of the island. We also completed 4 habitat tows,
3 fish and benthic dives and retrieved the 4 sono-buoys and searched for the two strings of lobster pots.
The next several days at Palmyra Atoll and Kingman reef will be very busy. Both of these places are much bigger
than any of the other islands we visit on this cruise. We will have to be fast and efficient to get everything done
that we need to do here. Palmyra is our all time favorite. It is beautiful to look at with lush green vegetation
and coconut palms reaching 50 to 100 feet high. The reefs are likewise beautiful with many varieties of coral and
reef  fish that are diverse and plentiful. Last year we observed lots of manta
rays, turtle, octopi and sharks as well as the wide variety of coral and fishes. Next week we will wrap up the
cruise and share some pictures and some thoughts about how this year's visit to these remote and exciting places
went and what we learned about them.
Other Updates from this cruise:
Feb 01 Feb 05 Feb 14 Feb 19 Feb 26
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