Highlights From TC-01-08 Monk Seal Research Camps (7/16/01-8/1/01)
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Aloha from the Townsend Cromwell!
It has been a busy week on the NOAA SHIP TOWNSEND
CROMWELL. We left Honolulu last Monday on a Protected Species Investigation cruise with stops planned for Tern Island,
Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Midway,
and Kure Atoll.
These islands have seasonal field camps on them that field biologists occupy during part of the year. These folks monitor and study the fragile ecosystems of these remote island refuges. Some of them study birds, some study plants, and some study Hawaiian Monk Seals. So far, we have offloaded supplies to Tern island, loaded equipment from Laysan, broke down the camps at Pearl and Hermes Reef, and Kure Atoll, and loaded all of their equipment and personnel. We are now headed for a stop on Midway Island where we will offload supplies and equipment and the field biologists from Kure, and Pearl and Hermes. We have also occupied three CTD stations in support of a project that studies ocean currents and how they are effected by the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
On Sunday, the ship's personnel assisted the Pearl and Hermes crew in hauling marine debris to
a central location on one of the islands of the atoll. This pile of debris will be
removed from the island during our Marine Debris cruise in the fall. Big sections of discarded and lost fishing net wash
up on the beaches and hang in the reefs of these islands regularly. The pieces of net pose a hazard to the wildlife here.
When nets wash up on these remote reefs they are an entanglement hazard and have been a major cause of monk seal pup
fatality. This sortie gave us a chance to get a close look at these little spits of land
that we usually see from a distance. On the way back from the small boats were treated to an escort by the resident
population of Spinner dolphins.
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