Student Connection

Just in from the Ship

TC-99-07 Lobster Assessment
June 6-July 4, 1999

     June 22, 1999  Over the last 4 days, we have continued to haul in our 160 lobster traps, transit to the next station (usually about 6 miles) and reset the traps. It normally takes all morning and early afternoon to haul the traps as the lobsters they contain are individually measured and recorded. The regular spinys are tagged and then the lobsters are released. Releasing the lobsters has to be done carefully as the ship usually has a group of sharks following us which are attracted by the baited traps. A lobster free falling to the bottom, quickly becomes lunch. So we put the lobsters in a special cage which is lowered to the sea floor and opened up to deposit the lobsters directly to the bottom. This saves the lobsters, but adds time to the operations.

     After the traps are set back on the bottom, we perform an overnight ADCP transect to collect data on the currents around Necker Island reef. The weather has been wonderful for the entire cruise and operations are going smoothly. Tomorrow we haul in the last of the traps for the study on Necker and proceed to Tern Island on French Frigate Shoals to deliver about 13 boatloads of supplies to the scientists studying the Hawaiian Monk Seals, green sea turtles and the many species of sea birds breeding there. Then we proceed to Maro Reef where we'll spend a week of lobster trapping to sample the population there.

Yesterdays cruise write-ups for TC-99-07

• June 9
• June 10
• June 14
• June 17
• June 22
• June 23
• July 3

Last modified June 22, 1999