Permits: EVER-2010-SIC-0007 & ESA-13330
Saturday February 27, 2010The ENP Wilderness Committee approved our inclusion of 13 additional passive acoustic telemetry receiver stations throughout the Chokoloskee to Lopez River backcountry. The interns, technician, graduate student, and I have been working hard over the last 4 weeks to get it everything ready, but we aren’t taking the gear down this trip due to a setback on the part of the tag manufacturer. We had a hard, folding Tonneau Cover installed on the truck so we can lock up all our gear. It rocks. We packed all the normal gear and supplies in the truck and boat on Thursday and everyone took a half-day Friday to take care of personal business. Being prepared like that left me in a continuous state of feeling like I forgot something. The drive down was uneventful. Quick stop in Tallahassee to pick up the graduate student. Did you know that Subway makes breakfast? And, it isn’t half bad. The trailer’s bearings were repacked in between trips and the wheels felt just fine every time we stopped. Flying high on Pseudoephedrine, Exit 358 and lunch came quickly. Arby’s. Switched drivers. It was rainy and wet until just south of Tampa. The sun woke me from my nap and when we stopped for a bathroom break, it felt like spring. We were all checked and moved in by 7:30 pm. The place was packed and we had to park in the parking lot next door. Alex at the front desk of The Captain’s Table called the owner of the lot and asked if we could park our boat there. He referred to us as the “NOAA Sawfish Girls.” Such a small town. Ordered take out from the Seafood Depot and watched the Olympics. In bed by 11:00 pm.
Sunday February 28, 2010Where are the vultures? They were everywhere last trip, feasting on the cold weather fish kill. Not so many about this trip. On the water with the sunrise. Clear, windy, cold. Water temperature is much cooler now (15C) than in January (23C). Speaking to a few local guys, they haven’t seen any live sawfish yet this year and they say fishing has generally been poor due to the cold temperatures. Lots of trucks, trailers, and boats at the dock despite. Outgoing tide all morning and incoming all afternoon. Spent the whole day at Mud Bay in Everglades National Park, fishing the flats around the island and out in the middle once the tide came in a bit. Didn’t see or catch any sawfish, but not a total zero. One heardhead catfish,
Arius felis. Off the water by 5:00 pm. Quick run. Took a new route and found some really cute houses. Warm pasta salad for dinner. Everyone’s faces are red and chapped from the wind and sun. All are tired. Watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics until we just couldn’t handle Bob Costa’s continuous dribble any longer. Tomorrow we try the Goodland Bay area even though the winds will be out of north.
Monday March 1, 2010GdMfN Goodland Bay area! It is the Indian Pass of the Sawfish Project. Got to the Calusa Island boat launch before the gate opened. Note to self, the gate opens at 7:00 am. We weren’t charged a boat ramp fee. Neat. Launched and making headway by 7:30 am, but we spent the rest of the morning stuck on a sandbar. Surrounded by grazing Ibis, we watched the water rush out and then rush back in. While sitting still, I get a call from my mom that my cousin, Dawn, had an emergency C-section early this morning and the baby, Jake, is on a ventilator but expected to be breathing on his own by the afternoon. A new Bethea. How cool is that? Once we got off the sandbar, I was too hesitant to get her back up on a plane so we put-putted until we could no more – just about the middle of Palm Bay. Then, I made everyone get out and push. Yeah, I did. I was having a total crazy-ass FPC moment – an I-need-to-get-my-samples moment where not even trudging through thigh-deep mud against the wind with a short tidal window and the possibility of approaching weather could deter me. My crew was right there with me, too. They would follow me into battle if I asked. Of course, they know me too well. They let me wear myself out and decide on my own that we needed to turn around and fish in the bay. Dammit. So close. Turquoise water that reminded me of Key West. No sawfish. The wind shifted out of the southwest with the approaching weather. Still chilly. Off the water and back at the apartment by 5:00 pm. Short walk. Took my camera. Found a super cool restaurant and lodge just past the traffic circle toward the Barron River, the Rod & Gun. Stopped in to look around and grab a menu. The lounge is totally lounge-tastic complete with yellow leather chairs on wheels. There’s a pool. Real wood from floor to ceiling. Place was built in 1864. So great, but they only accept cash. Too bad. Italian Chicken Crock Pot for dinner. We won’t be fishing tomorrow. Something wicked this way comes. Mom called again to say that Baby Jake is doing just fine and both he and Dawn will be home in a few days.
Tuesday March 2, 2010March comes in like a lion. Storms all morning. Wind. Lots of it. Small craft advisory. What does a fishing village do when the weather won't let them out? Eat, drink, and be merry. Had lunch at the Rod & Gun. Bloody mary, soft shell crab sandwich and strawberry shortcake. Spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening watching old movies on TMC: Three Musketeers (a *very young Vincent Price), Royal Wedding (classic scene with Fred Astaire dancing on the walls and ceiling), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (“Them women were sobbin’ sobbin’ sobbin!”), and West Side Story (Snap! Snap! Snap!). Good times.
Wednesday March 3, 2010Winds out of the northwest. Very cold. Small craft advisory, but where we were fishing was protected ... enough. Cold, cloudy February weather. Dear Portland, please take your weather back. Love, the Florida Everglades. I got fussed at by an angry, old man that was running the counter resgister at Port of the Islands. He raised his voice to me about us using gillnets and killing all his snook. Never mind that we didn’t catch any snook in Faka Union Bay last year. Never mind that we tend our nets very carefully and release any catch immediately. Never mind that we have two permits the size of the Encyclopedia Britannica signed by everyone and their mom that governs the exact way we can conduct research. Never mind that it isn’t even 7:30 am yet and I’ve barely touched my coffee. Haters gonna hate. He needed to fuss at someone and today that someone was me. I just stood there and took it, keeping my voice even and calm. Yes, sir. No, sir. Thank you for the boat ramp pass, sir. Eventually, he wore himself out and the other man at the counter, a local fisherman, began asking me questions about our research. He seemed genuinely interested. Saw three manatee in Faka Union Canal, trucking against the tide. Got to the spoil island at the end of the canal in time for the remaining low tide. We moved the nets to the south end of the island with the incoming tide and battened down against the howling wind. Eventually moved the nets again to the north side of the island out of the wind. Mullet, blue crab, and what looked like a mangrove snapper before it squirmed out of the net. Water temperature was a bit warmer, 18C. Off the water by 5:00 pm. MJ playing in the truck on the way home to try and keep spirits up. Red beans and rice for dinner. The long, hot shower I took was awesome.
Thursday March 4, 2010The world at home goes on without me. Today is Alex's birthday. My phone didn't plug in properly last night so it is dead. Windy again. Cold. Met a lovely, older Canadian man, Dan, this morning at the dock who was totally impressed with our truck, boat, research, and the fact that we were all women. “Well, I gotta watch you launch this thing.” Fished Turner River with the outgoing tide in the morning. After a tip from a local fisherman who reported seeing sawfish earlier this month, we moved to the southwest corner of the mouth of the Lopez River with the incoming tide in the afternoon. Excellent habitat (shallow, muddy/sandy flat) and we will fish here every trip from now on using the 200’ nets. We even have plans to put out a few acoustic telemetry receiver stations in this area. Off the water by 5:00 pm. Like a dad waiting on his teenager after curfew, Dan was at the dock waiting for us to return. Last day this trip and no sawfish, we report. Only mullet and blue crab. Got word from our tag manufacturer that they need another piece of equipment to complete some more tests. We’ll have to send that once we get back home tomorrow afternoon. Quick run to shake it all off as the sun sets over the Barron River. Ordered in pizza, bought some Samuel Adams, and watched The Office.
Friday March 5, 2010Packed and in the truck by 5:30 am. Cracker Barrel in Naples by 6:30 am. Lunch at Exit 358, but this time we tried the truck stop with the Wendy’s. Not a bad stop, but dang if traffic at this exit isn’t total insanity. Quick stop in Tallahassee to drop off the graduate student. She’s immediately off to FedEx to send the tag manufacturer the needed equipment. Hopefully, this tag crud will all be worked out and we can install the stations next trip. Back at the lab by 6:00 pm and home by 7:00 pm. We’ll do it all again in two and half weeks.
