Sunday July 25, 2010Left my laptop in Lynn Haven this morning so after meeting at 0500, I pulled the boat down Krystal Lane. They see me rollin’ …
Back on the road by 0600. The interns (one new, one seasoned) were asleep before we got to Hwy 231. A quiet, open road with a strong cup of coffee and good tunes as the sun rose. I love the morning.
Stopped in Tally to pick up the graduate student. Bought breakfast flatbreads for everyone at Subway. We’re all awake now and very chatty. Catching up from our last trip together.
The last rest area on I-10 east before you get to I-75 south has the best smelling bathroom soap. Most rest area bathrooms have that awful pink stuff that leaves your hands all dry and smelling over-perfumed. This soap smells like coconuts, pina coladas, and the beach.
Arby’s for lunch, but not for long. All of us were still full from breakfast. Got the food to go, filled up the truck, and switched drivers.
Nobody in the pool at the big RV park on I-75.
Got to Naples in record time. Weather was great and traffic was light. Decided to have dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger.
Locked the keys in the truck. The graduate student laid them on the seat and thought I had them as we all closed and locked our doors. I thought she had then because she was driving. I’m happy that we didn’t realize what had happened until after dinner. Called AAA (Thanks, Mom!) and was back in the truck and on the road to Everglades City before dark. Dear gelato place in Naples Park, You need to be open this time of year. We counted 15 cars that pulled up only to be disappointed.
Made a quick stop at Publix for a few more supplies.
Full moon rising over Hwy 41 ahead of us. Sun setting in the rear-view.
Quickly got moved into the apartment and unpacked by 2100. Mosquitoes were not too bad.
Monday July 26, 2010On the water with the sunrise.
Passed a small alligator swimming up the Lopez River. In a hurry like he was late for a meeting.
Cleaned and downloaded the telemetry stations. All receivers found and in working condition. Had a small scare at HURD2, but just needed to wait for the tide to go down a bit in order to see the float.
Stopped on the sandbar at ENP Mud Bay while making the rounds through the park and the graduate student saw some sort of elasmobranch swimming on the west side of the island. That got us excited to come back and fish tomorrow.
Off the water from noon to 1400 while the tide came back up. Uploaded the HOBOs and ate lunch in the AC. Man, it is hot out there.
Beautiful weather all day. No thunder or storm clouds until late afternoon. I hope all the days are like this. We were finished and off the water by 1600. Let the seasoned intern put the boat on the trailer.
The new intern has a UTI. We drove into Naples to the pharmacy to get some AZO and cranberry juice. Needless to say, I am not very happy about not knowing her condition ahead of time. We are just too freaking far away from everything and working too long of days in extreme conditions for something like this to be going on. It has the potential to get bad quickly. I reiterated to the crew to please tell me of any conditions that are currently happening – aches, pains, scratches, general malaise, whatever. I may send/keep you home, but I will not be angry. I just need to know. I want us all to stay safe.
That said, we also picked up some rum and lemon juice. Once back at the apartment, I taught the seasoned intern how to make straight-up daiquiris – my favorite drink.
Crawfish Étouffée
for dinner and a Family Guy marathon on TBS until bed.
Tuesday July 27, 2010Fishing in ENP today. Outgoing high-low all morning.
At ENP Turner River and nets in the water by 0740.
The seasoned intern almost lost one of her Keens while taking benthic samples close in to the mangrove. After lots of cursing, giggling and searching with our hands through knee-deep mud, the graduate student was able to locate it. Leave no shoe behind! We’ve found zip-up dive booties to be the best foot apparel for staying on and protecting your feet from rocks, sticks, whathaveyou while trekking along the flats.
The new intern is a birder. She knows her stuff, too. Real good at it. Busted out the binoculars and watched white ibis and roseate spoonbill feed along the exposed mudflat. She was beside herself.
Manatee swimming up river. So quiet. Another beautiful day, but no sawfish so far.
Moved the nets to ENP Mud Bay with the incoming afternoon tide. We had planned to range test the receivers while the nets fished, but the test acoustic tag the graduate student brought today was not working properly. She was having a rough day.
Salinity low – 13. Temperature high – 32.
2 YOY bull sharks on the east side of the island at Mud Bay at 1525. Tagged them both. This seems to be their spot this year. Could they be out-competing the YOY sawfish in terms of space?
Picked up the nets at 1620 and made a trip up a portion of Turner River where we’ve never been, but have seen many boats head off in that direction. An adventure! Had plenty of water and was able to get all the way back into a small bay. I made a note to query the NSED on encounters in this area.
Off the water by 1700. Let the new intern put the boat on the trailer.
We’ve been getting on the water in the morning earlier than the ramp office opens so I’ve been paying after in the afternoon. I forgot my wallet back at the apartment so I dropped the crew and gear off. They laid the nets out, cleaned the booties, and unpacked the cooler while I went to settle our bill. This crew works really well together. I look forward to the next few months.
Another dramatic thunderstorm to cool things off a bit.
Made some more rice and had leftover étouffée.
A round of daiquiris. The Office. The Simpson’s. Wipeout.
Wednesday July 28, 2010We freaking worked our asses off today.
Port of the Islands at sunrise. Slowly making our way down Faka Union Canal. Birds. Alligators. Manatees.
Set the 200s at Panther Key Gomez Point. Took benthic samples across the entire gradient from mangrove to edge of flat. Soil changed from shell to oyster to sand.
Outgoing high-low all morning. Left one 100 on the exact spot at Panther Key where we tagged the sawfish last trip and worked the other three nets all morning, fishing both Panther and Hog Key and taking benthic samples at each station. No rest. I was cracking the whip. Caught some huge mullet, a batfish, and a few mangrove snapper, but no sawfish.
Moved the nets to the spoil island at the end of Faka Union Canal with the incoming tide. Fished both sides of the island and the point closest to the channel. Took benthic samples right after setting the nets and only then did we sit down, have lunch, and breathe.
Around 1400, we checked the 3”-100’ on the northwest side and found 2 male YOY sawfish. We sprung into action. Lots of adrenaline. Tags, fin clips, blood samples, photos, measured and released. Incoming high-high tide and the water was murky as hell. By the time we were finished, we were about hip-deep and couldn’t see our knees.
The graduate student got acoustic tags on both animals and afterward we were able to listen to them for a bit using the hydrophone. That was a pretty neat ending to a loooong day.
Pulled all nets by 1630 and started making our way back to the dock.
Back at the apartment. Stuffed Shells for dinner. Daiquiris. SYTYCD.
Thursday July 29, 2010Got on the water with the sunrise and motored to ENP Mud Bay to check the salinity. Arrived on site in time for slack tide. Slick calm. Quiet. Salinity 20 in the channel and 9 over the flat.
Tried to set one 100 on the west side, but before we could get the entire net in the water, a YOY bull shark hit. Tagged it, returned it to the water. Set the other 100 on the east side and the exact same thing happened. Tagged that one, returned it to the water. Took a minute to look around and could see two more untagged YOY bull sharks swimming about. Decided to pull the nets. There are no sawfish at ENP Mud Bay right now. Only YOY bull sharks.
Thought we might try the other side of Chokoloskee Island. The local guys tell us all the time how they see sawfish along the side of Hwy 29. The tide was going out by the time we got over there and whoa! It is super shallow! We’ll need an incoming high-high to get over there … unless we set the nets from shore.
Took it out to the keys next to get some high salinity sets in. Had to take it slow at first because the channel is not well marked and the tide was going out. I’ve never been out that way by myself (Mote took us out there once, but I was not driving.). Got up on a plain and promptly went over some super skinny water. PRISTIS made it. High five! Got the 200s in the water on the east side of Rabbit Key where the local guys say they sometimes see sawfish. Took benthic samples. Very sandy.
Had a near manatee experience. We were just settling down after setting the nets and the thing breached by the boat like we were on a Disney ride! Scared the crap out of us! Manatee, but no sawfish.
As the tide started coming in, came back up the channel and found a protected cove on the east side just south of the mouth of the Lopez River. Salinity 24. Bottom sandy and muddy to shells and oyster. Looked good, but didn’t catch anything save mullet.
Moved the nets to the mouth of the Lopez River and fished there for a couple hours until a large thunderstorm blew up. No sawfish. Got off the water by 1730 ahead of any real weather.
Tabouleh for dinner. Another round of daiquiris (I gotta confess, the seasoned intern makes them better than I do). SYTYCD results show. Billy Bell voted off. Mainstream is just not ready for his brilliance.
Friday July 30, 2010The alarm goes off. I lie in bed and assess my aches. The scrape on my knee hurts like hell. The ankle I twisted a year ago is pretty tender from standing on deck the last 4 days. I’ve got several very itchy mosquito bites. Wah.
Day 5 – Goodland.
Outgoing tide all morning. Able to get back to Grocery Creek with no problems before Palm Bay got too skinny. Nets in the water by 0800.
Dolphin. Manatee. White ibis. Roseate spoonbill. Green Heron. American bittern. Raccoon. GBH. And what we suspect (looking at the tall dorsal fin) to be a scalloped hammerhead feeding along the mangroves in the deeper part of the creek. The hammerhead was there all day.
The cloud cover is welcomed. My skin wants no more sun. And sitting at one spot for the entire tidal cycle is nice, too.
With the incoming tide in the afternoon, we begin to get restless and start to help the new intern study for the GRE by going over vocabulary. Kaplan words on flash cards. I am a querulous, dyspeptic toad. Yup, that pretty much sums it up.
Pulled the nets at 1700.
Nacho Thursday. A new tradition.
Forest Gump. Man, I love that movie. So many great quotes. Had to turn it off before the end because we're getting up early tomorrow to drive home.
Saturday July 31, 2010Up and in the truck by 0500.
I stop at the Crackle Barrel in Naples and no one gets out for breakfast. The interns are passed out. The sun isn’t even up yet. I can’t keep my eyes open. The graduate student takes the wheel and when I do manage to open my eyes again we are already to Charlotte Harbor. Ps. The graduate student is quite motivated to get home. She’s just started dating someone new.
We take the Sunshine Skyway. Another new tradition.
Make great time to Ocala for an early lunch at Chick-fil-A. I take the keys and drive from here. The different scenery helps the time pass quickly. I’ve never driven this leg of the trip.
We plug in my phone and create a station on Pandora based around this one song I want to hear from the band Cage the Elephant. It keeps us singing along.
Drop the graduate student off in Tally and the seasoned intern takes shotgun. It is all downhill from here.
Back to the lab by 1700.
