Foggy Morning

A quiet, foggy morning by the water.

Smalltooth Sawfish Abundance Survey :: October 2010

Wednesday October 20, 2010
The Drive.

It feels like Friday. That means that I’m going to be messed up on what day it is this entire trip.

Only 4 people this trip.

The technician and I drove our truck. So much room when there are only two of us that it feels like we’re leaving something important behind. The FSUers showed up in a new shiny white truck with just over 300 miles on it. Looks like the Section 6 money finally came through.

The drive went quickly, however, and we were checked in, unpacked and having enchiladas in Room 106 before 20:00. Home, sweet home-away-from-home.

Tomorrow we download.


Thursday October 21, 2010
Getting ready to leave the apartment this morning, I realized that I packed one of the boyfriend’s Crocs instead of both of mine. That’s what I get for packing in the dark.

The graduate student’s computer is still in the shop from the screen backlight being fried during The Great Bailout on the September trip. We spent the morning pulling stations, working on an outgoing tide. We left the MB2 and CB3 stations for the afternoon when we’ll have more water.

Back at the apartment for lunch and to download the data using my personal laptop. We started encountering problems when changing out the batteries. Receivers would work then we’d put a new battery in and they’d stop. Frustrating. This happened to three receivers. All HOBOs are working fine … even the Lopez River Mouth problem child. We made a decision to replace all the batteries with brand new ones ASAP. Btw, no data on any receivers … no sign of Eve. Bummer.

The new head park ranger did a house call during lunch. He was both very friendly and very intense. He had some very good questions, comments and suggestions. He sure is a talker. After he left, I had the feeling we were being watched … more closely now than ever before.

Took the afternoon and incoming tide to put all the working stations back in. Pulled MB2 and CB3. We couldn’t get to those on the skinny morning water. “Um, neutral or something!”

Long day. 0600-1700. Beautiful weather. Lots of birds. Haven’t seen an alligator yet. More people around as the season is getting geared up down here.

BBQ chicken baked potatoes, coleslaw, and steamed broccoli for dinner.

Ameircan Dad. Family Guy.

UCLA vs Oregon. Go Ducks!


Friday October 22, 2010
ENP.

Outgoing tide all morning. The FSUers are helping us fish today. If we catch one, we’ll put a tag on it and they’ll start tracking with their boat.

Started out at Lopez River Mouth in a new spot. We set the 200s on the opposite side of the river of the acoustic station across the wide mud flat on the north side (Uh, have a preposition!). The habitat was sandy/muddy close to the mangrove shoreline, shell-y in the middle, and sandy by the edge.

This trip we’re doing something a bit different with the benthic samples – we’re working them up in the field. This will save the FSU graduate student a trip down to the lab from Tally. So, for lunch, we went back to the dock and worked up the samples while waiting on the incoming tide.

The team is sore today from lifting the receivers and cinder-blocks yesterday. Doing it all twice (16 x 2) is a bit much for one day. That laptop can’t come back from the shop fast enough.

After lunch, we set at Mud Bay. Nothing. Then, moved to CB3 to replace the receiver and fish. Made two sets. Nothing, but mullet and catfish.

Off the water a little late. Already had a voicemail from the ENP rangers. Yep, they’re definitely watching us more closely now.

A quick swim in the pool at twilight. The FSU graduate student finished up moving the benthic samples from Rose Bengal to EtOH.

Chili for dinner. Pirates of the Caribbean.

Telemetry note – WW1 is still out of the water and will remain out of the water until the next time we clean/download (Which we plan to do the weekend after the STS meeting in St. Pete in November … just got to clear it with the boss-man.). MB2 will be replaced by the receiver that is being used to actively track. I'll work on RMA-ing these receivers when I get back.


Saturday October 23, 2010
Faka Union.

Dawn. Halfway to Port of the Islands I realize the truck is 11 miles to empty. Dropped PRISITS at Port of the Islands. 5.5 miles to the Iron Rhino and the closest gas station. Will we make it? Hold your breath. We did.

There was a man passed out in his truck at the gas station with his lights on and truck running. He was breathing, but the scene was strange. Too drunk to drive? Who knows.

08:00. The suns is up now and we’re back at Port of the Islands, motoring slowly down Faka Union Canal and birding. There’s a bird that we can’t place and our team bird nerd is not on this trip with us. It looks like a little blue but with lighter legs. Maybe a juvenile tricolored? It is time to buy a good bird guide for my dry bag.

Fished Panther Key on the outgoing in the AM. No STS.

Moved to the spoil island in Faka Union Bay with the incoming. Set 2 nets on the west-side and 1 on the east-side. NE wind, full moon, low-low. The place is dry and incoming is slow. We wait. Dropped the hyprophone in the water and listened to Mermaid Radio.

15:30. We catch one – Male, 145 cm STL. Recapture, but we aren’t sure who he is. There is no acoustic tag and no apparent scarring from the acoustic tag. We scan him for a PIT-tag and, yup, he’s one of ours. Also the T-bar tag on the 2nd dorsal looks great. The FSU graduate student put another acoustic tag on him. We finished working him up, and let him go.

Pulled all the nets, put the hydrophone in the water, and listened to his tag croak. Then, we headed home slowly back up the canal. The FSU graduate student is silent and pensive. Her focus is palpable. The reality of the next 36 hours sets in. It is go time – time to track this bugger for 24h. What do I do when there is something seemingly impossible that has to get done looming on the horizon? I make a list and get organized.

Game plan – The FSUers will come back out tomorrow and find him. They’ll start the 24h track when they do. My technician and I will stay back at the apartment all day and rest. We’ll meet them out at dusk, bring more food and water, and continue to track all night and the remainder of the 24h on PRISTIS. Makes sense – there’s more safety equipment on PRISITS and she’s waaaay more comfortable. We take an inventory of what we have for night ops (headlamps, batteries, lantern) and what we’ll need (more batteries, flashlight, sleeping pads, warm clothes).

It is after just sunset when we get off the water. The sky is amazing. We hit up the Naples Wal-Mart and Home Depot for supplies. Driving back on Hwy 41, the moon is full and leads the way. We’re not back to the apartment until close to 21:00 much to the dismay of the apartment owners and our next door neighbor. Seems they were worried when we didn’t come back at our normal time and were going to give us to midnight before calling the Coasties. I appreciate the sentiment, but, Jesus, can you imagine? What is up with drawing all this attention all of a sudden?

Crawfish Etoufee. Beer. Thoughts of what’s ahead. We watch Mizzou beat Oklahoma.

Ps. LSU lost to Auburn. Sucks.


Sunday October 24, 2010
Let’s Do This.

07:35. The FSUers are up, packed, and in the truck leaving for Faka Union Bay. My technician and I wait at the apartment. We’ve both had entirely too much coffee to go back to sleep.

Looked up the mysterious bird. Juvenile tricolored still have a white belly so that’s out. Going by Wiki, little blues do have lighter legs than the crappy guide we’re using shows. Mystery solved. Definitely time to buy a better guide.

Facebook, email and photos. Looks like there might be some weather this afternoon. Ftw? Of course the weather would act up the one evening we’re planning an overnight. Boss-man approved our plan to download after the St. Pete meeting so I book it, leaving my cell number with the front desk. They can call me if they are worried, not the Coasties.

The hardware store in EC is closed on Sunday so the technician and I drive to Naples to get the remaining supplies we couldn’t find last night. Oh goodie, there’s a sale at Sports Authority! I pick up more Columbia gear.

We’re back at the apartment when the FSUers check-in around 12:45. They haven’t heard a peep (And I have the sinking suspicion that they won’t until the tide is completely in late this afternoon.), but they have had to use their on-the-fly bad-ass graduate student skills to plug another hole in the boat – this time with a rotting piece of transom. Not sure how it happened, but they also melted the NEG terminal on one of the batteries. Float on, graduate students!

Lunch. Dolphins vs Steelers. Nap.

I wake to rain.

16:00 – They’ve heard nothing and plan to stay out until 17:30 then head back. We begin to prep dinner and get everything packed and ready just in case. They’ll check-in again to let us know whether or not to come.

16:40 – They check-in again. Storms. Lots of rain, but no lightening. No sign of the tagged STS. They’re heading back. I check the forecast again. Storms are expected tonight, too. Shit.

18:25 – I haven’t heard from them in almost 2 hours. Restless. Dinner is ready and Planet Earth is on TV. So, this is how the locals felt yesterday.

18:40 – They’re back. Stories, stories, stories. Photos, looking like drowned rats. We help them unload, get them dried off and cleaned up.

Stuffed shells for dinner. NFL.

If you could have someone famous narrate your life, who would it be? Mike Rowe.


Monday October 25, 2010
ENP.

08:00. We’re sitting at the “Chicky Hut” in Sunday Bay. Beautiful silence. How is it that I’ve been coming here for almost 2 years and have never seen this place? Never even heard of these park-built pit-stops for kayak/canoers? “You could hit it with a 9 Iron from the WW2 station.”

When we do open our mouths, morale is low. Apathy. Aggravation. We’re all kinda rubbed raw by the locals at the dock, telling us where “all the sawfish are” but admitting that they never call in sightings. “Y’all ever fish *insert river name here*,” “I see them all the time at *x, y, z*,” “I saw 12 a couple months ago *over there* ,” and “You should come out on my boat. I see them all the time.” It is hard to keep coming back here month after month with smiles on our faces when we fish 10 hours a day for 4-5 days and only catch 1 or 2 animals … or none.

Fuck it. I’m taking this bitch on the other side of the island … on the other side of Hwy 29. We’re going on an adventure. And I’ll buy that creepy dude at the dock a 6-pack if we catch one.

09:45. All nets are in the water on the west-side of Chokoloskee Island. It was super skinny through that creek that runs on the east-side of Hwy 29 and under the bridge, but we made it. Of course we did, my boat can run over dew. Outgoing tide, 26C, salinity 28. Very shallow (60 cm). Took benthic and worked it up on the boat – not much there, but the bottom is more clay than we see anywhere else. From where we’re sitting, I can see our truck parked at the dock. Now we wait.

Started checking the nets at 10:30. Lots of mullet and catfish. Crevalle jack, ladyfish, red drum, snook. We saw a HUGE tarpon that was disguised as a STS. I mean HUGE. Like 150 cm TL. Fooled us for a minute. Maybe that’s was the locals are seeing?

Wind picked up at noon. East 15 kt at least. Tide started coming in.

12:45. Muthafucker. Looks like I owe someone beer. We caught one – Female, 146 cm STL. The FSU graduate student got a tag on her, but it took a little longer than normal because we were working off the bow of the boat and the Lotek equipment was breaking (neoprene backing) or not available (plastic backing). We also used crimps on this tag in addition to tying knots as we suspect it was the knots that came undone on the original tag we placed on the recaptured STS from Saturday.

Pulled the remaining nets. Sat and listened to her tag croak. Discussed making this side of the island a regular fishing spot and also speaking with the ENP Wilderness Committee in order to get an acoustic station over here. Shoe tastes nice.

15:00. Nets in the water at Turner River. Since I’m in a ranting mood today, here’s another one. I know what zoo animals feel like. The tour boats and guide fishermen go by, (sometimes) slowing down to (always) stare. We stop what we’re doing and wave. We’ve even stopped to answer questions. I understand that this is all part of being a steward to the oceans, a responsible scientist, and a friendly person, but how tired am I of hearing these types of questions/statements? “Y’all getting paid to do that?,” the fisherman yells snidely as he hardly slows down to pass us almost swamping us while we’re on anchor waiting while the nets fish. “Hm, our government tax dollars at work,” says a man upset about our truck and boat being in his way on a Saturday morning. “You mean, they’re working?,” we overhear a woman ask a guide. Yes, yes we are working! Yes, yes this is my job! I’m head to toe filthy, had entirely too much sun (Just ask my dermatologist!), have worked over 75 hours away from home and slept in a shitty bed all week. And, I do it EVERY MONTH. You’re on FREAKING VACATION in a NATIONAL PARK. And, btw, they are *my tax dollars, too. I know the cranky people are the exception, but dude. Maybe I’m just tired, maybe I need a break.

We pulled the nets at 17:00. Lots of that green algae that looks like “Dr. Sues threw up.” That's definitely a Top-10 Quite of the Year. We dropped the receiver back in at the Lopez River Mouth station and then headed back to the dock.

Another bout of small town life – We got back to the apartment and were packing the boat and truck for the long ride home tomorrow and the lady that owns the lodge comes running across the parking lot tell us that the ranger called the front desk looking for us. I immediately call the ranger. We were only 45 minutes late with check-in. What is the deal? These people got me feeling cagey. But, there’s a cute couple with a cute puppy and all exasperation quickly melts away.

Nachos. MNF.


Tuesday October 26, 2010
Pandora. Cracker Barrel. Pretty steady traffic through Naples and Tampa. So freaking tried. No trip over the Sunshine Skyway as we’re car pooling. Picnic lunch.

There are some pretty messed-up billboards through Ocala/Gainesville:
1. That’s Not How That Works : Don’t Put the Pregnancy Test in Your Mouth.
2. 1-800-VASTIME.
3. Creepy Chick in Camo, Holding a Semi-automatic Weapon.
4. The Vegetarian Cheater.
5. Cross-eyed Kid with Butterfly on His Nose.
6. Medieval Times.
7. Café Risque : Couples Welcome.
8. The Yellow Anti-abortion Baby.
9. Not My Little Girl.
10. The Man from Sistine Chapel Ceiling Pointing at a Pregnant Lady’s Belly.
11. Random Bible Quotes from “Narrow Road”, Telling Me I’m Going to Hell.
12. Vote Liberals Out in 2010. America’s Coming for You, Congress!

Regardless of politics, we make it home in pretty good time.

Thus ends October and STS 2010. See you next year Room 106.

Species of Birds Seen in the Everglades :: October 2010

True to the guide books, the raptors were out in force!

Anhinga – Male and Female
Blackbird – Redwing – Flock flew over at Hurddles Creek ENP
Cardinal
Cormorant
Crow – American
Dove – Mourning
Duck – Muscovy – Seen in Naples
Eagle – Bald – Flew over Hwy 41 going south as we were going north to Port of the Islands - Also, mating pair were back on their roof at Port of the Islands
Egret – Great, Snowy
Flicker – Northern – Heard at Turner River ENP
Grackle – Boat-tail
Grebe – Pie-billed
Gull – Laughing
Hawk – Red-shouldered – Seen at dock at Port of the Islands
Heron – Black-crowned night, Yellow-crowned night, Great blue, Green, Little blue, Tricolored
Ibis – Glossy, White
Kestral – American – Seen along Hwy 41 near Port of the Islands
Kindbird – Grey – In tree in WalMart parking lot in Naples
Kingfisher – Belted
Mockingbird – Northern
Moorehen – Common
Osprey
Owl – Bard – Heard at Turner River ENP
Pelican – Brown
Sanderling
Sandpiper – Spotted, Least
Spoonbill – Roseate
Turn – Caspian, Royal, Sandwich
Vulture – Turkey, Black
Woodpecker – Red-bellied – On palm in Everglades City