Smalltooth Sawfish Abundance Survey :: January 2011

12 January 2011

Wednesday
The break has flown by, but at the same time it feels like it has been awhile since we packed up the truck and made the drive south. This will be a quick trip to download and clean receivers. We’re traveling pretty light.

There was ice on the truck this morning!

Sunrise on Hwy 331, listening to the latest mix on my iPod. Stopping in Tally at Exit 192 for breakfast (Subway, of course!) and to pick up the graduate student. It feels good to have the gang back together. This will be the last trip with just us girls. The spring interns have started at the lab (2 boys!), but they won’t be along until February or March.

To save money and effort, we’ve decided to download and clean the receivers in January and February and not start fishing again until March. Also, the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Team has decided to have our yearly update and budget meeting in Everglades City during our March trip to a) get out of St Pete and b) try and accommodate some of the people who don’t normally go in the field. Tonya Wiley (the undisputed godmother of smalltooth sawfish research) will also be along for the entire ride in March. If we get permission from the Wilderness Committee in February, we will install 16 additional stations in ENP on the March trip. March is going to be a nuthouse!

But for now, January.

Ocala for lunch, fill up the truck, and switch drivers. Arby’s. I split a turkey and Swiss with my technician and we’re back on the road.

Making good time. To Naples before dark. We stop and eat at Sushi Thai Too. And what do you know? The gelato place is open, too! It still trips me out that south Florida’s season is completely opposite ours.

Back at the apartment, Room 106. Moved in. Feels like home.

The weather down here is nice and I’ve opened the window in the kitchen. I’m prepping dinner for tomorrow and we’re watching President Obama’s speech in Arizona.

“We recognize our own mortality, and are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this earth what matters is not wealth or status or power or fame - but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in the bettering the lives of others.”


13 January 2011
Thursday

We get to sleep in a bit because sunrise is not until 07:00. We take our time having breakfast and packing the truck because low-high tide is not until 10:00.
It’s chilly outside. The wind is howling out of the north (15-20mph). I am thankful for the Mustang suits.

When we get to the dock, there are several boats queued up to go out, all waiting on the tide. As far as I can tell, they aren’t local guides - just weekenders taking advantage of the MLK holiday. They’ve all got a TON of gear (coolers, camping chairs, sleeping bags). We queue up behind them and also wait. It is 08:30.

Discussion ensues about how we are barely going to have enough to time clean all the stations if the water stays this low, much less remove them, take them back to the apartment (because we don’t have the field computer yet), download them, and then come back out to put them back in. We decide to only clean today and do the downloading in February. The field computer will be here by then.

The intern brought her field binoculars for birding. She spies a semi-palmated plover and a palm warbler while we wait.

We also talk about spending an extra day on the February trip and installing the three sensor stations in Faka Union Bay. I make a note to talk to the front desk. We begin to put together a list of what supplies we have and what we’ll need for those stations.

09:30 and the water is still very low. After some severe goading from the weekenders (“Our government tax dollars at work.” And, “If y’all can make it, we can make it.” And “Ladies first.”), I decide to try it. We get out and start shifting gear and packing the boat. Not to be showed-up by a bunch of women, that gets the weekenders in motion. One boat launches and promptly gets stuck - he had his engine too low in the water, plus all that extra gear. Tsk, tsk. With a bit of trepidation (on the inside) and supreme confidence (on the outside), we launch and show the men how it’s done, making our way out of the marina with no problem. How you like me now?

Birds everywhere. GBH, osprey, bald eagle, double-crested cormorant, turkey and black vulture, brown pelican.

The water is seriously skinny and not looking like it is getting any higher. This north wind is pushing everything out. The tops of the Turner River Mouth and Turner River receivers are dry. HURD1 and HURD2 are easier to find than ever before. We get to Mud Bay by 11:00 and whole place is dry. The intern and graduate student walk out to MB1 to clean it. The technician and I stay on the boat a good 30 yds from where we can usually pull up PRISTIS and float with no problem. MB2 and MB3 are dry. Unbelievable.

The sandbar that comes around the corner from the mangrove island in Mud Bay won’t let us pass. I have to push-pole us off it once then the intern, technician, and graduate student have to get out and walk us back the second time we get stuck. If it is this dry here on a high tide, then there’s no way we’re getting across Cross Bays. This is where we stop. Dammit.

Back to the apartment by 13:00. Morale low. All we wanted to do was work today and now we’re grounded … quite literally. Drove all this way for nothing. Or, it feels like nothing. At least now we know our lower limit in the park when it comes to tide and wind. That’s what I keep telling myself to try and cheer myself up.

You’d never know how bad it is on the water judging by the weather on land. A beautiful afternoon. Clear skies. Sunny.

The graduate student works on the final draft of her prospectus. The technician knits. The intern goes to the Internet Cafe. I read a bit, too, and then take a nap, waking around 16:00. We decide to leave the graduate student to her work and take a walk before dinner.

Gorgeous sunset over the Baron River. There are a couple houses on Riverside Drive that I would love to own. The white one with the big wrap-around screened-in porch is still for sale.

Chili for dinner. A couple few beers. We watch Thursday night TV on NBC before turning in.


14 January 2011
Friday

Back on the road.

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Naples. I feel like I haven’t earned this breakfast, having only worked a half day. But, the fire is warm and the biscuits and gravy are calling.

Traffic is steady, but moving.

We stop for a picnic lunch at a rest-stop just south of Gainesville, finishing off the leftovers. Then, power it on to Tally. It gets chillier the farther north we go.

Home by dark, leaving the truck and boat to be cleaned and unpacked on Monday.

I walk in my office and remember that they’re putting in new windows over the holiday weekend. All the furniture has been moved and the place is a wreck. Nesting, I take the opportunity (and about 30 minutes) to rearrange my desk and space. I’ll come in early on Tuesday to get everything back in order.

And now, the three day weekend.