Wednesday, May 18

Rise and shine!! It’s fishy time! We started the morning bright and early at 6 am. As we watched the sunrise, we cut bait, baited a million hooks (about 450-500), and set them out at our first site SL9-150. After we set out 5 miles of line, we circled back to where we laid the first hook and started to pick up the line. Working from 6 am to 9 pm, we managed to hit three sites. From the sites we caught a few king snake eels, ranging from 20 cm to 100+ cm, a few spiny dogfish, groupers, blackfin tuna, ahi tuna, and plenty of tilefish. Overall, 30-40 fish were caught, measured, weighed, and recorded. Our target species included tilefish, yellow-tail groupers, and king eel snakes. We took samples of our target species’ liver, bile, muscle, eyes, and otoliths. From these samples, we are able to date the fish’s age, migration, rate of growth, chemical contamination post-Deepwater Horizon Spill, and more. It was very bloody but quite an experience. After a long day, I am ready to sleep.

Stay fishy,

Heather

Setting out the first line at 7 in the morning!

Amy dissecting a tilefish.

Amy cutting another large fish.

Holding down the HUGE fish we caught as Amy saws through its skull to reach the otoliths.

Me holding a blackfin tuna (: (It was very yummy)