Tommorow TJ, Sara, and I head back to SC to return to our normal lives after 3 fantastic weeks in the Keys. We are all quite sore and tired from hauling concrete around for the last few days, but all is finished: 40 larval collectors are in the water off Lower Matecumbe Key and Long Key, all of the control blocks are nicely re-fitted with pieces of wood, octopuses are tattooed, and the entire census is completed. Plus we got a few days of fishing in and a trip to Key West as well. Not too bad for 3 weeks, considering the iffy weather we had most of the time down here. Long drive to Clemson tomorrow, but we leave tired and aching, but very happy and bit more tan (+ plus a few weird burns where we missed with the sunscreen).
Glad we weren't in the water this day. When the wind blows hard from the south like it did on Monday and Tuesday, we start seeing Portugese Men-o-war showing up in near shore. The wind catches the sail on top and drags them off the open ocean. We saw close to 50 in the last few days.
Ah, the very last of 40 collectors gets deployed. . .
And the field crew rejoices! No more collectors (for a little while). As you can tell from the chalky-looking water, this was a pretty nasty day to be on the boat. It was beautiful on shore. Pretty typical in the Keys, the nicest days on shore are the lousiest on the water.
With that finished in the morning, we were able to put in a few hours of fishing in the afternoon with Cindy's boyfriend Joe and his daughter Riona. We caught 2 of these sandbar sharks, one of which broke Joe's rod. This one fought TJ forever and was still pretty feisty when we brought it on the boat to remove TJ's precious hook. No pictures of that part since TJ and I were in hand-to-fin combat with the shark. Fortunately everyone is doing fine, shark included. After this, I even managed to land some ladyfish using a topwater plug. Not a bad day and not a bad trip in general. Back again in May!
Tommorow TJ, Sara, and I head back to SC to return to our normal lives after 3 fantastic weeks in the Keys. We are all quite sore and tired from hauling concrete around for the last few days, but all is finished: 40 larval collectors are in the water off Lower Matecumbe Key and Long Key, all of the control blocks are nicely re-fitted with pieces of wood, octopuses are tattooed, and the entire census is completed. Plus we got a few days of fishing in and a trip to Key West as well. Not too bad for 3 weeks, considering the iffy weather we had most of the time down here. Long drive to Clemson tomorrow, but we leave tired and aching, but very happy and bit more tan (+ plus a few weird burns where we missed with the sunscreen).
Glad we weren't in the water this day. When the wind blows hard from the south like it did on Monday and Tuesday, we start seeing Portugese Men-o-war showing up in near shore. The wind catches the sail on top and drags them off the open ocean. We saw close to 50 in the last few days.
Ah, the very last of 40 collectors gets deployed. . .
And the field crew rejoices! No more collectors (for a little while). As you can tell from the chalky-looking water, this was a pretty nasty day to be on the boat. It was beautiful on shore. Pretty typical in the Keys, the nicest days on shore are the lousiest on the water.
With that finished in the morning, we were able to put in a few hours of fishing in the afternoon with Cindy's boyfriend Joe and his daughter Riona. We caught 2 of these sandbar sharks, one of which broke Joe's rod. This one fought TJ forever and was still pretty feisty when we brought it on the boat to remove TJ's precious hook. No pictures of that part since TJ and I were in hand-to-fin combat with the shark. Fortunately everyone is doing fine, shark included. After this, I even managed to land some ladyfish using a topwater plug. Not a bad day and not a bad trip in general. Back again in May!
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