Day 10 R/V Point Sur

This morning's weather started out pretty well, but the winds picked up and so did the swells. The respirometer was deployed around 8:00 am to 1000 meters. We are hopeful that when we recover it tomorrow morning, the respirometer will have fish inside the chambers.



After deploying the respirometer, the first beam trawl was released to 1000 meters. The trawl was on the seafloor for about 40 minutes before it was hauled back up. Look at this octopus!!









A sea pig getting dissected. This one was a female with eggs.





The seas started to get a little rough while the deployment of the camera. The camera will be deployed 2000 meters for the first time. I'm anxious to see what kinds of fish are roaming around at that depth.



The final trawl was released to 2000 meters. Again, it took about 3 hours for the entire process of releasing the trawl, staying on the seafloor, and then hauling it back to the surface. The 2000 meter trawl brought up another crab, a large juvenile skate, sea stars, and more sea pigs.



This is a sea spider.



Jason cross-sectioning Donna's favorite fish.



Today was a short day, but I was still a little tired. I took a quick nap before dinner, and had my lovely picture taken.



I've really been enjoying this research cruise, getting to know everyone, and making new friends.

=)





“This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0727135. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).”