ACCESS Oceans

Day 7. We are leaving Sausalito to survey lines 5 and 7 for marine birds and mammals, their food and the oceanography. If everything goes as planned, this would be our last day of work. Photos below are of a Laysan albatross that came by the boat yesterday.

Day 6. We completed all planned work for today. The net tows had small amount of adult krill, gelatinous zooplankton, and pyrosomes. There were numerous fulmars, several south polar skua and jaegers, common murres, sooty and pink-foot shearwaters, Sabine’s gulls, and terns. Marine mammal highlights included a few humpback whales, Dall’s and harbor porpoise, sea lions and one basking Guadalupe fur seal. On our way back to port we encountered a group of five feeding humpbacks with at least 150 California sea lions, 120 western gulls, 25 Brandt’s cormorants, and a mixture of sooty shearwater, etc. The echosounder showed a large bait ball of fish at a depth of 40-80 m.

Day 6. Going out to sea to survey line 4 for oceanography, zooplankton, marine birds and mammals. NBC Universal and the SF Chronicle are joining us for the day.

Day 5. All planned work was completed. We collected a small amount of krill, gelatinous zooplankton and copepods in the Tucker trawl. In the hoop nets there were copepods, jellies and chain-forming salps. Seabird highlights included feeding flocks of gulls and shearwater. Marine mammal highlights include a few blue and humpback whales near the shelf break and a few humpbacks on the shelf.

Day 5. Leaving Sausalito to survey line 6 for oceanography, zooplankton, marine birds and mammals.