Today’s sampling trip was to, the recently voted team favorite site, Jones Island. We headed out this afternoon, stopping at Subway first of course!
With the boat fully loaded, we sped off towards the island. Business as usual. By mid afternoon we were working the sites. Thank goodness we didn’t have any plants or transects to run!!!!! This meant that all the technicians were working on fish sampling. It was hot hot hot!!! But the fun began. We hardly caught any fish and completed the process by 5 pm (record speed). It was an emotional closure for me! My last seining procedure and my last fyke net set. I’ve had my mind set forward for so long that the end finally caught up with me and it was quite a surprise.
Delicious picnic dinner at our favorite picnic tables, Frisbee triangles, lounging, and gin rummy (our favorite card game)! Finally the time dwindled to 10:30 and we could set out nets by the light of a full moon.
It was a rough 6 hours of sleep, if I got anywhere near that at all. We were up by 4:30 am to retrieve nets….my last fyke retrieval and last time up so early for a long time!!!! BUGS!!!!! Little terrorists! Because there was no wind out, they attacked in number. The ringleaders were nouseeums. As Michael said “It feels like I am on crack.” We were constantly yelling, slapping, and itching….while attempting to count fish. Not a very enjoyable last experience. But once again we didn’t catch very many fish. By 6:00 am our boat was loaded and we were preparing to head back to the mainland. Very quick! The sun started coming up over the horizon and it was breathtaking. A gorgeous natural farewell to my field work. And then as we pulled away from shore, dolphins jumped around our boat. Its almost as if I am being persuaded to stick around haha.
Clean up. Home. Two more days.
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