Trap Day #2 for the Fish Group

Trap day #2 started bright in early for the fish group. Low tide for Saturday November 9, 2013 was at 6:50 am so it was important to get out there as soon as we could to get the traps set. As soon as were got out on site Jon and i got to work. We were kinda on a time crunch because we had to do the work of four people and the tide was coming in fast! Dr. Smith said something about a foot an hour so we had to move quickly! Since we were low on people to help set the traps, Jon and I made a game plan to set out all the B-Traps first in there specific locations (4 on reef and 4 off reef), and then one of us installed the wings while the other zipped-tied them the the traps to help save time. Due to the bentic groups trays on one of the reefs we were suppose to trap behind we had to deviate a bit from the proposal and set the traps in between the reefs which we made a note of on our data sheets. Once the traps were set, we set our timers for two hours and then begin to take our water quality and turbidity readings. By the time we collected all our data from the water quality and turbidity reading , it was time to pick up the traps and record what was caught. For two people, dragging all eight traps in about waist high water was a bit of a chore but thankfully Dr. Smith was able to start identifying, measuring, and recording while the two of us were bring in traps. Once all the traps were in and the three of as went to work it was long after that we were packing up and headed back to the shed. I'd have to say the day went pretty smooth with the amount of stuff that had to be done.