Four stations, repeat

Today we sampled four stations.  First we do the oceanography stuff – a CTD (conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen) probe is send down with some water collection devices.  That probe maps out the water column as it goes down then back up.  Then we tow four smaller ‘bongo’ nets to collect zooplankton and larval fish.   

When that’s done, the crew sets the trawl net for fish.  The trawl net fishes for 30 minutes, then we bring it on board dump it on the table you see on the right (pic, below) and sort and sample everything.  Four stations a day, weather and catch permitting…for 10 days.

 Kristi, with a pomfret.

I’ve been on trawlers before – in Maryland and the mid-Atlantic, but never before in Alaska.  I had forgotten how wet they can be.  It didn’t help that it was raining sideways and the wind was blowing 35 knots.  And you do all your work on an open deck on the back of the boat.  It was wet, cold, and nasty.