Journals 2006/2007

Kate Baugher
Norman North High School, Norman, OK

"Interdisciplinary Coastal Oceanographic Observations F. G. Walton Smith research vessel" August 3 - 14, 2006

Journal Index: August 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11            12 - 13 - 14 - 15 Additional Resources

August 13, 2007
Interview with fisheries scientists, spar buoys

We left the dock early. After much sampling, I was able to find time to interview John the fisheries guy. We talked about the decrease in fish populations. He said that stocking ocean fish does not seem to work - however, restricting fishing, both commercially and for sport has helped tremendously. Of course, the health of the water and reefs also help. Sport divers may be restricted to a 3 meter distance from the reef in the future. We changed scientists today. Libby, John L. and Peter left (and also the photographer) and Ryan and Chris Kelble came on board. The divers Grant and Nelson also returned. They were here for a day - recovering a spar buoy. It was run over by a boat. It takes current readings, conductivity, temperature, pH, chlorophyll, depth levels, and sends the information out by satellite. These buoys cost about $25,000 to make and last about ten years. There is also a charge for the satellite calls. The plan is to have an array of these so the bi-monthly trips can be cut out (they run about $10,000 a day). More grants are needed however, to get the plan completed. We dropped the divers off at 7 mile bridge and also Ryan. The rest of the trip the only scientists will be Chris, Kristian, and me.

Buoy		Loading buoy onto boat