Science narrative A text document for drafting and archiving the science blogbook entries. Please include: Day of week, date; Catchy title Start location to end location; narrative of the day's science deployments/findings. When possible, upload entries as separate (daily) blog posts with tag "Science BlogBook." EXAMPLE: Sunday 4/17/11 Stellar first passage through Cattle Pass Friday Harbor to Mackaye Harbor After packing up the Gato Verde, we embarked in the late afternoon and headed through Cattle Pass as the flood weakened. En route we observed stellar sea lions, California sea lions and bald eagles at Whale Rock, and variety of sea birds. We entered Mackaye Harbor and anchored at about 6:30 pm for a dinner of gluten-free pasta with red sauce. ********* FALL 2011 ********** Monday Monday 4/18/11 Friday Harbor to Mackaye Harbor Tuesday 9/20/11 Science Report Today we left Mickey Harbor and went to Salmon Bank, where we deployed the 4-hydrophone array. We met up with what we heard was L pod and spent most of the day collecting data. While trying to identify them through photos we believe that we were with J pod, not L pod. The pictures we took are being sent to the whale museum forident ification. We then followed some of the whales past Lime Kiln, but did not keep up with them. We then stopped to do a CTD cast at Kellet Bluff. We learned that the CTD cast showed the halocline was at 15m, while during the summer the halocline was at 5m. We decided to pull into Snug Harbor for the night. When we arrived at Snug Harbor we learned that we may have been following a superpod. Wednesday 9/21/11 Snug, Kellett, LK, and back We had no reports of Orcas for the morning, so we had a boat lesson with Captain Todd to learn terminology of the boat. We decided to return to Kellett Bluff to perform a CTD cast in the flood current, which was successful. While at Kellett Bluff, we received reports of the orcas headed south from turn point. The orcas met up with us headed south and we deployed the hydrophone array. We spent approximately 3 hours recording calls and behaviours, following them to just south of the Lime Kiln before turning around and heading back to Snug Harbor. On our way back to port, we met up with (possibly) L-90 travelling all alone a ways behind the other whales all by herself :( Possible IDs for whales that came very close to the array are the same whales we saw yesterday (J16 and J26). Thursday 9/22/2011 It was raining in the morning, and no reports of whales initially. We decided to leave Snug for Rosche Harbor first thing to pump out and fill up on water. Whales were reprorted at Pile Point at 10:20 and LIme Kiln at 10:33. After pumping out, we headed straight south against the current. After reaching LIme Kiln we met up with sound watch and got reports of thir presence in False Bay. We finally caught up to a few at Eagle Point at 14:39. We spent about at hour taking behavior data and about 36 minutes taking sound data. They kept heading south, while we headed for Mackaye Harbor. One of the whales was later identified as J27 - Blackberry. CTD cast was at the west end of salmon bank. The thermocline and the halocline transition was at 26 meters; very different compared to usual. We used 2 types of fish finders for the first time, and took pictures of themevery 30 to 35 seconds. Friday 9/23/2011 McKay Harbor to Sung Harbor (Charla's 23rd Birthday) Started out by replacing the propane to cook breakfast. Had a “chalk talk” from Captain Todd about sailing and had out first sailing lesson!!! Original plan of the day was to sail up the W side of San Juan Island and stay around Stuart Island for the night. However, plans shifted when Hayley needed to schedule a doctor’s appointment to obtain information about a 3 day rash on her arms. Trouble shot possibilities for a rash (detergents, stress, and allergies). A CTD cast was done at 12:45 SW of Salmon Bank on our way up to Snug Harbor. Charla, Sharon, Laura, and Robin took a dip after the CTD cast to cool off because it was such a perfectly beautiful and warm day. Did some bikini science with the secchi disk was cast in the water and visibility was clear until a depth of 11.9 meters. Made our way to Snug Harbor where and the listening hydrophone was deployed. Hayley and Robin went to shore for a doctor’s appointment. No whales were ever seen but a few Dall’s porpoise at Lime Kiln. Last report of SRKW was off Hein Bank. Reports of 6 humpbacks and 1 transient off the shore of Victoria (never seen by Beam Reach). Todd cleaned the bottom of the boat!! 2 people took showers yesterday (Hayley and Todd) so more water was used than normal. Science results CTD: thermocline and halocline transition was even deeper than the last 3 casts, about 38 meters and another at 43 meters. Secchi: clear until 11.9 meters Fish finder: saw potential salmon by the lime kiln Saturday 9/24/2011 This morning we had a visitor, Katie. Unfortunately, we stayed in Snug Harbor until about 4:00 due to fog. I took a nap for the day as I am still not feeling well from my annoying rash, which I now believe is poison ivy. I awoke just before the fog cleared and we were able to go to Kellett Bluff where we did a CTD cast, and a secchi reading. The secchi made it 14m before we were unable to see it. WOW! That's pretty deep. While we deployed the CTD and secchi, we also dropped in the listening hydrophone. We did not hear any killer whales, however we did hear very clear boat noise. We returned to Snug harbor for the evening so that we could drop Katie off, and so that Captain Todd could pick up a part for the Gato Verde. On our way back to Snug Harbor, we had some Dahls porpoises riding our bow. What an awesome experience! It was a great way to end a somewhat uneventful day. That night all of us (Charla, Sharon. Laura, and Hayley) made pizza for dinner while captain Todd took his evening walk, and Robin dropped off Katie. Overall I think the day went well. Sunday, September-25-11 Braving the Storm The weather forecast in the morning was calling for high winds (up to 40 knots), so we were stuck in Snug Harbour. We had a sailing lesson about reefing and tacking and jibing from Captain Todd, and then heard the SRKWs were headed north at 10:00. We listened to calls on the around 12:30 Lime Kiln and Orca Sound hydrophones while making the decision the wind had died down enough for us to make a short trip to head the whales off. When we caught up with the residents just south of Snug Harbour, they were just turning around and heading back south, against the waves. Charla and Captain Todd captured the backscatter of an orca on the fish finders at approximately 13:37. There were few behaviours, and due to rain, wind, and waves, there were no ID photos taken and the hydrophones could not be deployed, BUT another whale day (still counts)!! Monday, September-26-11 And the Storm continuesÉ The weather was projected to have winds over 40 knots again, and we experienced it right in the harbor. We Spent the day more inland in Garrison Bay and weren't able to cast off all day due to severe weather. In our morning meeting we got to see an image of a killer whale (possibly) on the fish finder! After that we wrote protocols for raising and lowering the anchor, raising and lowering the mainsail and the jib, and casting off the Gato Verde. After lunch we had journal club and heard of whales present at Lime Kiln around 1:30. At 2:30 we heard that whales were being detected at orcasound, but we were stuck :( We ended up having a knot lesson, and right after that we welcomed a visitor! Andrea from Victoria, who is an expert on salmon and knows a lot about the killer whales. She'll be staying with us until the end of our cruise. All of us had some serious data entry after that, and decided to go on a walk in English Camp while Robin graciously volunteered to make dinner. After that we made cookies and watched Life Aquatic.