I love my job.
We spent 9 days in Kenai Fjords National Park.
Yumi managed to get John AND Gary on this trip and we had so much fun.
(and also worked really hard, too)
The weather was FANTASTIC. It barely rained at all.
We did bird surveys for the first 4 days. and then we did ecosystem sampling the rest of the trip. This consisted of CTD casts, water column sampling, hydroacoustic sampling, zooplankton tows, and trawling for forage fish. LOTS of pictures from this trip.
It was magical.
John & Yumi talking shop
a baby gray whale checked out the boat
it came so close, we could have touched it
hooking up the CT to the bow of the Naiad
black-legged kittiwakes and a glaucous-winged gull
John barely fits in the Naiad
stretching out the back
bodies take a beating when out on the Naiad for 10-12 hrs/day
John fashioned a harness of sorts to keep him from flying out of the boat during the transects.
worked pretty well
already tired of bird surveys?
ECOSYSTEM SAMPLING:
Capt. Yumi at the helm
getting ready to deploy the CTD (on the bottom) and the water sampler (gray tube on top)
collecting samples at different depths of the water column
putting the zooplankton net in the water column
rinsing it with seawater
removing the cod end from the zooplankton net
the zooplankton is stored in formaldehyde and shipped to a lab for species identification
John checking out the zoop
prepping water samples for measuring chlorophyll a which gives information about productivity
HYDROACOUSTICS underwater acoustic scattering from a sonar is used to measure the biomass in the water
rigging up the acoustics sled
echogram on the left: red line is the bottom, blue specks are biomass of sorts
TRAWLING PHOTOS
Captain Hook snuck on board
getting the net in the water, once in the water it is towed behind the boat at a depth of ~15m
pulling the net back in
pulling the cod end up
sorting the catch
Yumi trying to get psyched about ANOTHER jelly
juvenile sculpins and gadids and pricklebacks
soft sculpin!
jellyfish
juvenile gadids
FINALLY! a forage fish!!! prowfish in the LAST tow of the trip.
Other pictures from the trip:
John is 6 '6" and had a really hard time fitting in the boat.
5 am pancakes!
the Big Bird taking a snooze
John made Yumi some starfish earrings.
You either had to be on the boat or have watched the movie 'Aquamarine' to understand this photo. I'm not even going to try to explain it.
the next series of 10 photos were taken by John. He wanted to take some 'non-standing photos'.
Jeff! Yumi got Erica to floss!
this one's for our dentists
John's shoes
BBQ buffalo burgers!
black bear sighting - can you find it?
Erica let me borrow her dry suit, booties and gloves.
I normally don't like swimming in the ocean because I don't like getting zooplankton in my orifices, but I opened my big mouth and told her that I would be tempted to go swimming if I had my goggles - and of course, brought her dry suit gear AND a mask!
That's Erica's towel. She was going to share it with me.
I was a little too buoyant even after all the 'burping' so I didn't make it underneath the acoustics sled but Erica went in! and dove underneath it TWICE! without her dry suit!
so instead, I did a little synchronized swimming
Erica's acoustics image. with a little help from John on Photoshop
Erica brought her bike and trainer - we took turns getting some exercise in the hold.
yes, that's my ball in the background. a little tricky to use on a moving boat.
turns out that John is a major chocoholic - we had no idea, and apparently we didn't bring enough chocolate!
more boat shananigans
ArcView is driving Erica bananas cuckoo.
John looks pretty good in her shades.
cleaning time!
John's first ipod experience.
He's listening to rap!
Mike, Alisa & Eli set sail from Kodiak several days before our trip started.
They are on their way to Australia and will take the next year to get there, making many stops along the way. Their first stop was Seward and the plan was to find us on the water enroute to Seward.
We anchored up in Moonlight Cove and this crazy fog started to roll in.
And, of course, just like in the movies a sailboat came through the fog and headed in our direction.
You should check out their
blog.
They are on an adventure of a life time!
the Piatt team, old & new:
me, John, Alisa, Yumi, Mike, Gary & Erica
bringing out Eli!
John doesn't fit on their sailboat either.
we ran into them again in Northwestern/Harris Bay
Dave & the giant cabbage at the Vallata
haven't seen one of these for a while
2. Go dip netting on the Kenai
makes for a grumpy bride & groom
We played pin the hose on the fireman. And a ring toss around a you-know-what. Rebekka was the only one that was able to get the ring around the you-know-what. Ann made a cake that was shaped like a you-know-what.
and there were pictures all over the house with my face and Dave's face transposed on some interesting photos.
then we went out on the town. I don't have any pictures of that part of the evening. And the ones that the girls have will not be surfacing on this blog. I had a great time!! THANKS ladies!
Devil's club
cow parsnip
Dave found a warbler nest!
pre-hike warm-up of the paws & feet
Emma, fearless as usual
view of Resurrection Bay from the top
don't blind yourself from the glare off my very white-legs
Gray-crowned rosy finch with a nest nearby
view of Seward from the top
heading back down
First stop - The Pelagic for a meeting of the babes
baby switch-a-roo
dinner at the Salmon Bake is not complete with out picking a giant pickle from the barrel
after dinner walk to Spring Creek
Lexie playing fetch with Emma
super smiley guy!
I love Wyatt!
Dave, explaining the physics of pancakes to Wyatt.
Auntie Andrea & Wyatt - oooh Budha belly!
I love Eli!
hanging out at the house
We had a hard time thinking of a gift for these guys - we wanted to give them something special, that would bring back memories of Alaska but wouldn't take too much room in their boat. So, Dave gave them a beaver kit pelt. Eli loves it. And fortunately, Alisa found a good use for it - as a cushion for Eli in his bunk!
Mike consulting the charts - showing us potential anchorages in Prince William Sound
One more nightcap before they set sail for Cordova.
John & Yumi talking shop
a baby gray whale checked out the boat
hooking up the CT to the bow of the Naiad
black-legged kittiwakes and a glaucous-winged gull
John barely fits in the Naiad
stretching out the back
John fashioned a harness of sorts to keep him from flying out of the boat during the transects.
already tired of bird surveys?
the RECON digital data recorder was misbehaving
taking a little lunch break
Gary & John off to photograph the gaggle of Kittlitz's that were on transect 
the next 7 panoramas give a glimpse of the breathtaking scenery in Kenai Fjords.
Capt. Yumi at the helm
getting ready to deploy the CTD (on the bottom) and the water sampler (gray tube on top)
collecting samples at different depths of the water column
putting the zooplankton net in the water column 
rinsing it with seawater
removing the cod end from the zooplankton net
the zooplankton is stored in formaldehyde and shipped to a lab for species identification
John checking out the zoop
rigging up the acoustics sled
echogram on the left: red line is the bottom, blue specks are biomass of sorts
Captain Hook snuck on board
getting the net in the water, once in the water it is towed behind the boat at a depth of ~15m
pulling the net back in
pulling the cod end up
sorting the catch
Yumi trying to get psyched about ANOTHER jelly
juvenile sculpins and gadids and pricklebacks
soft sculpin!
jellyfish
juvenile gadids
FINALLY! a forage fish!!! prowfish in the LAST tow of the trip.
John is 6 '6" and had a really hard time fitting in the boat.
5 am pancakes!
the Big Bird taking a snooze
John made Yumi some starfish earrings.
Jeff! Yumi got Erica to floss!
this one's for our dentists
John's shoes
BBQ buffalo burgers!
black bear sighting - can you find it?
Erica let me borrow her dry suit, booties and gloves.
I was a little too buoyant even after all the 'burping' so I didn't make it underneath the acoustics sled but Erica went in! and dove underneath it TWICE! without her dry suit!
so instead, I did a little synchronized swimming
Erica's acoustics image. with a little help from John on Photoshop
Erica brought her bike and trainer - we took turns getting some exercise in the hold.
turns out that John is a major chocoholic - we had no idea, and apparently we didn't bring enough chocolate!
more boat shananigans
ArcView is driving Erica bananas cuckoo.
cleaning time!
John's first ipod experience.
Mike, Alisa & Eli set sail from Kodiak several days before our trip started.
the Piatt team, old & new:
bringing out Eli!
John doesn't fit on their sailboat either.
the next morning, fog as thick as pea soup put a halt on our work plans so I got some more time in with Alisa, Mike & Eli
and, they're off into the fog...
