NOWRAMP 2002

10/1/02 - Rapture

Position:
Latitude: 26° 03.110' N
Longitude: 174° 01.400' W
Area Name: North side of Lisianski Island

Weather:
Barometer: 1011.7 mb and decreasing
Winds: 15 mph NW
Description: Partly Cloudy, scattered showers.
Forecast: Low pressure moving through with high following. Partly cloudy. Scattered showers.

Sea Conditions:
Waves: 4-6' NW mixed w/East
Current: 0 Knots.
Sea:

Daily Vessel Plan:
Scheduled Activities:

REA (Rapid Ecological Assessment) Team A: 3 dives - very good coral development. Poor visibility owing to very nutrient rich waters. Uluas were particularly agitated today.

REA (Rapid Ecological Assessment) Team B: 2 dives - on S side of Neva Shoals. High coral cover 1st dive, lots of Porites compressa with a variety of algae covering lower branches. Many Kole (Gold eyed surgeonfish) look like they have been bitten or scratched and are recovering.

Coral Team : 3 dives and a snorkel today, set up 21st permanent transect of the trip. Collected corals, selecting corals for coring and ground truthing, with assistance and aloha from `Aulani and Kaliko.

Maritime Archaeology : 3 survey dives in areas around Western anchorage.

Intertidal: Surveyed lower intertidal, shallow subtidal of E shore of the island. Unknown nudibranch collected; many sea hares; unlike higher intertidal, these zones have high biomass and diversity!

Terrestrial Team: Circumlocuted island and counted turtle pits (~176) and counted nesting birds and other seabirds. The island is characterized by a very healthy native plant community with an interior dense with bird burrows. There was a high diversity of bird species with many, such as Ruddy Turnstones found in abundance compared with other NWHI areas.

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