NOWRAMP 2002

9/29/02 - Rapture

Position:
Latitude: 27° 47.238' N
Longitude: 175° 51.711' W
Area Name: Pearl and Hermes Atoll, S anchorage

Weather:
Barometer: 1017.1 mb
Winds: 17 Knots ENE
Description: Cloudy, scattered showers.
Forecast: 5-10 knots, ENE - N.

Sea Conditions:
Waves: 4-7' in lee of atoll with 3'south
Current: 1.2 Knots.
Sea:

Daily Vessel Plan:
Scheduled Activities:

REA (Rapid Ecological Assessment) Team A: 2 dives on West side, 1 in lagoon at Northern end. Inside lagoon dive had high coral cover, some bleaching observed. Outside dives on old eroded reef with deep cracks down to 70 feet. Crustose corraline algae dominant cover at these wave exposed areas.

REA (Rapid Ecological Assessment) Team B: 3 dives - on West side, second dive to 80' crystal clear water with high coral diversity. Karla head bumped a 70 lb Ulua.

Coral Team : Set new permanent monitoring transect on West fore reef. Collected specimens of bleached corals. Performed ground truthing at two sites. Collected two specimens of Porites evermanni for growth rate analysis.

Maritime Archaeology : Towed and drift dive surveys in Pearl and Hermes loss area - no obvious signs.

Intertidal: Surveyed emergent rock NW of North Island. High diversity of limu, invertebrates and fishes. Lobsters.

Terrestrial Team: Collected Erograstos variabilis and Solanum nelsoni seeds at North Island and seeded a cleared patch at Southeast Island with the collected seeds. Both plants are native species that provide excellent ground cover and soil stability for nesting and burrowing seabirds. The hope is to replace the invasive plant species - Verbesina enceloides that provides poor nesting habitat, and decreases soil stability.

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