Long Eddy finished, for now…

I’m finally back at the Duke Marine lab, after a series of adventures in Massachusetts that don’t really need dwelling on. It’s great to be back – seeing family, friends and getting on with things that have been waiting for some attention for a bit.

[photo size=’small’ align=’right’ title=’Andrew Westgate loves the Long Eddy!’ link=’http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/johnston/files/2011/09/NauticalWestgate.jpg’ icon=’zoom’ lightbox=’image’]http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/johnston/files/2011/09/NauticalWestgate.jpg[/photo]

The Long Eddy field season was a fantastic success. We got two tags out, which may seem like a small number to many. Keep in mind however, we were tagging fin whales at their most erratic – as they exploit discrete patches of prey within an island wake system. This is truly a great success, and paves the way for future proposals. We’ve surveyed the wake extensively now with the echo sounder system, providing essential baseline data on how the “middle” portion of the food web coalesces and dissipates each tidal cycle. We’ve also captured the physical properties of the water column within the Long Eddy with CTD casts.

I’d like to finish up by thanking the field team: Julia Burrows, Jerry Moxley, TJ Young and Susan Heaslip. Ari and I are really grateful for your help with the project.

I’d also like to thank Heather Koopman, Rob Ronconi and Andrew Westgate from the GMWSRS for their boat skills and logistical help – we could not have done it without them.

We also could not have done it without the help of Ken Ingersoll and his big truck. Thanks Ken!

When we’ve had a look at the data we’ll post a roundup for this year as well, stay tuned.

[photo size=’large’ title=’Phocoena surveying the Long Eddy’ link=’http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/johnston/files/2011/09/PhocoenaBye.jpg’ icon=’zoom’ lightbox=’image’]http://superpod.ml.duke.edu/johnston/files/2011/09/PhocoenaBye.jpg[/photo]