On Monday and Tuesday we finished up the abalone surveys and packed up our sites. Packing up the site included rolling up tapes and lead lines which constructed the perimeter and lanes for the survey. On Tuesday we also got a chance to practice using the underwater video camera at one of our sites. Using the camera was a blast, but reviewing the footage was humbling. The video consisted of bubbles, green water, cheesy waving diver shots, a few colorful sea stars and some nice algae on rocks. Anne and I walked away from the experience with a basic videography lesson; move very slowly and steadily. We were able to apply what we had learned from our test run to the intake pipe surveys on Thursday.
Shannon Point has a big intake pipe out in front of the lab which pumps seawater back to the lab. Shannon Pt. land is leased from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). When the pipes were upgraded, part of the agreement with DNR was that Shannon Pt. needed to carry out surveys on the intake twice a year.
It took two dives to complete the survey. On the 1st dive we went out to lay 600ft of measuring tape from shore out to the end of the intake. We also retrieved and installed a new CTD and took water quality samples at the end of the intake. On the second dive we took quadrat pictures periodically and also shot high definition video on the swim back in to the beach. Taking pictures was good buoyancy control practice and lots of fun!
