KML's newest vessel the R/V Diodon (aka "Blowfish") recently returned from a 10 day research trip with Marathon's FWRI Finfish group to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO).
The group conducted sampling related to the project "Efficacy of a newly-established Research Natural Area (RNA) ... within the DRTO", by retrieving, downloading, and replacing acoustic receivers (Vemco VR2) at various locations throughout the park that are tracking the movements of tagged fish.
In all they visited over 50 sites and conducted over 60 dives, which included swapping out receiver stands at several locations. Below you can see a couple of the old stands and the group loading a new "Big Bertha" stand onto the Diodon before leaving the dock one morning.
In addition to the trip's main objective, the group also successfully collected, tagged and released a few Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) near Fort Jefferson to track their movements as well.
The team had a very successful time and looks forward to analyzing all of the data they collected.
