October 8, 2006

Start of cruise. Departed Honolulu at 1800, en route for French Frigate Shoals (FFS), Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument (NWHIMNM). An introductory meeting was held for all scientific personnel and new crew members at 1900. A scientific meeting was convened at 2000 to discuss operations and plans for 2-day transit to FFS, including a thorough review of the scientific permits.

October 9, 2006

Continued transit to FFS. Conducted abandon ship and dive accident management safety stand-down drills including medical evacuation to the recompression chamber and oxygen administration. Conducted standard 500 m CTD at permanent Nihoa Island CTD site. At 1900, the scientific party conducted a planning meeting to discuss operations, data management, and permit restrictions.

October 10, 2006

Scientific party continued preparing gear during the day while transiting toward FFS. Conducted standard 500 m CTD at permanent Necker Island CTD site. Conducted scientific planning meeting at 1830 to discuss upcoming operations for night and following day. Arrived at southeast corner of FFS at 1900. At 2045, initiated deployment of 3 strings of 8 baited traps in depths ranging from 250 m to 100 m at Deep Slope site 2 (DS 2). Conducted standard 500 m CTD at permanent FFS CTD site.

October 11, 2006

Conducted morning dive and small boat safety meeting at 0730. At 0800, launched three small boats (PIFSC 19’ SAFEboat, CRED 19’ SAFEboat, and ship’s 15’ SAFEboat) to commence diver based biodiversity surveys at Lagoon Patch Reef site 2 (LPR 2) consisting of hand collection, algae collection, microbial collections (sediment and water), suction, sand collection, sand sifting, rubble brushing, and rubble extraction. At 0900, commenced hauling baited traps from DS 2 site. Conducted snorkel surveys of intertidal shore around La Perouse Pinnacle site. Completed retrieval of baited trap strings from site DS 2 at 1630. Deployed 5 individual shallow water baited traps at Lagoon Sand site 1 (LS 1) just east of East Island in 4-7 m of water. Deployed light trap plankton collector at the last baited trap site. Deployed 3 strings of 8 baited traps in depths ranging from 250 m to 100 m at Deep Slope site 1 (DS 1).

October 12, 2006

Conducted morning dive and small boat safety meeting at 0730. At 0745, launched three small boats (PIFSC 19’ SAFEboat, CRED 19’ SAFEboat, and ship’s 15’ SAFEboat) to commence diver based biodiversity surveys at Fore Reef 1 site at a depth of 25 m (FR 1_25) consisting of hand collection, algae collection, microbial collections (sediment and water), suction, sand collection, rubble brushing, and rubble extraction. At 0900, commenced hauling baited traps from DS 1 site. Conducted diver based biodiversity surveys at Fore Reef 1 site (shifted east due to large swell northwest swell) at a depth of 10 m (FR 1_10) consisting of hand collection, algae collection, microbial collections (sediment and water), suction, sand collection, sand sifting, rubble brushing, and rubble extraction. Retrieved 5 individual shallow water baited traps and light trap collector at Lagoon Sand site 1 (LS 1) and re-deployed 5 baited traps at Lagoon Sand site 2 (LS 2). Deployed 3 strings of 8 baited traps in depths ranging from 250 m to 100 m at Deep Slope site 3 (DS 3) along the southeast slope of FFS.

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Previous Ships logs:

10/10/06:  All Aboard!

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*All images and information from French Frigate Shoals are provided courtesy of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands State Marine Refuge, and NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in accordance with permit numbers NWHIMNM-2006-015 and NWHIMNM-2006-01.