The Tiglax anchored in the sun waiting for researchers to finish their field studies |
The M/V Tiglax supports scientific research and monitoring within the Alaska National Maritime Refuge System. |
With the beach seine loaded into the front of the boat, we prepare for a seine at a sandy beach |
John Piatt and Jeff Williams helping out on a beach seine |
Beach seine beach |
The beach seine has a small-mesh bag in the center to collect small fish that are prey to marine birds and mammals. The net is held vertically in the water with lead weights on the bottom and floats on the top. |
Mayumi Arimitsu and Erica Madison pulling in a beach seine net on a sandy beach |
Captain Kevin Bell, Jim Bodkin, John Piatt pulling in a beach seine |
Inflatable skiffs are used to transport researchers to their land-based study sites, to survey marine birds and mammals, or to deploy beach seines to sample forage fish. |
The modified herring trawl samples fish in the watercolumn. Here the trawl is being set with wires attached to the net mouth. Only the yellow floats at the top of the net mouth are visible at the surface of the water. |
Mayumi Arimitsu sorts organisms caught in a midwater trawl by species. |
Euphausiids (krill), caught in a modified herring trawl, are important prey for marine birds and mammals. Jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton are also collected in the trawl. |
Capelin, eulachon, Walleye pollock, and euphausiids are caught in the midwater trawl. |
Some marine predators also eat pelagic snails (pea-sized black gastropods), which we caught in the Isaacs Kidd midwater trawl along with juvenile capelin and a stray piece of kelp. |
Mayumi Arimitsu empties the codend of the modified herring trawl to find a nice catch of spawning capelin. |
Spawning capelin smell like cucumbers! |
Aileen Miller sorts the catch |
Squid are also important in the diets of marine predators. |
Euphausiids are small in size but they occur in large numbers and they are important food for many marine birds and mammals. |
Large jellyfish |
Adult and young of the year Pacific sandlance collected on Adak Island. |
A male capelin in spawning condition, with an enlarged anal fin and raised lateral line. |
Arrowtooth flounder |
Prowfish |
Aileen Miller identifies euphausiids in the lab facilities on the M/V Tiglax. |
Mayumi Arimitsu identifies and measures forage fish in the lab on the Tiglax. |
Vacuum and flask setup for chlorophyll a sample filtration. |
The M/V Tiglax at the dock
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
