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Journals 2008/2009Heather Judkins
August 19, 2008 We found out yesterday that today was our last day of work onboard. Due to inclement weather headed our way, the decision was made to head into Newport, Oregon a day early. What this meant for me was that I really only had one last night to catch one of the apparently elusive Humboldt squid! So, as we have done for the past 18 nights, Jared Cox and I dropped our jigs in the water for the last hour of squid jigging last night. The night was calm and the CTD was going to 1000m for the last time for this leg. Jim Kintzele, a crewmember decided to join us for the last 15 minutes of fishing. Less than one minute after he put his pole in, he exclaimed that he had one on his line! Wouldn't you know it, he did! As Jared and I started to reel our own lines in, we also had hits which started a chaotic flurry of squid fishing for the next 10 minutes. Jared, Jim, and I were reeling the squid to the side off the ship while a deckhand, Dave Lapointe, gaffed the animals and hauled them onboard. We couldn't reel them in fast enough! One after another, we pulled in 12 Humboldt squid within 15 minutes!
After the excitement and pictures were taken, it was finally time for me to take measurements and preserve the specimens for the project. The squid were onboard by 10:45pm and I didn't finish the measurements, dissections, and labeling until 4:30am. Although I was going to sleep just before the sun came up, I was so excited to be face to face with the animals. I took measurements, including weight, length, maturity stage, sex of the animal and froze parts in the freezer for future work back at the lab. An absolute perfect way to end the research!
Question 1: Which bodies of water are Humboldt squid found in? Question 2: Using the NOAA ship tracker map, hypothesize reasons why I caught squid this night and had no success prior in the cruise. (At least 3) |
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