Rare Bird Chase to Nantucket

Not really about fish, but just wanted to let everyone know I was still up and kicking.

Yesterday took the ferry to Nantucket from Hyannis to chase a pair of Northern lapwing birds that have been on the island since Hurricane Sandy.

Found them and returned. Thousands of scoters in Nantucket Sound.

Only fish seen at ferry docks were Atlantic silversides.  



Photo of Northern lapwing



1000th Page View

Incredible and thank you!

Surprise Offshore Trip

Ultimately, this remarkable trip happened because of a family, The H.’s from Darien Connecticut.

The H’s spend their summers in Newport, and they sent their boys to the Norman Bird Sanctuary summer camp, where they shined down at 3^rd Beach. Over the course of the summer, I lobbied the family to start up a salt-water tank, and they did.  At the end of the summer, I contacted the Norwalk Aquarium to see if they wanted some of our fish. They did too, and it was the H’s who delivered the fish to the aquarium. The aquarium was very grateful for the donation. Now the aquarium is our friend.

Jump forward to last Wednesday, when the aquarium’s Jack Schneider called me to see if I wanted to go offshore with them on a Sargassum seaweed collecting trip, I readily accepted.

Early the following morning, I met Jack and two fellow Norwalk aquarists in Galilee, to board the sport fishing boat “Snappa,” noted as the shark cage boat that I used to go out on many years ago. “Snappa “ is owned by Captain Charlie Donilon.

 

Snappa

 

From left: Jack, Joe, Kerry, Captain Charlie

 

I was so excited, because of the hundreds and hundreds of trips I have gone offshore, this was the first time I have gone on a dedicated marine specimen collecting trip. Plus there was no public that I had to narrate to, only three other marine biologists.

As we got underway, in addition to being a beautiful and sunny day, seas were calm. We steamed south directly for Cox’s Ledge at a fast clip- 16-knots. I’m not used to going that fast. The aquarium brought lots of collecting gear while I brought my extender net and a small dip net.

 

 

My net: ship's colors on the day

 

Soon we started seeing pelagic birds; red-necked phalaropes, greater shearwaters, Wilson’s storm-petrels, and an adult Northern gannet.

We found some floating Sargassum seaweed, and collected some. In it was a small gray triggerfish, smaller unidentified fry, and some of the specimens associated with the gulfweed community; gulfweed shrimp, portunis crabs, and gulfweed nudibranchs.

Gray triggerfish

 

We left the weed patches and although we got about 30-miles offshore, wespent the next few hours with little results. Eventually I recommended that we return to where we had had the Sargassum earlier, and here we found the mother lode, where we spent the next couple of hours gathering and collecting. In addition to more triggerfish, we also collected some orange filefish and a solitary planehead filefish. We also found a Frisbee with some goose barnacles on it.

Jack sorting through a tub of Sargassum

 

Orange filefish

 

Planehead filefish

 

Goose barnacles on frisbee

 

 

 

Then it was time to go in. One final treat.

 

In all, about thirty of these common dolphins surrounded us.

Great day. Thanks H's.

Captain Charlie and Joe in wheelhouse

 

  

 

Tough Day for Hickory Shad

 

I went to the seawall on Wellington Avenue, Newport. This was the view topside:

The tall ship is the "Sloop Providence.'  My friends are crew on it. This vessel is a replica of the original ship of the same name.
It has a remarkable history During the time of the RevolutionaryWar it was at one tim, the only ship in the US Navy. Taking on the Brisits Navy, it sank or captured 40-British Ships. As John Paul Jones first command, this gutsy ship also captured Nassau, Bahams twice, and from her booty,supplied George Washington's army with clothes. The list goes on. Currently this vessel is Rhode Island's state flagship, and was used in "Piates of the Caribbean."

So this was the view topside.

Meanwhile, at my feet in the water, a dense cloud of hickory shad was under assault.

 by snapper bluefish like this one

 

A squadron of bluefish would attack this ball of shad and emerge from the fray, each with a fish in its mouth. It was grizly thinking that this was the shad's lot- to spend their day waiting to be picked off the the mauraders.

 

Here are more images of the shad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then this floudering fish floated by

 

 

It was trapped in a cellophane cigarette wrapper.

I freed it, took its photo, and set it free. It was a menhaden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mystery Fish Continues-Three Weeks Now

Enclosed are photographs of a fish that has eluded both identification and capture by myself and many others over the past few weeks. This includes evasion from our most successful local hunting group- the 6-8 year olders.

It is located in a small tidepool at the northern end of 3rd Beach in Middletown and the fish is not even an inch long.

I have submitted the photos to the North American Native Fish Association and hopefully someone there may have an idea.

In the photos, I have included both the regular shots and the blurrier close-ups.

Naturally any insights are most appreciated.

Banded drum perhaps?

Also two habitat shots.

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Visit by RI Dept Environmental Management

Recently, down at the Crabtown (north) end of the beach, a mystery fish has been eluding both capture and identification. I have been after it now for eight days. Yesterday, I went in early to the beach to give myself a pre-crowd, pre-wind, low tide chance at the fish. After almost an hour of futility, I gave up. As I was leaving, I heard a boat coming in fast through the mooring field, and the moment I saw it, I recognized it as the state’s Department of Environmental Management finfish survey boat. Last summer, I met up with them three times and they gave me fish for the aquarium.

Captained by J., the crew of four makes monthly surveys in the summer recording fish at a number of sampling stations located around Narragansett Bay. I grabbed my buckets and ran over to where they were about to set their 100-foot seine. It’s fascinating to watch and I was hopeful that they might net some goodies for the aquarium. I was able to take pictures of the operation.

RI DEM survey boat

Surveyer dropped off on beach with seine

The boat circles around

The four crew then pull the seine ashore

...and dump the fish into this bucket. That's a puffer blown up.

The bucket is brought onboard and each fish measured and identified

The measuring board.

On this day, their catch was correspondent with my recent seining. They caught many kingfish, killifish, menhaden, silversides; lesser amounts of puffers, sea robins, pipefish, flounder; and sadly, an expired inshore lizardfish.  I gratefully accepted a large windowpane, a large kingfish, a smaller winter flounder, and two medhaden that didn’t make it.   

Winter flouner

Menhaden

100th Fish Species

Last Thursday, July 31, amongst other species, we seined scup at Third Beach. Seeing the scup marked the 100th species of fish I've seen for the year 2012. That was my goal, and I am surprised I reached this mark at such an early date. Credit should be given to my Tennessee trip in June because without having gone there, I would still be at about the 60-species mark.

Here is a picture I took of one of the three scup that we then put into the aquarium.

Nice Fish Today- Crevalle Jack

Juvenile Crevalle Jack

More from the Minnow Aquarium

Permit jack

Pumpkinseed

Striped killifish male

Striped mullet

Striped searobin



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