Analyzing and packing

Tomorrow I fly to Juneau to start getting ready for some work up in Tracy Arm - so i'll be switching gears to the Alaskan Fjord Corals blogspot tomorrow, though i'll still update here occasionally as things come up. Remember this is a rolling project, and the next thing to do is to find the funds to come back next year and do a full expedition, no easy task with science funding generally on the downturn. That is why a pilot project this year was so important, to make sure we would have success if we came back with a bigger crew and better equipment. Now we know there are corals deeper, and we know some good spots where they are, the next step is to get a better pictures and samples and try and identify species, habitats and document the water chemistry better.

Documenting the species that live within a National Park is so important, Glacier Bay has been protected for over 80 years, and yet with glacial retreat and species colonization the landscape is always changing, new animals and plants are moving in, naturally, as more land becomes available - and that's not just on the surface too, that's underwater as well! When did these corals get there? How many species are there in the park? How close to the glaciers can they live (with all that sediment in the water coming off of the glaciers, it's amazing they can live here at all!)? What are the requirements for a good coral habitat within the park? Should we be doing more to protect these populations? These are the kinds of questions we are asking and want to find the answers to.

Packing up the camera. This camera is headed back to USGS in Massachusetts (hopefully to arrive after Hurricane Earl has passed by!) to be used on another project. Despite it's small size it has been fantastic, and worked far better than expected for this project. Thanks to Kathy and Dann for sending this out to us! 

Writing up and analyzing the video. This is my task, last night and today i've been making sure all my notes are typed up (always have data in 2 places just in case!), the GPS coordinates are typed in, and any interesting corals on the video pulled out to look at closer. All this data will then be sent to Kathy to put onto a map, ready for choosing sites for next years hopeful expedition! 

And just in time too, it's not hard to stay inside today when it's raining so hard outside! We've had wonderful luck with the weather, September is the wettest month, so we really lucked out with the beautiful sunshine and dry days. Now if the rain could disappear for my Juneau work too that would be fantastic!