Spring SEAMAP Plankton Cruise blog is Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello All,
       I'd just like to take the time and welcome everyone to, and thank you for taking interest in this blog. As stated above the whole purpose of this blog is to give you a little idea about what goes on here on the R/V Gordon Gunter during the Spring SEAMAP cruises. Take a look back at the post from April, 14 from last year; This should give those of you who are unfamiliar with this cruise a little history and background into the type of research being done out here.
       Well this years research cruise began on Thursday, March 24th as we departed lovely Pascagoula, MS for open water, adventure and lot's and lot's of larval fish....  As we did last year the first leg of the cruise will be targeted sampling using satellite imagery to identify Sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll fronts in the ocean that correspond to regions of high larval ABT (Atlantic Bluefin Tuna) abundance from a habitat preference model.
       However different from last years cruise this year we are including the northern Caribbean into the sampling area, precipitated by the appearance of ABT larvae in Caribbean waters off the Yucatan Peninsula during the previous year's sampling. So despite a 7 day transit that included stopping in Cozumel to pick up some of the other members of the Science party including researcher's joining us from the Mexican fisheries agency INAPESCA, ECOSUR, and another from Belize. And the celebration of my 30th birthday somewhere north of Grand Cayman... Don't worry we had a cake. We are now sampling just North of Jamaica, and are about halfway through the first leg of the cruise. So far we have had some scombrid (tuna) larvae but nothing confirmed as ABT. The weather has been fair, and despite covering a lot of ground we still have a ways to go before our first stop back on land again.
      Anyway my hope for this years blog is to get a variety of people posting to give views from all aspects of what goes on during the cruise, I'm hoping to have even a couple posts in Spanish from some of our Spanish speaking colleagues here on the ship. Anyway enjoy and please feel free to post comments. If you have questions about anything feel free to ask, and I or another member of the science party will try to answer you as soon as possible.
    Well take care for now
Sennai

      Me looking out over the fantail as we pass by the tiny island of Navassa.