Fred Howard Park

Fred Howard Park 

Clark Blackson

Thursday, September 17th 2015 

Temperature - 80 degrees F

Humidity - 65-70%

Heavy Overcast, 5-10 mph winds

Water Ph - 6

Water Salinity - 35 ppm

This week we did some aquatic studies at Fred Howard Park beginning with the use seine net which I helped drag out about 30 meters offshore in the hopes of collecting some specimens. It wasn't the highest yielding catch, but we did manage to snag a small crab, plenty of seagrass, and some small pinfish. We were able to identify several different sea grasses present, including manatee grass, turtle grass, and shoal grass.

More revealing of the true biodiversity lurking beneath the surface was when the nets went out, and the snorkels and goggles went on. I felt more comfortable with going deeper offshore yet there was plenty to see within about 50 meters of the shoreline. Among the the spotted/collected creatures were:

Sheepshead (3)

Barracuda (1 < 2ft long)

Clams (2)

Stingray (2, or were they skates? i cant never tell the difference..)

Pin fish (dozens)

Whitefish (dozens, what we commonly call small white baitfish, sardines perhaps?)

Horseshoe Crab (2, picked one up, he gave a disapproving vibe, put him back)

Lizard Fish (1)

Sponges (dozens)

Croc (1, size 11, possibly wearable if seeking a solitary shoe for redneck pirate clothing ensemble)

Fishing Pole (1, Probably salvageable if put in a decent amount of work, too lazy, left to the redneck pirates)

All in all i'd say it was a pretty good trip, no one got eaten by a shark which is always a plus, and for once this year it wasn't unbearably hot outside and/or raining like we live in Brazil. Hope we have more water bound adventures in the future, but if not I'm happy i got to at least go on this one. :)