Activity Report for the Period
January 12 - February 9, 2012
Summary During this period there was 1Reef Monitoring Trip. On February 4, a dive monitoring trip was made to the recently deployed 111026 NASA BRT 545F13 and also the 091124 Great Wicomico Pogey Boat 517F13 in FH-13.
111026 NASA BRT 545F13
Position: 30°00.442'N / 88°31.424'W 85' Depth
NASA Employee Bryon Maynard and his crew of 5 orchestrated the deployment of the BRT (Big Round Thing) in FH-13. The BRT was a Hydrogen Accumulator Tank (HAT) that was used in the testing of the Saturn V Engines at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. It was sunk in the Southwest End of FH-13 in 85 feet of water. The BRT has a water clearance of about 52' at this time compared to a depth reading of 50' at the time of her deployment about 3 months ago on October 26, 2011 which indicates a little settling into the bottom. Other depth readings taken showed 73 feet at the bottom of the ladder, 80 feet at the base of the legs, and 87 feet in the depressions where the legs go into the bottom. It looks like it will eventually make a great reef and is showing schools of juvenile jacks, cigar minnows, juvenile spadefish, juvenile red snapper, and cobia.
091124 Great Wicomico 517F13
Position: 29°59.794'N / 88°29.892'W 86' Depth
This 175' Pogey Boat was donated by Omega Protein and deployed in FH-13 on November 24, 2009. This reef has been monitored closely since her deployment showing earlier, the development of multitudes of juveniles and baitfish to her current collection of quality game fish. Sightings included Bluefish (25-30/1-3 lbs.), Redfish (150-200/8-15 lbs.), Red Snapper (125-175/2-20 lbs.), Gag Grouper (6-10/6-20 lbs.), Mangrove Snapper (8-12/2-6 lbs.), Spadefish (50-75), Cobia (3/15-40 lbs.), and a seven foot Lemon Shark. Visibility was better than average especially around the Structure, but there were clouds and patches of decreased visibility. This was unusual in that this cloud was normally existent in a layer on the bottom instead of patches of cloudiness that allowed some good visibility all the way to the bottom in areas. As indicated before, samples should be taken to a lab to analyze what this substance consists of. A depth measurement of 63 feet was taken at the masthead light indicating the structure has settled into the bottom and appears to have stabilized somewhat. Overall the reef is performing quite well.
