Work hard, play hard seems to be the motto of today. Before the trawls began, we woke up bright and early to Adrienne pondering whether she could microwave a metal mug and Ryan recounting a harrowing experience of almost peeing in his bunk (there is an unfortunate drip above him). However, we got a great start to the day and managed to successfully carry out four consecutive trawls. Because we were trawling mainly between 100 and 200m, our catches were heavy in fish (especially those darn flat fishzdisoubgadiofubagiuab!!) In invert world, we had a ton of urchins (boring, sorry Steve), basket stars (very cool, check out our photos!), a hermit crab that at first glance appeared to just be a gigantic sponge (turns out there’s a symbiotic relationship going on here), a cryptic box crab, and some swimmer crabs.
We anchored again at Smuggler’s Cove off the coast of Santa Cruz Island with tons of daylight to spare. We took advantage of the sun’s rays and gentle swell to do some fishing and swan diving off the boat. As the afternoon passed, Santa Cruz Island looked more and more alluring. Although the redneck Jacuzzi was hard to leave, we knew that the island had secrets to share with us (think LOST). We decided to go on an expedition in the R/V Yellowfin’s small inflatable boat to go check out the rocky coast. With a shovel, 2 fish boards, and two planks of wood as oars, plus some emergency granola bars and frosty beverages, the team was ready to make the journey to shore. With the current as our guide, we quickly arrived at the beach despite almost hilariously overturning due to an unexpected wave. A ziplock bag turned out to be not so waterproof, and we found ourselves stranded with a waterlogged radio. But nothing could stop our adventure! Ben marked our boat’s spot with a large log and we were on our way. Jonathan, Morgan, and Ben all left their shoes to go hiking (not the best idea in retrospect), while Adrienne and Kirk led the way through an olive tree orchard (aka the Olive Garden). When we reached the "top", it was time for some Sound of Music frolicking. After a brief photo shoot, we said goodbye to the island after luckily not running into any smoke monsters or polar bears.
We ended the evening with an amazing rack of lamb feast prepared by Chef Rogan and watched the orange moon rise behind Anacapa Island.
Highlights:
· Adrienne caught three senoritas, Ryan caught a kelp bass, Chelsea caught six mackerel, and Morgan caught nothing
· Morgan once again learned the importance of sunscreen
· Redneck hot tub (so good we had to mention it twice)
· Chef Rogan wouldn’t make us smores
· Morgan and Steve both fell asleep watching Role Models
. Ryan got his workout in (We were worried there for a bit)
-Morgan Winston '14, Adrienne Mikovari '14, and Ryan Stokes '14
