Removal of Animals

After the drop trap was pushed into the substrate, dip nets were used to sweep the bottom of the trap and remove nekton. Enclosed water was pumped from the trap and filtered through a 1.0 mm mesh plankton net. As the water level dropped, the sampler was continually swept with dip nets because the efficiency of animal capture increases with reduced water depth. Once drained, the sediment was visually and manually inspected for animals remaining on or burrowed into the substrate. Animals taken in dip nets or found during substrate inspection were added to the drop trap catch. Animals and other material (i.e., vegetation, macro-algae, shell hash, detritus) filtered by the plankton net were rinsed into the cod end and the catch bag detached. Samples were placed in a 1.0 mm mesh bag, labeled, fixed, and returned to the laboratory for processing.