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-mm mesh plankton net cod-end bag. As the water level dropped, the sampler was continually swept with dip nets since 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, and detritus) pumped into the cod end bag of the plankton net were rinsed and the catch bag detached. Samples were placed in a 1-mm mesh bag, labeled, preserved, and returned to the laboratory for processing.