February 9, 2018
Despite reducing the number of sea days for the annual Winter California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Survey by more than half, personnel from FRD and SIO continue to make outstanding progress. At this point they have completed all of the scheduled lines of a truncated pattern and are progressing out on line 76.7 from Port San Luis. With a forecast of deteriorating weather on the horizon, it is uncertain as to how much they will be able to complete before they head for San Francisco.
The NOAA ship Bell Shimada is scheduled to arrive at Pier 50 on Sunday, February 11. For a survey that was close to being canceled, information collected during the Winter California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Survey will hopefully benefit the upcoming Spring California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Survey as well as the Summer Coastal Pelagic Species Survey. The crew has already been rewarded with sights of numerous Loggerhead turtles, Orcas, and fantastic sunsets. For more details check out CalCOFI's twitter page and the official CalCOFI webpage.
February 2, 2018
The NOAA ship Bell Shimada departed Thursday, February 1, from the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal for the annual Winter California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations Survey. The survey was originally scheduled to sail on the NOAA ship Reuben Lasker on January 11, but due to personnel issues the platforms were changed. The R/V Shimada was then scheduled to arrive in San Diego on January 22 and depart for the survey on January 25, but due to the government shutdown the ship was held in Newport, Oregon.
The survey was originally scheduled for a 23 day duration has since been reduced to 10 days. The standard pattern has been severely reduced but the critical cardinal lines will still be completed. All systems are working well, and the ship is currently working out on line 90 and are now offshore of San Clemente Island. They are scheduled to arrive in San Francisco on February 11 at the completion of the survey.
