5 Days Onboard the USGS R/V Kiyi
On July 7th - July 13th, 2022, I had the incredible opportunity to go aboard the USGS Research Vessel Kiyi to help the crew sample Coregonines and the food web on Lake Superior. The journey began on July 7th when I drove up to Duluth, MN to board the ship early in the morning at 6:30 am. I was assigned a bunk, given steel-toed boots, a hard hat (a pink one), and a life vest and we were off. We had a long journey to make it to the Apostle Islands to sample the Bayfield area, all while sampling along the way.
Upon the arrival at each predetermined site, we would lower a bottom trawl net to a set depth, lower a larval net to tow over the side of the boat, take zooplankton samples, water temperature and clarity readings, Secchi, etc. Sometimes we would get fish in the nets, other times we would not, it all depended on the depth of each site. Over the course of the trip in the short time, I was onboard, we happened to break two different nets... oops!
Over the course of 5 days, we traveled from Duluth, MN to Marquette, MI where I eventually got off the boat. The crew will continue to sample for 29 days straight and travel Lake Superior's entire shoreline, with some offshore pelagic sites.
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