Summary of Trips

During the fiscal month of September, two partial day and one full day trips were made to verify more module numbers, tag red snapper, and make eight separate dives in which six module targets, the Bill Walker, and the WaterSpout were videod and observed. Measurements were taken on the later two and are compared with last years' measurements.

During the past month 157 fish were tagged and released. One previously tagged fish was reported recaptured.

The Bill Walker

This 110' X 22' Steel Hull is located in the northeast corner of FH-2 in about 57 feet of water with the bow facing 250. The LORAN coordinates are 12441.3(.1-.4) 47044.1-.2 29616.8(.7-.9).

On September 30, 1990, hull measurements were taken. These are compared with last years' measurements below in Table One. The bow shows slightly more relief while the stern is slightly less. Some shifting of sediment from the bow to the stern is suspected.

* Comparison of Hull Measurements *

The "Bill Walker" FH-2

Change 2-05-89 9-30-90

Bow + 5" 15'-2" 15'-7"

Star Mid - 4" 4'-9" 4'-5"

Port Mid - 5" 6'-1" 5'-8"

Star Stern - 5" 8'-6" 8'-1"

Port Stern - 4" 8'-1" 7'-9"

Table One

Structurally the target has not changed significantly, however, some further deterioration is apparent.

A large sea turtle was seen wedged under the bow. Some excellent video was taken of the turtle swimming out and along side the wreck. There was not a great abundance of fish sighted but eight cobia were seen. The presence of the turtle may have been a contributing factor in this observation. The fish sightings are summarized on the next page in Table Two.

Estimated Fish Sightings -- Bill Walker

September 30, 1990

Fish Type Size/Weight Count

Red Snapper.......... <2 lbs... 15-20

Black Snapper........ <2 lbs... 8-10

Cobia................10-20lbs... 8

Trigger Fish......... <1 lbs... 5-8

Sheepshead........... 1-3 lbs....10-15

Spadefish............ <1 lbs... 20-30

Bait fish............ <1 lbs... >500

Table Two

Module 77 (#15)

Module 77 is listed as Target 15 on the FH-2 orientation map. It is located within a string of 12 modules in the Southeast corner. It is whole, but some there is some broken debris in the area.

A substantial number of juvenile snapper and bait fish were observed. The bait fish being made up primarily of pin fish and cigar minnows. It was interesting to hear what appears to be dolphin screeches that were captured on video tape. Unfortunately none of them made an appearance. Five small cobia were sighted here. The fish sightings are summarized below in Table Three.

Estimated Fish Sightings on Module 77

September 30, 1990 (Target 15)

Fish Type Size/Weight Count

Red Snapper.......... <2 lbs...600-800

Red Snapper.......... 2-5 lbs... 30-40

Trigger Fish......... <1 lbs... 50-60

Cobia................10-20lbs... 5

Bait fish............ <1 lbs... >5000

Table Three

Modules 21, 23-24, 5-6, and 16

On October 6 & 7 of 1990, trips were made to verify module targets in FH-2, take video and make observations. Since the water was relatively clear (40-50 feet), extra effort was made to take video. Five separate module sites and the WaterSpout were visited. The WaterSpout is discussed on the next page.

On the orientation map for FH-2, Modules 21, 23-24, 5-6, and 16 are listed as Targets 21, 33, 37, and 36 respectively. The first and last ones listed are whole, without tops, and only two openings. One open end, and one end with a doorway. The other ones are busted up. Target 21 is the only one that has no broken debris evident in the area.

Target 21 also lacked bait fish, whereas, Targets 33, 36, and 37 showed a great abundance of bait. Target 21 also had about half the number of juvenile snapper (200-300). Target 33 had the most snapper (700-900). All sites showed some keeper size snapper (2-5 lbs.) and 2-4 small cobia. Target 33 had more spadefish and a single spotfin butterfly. All except Target 21 had at least one warsaw grouper.

Verified Module Locations

Fourteen targets were searched for in the middle of FH-2. Three were not found in a reasonable time so a return trip will be made at a later date for a more exhaustive search. All attempts are shown below in Table Four. These newer coordinates should save some time. The ID numbers correspond to the map numbers from the orientation maps that were released last year.

ID Material S1 S2 S3

20 Module 9 Did Not Find

21 Mod 21-No Top 12438.9-.8 47043.8-.9 29614.0-.1

27 Mod 22-Busted 12435.8-.7 47043.7-.8 29610.9-.8

27 Mod 22-Piece 12435.9 47043.7 29611.0

29 Pieces-Small 12435.0 47043.4 29609.9

28 Module 13 12435.2(1-3)47043.2-.3 29609.8

30 Module 14 Did Not Find

31,32 Mod 5-Busted 12432.8 47043.6-.7 29607.8

33 M 23-24 Busted 12432.3-.2 47043.8-.9 29607.5-.6

33 M 23-24 Piece 12432.6-.5 47043.9-.8 29607.9-.8

37 Mod 5-6 Busted 12431.5-.4 47043.6-.5 29606.5-.4

39 Mod 29-30 No Find-small hit= 12431.2 47043.5 29606.1

34 Module 15 12432.0 47043.1-.2 29606.5

36 Mod 16-Whole 12431.6-.5 47043.1 29606.2-.1

38 Mod 17-Busted 12431.0-.9 47043.1 29605.5-.6

15 Mod 77-SE Mods 12443.4 47042.9 29617.6

Table Four

Verified Coordinates of New Module Targets in FH-2

The WaterSpout

This old wood hull shrimper is located in the northwest part of FH-2 in about 55 feet of water. There is very little left of the hull, and the booms and tanks make up the bulk of material. The wood hull has shown significant deterioration over the past couple of years. The highest point of the booms were measured at 12'-0" on October 7, 1990 compared with 17'-2" measured on February 19, 1989. The difference may be attributed to shifting of the booms (most likely) or deterioration/breakage.

The water visibility was somewhat clear. There were two large stingrays sighted as were 9 cobia. The rays may have contributed to the presence of the cobia. There was also a great abundance of bait fish--particularily pin fish. A large sergeant-major was also seen. The fish sightings are summarized below in Table Five.

Estimated Fish Sightings -- WaterSpout

October 7, 1990

Fish Type Size/Weight Count

Red Snapper.......... 1-3 lbs...100-200

Black Snapper........ <2 lbs... 5-8

Cobia................10-30lbs... 9

Trigger Fish......... <1 lbs... 30-40

Sheepshead........... 1-3 lbs.... 6-10

Spadefish............ <1 lbs...100-150

Bait fish............ <1 lbs... >5000

Table Five

Fish Tagging Update

Last month 157 new fish were tagged and released while only one tagged Red Snapper was recaptured. Twenty-three tags were placed by Joe Patrick while the remaining 134 tags were placed by Mark Miller. Joe Reported the one tag recapture which he recaught ten days after originally tagging it. It is shown below with the two tag recaptures from last month that were pending release information. These two fish had a full ten month period to grow (307 days). Both fish were tagged on the same day and recaught on the same day. The figures show a growth rate of over 1/2 inch per month over this long haul. It is likely that as a snapper gets longer he gets fuller and puts on more pounds. This may explain why the larger snapper's length did not grow as much.

Tagged Fish Recaptures

(for past month of September)

Tag Number Date-1 Date-2 Size-1 Size-2 Growth Rate/Mo.

00279 9/22/9010/02/90 12.75" 13.13" 0.38" 1.14"

49228 11/05/89 9/08/90 10.00" 16.30" 6.30" 0.62"

49264 11/05/89 9/08/90 13.00" 18.00" 5.00" 0.49"

Table Six