Summary of Trips

One trip was made during the fiscal month of May. A comparison was made of three concrete sites of different ages in the Horn Island Barge Site (FH-1). Namely the sites compared were "Rubble #2" (1988), "Module 51" (1989), and the "Chevron Rubble" (1991). During the same trip, the "Raven" was located near the "Bill Walker" in FH-2 with height measurements taken. Video was taken of all sites.

During the past month, 17 new fish were reported tagged and released by Mark Miller. One red snapper was reported recaptured by Danny Watts of Biloxi.

Rubble #2, Module 51, Chevron Rubble - Comparison

All three concrete rubble concentrations are located within the Horn Island Barge Site (FH-1) located about 11 nautical miles at 208 from Horn Island Pass. It was desired to make general observations of newer and older concrete rubble reefs. Seas were favorable at less than two feet and water visibility was about 20-30 feet at the surface, about 50 feet in the mid-water, but only about 10 feet at the bottom. The individual targets were visited on June 5, 1992 and are described as follows.

Rubble #2 was sunk during July of 1988 and originated from the remains of the old Hwy 613 bridge in Escatawapa. It was deposited as several small piles scattered between 12406.8, 47036.4 and 12408.0 47036.5. This dive was made on a pile located at 12407.7, 47036.5. This area has been productive snapper grounds during the past year.

Module 51 (listed as #19,20 on the 1991 FH-1 orientation sheet) was sunk in November of 1989 and is located at 12404.0, 47037.5. It is a broken up module with one wall still standing that has a doorway in the center of it, which appears to be a definite enhancement to the fish since they swim freely back and forth through it. This site was known to be very productive of 16 inch snapper last summer, but appears to have been fished out since. This is further reinforced by the unusually larger concentration of trigger fish which are harder to hook.

The Chevron Rubble was donated by Chevron during August of 1991 (ten months ago). It was scattered in an area bounded by LORAN LOPs 12405.5, 12407.5, 47038.4, and 47038.9. This dive took place at 12406.6, 47038.7. This relatively newer site has not been known to be productive of keeper sized snapper as of yet. The modules took almost 2 years to become significantly productive.

The comparisons showed much smaller and less concentrations of fish on the newer Chevron Rubble as would be expected. The fouling of barnacles and algae, however, appeared to be about the same on all targets. The hydra growth was comparable but shorter. Sea Urchins were much more abundant on Rubble #2 than either of the other two sites. Also a few larger snapper were seen on Rubble #2 that weren't evident on the other two targets. A couple small patches of "finger coral" (sea whips) were seen on both older sites but none were observed yet on the Chevron Rubble site. Small cocoa damsels and "hi-tops" were seen on all sites, but no other tropicals were observed. Blue Angels had been common in past years. The bait fish populations were comparable among the reefs. A comparison of the game fish observations is shown on the next page in Table One. In addition to the table listing, a 10-12' hammerhead shark and a 2-3' sea turtle were sighted on Rubble #2.

The Raven

Rumor has told of this wreck as being adjacent to the Bill Walker wreck in MGFB's FH-2 Site. A previous search made last year failed to locate it, but it was successfully located on this trip after getting a description of its location from Bill Meese, who had actually visited the wreck. The LORAN coordinates are 12441.6, 47044.1-0, 29616.8. The vessel looks very much like its sister wreck, the Bill Walker, reportedly a pogey boat. It appears to be missing the stern section and measured 45 feet long by 21 feet wide. The bow rises to 9'-9" off the bottom, but most of the sides are in the range of 2-3 feet high. The starboard stern measured only 7 inches, the port stern 1'-6", but these heights rise quickly to the 2-3 feet range. Time did not allow a detailed survey to determine its orientation and position in respect to the Bill Walker, but it appeared to be located about 100 feet away at about 150 from the Bill Walker's Stern. A future trip will be needed for more detailed information. A shrimp net was observed entangled at the starboard stern.

There were minimal fish sightings with only 5 sheepshead and 1 flounder sighted. A dive was not made on the Bill Walker but an abundance of fish were charted on it in the upper mid-water (20-30 feet). Most of the reefs these past couple months have seen this phenomenon of fish moving up to the upper mid-water, perhaps due to better water quality. An unidentified patch of presumed eggs were seen at the port stern. Also a large picturesque sea anemone was observed in the top of the bollard at the bow. Heavy fouling of the steel hull was evident indicating its old age. It is speculated that it was sunk along with the Bill Walker, rumored to have been purposely sunk in the 1960's by predecessors of MGFB.

Fish Tagging Update

During the past month, 17 new fish were reported tagged and released by Mark Miller. Only one red snapper was reported recaptured.

Danny Watts of Biloxi caught a 15" red snapper on 5-21-92 with tag number 3034 at some rigs off chandeleur. It was released originally by Ken Dropco at the Gas Well west of FH-1 on 1-25-92 measuring 12.9 inches (a 0.54 inch per month growth rate).

Last Month's GCRL Cobia (RC5220) was tagged by Bobby Catchot at Dog Keys Pass on 7-14-91 measuring 28.2". Mark Miller recaptured it at MP108 (40 miles south) 291 days later on 4-22-92 measuring 30.8 inches (a 0.27 inch per month growth rate).