Summary of Trips
During this period, 1 Dive Trip and 2 inshore construction trips were made. Observations were made of the
970623 Ladnier Barge (ID=205F13) and 960828Rubble #1 (ID=165F13) on July 25, 1998. Deposits of 500 cubic
yards each of #57 Limestone were made off the Courthouse Road Pier (ID=210CRP) on August 8 and off the
Naval Hospital (ID=211NH) on August 12, 1998. This is the first report for the fiscal year 99 working under
DMR permit DMR-98330-W.
explanation of Identification Terms
In the early stages of reef development, material was merely identified with its site and a letter designation for barges and a number designation for rubble. For example, there was FH-1 Barge E and FH-2 Rubble 6. As more material gets placed and more sites become developed, there arises a need to better identify the material to avoid confusion and perhaps yield some more information about the material. Two methods of identification will be used.
An absolute ID was started a couple years back when it was desired to develop a database of material placed. Each target was assigned a number followed by the site identification. The list was made as chronological as possible so that lower numbers mean older targets. The site ID is added to give an idea as to the location of the target. For example, the Ladnier Barge mentioned above has an ID of 205F13. The number 205 is enough to identify this material and it is approximately the 205th target placed on the bottom. We also know it is in Fish Haven 13. However, there is some merit to knowing the date the material is placed.
Last year a standard was implemented of assigning the deposit date to the beginning of the rubble. For example 6-27-97 ANG Rubble. This idea is being expanded upon by changing the format to YYMMDD and eliminating the hyphens thereby facilitating a more chronological and efficient listing of the material. In this and future reports, efforts will be made to use both identification schemes.
970623 Ladnier Barge (ID=205F13)
This spud barge was sunk at Latitude 30°02.690' and Longitude 88°31.865' on June 23, 1997 utilizing
Tidelands funds. It has a designated ID of 205F13 and LORAN Coordinates of 12454.4 47033.8. When the
barge was sunk a bit over 1 year ago, it reportedly had a Surrounding Depth of 70 feet, Minimum Depth of
45 feet and a barge height of about 6 feet. Reportedly there was a 25' spud sticking up when it sunk. On this
visit the Surrounding Depth was measured at 71 feet and the Minimum Depth read 63 feet. Barge height
measurements starting at the southeast corner and moving counterclockwise were recorded as 5'6", 5'8",
4'0", 4'4". The barge basically lays east/west with some washing out noted at the east end accounting for
the increased height measurements. A shrimp net was entangled on the barge which may account for the
missing spud. DGPS Coordinates for the Bow are 30°02.691' and 88°31.858'. The Stern coordinates are
30°02.692' and 88°31.874'. Sea life was quite abundant especially considering the short period of time it has
been down. The pictures below depict some of the life captured on video during the visit. Finger Corals were
noted to be taking a foothold as well as spiny urchins, barnacles, anenomes, arrow crabs, and unknown
plants. Fish observations included Red Snapper (35-50), Trigger Fish (10-15), Gag Grouper (3), Warsaw
Grouper (2), Snowy Grouper (1), Spadefish (35-50), Blue Runners (50-75), Cigar Minnows (75-100), High Tops
(20-25), Tom Tates (35-50), Sheepshead (10-15), Sea Bass (3), and Scamp (1). The Snowy Grouper was
probably the most unusual observation for this area. Notable game fish observations included a Warsaw
Grouper estimated at 30 pounds, another around 10 pounds, and 3 Gag Groupers in the 5-10 pound range.
60828 Rubble #1 (ID=165F13)
This Rubble pile was sunk on August 28, 1996 utilizing Tidelands funds at Latitude 30°02.090' and Longitude 88°31.960'. The Loran Coordinates are 12453.5, 47031.3. The surrounding depth is 74' with a fairly concentrated 2'-3' relief of rubble. Similar observations were made of Finger Corals, Anenomes, Arrow Crabs, Sea Urchins, and Plants. Fish observations included Cocoa Damsels, High Tops, Sand Bass, Trigger Fish (20-25), Red Snapper (50-75), and Gag Grouper (4). While there was not as much variety of fish, there was a higher concentration of Red Snapper and Trigger Fish. About 55 minutes of video was taken between both the Ladnier Barge and this site.
980808 Courthouse road pier limestone (ID=210CRP)
On August 8, 1998, a construction trip was made to deposit 500 cubic yards of #57 limestone off the southeast end of the courthouse road pier. This work was being done under Permit DMR98330-W utilizing Tidelands funds for FY99. Offloading started at 10:50AM and concluded at 1:48PM. Pascagoula River Tide predictions for this day were High @ 11:47AM 2.0' and Low @ 9:37PM 0.3'. The work was being done near high tide and depth readings in the 3 acre site read from 4.1' to 7.6' with most of the area showing 5'-6'. The corners of the site are: NE 30°22.440' NW 30°22.440' SW 30°22.360' SE 30°22.360'
89°02.480' 89°02.590' 89°02.590' 89°02.480'
The material was scattered fairly evenly over an area centered around Latitude 30°22.387' and Longitude 89°02.544'. The corresponding LORAN Coordinates are 12135.6 47102.8 29386.6.
The method of deployment involved spudding the barge down and pivoting around it scattering the rocks. By having the coordinates of each spud placement, one could draw a circle around each spud using a radius of 20'-100' and have a good correlation of where the rocks were placed. Four spud placements were made at the following coordinates: Spud1: 30°22.398' Spud2: 30°22.384' Spud3: 30°22.383' Spud4: 30°22.403'
89°02.550' 89°02.526' 89°02.561' 89°02.518'
980812 Naval Hospital limestone (ID=211NH)
On August 12, 1998, a construction trip was made to deposit 500 cubic yards of #57 limestone off the beach in front of the US Naval Hospital. This work was being done under Permit DMR98330-W utilizing Tidelands funds for FY99. Offloading started at 1:21PM and concluded at 2:45PM. Tides were neap with a level of about 1 foot. Depths in the site ranged from 2.9' to 7.2' with most areas in the 5'-6' range. This deployment was made more concentrated than the courthouse road pier project so that future comparisons may be made to determine the best method. The barge was actually spudded 3 times but only very small amounts of rocks were dumped on the first two spuds. Because the barge was close to the borders, it was requested to move more toward the middle at its final spudding at Lat 30°22.231' and Long 89°03.173'. A good concentration of the material was marked at Lat 30°22.240' and Long 89°03.165' which corresponds to LORAN Coordinates of 12129.1 47102.1 29379.5. Minimum depth of the rocks was recorded at 4.1' with the surrounding depths around 6' to 6.5'.The corners of this site are: NE 30°22.260' NW 30°22.260' SW 30°22.210' SE 30°22.210'
89°03.100' 89°03.270' 89°02.270' 89°03.100'
Appendix
This report was prepared by Mark P. Miller of PRIMOFISH.COM. Copies of this and other reports are available in WordPerfect and HTML format at http://rsca.org/mgfb/reports. The equipment used to take measurements are a Furuno 767 Depth Sounder and a Northstar 951XD DGPS unit. During the Courthouse Road Project the 951XD was tracking 8 of 12 satellites, had a hoop of 1.1 and an accuracy of 10'. Tide was at about 2' and falling. During the Naval Hospital Project the 951XD was tracking 10 of 12 satellites, had a hoop of 0.9, and an accuracy of 7'. Tide was neap at about 1'.