Q: How do you tell one larval fish from another? A: You get Dr. Lamkin to do it!!!!

 Well this year, one new aspect to sampling was the presence of Dr. John Lamkin the chief scientist for the cruise on board. Part of John's presence is to sort through the samples on board and determine if we are catching any Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (ABT) Larvae. If larvae is found then we may change our sampling pattern and sample more intensely around those oceanographic features.
   Unfortunately for us, and Dr. Lamkin, we have not found any ABT as yet in the samples. However this could be due to the sheer volume of zooplankton in the samples, and/or the small size of the ABT larvae in the samples due how early it is in the spawning season. Dr. Lamkin's expertise is necessary because the identification of larval ABT at this stage in development (1-8 mm total length) is dependent mostly on the correct identification on the pigmentation just before the tail. And can be a very difficult and tedious process when the larvae are this small. Thankfully we've had Dr. Lamkin aboard to handle this task, for the first leg anyway.

"Back to Sampling I go!"
Sennai