May 27th, 2003; Leg 7, Day #5

We completed three stations today—the last one just north of Ensenada, Mexico, at 32º North. The winds finally died down this afternoon, and diving operations were resumed. We were slightly ahead of schedule and added a net tow at 32º North. Several sardine larvae were caught—much to the surprise of one of the Mexican oceanographers that is helping us, Sonia Valle, who did not expect to see sardines until much farther north. Biovolumes from the net tows are roughly those of the February transect, a result to be expected for spring vs. winter conditions.

– Curt Collins

The crew works to recover
the CTD rosette.

Veronica Lance takes the opportunity to rest a moment 
while waiting for the instrument to be recovered.

The trawl net comes back on board (see right) 
with some surprises like this beautiful 
stomatopod larva (see below).