July 1-6 --Surveys

July 1 - 6

We completed 7 surveys and 3 "Johnston Life" tasks this week, suffered through deluges of rain, and celebrated the 4th! 

The surveys were:

1) Klu - a vegetation management survey for the thorny Klu (Acacia farnesiana) conducted monthly. Klu is one of 4 Acacia species found on Hawai'i and was introduced before 1860. Only one acacia species, the Koa (Acacia koa) is native to Hawaii. Klu is very similar to the Haole Koa (Leuaena leucocephala), meaning "foreign koa", which grows all over Johnston. Because they look so similar it easy to mistake one for the other. Unfortunately Klu is armed with crazy long thorns and since it is very successful in this climate it can take over the whole island if given the chance. Klu hasn't been found on Johnston for just under a year but we survey previously impacted areas as a precaution.

2) Hand Searching - I may have stated before that Johnston is divided into a grid of 50 square meter plots. Each CAST is required to conduct Hand Searching on a 3rd of the grid that lies within the YCA infestation area, roughly 60 squares, during our time here. This survey is exactly what it sounds like - we work in a rotating search pattern, we line up and walk back and forth across the square scratching at the ground, poking sticks into cracks and under vegetation. The idea is that if YCA are present they will react as they've been shown to do without fail, rush to the site of disturbance and run in crazy zig zags trying to attack what is creating the problem. They are easily identifiable and we would mark the spot to continue treatment with insecticide. Luckily we haven't encountered any YCA, even though it makes the work kinda boring. We pass the time by identifying any ants that we DO come across and playing word association games. We are scheduled to do this survey weekly but it doesn't take us long to cover many of our assigned squares (30 min at most for a heavily vegetated square) and often a more important survey will take priority.

3) Marine Debris - I haven't yet conducted this survey because I have been assigned a different task (the USGS Tide Station maintenance) that usually happens at the same time. There is a beach of the South shore of Johnston that have been designated as the location for the accumulation of marine Debris and the data we collect for this survey goes back to Univ. Hawaii. I'm sure everyone has heard of plastic pollution and Johnston is definitely not immune to it. This survey is conducted to count and measure macro plastics that make their way from all around the Pacific to Johnston. The survey is important because this particular beach is located quite close to where our sea turtles congregate and where colonies of the small sea birds build their ground nests. I haven't been close enough or spent enough time to personally see impacts of plastic pollution on turtles but I have seen many Noddy and Tern nests with bits of plastic (bottle caps are easily recognizable and numerous) surrounding the egg or chick.  During our training of this survey we watched an old and very degraded laundry basket make landfall on this very beach. It was pretty horrible to watch. 

4) Terns - I very much enjoy this survey. For the first 4 weeks Jake and I are partners to conduct this survey. Sooty Terns (Sterna fuscata) were flagged as a special species for recovery in the refuge restoration plan. Terns are the smallest sea bird on Johnston and we have 3 species who nest here; the Sooty, the Grey-Back (Sterna lunata) and the White (Gygis alba). Because of their unique nesting habits, colony forming, how prolific they are and the negative impacts that occur if the nests are disturbed too often (the chicks are exposed to sun, rain and predatory birds if every time the parents are flushed, which happens at least twice during the survey), we simply collect the size of the colony via Trimble and ArcMap. Our CAST is the first to not only physically collect the data but also create the maps that go into the bi-weekly Situation Report that is sent back to the refuge superintendent. This is the part that I like the most! Not to brag, but I feel very accomplished with all the troubleshooting I've had to contend with and the compliments we've received on our maps! The refuge manager, who was the very first to live on Johnston, is very happy with the detail we've been able to give the Tern maps. It is a stark contrast to what the previous CAST was stuck with, in terms of the tools available to them. The Trimble hardware was compromised and they were reduced to hand drawing maps and then digitizing them on  images to be sent back to the office to be processed. 

I have some great videos of what it is like to walk through the Tern colony and dealing with the adults dive-bombing you (they will actually hit your head if you're not careful to duck), avoiding 2 inch eggs that blend in with ground, avoiding panicking chicks that always seem to run AT your feet instead of away, avoiding the plummeting poops, and telling the difference between Tern eggs and the other ground nesting bird eggs that are right next to each other. Did I mention we have to be collecting data on top of all that?

5) Marine Diversity - Sarah and Ryan have been conducting this survey for the first 4 weeks, to familiarize ourselves and make sure we are doing it correctly. Our plan is to have Ryan and I switch after 4 weeks, Sarah will train me while Jake trains Ryan for 2 weeks and then Jake will switch with Sarah and I will train him while Ryan trains Sarah. This way we are proficient at each survey and can switch more often to finish out our time here. The marine diversity survey is definitely everyone's favorite. It is conducted 2 hrs after high tide to best capture the different species that occupy the reef. The location is right off the seawall next to camp which is a pleasant change from having to ride our bikes out to every survey location. We snorkel two 50 meter transects straight out to the edge of the reef and record every fish within 2 meters to either side of the transects. Obviously, we have to be good at fish ID which is why we allowed ourselves so much training time. The second necessity is being able to count fish super fast!! I am getting better at it and practice every time we snorkel in our spare time. 

6) Shorebirds - Every two weeks to 4 CAST crew members walk the length of Johnston on 4 different routes and tally the number of Shorebirds currently on island. 

7) Red Tailed Tropic Bird Reproduction - I've already described this survey.

Steven only participated in the Klu and Hand-Searching because the other monitoring only requires 2 or 4 people and as our crew leader he has other responsibilities such as communicating with the office about our monitoring schedule, weather and other logistics that allow us to survive out here.