Leaving Kasitsna Bay

We have finished up our work for the month, and are heading back to Anchorage on Sunday.  Overall, a very successful study with plenty of data to analyze back at the university.  A total of 15 giant pacific octopuses were captured, marked, and sonic tagged within our tracking array. Another 15 octopuses were captured in tanner crab fishing pots within the study site, none of which were re-captures.  Interestingly, none of our pots caught any tanner crabs, just snails, fish, sea stars, tiny crabs, and octopuses.  Our largest captured octopus was over 40 lbs! An undergraduate assistant and I (Cameron Provost) will be back for a weekend at the end of the November to complete the field work.

Octopus tracking project in Kachemak Bay, Alaska

A team of researchers; David Scheel, Tania Vincent, Lauren Bisson, and myself are conducting an octopus tracking project in Kachemak Bay, AK.  We are staying at the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, utilizing its plush accommodations.  The study aims to track the movements of the giant pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) near crab pot fishing gear.