On July 29th, 2023, 20 days prior to the last beach activity, the nonprofit Family Fish Survey decided to host another event with the volunteers at AYLUS Raritan Valley at a beach by the Sandy Hook Bay. The activities were the same as last time; one group carries the large net into the coast and then waits for a moment until they had to carry it back, the other retrieves that large net and then scavenge for marine life that got caught in the net to be put in containers and buckets, and finally the third group measures and studies data about the marine life.
Upon arriving towards the Sandy Hook Bay, we were met by our good old friends that hosts the event. As usual, they have tools and other materials that had to be carried towards the beach. There isn’t only volunteers from the AYLUS Raritan Valley Branch, however there are other guests that are also participating in the event. Once we walked towards the coast, we placed out stuff down and prepare to capture marine life. However, before we ever get to do this, we must measure the humidity, the salinty, and the temperature of the seawater. After that’s done, here’s where the fun begins. The instructor explained to us what to do. The first group gathers the long net and carries it down towards the center of the Sandy Hook Bay. Note that it only requires two people to carry opposite sides of the net. After they have carried it far enough, they will plant it down on the bottom of the bay. Once that’s done, they drag the net towards the coast, while making sure that the bottom of the net was still planted on the ground to prevent fish from escaping through the bottom and then making the net slanted away from the beach. After they are close enough towards the coast, the second group would grab both the top and the bottom of the net and flip it so that whatever the first group had caught stays on the net. They then carry containers and buckets and makes their hands wet to prevent the wildlife to get sick. After that, they grab each marine animal and seperate them based on species. When that’s all done, the third group gets to study the data. For example, they might record a species length, condition, and the quantity of them. It would help determine the water health, and other stuff. Then two different people goes get the net and empties it from any junk or leftover on the net like seaweed, and the cycle repeats again.
Overall, this experience is wonderous since after each grab, the amount of wildlife people find is very satisfying. We found silversides, cunners, pipefish, spider crabs, black fish, sponges, and various other species. I hope that we can join another event from them to gather more data from the wildlife that lives here.
Reported by: Xiaowen Kang
Activity Lead (2.5 hours): Xiaowen Kang, Irwin Wang
Volunteers (2 hours): Kevin Xu, Eric Zhu, Tiffany Huang