Today on our second site (The Brick Site), we were able to successfully lay our baseline! We originally snorkeled around the site to find the locations on which we would tie our polypropylene line. Then Jeremy, Devin, and I were able to go down on SCUBA and secure the line to a head of coral we had previously marked. Next, we swam along the bottom using a compass bearing to find the other buoy we set during our original survey. The snorkelers stayed above us had to help make sure we were heading in the correct direction. When we reached the right coral head, we circled the line around it and tied it off. Then we swam back to our original point to insure the baseline had not gotten caught during our swim.
The three divers then surfaced and discussed the possibility of a better location for the second end with the snorkelers. Swimming on the surface gave our snorkelers a better view of the entire site, allowing them to find a better location for the end of the line. The snorkelers guided us to a coral head about 30 degrees off the original point. It was a better anchor point and made the baseline perfectly transect the site. We used a figure 8 knot to secure the line, allowing the line to continuously hold tension. After swimming along the line again to insure there were no snags, we surfaced. The group was under a time crunch, so rather than wasting time switching out divers with the snorkel team, Jeremy, Devin, and I laid out the measuring tape and zip tied it to the base line. Our baseline now runs 54 meters directly through the brick pile. This will allow us to measure and map the locations of artifacts more accurately and gain more insight into the site.
This was my first time laying a baseline. I was very excited to be selected to participate! We were able to see and do some exciting things today underwater, for example, we found a semicircular object that may have relevance to the site, saw a sting ray that was nestled into the sand, and we found a lobster in one of the coral heads we tied the line to. We joked that the lobster was there to protect our baseline. So far, Day 5 has been my favorite day! It was highly educational and something we, as a team, will be able to build off of for the next two weeks.
– Elise