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Catalina Island Field Trip

 

Dates and directions

- We will go to the Wrigley Station (near Two Harbors) in Catalina Island.

- April 25th and 26th (Friday and Saturday).

- The boat leaves on Friday at 8:45 AM.

- Departing point: Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI).

- Address: 820 South Seaside Ave., Terminal Island, CA 90731

- Directions: www.scmi.us/location.html

- Parking is not available within the SCMI, but you may park in the streets.

- We will return to Long Beach at around 3:00 - 3:30 PM on Saturday (depending on weather conditions).

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Schedule of activities (this may be subject to change depending on weather conditions and logistic problems)

THURSDAY
2:00 - 4:00 PM: Pick up equipment from Esteban's lab (one member of each group, see list at the bottom of the page). Please, DOWNLOAD ALL THE NECESSARY MATERIAL FROM THE WEBSITE AND PRINT IT OUT!!! (All available at the bottom of this page)
 
FRIDAY
7:45 AM: Meeting at Southern California Marine Institute (see directions above)
•10:15 AM: We arrive at the Wrigley station
•10:20 – 11:00 AM: checking in and orientation talk. We will occupy 2 units. Each unit has 4 bedrooms (with two beds in each room), 2 bathrooms, and 1 couch bed. Students will sleep in the regular beds as well as the couch beds.
•11:00 AM: Grad student training on how to set up Trail Master devices.
•12:00-1:00 PM: Lunch
•1:00 -2:50 PM: Setting up recording devices around the station for small mammals and measuring vegetation cover in each plot.
•3:00 - 3:25 PM: Water orientation
3:30 – 5:30 PM: Fish and island bird surveys
•6:00 – 7:00 PM: Dinner
7:00 - 8:00 PM: Lecture on methods to calculate buffer areas.
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SATURDAY
•5:00 AM: We all get up
5:30 - 6:30 AM: Experiment: how predation affects the local distribution of birds
•76:306:30 - 7:30 AM: Record Flight Initiation Distances of common species at the station
•7:7:30 - 8:00 AM: Breakfast
•8:00 - 9:00 AM: Retrieve Trail Master devices.
9:00 - 10:00 AM: Download Trail Master data to the computer.
•10:00 – 11:40 AM: Free time. You should be packed and leaving the room by 11:40!
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•111111:45 - 12:15 AM: Turn in datasheet and then lunch
•12:30 PM: Hiking to Two Harbors
1:30 PM: Prepare to board Catalina Express back to San Pedro. 
2:00 PM: Boat leaves Two Harbors to San Pedro through Avalon.
4:15 PM: Arriving to San Pedro
 

 

- TRAIL MASTER SYSTEM: Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What is the difference between active infrared and passive infrared systems?

Answer:

Active infrared systems are two-piece systems consisting of an infrared transmitter and an infrared receiver. When set up there is a 3/8" infrared beam between the transmitter which is placed on one side of the trail and the receiver which is placed on the other side of the trail (the transmitter and the receiver can be separated by as much as 150 feet). If the transmitter and receiver are placed 30" above the ground, only animals passing between the transmitter and receiver that can break the infrared beam will be recorded as an event. The animal must also break the beam for a specific period of time or the event will not be recorded. The time period is adjustable.

Passive infrared systems are one-piece systems which are designed to detect the presence of both body heat and motion. Both body heat (temperature differentials) and motion must be present at the same time for an event to be recorded. Passive infrared detectors monitor an area. Almost any animal activity in the area will cause an event. A passive infrared detector cannot tell the difference between a rabbit and a deer. Our TM550 passive infrared monitor can record as many as 10 events per minute when the Event delay (Ed) is set to 0.1 minutes.

Please, download the info of the active and passive trail monitoring systems we will be using during our field trip at the bottom of this page.

 

Question: I understand that an Active Infrared trail monitoring system is much better if I want to monitor a specific species, (deer) and ignore others, (raccoons, birds etc), but how easy is it to set up and align a two piece Active Infrared Monitor?  

Answer: It is very easy if you follow these simple steps.

  • First select two sturdy trees. One on either side of the trail you wish to monitor. These trees can be up to 150 feet apart with our Second Generation Active Infrared Monitors.
  • Loosely strap the transmitter to one tree and the receiver to the other. Set the transmitter and receiver at a height that is about chest high on the type of animal you wish to monitor.
  • On the front of the receiver there is a line molded into the plastic case called the "Sight Line". At arms length aim down the Sight Line like you are aiming a pistol. Aim the receiver at the center of the transmitter.
  • Tighten the strap on the receiver so that it is firmly positioned on the tree. (Your have now finished the alignment of the receiver and you will not need to move it again.)
  • Press the "Set-Up" button on the receiver to put it in the Set-Up mode. When the receiver is in the setup mode the red alignment light on the receiver will flash when the receiver receives infrared pulses from the transmitter.
  • Go to the tree where the transmitter is located. Look back at the receiver. Because the transmitter transmits a wide beam, the red alignment light on the receiver will probably already be flashing.
  • Slide the transmitter around the tree to the left until it is pointing away from the receiver and the red alignment light just stops flashing. This indicates that you have found the right edge of the transmitters beam. Remember this spot.
  • Slide the transmitter back to the right on the tree. The red alignment light on the receiver will start blinking indicating that the receiver is again receiving the infrared pulses sent by the transmitter. Keep sliding the transmitter to the right until it is pointing away from the receiver and the red alignment light just stops flashing. This indicates that you have found the left edge of the transmitters beam. Remember this spot.
  • Slide the transmitter back to the middle of the two edges and tighten the strap. You have now aligned the transmitter.

Your system is now setup and aligned. As you indicated, with the Active Infrared system you can set the unit to monitor the animals you want to monitor and not take a lot of pictures of animals you are not interested in. Pictures of animals you are not interested in can cost a lot of time and money.

Please, download this quick guide (with pictures) on how to align the units at the bottom of this page.

 

Please, download, print out, and READ carefully the following documents by Thursday March 9th so that you can ask questions. Bring all these documents to the field trip.

Documents that you need to download, print out, read, and bring to the field trip:

- This website!
- Directions to SCMI.
- Fish species that you will identify during the underwater surveys.
- How to measure vegetation cover. (please, read Visual Estimates of Cover, from bottom of page 113 to top of page 115).
- How to run terrestrial and marine transects. (please, read Line Transects, from bottom of page 245 to top of page 249)
- Information sheet on the active trail monitoring system.
- Information sheet on the passive trail monitoring system.
- Guide to align the trail monitoring system.
- Itinerary
- Determination of buffer areas for wildlife. Download: lecture, methods to calculate buffer areas, example of a FID protocol, example of a FID datasheet  

 

Required Materials you need to pick up from Esteban's office on Thursday.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you do not bring them you cannot participate in the activities, and then you will receive 0 (zero) as a grade; so please make sure you pick whatever you need on Thursday, because we will not be taking extras due to space restrictions.

One member of each group needs to pick the following items that the group will use during the field trip:
- 1 measuring tape
-1 GPS device
- 1 tally counter
- 1 speaker
- 1 rangefinder
- 1 slate for fish surveys
- 1 Active trail master unit (composed of two black boxes)
 
These items will be returned to Esteban when we arrive to San Pedro.

 

Extra materials you WILL NEED for the field trip.

- Bird guide (if you do not have one, pick one on Thursday).
- Binoculars (if you do not a pair, pick one on Thursday).
 
- Backpack.
- Hat/cap.
- Sunscreen.
- Mosquito/tick repellent.
- Something to deal with motion sickness, if you need that.
- Enough pieces of paper and pens/pencils to take field notes, which you will be requested to turn in at the end of the field trip.
- Snacks, water, tea or instant coffee to heat up in the microwave.
- Proper clothing. Besides the usual for a field trip, you may want to bring sandals and shorts if you do the kayak survey because it is likely you get wet.
- Hand sanitizer
- Multi-tool (Victorinox type), if you have one.
- Small flashlight.
- Wrist-watch.
- Digital camera, if you want, to capture the memories, as suggested by one student.
- If you can, bring your MP3 player or Ipod. The reason is because we will do some playbacks for bird surveys (the speakers are provided by the Department). Please, download the following file and set it in your MP3 player or Ipod.
 

If you have questions, please, e-mail me.

 

 

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