FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 



.NO. 1 



Table 1. — Dive locations on Stellwagen Bank and Cape Coc 

 (Provincetown. Mass.) with observations' on presence ( + ) or 

 absence 10) of American sand lance. Observations were made 

 using scuba and submersible (sub). 



FUILIRE 1. — Study area of sand lance observations. Gulf of 

 Maine. 



made on the Provincetown slope from Race Point 

 to Wood End (Figure 1). Depths over the Province- 

 town slope range from to 46 m, with a medium- 

 coarse sandy substrate throughout the range. 

 Slope gradients by depth interval are: 0-9 m — 5°- 

 15°; 9-46 m— 30°-45°. The relatively steep slope 

 begins between 90 and 250 m offshore. 



Relative Abundance 



Divers using scuba, or observers in submersi- 

 bles,^ made in situ observations during various 

 manned undersea research projects from 1968 

 through 1977 (Table 1, Figure 2). Camera systems 

 aboard the submersible were: 1) a 35-mm Nikon'' 

 camera using a 55-mm micro lens and an exter- 

 nally mounted MK 150 Subsea stroboscopic light, 

 and 2) a Sony AD 3400 Monochrome video camera 

 and recorder. 



'Estimates of relative abundance are noted as for no sightings, ' lor a lew 

 sand lance observed. • • for small schools (several hundred individuals per 

 school) with infrequent sightings, and ^ + ^ for large schools (thousands per 

 school) and schools observed almost continuously 



Stellwagen Bank is included in one of the sam- 

 pling strata covered by the spring and fall bottom 

 trawl surveys since 1963 (Grosslein 1969). This 

 stratum encompasses the Massachusetts Bay 

 area, extending from Provincetown to Cape Ann 

 and ranges in depth up to 110 m (Figure 1). Sta- 

 tions were selected randomly within the stratum 

 for each survey and the number of stations actu- 

 ally occupied on Stellwagen Bank on each survey 

 ranged from to 6. Trawl survey results are pre- 

 sented only for 1967-77, the period during which 

 diver and submersible observations were made. 



Behavior 



■^Research submersibles were chartered by NOAA's Manned 

 Undersea Science and Technology Program, Rockville, Md. 



■•Reference to trade names does not imply endorsement by the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 



Photographic and video records of sand lance 

 behavior were made by scuba divers during a hy- 

 droacoustic experiment from RV Albatross IV, 



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