4. F/V Mars , a 115-foot commercial lobster potting vessel, and 



5. F/V Crystal-S , a 100-foot commercial lobster potting vessel. Both 

 the Mars and Crystal-S are owned and operated by the Prelude Corporation. 

 OPERATIONS 



The survey was conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Center in cooper- 

 ation with the commercial lobster company, Prelude Corporation, of Westport, 

 Massachusetts. Sampling consisted of 83 hauls with a Number 41 shrimp 

 trawl; 4,500 pot-days of fishing with standard commercial (baited) lobster 

 pots; 20,000 photographs of the sea bottom with a 70 mm underwater camera 

 system , and a visual census of the fauna by experienced diver scientists 

 from inside the submersible at 12 stations. Thus, the results consist of four 

 separate and independent measures of the abundance and distribution of the 

 megabenthic animals in this area, plus a vast amount of information on the 

 ecology and behavior of these benthic animals. Additionally, numerous 

 samples of bottom sediments, measures of water temperature, and dredge- 

 collected samples of the smaller invertebrate animals were obtained to provide 

 a broad picture of the environment . 

 SUBMERSIBLE OPERATIONS 



Twenty-four submersible dives were accomplished during the cruise 

 period. All dives were conducted during daylight hours with the submersible 

 being tracked continuously from the G^ W^ Pierce with either sonic-locating 



