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Fishery Bulletin 95(2), 1997 
Figure 2 
(A) Example of aircraft transit (Supercub 344Z, 25 May 1995) showing tracks across the Straits 
of Florida and two zigzag transects along Tuna Alley. Inset depicts the location of giant blue- 
fin tuna sightings. For reference, arrows denote the location of the 1 mi flight tract conducted 
in the 1974-76 surveys (Rivas, 1978) (B) Combined search tracks of the discovery aircraft, 
Cessna 270Q. 
In general, spotters estimated that all the bluefin 
tuna they had encountered were large giants rang- 
ing from 227 kg to over 295 kg (approximate length: 
225-250 cm straight fork length [SFL]). Three fish 
landed by anglers during the survey period ranged 
from 264 to 280 cm SFL (250-317 kg), equivalent to 
