Congratulations to the Winners!

And thanks to everyone for your support and patience while we pulled together all the final data. The tracks we got were really amazing, and well worth the time and effort it took to get them. Sincerest thanks go out to the tournament organizers and sponsors, to the angling teams, and to the captains and crews who so generously supported the Great Marlin Race. We absolutely could not have done this work without you!

In reviewing the tracks, it was incredible to see not only how far the fish traveled - but also how diverse their patterns of behavior. Having all begun their journeys from roughly the same time and place, their final destinations were separated by more than 2,000 nautical miles!

From the datasets we received, it appears that, regardless of location, the marlin spent their nights right near the surface, and their days much deeper - often 200-300 meters down, just to the boundary between the relatively warm water above and the frigid water below.

We are very excited about the upcoming HIBT, and the opportunity to deploy more tags on these magnificent fish! Because so many race tags didn't come up, we are offering those teams whose tags didn't show up free replacement tags for the 2010 Great Marlin Race. By shortening the deployment times this year, we're confident that we'll have a higher percentage of tags coming up. And by adding a depth-triggered release, we'll also learn whether some non-reporting fish might be sinking to the bottom - having fallen ill or been injured, or having run afoul of a predator or a long line.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again this August, and will stay in touch over the coming weeks as details of the 2010 Great Marlin Race are announced.

Best wishes to all!

Warmest Wishes to All!

As 2009 draws to a close, I am glad to say that I count the Great Marlin Race, and our partnership with the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, to be among my favorite memories from the year. The generosity of the anglers and organizers of the HIBT allowed us to deploy ten satellite tags -- the most we had hoped for going into the tournament. Of the three tags that released early, two documented marlin migrations all the way to the Southern Hemisphere -- an amazing result, and one that would make our efforts worthwhile.

During this past week our mapping expert, Mike Castleton, was able to successfully create tracks for the two long-distance marlin - Fish 4, tagged by Bob Kurz; and Fish C, which was tagged by McGrew Rice during the week following the HIBT. You can see them in the map below, or play with them in more detail on our interactive Google Earth map.

And as we welcome in the New Year, we will rapidly arrive at the scheduled pop-off dates for the remaining seven tags - the first of which is due to come up on January 16. It will be fascinating to see if the remaining marlin followed similar paths after leaving Hawaii, and to see where they ventured from there.

As always, we'll be keeping our eyes out for new tags coming to the surface, and I'll do my best to keep you all up-to-date on the latest happenings. It promises to be an exciting few weeks ahead, and I can't wait to see how it all ends up!

We send you our warmest wishes for the Holidays, and bid you peace and joy in the New Year.

Sincerely,

Randy and the Block Lab Team

A Second Marlin Journeys to the Southern Hemisphere

Electronic tagging is a game of numbers. You put out as many tags as you can afford, and you hope that it’s enough to help you learn something new. We went into the Great Marlin Race hoping that we'd get some new information -- but the past few weeks have exceeded our highest hopes!

As you know from my last posting, on October 23 we had a tag pop up southeast of the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, marking a journey of 2,225 nautical miles – and establishing a new mark to beat in the race.

Last week, on November 4, we had another tag pop up south of the equator – this one just west of the Marquesas, about 480 nautical miles from where the tag popped up just a few weeks before. Although the fish hadn’t traveled quite as far as its predecessor – a mere 1,847 nautical miles – it is remarkable to have a second marlin make such a long journey in such a short time. We are indebted both to Paxson Offield for sponsoring the tag, and to McGrew Rice for deploying it after the HIBT had ended.

For both “Fish 4” and “Fish C” we are awaiting the arrival of the rest of the data – first from the tags themselves, and then from the orbiting satellites that monitored sea surface temperature during fishes’ journey. Once we have all those data in-hand, we’ll marry the datasets together to produce a map that shows the course that they traveled in their journeys south. Stay tuned!

A Journey of Over 2,000 miles!

It was a great way to start the week -- with the discovery that a second tag has popped up all the way down by the Marquesas -- 2,225 nautical miles from where it was tagged!

Because the tag just popped up to the surface this morning, it will be sending us data via satellite for the next week to 10 days. From these data we will be able to create a track where the fish went, and learn about its diving behavior during its travels. Once we have pulled all this information together I'll post a new update about what we've learned.

In the mean time, congratulations go out to the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club, Team 1 who are now in the top spot on the Leader Board! Although we're still just over 90 days into a 180-day race, tags can come off at any time - so we'll keep our eyes peeled and keep you all posted!

Best wishes,

Randy

We're Halfway There!

It is hard to believe that we are already three months into the race! We were caught by surprise when we saw one of the tags pop off just a few days after we left. The Team 7 fish, sponsored by the Pajaro Valley Game Fish Club, Teams 1 & 2, and the Monterey Bay Anglers, appeared just to the south of the big island on August 1. Analysis of the data suggest that the tag simply fell off the fish, and not that there was a mortality.

It appears that, in the days following tagging, the marlin dove consistently to depths over 150 m, reaching a maximum of 176 m (544 ft) on one dive. I've added to the map a green icon for the tagging site and a red icon for the site where the tag popped off.


Fish 7, with a Pop-up Satellite Tag attached just below its dorsal fin.

After three months, the real surprise is that this is the only tag to have come off so far! This is exceptionally good luck, as we'll have longer tracks to study once they do pop off and start sending their data to us.

In addition to the 7 tags we put out during the race, 3 more tags were deployed the following week - generously sponsored by Packy Offield and deployed by McGrew Rice. I know that there is a lot of interest in these tags as well, so I've added them to the map. They appear as orange circles labeled A, B and C.

I'll keep everyone posted as soon as we see other tags coming off -- so keep your eyes on the website!

Best wishes,

Randy

The Site Goes On...

Over the past few weeks since returning there has been a lot going on behind the scenes, but nothing terribly important to share with everyone. I finished putting together DVDs to send out to the race participants, which will be on their way shortly, along with official Certificates of Participation.

I've added some new content to the site - most notably a "Contributors" page and a "Related Links" module. Check out the other sites -- they all have some cool stuff on them!

This morning I finally worked out the bugs on a video gallery I've been trying to get going for a while! These are the same videos that are linked from the interactive map - but now they're easier to find and play right from the home page.

Keep your eyes open for more updates to come soon, and have a great weekend!

Back Home and Getting Under Way

I am finally back at my desk after flying home from Hawaii last night. It was a fantastic privilege to be part of the 50th Anniversary HIBT, and I want to thank all the tournament organizers, as well as the teams, captains and crews who have helped to make the Great Marlin Race possible!

On the final day of the race, three tags went out on three different boats. Unfortunately, none of us managed to tag fish -- so the race is officially among seven entries. We are excited to have so many, and we look forward to the weeks and months ahead as we wait for the tags to come off and start sending us data.

The Awards Ceremony Saturday night was a fantastic event, and a wonderful tribute to Peter Fithian for seeing the HIBT through its first 50 years. Judging by the success and excitement around the tournament, I won't be surprised to see it go another 50 years and beyond.

Thanks to everyone for all your support!