A Plethora of Pyrosomes

[IronNoggin]

Just back in from the offshore due to a medical issue. Fishery is continuing in my absence.

Just wanted to note a rather annoying Head's Up for West Coast Vancouver Island Fisher Folks:
We (Area G Troll) have been literally Plagued by a serious scourge of pink sea cucumber like organisms that are at times so thick in number it was impossible to fish. These damn things have invaded the offshore waters from LaPerouse Bank to well north west of Winter Harbor and all points in-between. Did not know until I got home what they even are (none of the old timers ever recall seeing them - ever, and of course the fine folks in The Dino's offices had no ideas to offer either). They are called "Pyrosomes" but may just as well be called serious nuisances. They get wrapped up on your gear, the wire for your downriggers etc and make fishing more than a little of an exercise in frustration.

Here's a few pictures of these damn things:

Flasher was for size comparison.

This was a rather "light" amount of them on the wire. In the water less than ten minutes. Often the gear would come up with several HUNDRED pounds of these damn things!!

They are extremely tide influenced, and have been a major pain in the butt more days than not out there. Hope they go away before the sports season kicks off or it is going to be a rather ugly season out there!

More on these things here: https://themarinedetective.com/2017/03/13/pyrosomes-say-what/

Cheers,
Nog

 

[bones]

wow

 

[Pursuit]

And I thought the line slime was bad! That was an interesting link IronNoggin, thanks for posting.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Just back in from the offshore due to a medical issue. Fishery is continuing in my absence.

Just wanted to note a rather annoying Head's Up for West Coast Vancouver Island Fisher Folks:
We (Area G Troll) have been literally Plagued by a serious scourge of pink sea cucumber like organisms that are at times so thick in number it was impossible to fish. These damn things have invaded the offshore waters from LaPerouse Bank to well north west of Winter Harbor and all points in-between. Did not know until I got home what they even are (none of the old timers ever recall seeing them - ever, and of course the fine folks in The Dino's offices had no ideas to offer either). They are called "Pyrosomes" but may just as well be called serious nuisances. They get wrapped up on your gear, the wire for your downriggers etc and make fishing more than a little of an exercise in frustration.

Here's a few pictures of these damn things:

Flasher was for size comparison.

This was a rather "light" amount of them on the wire. In the water less than ten minutes. Often the gear would come up with several HUNDRED pounds of these damn things!!

They are extremely tide influenced, and have been a major pain in the butt more days than not out there. Hope they go away before the sports season kicks off or it is going to be a rather ugly season out there!

More on these things here: https://themarinedetective.com/2017/03/13/pyrosomes-say-what/

Cheers,
Nog

Any chance the Asian will eat them ???? Seriously ! Is there a potential market here???

 

[CIVANO]

hope you are doing / feeling better. we enjoy your insight

 

[IronNoggin]

hope you are doing / feeling better. we enjoy your insight

Won't know until tomorrow. Complete retinal separation in right eye.
Initial exam suggests may be permanently blind in that eye.
Specialist tomorrow. Hoping against hope there may yet be a fix of some sort...

Damn Worried!!
Nog

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

The French Tickler of the sea

 

[lordofthesprings]

strange !do they move or wiggle?

 

[Rockfish]

Very sorry to here about your eye Nog. Hope the specialist finds there is still some attachment and they can weld the retina back on with the laser procedure. Had to drive a friend to Vancouver for emergency surgery for a detaching retina. She was getting floaters in her field of vision and light flashes but no pain. A year or so later she also had to have her other eye done.

 

[Aces]

Shoot! Those things are bad news but your eye is a bigger deal! Hope all goes well for you.

 

[casper5280]

They look like ribbed condoms. Lol. Sure hope your eye problem will be ok. Thoughts and prayers Matt, get better soon.

 

[Team Tom]

Won't know until tomorrow. Complete retinal separation in right eye.
Initial exam suggests may be permanently blind in that eye.
Specialist tomorrow. Hoping against hope there may yet be a fix of some sort...

Damn Worried!!
Nog

Good luck! A buddy of fine had the same thing happen. He went in for surgery and is slowly recovering

 

[Pursuit]

Good luck with that IronNoggin ~ it's amazing what they can do. Best wishes.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Won't know until tomorrow. Complete retinal separation in right eye.
Initial exam suggests may be permanently blind in that eye.
Specialist tomorrow. Hoping against hope there may yet be a fix of some sort...

Damn Worried!!
Nog

Sorry to hear that Matt... Fingers crossed for you.

 

[Redfisher]

We were off Nootka on the weekend and they are definitely there too. Complete pain to fish around. Saw one of the largest sunfish I have ever seen out there too.

 

[Dirty_Oar]

I hope the best for you and your eye. My son was shot dead centre in his eye with a paintball a few years back and it created an immense amount of damage to the eye. They truly can do amazing things these days. They managed to save my sons eye and he still has some vision left as well which, considering they thought he may lose the eye, is quite a testament to technology.

 

[Oly1]

Good luck with the eye Nog. My wife had a bad injury to her eye a couple years ago. Took the end of a broom handle directly in the eye and tore the retina almost completely off. The doctor did his thing and said that the eyes are amazing things. They heal faster than any other part of the body. A couple days later and they retested, with the retina almost completely reattached and healed. Took a few days for her vision to come back fully, but she is fully recover now with no lasting side effects, other than hating to sweep even more than she did before.

Again, best wishes for a quick and full recovery.

Oly

 

[Englishman]

Nog,

Quote from the article you linked to above.

"It was already unusual to see them off BC’s coast beyond 52°N in March. Now, in May 2017, they are being reported off Yakutat, Alaska, beyond 59°N. This is extremely unusual and is indicative that there must be a warm water mass carrying them further north".

This phenomenon is another indicator of climate change and would explain why none of the old-timers you have spoken to have ever seen this.

Last year Sooke Basin went a brilliant tropical blue colour due to an algae bloom and again the old-timers in Sooke had never seen it before. Last two years there have been a plague of small jellies of Sooke which foul the downrigger lines..........

None of us have ever seen the things that are happening now to the ocean and it will get worse.

Hope your eye gets all fixed up!

 

[IronNoggin]

Surgery went "Very Well" according to the Eye Doc.
Interesting (sort of) process, in which you are actually awake...
Spooky might be a better word...

All the fluid was drained out of the eye, the inside of the eye "roughed up" to give something for the retina to attach to, then a gas ball inserted and the eye stitched closed. Weeps a lot...

Spent overnight down in Victoria, and of course did not sleep due to strange bed / discomfort / worry. Only good thing was I got to watch (one eyed) the movie Tombstone again while laying around

Met the Doc again yesterday.
He pulled the bandages off, and when the eye opened, NADA

This is expected he said. Conducted a detailed exam of his work, and pronounced it excellent. Suggested sight will gradually come back over the next 2 to 6 weeks. Have to stay in darkened rooms, and for the next 72 hours flat on my back with head in a particular position (that causes the gas ball to squeeze against the contact points where the retina was re-attached to promote adhesion). Not supposed to look at the computer, so this will likely be a sign-off for a few days...

Still have the fingers crossed & wanted to thank all those who offered their kind words of support...

Cheers,
Nog

 

[dmurph]

Hope you have a speedy full recovery Nog.