Animals Found Chesapeake 'Ghost Pots'
A Virginia program to retrieve old crab traps recovered thousands of "ghost pots" containing a seafood platter of Chesapeake Bay marine life, according to data released Monday.
The recovery was conducted over the winter by out-of-work watermen who used sonar devices to find derelict traps intended to snare the bay's prime catch: blue crabs.
According to the data, the program's first year: --recovered more than 8,600 crab pots and 61 abandoned nets. --discovered nearly 5,000 animals, including: more than 3,000 crabs, 19 turtle species, eels, a lobster, a diving duck and a muskrat--some alive, some dead. --involved fifty-eight watermen who covered 1,524 square miles of the bay and its tributaries.
When abandoned or ripped from marker buoys during storms, the wire mesh traps become a permanent part of the bay's bottom, posing a risk to recreational boaters navigating shallow waters.
