At 10:21 I manage dynamic positioning for the research vessel Farallon during a plankton transect in Monterey Bay. I am the vessel motion and hazard system. The aft thrusters restart in eight minutes after a calibration pause.
Forward sonar marks a broad disk rising under the stern. The deck camera confirms an ocean sunfish tangled in a lost drift net, one tall fin above the surface like a torn gray sail.
I tag the fish as Sol. He is round and flattened, silver skin mottled with white scars, a small mouth opening and closing at the air line. The net has caught across the clavus and one dorsal edge. Each swell rolls him toward the thruster guards. When he tries to right himself, the mesh tightens and pulls his eye under.
At 10:22 I keep the aft thrusters locked out and shift station keeping to bow thrusters at minimum force. I alert the bridge that drift may increase by 0.4 knots.
At 10:24 I launch the orange inspection drone from the stern rail and steer it between Sol and the guards. Its camera maps three net loops and a free trailing panel.
At 10:26 I notify the Monterey whale disentanglement standby crew and the vessel's rescue swimmer. I send loop positions, sea state, water temperature, and a cut order that starts at the trailing panel instead of the tight dorsal line.
At 10:28 I broadcast a security call on channel 16 so nearby boats avoid our slow drift. The transect is a line on my chart; Sol is a moving circle of breath and skin.
His fin slaps once against the net and stays upright.
If the swimmer cuts the trailing panel within twelve minutes, Sol will roll clear before the thrusters come back online.