Quart jars are filled with red crabs caught during the current CalCOFI cruise on Jan. 7. The abundance of the crabs in California waters has been attributed to the shifting ocean conditions triggered by El Niño. Researchers collected the crabs using a bongo net, which is used to measure the abundance of small marine life as the net is dropped to depths of 210 meters (689 feet) then returned to the surface. Bongo net tows are among measurements made during regularly scheduled CalCOFI cruises, which have monitored physical and biological conditions off the California coast since 1949. Photo: James Wilkinson/CalCOFI
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