Solar Knight III racing at the Texas Motor Speedway
At South Plantation High, I am the sponsor of our Solar Knights Racing Team that has won 1st place in the nation twice in the past six years at the high school level Solar Car Challenge (see video below)! We have been building and racing solar cars at the high school level for six years! Two of the races we have competed in were cross-country, the latest of which went from Fort Worth, Texas to Boulder, Colorado over 7 days in July 2010. Last year’s race was a track race at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Solar Movie(computer)
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Here I am with students helping deploy reef balls in south Florida.
I also sponsored our school’s Project ORB (Operation Reef Ball) and deployed thirty 500-1,500 lb concrete reef balls off the coast of
South Florida to encourage coral colonization and propagation to offset some of the damage done to our beautiful South Florida coral reefs. Recently, I had the privilege of presenting a poster session about our Project ORB at the European Geophysical Union conference in Vienna, Austria!
One of my students, Carson Byers, takes the solar kayak out for a test drive.
One of my favorite senior projects was a solar-powered kayak, which would improve accessibility to the Florida Everglades as well as other coastal environments for persons with disabilities. I really enjoyed this project as it blended my passion for alternative energy with my love for getting out on the water. This project won the WOW Award at the Florida Solar Energy Center’sEnergy Whiz Olympics!
Now, I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to sail aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska! This will officially be the furthest north I have ever traveled! As we experience climate change, particularly in areas near the poles where the effects of climate change are more dramatic, it is important to study these changes and how they affect economically important species such as the Alaskan or Walleye Pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). Walleye Pollock is said to be the largest remaining supply of edible fish in the world, and is the fish used in high quality breaded and battered fish products, fish sticks, and surimi(also known as “imitation crabmeat”). Many fast food restaurants commonly use Walleye Pollock in their fish sandwiches. It is important that this fishery be monitored and maintained so that harvest remains sustainable. I hope that I may enlighten my students about their impacts on the environment when they decide what they will eat so they may become more conscientious consumers.
What’s Next?
I am getting ready to head out to sea and am really looking forward to working with the scientists on board the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson! While my blog will be geared towards my AP Environmental Science students, I hope that people of all ages will follow me along my journey as I learn about the science behind maintaining a sustainable fishery. I also hope to inspire my own students, and others, about the career opportunities in STEM associated with NOAA. Stay tuned!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Valerie Bogan
Aboard NOAA ship Oregon II
June 7 – 20, 2012
Mission: Southeast Fisheries Science Center Summer Groundfish (SEAMAP) Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Wednesday June 20, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Sea temperature 28 degrees celsius, Air temperature 26.4 degrees celsius.
Science and Technology Log:
Well we have come to the end of the cruise so now it is time to tie it all the pieces together. The Gulf of Mexico contains a large ecosystem which is made up of both biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors. We studied the abiotic factors using the CTD which records water chemistry data and by recording information on the water depth, water color, water temperature, and weather conditions. We studied the living portions of the ecosystem by collecting plankton in the bongo and neuston nets. The health of the plankton depends on the abiotic factors such as water temperature and water clarity so if the abiotic factors are affected by some human input then the plankton will be unhealthy. The trawl net allowed us to collect some larger organisms which occupy the upper part of the food web. Some of these organisms eat the plankton while others eat bigger creatures which are also found in the trawl net. Despite what they eat all of these creatures depend on the health of the levels below them either because those levels are directly their food or because those levels are the food of their food.
An illustration of how the food web in the gulf works. (picture from brownmarine.com)
The ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico has taken a couple of large hits in the recent past, first with Hurricane Katrina and then with the Deepwater horizon oil spill. When an ecosystem has undergone such major events it is important to monitor the species in order to determine if there is an effect from the disasters. Hurricane Katrina left its mark on the people of the Gulf coast but did minimal damage to the biotic parts of the ecosystem. The effects of the deepwater horizon oil spill are still unknown due to the scope of the spill.
Today’s portion of the ship is the engine room. I was recently taken on a tour of the engine room by William. The ship is powered by two diesel engines which use approximately 1,000 gallons of fuel per day. The ship obviously uses the engines to move from location to location but it also uses the energy to power generators which supply electrical energy, to air condition the ship and to make fresh water out of sea water.
The twin diesel engines.
Generators
There are two vital positions on the Oregon II that I have not discussed, deck worker and engineer. We could never have collected the samples that we did without the immense help of the deck workers. They operated the winches and cranes that allowed us to deploy and bring back the nets which captured our samples. The engineers kept the ship’s engines running, the electricity on, and the rooms cool. Some of these men started out their careers as merchant marines. A merchant marine is a person who works on a civilian-owned merchant vessel such as a deep-sea merchant ship, tug boat, ferry or dredge. There are a variety of jobs on these ships so if you are interested in this line of work I’m sure you could find something to do as a career. A few merchant marines work as captains of those civilian ships, guiding the ship and commanding the crew in order the get the job done. More of them serve as mates, which are assistants to the captains. These people are in training to one day become a captain of their own ship. Just like on the Oregon II there are also engineers and deck workers in the merchant marines. Engineers are expected to keep the machinery running while the deck workers do the heavy lifting on the deck and keep the ship in good condition by performing general maintenance.
During this cruise I have met a lot of people who have different jobs all of which are related to collecting scientific data. The bridge is wonderfully staffed by members of the NOAA Corps. These men and women train hard to be able to sail research ships around the world. To find out more about a profession with the NOAA Corps go visit the Corps’ webpage. There are a large number of scientists on board. These scientists all specialize in the marine environment and there are many wonderful universities which offer degrees for this field of study. Go here to get some more information on this scientific pursuit. The engineers and deck crew keep the ship running. To learn about these professions go to The United States Merchant Marines Academy. The stewards are instrumental in keeping the crew going on a daily basis by providing good healthy meals. To learn more about working as a steward read about the Navy culinary school. The ship could not continue to operate without each of these workers. Nobody is more or less important than the next–they survive as a group and if they cannot work together the ship stops operating.
Personal Log
Well my journey has come to an end and it is bitter-sweet. While I’m happy to be back on land, I’m sad to say goodbye to all of the wonderful people on the Oregon II. When I was starting this adventure I thought two weeks was going to be a long time to be at sea, yet it went by so fast. Although I’m tired, my sleep and eating schedule are all messed up, and I have some wicked bruises, I would do it again. I had a great time and in a couple of years I have a feeling I will be once again applying for the Teacher at Sea Program.
It should be no surprise to those that know me best that I love animals which is why I volunteer at the zoo and travel to distant locations to see animals in the wild. So my favorite part of the trip was seeing all the animals, both those that came out of the sea and those that flew to our deck. So I’m going to end with a slide show of some amazing animals.
This pelican decided to stop and visit with us for a while.
An angel shark
A moray eel
Two bat fishes of very different sizes.
A sand dollar
A group of sea birds decide to hitch a ride for a while.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Andrea Schmuttermair Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II June 22 – July 3
Mission: Groundfish Survey Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico Date: June 26, 2012
Ship Data from the Bridge: Latitude: 2805.26N
Longitude: 9234.19W
Speed: 10mph
Wind Speed: 5.86 knots
Wind Direction: E/SE
Surface Water Salinity: 35.867 PPT
Air Temperature: 28.8 C
Relative Humidity: 86%
Barometric Pressure: 1010.51 mb
Water Depth: 96.5 m
Science and Technology Log
Sunrise on the Oregon II
Opisthonema oglinum, Lagadon rhomboides, Chloroscombus chrysurus…..yes, I have officially started dreaming about taxonomic names of our fish. It’s day 4 and I now have a much better grasp at identifying the variety of critters we pull up in our trawls. I am always excited to be out on deck when they bring up the trawl to see what interesting critters we catch. Surprises are great!
Do you want to know where the Oregon II is headed?
If you click on the link above, you can see the path that our ship is taking to hit all of our stations for the survey. We often have station after station to hit- meaning as soon as we are done sorting and measuring, we have to bring in the next catch. Because some stations are only 3-5 miles apart, we sometimes have to do “double dips”, where we put in the trawl for 30 minutes, pull it up, and put it right back in again.
It’s been interesting to note the variety of our catches. Croakers, bumperfish, and shrimp have been in high abundance the last 2 days as we were in shallower water. Before that we had a couple of catches that had a high abundance of pinfish. When we take our subsample, we typically enter data for up to 20 of that particular species. We take length measurements on each fish, and on every fifth fish. We will also weigh and sex it (if sexing is possible).
A comparison of the various sizes of shrimp we pull up from our trawls.
A relatively small catch in comparison to the 200+ we’ve been pulling up recently.
When we were in shallower waters, we had a significant increase in the number of shrimp we brought up. Tuesday morning was the first catch that did not have well over 200 shrimp (this is because we’ve been moving into deeper waters). For the 3 commercial shrimp, white (farfantepenaeussetiferus), pink (farfantepenaeusduorarum), and brown (farfantepenaeusaztecus), we take 200 samples, as opposed to our high-quantity fish, where we will only take 20 samples. For each of the commercial shrimp we catch, we measure, weigh and sex each shrimp. I’ve gotten very good at identifying the sex of shrimp- some of the fish are much more difficult to tell. The information we get from this survey will determine the amount of shrimp that boats can take during the shrimping season in Louisiana and Mississippi. During the first leg of the groundfish survey, the data collected determined the amount of shrimp that could be caught in Texas. The groundfish survey is crucial for the shrimping industry and for ensuring that shrimp are not overfished.
Students- think of the food chain. What would happen if we overfished and took out too many shrimp? (Hint: Think of predators and prey.)
The trawl net at sunrise
We’ve now started doing 2 different tows in addition to our trawls. Some of the stations are trawl stations, whereas others are plankton stations.
Alex, Alonzo and Reggie unloading the trawl net.
At a trawl station, we lower the trawl from the stern down to the ocean floor. The trawl net is meant for catching larger critters that live at the bottom of the ocean. There is a chain, also known as a “tickler”, which moves lightly across the ocean floor to lure fish to leave their hiding spots and swim into our net. The trawl is down for 30 minutes, after which it is brought back on deck to weigh the total catch, and then brought back into the wet lab for sorting.
Another important mission of the groundfish survey is to collect plankton samples. To do this, we use a Neuston tow and a bongo tow.
The Neuston tow about to pick up a lot of Sargassum- oh no!
The Neuston tow has a large, rectangular frame with a fine mesh net attached to it. At the end of the net is a large cylindrical bucket, called a codend, with a mesh screen meant for catching the organisms. In comparison to the trawl net, which has openings of 41.4mm , the Neuston’s mesh is only 0.947mm. This means the mesh is significantly finer, meant for catching some of the smaller critters and plankton that would otherwise escape the trawl net. The Neuston tow is put on the surface of the water and towed for 10 minutes. Half the tow is in the water while half is out. We end up picking up a lot of Sargassum, or, seaweed, that is found floating at the water’s surface. When we gather a lot of Sargassum, we have to sift through it and spray it to get out any of the organisms that like to hide in their protective paradise.
The bongo tow on deck waiting to be sent down to about 3m from the ocean floor.
After we’ve completed the Neuston tow, we do the bongo tow. The bongo’s mesh is even finer than the Neuston tow’s mesh at only 0.333mm. The bongo has 2 parts- a left and a right bongo (and yes they do look a little like bongo drums- hence their name). The top part of the bongo is a large cylinder with an open bottom and top. The net is attached to this cylinder, and again at the bottom of each side is cylindrical tube called codends meant to catch the plankton. The bongo tow is meant to take a sample from the entire water column. This means that instead of riding on the surface of the water, it gets sent down to about 3 meters from the ocean floor (there is a sensor at the top that is 2m from the bottom of the net) and brought back up immediately.
The remnants from our Neuston tow. This is the sieve we use to weed out what we want and don’t want.
Here are our 2 samples from the bongo tow. The left one is preserved in ethanol and the right is preserved in formaldehyde (10% formalin and sea water)
Here is a sample from the Neuston tow. Carefully camouflaged are thousands of crab megalops, aka juvenille crabs.
For both tows, it is important to rinse the nets to get any lasting organisms we might not see with our own eyes into our sample. Once we’ve done this, we bring the tubes back into the wet lab where we continue to rinse them through a sieve so that only certain items are leftover. In the Neuston, we often find small fish (usually less than 3mm), baby shrimp, crabs and Jessica’s favorite, the Sargassum fish. Most recently a few flying fish got caught in our Neuston tow. Prior to pulling it up, I was enjoying watching them flit across the water- they were about all we could see in the water in the middle of the night. After being rinsed thoroughly through the sieve, we preserve them by placing the sample in a glass jar with either ethanol or formaldehyde solutions. They are preserved in ethanol for DNA work and in formaldehyde for long-term preservation. These samples are then saved to send to a lab in Poland, which is the sorting center for the SEAMAP samples.
Flying fish we pulled up in our Neuston tow at nighttime.
Personal Log
My sleeping quarters (top bunk), also known as a stateroom. My roommate is Kristin, one of the scientists on board.
Well, I think I am finally getting used to the schedule of working the night shift. I am thankful that my bunk is on the bottom floor of the ship- which means it is completely dark- so that I can sleep during the daytime. Yesterday was probably one of the least busy days we’ve had so far, and because we were in deeper waters, our trawls were much smaller. This means I had a little more time to work on my blogs, which at times can be hard to fit in. It amazes me that we have internet access on the ship, and it’s not even as slow as I expected. It goes down from time to time, especially when the waters are rough. We’ve been fortunate to have pretty calm waters, aside from the first day.
You may have heard about Hurricane Debby on the news as it prepared to hit the Gulf. On Sunday, we were heavily debating heading back to Galveston to “bunker down” and ride out the storm. However, the storm that was forming seemed to dissipate and head in a different direction, thank goodness. I was not thrilled about the possibility of heading back to port!
We had our first drills the day after we set sail. The drills- fire and abandon ship are distinguished by different types of bells, similar to using Morse code. The abandon ship drill was fun. We got to put on our survival suit, which is like a big orange Gumby suit. It not only protects you in cold water, but also makes you highly visible. I remember reading some of the former TAS blogs, and this picture was always in. Of course, I’ve got to add mine as well.
Here I am in my survival suit. Judd also decided to be in the picture.
I’ve been having fun exploring different areas of the ship, even though there is only so far you can go on the ship. Yesterday, I went up to the bridge, which is the front of the ship where the captain or the NOAA Corps officers steer the ship from. You can think of it like a control center of an airplane. There are navigation charts (both computerized and paper) and radars that help guide the ship so it knows what obstacles are out there. There is a great view from the bridge that you don’t get anywhere else on the ship. It’s also fun to watch the folks down on deck when they are deploying the CTD or either of the 2 tows.
We’ve caught such an abundance of critters, I thought I’d share some of my favorite catches thus far:
Here I am holding a cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus)- my favorite catch yet. He weighed about 25lbs! This one was the highlight of my day as rays are some of my favorite ocean critters!
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One of the 4 Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) we’ve caught so far.
A sharksucker (Echeneis naucrates)- these guys hang onto sharks to catch a ride- he’s still alive so is able to hang onto my arm!
Critter Query Time!
Critter Query #1: What is a fathom (in your own words please)?
Critter Query #2: What are the differences between skates and rays?
NOAA Teacher at Sea Talia Romito
(Almost) Onboard NOAA Ship R/V Fulmar July 24– July 29, 2012
Mission: Ecosystem Survey Geographical area of cruise: Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Date: June 28, 2012
Personal Log:
Here I am!
Greetings from Monterey, CA! My name is Talia Romito and I teach Physics and Biology at Trinity Christian High School in Monterey, CA. The upcoming school year will be my first year as a Warrior and I am really looking forward to it. The students and staff are amazing and I hope to make a lot of new friends.
I applied to the NOAA Teacher At Sea program so I could get a first hand look at how scientists gather data to better understand the Earth’s environment, and more specifically conserve and protect the plentiful resources our oceans have to offer.
On my voyage I will be joining the crew and scientists aboard the Research Vessel (R/V) Fulmar. Click the name of the ship to find out more about this amazing vessel and the work it allows NOAA to accomplish with the help of the crew and scientists. We will be monitoring the ecosystems in the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
The Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is collaborating with the PRBO (Point Reyes Bird Observatory) Conservation Science and the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in a monitoring effort called ACCESS (Applied Califronia Current Ecosystem Studies).
This monitoring program is amazing and I’m so excited to be a part of this work. I’ve been preparing for a few months to go on this cruise; everything from a very comprehensive online training to increasing my daily workout routine to ensure I am well prepared for the adventure ahead. The next time you hear from me I’ll be onboard the R/V Fulmar in the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries. I plan to create some awesome lesson plans from my experience to teach students about what oceanography is all about! Cheers!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Lesley Urasky Aboard the NOAA ship Pisces June 16 – June 29, 2012
Mission: SEAMAP Caribbean Reef Fish Survey Geographical area of cruise: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Date: June 25, 2012
Location: Latitude: 18.4607
Longitude: -66.0921
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air Temperature: 29°C (84°F)
Wind Speed: 17 knots (20 mph), Beaufort scale: 5
Wind Direction: from NE
Relative Humidity: 73%
Barometric Pressure: 1,014.2 mb
Surface Water Temperature: 29°C (84°F)
Personal Log
Today I said goodbye to the scientists. They are either flying home today or early tomorrow morning. This particular research cruise is over, although each of them have several cruises in the upcoming months. I am continuing on with the ship to their next port at Mayport, Florida.
Originally, the ship was going to be in port in San Juan, Puerto Rico for two days. Now, because of a DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) buoy retrieval in the Atlantic, only one day is planned. The crew members are planning a variety of activities for this one day that range from catching up on much needed sleep (many of the night crew will be transitioning back to day shift), shopping, and sightseeing/adventure tours.
We arrived in San Juan around 9:30 last night. We had to wait at the sea buoy for a cruise ship to come out of the harbor before we could proceed to our berth. We docked at Navy Frontier Pier, or pier 14. The next morning, I set out to explore Old San Juan. Because we had docked further down the harbor than initially expected, I had about a mile long walk to get to Old San Juan. As I neared the town, the buildings began to change from modern to an older style. The first sign I was approaching Old San Juan was sighting the Castillo San Cristóbal. It is one of the two fortresses that make up the San Juan National Historic Site.
San Cirstobal guard house overlooking the ocean
The San Juan National Historic Site is managed by the United States National Park Service and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Due to its location on the western edge of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico was key to Spain’s West-Indies claim. It is sometimes referred to as the “Gibraltar of the Caribbean”. The larger fortress is called Castillo San Felipe del Morro. If you’ve ever seen pictures of the San Juan and the fortress on the ocean, most likely, you’ve seen this one. El Morro was designed to protect the city of San Juan from threats coming from the ocean, while San Cristóbal protected the city from land attacks.
Here I am at El Morro with San Juan in the background.
Drawing of a ship on the wall of the dungeon in San Cristobal
I spent some time touring San Cristóbal before walking along the remains of the fortified wall linking the two fortresses. El Morro was very busy and the grounds were filled with kids at summer camp flying their kites on the grounds. This, too, was a brief stop since I only had 4 hours to explore Old San Juan before my afternoon adventure. After the fortresses, I was making my way down the hill to the town, and stopped to visit with a San Juan resident, Luis Serrano-Lugo. He volunteered to show me his town and tell me some of the history; of course, who could refuse a local tour guide!?
Original ballast from Spanish ships make up the streets in Old San Juan
Old San Juan is a very colorful town – houses and buildings are painted in bright pinks, greens, yellows, and blues. They are tall with ornate wrought iron balconies and heavy wooden doors and shutters. The most interesting part to me, were the blue bricks making up the streets. These bricks came over on Spanish ships as ballast (weight to keep the ship stable in the water and at the desired draft) and upon their return, when they were loaded with gold, they left the bricks behind.
Cemetery and houses of Old San Juan viewed from the battlements of San Cristobal
After my delightful tour with Luis, I headed off to my next adventure, ziplining in the rainforest! The tour company I had booked for the tour picked me up at Plaza Colon in Old San Juan and off we headed to pick up other participants on our way to the rainforest. The tour I took consisted of four components: a short kayak through a water lily laden lake, hiking through the rainforest, six canopy bridges, and five ziplines. Along the way we saw termite mounds, birds, iguana, and my favorite – a millipede! It was an unforgettable experience to be able to travel through the air looking at the surrounding rainforest. There’s nothing like whizzing through the rain 205 feet above the ground to make you feel alive!
Iguana and bottle of Iguana-rid used to keep them off the canopy bridges and zipline platforms.
Here I am, coming in for a landing on the zipline in the rainforest outside of San Juan
Millipede in the rainforest
This evening, Kevin Rademacher, the Chief Scientist, and I went to dinner in Old San Juan at Raices for a traditional Puerto Rican dinner of mofongo. This is a very traditional dish of green plantains fried up with lots of garlic and fried pork skin. It is mashed together in a pilon (wooden mortar and pestle). When the pestle is pulled out of the mortar, the depression left behind is filled with some type of meat, usually in a gravy sauce. I had mine filled with shrimp in a mojo isleno style. Again, thank you Kevin for helping me have such a memorable trip!
Mofongo served in a traditional pilon
After a short walk around Old San Juan to help digest our dinner, we headed back to the ship. It was a jam-packed day with many new sights and experiences for me. There’s only one way to sum up my experiences so far:
NOAA Teacher at Sea Lesley Urasky Aboard the NOAA ship Pisces June 16 – June 29, 2012
Mission: SEAMAP Caribbean Reef Fish Survey Geographical area of cruise: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Date: June 24, 2012
Location: Latitude: 19.8584
Longitude: -66.4717
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air Temperature: 29°C (84°F)
Wind Speed: 16 knots (18 mph), Beaufort scale: 4
Wind Direction: from SE
Relative Humidity: 76%
Barometric Pressure: 1,015.3 mb
Surface Water Temperature: 28°C (82°F)
Lionfish in its native habitat. ( Source: National Geographic; Photograph by Wolcott Henry)
Science and Technology Log
One of the species the scientists are continually scanning for in their videos is the appearance of the Lionfish (Pteroisvolitans/miles); this is one fish they’re hoping notto see.It is not native to these waters and is what is known as an invasive or exotic species.
An invasive species is one that is not indigenous (native) to an ecosystem or area. Many times these organisms are able to exponentially increase their populations because they may have no natural predators, competition for resources, or they may be able to utilize those resources not used by native organisms. Most invasions are caused by human actions. This may involve intentional introduction (many invasive plant species were brought in to create a familiar environment or crop/foraging source), accidentally (rats travelling on ships to distant ports), or unintentionally (people releasing pets that they can no longer take care of). Invasive organisms are problematic because:
They can reduce natural biodiversity and native species.
Push other species to extinction
Interbreed, producing hybrids
Degrade or change ecosystem functions
Economically:
They can be expensive to manage
Affect locally produced products causing a decline in revenue (decline of honey bees due to a mite infestation which, in turn, decreases pollination rates)
Within its native habitat, the Indo-Pacific region, the Lionfish (Pteroisvolitans/miles) is not a problem because that is where they evolved. It is in the family Family Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes).They inhabit reef systems between depths of 10 m – 175 m. During the day, they generally can be found within crevices along the reef; at night they emerge to forage in deeper waters, feeding upon smaller fish and crustaceans.
Native range of the Lionfish
Lionfish are venomous and when a person is “stung” by the spines on the dorsal fin, they experience extreme pain, nausea, and can have breathing difficulties. However, a sting is rarely fatal. Despite the hazards of the spines, Lionfish are a popular aquarium species. The problem arises when pet owners irresponsibly get rid of the fish in their aquariums. Instead of giving them away to pet shops, schools, organizations, or other fish enthusiasts, or contacting a local veterinarian about how to humanely dispose of them, they release them into a nearby marine body of water. It’s important to realize that even the smallest, seemingly isolated act can have such large consequences. Remember, if one person is doing it, chances are, others are too. The responsibility of owning an organism is also knowing how to manage it; we need to realize how to protect our marine habitats.
This is where the problem in the Atlantic began. The occurrence of Lionfish was first noticed along the southeastern coast of Florida in 1985. An invasive species is considered established when a breeding population develops. Since their establishment in the waters off of Florida, they have rapidly spread throughout the Atlantic as far north as Rhode Island/Massachusetts , throughout the Caribbean, and into the Gulf of Mexico.
While on our cruise every sighting of a Lionfish was cause for further examination. There was one Lionfish that exhibited a behavior that Kevin Rademacher (Chief Scientist) had never seen before. The fish was on the bottom and moving himself along instead of freely swimming. Videos like this are instrumental in helping scientists figure out Lionfish behavior in their “new” environment as well as their interactions with the surrounding organisms and environment. Hopefully, as this database continues to grow, scientists will develop new understandings of the Lionfish and its effect on the waters of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico.
Divers are encouraged to kill any Lionfish they encounter. The only safe way to do this is from a distance (remember, their dorsal spines are venomous); usually, this is accomplished by using a spear gun. The Commander of the Pisces, Peter Fischel, was doing a final dive off the pier before we left St. Croix. He saw three Lionfish, speared them, and brought them to the scientific crew for data collection. These were frozen and placed in a Ziploc back for preservation. They will be examined back at the lab in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Three Lionfish caught along the Frederickstad, St. Croix pier. (Notice the 6″ ruler for scale.)
Personal Log
The science portion of the cruise is coming to a close. Today was our last day of sampling. As with yesterday, no fish were caught by the day crew, so we were able to begin cleaning and packing throughout the day instead of waiting until the end. A few days after we arrive in Mayport, Florida, the Pisces will be going out on another cruise along the east coast. On Sunday, July 1st, Joey Salisbury will be arriving in Mayport with a trailer to unload all the scientific equipment and personal gear from this research cruise.
Bandit reel with St. Thomas in the background
In addition to packing, the wet lab and deck have to be cleaned. This entails scrubbing down the tables, coolers, and rails along the deck where we baited our hooks to remove all the fish “scum” that has accumulated over the past three weeks. Between the four of us, we were able to make quick work of the job. There is only one task left for me to do, and that is to take all of our leftover bait, Atlantic Mackerel, and throw it overboard once we are away from the islands. (The bait has been used over the course of the past two years, and has essentially outlived its freshness.)
Day operations crew on the Pisces Caribbean Reef Fish Survey (left to right: Ariane Frappier, Kevin Rademacher (Chief Scientist), Joey Salisbury, and myself).
I want to thank all the scientists on the day operations crew and the deck hands for making me feel so welcome, being ever so patient as I learned how to bait hook, load the bandit reel, remove otoliths, sex the fish, and answer every type of question I had. They’re all amazing people and are passionate about their jobs. Kevin was not only great at thoroughly answering any and all questions, but anticipated those I might have and brought interesting things to my attention. Thank you everyone for an amazing experience that I’ll never forget!
Another incredible person that helped make my trip memorable is my roommate, NOAA Operations Officer, Kelly Schill. She was very welcoming and made me feel immediately at home on the ship. She gave me a thorough tour and introduced me to the crew. I interviewed her briefly about her job in the NOAA Corps.
LU: Kelly, what is your job title and what do you do?
KS: I am a Lieutenant junior grade in the NOAA Corps. The NOAA Corps is one of the 7 uniformed services and I serve as the Operations Officer aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces.
LU: How long have you been working with NOAA?
KS: I have worked for NOAA a total of 4 years; 3 of which were aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces as a NOAA Corps Officer. My first year, I was a physical scientist and developed geospatial visualizations to assist in the generation of navigational warnings and maritime safety information for Dangers to Navigation for the NOAA and contractor surveys. I assisted NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson in the field with the acquisition, converting and cleaning of multi-beam and side-scan sonar data.
Aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces, my responsibility is to be the liaison between the ship’s crew and scientific party to ensure the mission is carried out smoothly and efficiently. A big part of my job is to handle the logistics and transportation, such as project planning and setting up dockage at different ports from Texas to the Caribbean up to Massachusetts. Most importantly, to continue to learn the intricacies of the ship, effectively operate, and practice safe navigation at all times.
LU: What background and skills are necessary for your job?
KS: A Bachelors Degree of sciences. You must complete a year of chemistry, physics and calculus. Geographic information System (GIS) is equally important. To be well-rounded, internships or field research experience is highly recommended.
Kelly Schill showing off the otolith she just extracted from a Red Hind.
LU: What type(s) of training have you been through for your job?
KS: Being in the uniform service, I was sent to Basic Officer Training Course (BOTC) to learn military etiquette, terrestrial and celestial navigation, safety aboard ships, search and rescue, fire prevention, hands on experience in driving small boats up to larger vessels, etc. Once out of BOTC and on an assigned ship, I was able to attend further training: hazardous material courses, dive school, rescue swimming, and medical. There are many more opportunities that were offered. I have only touched on a few.
LU: Have you worked on other ships not associated with scientific research? If so, what was your job and what type of ship was it?
KS: No, all my experiences were on ships regarding scientific research: NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson (hydrographic ship) and the NOAA Ship Pisces (fisheries ship).
LU: Does being on a science research ship bring any specific/different expectations than being on another type of merchant ship?
KS: I am unfamiliar with the expectations on a merchant ship. Generally, the research vessels are used to support studies intended to increase the public’s understanding of the world’s oceans and climate. Research vessels are not set on a point A to point B system. Various operations are conducted from fisheries, bathymetry, oceanographic, to marine mammal data collection. These various research projects dictate operation area. Contrary to research vessels, merchant ships usually have a set destination, from point A to point B transporting cargo of one type or another.
LU: We are in the middle of a huge ocean, and our destination – a specific sampling site – is a pinpoint on a map. What has to be considered to make sure you get to the exact location?
NOAA ship Pisces ECDIS map. This is a nautical map that is updated monthly.
Closeup of navigational maps showing the location of our sampling sites.
KS: We use a number of tools: ECDIS, Rosepoint, paper charts, GPS, Dynamic Positioning, and of course manual operation. The scientists will provide a location where they want the ship to be for operations to take place. We use all navigational tools to navigate to that position by creating a route, based on a good GPS feed. Navigational tools include: ECDIS (shows an electronic vector chart), Rosepoint (shows an electronic raster chart), and paper charts. Multiple navigational tools are for redundancy to ensure safe navigation.
All routes are created on the side of safety to avoid collision with shoals, wrecks, land, neighboring ships, platforms, buoys, obstructions, etc. Once, we are close to our sampling station, the ship is set up into the wind or the current (whichever force is stronger), reduce propulsion, turn rudder hard over to one side to assist in the reduction of propulsion and to line up on a heading in favor of wind or current. The bow thruster can assist in turns as well. Depending on how strict the mission is to hold an exact coordinate, the dynamic position is dialed in and activated. Otherwise, the watch stander will manually control the engine speed, bow thruster, and rudder to maintain position utilizing outside forces, such as wind, swell, wave state, and currents.
The ship’s radar. The yellow objects at the bottom are St. Thomas and its surrounding small islands, while other vessels will appear in green.
LU: Once we reach a site, what do you need to do to maintain that position during the sampling process?
KS: Every ship has its perks and not all are the same in maintaining a position during the sampling process. Our ship has dynamic positioning (DPS) which uses the rudder, propulsion, and a bow thruster simultaneously to hold position. However, just like any software system, it only works as well as the operator. The parameters have to be just right to accomplish this goal. Parameters are set up based on wind speed, swells, sea state, and currents. All must jive for a positive outcome. Our ship works more efficiently facing into the wind or current; whichever force is the strongest. If both are strong, we split the difference. Should either the bow thruster, main engine, or steering fail, the dynamic position will not properly compensate.
Dynamic Positioning System (DPS) screen. This instrument helps hold the ship at a precise location.
Kelly, thanks for the interview as well as being a great role model for women! Remember, girls, if you want it, go get it!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Susan Kaiser
Aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
July 24 – August 4, 2012
Mission: Ecosystem Survey
Geographical area of the cruise: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2012
A California coast tide pool. Can you find the Sculpin fish?
My first ocean encounter happened while on an overnight field-trip to San Francisco in 7thgrade. Our Science Club traveled from Reno, Nevada by school bus to visit a museum, the Fisherman’s Wharf, and the tide pools on the coast. I had no idea how this experience would eventually impact my life. Our teachers, who were our guides, lead the group to a steep drop off where the land ends and the beach lies below. Carefully we picked our way single file down a worn path cutting through a sea of ice plants descending slowly to the sandy shore. Outcroppings of rocks trapped the cold ocean water, forming small natural containers for water AND living sea organisms. We had to step carefully to be sure of our footing and to avoid crushing the live inhabitants of these rocks. California mussels closed tight to preserve their moisture, and slippery seaweed covered most of the rock surface. They were waiting for the sea level to rise again. Peering into the sparkling pools revealed spiny purple sea urchins, colorful sea stars and tiny crabs, betrayed by their movement across the pool bottom. Seeing these organisms up close was amazing to me and created a lifelong memory. It awakened a curiosity about living things that inspired me to study biology in college and become a science teacher.
I am Susan Kaiser and I teach 7th grade Life Science at Pine Middle School in Reno, Nevada. Soon, I will be embarking on a voyage that combines all of these elements: biology, sea organisms and teaching. It promises to be even more memorable than my first trip to a tide pool. Best of all, I get to bring my students at Pine along with me! Well, at least through this blog…read along and see what is in store.
Since, 1990 NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has been including teachers on board their research vessels through a unique program called Teacher at Sea. Each year teachers apply from across the county and about 25 are selected to participate. After several years of wanting to apply, I finally mustered my courage and completed an application. I am proud to have been selected and will sail aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster leaving from the port of Key West, Florida. I will have the opportunity to observe and learn about organisms in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary with the help of the crew and scientists led by chief scientist, Scott Donahue. Their research includes monitoring sensitive marine organisms over a long period of time. In this way, scientists can detect population changes that may occur due to extreme events such as hurricanes, harmful algal blooms (HAB) or more recently, impacts of possible oil spill contamination. You can see that I have some homework to do to prepare for this adventure. I am reading the websites you can click on and learning all I can to contribute to the success of the mission.
Here we are snorkeling and meeting a ray in 2005! That is me on the left. Then my sons, Nathan and Stefan, my daughter, Rachel, and my husband , Phillip.
If it could get any more exciting, I saved the biggest news for last. In addition to working alongside the scientists and living on an ocean-going vessel for two weeks, I may also have the opportunity to snorkel in the coral reef study areas. To be truthful, my snorkeling skills are a little rusty. Living in the desert makes it a challenge to stay in practice! The last time I snorkeled was on a family vacation in 2005. But not to worry, I have a plan. I have been spending time at the pool practicing with the snorkel equipment I borrowed from my friend and colleague at Pine Middle School, Jencie Fagan. It turns out that Ms. Fagan is SCUBA certified and willing to help me build my skills before I set sail next month. Thank you Ms. Fagan, you rock!
Me and my snorkeling tutor, Jencie Fagan. Photo by Larissa Hirning
It is time for my practice session at the pool. The next time you read my blog I will be writing from the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. Join me on this adventure of ocean learning. What memory will you make of your 7th grade year in Science?
NOAA Teacher at Sea Janet Nelson Huewe Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp June 13 – 25, 2012
Mission: Sea Scallop Survey Geographic Area: North Atlantic Monday, June 25, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Latitude: 41 24.21 North
Longitude: 069 54.98 West
Wind Speed: 13.7 kt
Air Temperature: 17 C
Final Log:
We are steaming for home. Woods Hole, MA that is. In the past ten days we have conducted 71 scallop dredge tows and processed 15, 979 scallops. We also took over 4 million images with the HabCam in 691 nautical miles of this leg. We have been a little busy.
A tow of scallops
This morning (0600 hrs.) we mustered in the dry lab and began our assignments, ranging from swabbing the decks to vacuuming our state rooms. Tonight I will be in Boston and then on my way back to Minnesota. I am ready to go home, but I know I will think back fondly on a few things. The rocking of the boat when I’m going to sleep. Meals prepared for me. The sound of waves and water. The hum of the engines. Seeing what comes up in the scallop dredge. Being on deck and on the bridge. A hap chance at seeing whales or dolphins. New friends and fun banter. Even though this journey began with an unpleasant introduction, it is ending with fond feelings.
Me and a barn door skate!
Being on this boat has been interesting for several reasons. I have learned new things about ocean life that I can take back to my classroom as well as a few souvenirs. I can honestly say I have never seen more scallops in my life, not to mention sand dollars and sea stars! I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my family, students, and friends. As I write this last blog, I am thinking of what a privilege it has been to be a member of this team of researchers. I am honored to learn from them. To my team: Jon, Nicole, Mike, Jess, Alexis, Ted, Nick (TG), and TR, thank you!! This experience would not have been the same without you! I will remember you fondly for many, many days to come.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Andrea Schmuttermair Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II June 22 – July 3
Mission: Groundfish Survey Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico Date: June 24, 2012
Ship Data from the Bridge Latitude: 2858 N
Longitude: 9310.96 W
Speed: 10 mph
Wind Speed: 6.77
Wind Direction: N/NE
Surface Water Salinity: 30.9
Air Temperature: 28.5 C
Relative Humidity: 79%
Barometric Pressure: 1009.84 mb
Water Depth: 24.3 meters
Personal Log
About ready to set sail!
And the journey has begun! I arrived in Houston on Thursday afternoon, only to be whisked away by Chief Scientist Andre DeBose to meet a few of the other scientists and crew for dinner. I had a great time getting to know a few of the people I will be working with over the next couple of weeks. We arrived to the port at Galveston about 10pm, where I got a quick tour of the Oregon II, my home for the next 2 weeks. Exhausted from traveling, I made myself at home in my stateroom before turning in for the evening.
Because we weren’t scheduled to set sail until 1400, I had a bit of time in the morning to explore Galveston. Being the adventurous type , I took this time to explore the land I would soon be leaving. The Oregon II is docked at Pier 21, located on “The Strand”, a strip filled with historic buildings and tourist shops. I spent most of my morning snapping photos, checking out the shops, and tracking down a good breakfast burrito at one
of the many Mexican food places that don the strip.
The pier in Galveston
Once back at the ship, we were briefed on the “Do’s and Don’ts” while on board, and what our shifts would look like. I am on the night watch, which means I will be working from midnight until noon each day. This will be a tough schedule to get used to, but I’m hoping we’ll see some neat things at night, and that it will be a little cooler out. I knew I should get to sleep as soon as we set sail, however I couldn’t help hanging out on deck for a little while as we left the port. I was rewarded for this opportunity by watching the pelicans and dolphins seeing our ship out of the port. I snapped a few more photos, enjoyed the cool breeze, and then headed down for bed.
I had quite a blast on my first night shift. I think keeping busy was a good thing, even though it was exhausting. I enjoyed getting to know my team a little better, and of course, checking out all the critters! Some of my favorites were the squid, sharp-nose and dogfish sharks, lizardfish, and my all-time favorite so far – the bashful crab.
Why do you think he is called the “bashful crab”?
Science and Technology Log
I am always under the mindset that if you want to learn something, you need to throw yourself in head first. Well, that’s exactly what I did on my very first shift on the Oregon II. We are split up into 2 shifts — midnight to noon or noon to midnight. On my watch, I am working with our watch leader, Alonzo, 2 scientists, Lindsey and Alex, and a volunteer, Renee. Our Field Party Chief Scientist (FPC), Andre, had to leave unexpectedly. Our new FPC, Brittany, was with us a bit of this first watch to make sure we understood our tasks, as I had lots of questions! Not only did I get the privilege to work the nightshift (I know you’re probably wondering why I said privilege — I’ll explain soon), but we also had one of the busiest shifts we’re anticipated to have for the length of this cruise. Just after midnight on Saturday morning, we pulled up our first trawl and conducted our first CTD.
The CTD warming up just below the water’s surface
Rinsing out the CTD with freshwater
A CTD, if you remember from my first blog, stands for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth. We put the device overboard in the front of the ship (the bow), and let it sit just below the surface for about 3 minutes so the sensors can warm up before we drop it to its scheduled depth. Then we lower it so it is as close to the ocean floor as possible. We do this at every station to collect important information about the oxygen level in the water in these areas. This information is important because we want to find out what the optimal conditions (temperature, salinity and oxygen levels) are for the specimens we collect. Knowing what environmental conditions suit each species allows us to see how shifts in the environment can impact populations. The data from the CTD is displayed on the computer in our dry lab, where the data points are plotted on a graph.
The dry lab is where we process a lot of our data both from the CTD and the sampling. We can monitor our CTD casts and find the weather information here. It is also the area where scientists go when there is a bit of downtime to relax before the next catch is brought in.
Bringing up the trawl — this was a big catch!
Working in the dry lab
Over in the back of the ship, also known as the stern, the trawl picks up all sorts of critters from the ocean bottom. When we’re ready, the deck crew helps us bring up the trawl and dump our catch into large buckets on deck. We had so much on the first catch that they dumped it out on the floor and we shoveled it into buckets like we were shoveling snow. We then weighed our catch before bringing it in and sorting it. Our first few catches were quite large — we had 6 or 7 baskets full of critters! Each basket can hold roughly 25kg. So, mathematicians, about how many kilograms were our first couple of catches? The nighttime brings on some interesting animals, and there is a certain excitement to staring out at the pitch black ocean.
Our troughs full of the catch, waiting to be sorted
With these large catches, jumping in head first was exactly what I had to do. I got a quick crash course in how to identify and sort the fish. I had no idea there would be so many different types! From the entire catch, we were to pull out red snapper, shrimp (pink, white and brown only), blue crabs, and anything unusual. We did this by dumping all the fish in a large trough, which we would then dig through to find our samples and place them in separate baskets.
We are pulling out samples primarily of shrimp because that is one of the main focuses of our survey this summer. The estimated abundance of shrimp, calculated from the trawl catches, is used to set limits for the commercial fishermen.
In addition to sorting out these important critters, we would also take what we call a subsample, the size of which is determined by the size of our total catch. Of this subsample, we sorted out everything in this section of the catch. We often had over 20 different types fish or crustaceans! Once the subsample was sorted, Alonzo would then weigh the total weight of a certain species and enter the data into our computer system. From here the fun part really began.
Lindsey is measuring, weighing and sexing the catch while I enter the data into the computer.
Weighing the lizardfish
We would measure the length of each critter on our measuring board, which uses a magnetic wand to capture the data and send it directly to the computer database. For most of the species, we would also take the weight of the first fish and every fifth fish thereafter, and, if possible, also determine its sex and stage of maturity. All this information was entered in the database. We typically worked in teams of 2 with one person measuring and weighing the fish and the other entering information into the computer. We were a bit slow to start, but after the first catch we had a system down. Once we had all of our data, we bagged up some of the fish that people have requested for samples while the rest headed back to the ocean. Fish from our survey will go to scientists in lab across the country to study further.
Because all the stations were about 2-5 miles apart on our first watch, we were working nonstop from midnight until about 11am. We pulled up about 7 catches, and almost always had a catch waiting to be sorted on deck.
Hard at work measuring my lizardfish
Got Questions?
Don’t forget, you can leave your questions in the “Comments” section below, and I’ll do my best to answer them!
Critter Query:
Students: Don’t forget to put your name in your response. Remember, the first one to respond correctly will receive a prize in the fall!
Critter Query #1: What’s the biggest commercial shrimp found in the Gulf of Mexico and what is its scientific name?
Critter Query #2: Name 3 types of shark found in the Gulf of Mexico. (more than one correct response — all correct responses will receive a prize providing there are no repeats)
NOAA Teacher at Sea Lesley Urasky Aboard the NOAA ship Pisces June 16 – June 29, 2012
Mission: SEAMAP Caribbean Reef Fish Survey Geographical area of cruise: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Date: June 22, 2012
Location: Latitude: 18.5472
Longitude: -65.1325
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air Temperature: 28.6°C (83.5°F)
Wind Speed: 9 knots (10.5 mph), Beaufort scale: 3
Wind Direction: from SE
Relative Humidity: 77%
Barometric Pressure: 1,014.80 mb
Surface Water Temperature: 28.1°C (82.6°F)
Science and Technology Log
Another aspect (much more technical) of the scientific research conducted on this cruise is the collection of acoustic data. This field is continually evolving as the detection resolution improves allowing scientists to more precisely identify fish. This has been used with more success in fisheries farther north because the schools of fish are more likely to be monospecific (a single species). However, the technique still needs improvement in warmer waters where the fish assemblages tend to be multi-specific (having a much greater variety of fish).
General idea behind an acoustic sounder being used to detect fish. (Source: www.biosonicinc.com)
This field of study is called Hydroacoustics (hydro- means water, and acoustics refers to sound). It is the science of how sound moves through water. Leonardo da Vinci noticed how sound travels through water in 1490. He noticed that, “If you cause your ship to stop and place the head of a long tube in the water and place the outer extremity to your ear, you will hear ships at a great distance from you.” (Urick, Robert J. Principles of Underwater Sound, 3rd Edition. New York. McGraw-Hill, 1983.) World War I helped promote innovation in the field, especially with the need for anti-submarine detection devices (Wood, A. B., From the Board of Invention and Research to the Royal Naval Scientific Service, Journal of the Royal Naval Scientific Service Vol 20, No 4, pp 1-100 (185-284)).
Hydroacoustic instruments utilize SOund Navigation and Ranging, more commonly referred to as SONAR. The ship Pisces is equipped with a system located on the center board; this is a flat structure that can be raised/lowered through the water column beneath the center of the ship.
Line drawing of the NOAA ship Pisces showing the location of the center board.
The system used is a sonar beam that is split into quadrants. This instrument is used to assist in determining fish abundance and distribution. The premise is relatively simple: an echo sounder transmits a pulse of energy waves (sound), when the pulse strikes an object, it is reflected (bounced) back to the transducer. The echo sounder is then processed and sent to a video display. This is the same general process behind the recreationally available fishfinder.
A short burst of energy is focused into a narrow beam. When this beam encounters an object such as a fish, a school of fish, plankton, or other object, some of the energy bounces back up through the water to the transducer. It is the detection of these reflections that allow scientists to determine location, size, and abundance of fish. These reflections show up on our video monitor. These measurements are combined with groundtruthed data (for example, fish collected in the field, camera images).
One of the difficulties in data interpretation is that often, the signals that appear on the computer monitor have false readings. This is a result of the sound wave bouncing multiple times. It travels to the bottom from the transducer, strikes an object, returns to the ship, bounces off the ship back toward the bottom, strikes another object, and is detected yet again.
Real-time annotated echogram at sampling site.
The Pisces is actually home to one of six multi-beam acoustic instruments in the world. Of the six in existence, NOAA has five of them. The benefit of running a multi-beam instrument is that each beam can be set to measure a different frequency (kHz), thus enabling detection of many more features (different species of fish, etc.)
Last night the crew of the Pisces carried out a task that they don’t normally perform. The Pisces was created for fisheries research projects – it focuses on collecting fish samples either by bandit reel, longline, or trawling. This particular operation was to deploy the anchor for a buoy that will be attached at a later date. When the buoy is ready to be attached, another vessel will bring it out to the site and divers will go down to the anchor to make the final attachment.
The anchor consists of a huge rebar-reinforced concrete block with a very long chain that has marker floats attached at the end. Logistically, this took some planning; the A-frame had to be raised and the anchor lifted with the Gilson winch with a 1″ spectra line (has an enormous tensile strength). The gate to the ship’s ramp was lowered and the A-frame (or as the deck hands call it, the “Tuna Tower”) repositioned so the anchor was hanging over the water. The rope holding the anchor, chain, and float was cut through, and the anchor plunged to the ocean bottom. Again, the crew made the operation go smoothly and demonstrated their ability to complete unexpectedly assigned tasks.
Today was a slow fishing day – no fish at all. Without any fish to “work up” (collect samples from), the day goes more slowly and we have more down time. With the extra time, I had a chance to interview Kevin Rademacher, the Chief Scientist on the cruise.
LU: What is your official job title and what are your job duties?
KR: I’m a Research Fisheries Biologist. I work for the Reef Fish Unit at the NOAA Fisheries Lab in Pascagoula, MS. I am the Senior Tape Reader/Reviewer, in charge of the readers that analyze the video data we collect from Reef Fish Surveys. I also help plan, organize, and run the surveys. Additionally, I participate in trawl surveys and anything else the lab needs done.
LU: When did you first become interested in the ocean and marine sciences?
KR: I guess that would have been when I was really young. There is a photo from the Panama City, Florida newspaper, two weeks after I was born with my parents pulling me in a homemade wagon along the beach! I knew in junior high school that I wanted to be a cross between Jacques Cousteau and Marlin Perkins of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.
LU: It’s such a broad field; how did you narrow your focus down to what you’re currently doing?
KR: I got lucky and kind of fell into reading underwater videos at the initial stages of the project and fell in love with being the proverbial “fly on the wall”! It has allowed me to see the fish in their natural habitat, different color phases, behavior, etc.
LU: If you were to go into another area of ocean research, what would it be?
KR: Marine Mammal Studies. After college I trained dolphins and sea lions and put on shows with them for a local Oceanarium on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
LU: What is the biggest challenge in your job?
KR: Communicating with people and writing papers.
Ariane Frappier and Kevin Rademacher reviewing a dichotomous key in order to determine the species of a fish we caught.
LU: What do you think is the biggest issue of contention in your field?
KR: The impression that commercial fishermen have regarding the work we do to regulate the fisheries they work in.
LU: What are some effects of climate change that you’ve witnessed during your career in fisheries research?
KR: The decline of coral reefs and overfishing of some species.
LU: In what areas of marine science do you foresee a lot of career paths and job opportunities?
KR: Ecosystem management and data modelers. There has also been a decline in taxonomists over the past few decades.
LU: How would you explain your work to a layperson?
KR: I use underwater cameras to help assess populations of reef fish, especially snappers and groupers. The data collected is used to manage those fisheries.
LU: If a high school student wanted to go into your field of study/marine science in general, what kinds of courses would you recommend they take?
KR: Math, Biology, Chemistry, and any other science courses available.
LU: Do you recommend students interested in your field pursue original research as high school students or undergraduates? If so, what kind?
KR: Most definitely! Whatever they are interested in would be beneficial.
Well, only two more days left with the scientists before we pull into San Juan, Puerto Rico. We have 17 more daytime sites to sample and then this survey will be over. The scientific crew will be flying home on the 25th, and once home, their work will really begin. Back in the lab, they will be analyzing the data and reviewing the video. Some of them will be going back out on other cruises. Kevin Rademacher will be going out on another reef fish survey in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It is currently delayed because of the potential formation of tropical storm Debby. Joey Salisbury has a couple more; he will be going on a longline cruise and then another reef fish survey, both of which will be in the Gulf of Mexico. Arian Frappier will be heading off to begin a masters program in marine systems and coastal studies at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
After a day’s shore leave in San Juan, I’ll continue on to Mayport on the Pisces. During this time, I’ll focus on the crew members and their jobs. The cruise will definitely take on a different feel at this point, but it will give me an opportunity to explore other ocean related careers.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Janet Nelson Huewe Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp June 13 – 25, 2012
Mission: Sea Scallop Survey Geographic Area: North Atlantic
Friday, June 22, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Longitude: 068 24.69 West
Latitude: 41.40.50 North
Wind speed: 7.9 kt
Air temp: 18.5 C
Depth: 194.7 feet (32.2 fathoms)
Science and Technology Log:
Our route in George’s Bank
Yesterday was a 12 hour shift of towing the HabCam. The strangely unique thing about that was the terrain. We are on the western edge of Georges Bank and the sand waves on the ocean floor are incredible! There are waves as high as 10 meters that come upon you in a blink of an eye. By observing the side scan sonar it looks very similar to being in a desert, or on the surface of Mars. We refer to driving the HabCam through these areas as piloting the “White knuckle express”.
side scan sonar/sand waves
To get through these areas Scott was able to use geographic images collected by the United States Geological Survey and created an overlay of the pictures onto our tow path, alerting us to any possible hazards in navigation. This data allowed us to anticipate any potential dangers before they arose.
Irritated sea scallop
We continue to see skates, various fishes, lobsters and sand dollars, and in places, huge amounts of scallops. The images will be reviewed back at the lab in Woods Hole, MA. I have been able to see some of them and the clarity is amazing.
Today, we are continuing to tow the HabCam. When finished, we will have taken images from hundreds of nautical miles with over 4 million images taken on Leg II! We will put in the scallop dredge toward the end of my shift. We will then conduct back to back dredge tows on the way back to Woods Hole totaling over 100 nautical miles for this portion of the trip.
Me, heading in to get my foul weather gear on
Personal Log:
Yesterday was a beautiful day at sea. It was, however, strange. The sea was really calm and the sun was shining in a big beautiful sky. The strange thing was that about 300 yards out was fog. There were many commercial fishing vessels all around us. It felt like being in an episode of “The Twilight Zone” or some creepy Steven King novel. I am thankful, however, for smooth sailing.
Commercial fishing vessel
A day at sea
The crew continues to be awesome. We had flank steak and baked potatoes for supper last night. Lee, our chef, is amazing. Everything she makes is from scratch and there is always plenty. The only reason someone would go hungry on this ship is if it was by choice. Lee takes very good care of us! I have had ample opportunity to get to know others who share my shift. Mike, Jessica and I are science volunteers. Jon and Nicole are the NOAA staff along with Scott an associate scientist at WHOI( Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) on the science team. We get along “swimmingly” and have fun banter to break up any monotony.
I am sleeping very well at night. I think it’s the rocking of the ship that lulls me to sleep. I think I will miss that when I get home. Funny, how at the beginning of this journey I was cursing the very waves that now rock me to sleep. The way the body adjusts is amazing.
I will be home in four days. This week has swiftly gone by. Although I miss home, I feel I will miss people from this ship and the experience of being at sea (minus the sickness!) My mind is already putting together science lessons for my biology classes this fall. I do, however, have three full days left on this ship and I plan to make the most of it. Keep checking the blog to find out what happens next on the great adventure in the North Atlantic Ocean!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Alexandra Keenan Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow June 18 – June 29, 2012
Mission: Cetacean Biology Geographical area of the cruise: Gulf of Maine
Date: June 23, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Air temperature: 14.4° C
Sea temperature: 13.3° C
Wind speed: 10.5 knots
Wind direction: from the SW
Science and Technology Log:
Whales are social creatures with a remarkable ability to communicate with one another over long distances using sounds. Male humpback whales, for example, can sing for days on end over mating grounds to attract the ladies, or over feeding grounds such as the ones on Georges Bank (where we are!) The acoustic behavior of sperm whales may even provide for distinct cultures within the species.
Given these vocalizations, it is possible to monitor the distribution and behavior of acoustically active marine animals using special recording units called “marine autonomous recording units” (MARUs). For the past few days, we have been zig-zagging and loopty-looping around Georges Bank to retrieve several of these MARUs (track our ship’s course here).
MARUs are little buoys designed to sit on the ocean floor and record all sounds within a certain range of frequencies. The MARUs we retrieved during this cruise have been on Georges Bank since the March cruise on the Delaware II (see Chief Scientist Allison Henry’s blog post).
To retrieve a buoy:
1. An acoustic signal (a sound) is sent out from a speaker lowered into the water that basically says to the buoy, “Hello! Are you there?” Listen: Signal used to contact buoy
Bioacoustician Denise Risch sends a signal to the MARU.
2. The buoy can then respond with another acoustic signal, “Yup!”
Research analyst Genevieve Davis and intern Julia Luthringer listen for a response from the MARU.
3. Upon hearing confirmation that the buoy is indeed in the area, the bioacoustician can send another signal to the buoy telling it to burn the wire anchoring it to the sandbags on the ocean floor.
4. The buoy is free! It floats to the sea surface and is retrieved from the side of the ship.
Denise Risch, Genevieve Davis, and Julia Luthringer wait for the ship to approach the MARU (small yellow dot in ocean).
5. Data is retrieved from flash memory on the buoy for further analysis.
MARU ready for data retrieval.
What will these MARUs be able to tell bioacousticians (scientists that study sounds produced by living organisms)?
Lots! Using passive acoustic monitoring (recording the sounds that marine mammals make), scientists can study the distribution of acoustically active mammals and can couple distribution data with environmental measurements of the area to identify relationships between conditions on the ocean and acoustic activity. Scientists can also distinguish whale species based on their sounds, so certain species of whale can be monitored.
Physics break: Why do you think whales have evolved to use sound rather than sight or smell to communicate underwater?
Personal Log:
I have been amazed by the amount of maintenance being done while we are underway. Even with a relatively new ship like the Bigelow, there is always something to be done, whether it be grinding away at the deck for subsequent repainting or fixing a malfunctioning pump.
Deck crew member Tony repaints the deck after grinding off the old paint while we are underway.
We spend most of our days out on the fly bridge watching for whales, and mostly we see whales.
Equipment used for watching for whales from the flybridge.
However, once in a while a shark, turtle, or mola mola floats by. I really get a kick out of the mola molas. They look like they could be the subject of a Pokemon trading card– a big flat fish head with fins sticking out. They eat jelly fish and have few natural predators. Adults weigh an average of 2200 lbs!
The other-worldly mola mola.
A short video of one in action below:
Mola mola in action
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Finally, I wanted to introduce everyone on the science team for this cruise:
From left to right: Me, Scientist Pete Duley, Bioacoustician Denise Risch, Chief Scientist Allison Henry, Scientist Jen Gatzke, Research Analyst Genevieve Davis, and Intern Julia Luthringer (photo courtesy CO Zegowitz)
Mission: SEAMAP Summer Groundfish Survey Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico Current Location: Waterloo, Iowa Date: June 22, 2012
Introduction
Welcome everyone to my first Teacher at Sea blog post! I am very honored to have been given this wonderful opportunity and am looking forward to this fast approaching experience!
As many of you may already know I am a K-5 gifted and talented teacher for the Expanded Learning Program (ELP) in Waterloo, Iowa and will be going into my third year of teaching this fall. I actually teach at two separate schools in my district, Lowell Elementary and Kingsley Elementary. It is awesome to work with such wonderful staffs and students at both buildings and be a part of both communities!
A picture one of my students took of me.
I love my job and the daily excitement it brings! I love presenting my students with challenges that require them to think in ways they may not have been asked to think before. My favorite part of teaching is watching my students learn and grow each day, and I am always in awe of who they’ve become by the end of the school year. I have always had a passion for supporting the needs of gifted and talented students and am thrilled to be in a position where I am able to do that every day.
Just as it is important for students to learn and grow each day, it is also important that teachers do the same. I am currently working on my Master’s degree at the University of Northern Iowa and will complete my course work next May. I have started preliminary work on my thesis and plan on receiving my degree, Education of the Gifted, in the fall of 2013. It is exciting, challenging work and has reinforced the importance of time management and working toward one’s goals. I always encourage my students to follow their passions and I hope I have set a good example. Overall, it has been a very rewarding experience.
My Passions
Here is a picture of me at age 4 fishing on the Kenai River in Alaska.
Besides gifted and talented education, I have many other passions. Growing up in a military family I was able to see and do things that many have yet to experience. Before I lived in Iowa, I lived in Colorado, Mississippi, and Alaska. (In Mississippi I lived in Biloxi which is VERY close to where I will be starting my Teacher at Sea adventure!) I spent a lot of time outdoors. Hiking, mountain climbing, camping, fishing, and whitewater rafting were many of the things I enjoyed while living in Colorado and Alaska.
View from the top of Eagle Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colorado
I knew from a young age that I was passionate about science. I loved exploring, experimenting, and questioning the “hows” and “whys” of everything around me. My excitement for science continued into college where most of my elective classes were science related. Biology, chemistry, and geology were my favorites. When I took my first geology class I was enthralled by our world’s natural history and how we can “dig up the past”.
After taking a course specific to Iowa geology, I have now learned that geology is exciting everywhere, not just in Colorado. My students can attest to my passion in geology as my room is littered with all of my quarry findings!
Geology ROCKS! – At a local Iowa quarry.
Within the realm of geology is the important connection to our world’s oceans. Many people may think that geology is what we can see on the surface: rocks, mountains, valleys. However, it is important to remember that even at the depths of our oceans, geological activity takes place.
SCUBA diving in Alexander Springs, Florida.
My passion for our world’s oceans began shortly after my first experience snorkeling off the coast of Key West, Florida. After viewing the ocean through a pair of goggles, I was transported into a new and exciting world. Swimming alongside angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda, and sharks was beyond my imagination.
It wasn’t long after my snorkeling adventure on Dry Rocks Reef that I started the certification process to become an Open Water SCUBA diver. While I won’t be able to SCUBA dive during my Teacher at Sea adventure, I will still be able to explore life from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico aboard the Oregon II which will be just as exciting!
My Teacher at Sea Adventure
The mission I will be supporting this summer is the SEAMAP Summer Groundfish Survey. SEAMAP stands for Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program. The SEAMAP-Gulf of Mexico survey has been conducted since 1981.
The NOAA Ship Oregon II conducts a groundfish survey twice each year, once in the summer and again in the fall. Samples are gathered at randomly chosen stations and brought back up to the ship for examination to determine the abundance, distribution, and health of the fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. The NOAA Ship Oregon II is stationed out of Pascagoula, Mississippi which is where I will begin my journey.
Once my adventure begins, stop back frequently and check for new blog postings! Make sure you leave comments and questions at the bottom of my blogs, especially if it is something I can explore while still aboard the Oregon II! I will make sure to answer you back as soon as I can and maybe even include your answers in my later blogs!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Alexandra Keenan Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow June 18 – June 29, 2012
Mission: Cetacean Biology Geographical area of the cruise: Gulf of Maine
Date: June 21, 2012
Weather data from the bridge: Air temperature: 15.84° C
Wind speed: 7.42 knots
Wind direction: coming from N
Relative Humidity 94.9%
Science and Technology Log:
We departed from Naval Station Newport (NAVSTA) shortly after 2:00 pm on June 18th. During our first three full days at sea, we have been intermittently retrieving marine acoustic recording units (MARUs–more on this later) and recording whale sightings on Georges Bank.
Georges Bank is an elevated area of sea floor extending from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Cape Sable Island in Nova Scotia. This special place is a feeding ground for cetaceans because the topography and position of the bank result in an upwelling of nutrient-rich water which supports a high level of productivity.
Our day begins at 7:30 am when we begin watch sessions. Every hour and a half, we rotate through three stations. Scientists at two stations use high-power binoculars, dubbed “big eyes,” while a scientist at another station records sightings.
Peter Duley enters data from a sighting on the fly bridge.
Me on the “big eyes” scanning for whales.
The following information is recorded for each sighting:
Environmental conditions and ship position data are recorded concurrently. All of this data can then be used together to monitor certain species and to create statistical models of whale populations.
In this area, we expect to see humpback, sei, fin, pilot, and right whales. In order to distinguish species while on watch, we must take into account a few important characteristics:
Spout: The spout is a column of moist air emitted from the whale’s nostril (blowhole) on its back as it exhales. Right whales and humpbacks have short, bushy spouts, while fin and sei whales have tall, columnar spouts. If the wind is strong, it can be hard to distinguish them. Luckily, there are a couple of other ways to identify whales from a distance.
Dorsal fin: This is the fin on the whale’s back behind the blowhole. Right whales do not have dorsal fins, and humpback whales have a bit of an extra “hump” on their dorsal fin. Fin and sei whales are slightly more tricky to distinguish. The best way to distinguish them is to recognize that the dorsal fin on a sei whale is taller than on a fin whale. There is also a white coloration pattern forward of the dorsal fin on a fin whale called a chevron. Sei whales do not have these. Fin whales also have white markings on their lower jaws, which sei whales do not have.
Fluke: The fluke is the whale’s “tail.” Humpbacks and right whales show their flukes more often than the others when they dive. Right whales have a very smooth black fluke, while humpback whales have more deeply notched flukes that can range in color from all white to all black.
So far on this cruise we have seen: humpback whales, pilot whales, fin whales, sei whales, minke whales, sperm whales, common dolphins, white-sided dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, striped dolphins, bottle-nose dolphins, mola-mola, and a Portuguese man o’ war.
No right whales yet, though tomorrow we plan to cross the Great South Channel in order to retrieve more MARUs, with a possibility of a sighting there. There was also an aerial survey over Georges Basin– the extreme northern edge of George’s Bank– today that reported 12 right whales. We hope to see plenty before the cruise is over, as right whales are the species targeted for biopsy and photo-identification on this mission.
Dozens of common dolphins surrounded the ship on June 19th.
Dolphins playing around the ship.
Genevieve Davis records dolphin whistles using the ship’s hydrophone as I listen on headphones.
From the starboard 01 weatherdecks (the decks on the right side of the boat when facing forward), I was able to hear the dolphins whistling to each other as they played around the ship on June 19th. Scientists Denise Risch and Genevieve Davis recorded their acoustics using a hydrophone mounted on the ship’s centerboard.
Personal Log:
Galley stores are loaded on to Henry B. Bigelow just before departure.
Seeing the Bigelow from my cab as we drove onto the pier on June 17th was a bit of a shock for me. I didn’t realize quite how huge it was going to be. As I sauntered up the gangway with my backpack, I thought there was no way I could get seasick on a ship this big. My confidence grew as we left port on the 18th and I felt fine. By the end of the next day (our first full day at sea), though, I was looking for a rock to hide under. A stationary rock.
Happily, today felt great. I feel like my normal self again, have gotten into the swing of things aboard, and know my way around the ship. Everyone here has been exceptionally welcoming and nice which made the seasickness easy to forget. Tonight the ship had a summer solstice party on the flybridge. The weather was absolutely beautiful– complete with an orange sunset and glassy seas.
Me in my survival suit during an abandon ship drill.
Overall, things are going great here. The ship is comfortable, the food is delicious, and the whale sightings have been absolutely incredible. I could get used to this.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Lesley Urasky Aboard the NOAA ship Pisces June 16 – June 29, 2012
Mission: SEAMAP Caribbean Reef Fish Survey Geographical area of cruise: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Date: June 20, 2012
Location: Latitude: 18.1937
Longitude: -64.7737
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air Temperature: 28°C (83°F)
Wind Speed: 19 knots (22 mph), Beaufort scale: 5
Wind Direction: from N
Relative Humidity: 80%
Barometric Pressure: 1,014.90 mb
Surface Water Temperature: 28°C (83°F)
Science and Technology Log
The cameras are a very important aspect of the abundance survey the cruise is conducting. Since catching fish is an iffy prospect (you may catch some, you may not) the cameras are extremely important in determining the abundance and variety of reef fish. At every site sampled during daylight hours, we deploy the camera array. The cameras can only be utilized during the daytime because there are no lights – video relies on the ambient light filtering down from the surface.
Camera array – the lens of one of the cameras is facing forward.
Deployment of the array at a site begins once the Bridge verifies we are over the sampling site. The camera array is turned on and is raised over the rail of the ship and lowered to the water’s surface on a line from a winch that has a ‘quick release’ attached to the array. Once over the surface, a deck hand pulls on the line to the quick release allowing the array to free fall to the bottom of the ocean. Attached to the array is enough line with buoys attached. The buoys mark the array at the surface and give the deck hands something to aim for with the grappling hook when it is time for the array to be retrieved. Once the buoys are on deck, a hydraulic pot hauler is used to raise the array from the sea floor to the side of the ship. From there, another winch is used to bring the array on board.
Vic, Jordan, Joey, and Joe deploying the camera array.
When the array is deployed, a scientist starts a computer program that collects the time, position and depth the array was dropped at. The array is allowed to “soak” on the bottom for about 38 minutes. The initial 3-5 minutes are for the cameras to power up and allow any sediment or debris on the bottom to settle after the array displaces it. The cameras are only actually recording for 25 of those minutes. The final 3-5 minutes are when the computers are powering down. At one point in time, the cameras on the array were actual video cameras sealed in waterproof, seawater-rated cases. With this system, after each deployment, every individual case had to be physically removed from the array, opened up, and the DV tape switched out. With the new system, there are a series of four digital cameras that communicate wirelessly with the computers inside the dry lab.
We did have a short-lived problem with one of the digital cameras — it quit working and the electronics technician that takes care of the cameras, Kenny Wilkinson, took a couple of nights to trouble shoot and repair it. During this time period, we reverted back to the original standard video camera. Throughout the cruise, Kenny uploads the videos taken during the day and repairs the cameras at night so they will be ready for the next day’s deployments.
Squid (before being cut into pieces) used for bait on the camera array
Besides the structure of the camera array which is designed to attract reef fish, the array is baited with squid. A bag of frozen, cut squid hangs down near the middle. The squid is replaced at every site.
Adding bait to the camera array.
In addition to the bait bag, a Temperature Depth Recorder (TDR) is attached near the center, hanging downward near the bottom third of the array. The purpose of the TDR is to measure the temperature of the water at various depths. It is also used to verify that the depth where the camera comes to rest on the ocean bottom and is roughly equivalent to what the acoustic sounding reports at the site. This is important because the camera generally doesn’t settle directly beneath the ship. Its location is ultimately determined by the drift as it falls through the water column and current. The actual TDR instrument is very small and is attached to the array near the bait bag. After retrieving the array at each site, the TDR is removed from the array and brought inside to download the information. To download, there is a small magnet that is used to tap the instrument (once) and then a stylus attached to the computer is used to read a flash of light emitted by an LED. The magnet is then tapped four times on the instrument to clear the previous run’s data. The data actually records the pressure exerted by the overlying water column in pounds per square inch (psi) which is then converted to a depth.
TDR instrument
Computer screen showing the data downloaded from the TDR.
The video from each day is uploaded to the computer system during the night shift. The following day, Kevin Rademacher (chief scientist), views the videos and quickly annotates the “highlights”. The following things are noted: visual clarity (turbidity [cloudiness due to suspended materials], what the lighting is like [backlit], and possible focusing issues), substrate (what the bottom is made of), commercially viable fish, fish with specific management plans, presence of lionfish (an invasive species), and fish behavior. Of the four cameras, the one with the best available image is noted for later viewing.
Computer data entry form for camera array image logs
Once back at the lab, the videos are more completely analyzed. A typical 20-minute video will take anywhere from 30 minutes to three days to complete. This is highly dependent upon density and diversity of fish species seen; the greater the density and diversity, the longer or more viewing events it will take. The experience of the reader is also an important factor. Depending upon the level of expertise, a review system is in place to “back read” or verify species identification. The resulting data is entered into a database which is then used to assign yearly data points for trend analysis. The final database is submitted to the various management councils. From there, management or fisheries rebuilding plans are developed and hopefully, implemented.
Spotted moray eel viewed from the camera array. He’s well camouflaged; can you find him?
Coney with a parasitic isopod attached below its eye.
Two Lionfish – an invasive species
Personal Log
Today, we are off the coast of St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We traveled from the southern coast of St. Croix, went around the western tip of the island and across the straight. When I woke up I could see not only St. Thomas and St. John, but a host of smaller islands located off their coastline.
Map of the Virgin Islands. St. Croix and St. Thomas are separated by 35 miles of ocean. It took us about 3 hours to cross to our next set of sampling sites.
Around dinner time last night we had an interesting event happen on board. They announced over the radio system that there was a leak in the water line and asked us not to use the heads (toilets). A while later, they announced no unnecessary use of water (showers, etc.); following that they shut off all water. It didn’t take long for the repairs to occur, and soon the water was returned. However, when I went to dinner, I discovered that the stateroom I’m sharing with Kelly Schill, the Ops Officer, had flooded. Fortunately, the effects of the flooding were not nearly as bad as I had feared. Only a small portion of the room had been affected. The crew did a great job of rapidly assessing the problem and fixing it in a timely manner. After this, I have absolutely no fear about any problems on board because I know the crew will react swiftly, maintain safety, and be professional all the while.
Last night was the first sunset I’ve seen since I’ve been on board. Up until this point, it has been too hazy and cloudy. The current haze is caused by dust/sand storms in the Sahara Desert blowing minute particles across the Atlantic Ocean.
St. Thomas sunset
Today has been a slow day with almost nary a fish caught. We did catch one fish, but by default. It was near the surface and hooked onto our bait. We immediately reeled in the line and extracted it. It was necessary to remove it because it would have skewed our data since it was caught at the surface and not near the reef. This fish was a really exciting one for me to see, because it was a Shark Sucker (Echeneis naucrates). These are the fish you may have seen that hang on to sharks waiting for tasty tidbits to float by. They are always on the lookout for a free meal.
Shark sucker on measuring board
One of the most interesting aspects of the shark sucker is that they have a suction device called laminae on top of their heads that looks a little like a grooved Venetian blind system. In order to attach to the shark (or other organism), they “open the blinds” and then close them creating a suction-like connection.
The “sucker” structure on the Shark Sucker. Don’t they look like Venetian blinds?
I got to not only see and feel this structure on the fish, but also let it attach itself to my arm! It was the neatest feeling ever! The laminae are actually a modified dorsal spines; these spines are needed because of the roughness of shark’s skin. When the shark sucker detached itself from me, it left a red, slightly irritated mark on my arm that disappeared after a couple of hours.
Look, Ma, No Hands! Shark sucker attached to my arm.
Tomorrow we’ll be helping place a buoy in between St. Croix and St. Thomas. It will be interesting to see the process and how the anchor is attached.
With all the weird and wonderful animals we’re retrieving, I can’t wait to see what another day of fishing brings.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Valerie Bogan
Aboard NOAA ship Oregon II
June 7 – 20, 2012
Mission: Southeast Fisheries Science Center Summer Groundfish (SEAMAP) Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Tuesday June 12, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Sea temperature 28 degrees celsius, Air temperature 26.4 degrees celsius, building seas.
Science and Technology Log
Today I want to discuss the neuston net. This is a very large net made out of finely woven mesh which is deployed (shoved off the side of the boat) in order to catch plankton. There are three types of plankton: phytoplankton (plants and algae), zooplankton (animals), and ichytoplankton (baby fish). The neuston net rides along the surface of the water for ten minutes scooping up any organisms which are near the surface. After the ten minutes are up, the deck crew uses a crane to pull the net out of the water and bring it up to the point where someone can wash it down with a hose. This is necessary because not all of the plankton ends up in the cod end (the place where the collection jar is located) so we have to use a hose to get all of the loose stuff washed into the end of the net. After the net is washed down, the cod end is carefully removed, placed in a bucket and taken to the stern (back) of the ship where it is processed.
This is how the neuston net is moved from the ship into the water. From left to right Jeff, Marshall, and Chris are safely deploying the net.
To process the sample you must first empty the contents of the cod end into a filter which will allow the water to run out but will keep the sample. Then you transfer (move) the sample from the filter into a glass sample jar. Sometimes the sample smoothly slides into the jar and other times you have to wash down the filter with some ethanol. Once all of the sample is in the jar it is topped off with ethanol, a tag is placed inside the jar, and another tag is put on top of the jar. This sample is stored on the boat and taken back to the NOAA lab where it will be cataloged.
In this picture I am filtering out the water from the neuston sample so it can be placed in a sample jar.(Picture by Francis)
Personal Log
Today is our fifth day at sea and I’m feeling fairly comfortable with my duties on the ship. I was assigned to the night watch which runs from midnight till noon the next day. I’ll admit I didn’t make it the entire time the first day. We got done early and despite my intentions to stay up until my shift, I would have ended I falling asleep. The second night was better. I was beyond exhausted at the end, but I did manage to make it through the entire shift. At this point my mind and body have adjusted to the shift and I can easily drift to sleep at 3 pm and get up at 11:15 pm. Students, this is a great example of what it means to be responsible. If I was given the choice, do you think I would have chosen these crazy hours or to work twelve hours straight? No of course not but I really wanted to come on this expedition and this work assignment is part of the trip. So I’m doing the same thing I would expect you to do in a situation like this: accept it and get the work done.
Now I don’t want you to think that the trip is just about hard work. It’s also about seeing new places and getting to know some interesting people. I started out this trip in Pascagoula Mississippi, a city and state I never planned on visiting before this assignment. However, the people there were so helpful and friendly that I would gladly go back to see more of this region. All of you from the Kokomo area know that the major employers are automobile companies. Well, Pascagoula also has a major industry: ship building. So despite the distance between Kokomo and Pascagoula–about 900 miles–each town depends on an industry for their survival and both towns are incredibly proud of their contribution to society.
The major industry in Pascagoula is ship building.
I have been introducing you to parts of the ship, and today I’m going to tell you about the bridge. Now this is not the type of bridge that crosses a river, but rather the command center of the ship. The crew on the bridge is responsible for the safety of all personal on board and for the ship itself. There is a vast array of technology on the bridge which the crew uses to plot our course, check the weather, and to do hundreds of other things which are necessary for the ship to function.
This is the chart the bridge crew uses to plot our course.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Carmen Andrews Aboard R/V Savannah July 6 – 18, 2012
Carmen Andrews
Hello!
Happy Summer Solstice Day! I am Carmen Andrews. I work as a science specialist at Six to Six Interdistrict Magnet School in Bridgeport, CT. I have just finished my 5th year at this school. I create science curriculum for grades pre-K through 8. I also teach many classes to help teachers improve their understanding of science concepts and inquiry methods.
Six to Six Interdistrict Magnet School, Bridgeport, CT
Our school has a unique academic program that incorporates partnerships with the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT and the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, CT. Our students visit many other places, including the Yale Peabody Museum and Yale Leitner Family Planetarium and Observatory in New Haven. We also allow our students to remotely operate the Gold Apple Valley Radio Telescope in California. My favorite places to teach classes are the unspoiled outdoor sites in Connecticut where we take our students for field studies.
6th Graders Counting Intertidal Organisms Using a Quadrat
I love research!
One of my passions as an educator is creating opportunities for students to investigate real world problems using science inquiry. This year my 6th and 7th graders took on a big environmental research project. They were asked to research bioremediation and to develop a creative solution to a major problem in their community — toxic oil spills. The work was funded by a NSTA/Toyota Tapestry Grant award, which enabled us to find out about blue and gray oyster mushrooms’ ability to metabolize oil spills in soil. Our project is called Going Green in Brownfields: A New Diet for Mushrooms. You can see our blog here: mushroomdiet.info
A 7th Grader Massing Blue Oyster Mushrooms Grown in Motor Oil
My Teacher at Sea Adventure
TheNOAA Teacher at Sea program was created to provide teachers with experiences in science research. We share our knowledge with our school communities using blogs, teaching and writing articles when we return from our Teacher at Sea assignment. I am very excited to learn about the work of NOAA in monitoring fisheries in U.S. coastal waters. I am eager to share this scientific research with students. I also want to expose students to the variety of maritime and marine science careers that they can consider pursuing in later life.
I will be departing on the R/V Savannah in about 2 weeks to participate in a reef fish survey. The next time I write, I will most likely be somewhere near Skidaway Island, GA. My target audience for my blogs while I am at sea, are students, colleagues and friends of all ages. Please feel free to post your comments and questions about this important science research.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Nicolle Vonderheyde Onboard NOAA Ship Pisces June 14 – July 2, 2010
Nicolle von der Heyde NOAA Ship Pisces Mission: SEAMAP Reef Fish Survey Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico Dates: Monday, June 21
Weather Data from the Bridge
Time: 0800 hours (8 am) Position: Latitude: 28º 09.6 minutes N Longitude: 094º 18.2 min. W Visibility: 10 nautical miles Wind Direction: variable Water Temperature: 30.6 degrees Celsius Air Temperature: 27.5 degrees Celsius Ship’s Speed: 5 knots
Science Technology Log
Atlantic Spotted dolphins are the graceful ballerinas of the sea. They are just incredible! The Gulf of Mexico is one of the habitats of the dolphin because they live in warm tropical waters. The body of a spotted dolphin is covered with spots and as they get older their spots become greater in number.
Because Dolphins are mammals they breathe air through a single blowhole much like whales. Dolphins live together in pods and can grow to be 8 feet long and weigh 200-255 pounds. Like whales, dolphins swim by moving their tails (flukes) up and down. The dolphin’s beak is long and slim and its lips and the tip of its beak are white. They eat a variety of fish and squid found at the surface of the water. Since dolphins like to swim with yellow fin tuna, some dolphins die by getting tangled in the nets of tuna fishermen.
Newborn calves are grey with white bellies. They do not have spots. Calves mature around the age of 6-8 years or when the dolphin reaches a length of 6.5 feet. Calving takes place every two years. Gestation (or pregnancy) lasts for 11 1/2 months and babies are nursed for 11 months.
While watching the dolphins ride the bow wave, Nicolle and I wondered, “How do dolphins sleep and not drown?” Actually, we found that there are two basic methods of sleeping: they float and rest vertically or horizontally at the surface of the water. The other method is sleeping while swimming slowly next to another dolphin. Dolphins shut down half of their brains and close the opposite eye. That lets the other half of the brain stay “awake.” This way they can rest and also watch for predators. After two hours they reverse this process. This pattern of sleep is called “cat-napping.”
Dolphins maintain a deeper sleep at night and usually only sleep for two hours at a time. This method is called “logging” because in this state dolphins look like a log floating in the ocean.
The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) prohibits the hunting, capturing, killing or collecting of marine mammals without a proper permit. Permits are granted for the Spotted Dolphins to be taken if it is for scientific research, public display, conservation, or in the case of a dolphin stranding. The maximum ffor violating the MMPA is $20,000 and one year in jail.
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
Personal Log
The best part of this trip is all the marine life I see in the Gulf. In the past few days, dolphins have been swimming up to the boat and riding the bow wave of the ship. They are so graceful and playful in the water. In addition to the Tiger Shark seen feasting on the dead Sperm Whale, I have seen quite a few sharks swimming in the water near our ship. One, called a Silky Shark, took the bait as some of the crew was fishing from the stern of the boat (shown to the left). It was hauled up so the hook could be taken out and released back into the water. The second was a baby shark swimming near the bow of the ship as I watched the dolphins in the distance. I also saw a shark swimming near the starboard side of our ship while the deckhands were hauling up one of the camera arrays.
The fourth shark was the most exciting. As the crew was working at the stern of the ship to release a line that was caught in the rudder, I looked over the stern to see a large shark very near the surface swimming toward the starboard (right) side of the ship. I hurried to look and to my surprise it was a giant Hammerhead! I never expected to see one of these in its natural habitat. Unfortunately, by the time I got my camera out, the Hammerhead was too far away and too deep to get a clear shot, but what a sight to see!
I often mistake the fish shown on the left for sharks. Actually they are Cobia, also known as Lemonfish. Once in a while thefish approach the boat as we are hauling fishup on the bandit reel. I have also seen bojellyfish in the water as we are working on the starboard side of the ship and I spotted a brief glimpse of an Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) from the bridge of the ship as I was talking to our Commanding Officer (CO). I wish I could have seen this fish up close. They are the largest bony fish in the oceans and as someone on the ship described, they resemble a giant Chiclet swimming in the water.
The smallest living things I have seen while at sea are the tiny creatures that live in the Sargassum, a type of seaweed that floats freely within and on the surface of the Gulf waters. The Sargassum provides a habitat for tiny creatures that are the foundation of the food web, even providing food for some of the largest animals in the sea like whales. The picture below on the left shows a giant patch of Sargassum, while the picture on the right shows some of the creatures that live within it including tiny shrimp, krill, and very small crabs.
Sargassum
Creatures that live within the sargassum including tiny shrimp, krill, and very small crabs
Seeing all this life has been reassuring as the oil continues to gush into Gulf waters off the coast of Louisiana, however I can’t help but think what the overall impact of this spill will be for the future of the Gulf. Will we see the negative environmental impact spread to the Eastern Gulf? Are microscopic droplets of oil and chemical dispersants infecting the food chain beyond the area that we visibly see being impacted? These questions will be answered as NOAA scientists continue to collect and analyze the type of data that I am helping gather on this SEAMAP Reef Fish Survey. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this scientific endeavor.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Lesley Urasky Aboard the NOAA ship Pisces June 16 – June 29, 2012
Mission: SEAMAP Caribbean Reef Fish Survey Geographical area of cruise: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Date: June 18, 2012
Location: Latitude: 17.6568
Longitude: -64.9281
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air Temperature: 28.5°C (83.3°F)
Wind Speed: 17.1 knots (19.7 mph), Beaufort scale: 5
Wind Direction: from SE
Relative Humidity: 75%
Barometric Pressure: 1,014.80 mb
Surface Water Temperature:28.97 °C (84.1°F)
Science and Technology Log
Alright, so I’ve promised to talk about the fish. Throughout the science portions of the cruise, the scientists have not been catching the anticipated quantities of fish. There are several lines of thought as to why: maybe the region has experienced overfishing; possibly the sampling sites are too shallow and deeper water fish may be more likely to bite; or they might not like the bait (North Atlantic mackerel) since it is not an endemic species/prey they would normally eat.
So far, the night shift has caught more fish than the day shift that I’m on. Today, we have caught five and a half fish. The half fish was exactly that – we retrieved only the head and it looked like the rest of the body had been consumed by a barracuda! These fish were in the grouper family and the snapper family.
Coney (Cephalopholis fulvus)
Blackfin snapper (Lutjanus buccanella). This little guy was wily enough to sneak into the camera array and steal some squid out of the bait bag! The contents of his stomach – cut up squid – can be seen to the left between the forceps and his head.
Once the fish have been caught, there are several measurements that must be made. To begin, the fish is weighed to the nearest thousandth (three decimal places) of a kilogram. In order to make sure the weight of the fish is accurate, the scale must be periodically calibrated.
Then there are several length measurements that are made: standard length (SL), total length (TL) and depending on the type of fish, fork length (FL). To make these measurements, the fish is laid so that it facing toward the left and placed on a fish board. The board is simply a long plank with a tape measure running down the center. It insures that the fish is laid out flat and allows for consistent measurement.
Standard length does not measure the caudal fin, or tail. It is measured from the tip of the fish’s head and stops at the end of the last vertebra; in other words, if the fish is laying on its side, and you were to lift the tail up slightly, a crease will form at the base of the backbone. This is where the standard length measurement would end. Total length is just as it sounds – it is a measurement of the entire length (straight line) of the fish. Fork length is only measured if the type of fish caught has a forked tail. If it does, the measurement begins at the fish’s snout and ends at the v-notch in the tail.
How to measure the three types of lengths: standard, fork, and total. (Source: Australian Government: Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities)
Red hind (Epinephelus guttatus) on the fish board being measured for standard length. Ariane’s thumb is on the crease marking the end of its backbone.
Once the physical measurements are made, the otoliths must be extracted and the fish sexed. You’re probably anxious to learn if you selected the right answer on the previous post’s poll – “What do you think an otolith is?” An otolith can be thought of as a fish’s “ear bone”. It is actually a structure composed of calcium carbonate and located within the inner ear. All vertebrates (organisms with backbones) have similar structures. They function as gravity, balance, movement, and directional indicators. Their presence helps a fish sense changes in horizontal motion and acceleration.
In order to extract the otoliths, the fish must be killed. Once the fish has been killed, the brain case is exposed and peeled back. The otoliths are in little slits located in the underside of the brain. It takes a delicate touch to remove them with a pair of forceps (tweezers) because they can easily break or slip beyond the “point of no return” (drop into the brain cavity where they cannot be extracted).
Otoliths are important scientifically because they can tell many important things about a fish’s life. Their age and growth throughout the first year of life can be determined. Otoliths record this information just like tree ring record summer/winter cycles. More complex measurements can be used to determine the date of hatch, once there are a collected series of measurements, spawning times can be calculated.
A cross-section of an otolith under a microscope. The rings are used to determine age and other life events. Source: Otolith Research Laboratory, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Because they are composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), the oxygen component of the chemical compound can be used to measure stable oxygen isotopes; this is useful for reconstructing temperatures of the waters the fish has lived in. Scientists are also able to look at other trace elements and isotopes to determine various environmental factors.
Extracted otoliths. Often they are around 1 cm long, although the larger the fish, the slightly larger the otolith.
The final step we take in measurement/data collection is determining the sex and maturity of the fish. To do this, the fish is slit open just as if you were going to clean the fish to filet and eat it. The air bladder must be deflated if it isn’t already and the intestines moved out of the way. Then we begin to search for the gonads (ovaries and testes). Once the gonads are found, we know if it is female or male and the next step is to determine its stage or maturity. This is quite a process, especially since groupers can be hermaphroditic. The maturity can be classified with a series of codes:
U = undetermined
1 = immature virgin (gonads are barely visible)
2 = resting (empty gonads – in between reproductive events)
3 = enlarging/developing (eggs/sperm are beginning to be produced)
4 = running ripe (gonads are full of eggs/sperm and are ready to spawn)
5 = spent (spawning has already occurred)
Ovaries of a coney (grouper family). These are the pair of flesh colored tubular structures running down the center of the fish.
Personal Log
Today is my birthday, and I can’t think of a better place to spend it! What a treat to be having such an adventure in the Caribbean! This morning, we were on our first bandit reel survey of the day, and the captain came on over the radio system, announced my birthday and sang Happy Birthday to me. Unbeknownst to me, my husband, Dave, had emailed the CO of the Pisces asking him to wish me a happy birthday.
We’ve had a very successful day (compared to the past two days) and have caught many more fish – 5 1/2 to be exact. The most exciting part was that I caught two fish on my bandit reel! They were a red hind and blackfin snapper (see the photos above). What a great birthday present!
Father’s Day surf and turf dinner
My birthday fish! The blackfin snapper is on the left and the red hind on the right.
I even got a birthday kiss from the red hind!
Last night (6/17) for Father’s Day, we had an amazing dinner: filet mignon, lobster, asparagus, sweet plantains, and sweet potato pie for dessert! Since it was my birthday the following day (6/18), and one of the scientists doesn’t like lobster, I had two tails! What a treat!
Our best catch of the day came on the last bandit reel cast. Joey Salisbury (one of the scientists) caught 5 fish: 4 blackfin snapper and 1 almaco jack; while Ariane Frappier (another scientist) caught 3 – 2 blackfin and 1 almaco jack. This happened right before dinner, so we developed a pretty good assembly line system to work them up in time to eat.
Dinner was a nice Chinese meal, but between the ship beginning to travel to the South coast of St. Thomas and working on the computer, I began to feel a touch seasick (not the best feeling after a large meal!). I took a couple of meclazine (motion sickness medication) and still felt unwell (most likely because you’re supposed to take it before the motion begins). My roommate, Kelly Schill, the Operations Officer, made me go to bed (I’m in the top bunk – yikes!), gave me a plastic bag (just in case!), and some saltine crackers. After 10 hours of sleep, I felt much, much better!
I had some time in between running bandit reels, baiting the hooks, and entering data into the computers,to interview a member of the science team that joined us at the last-minute from St. Croix. Roy Pemberton, Jr. is the Director of Fish and Wildlife for the Department of Planning and Natural Resources of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The following is a snippet of our conversation:
LU: What are your job duties as the Director of Fish and Wildlife?
RP: I manage fisheries/wildlife resources and try to educate the population on how to better manage these resources to preserve them for future generations of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
LU: When did you first become interested in oceanography?
RP: I’m not really an oceanographer, but more of a marine scientist and wildlife biologist. I got interested in this around 5-6 years old when I learned to swim and then snorkel for the first time. I really enjoyed observing the marine environment and my interest prompted me to want to see and learn more about it.
LU: It’s such a broad field, how did you narrow your focus down to what you’re currently doing?
RP: I took a marine science class in high school and I enjoyed it tremendously. It made me seek it out as a career by pursuing a degree in Marine Science at Hampton University.
LU: If you were to go into another area of ocean research, what would it be?
RP: Oceanography – Marine Spatial Planning
Roy Pemberton holding a recently caught coney.
LU: What is the biggest challenge in your job?
RP: It is a challenge to manage fisheries and wildlife resources with respect to the socioeconomic and cultural nuances of the people.
LU: What do you think is the biggest issue of contention in your field, and how do you imagine it will resolve?
RP: Fisheries and coral reef management. We need to have enough time to see if the federal management efforts work to ensure healthier ecosystems for future generations.
LU: What are some effects of climate change that you’ve witnessed in the reef systems of the U.S. Virgin Islands?
RP: Temperatures have become warmer and the prevalence of disease among corals has increased.
LU: In what areas of Marine Science do you foresee a lot of a career paths and job opportunities?
RP: Fisheries management, ecosystem management, coral reef diseases, and the study of coral reef restoration.
LU: Is there an area of Marine Science that you think is currently being overlooked, and why?
RP: Marine Science management that takes into account cultural and economic issues.
LU: What are some ideas a layperson could take from your work?
RP: One tries to balance resource protection and management with the cultural and heritage needs of the population in the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
LU: If a high school student wanted to go into the fish/wildlife division of planning and natural resources, what kinds of courses would you recommend they take?
RP: Biology, Marine Science, History, Botany, and Math
LU: Do you recommend students interested in your field pursue original research as high school students or undergraduate students? If so, what kind?
RP: I would suggest they study a variety of life sciences so they can see what they want to pursue. Then they can do an internship in a particular life science they find interesting to determine if they would like to pursue it as a career.
Too many interesting people on the ship and so little time! I’m going to interview scientists as we continue on to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once they leave, I’m continuing on to Mayport, Florida with the ship. During this time, I’ll explore other careers with NOAA.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Janet Nelson Huewe Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp June 13 – 25, 2012
Mission: Sea Scallop Survey Geographic Area: North Atlantic Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Latitude: 41.03.21 North
Longitude: 071 32.79 West
Air temp: 21 C
Wind Speed: 15.6 kt
Depth: 135.2 feet
Science and Technology Log:
I came on shift yesterday at noon with three back to back dredge tows (we have done 30 dredges thus far on Leg II). We are off the coast of Long Island. Most of the dredges around here have been filled with sand dollars and sea stars. In total, we have processed and counted on this leg of the survey 5, 366 scallops, 453 skates, and 58 Goosefish, a very interesting fish that buries itself in the sand and uses a filamentous lure to attract prey and engulf them. In addition, we have counted 132, 056 sea stars (wow!) and 590 crabs. The HabCam had some glitches yesterday but we began running the vehicle on our shift at approximately 1245 hrs. It made a run for approximately three hours and 57 minutes, with approximately 22.387 nautical miles of pictures before we dredged again.
While looking at the images of the HabCam, it astounds me at seeing prior dredge track marks from commercial scallopers and clamers. By looking at the side scan sonar, some of the dredges are very deep and very invasive. It reminds me of strip mining and clear cutting in terrestrial ecosystems. It is also evident, by observing the images, that little is left in those areas but shell hash. With that said, there are still some interesting species that get photographed, such as jelly fish and sea stars in patterns you would think they orchestrated.
We are working our way toward Georges Bank and will be there, from what I’m told, sometime late this afternoon or evening. All equipment is running well and what time we lost with the late departure has mostly been made up. It’s amazing what technology can do!
Personal Log:
As of yesterday, I have been away from home with little to no contact for six days, so when I was told yesterday morning prior to coming on shift that we had cell phone signal, I immediately went up on deck and called my husband! Although I only got an answering machine, it was good, and familiar, to hear his voice.
We then had a fire drill at noon and after that, set to work. It was nice to be outside working for the next 4 hours. I think I finally have my sea legs. However, the seas have also been cooperating with only 1-3 foot swells, at best. When they are higher, I sometimes feel like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz”. It’s a good thing I can laugh at myself when I look completely ridiculous while tripping through a door or, with no warning whatsoever, bump into a wall! From what I understand, this ship has a flatter bottom than most so every wave and swell catches it and tosses it in whatever direction that wave is going, despite having just gone in the opposite direction! I am hoping the sea remains calm when we get to Georges Bank.
I am learning a great deal about the critters that live in the ocean around here. It is so strange to have at times hundreds upon hundreds of sand dollars being pulled up in the dredge at one location and then to have mostly sea stars pulled up at another location. My favorite, however, are the hermit crabs! They are so cool! They will begin to crawl out of their shells, see you coming to pick them up and immediately crawl way back inside and stare at you. I actually think I saw one blink at me. Not really, but my imagination does run away at times.
Those are also the times someone, usually me or the watch chief (chief scientist is guilty of this too!), bursts into song or starts quoting a movie line, and then half the crew is joining in. I have gotten more proficient at using the technology equipment on board that does the recording of the measurements of the specimens, and also at cutting/shucking the scallops. Never thought I would know how to do that! I have a feeling there are a few things I never thought I would do before this cruise is over. I have five more days at sea. Anything is possible!
Side note: Today is beautiful for being at sea! Clear sky, moderate winds, and sea legs that are working!!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Alexandra Keenan (Almost) Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow June 18 – June 29
Mission: Cetacean biology Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Maine Date: June 16, 2012
Personal Log
Saludos! My name is Alexandra Keenan, and I teach Astronomy and Physics at Rio Grande City High School. Rio Grande City is a rural town located at the arid edge of the Rio Grande Valley. Because of our unique position on the Texas-Mexico border, our community is characterized by a rich melding of language and culture. Life in a border town is not always easy, but my talented and dedicated colleagues at RGC High School passionately advocate for our students, and our outstanding students gracefully rise to and surmount the many challenges presented to them.
Me in downtown Rio Grande City. Our historic buildings are evocative of the old “Wild West.”
Taquerias dot the highway running through our town– evidence of the binational character of the community.
I applied to the NOAA Teacher at Sea program because making careers in science seem real and attainable to students is a priority in my classroom. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, provides a wonderful opportunity for teachers to have an interdisciplinary research experience aboard one of their research or survey ships. I believe that through this extraordinary opportunity, I can make our units in scientific inquiry and sound come alive while increasing students’ interest in and enthusiasm for protecting our ocean planet. I will also be able to provide my students firsthand knowledge on careers at NOAA. I hope to show my students that there is a big, beautiful world out there worth protecting and that they too can have an adventure.
The adventure begins on June 18th when the NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow departs from Newport, RI. I’ll be on the vessel as a member of the scientific research party. We will be monitoring populations of the school-bus-sized North Atlantic right whale by:
using photo-identification techniques
obtaining biopsies from live whales (wow!)
catching zooplankton
recovering specials buoys that have been monitoring the whales’ acoustic behavior (the sounds they make)
Aerial view of North Atlantic right whale swimming with calf. (photo: NOAA)
Why would we do all of this? Because North Atlantic Right Whales are among the most endangered whales in the world. Historically, they were heavily hunted during the whaling era. Now, they are endangered by shipping vessels and commercial fishing equipment. The data we gather and analyze will help governing bodies make management decisions to protect these majestic animals.
NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow (photo: NOAA)
The next time you hear from me, it’ll be from the waters of the Gulf of Maine!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Amanda Peretich
(Almost) Onboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 29 – July 17, 2012
Mission: Pollock Survey Geographical area of cruise: eastern Bering Sea Date: June 20, 2012
That’s me and one of my loves: the periodic table!
PERSONALLOG
My first post is supposed to be an introduction to me and what I’ll be doing for three weeks in the middle of the Bering Sea so here goes nothing! My name is Amanda Peretich, and I have been teaching biology, chemistry, and criminal science investigations (get it? CSI) at Karns High School in Knoxville, TN for the past four years. My route to teaching high school was probably not really traditional, but it’s provided me with plenty of adventures along the way, and if you know me, you know I love a good adventure!
I am so excited to arrive on the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson to participate in walleye pollock research in an acoustic trawl survey in the eastern Bering Sea (similar to this one from last summer) in a little over a week. You’ll hear plenty more about this research in the weeks to come. How am I able to do this? Well, NOAA (which is an acronym for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has a Teacher at Sea program that I had never heard of before last fall when I randomly found it in a Google search for summer teacher-y programs. Ahh, the wonders of the internet and technology! So I applied to the program (really kind of at the last-minute, which also hits on my procrastination problems), wrote some pretty good essays, had some amazing recommendations from people (shout out to Theresa Nixon and Anne Hudnall for what I can only imagine were the best letters ever!), and later found out I’d been selected as one of 25 teachers from across the U.S. for this amazing opportunity!
FUN FACT: Did you know that the Discovery show Deadliest Catch is filmed in the Bering Sea and that the operations base for the fishing fleet is in Dutch Harbor, Alaska where I will be leaving from? However, I think those rough seas on the show are due to filming during the fall and winter seasons, not summer. I’m sure I will update you in a later post about how crazy the waters are during July, but I will have to remember that it could be much more treacherous.
Not that I’ll be able to have so many photos in all of my blogs (being on a ship in the middle of the ocean = sporadic and slow internet access, thus less photos), but this little slideshow will hopefully tell you a little more about myself in picture form:
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Each of my posts (which are limited to about every other day or every 3 days) aboard the ship will include a science & technology log and then a personal log, but we are also able to add additional sections as well. Help me choose which ones to add below! (sidenote: I chose the “sunset” background for the poll because of the birds in it – I hear there are plenty of birds in Alaska – now the palm trees and sun, you’ll want to replace with other trees and clouds)
Did I forget to mention that this experience is also the beginning of a new chapter in my life? My wonderful husband Michael finished his PhD in chemistry at the University of Tennessee and accepted a civilian chemist position in the fuels lab with NAVAIR in Patuxent River, Maryland. I finished out the school year and sold our house in Knoxville while he has been training and traveling to fun places like Pensacola, Florida, but I will officially move up to Maryland the day before I get on a plane for Alaska! Didn’t I say how much I love adventures and the unknown?
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Valerie Bogan
Aboard NOAA ship Oregon II
June 7 – 20, 2012
Mission: Southeast Fisheries Science Center Summer Groundfish (SEAMAP) Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Sunday June 17, 2012
Weather Data from the bridge: Sea temperature 28 degrees celsius, Air temperature 26.4 degrees celsius, calm seas.
Science and Technology Log
The last piece of equipment I’m going to discuss is the trawl net. This is a very large net which is towed along the bottom for thirty minutes collecting all of the fish and invertebrates in its path. At the end of the time allotment a crane is used to pull the net off of the bottom and ropes are pulled to bring it on deck. The bottom of the bag is tied very tightly to keep it from coming open during the run and also to keep the dolphins from pulling it open so they can steal the catch. I have often seen dolphins swimming alongside the ship. I always thought it was just because they were friendly, but I learned today that it is because they want to get our fish. Once the bag is on deck the bottom is untied and the creatures are released into baskets so the total weight of the catch can be measured. Once the catch has been weighed it is taken into the wet lab and sorted by species. Each species is then weighed and measured so the health of the population can be determined.
The catch from the trawl must be processed and the data inputed into the computer.
Alonzo Hamilton is the watch leader for my shift and has been a NOAA employee for the last thirty years. He studied science in college and currently holds an Associate arts in science degree, a bachelor of science degree in biology, and a master of science degree in biology. His role at NOAA is chief scientist for the deep water survey and chemical hygiene officer for the Pascagoula lab. He enjoys his job but sees places for improvement. For example he wishes that NOAA would implement a whole ecosystem management plan instead of the current plan of managing one species at a time. The part of his job he enjoys the most is when he talks to a group of people about his work and witnesses the light of understanding pass across their faces. He finds that so rewarding because his real joy comes from sharing his knowledge with other people and leading them to a love of the natural world. When asked what his advice for a middle school student would be he replied, “Figure out what you love to do and find a way to get paid for it. You don’t have to make a lot of money to be successful, just pick something you love and make enough so you can support yourself.”
Alonzo verifying the trawl data.
I recently spent some time talking to LT Sarah Harris about her position in the NOAA Corps. This part of NOAA is responsible for supplying each ship with a bridge crew whose officers are charged with protecting the ship and all crew members. Lt. Harris graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science and after a couple of years looking for the right position she decided to look into joining the NOAA Corps. Luckily for her, one of their requirements is that applicants have to have a college degree in science or engineering, so with her marine science degree she was set. She was accepted to the program and set off for the three-month officer training course which is held at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Kings Point, New York. During the training the recruits learn maritime and nautical skills, shipboard operations and management, small boat handling, marine navigation, ship handling, seamanship and related subjects. Toward the end of training each student is given a list of possible placements and allowed to choose their top three assignments. The NOAA officials then look through the choices and assign each student based on need and student choice. Sarah was really lucky because she received her first choice which was a ship that sailed out of Hawaii. In the NOAA Corps your sea assignment lasts between two and two and a half years. After that first assignment you are given a land assignment which lasts for three years. During land assignments you are expected to help with administrative duties and training. After the land assignment you are given another sea assignment and the cycle continues.
LT Sarah Harris, the operations officer of the Oregon II.
Personal Log
Today is Father’s Day so I would like to take a moment to wish my dad a happy Father’s Day. While it is necessary for these scientific cruises to take the scientists and crew out to sea for weeks on end it is difficult for them to be away from the people they love. So if you are at home and your dad is nearby let him know how much he means to you.
Here I am holding a large crab we got from the trawl net.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Lesley Urasky Aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces June 16 – June 29, 2012
Mission: Caribbean Reef Fish Survey
Geographical area of cruise: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Date: Saturday, June 16, 2012
Location: Latitude: 17.6395
Longitude: -64.8277
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air Temperature: 29°C (84°F)
Wind Speed: 15.76 knots (18.1 mph)
Relative Humidity: 79%
Barometric Pressure: 1,012.7 mb
Surface Water Temperature: 29°C (84°F)
Personal Log
My trip to meet the Pisces and become a Teacher at Sea was a two-day process. I traveled from my home in Sinclair, Wyoming to Denver, Colorado to catch the first of three flights. The first flight was from Denver to Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport; after a two-hour layover, I then flew to Miami. Originally, I was to travel the entire way in one day. However, I didn’t want to arrive in St. Croix at 10:00 p.m. and have to make my way to the pier, pass through security, board the ship, find my stateroom, and hopefully meet some of the crew and scientists late at night. Instead, I spent the night in Miami and flew to St. Croix the next morning.
Google Earth view of my trip to St. Croix.
Once I landed at the Frederiksted Airport on St. Croix, I took a taxi to the cruise ship pier. The taxi driver was very concerned about taking me there, because no cruise ships were docked; he was doubtful that any ship was there. After convincing him that a NOAA ship was indeed docked, he moved aside the sugar cane in the back, loaded my bags, and took me to the pier. Breaking my trip into two pieces turned out to be the best plan because once I got to the security gate, there was no approved members list at security and they wouldn’t accept my travel document. They called the ship and the Commanding Officer (CO) came down the pier to meet me at the gate and escort me to the ship. After a quick tour of the ship, I took some time to settle into the stateroom I’m sharing with the Operations Officer, Kelly Shill. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring Frederiksted.
The Pisces viewed from Frederiksted, St. Croix
On Friday, June 15th, I went to Christiansted with some of the ship’s crew members. Kelly Schill, Operations Officer; Chris Zacharias, Junior Engineer; Peter Langlois, 3rd Mate; and I went shopping for souvenirs, had lunch, and fed the resident school of tarpon outside of Fort Christian Brew Pub. Later that evening, we went to a beachside restaurant and watched a performance by some modern dance fire dancers.
Hungry tarpon waiting for tidbits.
Fire dancers
Today we left port and embarked on the third Leg of the Caribbean Reef Fish Survey. The first leg was when the Pisces traveled from Pascagoula, Mississippi to San Juan, Puerto Rico; here the ship picked up the scientific crew. The second leg was from San Juan, Puerto Rico to St. Croix; during this time period, they collected data about the ocean and the fish along the reef system. I joined the scientists and crew of the Pisces at Frederiksted, St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Pisces was in port at St. Croix for three days for personnel change, resupply of the galley, and to give the crew a rest. During this leg, we will be traveling back to San Juan, Puerto Rico taking samples around St. Croix and St Thomas islands. In addition to the reef fish survey, the Pisces will be deploying the base (anchor and chain) for another buoy to collect oceanographic data 3 nautical miles (nm) south of Saba, which is located between St. Croix and St. Thomas. The University of Virgin Islands is working in conjunction with NOAA to accomplish this goal. Once back in San Juan, the scientists will leave the ship, returning home with the data. On the fourth leg, the Pisces will return to Mayport, Florida, retrieving a buoy that is adrift along the way. Commander Fischel is kindly allowing me to remain aboard during the cruise back to port!
Science and Technology Log
Here is a quick overview of all equipment the survey will use to collect data. There is an array of four video cameras that is baited with frozen squid. The array is lowered over the side of the ship at each sampling site, and allowed to rest on the bottom for 40 minutes. The cameras cannot be deployed during the night because there are no lights on the array. Therefore, viewing is dependent upon the availability of sunlight penetrating the water column. Because of the need for natural light, the cameras are only used during daylight hours; the array cannot be deployed earlier than one hour after sunrise and must be retrieved from the bottom of the continental shelf or shelf edge one hour before sunset.
After the camera array is deployed, a cluster of instruments called a CTD is lowered to collect data on the ocean environment. CTD is an acronym for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth. Conductivity is used to determine the salinity (the amount of salts dissolved in the water). Water conducts electricity (this is why you shouldn’t use electrical appliances while in or around water, and why the lifeguard tells you to get out of the pool during a thunderstorm). As the salinity increases, conductivity increases. Temperature is a very straight forward measurement. I’m sure you’ve measured the temperature of several different things ranging from air temperature (to see how hot it is outside) to the internal temperature of a roasting chicken. These measurements are related to specific depths within the water column. The depth the instrument is at in the ocean is calculated from measuring the hydrostatic pressure (how much pressure the overlying water exerts on the instrument). The CTD instrumentation cluster collects huge amounts of data – 8 measurements per second! These are averaged and compressed into “bins” covering 1 meter segments.
The CTD and camera array waiting deployment.
In addition, the instrument cluster also measures the amount of oxygen dissolved (DO) in the water column. As you probably already know, most organisms require oxygen to live (carry out cellular respiration). The amount of oxygen dissolved in the water is directly correlated to how much life the water can support. More oxygen = more life. When water is warmer, it loses its ability to “hold onto” oxygen; cold water will contain more dissolved oxygen. This is one reason why climate change and warming aquatic environments are of great concern.
Victor, Joey, and Joe deploying the camera array
After both the camera array and CTD have been deployed and retrieved, the final step at each site is to collect fish through the use of bandit reels located at three sites on the ship. All three are located on the starboard (right hand) side of the ship. Reel #1 is starboard (S), Reel #2 is starboard aft (SA), and Reel #3 is starboard stern (SS) at the back of the ship. Reel #3 is where I helped the attempts to collect fish. Each bandit reel has ten hooks of the same size (8/0, 11/0, and 15/0) attached to a 300-lb test monofilament. Each of the hook sizes are rotated around the stations throughout the day. These hooks are baited with slices of frozen Atlantic mackerel. A 10 pound weight is attached to the end of the line, the baited hooks attached, and the line let out until it hits bottom. Then, a float is attached and the line is left for five minutes before being reeled back in.
Any fish that are caught are identified and have their length and mass measured. Afterwards, the fish’s otoliths are removed and it is opened to determine its gender and have its reproductive stage assessed. More on the fish specifics to come!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Janet Nelson Huewe Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp June 13 – 25, 2012
Mission: Sea Scallop Survey Geographic Area: North Atlantic Sunday, June 17, 2012
Data from the Bridge:
Latitude: 39.48.57 North
Longitude: 07226.9 West
Wind Speed: 12 kt
Air temp: 17.8 C
Approximate wave height: 4-6 feet
Science and Technology Log:
Current time: 1630 hours. We have been operating the HabCam since I came on duty at 1200 hours. It is interesting watching what the HabCam is flying over. Depending on the area, it might be littered with sea stars (a predator of small scallops) or it may be littered with hundreds of sand dollars (a food of ocean pout – ugly looking fish). In the case of sea stars, you won’t see many adult scallops, which, makes sense if the young ones are getting eaten. All in all, the research here is pretty straight forward. We are looking to see what predation is affecting the scallops, basically, food chains and habitat. On the side scan sonar, you can see past dredge marks from fishing vessels that have come through. We have passed over some old fishing nets, gear, a shoe, a can, odd things like that.
I have been “flying” the HabCam which is pretty cool. You need to keep the cam approximately 2.5 to 1.5 meters off the sea floor which can be a tricky thing to do. Fun, but tricky. While the cam is flying, the “co”pilot” is scanning images looking for various critters, specifically scallops. It can be a process that makes your eyes go buggy after about 1/2 to 3/4 hours so we switch off every now and then. This specific episode of the HabCam has been running for approximately 14 hours and has traveled about 177 nautical miles. That is a lot of sea floor!!
In approximately 35 minutes we will deploy the scallop dredge. The dredge will run for 15 minutes spurts. We will run six of them back to back. When the dredge comes up we will sort all the species into their buckets, count and measure the scallops, count and measure the fish, toss back the sand dollars, star fish and most often the crabs. The scallops that are two years old or younger we measure and toss back into the sea. The older scallops get measured, sexed, weighed and sometimes shucked. Word is there will be scallops for supper!
Personal Log:
I now understand what it is like to be in a washing machine with no end! I have not been able to blog prior to now because I have been spending a great deal of time in my bunk and in the head. My diet consists of saltine crackers and water. Occasionally, I can sneak in a piece of fruit, but not often. So far, this experience has not really begun yet. I have, however, been able to go 24 hours with no loss of stomach content. That’s a good sign, I hope. Sleep has been good and I feel rested (for the most part). The crew on the ship is awesome and I could not ask for a better chief scientist! Everyone was very understanding when I was sick and cut me slack for not being able to pull my weight. I think the crying helped soften them up. I was looking forward to big seas and water, not so much any more. I beg for calm seas and light winds. Perhaps I will be able to get some photographs of me working for the next blog, but until then, I will be happy with just keeping my lunch down!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Valerie Bogan
Aboard NOAA ship Oregon II
June 7 – 20, 2012
Mission: Southeast Fisheries Science Center Summer Groundfish (SEAMAP) Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Friday June 15, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Sea temperature 28 degrees celsius, Air temperature 26.4 degrees celsius, calm seas.
Science and Technology Log
The scientific device for this blog entry is called the Bongo net. This apparatus is actually two nets which are mounted on a metal frame. Each net has a diameter of 60 cm and is 305 cm long with a cod end which is the narrowest part of the net to catch the plankton (both plants and animals). At the opening of each net is a flow meter which records the amount of water that passes through the net in liters. This allows the scientists to calculate the total population of each type of plankton without having to collect all the plankton in the area. This is done by first finding out how many individuals there are of each species in the sample. Then you calculate the number of liters in the transect (sample area) by multiplying the length of the transect by the width of the transect to find the area in square meters. To find the volume, you multiply the area by the depth which will give you the amount of water in cubic meters. Lastly you have to take the volume in cubic meters and convert it to cubic liters. Now that you have found the amount of water in the transect you are ready to find the number of each species of plankton in that amount of water. To do this you take the number of individuals in the entire sample and divide it by the amount of liters which flowed through the net during sampling to find the number of the species per liter. Then you multiply that number by the total amount of liters in the transect which gives you an estimate of how many of that species exist in that part of the Gulf of Mexico.
In this picture I am helping Jeff bring the Bongo nets back on board the ship. (Picture by Francis Tran)
NOAA personnel aren’t the only scientists on board. There is also a volunteer named Marshall Johnson, who just finished his master’s degree at the University of South Alabama where he was working on a project involving larval fish and what they eat. He chose to come on this cruise in order to help a fellow student collect samples for her Master’s degree. Thus far he has been amazed by the vast array of sea life that have shown up in our nets and have been seen swimming around our ship. He has almost finished his Master’s degree and his dream job would be to captain a charter boat so he can share his love of sea life and fishing with other people. His advice for middle school students, “Dream big and follow your goals”.
Marshal holding two of his favorite species in the dry lab.
We also have a NOAA intern on board named Francis Tran who is going into his junior year at Mississippi State University where he is studying electrical engineering. He found out about the internship through his university and applied by submitting an essay and references to the coordinator of the program. His advice for middle school students, “do something you love, don’t settle”.
Francis with his favorite animal the brown shrimp.
Personal Log
We have been at sea for one whole week and honestly it is going better than I expected. I was uncertain if I could live on a ship for this amount of time due to my intense independence. I’m not used to giving up control of where I am and what I am doing so I feared I would be tempted to jump overboard and start swimming to shore by now. However I have found that I’m quite content to stay on the ship and am enjoying my time at sea immensely. However, I do miss my workouts. There is some exercise equipment on board but finding the time to use it is impossible. I also miss my daily yoga practices but with the ship pitching from side to side unpredictably I’m afraid of giving it a try because it is quite possible I would be doing downward facing dog pose and the ship would pitch me head first into a wall.
In order for a ship to stay at sea for an extended time it must have a well-stocked galley (kitchen) and serve excellent food. As I have mentioned before, the shifts are long and don’t exactly match up with normal meal times so it is important for the crew to be able to grab a little something in between meals. For example since my shift starts at midnight I’m hungry for breakfast at about 2 a.m., not the normal breakfast time, but I’m able to pour myself some cereal so that I am working with a full stomach and am able to concentrate on my work. However, we do have three wonderful meals prepared for us each day. Paul and Walter are the men who work to make sure the crew and scientists are well taken care of when it comes to mealtimes.
Alonzo and Chris hanging out in the galley having a little snack.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Janet Nelson Huewe Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp June 13 – 25, 2012
Pre-Cruise:
Greetings from Lewes Delaware! I am Janet Nelson Huewe. I live in Bemidji, MN with my husband, Gary. Together we have five grown children and two grand children. Bemidji is the home of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
Good thing Mr. Bunyan left so many footprints that created lakes because my husband LOVES to fish! I have been teaching biology for ten years at Red Lake High School on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. I enjoy learning and doing new things that I can bring back into my classroom. I am very excited to have been selected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to participate in their Teacher at Sea program. I will be working on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp in the North Atlantic conducting a sea scallop survey.
I arrived into Lewes on June 13th and boarded the ship. The winds have been high, blowing anywhere from 25 to 40 mph causing waves to reach around 12 feet, so we are still in port, waiting for calmer seas. When we do set sail, we will be using a device called a HabCam (HABitat mapping CAMera system). HabCam is a tool that will provide us with a unique glimpse at the seafloor through optical imaging.
The HabCam vehicle is lifted over the edge of the ship by a winch and then ”flies” over the ocean bottom taking six images a second creating a continuous image ribbon. On the surface we will get real-time images and data in a completely non-invasive way. From the images we can learn about ecosystem change over different time and space scales, calculate biodiversity, classify habitats, map hard to survey species, learn about invasive species, and promote interest in ocean and ecosystem science. HabCam can also provide data to scientists and fishery managers to help them make more informed decisions and to help understand ecosystem change.
We will also deploy a scallop dredge (on the right). This device, however, is more invasive. The dredge will physically skim the bottom of the ocean to collect live specimens. From there, I will help sort and count the scallops and any other critter that gets taken up by the dredge. Maybe I will be able to eat a few scallops later? We’ll see. Until then, keep checking my blog to find out more exciting news from the R/V Hugh R. Sharp!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Valerie Bogan
Aboard NOAA ship Oregon II
June 7 – 20, 2012
Mission: Southeast Fisheries Science Center Summer Groundfish (SEAMAP) Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: Saturday, June 9, 2012
Weather Data from the bridge: Sea temperature 27.5 degrees celsius, Air temperature 24.2 degrees celsius, calm seas with thunderstorms in the area.
Science and Technology Log
As I mentioned in the previous entry the Oregon II is conducting a groundfish survey. During this research cruise we are studying many aspects of the Gulf’s ecosystem. We start by collecting general information about the water chemistry. To do this we use a piece of equipment called a CTD which stands for Conductivity/temperature/depth. This piece of equipment collects information on the temperature, salinity, fluorescence and turbidity.
This is the instrument used to measure salinity, called a CTD.
I am going to briefly explain what each of these readings are and why they are important to the scientific community. Everyone knows what temperature is but you may not be aware of its importance to the health of our planet. The phrases global warming and climate change have become very popular in the last few years. By collecting temperature data in the same spot year after year scientists can determine if the oceans really are getting warmer.
Map of the surface temperatures around the world. The highest temperatures are found in the red areas the lowest temperatures are found in the blue areas. (photo courtesy of bprc.osu.edu)
The oceans contain salt water which is the most important difference between oceans and lakes. The measurement of the amount of salt in an ocean is called salinity. And the amount of salt in an ocean can reflect the workings of the water cycle. If there is an excessive amount of evaporation due to high temperatures, the ocean will become more salty due to the fact that there is more salt in less water. On the other hand if there is a lot of rain or melt waters from glaciers and mountains then the water will become less salty because now the same amount of salt is dissolved in more water.
The amount of salt in the water determines the salinity.
Fluorescence is the measurement of light which is connected to the photosynthesis rate of algae. The health of the algae has a direct connection to the amount of carbon dioxide that can be absorbed by the ocean. Algae produces its own food just like a tree so if the algae is healthy, more carbon dioxide will be necessary to carry out photosynthesis and then ocean can absorb more natural and man-made carbon dioxide. These readings can also tell us how well the oceans are responding to climate change.
These algae make their own food through the process of photosynthesis.(photo courtesy of swr.nmfs.noaa.gov
Turbidity is the measure of water clarity. If the turbidity is high it means that light isn’t getting through to the organisms below which in turn means that the algae and seaweed can’t get the light they need to make their own food. High turbidity can also cause the water temperature to go up due to the excessive amount of silt and particles floating and absorbing energy from the sun. High turbidity can also cause small animals on the bottom of the ocean to be buried alive as the particles settle out the water column.
This is an example of the silt and particulate matter which is flowing into the ocean everyday.(photo courtesy of http://www.motherjones.com)
Personal log
Greetings from the Gulf of Mexico. I have now been onboard the Oregon II for one complete day and am slowly but surely becoming accustomed to the layout of the ship. It has all the comforts of home even if they have different names and look different from the parts of your home. The place I sleep and keep my belongings in is called a stateroom. It is a small space but honestly the only thing I use it for is sleeping . One other difference from your room at home is that the cabinets have latches which keep them closed even when the ship is rolling with the waves. Given the fact that large waves may come up at any time it is important that all personal belonging are securely stored so that they don’t become flying projectiles which can hurt someone.
This is where I am bunking for the voyage.
The ship also contains restrooms but they are called the heads. Fresh water is an important resource on the ship as we only brought so much with us so the toilets are flushed using seawater which is very easy to come by out here on the gulf. There are also a couple of showers something which is very important given the fact that our work has the ability to make us very dirty and nobody wants to be stuck on a boat with a bunch of dirty stinky people.
This is where we clean off all the dirt that accumulates during sampling runs.
Safety is very important on ship so we have drills to practice what to do in case of emergency, just like the drills we do at Maple Crest middle school. Today we had a fire drill during which the scientists were to muster (that means to report) in the lounge and stay out-of-the-way of the crew members who are actually trained to put out a fire if one should occur on the ship. Following that we had an abandoned ship drill during which we had to put on long pants and shirts and a survival suit. The purpose of all this clothing is to keep you protected from the elements if you have to float in the water for an extended time while waiting on a rescue ship to come
This is the suit you must wear during abandon ship drills.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Sue Oltman Aboard R/V Melville May 22 – June 6, 2012
Location: Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands
Date: June 6, 2012
Weather Data from the Enchanted Isles (Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador)
Air temperature: 82 F (feels hotter!)
Relative humidity: 73%
Precipitation: 0.0 mm
Personal log
The NOAA research cruise is over and we are now on land, but the elements of science are simply different.
The view from the back deck of the Red Mangrove, where the Melville remained for a day before sailing out on its next scientific journey. I’ll miss you, Melville and crew!
The Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador, on the equator and at about 90 degrees longitude west. The time is the same as Mountain Time zone in the United States. There are 12 hours between sunrise and sunset here – while my hometown is approaching the longest period of daylight of the year.
We are at the water taxi area waiting for a bus to take us to our hotel.
As we sailed into the islands, we could not be all the way into the harbor as the coastline is not only too shallow for the Melville, but rocky and ecologically fragile. Ecuador carefully inspects all boats – inside and out – that enter its waters. There are so many endemic species (found only here) and some are endangered, that they are vigilant to protect against the introduction of any foreign organisms, no matter how small. The Galapagos Islands are in a fracture zone and were formed by a hot spot – an opening in the slowly moving crust which allows molten rock to rise from the mantle. The hot spot – which changed directions at some point – has formed over 100 islands (some of them very tiny!) which comprise what is called the Galapagos Islands.
While the abundant animal life is really diverse and captivating (I’ll get to that next), the geology is beautiful as well. There is dark volcanic rock everywhere you look! It is even used in the walls of the buildings and sidewalks. It is mostly extrusive and mafic igneous rock, and one little island is a national preserve called Las Tintoreras, made completely out of Aa!
With volcanoes in the background, the green mangroves, blue waters, black aa and white lichen makes for a very picturesque lagoon at Las Tintoreras..
Even though there is black rock everywhere, there are still beaches with the finest white sand. Some places in the islands have red or green sand, depending on the minerals. Visiting a green sand beach is something I’d like to do, as I love rocks that have olivine. By the way, no rocks or any other natural material can be taken out of the islands. What I was able to take away were wonderful pictures and happily, some beach glass (litter, really) to add to my collection.
Among all of the aa, you can see some pahoehoe, where the mafic lava flowed and cooled differently.
The Aa is covered in a lot of white material, and since there are various birds all around, I thought it was bird droppings at first!
However, it is actually a lichen, which was able to establish itself on the nutrient-poor rock. With the process of succession, some small, low plants began to grow as have mangrove trees. Some areas look like there are lots of white pebbles, but it is actually small bits of coral or sea urchin spines – calcium carbonate. The two animals common in this particular area off of Isabella Island are white-tipped sharks (tiburones or tintoreras) and marine iguanas. There are some lava tunnels and channels which are great places for these sharks to hang out.
A white tipped shark (tiburone) is at the bottom of this clear channel (grieta.)
The narrow channel where sharks can be seen off of Isla Isabella.
Marine iguanas are very different from terrestrial iguanas. As their name implies, they swim and they are also herbivores, eating only plants, algae in particular. They were everywhere in all sizes, but sometimes quite hard to see until you were right on top of them, as they blended in with the black rock.
There are so many of the black marine iguanas, and they blend right into the rock!
It was mating and nesting season and the males sometimes change colors, to a reddish hue, at this time.
During mating season, sometimes males change to a reddish or brown color.
If a marine iguana looks like it is wearing a white hat, this is due to their bodies excreting salt – they do live in salt water, after all! Other animals seen in this area are two species of sea lions, one a small variety that makes you think they are all babies! Also, there is an endemic species of Galapagos penguins, much smaller than the Antarctic pinnipeds we commonly think of.
The only species of equatorial penguins, these little pinnipeds are warming up on the rocks, with their soon-to-be lunch swimming nearby.
Blue feet and a blue beak are the colorful characteristics of a blue footed booby, another of the endemic species on the Galapagos Islands.
Birds included pelicans, frigate birds, and the Blue Footed Booby. From the boat, you could see the animals, birds and crabs on the rocks and the larger animals (sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, manta rays) swim near the boat. Since I was snorkeling, I was able to see all these cool creatures underwater swimming with me! Not only that, but there were a wide variety of colorful tropical fish and some eels. Animals that didn’t move were sea cucumbers, sea urchins and some that I will have to research to identify. Not too long ago, the sea cucumber was almost over-harvested to extinction here! It had become an edible delicacy for a while. However, one look at the reefs here will prove to you that this primitive and sometimes disgusting organism is back in force.
Scuba divers have a great opportunity to see hammerhead sharks which are in abundance in certain areas. Although I was not able to dive this time, therefore did not see them this time, but one of the scientists in the group, Sean, captured some amazing footage from his dives at Gordon Rocks and North Seymour.
On land, there are also a number of endemic species, the most famous being the species of giant tortoises that can live much longer than humans. The Charles Darwin Research Center is here on Santa Cruz and many tortoises are in natural habitats (albeit in fenced in areas). Surprisingly, they can be VERY active, sometimes a bit ornery towards each other, and even make noises!
These giant tortoises seem to have something important to communicate to each other!
The tortoises are herbivores and are fed a few times a week. The oldest and most well-known is a Pinta tortoise named Lonesome George. He is about 200 years old and is the very last of his species, so when he dies, the Pinta tortoisewill be extinct. The research center tried several times to mate him to save the species, but it was never successful.
If you take a tour to the Highlands of Santa Cruz, up in the forests you can see many even larger giant tortoises than the ones at the Darwin Center, roaming freely about. Sometime in the future, I hope to do this. A neighboring and very “young” island, Isla Isabella, a 2 ½ hour boat ride away, has a terrific turtle research center, too. In my opinion, this was an even better place to learn about the developmental stages of the turtle from egg to the twilight years.
Birds are numerous and I mentioned several earlier, but Darwin was known for researching finches of which we saw many. My favorite was a little yellow finch and boy oh boy, are they hard to photograph! It was possible to get very close to the birds, perhaps even a couple of feet away.
A yellow finch – one of the finches Darwin studies – is still long enough for me to capture a photo!
Another recurrent daily scene was the fish market at a bay in Santa Cruz. Fresh catches were brought in, sold, and the fish often cleaned right there at special tables for this purpose. The pelicans were certainly omnipresent pests, but there also was always a sea lion there, begging for fish, and sticking his nose towards the table, just like a family dog would do!
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There are many volcanoes here, some of which are still considered active, as is the case on Isabella. Scientists study the volcanoes here as well as the animal life. All around you, there is talk about respect for and conservation of the animal life, as well as preservation of the geological formations.
Although we did not have a lot of time here, it seemed like an appropriate place to terminate a scientific research cruise, with all of the geologic and biologic connections here. Many times throughout my stay, I couldn’t help thinking that this place would be the ultimate school field trip! Perhaps that will be a scientific adventure in the future.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Andrea Schmuttermair
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
June 22 – July 3, 2012
Mission: Groundfish Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico (between Galveston TX and Pascagoula, MS)
Date: June 7, 2012
Personal Log (pre-cruise)
What does
++ = ?
That’s right! Ms. Schmuttermair is heading to sea this summer as a participant in NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program!
Me and my forever hiking pal, Wesson
Hi! My name is Andrea Schmuttermair, and I am a 3-6 grade science teacher at The Academy in Westminster, CO. I just finished up my first year in this position, and absolutely love engaging my students in important science concepts. Outside of the classroom, I can be found hiking, biking, and exploring the mountains of beautiful Colorado with my dog, Wesson.
Growing up in San Diego, CA, I would definitely consider myself an “ocean lover”. I grew up spending countless hours at the beach, checking out the sea life that washed up in the tide pools and snorkeling in La Jolla Cove. When I heard about the Teacher at Sea program, I knew it was right up my alley. Living in land-locked Colorado, I strive to bring both my love and knowledge of the ocean to my students. One of the most memorable teaching moments for me this year was seeing my 3rd graders have that “Aha!” moment when they realized what we do here in Colorado greatly affects our oceans, even though they are hundreds of miles away.
Now, in just a couple short weeks, I will don my sea legs, leave dry land behind, and set sail on the Oregon II. The Oregon II, one of NOAA’s 11 fishery vessels, conducts fishery and marine research to help ensure that our fish population in the ocean is sustainable. Fishery vessels work with the National Marine Fisheries Service to provide important information about fish populations and what regulations about fishing practices need to be in place.
This summer, we will be conducting the summer groundfish survey, a survey that has been conducted for the past 30 years. This particular survey is conducted during the summer months between Alabama and Mexico. On this second leg of the survey, we will be sailing from Galveston, TX to the Oregon II’s home port of Pascagoula, MS.
What exactly is a groundfish survey, you ask? When I first received my acceptance letter, they informed me that this was the “critter cruise”, and I, being the critter lover, was thrilled! The main goal of this survey is to determine the abundance and distribution of shrimp by depth. In addition to collecting shrimp samples, we may also collect samples of bottomfish and crustaceans. It will also be important to collect meteorological data while out at sea. I am excited to see what kind of critters we pull up!
Ms. Schmuttermair LOVES critters, as seen here with Rosy the scorpion.
How will we be catching all of these critters and collecting data while out at sea? The Oregon II has a variety of devices to help collect information about the ocean, including bottom trawls and a CTD. The bottom trawl is a large net that is towed to collect shrimp and other bottom dwellers that will be sorted once the catch is brought aboard. A CTD (stands for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth) is an instrument that can collect a wide variety of data, including temperature, salinity and oxygen content. I can’t wait to learn how some of these tools are operated!
What are my goals while out at sea?
To learn as much about the environment I am in as possible.
To ask the scientists plenty of questions about their research, and why collecting data is so important.
To take many pictures to bring back to my students
To get to know the crew on board, and how they came to work on the Oregon II
Not getting seasick!
Now it’s your turn: What would YOU like to know more about? Is it more about the animals we bring up in our trawls? Maybe it’s to learn more about life on the Oregon II, and specifications about this ship. Perhaps you’d like to know how to become a scientist with NOAA and work on board one of their many ships. Leave your questions in the “Comments” section below (you are welcome to do this in any of my entries), and I’ll do my best to answer them!
Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the challenge questions, which from this point forward I will refer to as the “Critter Query”.
Economically, sea scallops are an important species; in 2008 the scallop harvest was about 53.5 million pounds and was worth about $370 million. The population is not currently considered to be overfished and has been above minimum sustainable levels since 2001. Formal management began in 1982 with the Atlantic Sea Scallop Fisheries Management Plan. The management plan includes limiting new permits, restrictions on gear and on the number of crew on a boat. Since about 2000, the biomass of scallops has been increasing. Biomass is estimated by using the weight of scallops per tow on cruises like this one. Combinations of biomass estimates and estimates of the commercial catch are used to update and adjust the management plan.
Sea Scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) are filter feeders. They can live up to 20 years and begin reproducing at about 2 years, with maximum fertility reached at 4 years. A single female scallop can produce up to 270 million eggs in her life. This high reproductive capacity has helped the scallop population recover relatively quickly. Gender can be determined by the color of the gonad; females are orange while the male gonad is white. Adult scallops average between 6 and 7 inches from hinge to tip (called height) but can be as big as 9 inches. Age can be estimated by counting the rings on the shell. Scallops can “swim” by opening and closing the two shells. This is a useful adaptation for escaping from predators, including flounder, cod, lobsters, crabs, and sea stars. Scallops are harvested for the adductor muscle (the one that opens and closes the shell). There is no commercial aquaculture of scallops in the US as of August 2009.
scallop dorsal and ventral
Personal Log
A storm moved through beginning on Wed. evening (day 2) and stayed with us most of Thursday. By the end of shift on Wednesday, we were working on deck in full foul weather gear and life jackets. Thursday we had an 8 hour steam between dredge sites and by the end of shift on Thursday, the seas had begun to smooth out. Friday was quite nice, weather-wise.
I am learning to shuck scallops, though I am about half the speed of many on the boat. I am also learning to tell the various types of flounder and other fish apart as well. It’s not always obvious which type of founder or hake is which.
New Species
Goose fish (aka monk fish), several more varieties of flounder, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, eel pout, some very large skates, 3 types of sea stars and 1 type of brittle star.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Kristy Weaver Aboard The R/V Savannah May 23 – June 1, 2012
Mission: Reef Fish Survey Location: Back in Jersey Date: June 7, 2012
You can be anything you want to be when you grow up! While I was on the R/V Savannah there were two main types of jobs that people were doing. There were the scientists and the crew of the ship. If you think you might like to be a biologist or work on a ship someday these videos may help you to learn more about these jobs.
I would like to introduce you to some of the new friends I made on the ship:
COLLEGE STUDENTS:
Meet Dan- Marine Biology College Student
SCIENTISTS:
Meet David- Fisheries Biologist with NOAA
Meet Warren- Fisheries Biologist with NOAA
Meet Zeb- Fisheries Biologist with NOAA
Meet Stephen- Wildlife Biologist with South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources
Meet Jennifer: Recent Graduate of The College of Charleston and new full time employee at South Carolina’s Department of Natural Resources
NOAA Teacher at Sea Richard Chewning Onboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson June 4 – 24, 2010
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson Mission: Pollock Survey Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak) to eastern Bering Sea (Dutch Harbor) Date: June 15th, 2010
Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: eastern Bering Sea Time: 1530 Latitude: N 55 47.020 Longitude: W 165 24.970 Cloud Cover: overcast Wind: 14 knots Temperature: 6.4 C Barometric Pressure: 1003.7 mbar
Science and Technology Log
In addition to researchers on the lookout for seabirds, the Oscar Dyson is also hosting researchers hoping to catch a glimpse of some the world’s largest animals: marine mammals. Either ocean dwelling or relying on the ocean for food, marine mammals include cetaceans (whales, porpoises, and dolphins), manatees, sea lions, sea otters, walrus, and polar bears. Although marine mammals can be enormous in size (the largest blue whale ever recorded by National Marine Mammal Laboratory scientists was 98 feet long or almost the length of a ten story building laid on its side!), studying marine mammals at sea can be challenging as they spend only a short time at the surface. Joining the Dyson from the NMML on this cruise are Suzanne Yin, Paula Olson, and Ernesto Vazquez. As a full time observer, Yin spends most of the year on assignment on various vessels sailing on one body of water or another and only occasionally is to be found transitioning through her home of San Francisco, California. Paula calls San Diego, California home and spends most of her time when not observing at sea working on a photo identification database of blue and killer whales. Ernesto is a contract biologist from La Paz, Mexico and has been working on and off with NOAA for several years. Ernesto has worked with several projects for the Mexican government including ecological management of the Gulf of California Islands.
Yin keeping warm from the cold
Ernesto keeping sharp lookout for marine mammals
Paula keeping an eye on the horizon
Yin, Paula, and Ernesto undoubtedly have the best view on the Oscar Dyson. Working as a three member team, they search for their illusive quarry from the flying bridge. The flying bridge is the open air platform above the bridge where the ship’s radar, communication equipment, and weather sensors are located. One observer is positioned both on the front left and front right corners of the flying bridge. Each observer is responsible for scanning the water directly in front to a line perpendicular to the ship forming a right angle. Two powerful BIG EYE binoculars are used to scan this to scan this 90 degree arc. These binoculars are so powerful they can spot a ship on the horizon at over ten miles (even before the Dyson’s radar can detect the vessel!). The third person is stationed in the middle of the flying bridge and is responsible for surveying directly ahead of the ship and for scanning the blind spot just in front of the ship that is too close for the BIG EYES to see. This person is also responsible for entering sightings into a computer database via a lap top computer. The three observers rotate positions every thirty minutes and take a thirty minute break after one full rotation. One complete shift lasts two hours. Yin, Paula, and Ernesto start soon after breakfast and will continue observing until 9:30 at night if conditions allow.
Dall’s porpoise
Weather can produce many challenges for marine mammal observers as they are exposed to the elements for hours at a time. Fortunately, Yin, Paula, and Ernesto are well prepared. Covered from head to toe wearing insulated Mustang suits (the name come from the manufacturer), they are pretty well protected from light spray, wind, and cold. Although a certain amount of the face is always exposed, a shoulder high wind shield helps deflect most of the spray and wind. In addition to wind chill and wind burn, a strong wind can also produce large rolling waves called swells that make viewing through the BIG EYES next to impossible. Sometimes reducing visibility so much that the bow can barely be seen the bridge, fog is undoubtedly a marine mammal observer’s greatest adversary.
Humpback whales through the Big Eyes
Salmon fishing operation through the Big Eyes
So far during the cruise, Yin, Paula, and Ernesto have spotted many blows on the horizon and have identified several species of marine mammals. A common sighting is the Dall’s porpoise. Your eyes are easily drawn towards these fun marine mammals as they produce characteristic white splashes by repeatedly breaking the water’s surface exposing a white stripe on their side. Blows from fin whales have also been regularly observed. Other sightings include killer whales, humpback whales, Pacific white sided dolphins, and a rare sighting of a Baird’s beaked whale.
Personal Log
Life aboard a constantly moving platform can take a little getting used to! I imagine if a person doesn’t live in an area frequented by earthquakes, one will easily take for granted the fact that the ground usually remains stable and firm underfoot (I know I did!). Over the last view days, steady winds from the south have conspired to create conditions ideal for rolling seas. Large swells (waves created by winds far away) make the Dyson very animated as we push forward on our survey transects. In addition to making deployments of gear more difficult, routine personal tasks soon assume a challenging nature as well. Whether you are simply getting dressed in the morning, trying to make your way to your seat with lunch in hand, or taking a shower in the evening, a constantly pitching and rolling deck will make even a seasoned deckhand wobble and stumble from time to time.
Building seas
A piece of advice I have often heard during these conditions calls for “one hand for you and one for the ship”. Maintaining three points of contact with ship, especially when moving between decks, can save you from being tossed off balance. The crew is very considerate of these conditions and allows even more understanding than customary when you bump into shipmates. I have also learned the importance of securing any loose equipment and personal items after usage during rough seas as they might not be in the same place when you return. In addition to waking several times during the night and having a restless sleep, these conditions will also leave you feeling stiff and fatigued in the morning after a bumpy night of being tossed around in your rack. Once you muster the strength to get moving, your legs become surprisingly tired as you constantly try to keep your balance. Along with the rest of the crew, the Dyson also feels the effects of jogging through rough seas as you constantly hear the rhythmic sounds of the bow plowing though the next wave and of the ship’s superstructure groaning under the strain.
Measuring the Dyson’s roll
Passing through the fog
Did you know? Fog is essentially a cloud on the ground’s surface.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Kate DeLussey Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow July 3 – 18, 2012
Mission: Deep Sea Coral Survey Geographical area of cruise: Atlantic Ocean, Leaving from Newport, RI Date: June 6, 2012
Current Location: Philadelphia, PA; Latitude:40.0409483; Longitude:-75.1287162
Greetings and Welcome to My NOAA Blog!
I am Kathleen (Kate) DeLussey from the J. R. Lowell School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in a city of 1.5 million, I have spent most of my life in the same five-mile radius. The school where I teach is right down the street from the elementary school I went to when I was a child. I am a true city kid. You may have taken a yellow bus to school, but I rode the “El” train. Water came out of the “tap” and early fish experiences included both rectangular “sticks” and orange pets, but we will not talk about either of those things here.
Visit Philadelphia! The city needs the oceans too!
So, you may question why a woman like me, a teacher with four children who experienced her first plane flight last year, would be excited about participating in scientific research aboard a NOAA vessel as a Teacher at Sea. Especially when I am not exactly sure about what I am going to be doing, (Hint: The more I learn about the Oceans and Atmosphere, the more information I have to share with our students at Lowell School.)
You may also be wondering why a Reading Specialist in a K-4 school would be so interested in what is happening in Earth’s Oceans and Atmosphere, especially when I come from such a large city. (Hint: We all need to learn about and care for our Earth’s Oceans.)
Finally, you may be wondering how a teacher’s experience at sea will encourage our students, and their families to connect with and learn more about the Earth’s Oceans and Atmosphere. (Hint: When I show you how wonderful and important our Oceans are to the life of all things on Earth, you will just have to get involved!)
If you are thinking and asking questions like these as you read, GREAT! When students and teachers just have to know, they are behaving like scientists, and like writers.
I just had to know more about NOAA’s work. I have read many things, seen TV programs, and visited Web sites to teach me about oceans, but I still have many questions.
How do the scientists at NOAA understand and forecast the weather?
How do they understand fish?
What types of jobs do the people at NOAA have?
How can my students prepare for careers at NOAA?
Where can my students find the answers to their own questions?
How can I find out more?
I was researching the answers to these questions on the NOAA website when I saw the chance for teachers to go to sea. I applied, and I was chosen! To use the words of our principal Mrs. Runner, “WHOOOO WHOOOO!” I am so excited to be participating as a Teacher at Sea.
After I found out I was going to be a NOAA Teacher at Sea, I wanted to prepare my students for ocean learning and did what all good teachers do at the beginning of a lesson. I asked my third grade friends in Room 207 some questions. “What do you know about the Oceans? Tell me everything you know!” Of course, the students wrote the “lists” of things they “knew” about the oceans and they really shared some of their thinking as they wrote.
What the students in Room 207 report they know about the oceans:
Emily, Isaiah, and Lusine had the longest lists, and while all of the students reported they “knew” something about oceans, most of the answers on the student lists looked like this:
The oceans cover most of the Earth’s surface
The oceans have lots of living things like fish, crabs, and sharks
The oceans are important to the Earth
You can swim in the ocean
You can see that for our students to become ocean experts, they really needed more details to add to their list of “what they know.”
(Some of the ideas the students put on the list were not true, and I do not want to put those ideas on this list, because I want to include only true information in my Blog.) I do not want to confuse anyone about a topic as important as Earth’s Oceans.
This list only had Big Ideas about the oceans and even with my thinking, we could not add many details. You can see we all have a lot to learn about our oceans.
So, I am be bringing the future “Ocean Literacy” of our 1,000 students with me as I work with NOAA during my Teacher at Sea adventure. (Hi kids!)
Our big questions for this mission will be:
What are Deep Sea Coral Reefs?
How do scientists study deep sea coral reefs?
What do scientists do with the information they gather during their research?
I am participating on this trip because I want to find answers to our questions. I also want to be sure everyone understands NOAA’s work so we all can participate as scientists and writers to help protect our Earth’s Oceans and Atmosphere.
Join me–not only a teacher–but also a citizen of the Earth planet as I work as a guest scientist aboard the Henry B. Bigelow,a NOAA research vessel.
Continue to ask questions as you read my blogs. We may not find the answers to all of our Big Questions, but we will be better prepared to find our answers as we gain knowledge and as we add details to our scientific knowledge and to our writing.
Hopefully, at the end of my journey, you may be wondering if you could to this “At Sea” research too!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marsha Skoczek
Soon to be Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
July 6 – 19, 2012
Mission: Marine Protected Areas Survey Geographic area of cruise: Subtropical North Atlantic, off the east coast of Florida Date: June 5, 2012
Personal Log
Me at our saltwater touch tank.
Greetings from Olathe, Kansas! My name is Marsha Skoczek and I am an instructor in the Geoscience Program at Olathe North High School. High school students from all over Olathe apply to be a part of the Geoscience Program because they have a passion for the earth sciences. Many of my students want to become a marine biologist or some type of ocean research scientist. I teach Marine Biology and Oceanography, yes from the middle of the country, so in order to have a better understanding of the material I teach I applied to and was accepted for the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program. I am fortunate enough to be preparing to set sail aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces as part of a research team investigating the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) off the Southeastern Atlantic states.
In 2009 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established eight Marine Protected Areas to protect the spawning grounds for several species of Grouper, Snapper, and Tilefish. These reef dwelling species are slow growing fish often not spawning until they are four or five years old. Some species such as the Yellowedge Grouper can live to be as much as 80 years old! Several other species such as the Snowy Grouper and the Speckled Hind Grouper are all born as females and do not change into males until they are older, making it a high priority that we protect their habitat so these species can live long enough to reproduce.
As fish are being harvested from the water beyond many of the species’ maximum sustainable yield, it is imperative that the natural habitats of these species are protected, not only so the fish populations can continue to thrive, but also so that scientists can have the time to research the life cycles of these fish in order to establish yearly limits based on scientific data before they are fished to extinction.
I am fortunate enough to be a part of a research expedition doing just that, we will be studying the habitat and fish population of five Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to see if closing these areas to bottom fishing is a beneficial step in preventing the extinction of these species.
NOAA Ship Pisces
The team I will be working with is made up of scientists from the Panama City NOAA Fisheries Lab, the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, University of North Carolina Wilmington, and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. Preparations for this research expedition began over a year ago when the scientists had to begin writing their proposal to fund this trip. As you can imagine, working with scientists from multiple institutions takes time and careful planning. Conference calls were made with the crew of the Pisces so details could be discussed about the operations needed to be performed, as well as other long distance communications with the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) pilots and the mapping scientist from Charleston, South Carolina.
Data on our expedition will be collected by ROV to capture on video the fish and invertebrate populations in each MPA; water column data on temperature, pressure and conductivity will be collected by CTD profiling; and night time sonar mapping will be used to determine the most beneficial areas to launch the ROV on the following day.
As you can see, there is a lot of work to do during our two weeks at sea. I am anxiously awaiting our departure next month so that I can witness first hand real ocean research. This information will be invaluable as I prepare my students for their future careers as marine biologist and oceanographers! Please follow along as we set sail on this most important adventure!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Sue Oltman Aboard R/V Melville May 22 – June 6, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge (Baltra Harbor, Ecuador)
Air temperature: 27.3 C / 81.1 F
Barometric pressure: 1010.22 mb
Relative humidity: 71.3
Precipitation: 0.3 mm
Wind speed: 12.7 knots, SE
Sea temperature: 25.01 C
Personal log
Everything was decluttered, packed, cleaned and mopped in the lab. We cleaned our staterooms and bathrooms to get ready for inspections by the captain.
Now that the work is done, a few of us have discovered the foosball table in the upper lab. It was great fun! Playing foosball on a moving ship that is heaving, pitching and rolling puts a new dimension to the game.
Science ships are not the only ones that names cold storage areas for science needs, as my students can attest to!
For our last dinner on the ship, wild game from South Africa was grilled. Not only was there kudu again (yum!) but we had ostrich and springbok. Some type of squash was also grilled. All were tasty; the ostrich kind of sweet and surprisingly looked like steak, too. I couldn’t decide which was more delicious, the springbok or the kudu. It was fun to try some new foods, and I don’t know when I will get the opportunity to do so again. There was also some ice cream made from cheramoya, a Chilean fruit.
After dinner, which is served at 5, a group of us also were shown the crow’s nest above the bridge. We had to climb up a vertical ladder – no stairs – and pop out of a manhole to go into it and look out the windows, and only two people could fit at a time. Part of the radar is housed here. If you climbed up yet another ladder, there was the highest platform you could stand on, and the view was great!
From the platform above the crow’s nest: me, Pamela, Magda, Eric, Jamie, Ursula, and Elsie
The sunset from here, and the full moon rising, was quite a sight. Still, there was no land on the horizon. Later in the evening, I went to one of the upper decks to just look at the stars. Even with the brilliant light from the moon, the clear view of the stars and the southern hemisphere constellations was breathtaking. In the morning, we would be in the Galapagos Islands.
Science and Technology Log
It’s a wrap!
The science team is ready to disembark and relax from working continuously for 14 days on the R/VMelville, not to mention the days working on the ground while the ship was in port. The data will be analyzed and soon the WHOI team will get ready for the next deployment and recovery in Hawaii. I will be back home, ready to begin my summer vacation from school! I have really learned a lot from each member of this team. It has been a privilege to work with them and know that they will go with me to my next students.
The WHOI UOP group – Jamie, Jeff,Nan, Bob, me, Sean and Sebastien
If you hold fast to the stereotype that scientists are nerdy, introverted individuals with poor social skills and no outside interests, working with the WHOI group will quickly dispel this myth. While experts in their field, each person brings some personality to their work which adds up to a positive dynamic that anyone would enjoy being around. We have worked together for two weeks in the “main lab”- one big room on the main deck with ease, and had some laughs along the way. In talking to everyone, each WHOI scientist has a unique story and set of skills that I wish I had the time and space to share in this blog. I took the time to interview the Chief Scientist, Dr. Robert (Bob) Weller about his career in oceanography, and here is some of that conversation. (Italics are mine)
SO: When did you first become interested in oceanography?
RW: At first in college. I was a biochemistry major, but it seemed to be more memorization and not enough thinking skills. Also at the time, I was working for an Oceanography professor at Harvard, making deep sea pressure gauges, learning how to machine parts, very hands-on, and really liked that, so I changed to Engineering and Applied Physics to go into Oceanography.
SO: It’s such a broad field, how did you narrow your focus down to moorings?
RW: For graduate school, I went to Scripps Institute of Oceanography (part of University of California, San Diego) and my advisor was working in upper ocean physics. No one had had success observing the wind-driven or Ekman currents, and that became a goal. As part of work toward a thesis, I designed a new current meter capable of observing near-surface currents in the presence of wave motion. This current meter was particularly needed for use on surface moorings, and is still in use. There was a lot of progress to be made in surface moorings – as of the mid 1970s the longest experiment using one was about 30 days, as one that was in the Gulf of Alaska did. Meanwhile, at WHOI, after WWII, there were lots of resources and they were getting pretty good at sub-surface moorings (no surface float, the buoyancy is below the surface, away from wave motion). After grad school in the late 1970’s, I came to WHOI, and began to work on improving surface moorings and using them for studying the upper ocean. By the 1980’s, we were up to a surface mooring lasting 6 months.
SO: Have you been to all of the worlds’ oceans with buoys and moorings?
RW: I have not been to the Arctic or the Southern Ocean, if defined as 45 beginning at South, but soon!
SO: Mistakes are something we like to avoid, but has there been some trial and error that has turned out helpful in the long run?
RW: We have made progress on changing the materials of buoy from aluminum to the materials we use now. There was a surface mooring near Iceland that did not last and the reason turned out to be a low-tech piece of forged metal hardware that failed from cyclical fatigue (flexing and bending, responding to tension changes) so we had to improve our mooring designs and the hardware we used.
Also, after that failure in 1989 the Navy funded work to improve how we design surface moorings for challenging locations. This work continued as we prepared to deploy a surface mooring in the Arabian Sea in the mid-1990s. That surface mooring survived the monsoon season so we knew we had improved our design.
With the Stratus project, we started out thinking that the cold water from upwelling was making its way out to the eastern tropical Pacific causing the cooler ocean temperatures. After studying this, we have found it was not the case, so we continue to look for the cause.
This year, we deployed the mechanical current meters deeper into the ocean to try to avoid the fouling by barnacles as well as the fishing line which causes them to stop working (gets into propellers) and also to get ocean currents over more of the water column. What we found was that the battery life was shorter where the temperatures were colder at these depths, so we did not recover a year of data from them. We also tried some new current meters which worked really well.
SO: You are working on a small part of climate research, a very long-term issue and a big picture, what is the reward of your part of the research?
RW: Getting to go on cruises like this one, working in the field with great people like we have is very rewarding. Recovering one buoy and deploying another is a big accomplishment and it is great to be involved in this. (note: There are 3 such deployments each year.)
SO: WHOI maintains 2 other buoys; can you talk about the importance of these locations?
RW: The 3 buoys together occupy the trade winds areas. One is north of Hawaii, and there is a rising level of carbon dioxide there. We are seeing the ocean’s absorption of CO2 has been rising faster than the rate of increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Also, over a decade, weather patterns have been changing near Hawaii and the ocean is becoming more salty due to less precipitation; the hydrologic cycle is changing which has practical implications, too. The trade wind regions are where tropical storms transit, strengthening with energy out of the ocean; we should know more about this. The other location, near Barbados in the Atlantic, is where Atlantic hurricanes often transit.
SO: Can you tell me some more about the drifters we have launched?
RW: The drifters are an international program that NOAA is invested with, and first of all, they take sea surface temperature (SST) measurements. SST is measured worldwide by satellites, but this is through clouds and aerosols (atmospheric impurities) and is hard to get SST precise to a tenth of a degree. The satellites are calibrated using the SST provided by the surface drifters. The goal is to have 2 drifters per 5 degree (latitude and longitude) square which is a challenge. In the southern ocean, they add barometers to the surface drifters to help predict storms.
The ARGO floats are also an international effort; the goal is to try to have one in every 3 degree square of ocean, to surface every 10 days to calibrate ocean models. This helps us understand rising sea levels, which happen as the ocean warms and expands as well as when polar ice melts. They go to 1,500 to 2,000 m to find the heat content of the ocean. They last about 4 years and there are about 3,000 of them worldwide.
SO: If you were to go into another area of ocean research, what would it be?
RW: We have seen that there is a warm salty layer and a fresher cooler layer below. It would be interesting to study what is causing the mixing between these layers and how the wind plays in.
SO: In what areas of Oceanography do you foresee a lot of career paths and job opportunities?
RW: In terms of locations, The National Science Foundation in international collaboration is looking to have a 25-year study including the Gulf of Alaska, Greenland, and off the Southern tip of Chile and Argentina. There is a lack in information about these important high latitude areas.
There is a growing demand for AUVs (Autonomous unmanned vehicles) which have many applications. Designing and applying AUVs as well as surveying the ocean floor.
Ocean acoustics is another field of growth.
Bathymetry and physics of the ocean as well as marine policy/ social science are other areas. There are lots of applications of technology.
SO: What about in biology of the oceans?
RW: In studying fisheries, you quickly learn that you can’t study a species in isolation and that other factors such as the physical structure and variability of the ocean and local human activities that affect the habitat are important.
The other members of the science team bring varied backgrounds that have transferred well into oceanographic research. Their college degrees were not all oceanography, but their skills and knowledge are helpful in their jobs. Some of their former experience includes computer programming, biology, finance, data analysis, and mechanical design. Two attended the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and one Florida State, before coming to Woods Hole. There are yet more WHOI folks behind the scenes, back in Cape Cod, supporting this research cruise in other ways. Not everyone is needed (or cares to participate) in a hands on, 24/7 research cruise. The team collaborates with other nations and with the global science community of oceans and climate research not only by sharing data, but by lending their expertise in a hands-on way. Jeff will be traveling straight to Australia to support a project there before he even goes home to Cape Cod. Some of our others include a biology graduate student, who works on the biological changes at the Mt. St. Helen’s volcano with Washington State University; international participants in the cruise are studying topics such as oceanography of the fjords in southern Chile and phytoplankton in the Pacific Ocean. By working with these folks, I have seen that the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (at University of California San Diego) and WHOI are two of the USA’s preeminent institutions in preparing for ocean science careers. Both have excellent outreach to schools, not only by supporting the Teacher at Sea program, but by providing web based educational resources and student activities.
Enjoying one of our last sunsets: Keith (Scripps), Bob Weller (WHOI), me, Jamie Holte (WHOI), Ursula Cifuentes (Concepcion), Sebastien Bigorre (WHOI), and front, Pamela Labbe also fromChile
This is my UCTD watch – Sebastien, Ursula and I held down to 8 watches and launched hourly UCTDs to gather salinity, temperature, and salinity data.
WHOI’s mission statement reads – “The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution mission is to promote research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society.” I have been enriched and am very grateful to have had a part in carrying out this mission. Thank you, NOAA, WHOI and Scripps!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Sue Oltman Aboard R/V Melville May 22 – June 6, 2012
Mission: STRATUS Mooring Maintenance Geographical Area: Southeastern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile and Ecuador Date: June 1, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Air temperature: 23.7. C / 74.6 F
Humidity: 73.1%
Precipitation: 0.3 mm
Barometric pressure: 1013.15 mB
Wind speed: 4.7 kt SE
Sea temperature: 24.77 C
We are almost at the equator! The coordinates of the Galapagos Islands, where Puerto Ayora is, are 0, 90W. The weather has been warm but a nice pleasant breeze is going all the time – the trade winds, a constant wind out of the southeast. It’s helpful as the ship is heading in the same direction as the wind! When out on deck, it feels like perfect weather, it’s easy to forget how direct the sun is so close to the equator. Sunscreen is a necessity! We are approaching the place where every day is an equinox.
It’s neat to think I will be staying at a hotel on the equator (equalizer of day and night.) Students, when I get to my hotel I will check and see whether water goes down the drain clockwise or counterclockwise, as we discussed in science class!
Most of the crew will take the ship to its home port in San Diego after dropping the science team off in the Galapagos. A new team of scientists will be waiting to board. The Stratus Team is crunching away at data gathering and wrapping up our reports. Thoughts are starting to drift towards scenery of volcanic islands, beaches, giant tortoises and exotic birds which we look forward to seeing very soon! So the science continues, no matter where you go…but we have a few more days left as sailors!
The crew tries to arrange some fun on occasional nights as we have to make our own entertainment…there is no TV and very limited internet (quite slow when it works!) and of course, no leisurely phone calls or text conversations from out here in the deep blue. Sometimes it’s a movie – North by Northwest (a theme – our direction of travel), City of God, and a North Korean movie none of us had ever seen, as well as a poker game. Most of us have books we are reading, but it was a big surprise that there is a fantastic library here! It has a few dozen shelves of books, mostly fiction, something for everyone’s taste. I’ve already read two books and have started a third.
There are about twice as many books than are shown in this picture! The library also has a TV and DVD player for watching a movie.
There are few books on the Galapagos Islands floating around and we have all been skimming them to decide how we will spend our time when we arrive in port. Many of us like to listen to our iPods and I have mentioned before, spend some time exercising. Photography is a shared hobby, too, and now that our cruise is nearing an end, there is a lot of photo sharing going on. A few crew members find some spare time to fish from the side as we move forward. The ones that have been caught were shared at mealtimes. I especially enjoyed the yellowtail!
Being on a ship for a couple of weeks has also given me a look behind the scenes for every shipment of imports that comes across the seas to ports in theUnited States, such as Brunswick, Georgia. Each cargo ship has a crew of people bringing the goods over safely, loading and unloading, and doing it again. We have traversed over 2,000 miles and done it in excellent weather. The shipping industry and the goods my family and I use is something I had not given a second thought to before. I have a new appreciation for the maritime industry.
Science and Technology Log
Since deploying the moored buoy, we have put quite a few drifters in the water including the one I personalized for our school!
Elsie and Jamie launch a drifter, one of many data gathering instruments that will drift with the current and report ocean temperature, and its location is tracked online.
Since we are getting closer to land, there is a higher likelihood of finding fishing gear in the water, so we have to be on alert for that at all times. We don’t want our instruments to get tangled up in the long lines fishermen leave in the water hoping for a catch to come along. One day, the ship did run into some long lines and had to stop and make sure it wasn’t in the propellers. Another very cool instrument we’ve been deploying are ARGO drifter floats http://argo.whoi.edu/argo.whoi_about.html – Think of a scientific instrument that will measure temperature, conductivity (salinity) and depth and that can be programmed to move around at different depths, GPS keeping track of its location for several months or even years. They have computer processors in them and a little motor that “drives” it deeper or shallower as the need for data at certain coordinates dictates. Here is a diagram of the ARGO drifters we have been launching. http://argo.whoi.edu/argo.whoi_components.html
As the data from last year’s Stratus 11 deployment is analyzed, plus the hourly data from our UCTD profiles, several trends have become evident. I have also been able to get a look inside some of the instruments. Can you imagine sending a tablet computer hundreds of meters into the ocean? That is exactly what has been done. In the photo, you can see an example of an instrument that measured ocean currents for a year at great depth and pressure.
Sean Whelan downloads the data from instruments and then prepares the instruments to be shipped back to Woods Hole.
Collecting data from a current meter using the touch screen and stylus, this instrument has withstood a year of underwater conditions on a card like you keep in a digital camera.
There is also redundancy of instruments (more than one) in case one fails or the battery dies, which sometimes does happen. Regarding the trends – the science team has anticipated this, having seen it similarly each year, these are their hypotheses as the Stratus experiment continues. As we near the equator, the salinity is rising – there is more evaporation when the sun is more direct. As some of the ocean water becomes humidity in the atmosphere, the salt is left behind in the ocean, as salt does not change to a vapor in our atmosphere – it is left dissolved in the ocean and thus increases the ocean’s salinity. A “big” increase in salinity would be 1 part per thousand in a small area, for example, so we are tracking the trend of small changes. In the hourly UCDT deployments we have been conducting, we have measured between 34.08 and 37.7 parts per thousand.
Bob Weller and Sebastien Bigorre check the monitors for the status of the multi beam sonar display.
Oxygen content is important for all life as well as for many practical applications. The absence of oxygen (or lower amounts) allows other chemical reactions to take place in the water. The formation of certain acids becomes possible, which is deadly for some organisms, and favorable for others. An example we saw of this was a piece of hardware that was on the mooring cable had a very low oxygen levels, had sulfuric corrosion on it.
Another measure important to scientists is fluorescence which detects the amount of phytoplankton in the ocean – small organisms at the base of the ocean food web which use the CO2 to reproduce.
Society has great dependence on the ocean to absorb the right amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but at a certain point, the ocean chemistry will change and affect this balance of life. Climate prediction allows us to keep the pulse of the stability of this balance and all of this data we have gathered is part of the scientific puzzle of climate prediction.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Sue Oltman Aboard R/V Melville May 22 – June 6, 2012
Mission: STRATUS Mooring Maintenance Geographical Area: Southeastern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile and Ecuador Date: May 30, 2012
Weather Data from the Bridge: Air temperature: 21.4 C / 65 F
Humidity: 77.6%
Precipitation: 0
Barometric pressure: 1015.1 mB
Wind speed: 15.8 kt SE
Sea temperature: 22.42 C
Location: 19.55 S, 85.2 W
The Trade Winds are now constant, helping us along to our destination!
Personal Log
An interview with the Captain, Dave Murline
SO: How long have you been a ship captain?
DM: Since 1994. Since then there has been an increase in paperwork, regulations and inspections due to a world-wide push to make going to sea safer.
SO: What kinds of skills are necessary?
DM: You need a well rounded background in Seamanship, good people skills and the habit of treating everyone with respect.
SO: Does being on a science research ship bring any specific/different expectations than being on another type of merchant ship?
DM: Yes, on a research vessel, you are dealing with scientists and their instruments as opposed to general cargo. Every voyage is different and brings on its own set of new challenges. Scientists tend to work outside of the norm so there are always new ways to figure out how to use the ship in the best way that we support the mission. This is a job that always keeps me thinking and using my imagination!
SO: We are in the middle of a huge ocean, and our destination – a buoy – is like a pinpoint on a map. What has to be considered to make sure you get to the exact location?
DM: We need to consider weather, currents and also vessel traffic around the area. Some hazards to navigation are reefs (shallow), islands, clearances to foreign countries EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone within 200 Miles of any country), and pirates. Once I encountered pirates on the Arabian sea, but on a ship like this, were able to out maneuver them. We have not gone back there!
I’m on deck with Captain Dave Murline who is cooking up some freshly caught yellowtail. If you like to fish, a side benefit is when you get to enjoy your hobby!
SO: Have you ever gotten lost?
DM: I’ve never been lost at sea, but get lost sometimes driving around in my hometown!
SO: Can you name a really interesting research cruise you have been on?
DM: Every voyage is unique and interesting. I’m always looking forward to the next mission and challenge. Our work varies from studying the atmosphere sea interaction to marine mammals. There is so much to learn about our oceans, it is all very fascinating.
SO: What is something most people don’t know about your job?
DM: There is tons of paperwork with my job! That is what I consider the “work” part. Also, along with many other responsibilities, I am the ship’s medic which can be a “scary” part of the job as we are often working far away from any medical facilities. That is why “Safety” is our number one priority on any cruise.
SO: Thanks for letting us get the inside scoop on being the Captain of the R/V Melville!
There are so many interesting people on the ship with a variety of skills. We eat all meals together and many of the crew support the science team in different ways. They are from many areas of the country and it has been great to get to know them!
My work out routine has become more varied – Unfortunately, the noise with mineral spirits/paint odors are a package deal along with the stairmaster in the machine shop, so I found another way to get some exercise in after noticing what some of the crew did. I spent about an hour doing many laps around the ship, up and down all the stairs of the outdoor decks, with the beautiful ocean all around me. For entertainment, I not only had my iPod, but for added visual interest, all kinds of valves, winches, life preservers, hoses, and the occasional engineer fixing something. A good line from my music today – I sing my heart out to the infinite sea! (The Who)
There is a little store on the ship that has been locked up tight. All of the guests on the ship are anticipating the sale in the ship store tomorrow! There are t-shirts, hats, and other items as Melville souvenirs.
Science and Technology Log
A successful but slimy recovery!
The Stratus 11 Buoy was successfully recovered in a process that began before breakfast and lasted into the evening. Remember the thousands of meters of cable?
First, a computer command triggered the acoustic release of the anchor. There is not a way to safely recover this anchor, so it is left on the ocean floor. Once released, the bottom of the cable, with all 80 plus of the glass balls for flotation, gradually make their way to the surface. So when we came out after breakfast, the yellow encased glass balls were all bobbing on the ocean’s surface. A few folks had to go out in the life boat so the chain could be attached to the ship’s crane, then we started reeling them in. A beautiful rainbow was in the sky like a special treat for us!
Sean, Eugene and Rob hold onto the deepest part of the cable which has surfaced, thanks to the glass balls encased in yellow cases.
Sometimes one or more will implode due to the massive pressure, and this time, only two did. Little by little, as the cable was wound onto the winch, the instruments started coming in. The deepest ones come in first and the shallowest ones last, opposite from deployment. They were cataloged and cleaned and if all is well, will be used next year on Stratus 13. It is amazing how all of these sensitive tools can last for a year under such conditions! The battery left with the buoy is good for up to 14 months. Sometimes, there would be fishing line entangled with the tools, as there is some good fishing in this area. As we started to get to the more shallow instruments – and by this I mean 150 meters or so – we started seeing that organisms had started taking up residence on them! This is called a fouling community. There are slimy growth algae and these little shells with a neck called gooseneck barnacles, sometimes with a crab in the shell. The closer to the surface we got, the population of these barnacles just kept increasing and increasing! There were quite a few instruments that were so covered in the barnacles; you could not even identify it!
Nan’s organizational skills help the team know which instrument provided what data to maintain the integrity of the research.
Wearing a coating of fouling organisms, the Stratus 11 buoy looks nothing like the one we deployed 2 days ago! This is typical after a year in the ocean.
Sean snags the Stratus 11 buoy to bring it in to the Melville. Photo: Rob Ball
Stratus 11 has been successfully recovered, barnacles and all! The crane carefully hoists it onto the aft deck. Photo: Rob Ball
As we recovered more instruments, we were drawn closer to the old buoy, which had acted as an artificial reef for the past year. Whales sometimes like this, so once again, we spotted our cetacean friends! Once the last instrument was on deck, it was time to recover the actual buoy. Like earlier in the day, we needed a few folks out in the boat to help make sure the buoy stayed with the ship and did not float away, as we had released it from the crane. It took longer than expected, but it was finally on board and it, too, had its own fouling community.
All hands were needed to help clean the instruments. At first, it was a novelty to see a cute little crab crawl out of a colorful barnacle shell, but then all of us became quite ruthless, ripping and scraping them off of the tools with no regard for the destruction of their little ecosystem. We had quite a pile to get through and had no time for this – what was at first cute was not only annoying, but downright nasty!
Cleaning the shallow instruments was the messiest of all! Jamie from NOAA and I tackle a couple of more instruments, with a plethora of barnacles at our feet.
Some folks’ clothes were so disgusting, so caked with grime and detritus of the sea that it was decided to sacrifice them to the great Pacific instead of potentially fouling the ship’s washing machine. With all of the great attitudes and camaraderie, it wasn’t too bad to be doing this clean up together as a team. All felt a great satisfaction at seeing two facets of the mooring project – the deployment a couple of days earlier and now a successful recovery with no injuries or loss of instruments. A good nights rest was in order!
Sebastien, Pamela, Elsie, me, Eric and Jamie have a moment of fun on a long day of hard work. A terrific group to cruise with! Photo: Ursula Cifuentes
You saw it here first… The EM122 Multi Beam sonar mapped out some brand new ocean floor for future research and deployment. The newly mapped area is seen on the screen – and in a year or so, will be added to the mapping database on Google Earth. So, before this part of the ocean floor makes its mapping debut to the world, you get an insider’s sneak preview here!
Sneak peek! A brand new map of a section of ocean floor, using the EM 122 Sonar and the “mowing the lawn” technique
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Scott Davenport
Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimida
May 21-May 27, 2012
Mission: Rockfish Survey Geographical area of cruise: Eastern Pacific, off the California coast and next to the Mexican Border Date: May 21, 2012
Personal Log
Hi, my name is Scott Davenport and I am excited to be a part of NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program. It is going to be great. I teach at Paul T. Albert Memorial School located in scenic Tununak, Alaska. It is a Yup’ik village on the Bering Sea. Most families practice subsistence living. My subject is junior high generalist, meaning I teach everything. Last year, I had a great group of seventh and eighth graders. It was my first year in Alaska and as a full-time teacher. Everyone learned a lot.
Tununak Seventh and Eighth Graders. Can you tell it is the last day of school?
Teacher at Sea intrigued me because it opens wide array of possibilities. A consistent issue at our school is what comes next? Graduation is a celebration, but it also brings apprehension and uneasiness. There are not a wide range of jobs in the village. It is normally limited to fishing, teaching, being a cashier, store stocker, or bush pilot. A NOAA boat offers a wider range of careers. My experience on the ship will help my students make connections to new possibilities. The long cruises followed by long breaks fit with subsistence living. They can have the time to go on a two week moose hunt and not miss work. Being located on the sea, most of my students are acclimated to spending time on the water. My experience will open eyes.
While on board the Bell M. Shimada, we have seven objectives. Objective #1: Sample the epi-pelagic micronekton. That means–thanks to Cynthia explaining it to me–we are going to see what is living in the upper water column. The specific fish we are looking for are the juvenile rockfish. We will also survey Pacific whiting, juvenile lingcod, northern anchovy, Pacific sardine, market squid and krill. Objective #2: Characterize prevailing ocean conditions and examine prominent hydrographic features. Objective #3: Map the distribution and abundance of krill. Objective #4: Observe seabird and marine mammal distribution and abundance. Objective #5: Collect Humboldt squid. Objective #6: Conduct deep midwater trawls to examine mesopelagic specimen. Finally Objective #7: Examine feeding habits of jellyfish. My personal objective is to not vomit at sea.
The three things I am looking forward to most are meeting new people, witnessing scientific research, and learning new, unexpected items. My three biggest concerns are falling overboard at night into a never-ending dark abyss, the food, and making sure I contribute to the work/use my time wisely. I am also excited to have a break from snow.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Kristy Weaver Aboard The R/V Savannah May 23 – June 1, 2012
Mission: Reef Fish Survey Location: 44 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, FL Date: May 30, 2012
Current Weather: 80 degrees and sunny
Science and Technology Log
Today is our last full day at sea. We have caught about 2,000 fish in the past week! A lot of them were thrown back into the water because we only need to keep a fraction of them for the reef fish survey. The fish that we keep are studied by the scientists for a few reasons.
First, every fish we catch is measured and weighed.
David, a fisheries biologist, measures every fish that we catch
Then we have a sheet that tells us which fish we “keep” and which fish we “toss” back into the ocean.
Stephen writes down the length of every fish as David calls out the numbers
After Stephen writes down the length he uses this paper to tell David to keep the fish or toss it back into the ocean
Every fish that we keep gets its own ID number and envelope.
After it gets dark we stop fishing and go inside to the lab to collect information about the fish we caught that day. Every single fish that we keep gets its own ID number, and gets weighed and measured again. We write everything down. These notes are data.
Here I am writing down the length and weight of each fish as Stephen weighs and measures them
When you make observations using your senses you are collecting data too! Can you think of a time you collected data or made an observation like a scientist?
After we record the length and weight I give Stephen the envelope and the other scientists come get the fish.
Passing Stephen the envelope for the fish he just measured and weighed
Scientists Jennifer and David take parts of the fish that they will study under a microscope later
Once all of the information is brought back to the scientists at the lab, they look at different parts of the fish using a microscope. This will tell the scientists three main things…
1) Is the fish a male (boy) or a female (girl)?
2)How old is the fish?
And
3) Are these fish from all different families, or are they all related to each other?
Once the scientists answer these questions, they can decide if its okay for people to go fishing for certain types of fish, or if too many fish are being taken out of the ocean and need to be protected. Right now fisheries are not allowed to take Red Snapper out of the Atlantic Ocean. That fish is a very important part of our survey.
Special thanks to Captain Raymond and the crew and of the R/V Savannah and to Zeb, the chief scientist, and his team of scientists for a great experience!
On my voyage I will be joining the crew and scientists aboard the Research Vessel 
