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Cheyanne Vanderdonckt: The Survey Begins, July 30, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Cheyanne Vanderdonckt

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

July 27 – August 12, 2026

Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline Survey, Leg 1

Geographic Area of Cruise: Western North Atlantic Ocean

Date: July 30, 2026

Latitude: 27° 40.261’ N

Longitude: 80° 12.372’ W

Weather Data from the Bridge: Southwest winds 15 to 20 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet.

Science and Technology Log

I promised more details of how the longline survey is carried out and I will do my best to describe it here. A long fishing line (about a mile long) is equipped with weights and buoys at each end, along with a weight in the middle. The buoys also have a “high flyer,” which is a marker that sticks up off of the buoy so that we can see where it is. Attached to this longline are 100 shorter lines called “gangions” (say “GAN-jin”) with a number and a baited circle hook. (Circle hooks are used because they cause less damage to fish than “j-hooks.”) The longline is deployed, then given about an hour to “soak,” before we go back and start reeling it in.

illustration of a fishing vessel setting a long line. each end of the line is attached to an anchor and a buoy. along the line itself, shorter lines connected to fishing hooks are attached at regular intervals. this illustration depicts a fish on one of the hooks.
Longline setup (Credit: NOAA)

How do you manage a mile-long line with 100 shorter lines attached without getting everything tangled? It’s a careful and orderly — albeit fast-moving — operation. The hooks are set up in barrels with notches that keep them lined up and ready to be attached to the longline as it is let out off the stern (back of the ship). Later when the line is hauled in, somebody will place them back in order to be ready for the next station. When every element of this set-up — high flyers, weights, and every single hook — is either deployed (thrown off the stern) or hauled in at the bow (front of the ship), somebody is ready at the computer to record the exact time, latitude, longitude, the state of the bait, whether there is a fish, weather conditions, etc. for each hook. Fortunately, the computer records most of this automatically so there are only a few keys to push when each piece is either deployed or hauled in.

a white plastic barrel lined with baited hooks attached to short fishing lines
Hooks baited with mackerel attached to the gangions ready to be clamped to the longline

At our first station we caught four sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus). When a shark is caught, it is a carefully coordinated operation to haul it up in a “cradle” (a big net with a stiff metal frame) using a crane. There is an operator working the crane, two people holding onto ropes attached to each side of the cradle, and at least two people to manage the shark’s head and tail while measurements and samples are taken. They are also communicating with the bridge where the officers driving the ship have to maneuver it to help get the cradle into position. The shark’s length is measured in millimeters and a small tissue sample is taken from its fin. Most sharks are also tagged, which allows scientists to track movements and examine growth rates. When smaller fish are caught, they are brought onto a measuring board in the middle of the deck. (More pictures and information about all of this will be coming in future posts!)

William “Trey” Driggers helps secure the tail of a sandbar shark while it is tagged

Wildlife Spotted

One afternoon when the skies cleared after some rain, a pair of brown boobies (Sula leucogaster) came to rest on the weather station.  A fellow science volunteer alerted me to their presence and we spent some time watching them spin around. To my amazement, they were still there hours later. I spent some more time watching them with the nearly full moon behind them.

two birds with brown backs and white undersides perch on either side of a weather vane. the sky is light blue and cloudy.
two birds are visible perched on either side of the weather vane, photographed at a distance. we can see the moon shining through the clouds and reflecting on the water.

Two brown boobies (Sula leucogaster) perched on the ship for hours

Simple Machines on a Ship

I have a student who got really interested in simple machines this year after, so I thought I would investigate as many of the simple machines as I could find on the ship. Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier. There are six basic types: wheel-and-axle, inclined plane, lever, pulley, wedge, and screw. A good example that we have at my school is a ramp, which is an inclined plane. I couldn’t carry a shopping cart full of science supplies up the stairs, but the ramp — along with the wheels and axles on the cart  — allows me to push a heavy load up to the second floor relatively easily. Likewise, you probably can’t pick up your best friend, but if you get on a see-saw (a type of lever), you can send him high up into the air. Simple machines can be used on their own or in combination to make work easier. 

There are many pulleys on the ship. They help make it easier to lift heavy objects. Winches are used to make it easier to haul in lines and to adjust the length of cables on cranes. Winches are essentially made of a wheel and axle and a lever. The rope or line wraps around the wheel as it turns on the axle. The handle acts as a lever that makes it easier to turn the wheel. The reel on a fishing rod acts as a winch when you turn the crank to reel the line in. Motorized winches use motors to turn the wheel.

view of pulleys clearly visible against a blue sky
Pulleys on one of the outriggers
view of the winch mounted on deck
This winch lowers and raises scientific gear attached to the “J-frame,” which is a big arm that can go out over the water
close up of a reel on a fishing rod; the rod has been mounted on the railing of the ship to fish. we can see the water and blue sky, with white clouds, beyond.
The reel on a fishing rod acts as a winch when you haul in the line
Simple machines on the ship

A screw is a simple machine that is basically an inclined plane that wraps around a cylinder. If you have a screw at home, you can put your finger at the tip and follow that one groove all the way to the head. Think about cars driving up a circular ramp in a parking garage: they move on a continuous inclined plane that spirals around from bottom to top. The ship has engines that turn a big propeller and that propeller is a giant screw that pushes against the water to make the ship move forward. Although the blades of a propeller are separate rather than one continuous plane, they operate on the same basic principle as a screw. 

Obviously I can’t see the ship’s propeller because it is under the water, but I asked the crew to tell me more about it. Oregon II has a variable pitch propeller which means that they can change the angle of the propellers relative to the axis that they spin around. The angle of this pitch changes the amount of work the screw can do with one full rotation. So a 1-foot pitch means that turning the screw one full rotation would theoretically move the ship 1 foot (This can vary depending on the other forces acting on the ship, such as currents and wind). Oregon II’s propeller has a maximum pitch of 6 feet. Naturally, I had to ask why you wouldn’t just always use the maximum pitch to go as fast as possible. It is like the gears on a bike or a car. If you have a bike with gears, you have probably found yourself pedaling furiously at some point, wearing yourself out without going any faster. If you choose the right gear, your energy will not be wasted. The officer driving the ship determines which pitch is appropriate for the conditions and the desired speed.

These are some of the simple machines I’ve discovered so far. Look around you and see what simple machines you have at home, work, school, or in the community. How do they make work easier? Can you use some objects in your house to make a simple machine?

Resources from NOAA:

Personal Log

I am settling into life aboard ship. Because I get off duty at midnight and still need time to shower and wind down a bit, I am waking up later in the morning than I am used to in order to get a full night’s sleep. (I always tell my students how important sleep is and I like to practice what I preach.) This means that I wake up after breakfast and just about an hour before lunch is served. At home I tend to eat something on the sweet side for breakfast, but I am getting used to starting my day with a hearty meal of pulled pork, cod, or fried green tomato sandwiches. I was told to expect good food and I have not been disappointed. Everything is fresh and delicious! As you can imagine, the people aboard all have great stories and interesting backgrounds. I hope to introduce you to some of them in future posts.

As we had three days of transit time without much for me to do, I got to spend a lot of time just looking at the water and the sky and this is truly a gift. Everyone should have the opportunity to see and experience this. Earlier this summer I participated in a teacher training course with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. I enrolled thinking it would be another way to enhance my scientific understanding of our local watershed and it certainly did that. However, the instructors and community partners also took the time to let us simply experience being in nature and encouraged us to let our students do the same. We visited an urban farm with a summer camp (and soon to have an all-outdoor year-round preschool program!) and the staff talked about how they incorporate nature to help students with emotional regulation and other skills that develop the whole child. They emphasized that these are things we can do anywhere outdoors. We don’t need to go off to the wilderness or even a park. In fact, the more we can get children to pay attention to the nature that they see everyday in their yard, neighborhood, or schoolyard, the deeper their connection will be. This will in turn drive their curiosity and their desire to learn more. 

I am experiencing this myself aboard ship. Although I have work to do, taking some time to just experience what is around me with all of my senses helps to calm me, refresh me, and make me even more eager to keep learning. Being at sea is a new experience for me, but I can tell that even the veterans aboard still carry that sense of awe. People still come out to watch the sun set over the water and they still get excited to see dolphins surface. I wrote in a previous post about the teacher’s charge to help students feel emotionally secure so that they can learn. Finding ways to let them experience amazement at our world is another dimension to this. In first grade students learn about the phases of the moon and I always encourage my students to look for the moon throughout the night and day. It is notoriously hard to get a good picture of the moon with a cell phone, but I took this video before putting my phone away and just looking.

View of the moon from NOAA Ship Oregon II

Ship Rules

When I return to my classroom in August, I will spend a lot of time teaching my students about the rules of the school and the classroom. Of course, this is not always popular, but I do my best to explain the purpose of each rule and invite students to think about what could happen if we don’t follow it. (Admittedly, we sometimes get silly with these scenarios.) Children often feel bombarded by rules and that they are uniquely burdened by them. So I think it’s important to share examples of rules adults have to follow, as well. I’m going to have lots of great examples of rules Ms. Vanderdonckt had to follow while at sea. When you’re on land and close to the nearest hospital, your health and safety might be your own business. But on a ship far from shore, your health and safety affects everyone. If somebody were to be careless and get injured, it could jeopardize the entire mission that has been so carefully planned. 

There are rules that are written and taught explicitly and then, of course, there are unspoken rules of etiquette and society that we just have to pick up on. This is something many neurodivergent students can struggle with. Special educators use tools like social stories to help them understand various social scenarios and explicitly teach expectations. Being in a completely different type of social environment is forcing me to simply ask people about etiquette and expectations. This is another dimension of my learning experience that I wasn’t even expecting. I knew I had a lot to learn about science and fishing, but I’m learning just as much by asking somebody, “Hey, if you’re working in your office with your door open does that mean it’s okay to ask a question?” Fortunately, people are very kind about teaching me the ropes. 

Cheyanne, wearing a blue hard hat and an orange life vest, grins for a photo, hands in pockets. she is on the deck of NOAA Ship Oregon II. Behind her we see two other crewmembers with the CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth probe). the sky is light blue and mostly cloudy.
Hardhats and PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices) are mandatory during operations. (Photo credit: Kleys Murillo)

Accessibility Corner

As a special educator, I’d like to share some insights and tips with teachers and caregivers that I am thinking about on my journey. As parents do shopping for the new school year, a big item on the list is new shoes. Many young students and/or students with fine motor challenges have difficulty tying shoes on their own. Velcro can be a great help but what if the pair your child is begging for have laces? My packing list suggested slip-on shoes because on a ship you need to get in and out of your shoes frequently and quickly. I don’t find most slip-ons comfortable so I’m using these elastic laces for my favorite sneakers. The bumps help me adjust them to my perfect comfort level. These could be great for students (or adults) who have trouble tying independently or who have sensory issues requiring fine tuning of laces. There are many brands, sizes and colors available.

close up view of two shoes with interesting, bumpy elastic laces. the shoes are on feet, which are propped up on something in the corner of the deck; we can see the railing and a bit of the water beyond.
My favorite pair of sneakers are easier to get on and off quickly with elastic shoelaces

Did You Know?

Sargassum is a type of floating brown algae. It can provide shelter and food to many types of marine life. It plays an important role in supporting life in the Atlantic Ocean but it can also cause issues when a lot of it washes up on shores at once. To learn more about sargassum, visit https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sargassum/

clumps of sargassum floating in bright blue water, topped by bright blue sky with only a few hints of clouds
Sargassum floats on the surface of the water in the Atlantic Ocean

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Jo Slavitz: A Lot of Fish in the Sea: July 26, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jo Slavitz

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 19 – August 10, 2026

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic Survey, Leg 3

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 24, 2026

Weather Data from Bering Sea

Latitude: 58° 48.960’  N

Longitude: 173° 43.168′ W

Winds: E at 15-20 mph

Air Temperature: 45.68° F (7.6° C)

“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” – John Buchan

Science and Technology Log

As the saying goes “there are lots of other fish in the sea,” so how exactly does NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson find mostly Alaskan pollock in such a huge ocean? It’s a combination of structured transect planning, analyzing complex acoustic data and a little bit of luck.

Transects: At first glance the map of the 3 legs of the Alaskan Pollock Survey look like a crazy zig-zag path, so what’s going on and where are we going? The Oscar Dyson is traveling on a transect. A transect is a line drawn by scientists across an area used to measure, count and record the species living there. Oscar Dyson scientists are tasked with figuring out how many pollock are living in the Bering Sea, what age they are and their reproductive stage. As Oscar Dyson travels along each transect, the scientists decide where good places are to sample the pollock population using a long trawl net. It’s difficult to look into the ocean (though we will talk about cameras later) so NOAA scientists actually “listen” for the fish as they swim under the boat.

line drawing of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson demonstrating acoustic calibration. we can see the sounding board extending beneath the hull; metal calibration balls are suspended farther beneath the sounding board.
The sounding board on the bottom of Oscar Dyson sends and receives frequency information. (NOAA Fisheries)

EchoSound: Many people are familiar with the way animals such as bats and dolphins emit sounds and use echoes to gather information about their surrounding environment. The scientists on the Oscar Dyson also use sound and echoes to gather information about their environment in the Bering Sea. The boat has a sounding board underneath called a transducer that emits energy pulses at different frequencies  and receives the echoes as they are bounced back. Objects with different densities send back different amounts of echo energy. Scientists in the Acoustic Lab onboard Oscar Dyson watch a screen for echo patterns that match the patterns that are expected from individuals and  schools of pollock. 

photo of a screen displaying an echogram. in this graph, the x-axis is time and the y-axis is depth; colored dots represent the intensity of backscatter from a particular frequency encountered at each depth over time.
An echogram is a visualization of an echosound

Check out this image of an echogram. Echograms are a visualization of detected echo sounds. The bright red lines at the top and the bottom of the screen represent the surface and the dense ocean floor. The top wave of blues and greens is referred to as the “munge” ; it is a mixture of stirred up air bubbles, algae, plankton and other things that the team has determined is not pollock. Pollock are primarily in the area just above the bottom to about the middle of the water column. Boney fish such as pollock have a specialized organ called a swim bladder which allows them to take in and release gas, thus changing their density and allowing them to rise and fall in depth like a submarine. Not only is this organ useful to the fish, the air it contains has a different density from the surrounding water and reflects the echo energy that is emitted and picked back up by the ship’s transducer. Look carefully and you can see little colored dots and patches just above the ocean bottom depicted on the echogram. Those are fish and schools of fish. The scientists are confident that they are pollock but to be sure they need to collect a sample of the fish in those areas and get measurements from them. 

diagram of a trawl net being pulled behind a vessel. labels point out the codend (the narrowest part at the back); the headline rope; the sweeps (lower lines); the weights attached to the lines; warp wires connecting the trawl to the vessel; and otterboards to help direct fish into the net.
Basic Trawl Net (source: Nettingland.com)

Trawl: Once a spot has been identified by the scientists, a call goes out to the crew, “Fishing, Fishing, Fishing”. This alerts all aboard that the vessel is going to break from the transect and drop the nets into the spots that had lit up with fish patterns on the echogram. The net is rolled out from a giant spool controlled by the deck crew rather than the scientists. The tip of the net is called the codend, from the old English word “cod” meaning a bag or pouch and this is where the fish are collected. At the opposite end of the net is the opening where fish enter. The weave, or meshes, of the net gets progressively tighter the closer it is to the codend. 

three crewmembers wearing hard hats and life vests kneel to attach equipment to a portion of the trawl net on the deck of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
“Turtle” being attached to the kite
photo of the output from the FS70 echoscan showing a radar image across two-thirds of a circle
FS70 Echoscan


Attached to the net are several pieces of equipment that allow the scientist to analyze what is going into the net and when, during the trawl. The FS70, or netsounder, is a bright yellow device that also uses echoes to gather information. This piece is also sometimes called the “turtle.”  You can see the crew here connecting it to a special part of the net called the kite. The kite and netsounder are attached and fly just above the opening of the net allowing the scientist to monitor what is going in.

Next to the picture of the crew you can see the image of what is being recorded by the netsounder on an information panel. This image of the “turtle” shows whether it is flying correctly, or oriented in the correct direction. The 2/3 circle image is a visualization of the echos the netsounder is receiving. The rainbow of color on the very bottom of this circle is the echo bouncing back from the bottom of the ocean, above that is another rainbow that represents the bottom of the net, above that if you look closely there are small blue marks just forming an oval with the rainbowed net bottom, those are the top of the net. When fish go into the net, they are represented as small dots, or blobs if a whole school is captured within this oval. The screen showing the echogram from below the ship and the screen with the netscan are placed next to each other on the control panel so that scientists can see the fish coming and hopefully adjust the nets accordingly to catch them.

close up view of a control panel showing two displays: the FS70 echoscan output, and the echogram of acoustic backscatter.
The control panel on the Bridge.

Scientists only want a sample of the fish, so they monitor the netsounder until they feel they have enough fish to accurately represent what they are seeing and then call “Haul Back.” This call tells the crew to raise the net back onto the boat, and the science crew to put on their wetlab gear in preparation for fish processing.


Try It on Dry Land

Swim bladders allow fish to change the density and buoyancy of their bodies, allowing them to change their position in the water column. Buoyancy is an upward force of an object causing it to float or sink. You can make a simple model of a fish’s swim bladder (and a fun catch game) using items found around your house.


You need:

  • Paperclips
  • 1 pen cap (Bic pen or other with the stick part) 
  • 1 soda bottle with cap
  • Clay

Instructions:

illustration of a hand holding a plastic bottle filled with water and the pencap diver
Source: sciencebob.com
  • Fill bottle to top with water
  • Secure clay around stick of pen cap (do not cover opening)
  • Bend paperclip to form hook
  • Attach paperclip into clay with hook pointing down
  • Drop cap/hook into soda bottle so that it floats
  • Twist another paperclip into an L shape and drop to bottom
  • Put cap tightly on bottle

To Activate:

  1. Squeeze the bottle and watch the pen cap drop
  2. Release your grip and pen can will rise
  3. Practice controlling where in the water column you can direct the cap
  4. Can you dive the cap to the bottom and hook on to the L shaped paperclip?

What in the Science is going on… The cap holds a bubble of air underneath which allows it to float. When you squeeze the bottle the pressure makes the bubble smaller and changes the density of the cap causing it to sink. A fish’s swim bladder works by the same principles. Find out more here:  www.instructables.com/Cartesian-Divers/ 

Personal Log

a circle, representing the earth tilted on its axis. arrows point out the north and south celestial poles, the meridian, the zenith (90 degrees). ellipses inside the circle represent three different paths of the sun. the first, closest to the north celestial pole, is labeled "Sun's path on July 21." The middle one, around the celestial equator, is labeled "Sun's path on March 21 and Sept 21." The third, closer to the south celestial pole, is labeled "Sun's path on Dec 21."
Sun Path Diagram

Life on Oscar Dyson is different in many ways then life on land. For one, the scientists work in shifts. There is a 4 am to 4 pm shift considered the dayshift and another from 4 pm to 4 am considered the nightshift. Acoustic monitoring and fishing happen all day and all night. I am on the day shift. Adding to the change in daily rhythms is the extended amount of daylight during the Alaskan summer season. The sun is up and bright when I hit my bunk to sleep. The sun will not set until approximately 12:30am, some nights I have gotten up in the night to watch the sunset out my window. I report to the Acoustic Lab at 4 am in the dark to find out what the night shift has been working on, the sun will then rise again at around 7 am. It takes some getting used to as the sun is a natural trigger for my body to know when to be active and when to rest. It makes for a long day, but who can complain with such a stunning beginning.

a beautiful view of sunrise over railing of the ship. there is a pile of rope in the foreground. the sky is golden, and the water, curling softly with the ship's wake, reflects the gold light.
Bering Sea Sunrise

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Stacey Morris: Off to Sea! July 29, 2026

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Title: Stacey Morris: Off to Sea!, July 29, 2026

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NOAA Teacher at Sea

Stacey Morris

Aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker

July 26-August 10, 2026

Mission: Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: West Coast Pacific Ocean

Date: July 29, 2026

Weather Data from the Bridge

Latitude:  40° 00.3’N

Longitude: 124° 46.1’W

Wind Speed: 22 knots

Air Temperature: 16.0 ° C/ 60.8 °F

Science and Technology Log

Interview with Zach Skelton, wet lab lead, marine biologist

What is the purpose of the Survey?

Targeted Pelagic species

The goal of the survey is to give a general assessment of the stocks of coastal pelagic species (CPS), which are anchovy, mackerel, and sardine. And in order to do that, we estimate biomass off of acoustic signals. So we run a transect (a set course that our ship follows to gather constant observations and marine specimens), use sonar, and map out bait balls (where the fish gather) on those transects. And then from there, we can estimate biomass. Then we use our nighttime trawling to help verify the species proportions and also the size distribution and age distributions within those species. We run these east-west transects about every 10 miles up the coast from the Mexico border to the Canadian border. Historically, we have worked with both Mexico and Canada and have gone into Mexico and Canadian waters. But this year, we are just in U.S. waters. We run those transects to the continental shelf, and so the distance of those transects is going to vary based on the coast. For instance, off Southern California, where we have the Channel Islands that are off far off the coast, those transects can run up to  110 miles, but in norther California, it’s a lot shorter because the continental shelf is a lot closer, more like 35 to 40 miles. 

Acoustic imagery of fisheries

Generally the daytime acoustic trawl (using sonar) is paired with the following nighttime trawl to help estimate those species proportions and biomass for that specific 24-hour day period. One of the hard things to do with CPS (the target fish species) is that they tend to be a lot deeper and in tighter balls during the day, and it’s harder to fish for them when they dive that deep. But during the nighttime, they come up to feed on what’s called the scattering layer. The scattering layer is  basically this migration of invertebrates and small pelagic fishes that hang out in the twilight zone during the day to avoid visual predators, and then they make this (diel) vertical migration up from the depths to the surface at night to feed on all the phytoplankton and zooplankton that are up in the water column. So during the day they’re in tight schools avoiding visual predators, but at night they’ll scatter and they’ll spread out and feed on all those other smaller fishes and invertebrates. So we tend to only fish at night time while the CPS are up near the surface and spread out. We also have a nearshore survey, as we are inhibited by our ability to go into shallow waters based on the size of our boat; we have transducers and a beam that extend far below the surface, and we can’t go into super shallow waters. We contract out other fishing vessels, like the  Long Beach Carnage and the Lisa Marie, and they will pick up the inshore portions of our trawls. That way we can extend our survey into the areas in which young CPS like sardine and  anchovy tend to aggregate.

Personal Log

Travel Day to the ship:

The flight to San Francisco went smoothly and I checked out the bird’s eye aerial view of our southern route that we were soon to repeat on our return trip north along the western coastline of Califronia and Oregon. The hotel was in a lively part of downtown Oakland, and in the morning, I wandered the streets of China town, where street vendors haggled over vegetables and fruits, and there were many small stores selling a variety of products that I wished I had time to peruse.

Coffee & Grab ‘n Go items

But I was eager to get to the ship, and caught an Uber to the Coast Guard base in Alameda. I arrived at the guard station and the Reuben Lasker‘s Executive Officer, LCDR John Katchenago, met me. He took me to the ship, which looked small next to the Coast Guard cutter docked alongside it. But the NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker is plenty big and I quickly became lost as John showed me around the ship. He was very kind to give me a quick overview of where everything was and introduced me to the Operations Officers,  LCDR Michael Fuller and LT Ariane Huddleston. They told me a little about their background and history and about how they fit in with NOAA (I will introduce them more in detail later on in a future blog post!). The scientists were next on board and my berth is among theirs–speaking of which, we each get our own on this survey, no need to share rooms, which I guess is uncommon. They are very comfortable living quarters, with their own bathroom with shower, a comfortable bunkbed with linens, a locker for your clothes, a small refrigerator, a desk and a porthole. There’s even a TV! AND…wifi! I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep my Duolingo and Wordle streak going on this trip, but I’m in luck! 

NOAA Reuben Lasker watercolor painting

Kevin Stierhoff, Chief Scientist/Acoustician, and Melissa Liotta, fish biologist/survey coordinator, two of the scientists on the survey, were going out for our final meal on land and I joined them in exploring Alameda. When we returned, we met the rest of the science crew that had arrived onboard, Chris F. –fish biologist surveyor, Zach Skelton–marine biologist/wet lab lead, and Brad Erisman, life history program lead/wet lab. 


Day 1:

I stayed up late unpacking and getting settled in my berth, but still woke up refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Breakfast was at 07:00 and I can tell I’ll need to use the onboard gym with all the tasty goodies available. There are ice cream bars whenever you want, along with other grab and go snacks. Breakfast had empanadas, pancakes, bacon, sausage, all sorts of ripe, fresh fruit, eggs, and AN ESPRESSO MACHINE. I also got to see the rest of the crew, as everyone eats at the same time. At least for now…soon we’ll have a night crew and a day crew with opposite schedules. The kitchen will save your meals though, if you are working, so you never have to go without. 

After breakfast, we did safety drills, and I found out where I need to go in case there is an emergency and how to deploy a life raft if needed. There are different horn signals that let you know what emergency is happening, such as the fire alarm (continuous bells on the general alarm for 10 seconds), man overboard (3 long bells),  and abandon ship (“get the heck off the ship nooooww”– more than 6 short bells and one long bell). I also got to try out putting on my “Gumby” suit (immersion suit), which is a big, red, lobster-looking thing that will keep you warm if you think you might be going overboard. It was a little awkward squeezing into it, but more comfortable than a wetsuit, if not as stylish. 

Emergency Gumby suit

Lunch followed, and it’s definitely not cafeteria food. Tasty chicken and porkshops, a salad bar, garlic potato wedges or rice, sauteed green beans… I might never leave!

The gangway was then lifted by a crane, and I knew this was it… no turning back now, although why would I with those cooks onboard?? We started through the channel, cut through the sailboat forest in front of us, passed all the freighters and cargo cranes sitting idle on the weekend. The San Francisco skyline faced us and we eased into the bay. The bay bridge cut across our bow and we sailed under on our way to circle around Alcatraz. It was a beautiful vista, looking at it all from an angle that most people don’t get to see. Remnants of an old Spanish fort nestled under the Golden Gate, and we ducked under this famous span as the cars streamed overhead. Open waters loomed ahead of us as we said goodbye to land. 

I’ve never been seasick but I took everyone’s advice and took Dramamine the last couple of days to get acclimated to it. The ship does have an interesting roll to it. It was built with a flat bottom in the stern and is very maneuverable. It also has an open center section where they can lower the acoustic equipment for surveying fish. However, it creates an odd circular rolling motion that I can see could lead to feeling nauseous. I feel okay so far, but I think I’ll continue with the dramamine. 

, ,

Day 2

Today was mainly spent trying to adjust to a night schedule. I fitfully napped throught out the day, but I was able to catch some z’s before we went down for our first trawl. Everyone was buzzing with excitement to see what we would find. We were pretty tired by the end of the night, but everyone was satisfied with our large catch and a successful night of capturing data. I’ll go into more detail about our survey data in my next blog!

Deploying the net for fishing

Did you Know?

There is a traditional Japanese art form called Gyotaku (from gyo meaning “fish” and taku meaning “stone impression”). Developed in the mid-1800s, it involves applying ink or paint directly to a dead fish and pressing paper or fabric onto it to create an exact, life-size replica of the animal. (Ponytail Journal)

Gyotaku attempt

We tried it last night, but we quickly found out why it’s an art. You need the proper paper and a a lot of practice. But it was fun to try and very unique!

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Cheyanne Vanderdonckt: Underway, July 27-28, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Cheyanne Vanderdonckt

NOAA Ship Oregon II

July 27 – August 12, 2026

Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline Survey, Leg I

Geographic Area of Cruise: Atlantic Ocean

Date: July 28, 2026

Latitude: 27° 04.803’ N

Longitude: 85° 14.792’ W

Weather Data from the Bridge: West winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Waves west 3 feet at 4 seconds and south 1 foot at 8 seconds. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning.

Science and Technology Log

For the first days of our journey, we will be traveling south from Pascagoula through the Gulf to the Straits of Florida. This means we will not be starting our survey work until later in the week. So for this post, I will be giving you some background information on the survey’s mission, our ship, and what I’ve learned about the maritime industry while staying in Pascagoula.

Mission

If you’ve ever been fishing you know that it is governed by very strict rules. There are short seasons when you are allowed to catch certain species, as well as limits on the number, sex, and size of fish you are allowed to take home. When it comes to fishing, it is important that we have an accurate picture of the health and abundance of fish stock to promote the health of our marine ecosystems. NOAA Fisheries plays an important part in this. The Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline Survey takes place in four stages/legs every year in late summer in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The team decides on specific areas to sample and they make records of everything they haul in. (More details on how this is done will come in later posts.) Because they visit the same region annually, the scientists can measure trends in the health and abundance of species across time.

NOAA Ship Oregon II

Our home and workplace for the next 17 days is NOAA Ship Oregon II. Its home port is Pascagoula, Mississippi where it was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding, which is still in operation today. This shipyard played an important role in World War II, as it built nearly 100 ships for the United States and British Royal Navy. Oregon II is 170 feet long. It has a beam (width at its widest point) of 34 feet and a draft (the distance from the waterline to the lowest part of the boat) of 14 feet.

You can follow Oregon II on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NOAAShipOregon2 to see the various types of missions its crew and scientists carry out throughout the year. If you would like to track Oregon II or any other NOAA vessel, you can use its unique identifiers (IMO Number 6728068 or MMSI Number 303976000) on a variety of marine vessel tracking websites. 

For parents and teachers, this could be a great way to teach children about geography, transportation, and economics. You can “adopt” a ship and watch it travel the globe or track how long it takes a container of goods to travel to your nearest port from across the world. My hometown Baltimore, Maryland, has a “roll-on, roll-off” (Ro Ro Cargo) port that allows cars, trucks, farm equipment, and other vehicles to be driven right off the ships. Car-loving children might enjoy tracking how their favorite imported models arrive.

The image is a screenshot of the website Vessel Finder showing the location of Oregon II in the Gulf of Mexico along with other vessels in the vicinity.
Screenshot from vesselfinder.com

Maritime Career Focus: Shipbuilding

Are you interested in shipbuilding or know a student who is? While people zip around the world on airplanes, the majority of our goods still travel the way they have for millennia: on the water. Although technology changes, waterways are still vital for commerce and the demand for ships and those who build them is still strong. According to Fortune magazine, there is a shortage of 250,000 workers in the industry. Shipbuilding requires “workers from across nearly every skilled trade. Shipyards rely on welders, electricians, pipefitters, and machinists.”

The image shows a ship docked with cranes
Operations at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi 

Personal Log

The image shows Cheyanne Vanderdonckt standing in front of Oregon II at dock
Finally I get to see Oregon II up close! (Photo credit: William Tilley)

After spending two nights in Pascagoula, I boarded the ship Monday morning at 7:30. Although I was able to see the ship at the dock from the street the day I arrived, this is my first close up view of Oregon II. I have seen many pictures of it from the NOAA website and Teacher at Sea alumni blog posts, so it was kind of like meeting my favorite celebrity in person. I received a warm greeting from William (Will) Tilley, a NOAA fisheries biologist who has been my contact for pre-travel orientation. I was nervous about boarding and departure, but Will was so welcoming I immediately felt more at ease. 

The first order of business was to find my stateroom (a bedroom on a ship) and get unpacked and settled in. Space is tight and I am sharing with another member of the science team, so tidiness is key. I received a mesh laundry bag with linens for my stay and made up my bed. I haven’t slept in a bunk bed since my days of sharing a room with my sister! I will be working the day shift (noon to midnight) and my roommate works the opposite shift so that we will each get time alone in the room.

The image shows bunkbeds and a storage cabinet in the stateroom
The image shows an orange box labeled EEBD with instructions for use
The image shows Cheyanne Vanderdonckt’s safety card with instructions for location and duty in case of various emergencies
The stateroom has two berths (a bed on a ship) and storage space for our belongings. The “EEBD” (Emergency Escape Breathing Device) helps you breathe in case of fire evacuation. This card reminds me what signals I will hear in case of an emergency, where I should muster (meet up with my team), and what my task will be.

After moving into my stateroom, I met with members of the crew and the science team for orientations and safety briefings. There are other volunteers aboard ship — mostly undergraduate and graduate students — and they assured me I was in for a lot of fun. Everyone has been friendly and welcoming. 

Without other duties for the day, I had plenty of time to explore the ship and enjoy the views. I found a shady spot on deck and read a book on my Nook. (I’m on my second book since I left Baltimore two days ago!) I did not bring any physical books in order to save on space, but the ship has a small library. If you’re a big reader like I am, you know how cool it is to see somebody else reading a book you love. I had a moment like that as I looked through the books and saw that there is a copy of Men Against the Sea, part of the Bounty Trilogy by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. This is a classic true story of endurance and survival at sea. Seeing a story I love in the library is another way that I feel welcomed to the ship.

close up view of the cover of an old trade paperback edition of Men Against the Sea by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. a price sticker in the lower corner reads $5.98. Cheyanne is holding the book up for the photo - we can just barely see her hand - in front of a well stocked bookcase.
A true find in the library of the ship’s lounge.

A great moment this afternoon was when I saw my first container ship on water. I turn into a little kid when I see big working ships. Soon after the big news story of the Evergreen Evergiven running aground and blocking the Suez Canal in 2021, we had our own container ship drama in Chesapeake Bay. The Ever Forward (also an Evergreen ship) ran aground off Pasadena, Maryland in 2022 and I insisted on an outing to go see it. (Did I mention I like boats?)

The image shows a pink cargo ship with shipping containers of various colors on deck with the water and they sky
A container ship came into view off the starboard deck.
Cheyanne and her husband, sweatshirt hoods pulled up over their hats, take a selfie in front of the water with a container ship positioned on the horizon just between the two of them
My husband and me in 2022 with Ever Forward aground in the background.

In the evening, I witnessed a beautiful sunset over the water, which I had been looking forward to all day. I tucked into the ship’s lounge with some other science volunteers to watch a movie and write. Since our shift ended at midnight, we all dipped into the generous stock of snacks in the mess (dining room). I was nervous about how I would sleep but the cool, dark, and the gentle rock of the ship helped me sleep like a rock. Then in the morning, I got to enjoy some delicious coffee to warm my teacher’s heart. Today will be another day underway and it’s rainy with some thunder and lightning so we are staying indoors.

The image shows a sunset over the water with light waves
Sunset on Monday, July 27, 2026 viewed from the starboard deck of Oregon II.
The image is of a window through which you can see water, the sky, and part of a throw ring
A view of the rainy weather from inside the ship’s lounge.

Did You Know?

Without roads, how do ships know how to get into port without running aground like our friend Ever Forward? Besides their charts and equipment, they also use a system of buoys called “lateral marks.” When leaving port, the ship will keep the green buoys to the starboard (right when facing the front of the boat) and the red buoys to port side (left side when facing the front of the boat). When returning, the colors will be reversed, giving way to a classic nautical mnemonic: “red right returning.”

The image shows a green buoy in the water with some land in the background
The image shows a red buoy in the water with some land in the background
Leaving the port in Pascagoula we pass through the navigational buoys.

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Jo Slavitz: Getting There is Half the Fun, July 20, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jo Slavitz

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 19th – August 10th

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic Survey, Leg 3

a travel coffee mug sits on the window sill of a ship's square window. out the window, we see a green mountain at some distance, perhaps across a harbor; the sky is cloudy and gray.
View of Dutch Harbor out the ship’s window

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 20, 2026

Weather Data from Dutch Harbor, AK

Latitude: 53° 50.68′ N

Longitude: 166° 34.79’ W

Winds: NW at 7-10 mph

Air Temperature: 49.5° F (9.7° C)

“A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.”  — John A. Shedd

Personal Log

a view of waters off of Dutch Harbor; from a rocky shoreline, with a purple lupine prominently in the foreground, we look across gray waters to a line of green-covered mountains. two ships are visible transiting between the land masses.
Lupines in Dutch Harbor

A lot has to happen before the first pollock net is even cast. First the crew, including officers, engineers, deckhands and scientists must meet the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. If you are traveling from Dover, NH the trip is over 4,200 miles or about ⅙ circumference of the Earth.  Dutch is a remote community nestled within an archipelago of volcanic islands which formed approximately 60 million years ago where the Pacific tectonic plate forces under the North American Plate. This meetup takes planning, time, and sometimes patience as the Aleutian Islands are often windy and foggy, making air travel from mainland Alaska unpredictable. Read more information about NOAA Ocean Exploration’s geological studies in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

a nautical chart of the Eastern Bering Sea, on which someone has drawn with different colored markers the planned north-south transect lines for Leg I (orange), Leg II (pink), and Leg III (green). Taped on top of the chart are two pieces of paper containing titles: "DY26-04" and "Summer Pollock"
Survey Transect Map

Once everyone is onboard, NOAA officers pilot Oscar Dyson out of Dutch Harbor and the Aleutian Islands into the Bering Sea. Check out this map of the Summer Acoustic Pollock Survey. The black line represents the path of the summer pollock survey which takes place over the course of 3 separate trips. I am traveling on the final survey of the summer, so it’s the farthest western side of the Bering Sea pollock survey that needs to be completed, the black line on the map not yet highlighted. It takes over a day to get out to this part of the ocean, but the crew and scientist have lots to do to get ready for the trawl during the trip.

Science and Technology Log

Running a science research center in a remote part of the ocean comes with “boatloads” of STEM challenges. Without the ability to order things online, go to a local home improvement store, or buy specialized parts off the shelf, the scientists and crew need to create their own solutions to the challenges that arise. Just like a STEM makerspace, NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson is well stocked with a tool workshop, 3D printer, and rolls and rolls of duct tape. Here are some of the amazing inventions from the super simple to the more complex that were designed onboard the ship.

pegboard holding tools - funnel-shaped plastic holders have been attached to the peg board to hold the tools in place
Pegboard holding tools

Pegboard Modifications: On the high sea, wave and wind motion can be powerful, traditional pegboard hooks are just not going to cut it. These bright-colored accessories were custom designed and 3D printed on board to secure tools in their place. The calipers proved a bit trickier due to their asymmetrical design.

Underwater Camera: This underwater camera was created because the science team needed more information about what is going on beneath the ocean’s surface. To keep it from crashing into the ocean floor and becoming damaged, it was designed with sensors that move the robotic cameras up and down as it detects obstacles.

underwater camera: at this angle, we mostly see a sideboard and buoys or rollers.
Underwater camera
view of a scanner with the top pulled open; on the bed of the scanner is a 3-D printed grid with squares of two different sizes
Krill scan insert

Krill Scan: Needing a way to get tiny organisms measured and recorded, NOAA scientists came up with this 3D printed gadget designed to fit on the ship’s scanner. Soon after a trawl is pulled in, a pocket net (a small net used to recapture small fish that escape the larger net) is emptied and krill samples are sorted into their own square within the grid. Images are scanned and recorded while the creatures are still fresh. Marking around the squares allow scientists to calculate krill size easily and the boxes keep specimens from clumping together.

a red plastic cell phone stand on a bench next to a microscope
Camera stand

Microscope Camera Stand:This tool was designed and 3D printed to hold a cell phone in place to capture images of objects under the microscope.

Ichthystick: When fish come aboard, data on their length needs to be quickly calculated. The motion of the moving boat, and the slipperiness of a squirming fish make using traditional tools such as rulers and tape measures cumbersome and impractical. Meet the Ichthystick. This nifty device was designed by a NOAA scientist on Oscar Dyson for just these situations. Simply put the fish on the measuring board,  set the magnetic marker at the fork of the fish’s tail and it instantly gives the fish’s length on screen. It can also toss the data right into a data collecting program. Look up the prefix “Ichthy” and find out why I think the name “Ichthystick” is such a perfect name for a device designed for keeping tabs on native Alaskan Pollock who often end up in your freezer.

view of the electronic fish measuring board, with the name Ichthystick and a simplified image of a pollock printed in the bottom corner. a red magnet that ends in a point, which sports a matching pollock picture, rests on top.
Ichthystick and magnetic reader

Try It on Dry Land

STEM Scholars don’t just gripe about problems, they create solutions to these challenges. Think about things around you that don’t work quite right or annoy you as you try to complete your work. Design a device that helps you solve a reccuring challenge in your environment. Diagram your idea, or  build a prototype to see if it works.

Here are some common middle school challenges or think up your own:

  • Your pencil frequently rolls of your desk
  • Your pet leaves muddy footprints across the floor
  • You can never find your sports gear when it’s time to leave
  • You can’t reach something you want on a top shelf
  • Your backpack is not keeping you organized