NOAA Teacher at Sea
Geoff Goodenow
Onboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette
May 2 – 25, 2004
Mission: Swordfish Assessment Survey
Geographical Area: Hawaiian Islands
Date: May 2, 2004
Science and Technology Log
This morning we set sail at 10AM. After lunch and drills, the crew set out a longline of about 2 miles of un-baited hooks which were immediately retrieved. This was done as a test of equipment and to help crew get the rhythm of the procedure. I was asked to stand by the spool as line was fed to the stern. My role was to watch for any slackin the line, brake the spool to take up any slack or stop the spool if it tangled (bird nested). All went well on the test.
Scientists and their teams were busy setting up their respective labs and preparing for the work ahead. One team will be doing vision studies using retinas removed from selected animals. Muscle tissue and blood samples will be taken for other studies. Plankton tows will be done at daylight and night to collect specific types present at those different times of the day.
Some fish will be tagged and released. The pop up archival tags record an animal’s depth, latitude and longitudes and other data as it moves through the ocean over a specified period, perhaps 8 months. After that time, the tag automatically is released from the fish, pops to the surface and transmits its data to a satellite.
The longline was set to be deployed at 8PM, but due to rough seas that effort was cancelled. So as you can tell, this was a day of preparation, with the real science soon to come.
Personal Log
I arrived Friday, April 30 after nearly 23 waking hours, 5000 air miles and 10.5 air hours from Harrisburg, PA. It was not difficult to find comfort in my upper berth aboard the SETTE. On Saturday, I was up by 8AM, walked about Honolulu most of the day. I had brief tour of the ship with chief scientist Rich Brill. By Sunday, I felt well rested and comfortable at sea until after supper. By then things were a bit rough and most of supper and perhaps a bit of lunch came back up. But I slept well — horizontal felt best.
Question for Today:
Locaction, location, location:
Determine the change in latitude and longitude from your home to Honolulu. How many time zones are crossed? State the westernmost and easternmost longitudes of the entire Hawaiian Island chain. State the northernmost and southernmost latitudes of the Hawaiian Island chain.
