NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jill Stephens
Onboard NOAA Vessel Rainier
June 15 – July 2, 2009
Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Pavlov Islands, AK
Date: June 23, 2009
Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 55°08.576’N 161°41.010’W
Visibility: 10 nautical miles
Sky: broken clouds
Wind: 230° @ 10 knots
Sea: 0-1 feet
Pressure: 1009.3 mbar
Temperature: Sea 6.1°C; Dry Bulb 8.9°C; Wet Bulb 7.8°C
Science and Technology Log
Ian Colvert, Martha Herzog, and Matt Abraham are my team for today. We are working in area that has not had any survey lines run yet. We are the first to explore what lies beneath the water! The survey that we are conducting today will involve running long lines instead of filling in polygons. The long survey lines provide the survey techs with an idea of what to expect for the area and assist them in planning the polygons that will be covered later. If rocks are known to exist, these first lines go near to them in an effort to determine bottom features at a safe distance.
The Reson froze twice today for some reason, but was able to start right up again. This issue was brought up at the daily meeting and it appears to have happened on another launch as well. (The ship is in frequent contact with the company and will have a solution to this problem quickly.)
Personal Log
I was able to pilot the launch for a complete line today. I am proud to say that after learning to orient the boat using the information on the screen, I did a good job. After the first cast of the CTD, Martha and Ian let me go ahead and perform the next two casts of the day. The data collected from the casts was good, so we did not have to perform any recasts.
Ian made a couple of movies of the Reson data today that I will be able to take back to my classroom. I went ahead and took pictures of the side scan display to show students. I am going to go ahead and use my digital camera to make a movie of the side scan screen. Hopefully, it will work.
In the area that we surveyed today, there is a huge, interestingly shaped rock. As we passed by the rock, we noticed light colored areas along the rock. These light colored areas were seals. It was an impressive sight!
Animal Sightings
More than 30 seals
