Lynn Kurth: Summer Adventure At Sea, July 22, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Lynn Kurth
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon  II
July 25 – August 9, 2014

Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Longline Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: July 22, 2014

Personal Log

Hello, from the Badger State! My name is Lynn Schultz-Kurth. I am a 7th and 8th grade science teacher at Prairie River Middle School in Merrill, WI, a small town in the center of the state. Summer is an exciting time here in Wisconsin, but even more exciting this year as we survived one of the nastiest winters on record. As the rivers are finally warm enough to comfortably swim in and the black-eyed susans are in full bloom, I am going to be leaving my home on the Wisconsin River for Pascagoula, MS to be part of NOAA’s (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) Teacher at Sea program.

I am honored to be joining the crew aboard the Oregon II, a 170ft. national marine fishing vessel, for a Shark/Red Snapper longline survey, departing from Pascagoula, MS on July 26th and returning to port in Mayport, FL on August 9th. During my mission sharks will be caught, measured, tagged, and released in order to assess their abundance, distribution, and migrational patterns, and to examine their distribution with regard to oceanographic features. I had some experience aboard a research vessel in the summer of 2011, when I participated in Sea Grant’s week long workshop for teachers aboard the R/V Lake Guardian on Lake Superior. Based on that experience, I am expecting to learn a lot, meet amazing people, work long hours and have the experience of a lifetime that will enable me to share “real” science with my students now and in the years to come.