Barney Peterson
Aboard NOAA Ship OREGON II
August 13 – 28, 2016
Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Longline Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: August 20, 2016
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Latitude: 28 10.999 N
Longitude: 084 09.706 W
Air temperature: 90.68 F
Pressure: 1020.05 Mb
Sea Surface Temperature: 32.6 C
Wind Speed: 4.74 Kt
Science Log:
NOAA is a big organization! To say I am working for NOAA this summer is like saying I am visiting the USA…way too non-specific to mean much.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is a part of the US Department of Commerce. The NOAA mission: Science, Service and Stewardship, is further stated simply as to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts; to share that knowledge and information with others; to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources.
To carry out that mission NOAA is further split into divisions that use a broadly diverse set of skills and abilities including satellite systems, ships, buoys, aircraft, research, high performance computing, and information management and distribution systems.* In later posts I will introduce you to some of the people who use those resources as they perform their jobs.
As a Teacher at Sea I am working under NOAA Fisheries. This program (TAS) “is designed to give teachers a clearer insight into our ocean planet, a greater understanding of maritime work and studies and to increase their level of environmental literacy by fostering an interdisciplinary research experience.”*
This summer I am assigned to NOAA Ship Oregon II, a fisheries research vessel of the National Marine Fisheries Service. We are conducting a long-line survey of fish in the Gulf of Mexico. The information we gather on species diversity and abundance will help the Service make decisions for management of our marine resources. What this boils down to for the average citizen may seem like what you are allowed to catch where, when, and how many; really the results are much, much more important. These decisions will be part of a plan to respond to changes in the health of our planet and the needs of all of us who inhabit it. “There is just one big ocean.”*
To understand what that last statement means, find a globe or an inflatable Earth Ball™. Put your index finger on a point in the Arctic Ocean. Now move your finger around the globe, always moving to your right, maybe a little up or down sometimes, until you get back to where you started. Your finger should never leave the “water” as it moves around the world. See! JUST ONE BIG OCEAN!
*1) ppi.noaa.gov *2)teacheratsea.noaa.gov *3)oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/bigocean.html
