NOAA Teacher at Sea
Dana Kosztur
Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
April 5-19, 2018
Mission: SEAMAP Reef Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: April 5 & 6, 2018
Weather Data from the Bridge
Lat: 29o 22.895′ N Long: 087o 59.992′ W
Air Temperature: 22.9oC (73oF)
Water Temperature: 22.83oC (73oF)
Wind speed: 14.89 knots (17.13 mph)
Conditions: partly cloudy skies and the seas are pretty smooth
Science and Technology Log
I have been aboard Pisces for over 24 hours. I have learned a lot about the technology used on the ship. This vessel has a Simrad ME70 multibeam echo sounder. This device will create a bathymetric map of the survey areas that have been randomly selected for this mission.
The crew is on the third leg of a four leg reef fish survey. This SEAMAP survey will use cameras as its primary instrument to study the population of fish in the survey area. There are two types of camera arrays the scientist use. The SatCam has 7 cameras that allow a 360-degree view of the ocean floor. The RIOT is a double-stacked version with 12 cameras. The RIOT allows the same visuals as the SatCam but can also be used for fish measurement.
The SatCam and RIOT are rotated, one is deployed each site. The boat is positioned over the sampling site and the cameras are released into the water. The cameras free fall to the bottom and are buoyed. They are left to soak for 30 minutes before they are picked back up. The camera begins recording 5 minutes after it hits the bottom to allow the sediment to settle, it then records for the remaining 25 minutes.
After the camera is sent into the water, the ship moves away and a CTD is released into the water in much the same way. The CTD is an electronic instrument package that sends back real-time data of water conditions such as salinity, temperature, density, and light filtration versus water depth.
Bandit reels are also used in this survey. There are three of these reels mounted on the starboard side of the boat. The line on each has 10 baited hooks. This leg of the trip we are only fishing every other stop. The first round of fishing with the bandit reels yielded no fish. The second time the stern bandit reel caught silky sharks. Three sharks made it to the deck to be weighed, measured and then safely released. The next time we used the reels two large red snappers were caught. They were weighed and measured. The otoliths and gonads were removed from each specimen. These will be used to determine age and reproductive abilities.
I think I am getting adjusted to life aboard the ship. We are only working during daylight hours so I won’t have to change my sleeping schedule. I am working with a team of 4 scientists and they are doing a great job explaining everything and answering my questions. There is so much to learn about and I want to know it all.
I am taking medication to keep from getting seasick and it is working, but I was so exhausted yesterday that I went to bed after watching the sunset. I hope that will get better in the coming days. I haven’t lost my excitement about being here. Everything out here is interesting.
Did You Know?
A snapper otolith can tell the age of the fish. The otolith is an ear bone. When removed from the fish and cut in half, the rings can be counted.
- Animals Seen Today
Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
Silky Shark (Carcharhinus falciformis)
Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus)