NOAA Teacher at Sea
Stephen Kade
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 26 – August 10, 2018
Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Longline Survey
Geographic Area: Gulf of Mexico
Date: July 24, 2018
Personal Log
Hello,
My name is Stephen Kade, and I’m a middle school art teacher at OL Smith Middle School in Dearborn, Michigan. I’ll be joining the crew of the NOAA Ship Oregon II for a few weeks this summer as part of the 2018 NOAA Teacher at Sea program. We’ll be starting in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and working along the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Keys, and then moving north in the Atlantic to Cape Canaveral, Florida. We’ll be long line fishing for red snapper and sharks to research. I can’t wait to get aboard and find new ways I learn learn about these fish, and how I can use art to help bring awareness to, and advocate for, all threatened and endangered sea creatures and their ocean environments.
This opportunity is a great chance for me to fulfill a lifelong dream of working with sharks as a marine biologist (at least for a few weeks). As I study in preparation for the coming trip, I’ve realized the many hours of my life spent watching nature documentaries have paid off, as I’ve retained more knowledge of sharks than I thought! I’m also trying to study more about the crew and their roles on the ship, and all the working schedules and procedures to keep myself and other crew safe while we work. I’m finding this process is much like prepping for a lesson as a teacher and bringing many social and logistical resources together to create a strong foundation for learning while working.
I’ll be posting several times during the trip to keep everyone up to date with my findings during the adventure of a lifetime. This photo is of my art students and me in class, after creating their Endangered Animal Awareness Posters for our first annual Night of the Arts 2018.
