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Title: Kathy Schroeder: Meet the NOAA Oregon II, Sept 20, 2019
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NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathy Schroeder
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
September 15-October 2, 2019
Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Longline Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: 9/20/19
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 29.3088855
Longitude: -94.7948546
Temperature: 87°F
Wind Speeds: SSW 17 mph
Science and Technology Log
Today I decided to share with you some information about the Oregon II that I found on her website and show you around the ship. I have attached pictures so you can see where I have been living and working for the last 5 days. (unfortunately each picture is taking forever to upload-so I hope to add more this week)
“NOAA Ship Oregon II conducts a variety of fisheries, plankton and marine mammal surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
The 170-ft. ship’s mission includes supporting the National Marine Fisheries Service’s annual bottom longline red snapper/shark survey, during which researchers catch, measure, tag and release the fish to acquire the data used in stock assessment for many of the coastal species of sharks, as well as commercial snapper and grouper species. Using gear modeled after commercial shark fisheries, the survey has been running continuously since 1995.
During survey missions, observers stationed on the ship’s flying bridge watch for marine mammals or floating debris using high-powered “big eye” binoculars. When pods are encountered, the ship breaks from planned operations and investigates each sighting.
Oregon II is patterned after North Atlantic distant-water trawlers, designed for extended cruising range, versatility of operations, habitability and seaworthiness.
The ship uses trawls and benthic longlines to collect fish and crustacean specimens. The ship’s longline gear consists of one nautical mile of mainline with 100 hooks, which soak for a total of 1 hour. The ship uses plankton nets and surface and midwater larval nets to collect plankton.
Oregon II was originally built for the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Department of the Interior, as a replacement for the fishery research vessel Oregon, a converted 100-foot tuna clipper that carried out most of the federal fishery research work in the Gulf and southwest Atlantic beginning in 1952. The ship was commissioned in the NOAA fleet in 1975. Oregon II is homeported at NOAA’s Gulf Marine Support Facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi.”
If you are interested in more information about Oregon II, please visit her website: https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/marine-operations/ships/oregon-ii/about
Personal Log
Update: So we are still here in Galveston, TX. The engineers have been working so hard to get the parts in and fixed. We are ready to go, but need to wait on a part to arrive to have with us out in the Gulf. Hopefully we get out on the water today! The Tropical Storm Imelda brought lots of rain. About 14” of rain here. Some areas around us got 34”+. That means lots of flooding. Almost every restaurant and store here is closed. We made our way out last night to one place that was open and enjoyed some pizza. I’ll keep you posted as I know more!
Shout Out: Today’s shout out goes to my beautiful little Payton Clawson and her wonderful parents Andrea and Tyler. Miss you!!
Were the engineers able to fix the broken part?
Yes, as you can now tell we left on saturday and have been catching alot of sharks and red snappers!
If the ships trawls and benthic longlines were to fill up immensely with specimens, would it affect the ships functionality? Would it cause a strain on the vessel?
Has there been any research/surveys done around the Bahamas or Haiti?