NOAA Teacher at Sea
Sabrina Whitaker
Aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
August 18-31, 2026
Mission: Hydrographic Survey, Leg 3
Geographic Area of Cruise: Lake Ontario
Date: August 19, 2026
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 43°22.554’N
Longitude: 76°44.490’W
Winds: W-SW at 5 knots
Temperature: 76° F
Science and Technology Log
A NOAA research vessel is a 24-hour operation. The crew works 12-hour shifts that can start at any part of the day or night and in the rain or shine, pitch black or full daylight.
My day began in the quiet dark at 5:00 a.m. with Ensigns Connor Harrell and Julian Santos as they prepped one of the ship’s small survey boats. Before heading out on the water, thoroughness is everything. They meticulously inspected the engine compartment, checked the water and oil lines, verified the batteries, and—equally crucial for a long shift—packed their sandwich ingredients for the day.
By 6:00 a.m., the entire crew gathered for the daily safety meeting to review small boat operations, including resolving past mechanical issues and flagging things to watch. We discussed both small boats on Thomas Jefferson: one had just received a new alternator, while the other developed a persistent clicking sound. The cause? It requires a specialized lubricant that isn’t currently stocked on the Thomas Jefferson. A temporary alternative lubricant is keeping things safe and operational in the meantime, even if the click remains for now.
By 6:20 a.m., it was time to launch. Watching the coordination required to launch both small boats was incredible—it took less than five minutes per boat. I watched my roommate, Hydrographic Survey Tech Haley Kenyon, balance on the moving small boat, calmly releasing heavy lines, relying entirely on her upper body strength and footwork before stepping back inside.
These small boats serve as essential advance scouts for the Thomas Jefferson, especially when surveying specialized areas like designated dumping grounds. Using side-scan sonar, they map the seabed and detect potential hazards in shallow or tricky waters, ensuring our main vessel can later navigate safely to conduct high-resolution multibeam survey scans without risking the ship’s hull. Deploying the small boats also speeds up data collection significantly—with Thomas Jefferson and two small boats working simultaneously, we can map vast stretches of the lakebed in a fraction of the time.
Of course, science at sea always comes with unexpected variables. Boat 2903—the one with the brand-new alternator—ran into electrical trouble mid-morning and had to be recovered early. While Boat 2904 pressed on with its mission, the crew was understandably frustrated. But on a research ship, equipment problems are simply part of the job, and it was necessary to bring the boat in for further inspection.
Meanwhile, aboard Thomas Jefferson, we were running our own multibeam scans. The multibeam and sidescan systems integrate positional data from a variety of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) including GPS, European Galileo satellites, and other available orbital networks with depth soundings.
To turn sound waves into precise depth measurements, however, you need to know the speed of sound in water, which changes constantly based on temperature and salinity. To capture these variables, a Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) is deployed. Towed behind the ship, the MVP measures salinity and temperature profiles through the water column. The survey techs aboard NOAA ship Thomas Jefferson launch it roughly every hour, or whenever we transit to a new area, allowing us to continuously calibrate our sonar equations against local water conditions.
At 4:00 p.m., Boat 2904 returned to the ship. We wrapped up the afternoon with our daily debrief—a chance for both the small-boat teams and the shipboard crew to compare notes, troubleshoot the day’s electrical snags, and refine our approach for tomorrow before heading off to dinner.
Personal Log
Living quarters on a working ship must make use of every usable square inch. I share a room with Haley Kenyon, one of our fantastic survey technicians (and one of the people who went out on the small boat from the morning’s launch video).
Our room is surprisingly spacious with plenty of storage. Haley is a permanent staffer, so she’s aboard Thomas Jefferson long term, while I’m settling in for my two-week adventure. We each have space in the dresser and closets, and I have the bottom bunk. While the porthole offers a fantastic view of the lake, my lower berth keeps the early morning light out of my eyes.
Our room connects to the adjacent stateroom via a shared Jack-and-Jill bathroom with a toilet and shower. It’s compact, but totally functional. Both connecting doors lock securely from the inside—though there’s always a slight paranoia about accidentally locking yourself out. Conveniently, our sink and mirror are located right inside our bathroom in our bedroom, making it super easy to brush teeth and wash up even if the bathroom is occupied.
Did You Know?
Dessert is a mandatory shipboard requirement.
On NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, official protocol dictates that the crew must be served a dessert at both lunch and dinner. We are extraordinarily lucky because our Chief Steward, Danni Cuff, is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America.
Needless to say, the food aboard is great. So far, my scientific duties have been complimented by an impressive rotation of scratch-made cakes, pies, and warm cookies.
