David Riddle

July 27, 2006March 19, 2021

David Riddle, July 27, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
David Riddle
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 13 – 28, 2006

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 27, 2006

Parting Thoughts

It’s Thursday afternoon. We have completed almost 300 tows to sample scallops from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod. Today will be our last full day at sea; we return to Woods Hole, MA early Friday morning. I am of course looking forward to getting back to land and eventually back home to North Carolina, but I am immensely grateful for this experience.

During our introductory meeting at the start of the cruise, our ship was compared to “a city at sea”. I’ve thought about that a number of times. All the normal services provided by municipalities must be duplicated on board a ship: electricity for heating and cooling, fresh water for drinking and washing, food supplies to last for the duration of the cruise, waste disposal, emergency services, communications, even entertainment. Then too, this is a city on the move. It takes brainpower to know where we are and where we’re heading at every moment in time. And it takes mechanical power to keep us moving through the water.

I would suggest that it also takes a considerable amount of people-power to keep this city-at-sea operating at its fullest capacity. And I’ve witnessed this sort of people-power consistently aboard the ALBATROSS IV the past 15 days. Organization, planning, and procedures govern nearly everything. Officers, crew, and scientists know what to do and what not to do, and all this works to achieve the overall goal of gathering the data necessary to continue this study of scallops that started back in 1975.

But beyond merely following procedures, I’ve also witnessed something else among the individuals on board this vessel that makes work progress smoothly: simple courtesy. People are quick to offer a helping hand. “Thank you”, “Excuse me”, “Let me help you with that”, as well as unspoken gestures of consideration, are plentiful. Everyone seems fully aware that we are, literally, all in the same boat out here, and getting along is an important aspect of getting the job done.

So, as I approach the end of this experience, I am grateful to all those who made it possible: the NOAA Teacher at Sea program and its administrators, as well as the officers, crew, and scientists aboard the ALBATROSS IV. Thank you all for the valuable work you do, and thank you for allowing me to be a small part of it.

July 25, 2006March 19, 2021

David Riddle, July 25, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
David Riddle
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 13 – 28, 2006

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 25, 2006

Science and Technology Log

Science-wise, catches of scallops have been variable. Sometimes we’ve hauled in huge numbers; other times almost none. We’re still sorting and counting and measuring fish from every catch, and as we move back northward, a little east of our starting point now, the fish species have begun to change. We’ve even caught a few lobsters.

I’ve been trained to do several different jobs so far. I’ve monitored the computer station while collecting the CTD data, determining salinity by lowering the device over the side that measures conductivity, temperature, and density within 5-10 meters of the bottom. I’ve also helped download the data from the inclinometer, which results in a graph showing the angle of the dredge relative to the bottom during the tow.

I’ve learned the procedures for measuring and collecting additional data on little skates. They’re the fish that look like stingrays. We measure, length, width, weight, and determine degree of sexual maturity.

Now I’m doing the starfish count, every third tow. My job is to collect a random bucket full of the by-catch (the leftovers) after everything else countable has been removed, then sort, count, and weigh the starfish according to species. Sometimes the whole catch is mostly starfish, so there’s plenty to keep me busy.

Sightings: This afternoon I saw the dorsal fins of two ocean sunfish (Mola mola). I would have assumed they were sharks, since all that was visible was the fin, but the fishermen said you could tell by the shape of the fin and the way it moved through the water. The Peterson Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes says they’re among the largest of the marine bony fishes. (Whale sharks and basking sharks are larger, but sharks have cartilage instead of bony skeletons.) Sunfishes can be as large as 3 meters long and 3.3 meters tall, and they may weigh over two tons.

Personal Log

Several days have passed since my last log entry. I’ve been making some hand-written notes, but they’re mostly about our encounter with the fringes of Tropical Storm Beryl and my re-encounter with seasickness. Everyone has been very understanding, and I’ve appreciated it. I’m feeling back to normal now.

July 17, 2006March 19, 2021

David Riddle, July 17, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
David Riddle
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 13 – 28, 2006

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 17, 2006

Science and Technology Log

It’s almost halfway through my watch now, and I have a little down time. The day started with several stations that were close together, which kept us busy. Now the sampling stations are farther apart, and I’ve had time to work on some photographs of shells.

Our catches turn up lots of interesting creatures. Some I recognize from my college invertebrate zoology course (oh, so many years ago!) Others I’ve only seen pictures of. There are occasional sea squirts, bulbous little creatures that squirt a stream of water when squeezed. We find an occasional “sea mouse”, a polychaete worm, bristly-looking on the backside and shaped sort of like, well, a mouse. Underneath you can see the segments. Hermit crabs are abundant; many of them simply abandon their shells when they’re dumped onto the deck. This is probably not a good survival strategy, since they get dumped back overboard only to drift slowly to the bottom without any protection at all. Oh well, most everything in the ocean is somebody else’s lunch anyway. We find other species of crabs as well. The larger ones are set aside and are sitting in a bucket which has seawater continually being pumped through it to keep them alive. I wonder whose lunch they’ll turn out to be? We’ve caught a few small dogfish sharks, under two feet in length. I’m told on some of the ground fish surveys they catch tons of them (literally). Considerably smaller were two needlefish, about 6 inches long and ••• inch wide.

I find myself wondering things like, “What must it be like to be that small, living in this huge ocean?” Them I’m reminded of our little planet’s location in our galaxy, and the Milky Way’s tiny place in a universe with millions of other galaxies. OK. Humility is a good thing.

Then too, I’m reminded that small is not always equivalent to unimportant. Do you like breathing? Well, consider that roughly 3 out of every 4 breaths you take come to you courtesy of the phytoplankton in the oceans of the world. There they are, soaking up the sunshine and the carbon dioxide and pumping out huge quantities of oxygen every single daylight hour. They’re microscopic, but their importance in the overall scheme of life on this planet is enormous. I suppose it would be helpful to remember, while we’re busy saving the whales, we should take care of the little guys too. But then, how would “Save the Plankton” look on a T-shirt or bumper sticker?

On a more practical note, we’re due to reach our turn-around point in 5 more stations. We will have reached our southernmost latitude, which will put us due east of the North Carolina-Virginia border. Then we’ll begin making our way back up the coast, stopping at the stations in shallower waters. I flew to Boston from my home in western NC to take part in this Teacher at Sea experience. So this is the closest to home I’ll be for the next 12 days.

I keep thinking I’m done with my log for the day and then something else happens. At station 99 we caught a seahorse! The depth was 24 fathoms, and I seriously doubt it was on the bottom, but when the dredge came up, there it was on deck.

Sightings: The osprey was still here this morning, but as of late afternoon it was gone.

July 15, 2006March 19, 2021

David Riddle, July 15, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
David Riddle
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 13 – 28, 2006

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 15, 2006

Not all scallop shells are pretty, but these were outstanding!

Science and Technology Log

We’re in an area now with an abundance of scallops, and most of them are large. When the catch is emptied from the net onto the deck, it takes 6 to 8 people working steadily, on hands and knees, to separate the scallops from the rest of the catch. We’ve gotten up to 16 bushels so far in one 15 minute tow, using an 8 foot dredge. If the next station is nearby, we just have time to get the measurements completed and clean up before it’s time to start again. But it’s not always that busy. If the next station is several miles away, we get time to sit for a few minutes and relax.

During one of my relaxing moments, I photographed some of the fish that were caught along with scallops and starfish and everything else. We catch small skates, which are shaped like stingrays, with a broad, diamond-shaped body and an elongated narrow tail. We also catch goosefish, sometimes called angler fish, with mouths agape, showing rows of needle-like teeth. We catch flounder too. All of these are bottom-dwellers, probably too slow to swim away from the net, or else when they feel the net coming they just hunker down in their standard defensive posture, which unfortunately is no help when the thing that’s coming after you weighs nearly a ton and is being dragged at between 3 and 4 knots.

Scallop eyes are visible as rows of dots inside the shell margin.

As we have moved farther south today, I’ve begun noticing scallops with different patterns on their shells. Some look like sunbursts; some are striped. I’ve collected a few to take home. I want to get some photos of live scallops also. When they open their shells you can see the row of eyes along the margin of the gills. Scallops can swim, which is unusual for a bivalve. The powerful muscle (the part we eat) which holds the shells together, opens and closes the shell in rapid succession. This draws water in between the shells and forces it out the back near the hinge in little concentrated jets. Scallops swim by jet propulsion! Prior to sailing, we saw a brief film clip showing a group of scallops swimming, in a jerky, erratic motion.

Sightings: An osprey landed on the mast about 11:00am. The fishermen say we’re about 20 miles offshore, so I imagine he/she is pretty tired. Maybe it will hang around for a while. Later…It’s 9:00 pm now and the osprey is still perched on the mast. I expect it will still be here in the morning. Another small songbird showed up later in the afternoon. I didn’t see it, so I don’t know the species. The fishermen offered it some fresh water, but it didn’t drink. They say it probably won’t survive this far out, if it won’t drink. Even so, some birds seem quite at home this far out.

Personal Log

Midnight notes: We did 18 stations in 12 hours; several were back to back. Do you think I’m ready for a shower and bed? Does a scallop live in the ocean?

July 14, 2006March 19, 2021

David Riddle, July 14, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
David Riddle
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 13 – 28, 2006

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 14, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea David Riddle holds a medium-size goosefish.

Science and Technology Log

My first shift involved getting accustomed to the job. It seems like an incredible amount of detailed instructions and procedures at first, but over time, the routine emerges. The dredge goes out and tows for 15 minutes. Then it comes back in and the inclinometer data is downloaded. The inclinometer is attached to the frame of the dredge and measures the angle of the dredge in relation to the bottom. This data allows verification that the dredge was towing at the proper angle. Then the dredge frame is moved, the net is dumped, and I take a photo of the catch with Amanda holding a sign telling which tow and which location. Then we dig through the pile, on hands and knees, sorting out scallops, clappers (recently dead scallops with the shell halves still hinged), all fish species, and every third station we save and count crabs and do a random sample count to estimate the number of starfish. Starfish are scallop predators. Also, at every third station before we do a tow the CTD measuring device is lowered over the side. CTD stands for Conductivity, Temperature, and Density, and these numbers are used to calculate salinity. The temperature data from the CTD helps establish the conditions which scallops may or may not prefer. CTD data is not only related to the Scallop Survey, but NOAA ships regularly collect data that is used by scientists working on other projects.

The location of each tow is selected randomly by computer within various strata which vary by depth. There’s a navigational chart posted on the wall that shows the precise location of all the areas being sampled. Some samples are taken from areas that are closed to commercial fishing, for resource management purposes. Some areas may be closed indefinitely while others are rotated or allow fishing on a “restricted access” program.

Sightings: In the afternoon, whales were blowing on the horizon, too far away to see any more than that. I counted five spouts together in one place, then two more a little farther behind. Hammerhead shark, reported from the bridge. I saw the fin. Dolphins alongside in the dark: they look silver-gray, in the reflection of the ship’s lights.

Personal Log

I awoke feeling fine, and went around taking some video of fishing operations. But I felt uneasy from late morning on. Twelve hours is a long time to work when feeling queasy, but interestingly, when I was focused on a specific task, even something as simple as shucking scallops and talking, I was less aware of my discomfort. I was tired toward the end of my 12-hour shift, tired of feeling queasy, tired of the half-asleep feeling that comes from the anti-nausea medication. A shower and bed were most welcome!

July 13, 2006March 19, 2021

David Riddle, July 13, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
David Riddle
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 13 – 28, 2006

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 13, 2006

NOAA ship ALBATROSS IV in port at Woods Hole, MA.

Science and Technology Log

After a 3-day delay due to technical issues, the NOAA Ship ALBATROSS IV headed out to sea for leg 1 of the Sea Scallop Survey at 6:00 pm today. We completed a test tow to check the equipment, and the volunteer scientists got to examine the samples collected. We also learned how to identify, weigh, and measure several species of fish, using the Fisheries Scientific Computer System (FSCS), which we are assured will become second nature in short order. So far, no scallops, but that’s not a surprise, considering the location of our first tow.

Sightings: Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia), just a few as we were heading out.

Personal Log

The ALBATROSS IV has two Teachers at Sea on this cruise, plus three other volunteers on the scientists’ crew. We are currently underway to our first station, which is several hours away. The scientific crew scheduled to stand the first watch, which starts at midnight, will be able to get a little sleep before they’re called for duty in the pre-dawn hours. My watch starts at noon tomorrow, so sleep won’t be an issue for me. Sleeping in a bed that gently pitches and rolls may be a challenge, however. Time will tell.