hhaskell2017

June 14, 2017June 14, 2017

Helen Haskell: Data Acquisition Through Small Boat Surveying, June 12, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Helen Haskell

Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather

June 5 – 22, 2017

Mission: Hydrographic Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska – West of Prince of Wales Island

Date: June 12, 2017

Weather Data:

Temperature: 13°C

Wind 12 knots, 230° true

10 miles visibility

Barometer: 1016 hPa

90% cloud cover at 2000 feet

Location: Dall Island, AK 54° 54.5’N 132°52.1W

Science and Technology Log:

The role of the Fairweather is to conduct hydrographic surveys in order to acquire data to be used in navigational charts. While the Fairweather has sonar equipment and collects lots of data in transit, much of the data collected on a daily basis is by using smaller boats, with a rotating crew of 3-4 people per boat. The Fairweather will sail to the research area and drop anchor, and for multiple days crews will use these smaller vessels to collect the raw data in an area.

Launching small boat

Small boat off to start surveying

“Sonar” was originally an acronym for Sound Navigation and Ranging, but it has become a word in modern terminology. The boats contain active sonar devices used by the NOAA scientists to calculate water depth, document the rocks, wrecks and kelp forests, and in general, determine hazards to boats. Ultimately their data will be converted in to navigational charts – but there is a significant amount of work and stages to be undertaken to make this a reality.

Attached to the small boats are Kongsberg Multi Beam Echo Sounders (MBES). These devices emit sound waves in to the water. The waves fan out and reflect off the bottom of the sea floor and return to the MBES. Based on the time it takes for the MBES to send and receive the sound waves, the depth of the sea floor can be calculated. As the boat moves through the water, thousands of pieces of data are collected, and collectively a picture of the sea floor can be built.

It sounds simple, right? But I am beginning to understand more about the complexities that go in to a project of this scope. It would seem simple perhaps, to drive a boat around, operate the MBES and collect data. As I have quickly come to understand, there is a lot more to it.

As mentioned before, due to the weather conditions in the geographic area of study and routine maintenance, the Fairweather has a field season, and a dry dock season. During the non-field season time, data is analyzed from the previous seasons, and priorities and plans are made for the upcoming seasons. Areas are analyzed and decisions made as to which regions the Fairweather will go to and sheets are determined. A sheet is a region within the project area. Each sheet is broken up in to polygons. On any given day, one small boat will cover 1-3 polygons, depending on the weather, the complexity of the area, and the distance of travel from the Fairweather.

3 sheets

Polygons within the ‘red’ sheet

There are many parameters that the scientists need to consider and reconfigure to acquire and maintain accurate data collection. A minimum density of soundings (or ‘pings’) is required to make sure that the data is sufficient. For example, in shallow waters, the data density needs to be a minimum of five soundings per one square meter. At a greater depth, the area covered by the five soundings can be 4 square meters. This is due to the fact that the waves will spread out more the further they travel.

A coxswain will drive the boat in lines, called track lines, through the polygon. As the data is collected the ‘white chart’ they are working with begins to get colored in. Purple indicates deepest water. Green and yellow mean it’s getting less deep. Red indicates shallow areas, and black needs to be avoided. In the pictures below you can begin to see the data being logged visually on the map as the boat travels.

Beginning the data acquisition

Zoomed in and more coverage

Make an analogy to mowing a lawn. There are areas of most lawns where it is easy to push the lawnmower in straight lines, more or less. The same can be said for here, to some extent. In the deeper waters, not close to shore, the boats can ‘color in’ their polygon using relatively wide swaths that allow the sonar data to overlap just slightly. Every time the boat turns to go back in the opposite direction, the MBES is paused, and then started again once the boat is in position, making a new track line. Close to the shore, referred to as near shore, there are usually more hazards. In these areas, speed is slowed. Due to the increased potential of rocks and kelp beds in an unknown area, the boats do something called half-stepping, in-effect overlapping the ‘rows’ – think about re-mowing part of that section of lawn, or mowing around tree trunks and flower beds. As a visual image comes up on the screen, the coxswain and the hydrographers can determine more where their next line will be and whether they should continue surveying that area, or if there are too many hazards.

Full coverage needs to be achieved as much as possible. At times this does not happen. This can be as the result of several factors. Kelp increases the complexity of data collection. Kelp often attaches to rocks, and there are large ‘forests’ of kelp in the areas being surveyed. As the sonar also ‘reads’ the kelp, it’s not possible to know the true location, size and depth of the rock the kelp is attached to, and in some instances, to determine if the kelp is free floating.

Steep slopes, rocks and kelp can also create ‘shadows’ for the MBES. This means that there are areas that no sounding reached. If possible the survey team will re-run a section or approach it from another angle to cover this shadow. At times, the rocky areas close to shoreline do not allow for this to be done safely. A holiday is a term used by the survey crew to describe an area where data did not register or was missed within a polygon or sheet. During data collection, a day may be dedicated for boats to return to these specific areas and see if the data can be collected. On occasion, weather conditions may have prevented the original crew from collecting the data in the first place. Equipment malfunction could have played a role, as could kelp beds or hazardous rock conditions.

Survey crews are given several tools to help them navigate the area. Previous nautical charts are also superimposed on to the electronic chart that the surveyors are using. While many of these contain data that is out of date, it gives the crew a sense of what hazards in the area there may be. Symbols representing rocks and kelp for example are shown. The Navigable Area Limit Lines (NALL) are represented by a red line that can be superimposed on the map. Any area closer to shore than the NALL is not required to be surveyed.

The red line is the Navigable Area Limit Line. Areas inland of this line do not need to be surveyed, as they are known to be entirely non-navigable.

On occasion, surveying will discover a Danger to Navigation (DTON). This might include a rock close to the surface in a deeper water area that is not shown on any map and which may pose imminent danger to mariners. In these instances these dangers are reported upon return to the Fairweather, and information is quickly sent to the Marine Chart Division’s Nautical Data Branch.

During the course of the day, the scientists are constantly checking the data against a series of parameters than can affect its accuracy. Some of these parameters include temperature, salinity of the water and the tide levels. More about these parameters will be discussed in later blog postings.

Personal log

The first part of the day involves the stewards getting coolers of food ready for the survey crew who will be gone all day. The engineers have fixed any boat issues from the previous day and re-fueled the boats and the deck crew have them ready to re-launch. A GAR score is calculated by the coxswain and the crew, to determine the level of risk for the days launch. The GAR score examines the resources, environment, the team selection, their fitness, the weather and the mission complexity. Each factor is given a score out of 10. Added up, if the total is 23 or less, the mission is determined ‘low risk’, 24-44 is ‘use extra caution’, and greater than 45 is high risk. On the first day I went on a boat, as a first timer, the GAR score was a couple of points higher in the ‘team selection’ section as I was new.

fullsizeoutput_167 — Operational Risk Assessment Form

Another fascinating aspect of this research is the equipment on the ship needed to launch these small boats. Huge winches are needed to hoist the boats in and out of the water. Deck crew, with support from the survey crew are responsible for the boat hauling multiple times a day, and the engineers are on hand to fix and monitor the equipment.

After my first day out on the small boats, the data acquisition began not only to make more sense, but also my understanding of the complex factors that make the data collection feasible began to broaden. I had naively assumed that all the work was done from the Fairweather and that the Fairweather would be constantly on the move, rather than being anchored in one location or so for a few days. As we journeyed around small islands covered in Sitka spruce, I watched constant communication between the survey crew and the coxswain on the small boats. The survey crew are constantly monitoring the chart and zooming in and out so that the coxswain can get a better and safer picture of where to take the boat. As well as watching the monitors and driving the boat, the coxswain is also looking ahead and around for hazards. There is a significant number of large floating logs ready to damage boats, and on occasion, whales that the boat needs to stay away from. It is a long day for all the crew.

fullsizeoutput_c0 — Bekah and Sam monitor the incoming data to communicate quickly with Nick, the coxswain.

Aside from learning about the data acquisition being on the small boat, one of the joys was to be closer to some of the wildlife. While I will go in to more detail in later entries, highlights included catching glimpses of humpback whales, families of sea otters, and harbor seal pups.

Fact of the day:

While animals, such as bats, have been using sonar for thousands or millions of years, it wasn’t until the sinking of the Titanic that sonar devices were invented and used for the locating of icebergs. During World War I, a French physicist, Paul Langévin, developed a tool to be able to listen for submarines. Further developments lead to sonar being able to send and receive signals. Since then, major developments in sonar technology have led to many different applications in different science fields.

Word of the day: Nadir

On small boat surveys, nadir is the term used to describe the ocean floor directly below the boat. It is the low point below the boat.

What is this?

What do you think this is a picture of? (The answer will be in the next blog installment).

(Answer from previous blog: part of a section of a dumbbell from the Fairweather workout room)

Acronym of the Day

HIC: Hydrographer In Charge

June 13, 2017

Helen Haskell: Life on a Ship, June 7, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Helen Haskell

Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather

June 5 – 22, 2017

Mission: Hydrographic Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska – West of Prince of Wales Island

Date: June 7, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Latitude: 55 04.473 N

Longitude: 133 03.291 W

Wind: 9 knots from the east

Air temperature: 17C

Visibility: 10 miles

Barometer: 1004.2 hPa

Science and Technology Log

The mission of the Fairweather is to conduct hydrographic surveys for nautical charting. The Fairweather does this work in the waters off the United States Pacific coast, but principally in Alaskan coastal waters. The data is collected using sonar both by the Fairweather but also using a series of smaller boats that are launched as often as possible, each with a small crew of 3-4 people. These smaller boats are able to conduct the surveys much closer to the shoreline, and spend about 8-9 hours each day surveying a specific region. Many of the waters up here have had no recent data collected, and mariners are relying on charts that may have measurements taken in the 1800’s or 1900’s when technology was very different.

During the field season, Fairweather spends about 210 days at sea. During the rest of the year, the Fairweather stays at her homeport, allowing the crew to work on maintenance issues, take leave, work on the data and outfit the boat for the following season. During the field season, the boat conducts different legs of the research, spending 12-20 days out at sea at a time before returning to a port to re-supply. There are six departments on the ship: Command, Deck, Electronics, Engineering, Steward and Survey. Each person on the ship is hired with specific duties and responsibilities.

As a government vessel, the Fairweather is also available for use during the time of war or in case of an emergency. In the event of something along these lines, the ship and the officers would be transferred to the Armed Forces of the United States.

The Fairweather is named after the tallest peak in the Fairweather range in Alaska. The ship served in Alaskan waters for over 20 years but was decommissioned in 1988. In 2004, due to increasing demand for modern surveys in Alaska, it was retrofitted and put back in to the research fleet. Previously staterooms housed up to 4 people, but after the retrofit a maximum of two people share a room. The boat can house 58 people in 24 single staterooms and 17 double staterooms. The boat itself is 231 feet in length and 42 feet wide. Its cruising speed is 13 knots, with a survey speed of 6-10 knots. The Fairweather has 7 levels, A-G, each containing many rooms and areas essential to the mission of this ship. Wires and pipes run throughout the ship with sensors monitoring equipments, sensors ready to trigger if needed. Lower levels of the ship contain tanks, ballast and engines. Diesel, drinking water and grey water are stored in the tanks. The next three levels contain staterooms, lots of machinery and storage, the Mess, the Galley, laundry, labs, the sick bay and one deck with small boat storage. The last two levels contain the ships Navigation Bridge, the data processing center, electronics office, and lots more equipment.

Personal Log

A few days in to my journey with the ship, things are starting to make more sense. While there are still doors I haven’t opened and rooms I am sure I have not been to, I feel that I am getting a better sense of the Fairweather and how it works, the roles that people play, and a slightly better understanding of what it means for home to be a ship.

There is a lot going on. Unlike many of the fisheries boats, where science staff works on a shift system, here on the Fairweather, much of the hydro data acquisition needs to be done on the small vessels during daylight. After the 8am meeting, boats are launched and the survey crew leave for the day. Meanwhile the rest of the scientists and survey crew works with the previously acquired data. Shift systems are in operation for most of the rest of the staff. There are always engineering projects and issues to sort out on a boat of this size, and engineers are always available and always problem solving. There are always NOAA Corps officers and deck crew on the bridge to monitor the ship and coordinate communication. From early in the morning there is always food to prepare, parts of the ship to be cleaned and decisions to be made, reviewed and modified. Somewhere around 4:30pm the survey boats return. Meal times and group meetings are places where most of the crew comes together to hear about how the day has gone and what is needed for the next day. After dinner, there is still work to be done. The day’s data needs to be processed in order for the plans for the next day to solidify. Small boats are checked after their day in the water, re-fueled and parts fixed if need be. After working hours the ship is patrolled hourly to make sure equipment is working and things are safe.

NOAA Corps on the Bridge as the Fairweather sails

Help load small boats

Lowering the anchor

In between all these jobs, the crew does have down time. Those on a shift system hopefully manage to get some decent sleep, even if it is daytime. Laundry gets done. Personal emails are sent to communicate with families. Movies are watched in the lounge/conference room. Showers happen. People visit the exercise room. The ships store opens up for a while each night, allowing crew to splurge on a bag of chips or a candy bar. So, it’s a busy place. Whether it’s visible or not, there are always things going on.

Me in my stateroom

The gym!

The shower

In some very simple ways it is no different to your home or mine. There is food, shelter and water. In most other respects, it is very far removed from living on land. Most people don’t have breakfast, lunch and dinner with their work colleagues. Here we do. Most people don’t have bedrooms without windows in them. Here we do. Most people don’t have the floor swaying beneath their feet due to wave action. Here we do. And for what it’s worth, most people don’t get to look over the deck and watch curious sea otters swim by, knowing that a whale may breach any minute. Here we do.

Sea otter

View from NOAA Ship Fairweather

Fact of the day:

NOAA has nine key focus areas: Weather, Climate, Fisheries, Research, Satellites, Oceans and Coasts, Marine and Aviation, Charting and Sanctuaries. NOAA employs 12,000 people worldwide, of which 6,773 are scientists and engineers studying our planet. NOAA’s roots began over 200 years ago with the establishment of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey by President Thomas Jefferson. In 1870 the Weather Bureau was formed closely followed by the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. In 1970 these three organizations became the beginning of NOAA. For more information: http://www.noaa.gov/about-our-agency

Word of the day: Knot

Knot, in nautical terms is a unit of speed. One knot is the equivalent of going one nautical mile per hour.

What is this?

What do you think this is a picture of? (The answer will be in the next blog installment).

(Previous answer: The picture is of a light and whistle that are attached to my PFD (personal flotation device).

Acronym of the Day

MPIC: Medical Person In Charge

June 12, 2017

Helen Haskell: Getting Underway, June 5, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Helen Haskell

Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather

6/5/2017-6/26/2017

Mission: Hydro Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska – West Prince of Wales Island Hydro Survey

Date: June 5th

Weather Data: Full cloud cover, rain showers.

Location: Ketchikan, 55.3422° N, 131.6461° W

Personal Log

Today the boat is leaving Ketchikan. Breakfast is between 7-8 and as I sat with my plate of eggs and toast, I watch the hustle and bustle of life on a boat preparing it to get underway. There are many challenges to sailing a ship, and while I had a general idea, I did not understand how much organization, safety protocols, equipment and manpower it takes to make a boat run, complete science research, and be a safe place for people to live and work. This first couple of days on the boat have been not focusing on the science research being done here, but one of getting a sense of how a research vessel works, the myriad of roles and jobs that are done here and the multiple hats that most people wear.

The ship’s communication system put an all-hands-on-deck call to help with unloading food deliveries at port. Here we passed boxes one by one from the truck up on to the ship and in to the kitchen storage areas where the stewards will unload and store the food ready for our meals and snacks. There are three main meals per day: breakfast (7-8), lunch (11-12) and dinner (5-6). In between these times snacks and drinks are readily available. What I am finding too is that many people work a shift system, or are on the smaller boats away from the ship for a day. Food for them is packed or available and no one goes hungry. Snacks and drinks are available 24-7 too. The meals are diverse and food is plentiful. I hope to talk with the stewards to figure out how they plan the menus and order all the food, to feed about 50 people for a three-week period.

Next came a safety briefing and tour. The first thing I had to do was to practice putting on my emergency gear – how to describe it? This ‘dry-suit onesie’ would allow me to be in the Alaskan waters and survive. While my whole body is covered except for my eyes, the suit contains a life vest, and would allow me to easily float upright. As you can tell from the photo, the main issue I had was with my hair getting in my face, a common occurrence apparently for those of us with long hair. Next we learned about all of our stations and our role for different scenarios: fire, man-over-board, and a full ship evacuation. We learned about the different alarms that would be sounded, the types of fire extinguishers, where the medical office is, and where the AED’s are. We were also reminded that in each stateroom is a breathing device kit that is can be used to provide ten minutes of oxygen, should it be needed.

Pulling out of port yesterday, the boat first only went a few hundred yards up the narrows. The next stage was to ‘top up’ on fuel – 18,000 gallons of fuel. The boat can hold much more but the cost in Ketchikan is less than further north so it pays to fill up now. As you can imagine there are big safety issues with fueling of boats and during this time, several temporary bans were put in to place on the ship so that no sparks of any kind were made (no cooking, welding etc). The fuel is stored in several large tanks. The tanks are not connected to each other and each can be turned off individually in the event of a fire or leak. Earlier that day too we had also filled up with water.

There are many conservation and environmental practices put in to place that I have already seen on the ship. There are many protocols put in to place to protect both the environment and to conserve resources. During the fueling, a ring (oil boom) was put around the ship so that if there were an accidental fuel spill or leak, it would be contained on the surface of the water. Laundry is ‘closed’ until next weekend and only full loads are allowed in order to conserve fresh water. Water can be made from seawater using equipment on the ship, but it costs $8/gallon to run the equipment, so conservation is the first measure put in place.

We also have practiced emergency drills. In these drills, everyone has a station to go to and a job to do. The fire drill mimicked a fire in the generator room and a person receiving burns. What’s interesting to realize it that people wear multiple hats on the ship and so everyone needs to know what to do and how to help. Formal fire fighting equipment is worn by trained people, radios are used to communicate between groups, diagrams of the ship are pulled out and drawn on and labeled to keep account of who has been tasked to do what and where the situation is located. Out at sea, the fire department and the medics cannot be called. The staff members on the ship are the medics and the fire department. During the drill a person role-played being the burn victim, so not only were firefighters needed but also medics. After the drills, everyone meets to debrief. Ideas and observations are shared. Communication is crucial and common here.

With communication at the forefront, there are many mechanisms put in place to make sure the people on board know the specifics of the mission each day and their role in the mission. There are different departments in the boat, but one cannot function without the other. People are hired as Survey crew, Engineers, Deck crew, Stewards, Electronic Tecnicians and as NOAA Corps officers. There are also visitors on the boat, such as myself, some who are with the boat for the whole season, others like myself for a few weeks. Schedules are placed around the boat indicating who is on what shift. Meetings are held at 8am each day with the science and deck teams to discuss where the small research boats are surveying that day. During these briefings safety reminders and weather conditions are discussed as well as the location of where each boat will be. Boats radio in each hour for safety. Department heads meet daily to share their updates, keeping everyone up to date with different aspects of the ship. Debrief sessions happen at the end of each research day after dinner. Everyone participates as no one person’s job is isolated here. Issues and concerns are dealt with and go in to the decision making for the following day. Communication is key.

Fact of the day:

The Fairweather is divided in to 26 fire zones to help with safety and fire fighting. All the doors operate manually and many internal doors are held open by a magnet. In the event of a fire, the doors can be closed instantly from the Bridge, using a switch to stop the magnets working.

Word of the day: Muster

This is the term used when all the people gathered in the correct place for the fire/emergency drill. Roll was taken and we had a ‘full muster’.

What is this?

What do you think this is a picture of? (The answer will be in the next blog installment).

(Previous answer: Rubber boots with spikes in to help with traction. Here on the boat, and in many parts of Alaska waterproof footwear is very useful. While the boots the staff here don’t have spikes in them, these were on display in the Southeastern Alaska Discovery Center.

Acronym of the Day

EEBD: Emergency Escape Breathing Device

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017

Helen Haskell: Getting to know Ketchikan, June 7, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Helen Haskell

Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather

6/5/2017-6/22/2017

Mission: Hydro Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska – West Prince of Wales Island Hydro Survey

Date: 6/4/17

Weather: Cloud cover 100%, mixed drizzle and rain, 12C feels like 8C

Location: Ketchikan, AK, 55.3422° N, 131.6461° W

Personal Log

Flying has its benefits and drawbacks. While it is not possible to see in nearly as much detail compared to as when you are in a car, looking out of the window, able to stop at will, on a plane the bigger stories, the bigger picture becomes more apparent more quickly. Leaving Albuquerque at 9am, the sun had been up for a while, the ground warm and the air temperature already in the 70’s. No patches of snow anymore in the Sandia Mountains that skirt the city. Looking down from my window seat moments after take off, I had to smile as we flew right over my school. I could see my classroom roof, the track, and the school garden. In the three-hour flight heading to Seattle the landscape began to change, and geologic features we had been talking about in my 9^th grade class this year came in to view. Passing over the red rock of Utah, we began to see more snow at lower elevations, the Great Salt Lake, and finally Mt Rainier. The next flight from Seattle to Ketchikan promised even more change for this desert rat. We flew up the Inside Passage, seeing island, bays and inlets, and increasing amount of snow and cloud.

Mount Rainier

The Rio Grande in Albuquerque

Due to flight distance and potential delays, I was flown in to Ketchikan one day ahead of schedule, and the Fairweather was in port for another day. So, myself along with most of the rest of the crew had time to explore Ketchikan and the surrounding area. A short van ride in to town from the Coast Guard Station where the Fairweather is docked, it’s immediately obvious how the town has undergone change over time.

My knowledge of the area began on the flight from Seattle when I was seated next to a logger. Looking out the window as we moved north across Vancouver Island and up the Inside Passage, he pointed out floating rafts of recently cut timber, explaining to me how it is towed and then loaded on to ships while on the ocean. We talked of the different species of wood and what he liked about his job, and of being outside in Alaska. As I stood in downtown Ketchikan I could see the hills rising up immediately east of town and marveled at the engineering used to build roads and communities in these conditions. However, times have changed in Ketchikan and the pulp plant has since closed down, and while there is still evidence of logging, industries have changed.

Ketchikan is known as the salmon capital and all over town there is evidence of this business. All menus contain Alaskan caught salmon and other fish such as halibut and cod. Near the water is an anchor that was used to hold down Fish Traps, a device designed by a local Ketchikan resident to catch thousands of fish, and ultimately was banned when populations of salmon became decimated.

Park flower

In the forest that surrounds the city

Art by the river in Ketchikan

South-east Alaska is complex, geologically speaking, and as a result, Ketchikan, on Revillagigedo Island, built on a metamorphic rocks, is also a former mining town, with copper, iron, uranium and molybdenum deposits found nearby. In the late 19^th and early 20^th century, gold deposits were being explored. Walking around town, while I found no evidence of gold, walking up Creek Street, I learned about the women who, up until the 1950’s, had ‘houses of friendship’ as businesses, which today are tourist stores selling everything from t-shirts to locally produced art.

Today, Ketchikan is the host of many cruise ships that spend a day or so moored in one of the four piers. From these boats visitors disembark to explore the town. This is evidence again of Ketchikan’s evolution as a town. While salmon is still important, the thousands of tourists that come here in the summer have also changed the nature of the town, at least for several hours a day in the summer season. Crossing guards, today dressed in complete rain gear, stop traffic to let the throngs of people cross the main street. Stores, many locally owned, are filled with a range of goods, from cheap key chains to fine jewelry. Local Alaskan and north -west artists are getting more exposure as a result of these tourists. The town is evolving.

Looking at cruise ships from above the town

The local harbour

In one of the stores that sold art made by Alaskan tribal members, I learned about rain jackets that were made with seal intestines and necklaces carved out of a dark sedimentary shale like rock, heavy in carbon, known locally as Argillite. Found 80 miles south of Ketchikan, this rock is harvested from a mountain by the Haisa tribe, and carved in to fetishes of the wildlife in the area. Perhaps what I found the most fascinating were the baleen baskets and pots that were made. The baleen is carefully cut in to very thing strips and these strips are woven in to baskets, each with a small, carved handle made from walrus tusk.

The baleen baskets

Carved raven from Argillite

Seal intestine raincoat

I also visited the Totem Heritage Center, seeing examples of 150-200 year old Totems that had been carved by the local tribes, and under preservation. There are three tribes in the region, the Tlingit (pronounced ‘Klink-it), the Haisa and the Tsimshian. Totems were originally carved to honor individuals, commemorating events, or as house posts, sometimes supporting the main beam of the house, at other time, displaying the clan, based on matrilineal lineage.

Totem in Ketchikan

At Totem Heritage Center

I also went to the Southeast Alaskan Discovery Center. Here, I watched a film on the history of Ketchikan and some of it’s influential historical residents as well as a short clip about Tongass National Forest, making me anxious for the ship to set sail so I could see more of what was to offer in this vast ecosystem. Specimens of plants and animals found in the temperate rainforest and the surrounding waters gave me a little more insight in to what I might potentially see on our journey to Kodiak. While Bald Eagles are almost as common as the pigeons hanging out by the Coast Guard station where we are moored, I am hoping to see more wildlife as the research begins.

Word of the day: Muskeg

A Muskeg is a:

A larger relative of the muskrat found here in Alaska OR
A term used to describe a female muskox OR
A habitat found in Southeast Alaska

A Muskeg is a habitat, an open bog that acts like a giant sponge here in Southeast Alaska. The soils in muskegs are saturated, receiving 50-300 inches of rain annually. The soils contain a significant amount of sphagnum mosses and sedges that hold water and release excess water in to the streams and rivers. The sedges and mosses partially decompose and build up, so several feet of material may contain thousands of years of organic matter. The peat mosses actually release chemicals that subdue decomposition and over time, layers of peat build up. As organic matter does not decay, the nutrient availability in these areas is low, making it hard for many plant species to survive there. By studying these bogs and taking core samples of the material, scientists are learning about vegetation change in Alaska over the past 14,000 years. Organic material is radiocarbon-dated and pollen and leaf fragments are identified to determine what species were presented at different times.

Fact of the day:

Alaska is five times the size of New Mexico, and consists of 586,412 square miles of land, with 60% managed by the Federal Government, 25% by the State of Alaska, and 10% by Native corporations and villages.

What is this?

What do you think this is a picture of? (The answer will be in the next blog installment). IMG_0115 (1)

Acronym of the Day

One immediate observation I have had being here is that there are many acronyms used and part of my job is to learn what they mean -and it is a bit like learning a new language. So each blog, I’ll share with you and acronym or two:

NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

CO: Commanding Officer

XO: Executive Officer

May 25, 2017

Helen Haskell: Alaska, Here I Come… May 22, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Helen Haskell

Aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather

June 5 – 22, 2017

Mission: Hydro Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Southeast Alaska – West Prince of Wales Island Hydro Survey

Date: May 22, 2017

Weather Data

If anyone has been to New Mexico, you will have experienced the blue skies, the sunshine, and a range in temperatures, with storms blowing in, and dust devils swirling sand and debris all around. This week, in the lead up to my trip we seem to have had it all. Snow just to the west of the city, blue skies, cooler than average temperatures for May, and sudden rainshowers. Today however, it is 90F and the swamp cooler is being turned on for the first warm but windy day of the summer.

Science and Technology Log

So what is a hydrographic survey? The Fairweather is one of NOAA’s many research vessels, but unlike many of the others that focus on life in the ocean, the Fairweather conducts surveys using SONAR to examine the ocean floor. This is an aspect of ocean navigation that most of us don’t consider, but looking for changes to the ocean or river floor, as a result of plate tectonics, natural disasters, coastline changes, and even sunken vessels. Here’s a link to more information: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/navigation/hydro/

Personal Log

Living in the desert Southwest, I am and I feel far from the ocean. Water is a scarcity in the desert, but when we find it we are drawn to it, even if it is a spring seeping out of the rock up a dry wash. Just a couple of weeks ago I was on a boat, a beautiful 18 foot sea kayak, paddling with some of my students at Lake Powell. Paddling up to explore side canyons with tall orange sandstone walls rising hundreds of feet, seeing willows and cottonwoods trying to re-establish as water levels recede, I wondered where and when I would be going with NOAA Teachers At Sea. Out of internet range for a week can do wonders for the soul, but I was eager to learn about my NOAA TAS placement.

On the drive back to Albuquerque, NM, we pulled into the small gas station in White Mesa, near Blanding, UT. My phone ‘beeped’ and emails came flooding in. Buried in the list of unread messages was the email from Jennifer Hammond, welcoming me back from my trip and giving me basic details – Alaska to do hydrography…. I think perhaps I began jumping up and down at that point but you’d have to ask one of the students who was there….the reality is though, I would have been excited with any location and any science mission, but I’ve never been to Alaska and as someone who teaches geology, including bathymetry and subduction zones and other aspects of the ocean floor, this couldn’t be more relevant.

Over the last couple of years I have been fortunate to increase my professional development and personal experience with learning about the ocean. Slowly I am incorporating oceanography more and more into my desert classroom. Some people ask why, when we are hundreds of miles from any coast line. Not surprisingly there is always more to the story, beginning in New Mexico millions of years ago. My modern desert region had several geologic episodes where it hosted inland seas, and students can visit the top of our Sandia Mountains that skirt the eastern edge of the city and find brachiopods and crinoids, fossils in the Pennsylvanian limestone and remnants of the ocean now securely seated at 10,000 feet. The geologic connection is in fact an easy one to make. The challenge for me as a teacher is connecting my students to this modern day ecosystem so many miles away, one that many of them have not seen, or at least have not spent time with, and, in reality, have learned very little about. Our oceans, as we know, are instrumental in the planet’s systems… Without securing a knowledge of how oceans function, we are unable to understand how Earth fully works and how our daily actions and choices have global impacts.

Back in the classroom, I shared my news with my students. In the lead up to the end of the school year we’ve been examining the website that contains information on the Fairweather, discussed SONAR, hypothesized what it would be like to live on a ship, and used Google Earth to figure out where Ketchikan and Kodiak, AK are. Our discussions further our quest to learn more about density, buoyancy and how boats float. A challenge was issued and students experimented trying to make a glass vial have neutral buoyancy – for it to not sink or float.

Students experiment with ways to make a glass vial have neutral buoyancy

Does jello change the buoyancy?

Success or….?

Testing the buoyancy

Students also began to create a list of questions that they would like me to answer while I am on the Fairweather…..stay tuned for some of the answers.

Questions about the ship and location of research

Questions about living on a ship

Science-related questions

How many rooms are on the ship?

How do ships not sink since they are made of metal?

Would it matter if there was a big animal under the ship?

What happens to all the sewage?

Is there a weight limit on the boat?

Who is the Captain?

What is the fastest it may go?

Will it snow where you are going and if so will it affect the boat or the research?

Does the boat sail every summer?

How many miles are you travelling?

What temperature will it be?

What are some jobs on the boat?

Is there ice in the ocean where you are going?

What does the ship’s mast do?

What is the hardest part about taking care of the boat?

How long did it take to build?

If you fall off, what do you do?

Can you take a shower?

What does the ship provide me?

When do I get to sleep on the boat?

Do we catch any of the food we eat?

How much food is brought on the ship for a voyage?

Are the seas going to be rough?

What is included in the bedroom?

How hard is it to work on the ship?

Will you have to wear dirty clothes? Do they have a washer and dryer?

Will you fish?

Will you go swimming?

How many people are traveling with you?

Do you get seasick?

Are there going to be other women on the boat?

Do the other workers get seasick?

What age could you go on a trip like this?

Do you share a room?

How does the SONAR actually work?

Does Ms Haskell get to operate the SONAR machinery?

Do you do any research about ocean life?

How accurate is the scanner?

How deep is the trench up by the Aleutian islands?

What is the deepest the ocean will be?

Will you see whales?

What is the favorite animal you have seen on the ship?

What’s it like to feel an earthquake on a ship?

Are there any sunken ships or warships like the USS New Mexico up there?

Are the oceans deeper or shallower than others?

The next month promises to be a great adventure and a fantastic way for me as a teacher to learn more current science research, to explore an area of the world I have never been, and for the ‘desert dwelling ocean rookie’ to become well acquainted with the diversity of jobs and life on a research ship. As a ‘birder’ I hope to add new birds to my life list, maybe see a new mammal or two, and incorporate much more understanding of this part of the world into my classroom and community. Stay tuned.