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Jenny Gapp: Let Them Eat Hake! August 14, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23 – August 5, 2023 

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 5)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the Northern California Coast working north back toward coastal waters off Oregon.
Date: Monday, August 14, 2023

Weather Data from Portland, Oregon
Friday, August 11, 2023 (one week from our final trawl)
Sunrise 6:06am PDT | Sunset 8:24pm PDT
Current Time: 2:53pm PDT
Location: 45. 59578° N, 122.60917° W (Portland International Airport)
Visibility: 10 miles
Sky condition: A few clouds
Wind Speed: 6.8 mph
Wind Direction: NW
Barometer: 1016.80 mb
Air Temp: 82° F
Relative Humidity: 37%
Speed Over Ground (SOG): 0 knots as I sit on my front porch at home!
Willamette River water temperature: 74°F

Monday, August 14, 2023
Sunrise 6:10am PDT | Sunset 8:19pm PDT
Current Time: 2:53pm PDT
Location: 45. 59578° N, 122.60917° W
Visibility: 10 miles
Sky condition: Clear
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind Direction: WNW
Barometer: 1010.10 mb
Outdoor Air Temp: 105°F (record ended up at 108°F)
Relative Humidity: 21%
Indoor Air Temp: 78°F (our AC consists of several Doug Fir trees)
Speed Over Ground (SOG): 0 knots as I sit at my computer in my home office space. 
Willamette River water temperature: 75.02°F

Science and Technology Log
I’ll start my last blog post with some vocabulary… and a sports analogy. Apologies in advance, I’m testing out some sports jokes to appeal to my 5th-grade sports fans who are skeptical about science. My hope is that the vocabulary (at least) will aid in understanding the following narrative about NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada’s Leg 3 centerboard retraction.

Don’t worry, it’s not too complicated. It isn’t that different from how rookie Trail Blazer Ibou Badji (Center) was removed for knee surgery at the end of last season… or how the other Center, Jusuf Nurkic, was ejected after an altercation with an opponent and then retracted for the remainder of the same season with plantar fasciitis… Where have all the Centers on the board gone? At least there is more certainty of Shimada’s centerboard returning than Nurkic (even though he has three years on his contract left)!

Vocabulary

Acoustics – In our case, acoustics refers to an entire branch of physics concerned with the properties of sound. Yes, acoustics can also refer to how your voice sounds when singing in the shower.

Sonar – A system for the detection of objects underwater by emitting sound pulses and detecting or measuring their return after being reflected by the objects. The vocabulary words that follow are all related to the sonar system on the Shimada.

Centerboard – A retractable hull appendage, similar to the keel on a sailboat.

Ping – To emit a signal and then listen for its echo in order to detect objects. Sean Connery may have introduced you to the concept. “Give me a ping, Vasili. One ping only, please.” (Captain Ramius, The Hunt for Red October, 1990)

Hertz – One hertz (Hz) is equal to one event per second. The unit’s most common usage is to describe periodic waveforms (as is used in acoustics) and in musical tones. Kilohertz (kHz) is equal to 103, megahertz (mHz) is equal to 106 .

a graphical representation of the spectrum of soundwaves. from left to right, a red line meanders up and down at increasing frequencies (2 Hz, 20 Hz, 200 Hz, 2 kHz, 20 kHz, 200 kHz, 2 MHz) and decreasing wavelengths (170 m, 17 m, 1.7 m, 17 cm, 17 mm, 1.7 mm, 172 um.) The labeled wavelengths are compared to images about the same size: a baseball field (170 m), a tractor trailer (17 m), two people holding hands (1.7 m), a sub sandwich (17 cm), a penny (17 mm), the width of a quarter (1.7 mm), and grains of salt (172 um). Ranges of frequencies are labeled "infrasound" (2 Hz to 20 Hz), "audible sound" (20 Hz to 20 kHz), and "ultrasound" (20 kHz to 2 MHz).
Spectrum of soundwaves illustration from BYU Acoustics Research Group

Transducer – A device that converts variations in a physical quantity, such as sound, into an electrical signal, or vice versa. On the Shimada, the transducer emits a ping.

Transceiver – A device that both transmits and receives communication. There are five transceivers on the Shimada, one for each frequency—measured in kHZ—that the scientists monitor. Walkie-talkies are one example of transceivers.

Note: I have a habit of calling things by their incorrect names, and had some confusion about how a “transponder” fits into these “trans” terms. A transponder is a blend between “transmitter” and “responder.” Essentially, a device that receives a radio signal and emits a different signal in response. They are used to detect and identify objects. If you have a car key fob that locks and unlocks your doors remotely (or starts your engine), then you are walking around with a transponder. Transponders are also commonly found in airplanes.

Echosounder – A type of sonar. The Shimada uses a wideband transceiver (WBT) scientific echosounder system for the hake survey.

Echogram – The visualization of sound once the transceiver “listens” to the acoustic return pinged off objects.

Cleaning up is often a sign of good things coming to an end. Whether it’s scraping glitter glue off the tables of my library, or fish scales off stainless steel in the Shimada, both signal the end of a productive work period. On Friday night, August 4th, the Wet Lab crew conducted a deep clean of the space after the last trawl. On Saturday, the net was streamed one last time (for Leg 3 anyway) on our way back to Newport, Oregon. Creatures like pyrosomes, flatfish, and young-of-the-year (YOY) hake that had been stuck in the net were flushed out after a period of time waving goodbye in surface waters. YOY is used interchangeably with the term “fingerlings” in the vocabulary of fish development.

Jenny, wearing overalls, rubber boots, rubber gloves, kneels on one knee to scrub an overturned plastic basket on the aft deck. there is a bucket of cleaning solution to her right and a stack of three more baskets to her left.
In which I get to “swab the deck”… or swab the baskets in this case.

Another event that occurred Saturday was the raising of the centerboard. The centerboard is always raised at sea and cleaned once in port. “Biofouling mitigation” is the fancy term for centerboard cleaning. This is to ensure sea life, such as barnacles, do not adhere themselves to the surface. A build-up of these stowaways could interfere with the sonar. Hmm, I sense potential here for another sports analogy… something about fouls.  

The Survey Crew coordinates with the bridge and the engineers to retract the centerboard. Transducers are mounted on the centerboard so they can be lower than the hull. This reduces bubbles and noise. In the Shimada’s case, bubbles are air pockets created by the movement of the ship’s bow. A centerboard extends the distance between sonar equipment and the activity of bubbles gathered near the hull. When seas are rough enough there can actually be a data dropout that appears as a white line on the echogram.  

Elysha stands at metal box, with indicator lights and switches, mounted on a wall. She holds a corded phone receiver up to her ear with her left hand. With her right hand she reaches toward a button or dial on the control panel.
Elysha Agne, at the centerboard control panel.

Fully extended, the centerboard is 3.4 m below the hull of the ship and 9.15 m below the baseline sea surface. There is a manual option for retracting the centerboard, but it is generally only used if there’s a problem. Automatic operations are the norm, and were used when I observed the procedure.

Officers on the bridge slow the ship to 0 knots. The bridge confirms with survey technicians which position the centerboard should be moved to. A control panel for the centerboard is located one deck below the acoustics lab. I stood with Senior Survey Technician, Elysha Agne, to observe the process for retraction. NOAA Corps crew actually push the button on the bridge for retraction, but Agne communicates over the phone with them to confirm what the centerboard control panel is indicating.

close up view of a metal panel - a red circle, surrounded by a yellow ring, on a red background. over the center of the circle, there's a beige-colored smear of what must be tiny barnacles.
Barnacles on a Shimada transducer after three legs of the 2023 hake survey. Photo taken by Elysha Agne.

Just down the passageway from the control panel are the double watertight doors that provide access to the instrument pod on the retracted centerboard. I include a picture of these doors in the Hook, Line, and Thinker section of blog post, “Let’s Get Specific in the Pacific.”

Once the button is pushed and the centerboard is ostensibly moved, Agne confirms the indicator lights on the control panel and looks through the porthole on the watertight doors nearby to confirm the white letter “R” (for “retracted) is visible on the appendage. Agne turns off the transducers (no pinging) before retraction starts in case the transducers accidentally go out of the water.

This is important because sound travels differently through air than in water. If the transducer were still pinging while a crewmember had their head through the open centerboard access doors—that wouldn’t be good for human ears. The transducer can actually be damaged beyond repair if it pings in the air. The centerboard actually has holes in it, so it fills with water when lowered, then drains as it is raised. I could hear the water draining during the retraction process. 

Career feature

CO Slater, wearing a blue NOAA Corps uniform, stands at a white metal post (housing what must be the gyro repeater) near a railing aboard NOAA Ship Bell M Shimada. He holds his right hand up, pointing out over the bright blue ocean, and looks in the direction he points.
CO Slater at one of Shimada’s gyro repeaters.
CO Slater, wearing a blue NOAA Corps uniform, sits in his Captain's Chair on the bridge. Facing away from us, he holds his binoculars up to his eyes to scan the horizon.
CO Slater sits in his Captain’s Chair and inspects the horizon.

Joshua Slater, CO (Commanding Officer)
Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

I’m responsible for the safety of the ship and its 41 crewmembers (depending on the voyage), including safe navigation, accomplishment of science missions, project management, budget, personnel, and training of the crew.

What’s your educational background?

I have a Bachelor’s in Marine Biology and a Master’s in Marine Sciences both from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. I grew up in a Navy family, so we moved all around the world. I don’t consider one place home over another. After graduation, I wanted to go to either California or Hawaii. I got a job as a contractor with NOAA doing free-diving and scuba in Hawaii as a Marine Debris Technician. I removed derelict fishing gear and nets off the coral reefs of the northwestern islands. I joined NOAA Corps after that. I attended the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, New York. In the Corps, there’s a 2:3 rotation ratio in years spent on assignments at sea and on land.

I started out on NOAA Ship McArthur II. We sailed from Seattle out to Hawaii, down to South America, Mexico, and up the West Coast of the U.S. to Canada. My assignment after that was emergency response for incidents at sea such as hurricanes and chemical spills. One of those projects was on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response down in the Gulf of Mexico. My next ship was in South Carolina on NOAA Ship Nancy Foster, where I worked from Massachusetts to Key West, to Galveston, Texas. After that were land assignments in Washington DC, then Chief of Operations at NOAA’s Marine Operations Center for the Pacific (MOC-P) in Newport, Oregon. I’ve bounced between MOC-P and the Shimada in that land-to-sea ratio since then.

In the NOAA Corps, you start out as an Ensign (pronounced “en-sin”). Within 2-3 years you usually get promoted from ensign to Lieutenant junior grade. During your first sea tour, you need to learn how to drive the ship, keep everyone safe, and understand the basics of ship operations. During your second sea tour, you help coordinate logistics for operations. On the third sea tour you’re running all the administrative functions (hiring, firing, discipline), and on the fourth time out hopefully you are experienced enough to be considered for the ship’s Captain, overseeing the safety of the whole ship, and making sure operations are done efficiently. So, as you work your way through your career you also get promoted. Beyond the rank of Lieutenant junior grade, there’s Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, and then Admiral.

For civilians, Ship Captain and CO may be viewed as interchangeable. In NOAA Corps you can be a commanding officer and be any number of different ranks. In the civilian world, the ship’s boss is called “Captain” or “Master.” Since NOAA Corps stems from military origins, they use “Commanding Officer.”

What took you by surprise about sailing on the ocean?

What took me by surprise was the amount of operations we could do in less-than-ideal weather. You might have a calm day on shore, but at sea it’s usually windy and you have waves of some sort. We do the best we can given the situation.

Why are conditions rougher further out at sea?

A few things. Currents. Wind. Sometimes headlands protect you from wind when you’re closer to shore. How big the waves get is a combination of how strong the wind blows, how long it blows, and over what distance of water. That’s called the fetch. That gives the time needed for the swell to fully develop based on the wind. Wind at a short distance is a wave. Once you get beyond where the wind is that localized phenomenon, further away it’s the swell. While our wind may be calm here, we may still have a big swell because there’s a storm off Hawaii or Alaska. We’re not feeling the wind but we’re feeling the side effects. Or we could just be in the wind, it’s blowing 50, and not that bad right now, but give it 12 hours to develop, 24 hours, and it’s going to be a lot worse. You do what you can given what you have to work with. The ship is seaworthy and can handle a lot of different conditions. 

an illustration of the surface of the ocean, if it were contained in a square angled toward the viewer. an orange arrow entering the square from the left is labeled Wind; a blue arrow exiting the square to the right is labeled "direction of wind advance." near the arrow, small curved white lines indicate small waves emanating out in all directions, but in the direction of the arrow there are many more; farther to the right, they spread out some; all the way to the right, they are large waves. This progression is labeled "ripples to chop to wind waves," then "full developed seas," then "changing to swell." An oval with a point at the back describes the center of the image, where most of the waves are, and a nearby measurement bar marks the length of that shape as the length of fetch.
An illustration of fetch. Image origin.

What’s the biggest weather you’ve been in on the Shimada?

Probably 20-foot waves, although waves are not consistently one height, they’re a range. They may be normally 16-18 feet, but you might get a 22-foot wave come through. The ones I’ve been in consistently were about 20.

At what point is it not safe to conduct operations?

It depends what the wind is, what the swell is, whether they’re from the same direction or opposing directions, or 90 degrees off. Sometimes our whole project is in the trough, which means the waves are hitting us from the sides, so we’re rolling a lot. The way transects are laid out for trawling and sampling gets us rolling a lot. If it’s really bad we’ll angle our way from one location to another. We do have safety standards for operations. Once the wind is above a certain limit, or the waves above a certain range in height, we’ll reassess. Usually, we reassess the operation if wind is over 30 knots, but we’ve done ops in 40 knots before. We’ve also done ops in 16-foot waves. There are a lot of variables to be considered, including the type of operation we’re attempting to execute.

We’ll get people who have never been out here before, or we’ll get people that are so focused on the science, they don’t think about safety. My job is to make sure they don’t forget about safety! We have a daily safety meeting of department heads on the ship. There are weekly drills at sea. During monthly safety meetings, we go over accidents in the NOAA fleet. It’s a lot easier to learn from other people’s mistakes. We all want to come home with our fingers and toes!

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

Grow where you’re planted. In NOAA Corps, you don’t get to necessarily choose the jobs where you go next. A board of officers chooses for you, based on your skill set and the needs of the service at that time. For example, I can list my preferences, but there’s no guarantee I will get any of them. There have been many times where officers haven’t even received their second or third choice. My advice to everyone is, you may not want to go to a particular assignment or a particular part of the country, but you’re there, so make the most of it. Every place I have been assigned has good qualities, good things to offer. Those are what I choose to focus on. When I talk to some people, they never seem happy no matter where they are.  I think that is a mindset issue. One of my favorite quotes is, “Positivity is a superpower.” The term “Shimada-tude” got its start in the early days of the ship’s service to NOAA and is all about positivity. We want to like what we do and want people to like coming out to sea. We want them to have a good experience, and treat everyone with respect. 

Do you have a favorite book?

Growing up I often looked for the Newbery Prize Medal seal or the Newbery Honor seal on a book cover when I was walking through the library. I figured if somebody liked it I might as well try it. It’s hard to pick just one book. I tried a lot of the classics and have made my way through most of “The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written.” Some were enjoyed while others were not. I remember taking an interest in The Odyssey and The Iliad, by Homer; Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe; Shipwrecked, by Robert Louis Stevenson; The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux; and Dracula, by Bram Stoker—to name a few. 

Lately, I’ve been reading more and more about financial education. One book I recommend is The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Samuel Clason. It uses fictitious ancient parables to give you sound monetary advice, and that is something that I don’t think is really taught anymore.

As for children’s literature, I’ve recently read a few of the Harry Potter books with my son. I remember reading and enjoying The Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis, Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell; and Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls. 

NOAA Fishwatch logo, reading: FishWatch U.S. Seafood Facts, NOAA, www.FishWatch.gov


Floating (Food) Facts (& Opinions)

Here’s the part where we “Let them eat hake.” If you can get your hands on some hake through a company like Pacific Seafood (headquartered in Clackamas, Oregon), then you can decide for yourself whether all this fuss over hake is worth the hype.

Hake (Pacific Whiting) is the most abundant commercial stock on the Pacific Coast.

If you aren’t into hake but consume other seafood, use Fish Watch. NOAA Fisheries hosts sustainable seafood profiles with current information on marine fish harvested in the U. S.

The first couple of paragraphs on the Fish Watch site define “sustainable seafood:”

“Sustainable seafood is wild-caught or farmed seafood that is harvested or produced in ways that protect the long-term health of species populations and ecosystems. The United States is a global leader in sustainable seafood. U.S. fishermen and seafood farmers operate under some of the most robust and transparent environmental standards in the world. If the seafood you purchase is caught or farmed in the United States, you can feel confident you’re making a sustainable seafood choice. 

Marine wild-capture fisheries in the United States are scientifically monitored and regionally managed. They are enforced under 10 national standards of sustainability through the Magnuson-Stevens Act—exceeding the international standards for eco-labeling of seafood.”

You may have stood in front of the seafood counter and noticed those green (best choice) and yellow (good alternative) labels. I have yet to see red, which means avoid, which seems counter to the marketing impulse of grocery stores. These labels are based on the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch guidelines. Here’s a pocket guide for my West Coast friends. There are a handful of seafood guides you can consult, but not all are created equal. This article from 2017 captures the frustration consumers sometimes have about what fish to choose.

Part of my confusion is often based on the many names a single species has! For example, I just now learned (on the NOAA Fish Watch site) that Bocaccio are rockfish and are the Oregon Red Snapper I recall from shopping trips and meals as a kid. For me, the thing that makes NOAA’s Fish Watch site superior to the rest is the comprehensive overview of each species profiled. You get detailed sections on Population Status, Appearance, Biology, Where They Live, Fishery Management, and Harvest all in one place. Bon appetit!

photograph of a hake, cutout and superimposed on a stylized background. text reads: Wild Pacific Hake (Whiting). A North Pacific Speciality. Wild Pacific Hake (Whiting) is unique to the waters off the coast of Oregon and Washington. But chefs worldwide like this sustainable fish for its rich, white flesh, flaky texture, and mild and slightly sweet flavor. Calories: 90 per serving. Protein: 18.31 g per serving. Fat: 1.31 g per serving. Omega-3: 260 mg per serving.
Image of a hake with nutritional information from American Seafoods.
Is Pacific Whiting Sustainable? U.S. wild-caught Pacific whiting is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations. Environmental Impact Icon Availability Frozen whiting is available year-round. Feeds Icon Source U.S. wild-caught from Washington, Oregon, and California. Farming Methods Icon Taste Mild and slightly sweet. Human Health Icon Texture Soft and less flaky than other whitefish such as cod and pollock.  Human Health Icon Color Raw and cooked whiting ranges from pure white to off-white. Human Health Icon Health Benefits Whiting is a good source of selenium, vitamin B, magnesium, and protein. Nutrition Facts Servings: 1; Serving Weight: 100 g (raw); Calories: 90; Protein: 18.31 g; Total Fat: 1.31 g; Total Saturated Fatty Acids: 0.247 g; Carbohydrate: 0 g; Total Sugars: 0 g; Total Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Cholesterol: 67 mg; Selenium: 32.1 mcg; Sodium: 72 mg
A screenshot from NOAA’s sustainable seafood profile on Pacific whiting (hake).
image of plated Garlic Baked Whiting on a bed of rice, garnished with lemon and parsley. Garlic Baked Whiting Ingredients 4 whiting fillets Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper 5 Tbsp butter, melted 2 cloves garlic, minced ¼ tsp red pepper flakes Juice and zest from 1/2 a lemon 1 lemon, sliced into rounds Parsley for garnish Directions Preheat oven to 400°. Season whiting with salt and pepper and place on a small baking sheet. Mix together butter, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, and zest then pour over whiting fillets. Place lemon rounds on top and around fillets. Bake whiting for 10-12 minutes or until fish is fork tender.
Hake recipe courtesy of Pacific Seafood.
Click to enlarge.
image of plated spicy baked whiting with sides of couscous and asparagus Spicy Baked Whiting Ingredients 4 Pacific whiting fillets 2 Tbsp olive oil Rub ingredients: 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp red pepper flakes 1 tsp of lime juice 2 tsp of seasoned salt Directions Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix all rub ingredients together. In a baking pan, coat fish with olive oil. Then coat the fish in the spice mixture. Place the fish the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until fish is flaky.
Hake recipe courtesy of Pacific Seafood.
Click to enlarge.


Personal Log

Fog persisted on our steam north back to Newport. Without the temptation of visibility on the flying deck, I took extra time vacuuming the stateroom… that’s a joke because vacuuming a 4-person stateroom takes all of 5 minutes. In truth, my roommate and I took care to leave our space Pine-Sol fresh for Leg 4. After packing away my gear I bounced around the ship like you might in a hotel room—surreptitiously checking drawers for items you may have forgotten. That last nautical mile seemed to take forever. I kept looking out of the portholes in the acoustics lab to see nothing but white. Excitement for home began to build once it was time to gather on the flying deck and peer through the misty water vapor. Yaquina Bay Bridge slowly materialized, an elevated street floating in the sky, weirdly disembodied from the solid ground that usually frames it. As we went under the bridge the fog disappeared. Beyond, an 80° Oregon summer in the Willamette Valley beckoned. The Wet Lab Crew ate dinner together while the crew of the Shimada safely docked and worked with the port crew to reattach the gangplank. After hugs and handshakes all around it was time to part. My drive home was uneventful save a dramatic sky. 

A HUGE thank you to the Shimada crew aboard Leg 3! You welcomed me, answered my questions, allowed me to look over your shoulder, tolerated me taking photographs of you, and clarified things I didn’t understand. You all are amazing. I appreciate your labor and am thrilled to have witnessed you all working in sync to do science! My students at Peninsula thank you as well—even if they don’t know it yet. Your time and attention will enhance not just one, but many ocean-related lessons I share with them in the forthcoming year. A special thanks to my blog editors: Chief Scientist Steve de Blois and XO CDR Laura Gibson. Your feedback polished these meanderings and gave me confidence that I correctly represented NOAA and the hake. 

You Might Be Wondering…

What Next?

To complete my commitment to NOAA as a Teacher at Sea I agree to blog, write one science-related lesson, one career-related lesson, and either present at a conference or publish an article about my experience. I’m back in my school building this week and will soon be working on lessons. At least part of the science lesson will follow the path of hake otoliths (ear bones) from the ocean to the lab back on land. Many thanks to Liz Ortiz, Fisheries Technician, for helping me connect the dots on how the otolith contributes to our understanding of Pacific whiting (hake) life cycles. I’ve decided to publish an article, although I will likely also present at a conference in years to come. I have reviewed children’s books for the national journal, School Library Connection, since 2011, and will start my query for publication there.

view over the aft deck (probably from the flying deck) of NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada back at Yaquina Bay, and the Yaquina Bay Bridge. In this photo, the sky is bright blue and clear, and the water is calm and bright blue as well.
The sky was blue when we left Yaquina Bay on Day 1, not so on Day 14.
A brief video reflection of Leg 3.

Hook, Line, and Thinker

Do you eat or consume products harvested from the ocean? Where do those products come from?

If the country of origin for products consumed isn’t the U.S. does that country have an equivalent of NOAA that gathers data and prioritizes sustainability in its policies? For context, consider this recent article from NPR: Demand for cheap shrimp is driving U.S. shrimpers out of business. I’m doing a homemade pad thai recipe this week and reading this motivated me to pay attention to where my shrimp came from. All the shrimp choices at Fred Meyer (Kroger) were imported so I went elsewhere (paid more) and found some from the Gulf of Mexico, harvested in U. S. waters. 

While you’re eating your own pad thai with U. S. shrimp, or Pacific whiting mac ‘n cheese, consider NOAA Fisheries first-ever National Seafood Strategy, just released on August 9th, 2023.

A Bobbing Bibliography: Reflections of a Librarian at Sea

Additions to the Science Crew’s Reading Recommendations:

Chris Hoefer, OSU marine mammal & seabird project – The Three-Body Problem, science fiction by Liu Cixin (Scientific American article about the concept behind the name.)

Samantha Engster, eDNA Scientist – The Shell Collector, short stories by Anthony Doerr

***

Parting thoughts from your Teacher-Librarian at Sea as inspired by quotes from a few children’s literature classics.

“Look at that sea, girls—all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

In my current reading of this quote, I can’t help but immediately extract the tension between commerce and being. It seems to be a theme I have returned to again and again throughout my blog posts. To be, to exist on our planet, is dependent on a healthy ecosystem, and a healthy ocean. NOAA Fisheries leans on the scientific method to tackle a barrage of pressures: consumer demand, climate change, economic prosperity, pollution.

We would do well to remember that NOAA is made up of ordinary people. The government, by the people and for the people. Many of these you have met in my interviews. I was at a dinner party recently (since I’ve returned to land) and there’s always someone in the crowd who makes half-joking remarks about “the government.” What? You killed fish in the name of science? What? Do the fisherman have the same opportunity to trawl? C’mon. Who do you think “the government” is made up of? Your uncle with a Ph.D. in physics. Your daughter with a passion for birds. “Things not seen,” are confusing, intimidating, sometimes scary. NOAA is utterly transparent. The amount of unfettered data available for citizen scientists to freely examine on the internet is mind-boggling. Keep asking questions, then ask more questions! Then do some research—ask a librarian for help!

“The sea, the sea, the sea. It rolled and rolled and called to me. Come in, it said, come in.”
― Sharon Creech, The Wanderer

It said “Come in” the loudest when smooth and glassy. While there were no swimming opportunities on board the Shimada, I have since returned to swimming at my local health club. While doing laps and staring at the dirt, hair bands, and Band-Aids at the bottom of the pool I thought about the chemicals, hair bands, and Band-Aids at the bottom of the ocean. This is not what the sea meant when she said, “Come in.” NOAA Fisheries is an integral part of the solution to the problems that face us as a species. Homo sapiens is only one of many species that have a right to thrive—both for our benefit and their own.

sparkles of bioluminescence on the ocean surface in the daytime
setting sun, about halfway under the horizon, dark blue waves
puffy white clouds against blue sky, above blue water
last light at sunset, just visible under dramatic gray clouds; gray waves reflect just the edges of the yellow light
mostly-set sun creating a line of orange in between dramatic gray clouds and glassy gray seas
view down at blue ocean water
gray seas, blue sky, sun; might be foggy or blurry
turquoise-blue water; blue sky, line of mountainous coastline in the far distance
glassy seas reflect blue and white sky
fog; g


“The castle of Cair Paravel on its little hill towered up above them; before them were the sands, with rocks and little pools of salt water, and seaweed, and the smell of the sea and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking for ever and ever on the beach. And oh, the cry of the seagulls! Have you ever heard it? Can you remember?”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

While perusing a glossary of nautical terms in the downtime after a marine mammal watch, I discovered “caravel” a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship used by the Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Niña and the Pinta, of 1492 notoriety, were caravels. I wondered whether this term had inspired C. S. Lewis’ naming of Cair Paravel. I will not remember the cry of seagulls so much as I will the cat-like meow of the common murre, at least that’s what they sounded like to me at the time. I’m a compulsive Googler, so that’s how I came upon this Minecraft version of Cair Paravel.

It made me think of my students and how NOAA scientists are the stars of real-world exploration and discovery. Scientists are also world-builders of a sort—reports on their findings influence policy-makers, lawmakers. As science moves forward, it continuously corrects itself as new things are discovered. Listening to the latest science can make or break the world.  

And oh, the cry of the scientists! Have you ever heard it? Can you remember? 

screenshot from a video game showing a castle near the ocean
A Minecraft version of Cair Paravel.
photo of a hatchetfish and a lanternfish on a metal table, facing one another. Jenny has added speech bubbles so that the hatchetfish says: "So, what did you think of the Teacher at Sea experience on the Shimada?" and the lanternfish replies: "It was illuminating - and that's not just my photophores talking!"
A hatchetfish and a lanternfish reflect on the Teacher at Sea experience.
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Jenny Gapp: Literate Fish, August 4, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23, 2023 – August 5, 2023

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 5)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the Northern California Coast working north back toward coastal waters off Oregon.
Date: Friday, August 4, 2023

Weather Data from the Bridge
Sunrise 0614 | Sunset 2037
Current Time: 0700 (7am Pacific Daylight Time)
Lat 43 16.7 N, Lon 124 38.0 W
Visibility:  10 nm (nautical miles)
Sky condition: partly cloudy
Wind Speed: 5 knots
Wind Direction: 030°
Barometer: 1020.3 mb
Sea Wave height: 1 ft | Swell: 340°, 1-2 ft
Sea temp: 13.7°C | Air Temp: 16.2°C

Science and Technology Log

On Wednesday night I stayed up to participate in the first CTD cast of the evening. What is a CTD? The short version: a water sample collection to measure conductivity, temperature, and depth. eDNA information is also collected during the CTD casts.

The longer version: As is true of all operations, all departments collaborate to get the science done. The bridge delayed casting due to erratic behavior from marine traffic in the area. When that vessel moved away, the deck crew got busy operating the crane that lowered the CTD unit to 500 meters. The Survey Technicians, along with the Electronics Technician, had just rebuilt the CTD unit days before, due to some hardware failures at sea. The eDNA scientist prepared the Chem Lab for receiving samples that would confirm the presence of hake as well as other species. 

When I arrived, Senior Survey Technician Elysha Agne was watching a live feed of the sensors on the CTD unit. Agne explained what was happening on the feed: There are two sensors per item being tested, then both sensors are compared for reliability of the data. There is one exception: A dual channel fluorometer, which gauges turbidity and fluorescence (which measures chlorophyll). Turbidity spikes toward the bottom in shallow areas due to wave action. Salinity is calculated by temperature and conductivity.  Sometimes there are salinity spikes at the surface, but it’s not usually “real data” if just one sensor spikes. The CTD unit is sent down to 500 meters as requested by scientists. Measurements and water collection occur at 500, 300, 150 and 50 meters. The number of CTDs allocated to a transect line varies according to how many nautical miles the line is. For example, multiple readings at the 500 meter mark may be taken on a line. CTD casts west of the one done at the 500m depth contour are spaced every 5 nm apart. Scientists are not currently taking CTD samples beyond the ocean bottom’s 1500m contour line.

The main “fish,” called an SBE 9plus, has calibrated internal pressure. As it descends you can tell the depth the “fish” is at. Sea-Bird Electronics (the origin of the SBE acronym) manufactures the majority of scientific sensors used on board, with the exception of meteorological sensors. The Seabird deck box (computer) is connected to the winch wire. The winch wire is terminated to a plug that is plugged into the main “fish.”

The other day, the termination failed. Termination means the winch wire is cut, threaded out, and the computer wire plugged into the winch wire. The spot it’s terminated can be exposed to damage if internal wires aren’t laid flat. Tension and tears may occur anyway because it’s a weak point. The plug on the main “fish” where the winch wire cable connects broke too, so the whole CTD had to be rebuilt. The “Chinese finger,” the metal spiral that pulls the load of the CTD on the winch wire, was also defective, so modifications were made. 

A close-up view of what appear to be electrical plugs protruding from one end of a large metal cylinder. Six of them are safely capped with black plastic casings. A seventh has snapped open to reveal damaged and corroded plugs.
Broken plug on the “fish.”
A hand holds up a dark green tube (like a toothpaste tube) so that we may read the label: 150 g of Electrical Insulating Compound by Dow Corning. The label touts: high dielectric strength, low volatility, moisture resistant, good thermal oxidation, etc. In the background, out of focus, we see someone working on the CTD unit.
What you need for a moisture proof seal (electrical insulating compound).
A pile of at least seven, probably more, long gray cylinders capped with what appear to be narrow plugs on each end. These are water sampling bottles that will be set in the rosette array in a circle around the CTD probe.
Niskin bottles in a pile while CTD unit is rebuilt.
A frayed wire, partially wrapped in purple electrical tape, resting on or protruding from a wooden box panel. A hammer lies parallel to the wire, possibly for scale.
Termination failure.
Close-up view of a piece of equipment that looks like a large metal cylinder with two labels affixed to it: the first is the manufacturer's label (Seabird Scientific) with the model, part number, and serial number. The second is a yellow label that reads in large black print: "4127 meters maximum depth."
The main “fish” that the sensors are attached to..

When the CTD is at the target depth, Agne presses a button in the chem lab that logs a bunch of meteorological and location data. She remotely “fires” a bottle which sends a signal to the “cake” that sits on top of the CTD. The signal is an electric pulse to release a magnet that holds the niskin bottle open. If it pops correctly, water is sealed inside. Since two bottles of water were requested at each depth, a second signal is sent to the second bottle. There are 12 niskin bottles on the CTD “carousel.” After two were done at 500 m, the winch operator takes the CTD unit up to 300 m; Agne fires two more bottles there, then two more bottles at 200 m, 150 m, and 50 m. About two and a half liters of water are taken per bottle. 


Samantha stands at a work bench in the wet lab. Wearing blue or purple latex  gloves, she pipettes water onto a filter above a section set up. Elsewhere on the bench, we can see a line of water filters, several styrofoam cases of test tubes, a notebook for recording data.
Samantha Engster, eDNA Scientist

Once the CTD unit returned to the surface, I got to help “pop the nipples” on the bottles to release the water into plastic bags. Back in the Chem Lab, eDNA Scientist, Samantha Engster, pours the water through a filter 1 micron thin. The filter is then folded in half and placed in a vial of Longmire’s solution until the eDNA can be analyzed in a lab back on land. Microscopes are not used for DNA analysis. Phenol-chloroform is used to remove proteins from nucleic acids. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique is then used to perform gene expression. This is the third hake survey that has been done in conjunction with eDNA analysis. 

While the CTD “fish” and all its sensors are collecting oceanographic data, Engster collects environmental data from the water samples. Surface water samples are also taken at the underway seawater station courtesy of a pump hooked up near one of the chem lab sinks. The eDNA verifies abundance and distribution of hake. When information from these water samples is partnered with data from the echo sounders, and “ground-truthed” with physical hake bodies in the net, the data set is strengthened by the diverse tests. 

CTD unit on deck awaiting deployment. A large cylindrical metal frame contains the central CTD probe (barely visible) encircled by tall gray cylindrical water sampling tubes. The base of the unit is weighted. The top of the frame is attached to cables.
The CTD unit fixed and ready for the next deployment.
Close-up view of the sensors attached to the CTD probe at the center of the unit: looks like metal cylinders with heavy cables and some clear tubing attached.
Sensors reattached to the “fish.”
Close-up view of the top of the CTD unit: a circular thing, containing black components that extend from the center like bicycle spokes. These are attached to wires attached to the tops of the water sampling bottles.
The “cake” that sits on top of the unit that seals off the water samples.

Career Feature

Note: A handful of the people I have met aboard are experienced “Observers.” NOAA contracts with companies that deploy observers trained as biological technicians. Find out more here.

The two Evans stand against an interior wall and smile for a photo. They are each wearing t-shirts and beanie hats. Their similar builds and beards add to the visual symmetry of the photo. On the wall behind them hangs a photo of the ship and several plaques. Right Evan has a walkie-talkie attached to the pocket of his jeans.
Engineers Evan McNeil (Right), and Evan Thomas (Left).

Evan McNeil & Evan Thomas, Engineers

Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

Evan M.
I’m a manager over our engineers. Below me is the second engineer. We have three third engineers, a junior engineer, and an oiler, also called a GVA (General Vessel Assistant), or wiper. I set the pace of work everyday. I assign all the jobs. Traditionally the Engine Department is under the First Engineer, but technically the Engine Room is mine. The Chief Engineer and the Captain (NOAA Corps Commanding Officer in this case) are in charge of the safety of the whole ship. The Chief Engineer also directs jobs to me that need to get done and I’ll delegate those jobs out. 

Evan T.
Third Assistant Engineer, soon to be Second. I mostly fix stuff that is broken.

What’s your educational background?

Evan M.
I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Marine Engineering Technology with a minor in marine science from California Maritime Academy. I grew up near Bodega Bay, so my background is oriented toward the ocean. I really enjoy it. 

Evan T.
Graduated from Cal Maritime, 2019. I grew up in Southern California, Redlands, a desert that somehow grows oranges. I applied to all the engineering schools in California, and Cal Maritime was one of the few that replied back. I said “Yeah, I could see myself doing this.” And here I am! 

What do you enjoy most about your work?

Evan M.
I enjoy who I work with. It makes work go by quickly. I enjoy our schedule and our time off. This is what I enjoy about my NOAA job and about sailing jobs in general. Shore leave is a type of leave. There’s also annual leave and sick leave. We call it going on rotation or off rotation. Off rotation is usually for a month, and on rotation is usually two months. Every ship is different but that’s how it is for the Shimada, a two-on, one-off schedule. If you talk to other sailors they’ll tell you ratios for time on and time off. For example, I did Leg 2 of the hake survey, I’m on Leg 3, and then I’m off. 

Evan T. Learning new equipment, new ways to do things.

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

Evan M.
If you are interested in going straight to being an officer, I would go straight to a maritime academy. It’s a very niche thing to know about. No one knows what they want to do at 19. NOAA’s always hiring. If you are interested in being an engineer, you start out as a wiper, then you can work your way up in the engineering department pretty easily.  

Evan T. 
Imagine being stuck in an office and you can’t go home for a month. Find something that will distract you when you are out on the ocean for weeks at a time. Hang out with people, play games, read a book. You have to be ready to fight fires, flooding, that sort of thing. 

If you could invent a tool to make your work more efficient—cost is no concern, and the tool wouldn’t eliminate your job—what would it be and why?

Evan M.
A slide that goes from the bridge to the engineering operations deck.

Evan T.
I would go for an elevator on the ship.

Do you have a favorite book?

Evan M.
Modern Marine Engineering volume 1

Evan T. My 5th grade teacher wrote their own book that I found entertaining. I also liked Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain.

Vince reaches both hands to do something with a pile of wires mounted on the wall
Vince Welton, Electronics Technician

Vince Welton

Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

I’m an electronic technician. I deal with everything that has to do with electronics, which includes: weather, navigation, radars, satellite communications, phone systems, computers, networking, and science equipment. All the ancillary stuff that doesn’t have to do with power or steering. Power and steering belongs to the engineers.

What’s your educational background?

When I was in high school my father had an electronics shop and I worked with him. He was career Air Force and an electronics technician as well. My senior year of high school  I was also taking night classes at a college in Roseburg, Oregon in electronics. I joined the U.S. Air Force and was sent off to tech school and a year’s worth of education in electronics. Then there was a lot of learning on the job in electronic warfare. I worked on B52s. I was a jammer. In order to learn that you had to learn everybody else’s job. That’s what makes mine so unique. You had to learn radio, satellite, early warning radar, site-to-site radar, learning what other people did so I could fix what was wrong with their electronic tools. I went from preparing for war to saving the whales, so to speak. Saving the whales is better!

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy the difficulty of the problems. We’re problem solvers.

What are the challenges of your work?

Problems you can’t fix! That’s what disturbs a technician the most, not being able to solve a problem. 

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

The sciences are important no matter what you do. Having curiosity is the biggest thing. My hope is that education systems are realizing the importance of teaching kids how to think. Young people need to grow the ability to ask questions, instead of just providing answers.

If you could invent a tool to make your work more efficient—cost is no concern, and the tool wouldn’t eliminate your job—what would it be and why?

I think AI has phenomenal potential, but it’s a double-edged sword because there’s a dark side to it as well.

Do you have a favorite book?

The Infinity Concerto, by Greg Bear
The Little Book of String Theory, by Steven S. Gubser

What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen at sea?

Actually seeing a whale come out of the water is probably the coolest thing. Watching that enormous tonnage jumping completely out of the ocean. If you look out the window long enough and you’ll see quite a few things. 

Markee, wearing a blue jumpsuit over a black hoodie and a beanie that reads "California Republic," smiles for a photo, standing in an interior hallway.
Markee Meggs, Able Bodied Seaman

Markee Meggs

Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

I’m an AB, or Able Bodied Seaman. The job looks different on different ships. On the Shimada I stand watch and look for things that don’t show up on radar. Most ships you drive—only NOAA Corps Officers drive on the Shimada—I can drive rescue boats, tie up the ship, and do maintenance on the outside. I’m a crane operator. On a container ship you make sure the refrigerated containers are fully plugged in. On a refueling ship (tanker) you hookup fuel hoses. Crowley is a major tanker company. On RoRo ships (roll on, roll off) you work with ramps for the vehicle decks, transporting cars from overseas.

AB is a big job on a cruise ship. I did one trip per year for three years, then got stuck on one during the pandemic in 2020.  On the cruise ship you stand watch, do maintenance, paint, tie up the ship, drive the ship. There’s even “pool watch” where you do swimming pool maintenance. You also assist with driving small boats and help guests on and off during a port call.

I’m a member of SIU (Seafarers International Union) and work as an independent contractor for NOAA. I like the freedom of choosing where I go.

What’s your educational background?

I’m from Mobile, Alabama. I spent four years in the Navy (my grandad served on submarines during World War Two), one year in active Navy Reserves, then eight years as a contractor supporting the Navy with the Military Sealift Command. I spent a year as a crane operator in an oceaneering oil field, and have an Associate’s Degree in electrical engineering. On the oil field job we used an ROV to scope out the ocean floor first. After identifying a stable location I laid pipe with the crane, and took care not to tip over the boat in the process! My first NOAA ship  was the Rainier, sailing in American Samoa. 

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I most enjoy meeting different types of people. Once you’ve been to a place you have friends everywhere. I also love to travel—seeing different places. It’s a two-for-one deal because once you’ve finished with the work you are in an amazing vacation place.

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

If ships interest you, do the Navy first. They pay for training, and your job is convertible. Becoming a merchant mariner is easier with Navy experience than coming straight off the street. There is a shortcut to becoming a merchant mariner, but you’ll have to pay for classes. Finally, always ask questions! Yes, even ask questions of your superiors in the Navy. 

What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen at sea?

The coolest things I’ve seen at sea have been the northern lights in Alaska, whales, volcanic activity, and rainbow-wearing waterfalls in Hawaii.

Do you have a favorite book?

Some of my favorite books are Gifted Hands, and Think Big, both by Ben Carson. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story was turned into a film with Cuba Gooding Jr in 2009. Another book that made an impression was Mastery, by Robert Greene. Its overarching message is “whatever you do, do well.” 

Julia points her left index finger an echogram on a large computer monitor.
Julia Clemons, FEAT Team Lead

Julia Clemons

Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

I am the Team Lead of the FEAT (Fisheries Engineering and Acoustic Technologies) Team with the NWFSC (Northwest Fisheries Science Center). The primary mission of our team is to conduct a Pacific hake biomass survey in the California Current ecosystem and the FEAT team was born specifically to take on that mission from another science center. The results of this survey go into the stock assessment for managing the fishery. Fisheries and Oceans Canada are partners in this survey. Hake takes you down many paths because their diet and habitat are tied to other species. For example, krill are a major prey item in the diet of hake, so understanding krill biomass and distribution is important to the hake story as well. Rockfish also have an affinity for a similar habitat to hake in rockier areas near the shelf break, so we use acoustics and trawling to distinguish between the two. 

What’s your educational background?

My undergraduate degree from University of Washington was in geological oceanography. I began with NOAA in 1993 and worked for the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory’s Vents program to study hydrothermal systems. This involved a diverse team of scientists: chemical and physical oceanographers, biologists, and geologists. I got my Master’s in Geology at Vanderbilt but shifted to NOAA Fisheries in 2000 working in the Habitat Conservation and Engineering (HCE) Program where we looked at habitat associations of rockfish. We looked at ROV and submersible video of the rocky banks off Oregon to identify fish and their geological surroundings. The HCE program shifted its focus to reducing bycatch by experimenting with net modifications and I moved to the FEAT team.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I think one of the most important components of Team Lead is to be a supporter—supporting the facilitation of good science, supporting people. I also think about what I can do to support the overall mission of NOAA Fisheries. That’s my favorite thing, supporting others. I love when the focus is not on me!

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

Think about ways you can put yourself in the right place at the right time. Ask about volunteer opportunities. Ask questions, explore, think about what you want to do and look at people who are doing that—ask them how they got to that position. 

What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen at sea?

When I was with the NOAA Vents group in 1994 I got to go to the bottom of the seafloor in the submersible Alvin. I was in there for nine hours with one other scientist and Alvin’s pilot. You think you’re going to know what it looks like, because you’ve seen video, and you think you’re going to understand how it feels, but then you get down there and everything is bigger, more beautiful, in all its variation and glory. We navigated to a mid-ocean ridge system that had an eruption the year previously. There was bright yellow sulfur discharge on black basalt rocks… after all those hours looking at ROV video, to see it in person through the porthole was incredible.

Do you have a favorite book?

The 5 AM Club, by Robin Sharma. I’m a morning person, and this book lays out how to structure those early hours and set you up for a successful day. When I was little I loved The Little Mermaid story by Hans Christian Anderson—the original, not the Disney version. I grew up in Vancouver, Washington and was always asking my parents, “Can we go to the beach?”

Taxonomy of Sights

Day 11. Three lampreys in the bycatch! Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus).
Day 12. Blue Whales! I guess they read my blog post about the Gordon Lightfoot song. What may have been a blue shark came up near the surface, next to the ship. Strange creatures from the deep in the bycatch: gremlin looking grenadier fish.
Day 13. Pod of porpoises seen during marine mammal watch. 

the top of the blue whale is just visible at the surface; a cloud of spray from its spout reaches several feet above the water
Blue Whale. Photo by Nick Metheny, marine mammal and bird observer
close-up view of the head of a fish with a large eye and small sharp teeth
Grenadier Fish

You Might Be Wondering…

How often are safety drills?

Weekly drills keep all aboard well-practiced on what to do in case of fire, man overboard, or abandon ship. Daily meetings of department heads also address safety. One activity of monthly safety meetings is to review stories of safety failures on other ships to learn from those mistakes. Each time a member of NOAA Corps is assigned a new tour at sea they must complete a Survival-at-Sea course. The Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring division (FRAM) also requires yearly Sea Safety Training for the scientists. “Ditch Kits,” found throughout the ship, contain: a rescue whistle, leatherman, food rations & water, and emergency blankets. Additionally, there are multiple navigation and communication tools in the ditch kit: a traditional compass, a handheld Garmin GPS, a boat-assigned PLB (personal locator beacon) registered with the Coast Guard, and a VHF radio with battery backup providing access to marine channel 16.   

After a tour of the engine rooms, I learned that the diesel engines also have built in Emergency Diesel Generators (EDG). If you look up at the lights on the mess deck you’ll see some of the light fixtures have a red and white “E” next to them. This label indicates which would be powered by the generators, and which would not. 

Close-up view of a yellow handheld electronic device. It is labeled ACR, ResQLink+, Buoyant 406 Mhz Personal Locator Beacon. GPS Give Clear view to Sky. It is photographed next to an orange bag labeled Mustang Survival.
An individual Personal Locator Beacon is also assigned–in addition to ditch kit and lifeboat supplies.
Jenny stands on deck, wearing an orange survival suit, with yellow accents and gloves. She reaches both hands triumphantly toward a clear blue sky. We can see that she is wearing a Teacher at Sea beanie.
Teacher at Sea Gapp, trying on an immersion suit.

Floating Facts

The NOAA Corps is not a part of a union, however there are unions that advocate for other NOAA employees. Licensed engineers are a part of MEBA, The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association. Non-licensed positions are represented by SIU, Seafarers International Union. Both of these unions are a part of AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S.

I had been curious whether there was a database that housed an inclusive list of NOAA Fisheries field research, and NOAA did not disappoint. You can find the Fishery-Independent Surveys System (FINNS) here, and browse as a guest. I’m now brainstorming how I might use the database with students—perhaps as a scavenger hunt—to have them practice their search skills. You can search by: fiscal year, fiscal quarter, science center, survey status, and platform type. 

Which Cook Inlet species is the subject of Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) 2023 research, which is underway in a small boat?
Hint: Raffi 

Another tool I’m looking forward to using in the classroom is NOAA’s Species Directory, which can serve as a scientifically sound encyclopedia for ocean animal reports conducted by students.

Librarian at Sea

“The sea is a desert of waves,
A wilderness of water.”― Langston Hughes, Selected Poems

This quote from Hughes’ poem, Long Trip, had me thinking about the surface of the ocean. I have seen the surface in many states over the past days: soft folds, jagged white-tipped peaks, teal, turquoise, indigo. Sometimes there are long snaking paths of water that have an entirely different surface than water adjacent. Whether it is due to currents colliding, chemical process, biological process, temperature difference—I cannot say. If I were to anthropomorphize the phenomena, I’d say these lines are wrinkles, as the ocean creases into different expressions. A hint of what lies within and beneath.

It also has me thinking about the interviews I’ve conducted with the people on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. I started with a superficial name and title, a face on a board near the Acoustics Lab depicting all hands on Leg 3. When I sat down to talk with people representing Scientists, Engineers, Deck Crew, Electronics, Officers, Survey, and Steward, I began to unspool colorful stories from a broad spectrum of life experiences, many from divergent habitats, all who have converged here to do in essence what the concierge at my Newport hotel said to me as I walked out the door, “Keep our oceans safe!” A tall order in so few words. From shore we’re a small white blip on the horizon; up close there’s a frenzy of activity, a range of expertise, a conviction that our actions can improve living for humans, for hake, and for all the species in Earth’s collective ecosystem.  

a view of the surface of the ocean extending toward the horizon on a clear day
A wilderness of blue water.

Hook, Line, and Thinker

We opened up a hake in the Wet Lab today to find it had a green liver. Why? Parasites? A bacterial infection? An allergy to krill? There’s always more beneath the surface, more stories to suss out. This is what makes science exciting, what makes living with 30+ strangers exciting. It’s what I enjoy about teaching. 

How do the albatross know when we’re hauling back a net full of hake? They seem to appear out of nowhere. First a couple, then maybe 40 of them materialize around the net, squabbling over fish bits. 

Have you ever discovered something unexpected and wondered about its origins?
How could the scientific method support you in finding out an answer… or to at least develop a theory?

A Bobbing Bibliography

Known as “charts” at sea and “maps” on land, NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada has a small library of charts. Find out more at NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey. Paper charts are actually being phased out. “NOAA has already started to cancel individual charts and will shut down all production and maintenance of traditional paper nautical charts and the associated raster chart products and services by January 2025.”

view of a stack of long, thin metal drawers with printed labels, most too small to read in the photo
Paper chart library on the bridge.
photo of a portion of a paper nautical chart
Nautical chart of Oregon’s southern coast.
Posted on

Jenny Gapp: “Lhuk xaa-ghii-la” (I found a fish), August 1, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23, 2023 – August 5, 2023

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 5)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the Northern California Coast working north back toward coastal waters off Oregon.
Date: Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Weather Data from the Bridge
Sunrise 0613 | Sunset 2034
Current Time:  0900 (9:00 am Pacific Daylight Time)
Lat  42 32.8 N, Lon 125 00.9 W
Visibility: <1 nm (nautical miles)
Sky condition: Overcast
Present weather: Fog
Wind Speed:  15 knots
Wind Direction: 350°
Barometer: 1017.9 mb
Sea Wave height: 2 ft | Swell: 340°, 3 ft
Sea temp: 16.6°C | Air Temp: 16°C
Course Over Ground (COG): 090.2°
Speed Over Ground (SOG): 9.9 knots

Science and Technology Log

Second Engineer Justin Halle provided a tour yesterday of the engine room and associated machinery kept running smoothly by the Engineering Department. Four Caterpillar brand diesel engines use about 1,800 gallons of fuel per day, although that number fluctuates depending on operations and weather. There are multiple fuel tanks in reserve that hold 5 – 15,000 gallons. A fuel manifold regulates fluid intake and a camera is fixed on fuel levels so the engineers can monitor them. Two valves per tank allow for filling or suction. Water evaporators separate sludge and water to keep fuel clean and bacteria free. We also looked up the exhaust shaft which vents out the top of the ship above the level of the flying bridge. 

We viewed the propellor shaft that drives the main propulsion of the ship. A secondary means of propulsion is the bow thruster, but it is primarily used in close quarters situations such as docking and undocking. We did not view the bow thruster on our tour. 

two diesel engines, main components painted mustard yellow
Two of the four diesel engines.
looks like an electrical box, a cylinder, pipes and tubes
OWS – oil & water separator
metal piping with 6-7 different wheels that can be turned to adjust the flow
The fuel manifold.
looks like pipes
The vacuum system that sucks our fluids down the drain.
Justin faces away from the camera toward a control panel with at least two monitors, buttons, indicator lights, a lever. He reaches his right hand toward one of the monitor screens.
Second Engineer Justin Halle at the control panel.
a workbench, mostly empty; on the wall behind it are mounted dozens of tools, such as screwdrivers and wrenches, neatly arranged by size and type
A tidy workbench.

There’s a whole water treatment system. The sewage part has a macerator that blends up, er, things just like the Ninja blender in your kitchen. Treated wastewater is vented to the ocean every few days, but cannot be pumped within three miles offshore or within marine sanctuaries. We consume approximately 1,400 gallons of water per day, and the ship can make potable water from seawater through reverse osmosis, evaporators, and water brought aboard from port. Water is treated with bromine, which is often used as an alternative to chlorine in swimming pools.

Workbenches and tools are kept tidy, with some tools and parts kept in a veritable library of large metal cabinets. An impressive control panel allows the engineers to look at the status of various systems at a glance. Performance logic controllers enable engineers to turn things on or off in the engine room from the control panel. Additional screens show a camera feed of potable water levels, the propulsion system, and the fire pump (only accessible down a hatch in the bow thruster space), which are all prone to flooding. 
Additional specifications for NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada can be viewed here. 

Career feature

Matt, wearing sunglasses and an orange apron, stands at a cutting board mounted on deck near a railing; we can see whitecap waves just beyond the cutting board. He wears a glove on his left hand and holds a fish steady, cutting with his right to fillet the fish. To his right is a pile of filets. He appears engrossed in his work.
Matt fillets rockfish caught in the bycatch for a special lunchtime treat.

Matt McFarland, Chief Bosun

Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

We do a lot of fishing operations and I run all the gear. I run the nets and the winches. I put the nets out wherever the scientists are seeing the fish and we’ll go down to that depth. I’m responsible for the efficiency of the operation and safety of the six deck hands I have underneath me.

Note: Matt is also a “plank owner” meaning he was a member of the ship’s crew prior to the vessel being placed in commission. So, he has been with the Shimada before it was owned by NOAA and still belonged to the shipyard. The ship was built in Moss Point, Mississippi and Matt was a part of the crew when it was taken through the Panama Canal to serve in research operations on the West Coast.

What’s your educational background?

I grew up commercial fishing.  After high school I went to a technical college for marine technology. So I can work at marinas, on boats and motors and this and that. After school I went back to commercial fishing for a while along with carpentry to supplement. Then about 2008 I decided I wanted to be a professional mariner and get my U.S. Coast Guard license. From there I found out about NOAA, joined in 2009 and have been here ever since. The Coast Guard license is about a three-week course; they teach you basic seamanship.  In order to be in my position out on the ocean you need an AB, meaning able bodied seaman. The Ordinary Seaman (OS) is entry-level and I worked my way up over the years. So on the fishing boats we have different levels: general vessel assistant (OS), fisherman (the equivalent of an AB), the next step is skilled fisherman, then lead fisherman, then Chief Bosun is the leader of the Deck Department.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy the ocean. I love being out here. Growing up in commercial fishing, you work really hard and there’s no guarantee you’re going to get paid: if you don’t catch fish you don’t get a paycheck. So being here with NOAA means I get to continue to do what I love and if we don’t catch fish I still get paid. It’s a secure job. I have a passion for getting the science right and making sure things are getting done the way they should be done. We’re making regulations for the commercial industry and if our science is faulty, if we aren’t being efficient, then that’s not fair to them. I have family in commercial fishing, so it’s important to me. A lot of these guys are new to sailing and have never fished, so I’m passing on that knowledge. This isn’t as grueling as commercial fishing. It’s important to me to keep the industry going and get the science right. 

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

Start with small trips. Make sure you like it. It’s not always beautiful out here. Some days there are rough seas, some people get sick, and for some people it’s just not for them. I would encourage youth to pursue it though. It’s a good way to get away from the news–you’re in your own little world out here. It’s a nice alternative lifestyle. 

Do you have a favorite book?

I’d say Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling. The 1937 film version was actually done in my hometown of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Gloucester is the oldest commercial fishing seaport in the United States. (The link will take you to some oral histories of Gloucester residents.)

Laura, wearing a navy blue NOAA Corps uniform, stands at a map table on the bridge. She holds a protractor in her right hand and looks down at a nautical chart spread out across the table.
XO Gibson considers a route using the nautical charts.

Laura Gibson, XO

Give us a brief job description of what you do on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

My job is the administrative side of the ship which includes staffing, budget, and spending a lot of time at my desk.

What’s your educational background?

I went to college in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I have a Bachelor’s in Science with a Geology focus.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy the camaraderie of the crew. Sometimes we’ll play games. I have a good time and feel like I’m doing a fine job when they are having a good time. 

What advice do you have for a young person interested in ocean-related careers?

If you’re not opposed to sailing, check it out; there’s a high demand. It’s not the easiest lifestyle for everyone. You could be very successful at a young age in a maritime career. There’s a clear path forward. I was a merchant mariner before sailing with NOAA. They call it coming up the hawse pipe when you learn on deck how a ship works. I didn’t go to an academy but learned on the job. I accepted a commission with NOAA as a junior officer and started on NOAA Ship Pisces in Mississippi 14 years ago. While on the Pisces I helped with the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. I was proud to be a part of the fleet of vessels that supported the aftermath of that event.  

Do you have a favorite book?

The Gunslinger or Misery, by Steven King. I’m a King fan. 

Taxonomy of Sights

Apparently there are more marine mammal sightings in Southern California and fewer as you head north. However, there have been whale spouts sighted every day. Our Chief Scientist says the humpback sightings pick up near Vancouver Island and waters north–although Leg 3 doesn’t extend that far..

Day 8. Bycatch highlights: splitnose rockfish, a 43-lb squid, the egg case of a skate, and a single lamprey. In the evening: whale spouts from the flying deck, and an aerial show from a brown booby (a seabird not normally seen this far north; it may have been a sub-species called Brewster’s brown booby) attempting to land on the jack staff and then on the bow–with limited success in a 24 knot wind
Day 9. Saw Humpback flukes as they dove.
Day 10. Beautiful shades of ocean blue…

a brown bird in flight over the water; it has a white face and a narrow bill
Brewster’s brown booby
photo taken by Nick, OSU Marine Mammal & Bird Observer

You Might Be Wondering…

How’s the food?

I am told our Chief Steward, Ronnie Pimentel, is one of the best in the NOAA fleet.
Ronnie and Rich Lynch (Second Cook) tirelessly serve up breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Creamy breakfast grits, blueberry pancakes, pulled pork sandwiches, soups, peanut butter cookies, lamb chops, taco Tuesdays, pizza night, yuuuum. Ronnie has been with NOAA for a year, and prior to that served the Navy 21 years as a Steward. Ronnie spends about $15,000 a month on food, which varies depending on the length of the voyage. Food is stored in two freezers (one large, one small) and two chill boxes (one large, one small). He typically uses about 300lbs of frozen vegetables, and has about one case of each type of food, like one of apples, one of bananas, etc. Depending on the size and tastes of the crew he’ll pack 60lbs of bacon, and various cakes for tempting treats.  

plated meal of some sort of meat, fish topped with lemon slices, oyster, rice
tasty dinner
plated meal of scrambled eggs with ham, cut fruit, and probably French toast
tasty breakfast

Floating Facts

NOAA Corps is the eighth uniformed service in the United States, although it is not an armed force—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force—and falls under the Department of Commerce, not the Department of Defense (DOD). Interestingly, the U.S. Coast Guard is not under the DOD either, but acts as a military branch and federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The Public Health Service is the other unarmed, but uniformed service. 

NOAA Corps has the same benefits and rank system as the military. Currently NOAA Corps has three admirals. Read more about one of the admirals here. Officers are “active duty” meaning they have full-time employment and may be directed to go where they are needed. The term “billet” refers to the current job in which an officer is placed. Members of the Corps do a rotation of two years at sea and three years on land. 

Personal Log

I have clean clothes! While using the washer and dryer machines on Sunday I saw why cleaning the lint traps is taken so seriously.

A photo of a laminated image of a container ship on fire, with this message printed on top of the image: July 27, 1996 - Fire aboard cruise ship Universe Explorer, Pacific Ocean off Alaska. Estimated damage to vessel: $1.5 million, serious/minor injuries: 56, deaths: 5. Location of Fire: Main Laundry Room. July 20, 1998 - Fire aboard M/S Ecstasy off Miami, Florida. Onboard: 2516 passengers and 916 crew. Estimated damage: $17 million. Location of fire: Laundry room. Feb 26, 2008 - Fire aboard F/V Pacific Glacier of Glacier Fish Company, Bering Sea. Firefighters: 16. Lifeboats deployed: all of them. Fire burn time: 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm local time (that's FIVE hours of fighting a fire!). Location of Fire: Forward Laundry Room. The leading cause of fire on a boat is dirty lint traps in dryers. Don't be the chump who gets caught with clothes in the dryer when the lint trap catches on fire. Clean out the lint trap BEFORE AND AFTER you use the dryer. Clean the lint trap, save lives. Go on, be a hero.
Clean the lint trap, save lives
three columns of dryers stacked on washing machines in the laundry room
Washing machines and dryers

Humor is the best medicine, and a great way to reckon with being cooped up on a ship for two weeks with 33 people. While reading through some posted protocols in the acoustics lab I came across this gem in the last row of “Shimada Sonar Frequencies.”

A printed table of sonar frequency protocols, affixed to a metal surface (perhaps a cabinet) by a magnet that reads: Do Not Disturb, Already disturbed. The table has columns labeled: Sounder, Freq, Purpose, Mounting Location, Beam Angle (Degrees), Power (Watts.) Most of the entries read something like: Sounder - EX-60, Freq - 18 khz, Purpose - Quantitative Biomass Survey, Mounting Location - Center Board, Beam Angle - 11 degrees, Power - 2000 watts. The last entry reads: Sounder - ST Screaming, Freq - 30-21000 Hz, Purpose - Catharsis, Mounting Location - Entire Ship, Beam Angle - 180 degrees, Power - situation dependent.
Shimada Sonar Frequencies

Another bit of humor comes from the bridge, where there used to be eight camera buttons. For the record, there are NO torpedo tubes aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada.

photo of a computer monitor on the bridge. above the screen is a row of eight square buttons, numbered 1-8. above those buttons is a label, from a label maker, reading FIRE TORPEDO
Repurposed camera buttons

I am attempting to collect permissible items from the catch, such as hake young-of-the-year, to take back to my classroom and incorporate in lessons for students. In doing so, I’m getting a crash course in properly preparing wet specimens. My first lesson was that freezing is the best route until items can be processed. This site was helpful to me in figuring out what additional tools I needed to do it properly. While I brought several glass vials for collecting, I did not bring formalin, isopropyl alcohol, or needles. So, for the duration of the research cruise my specimens are in the freezer. I live close to my port of return and so have a personal vehicle to transport items home. For future Teachers at Sea: If you are flying, there are limits in checked baggage. There are also strict rules for shipping. Start your research about shipping hazardous fluids here with FedEx, or here in a publication from Oregon State University.

Librarian at Sea

Librarians specialize in acquiring, organizing, and disseminating information for their target populations. The NOAA Central Library provides access to seminars, journals, NOAA publications, and daily weather maps to name a few. Then there’s NOAA’s Photo Library, which has over 80,000 searchable images in its online database. If you type in “hake” there are 114 results. I anticipate incorporating both databases into future lessons for my students. 

Jenny, in full wet gear - overalls, boots, jacket, gloves - lies on her back on the floor of the wet lab next to a squid longer than she is. The squid is definitely not contemplating life.
A squid and I contemplate life in the Wet Lab.
view of the front half of a lamprey on a metal surface.
Lamprey
a shark swimming in calm waters. only its dorsal fin just barely breaks the surface and leaves a small wave. we can see the outline the shark's body underwater.
Porbeagle shark photo taken by Nick, OSU Marine Mammal & Bird Observer

Hook, Line and Thinker

The title of today’s post comes from Siletz Nee-Di, an endangered language spoken by some of Oregon’s First People. In 1977, The Confederated Tribes of Siletz were second in the nation and first in Oregon to regain federal recognition. What is now Newport, Oregon was originally home to villages and family groups of the confederation—whose descendants still live in the area.

NOAA Fisheries includes tribal, indigenous, and underserved communities in their strategic priorities for 2023. (See strategy 1.5 in the document available here.) Oregon’s Senate Bill 13 (Tribal History/Shared History) directs educators to include curriculum about contemporary indigenous communities. I am interested in knowing more how NOAA Fisheries partners with local stakeholders in Oregon. 

If access to your family’s traditional fishing grounds—a primary source of food and revenue—were suddenly cut off, what would you do to regain entry to those waters?

Read about a Washington state tribal leader who fought for fishing rights and will soon have a U.S. Navy ship named after him. 

quote superimposed on a photo of Pyramid Lake: "What's good for the fish is what's good for the people." Attributed to Norm Harry, Former Chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.
“What’s good for the fish is what’s good for the people.”
Map of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Ancestral Tribes and Homelands, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Cascade Mountains, and from the Columbia River south a bit past the Oregon/California border
Map of Ancestral Tribal Homelands along the Oregon Coast
flag of the confederated tribes of Siletz Indians: mostly white, with a circle in the center that contains images of a mountain, a stream, a salmon
Flag of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

A Bobbing Bibliography
Favorite books among the science crew:

Nick – The Earthsea Saga, by Ursula K. LeGuin
Ethan – The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, by Alice Schroeder
Liz – A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold
Jake – In the Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
Sam – Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens

sunset over the ocean: a narrow band of red sky between glassy gray ocean and billowing gray clouds
Sunset meditation.
Posted on

Jenny Gapp: An Ode to Big Blue, July 29, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23 – August 5, 2023

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 5)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the Northern California Coast working north back toward coastal waters off Oregon.
Date: July 29, 2023

Weather Data from the Bridge

Sunrise 0616 | Sunset 2037
Current Time:  1500 (3pm Pacific Daylight Time)
Lat 41 06.7 N, Lon 124 37.6 W
Visibility:  10 nm (nautical miles)
Sky condition: A few clouds
Wind Speed:  13 knots
Wind Direction: 334°
Barometer:  1019.7 mb
Sea Wave height: 2-3 ft | Swell: 330°, 3-4 ft
Sea temp: 14.1°C | Air Temp: 17.6°C

Science and Technology Log

Hake are not the only thing being studied during this mission. In the Chemistry Lab, there are a variety of ongoing tests. Every few transects, seawater is collected and tested for Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs). A vacuum pump sucks the sample through a 0.45um filter, which is then removed and placed into a test tube for microscopic study. The Southern California coast is currently dealing with a bloom toxic to animals. Scientists want to know if the bloom is drifting north. Blooms are a natural phenomenon, but human activity cannot be ruled out from having an impact.

water filtration equipment, and a datasheet on a clipboard, on a metal table
HAB test in the Chem Lab

A seawater pump connects to a software program that allows you to see images of phytoplankton being photographed in real time as they are sucked past the camera. Phytoplankton forms the base of the aquatic food web. They provide food for huge whales, small fish, invertebrates, and zooplankton. Plankton makes up 95% of life in the ocean, they generate half of our oxygen and absorb carbon. A sudden removal of phytoplankton would result in a collapse of aquatic ecosystems, and would accelerate climate change further.

The phytoplankton images are taken using a robotic microscope automating identification. The name of the artificial intelligence is Imaging Flow CytoBot (IFCB). Flow cytometry uses lasers to create both scattered and fluorescent light signals. These signals are read by photosensitive diodes and tubes, and then those signals can be converted electronically to be read by a computer. The data gathered enables ecosystem modeling, and can act as an early warning to toxic blooms. 

photo of a computer screen displaying data and a black and white image of a magnified phytoplankton
Image of phytoplankton captured by the IFCB
equipment - looks like a large black tube with wires sticking out of it, clamped to the side of a metal sink
The Chem Lab’s seawater pump.

Career feature

Steve stands at a line of computer screens and keyboards on the bridge. Through the bridge windows, we can make out blue water. Steve holds what might be an electronic pad in his left hand and a stylus in his right hand. He looks down, focused on his work.
Chief Scientist, Steve de Blois, on the bridge during a trawl.

Steve de Blois, Chief Scientist

Steve’s favorite thing about his job is getting out in nature, seeing, and photographing marine mammals. Even though the hours are long, the commute is short when you’re at sea! His educational background includes an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and a Master’s from Humboldt State University (now called Cal Poly Humboldt) in marine mammals. It was tough finding work after graduate school since working with marine mammals generally holds more appeal than fish, and thus more people are competing for a finite number of jobs. Once Steve secured a job at one of NOAA’s regional offices, he found out about other opportunities and ended up on a walleye pollock acoustic trawl survey in Alaska. This is where he had one of those National Geographic moments where the scenery is so stunning it touches you at your core. He has been with NOAA since 1990—the same year the Teacher at Sea Program began. 

Steve’s advice for young people interested in ocean-related careers is to focus on getting your education. He states that getting a graduate degree (PhD and/or Master’s) will make you more competitive in the scientific community. However, he also advises, “get experience.” Nothing can compare to first-hand experience and there are many opportunities for volunteering in the field, in marine labs, and on ships.

During his leisure time, Steve prefers to fly his home-built plane (A Zenith CH 650), go scuba diving, and enjoy photography. When it comes to reading he prefers nonfiction. He has German heritage on his mother’s side and shared some personal history of family members surviving both World War One and World War Two. This part of his family tree has increased his interest in true tales about World War Two German fighter pilots. In his youth, he absorbed science fiction novels by Arthur C. Clarke and recalls enjoying Dune, by Frank Herbert. Recently, he read Rachel Carson’s classic The Sea Around Us and was impressed by its lyrical prose.

Steve has patiently taught me about how to detect hake sign on an echogram. Acoustically speaking, hake have a unique characteristic. The visualized pings usually show hake near the slope of the continental shelf, and they appear as a diffuse cloud of colored pixels, or as a “hakey snakey” line gently curving up and down.  A calculation called NASC, Nautical Area Scattering Coefficient, makes an estimate of individuals in that defined area drawn by scientists.

The acoustic echogram has a color key representing the strength of return on what the sound waves bounce off. The color scale looks something like you’d see in an art room class teaching color theory. The weakest return is signified by a pale grey to dark, then a light blue shade into dark, the blue turns teal as it morphs into greens, then when yellow appears the scientists start getting excited. After yellow is orange, pink, then many shades of red ending with a deep magenta. The ocean floor appears as deep magenta. On Leg 2 the Shimada saw several very dense balls of fish; these fish are likely herring or sardines, species smaller than hake.  The acoustic return from these very dense balls of fish is extremely high—their color in the acoustic software is easily deep red, almost brown.

a screenshot likely of a powerpoint slide combining several graphs. most are grids with thousands of colored dots on them, representing acoustic signatures. diagonal, jagged lines of darker colors mark the seafloor. this slide is labeled AWT 27, Transect 38, July 27, 2023. 40 degrees 36.67'N, 124 degrees 31.82'W. 15:05 PDT (22:05 GMT), 20.7 min. TD 210 m/bottom depth 550 m.
The thicker reddish brown line you see is the continental shelf/ocean floor. The greenish-yellow cloud represents an acoustic signature historically found to be hake. The thin red lines in the echograms on the right represent the head rope from imaging by the SBE (Sea-Bird Electronics) camera, aka “the turtle.”

Taxonomy of Sights

Day 5. Bycatch highlights: Intact squid, Chinook salmon (also known as King salmon), and excited albatross following a record haul.

Day 6. More salmon, two kinds of rockfish, a Thetys vagina salp (more on the awkward name here), and a marine hatchetfish so small my camera found it difficult to focus on. Ethan Beyer, Wet Lab Lead, shared a trick to determine the difference between a yellowtail rockfish and widow rockfish (they look similar). The difference? Widow rockfish have a “widdle” mouth. Meaning, the mouth is smaller than the yellowtail’s (ha, ha). The two types of rockfish we caught were the widow and the shortbelly (Ethan says they make great tacos!) Speaking of tacos, the widow rockfish are due to make an appearance on our mess deck menu soon. 

Day 7. Not much…

You Might Be Wondering…

What is the furthest you’ve been from shore?
To date (July 28th), an extension of transect 39 took us a total of 62 nautical miles from shore, which beat our extension record on Wednesday, July 26th. Leg 3 has extended more transects than Leg 2. The reason for extending a transect is to go where the fish sign is. The NOAA Fisheries protocol is to discover what the western extent is for schools of hake on that transect. So, they wait for at least one mile without seeing hake before ending the transect.

What is the deepest trawl you’ve made?
So far on Leg 3 we’ve gone 400 meters (about a quarter of a mile) to reach a target depth. Simply put, target depth is where the fish are estimated to be.

Floating Facts

Vocabulary

Bycatch – Some dictionaries call them unwanted creatures caught in the pursuit of a different species. NOAA however, thinks it worthwhile to catalog the biomass of these tag-alongs.

Biomass – The total weight (sometimes quantity) of a species in a given area or given volume.

One of these things is not like the others
Tow, Haul, and Trawl are used interchangeably in reference to fishing.
“Catch” is what we’ve caught in the net.

Survey Permits

You know how you ask permission at school and at home to do a thing? The hake survey requires a number of permits to conduct its research. A permit is an official document saying you have asked for and been granted permission. 

NOAA’s Western Region office issues “Authorizations and Permits for Protected Species.” The protected species are salmon and eulachon, a thin silvery thing about the size of a herring. The permit dictates what you can (measure and weigh it) and can’t do (eat it) with protected species.

A state’s jurisdiction over ocean waters only extends three nautical miles from shore. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife wants to know the number of all species caught off its coast. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife issues a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) along with a permit. The MOU calls out particular species they are interested in: longfin smelt, coho and chinook salmon. 

Jenny stands in the wet lab holding a sizable salmon with two hands. She wears black gloves, black overalls, and a Teacher at Sea beanie.
I should be frowning – we don’t intend to be pulling salmon out of the water. However, their appearance does contribute to data about the health of their populations.

While fishing rarely ever happens in Alaskan waters during the hake survey, the Department of Fish and Game issues a permit that is shared with Canadian colleagues who may pursue hake further north. Waters defined by NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries have their own monitoring system and permit issuance. The hake survey passes through three sanctuaries in California waters and one in Washington (the Olympic Coast). Finally, the West Coast Region of NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) issues a permit and requires a record of all species caught in U.S. waters, so a grand total of sorts for all states involved. 

Personal Log

Thursday was a huge improvement over the icky Wednesday ride. We made two successful trawls, and two trawls on Friday. Wet Lab Lead, Ethan Beyer, commented during fish processing on Friday, “I feel like I’m the world’s foremost expert on the visual maturity of hake. I look at a lot of hake gonads.” This was memorable.

Saturday dawned with too much fishing line in the water to do anything so we waited until we moved past it before dipping the net in. We did squeeze in a catch before lunch, but it produced exactly one hake among the usual lanternfish and pyrosomes. Disappointing for the science crew.

Note: In an earlier post I referred to lanternfish as “lampfish,” which is incorrect. I’ve also been calling Dramamine “dopamine” for some reason. I’ll blame it on the mild disorientation that is caused by floating around on the ocean.

My Daily Routine

I wake around 0600 and sometimes make it up to the flying bridge to see the sunrise, but usually go up regardless before breakfast to view the morning light. I stop in at the acoustics lab to sit at my workstation, blog a bit, and see what hake sign there is on the echogram (software visualization of what lies beneath us). Breakfast is served at 0700, then I return to acoustics to stay up to date on when we’re going fishing.

When you hear, “Fishing, fishing, fishing,” on the radio you know it’s almost time for the marine mammal watch. Marine mammal watch happens on the bridge, and I continue watching for a while even after the watch ends. I’ll stay up there for most of the trawl until I hear, ”Doors at the surface.” (More on the stages of a trawl next time.)

Next, I’ll go to the “ready room” in the wet lab where boots and fishy rubber overalls are stored. Blog post three walked you through what we do in the Wet Lab once the catch has been dumped in the crate. Processing species takes us into lunch hour at 1100.

A second trawl after lunch, and assuming the catch is decent, processing will take us to dinner. I have down time after dinner, watch the evening light if the weather is amenable, then return to acoustics for more blog time. I’m in bed somewhere between 2030 and 2230.

While there is a general routine, no day is exactly alike. On Saturday I assisted Ethan with collecting sea water from a vertical net dipped by a crane to 100 meters. Scientists will look at the plankton, krill, and other small species to determine stratification and measure abundance.

three crewmembers, wearing hard hats and life vests, guide the narrow end of a suspended vertical net down toward the deck for emptying. it's a clear day and the water is fairly calm.
Deck and Survey Crews work with Ethan to collect samples from the vertical net.
two crewmembers wearing hard hats and life vests work to unhook a large weight from the base of a net suspended high above them. The image focuses on Ethan, in the foreground, while the second crewmember's face is largely obscured by the net's codend.
Wet Lab Lead, Ethan Beyer, removing a weight on the vert net.
close up view of a glass jar of cloudy water, with a white screw-top lid, sitting on a table.
Plankton floating at the top of a sample.

Librarian at Sea

“It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life. But the sea, though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist; the threat is rather to life itself.”― Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us

The cover of Rachel Carson’s book, The Sea Around Us, appears on the wall of the dining room at Sylvia Beach Hotel where I stayed prior to the departure of leg three. Her poetic approach to scientific insight continues to inspire readers. The book I brought with me on the ship does something similar. In How Far the Light Reaches, author Sabrina Imbler blends personal memoir with profiles of ten sea creatures. Imbler attempts to keep metaphors and personal (human) parallels at a distance from the scientific integrity of species. Both titles are recommended reading.

image of the cover of How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler.
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler
photo of an old copy of The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson mounted to a red wall
The Sea Around Us by Rachel L. Carson

Hook, Line, and Thinker

When I was a kid, my Dad sometimes sang Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Ode to Big Blue’ as a lullaby before bed. It’s one of the only songs I know all the lyrics to, although sometimes I scramble the verses up. I think it was my first exposure to the tension between commerce and the sustainability of natural resources. The sixth verse says,

Now the gray whale is run and the sperm is almost done
The finbacks and the Greenland rights have all passed and gone
They’ve been taken by the men for the money they could spend
And the killing never ends it just goes on

Herein lies another ethical debate on balancing preservation, economics, and the needs and wants of Homo sapiens. The song celebrates the natural wonder of whales alongside the biting reality of human enterprise.

In April 2023 NOAA released a 2022 Status of Stocks report. Data displayed overfishing status of 490+ stocks managed by NOAA. 

a NOAA Fisheries infographic showing two pie graphs in the shape of fish silhouettes. the first is labeled 355 Stocks with Known Overfishing Status. This graph shows that 93% are not subject to overfishing (331 stocks) while 7% (just the tip of the tail of this snapper-shaped fish) are subject to overfishing (24 stocks). The other graph is labeled 249 Stocks with Known Overfishing Status. It shows that 81% are not overfished (201 stocks) while 19% (a little more than the tail of this tuna-shaped fish) are overfished (48 stocks).



NOAA Fisheries assistant administrator, Janet Coit, said in the Status of Stocks news release, “Managing fisheries sustainably is an adaptive process, relying on sound science and innovation to conserve species and habitat, and meet the challenge of increasing our nation’s seafood supply in the face of climate change.” NOAA Fisheries priorities for fiscal year 2023 are full of words like: sustainability, resilience, mitigate, adapt, diversify, ensure equity, safeguard, propel recovery, conservation, protect, and restore. NOAA continuously strives to balance the scales between conservation and consumption.

What are the ethical concerns that should guide economics?
Is it possible to view the ocean other than as a natural resource?
Is that view in fact imperative to the sustainability of life on Earth?

A Bobbing Bibliography

If you keep your eye out for books, you will find them. Tucked away on the bridge is a shelf containing…

photo of books on a shelf. we see: Marine Weather, Cold Weather Handbook... , Dutton's Nautical Navigation, Solas, American Merchant Seaman's Manual sixth edition, Shiphandling with Tugs second edition, Watch Officer's Guide fifteenth edition, Stability and Trim for the Ship's Officer fourth edition, Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions sixth edition, The Bluejacket's Manual, Nautical Almanac 2023, Nautical Almanac 1981
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Jenny Gapp: Aboard a Floating Library of Data, July 27, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23, 2023 – August 5, 2023

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 5)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the Northern California Coast working north back toward coastal waters off Oregon.
Date: July 26, 2023

Weather Data from the Bridge

Sunrise 6:31am | Sunset 8:46pm
Current Time:  0700 (7:00am Pacific Daylight Time)
Lat 40 16.7 N, Lon 124 33.6 W
Visibility: 10 nm (nautical miles)
Sky condition: broken cloud cover, aka partly sunny
Wind Speed: 25 knots
Wind Direction: 355°
Barometer: 1014.3 mb
Sea Wave height: 4-5 ft | Swell: 340°, 6-8 ft
Sea temp: 9.8°C | Air Temp: 12.6°C

Science and Technology Log

The Wet Lab:

In addition to interviewing members of the crew, working on my blog, and doing a bit of independent research, I am here to help in the wet lab. What does this entail? It begins with waiting. First, there is a marine mammal watch that lasts for 10 minutes. If an animal is within 500 meters we wait until it moves off. Then a second 10-minute watch is started. We continue monitoring mammal activity even after the net is deployed. Sometimes the navigation crew scouts the transect first to make sure the ocean floor won’t cause issues with the net when it is deployed. 

Deploying the net is a team effort among deck crew, navigation officers, and scientists. Once the net is off the reel and in the water, the crew disconnects the wire line to the reel and it is transferred to the doors. Winches connected to the trawl doors take the weight of the load. Depending on fish sign, the net is payed out according to depths the acousticians wish to fish at.

The length of time the net is streamed is also determined by the scientists. They monitor how many fish are going into the net via an FS70 third-wire trawl sonar which has a similar function to Doppler radar. Nicknamed “the turtle,” it is attached to the head rope. Sometimes there’s a “thunderstorm” of fish, and sometimes a “drizzle.” Once the acousticians have determined how much to punish the wet lab (joke), the lead scientist calls, “haul back.” The average fishing time is around 20 minutes, although it can be as little as a half minute in a fish thunderstorm or as long as 40 minutes in a fish drizzle. A sensor attached to the net records temperature and depth.

Once the net is back on board and we get a look at the catch size, a decision is made where to dump the haul. Under 100kg (220lbs), the catch goes in a black crate; over 100 kg, it goes into a hopper that leads to a conveyor belt inside the wet lab. The hopper door is opened a little at a time to avoid a fishy waterfall over the sides. Dominant species—hake in this case—go down the belt, and all other species are pulled out and sorted. 

a photo of a shark (only the front half, the head to the pectoral fins, is visible) on a metal table.
Brown cat shark
three crewmembers, wearing hard hats and life vests, bend down to work on a bright orange net
Removing the video camera
two small fish on a white background; they are narrow with very large eyes
Blue lantern fish
six plastic white bins or baskets containing different organisms (perhaps fish, squid, krill); two orange gloved hands reach into view
Sorting the species
a view mostly of the head of a viperfish on a metal table; its mouth is open wide to show its deep jaw and frightening teeth of different lengths
Viperfish


All our hauls to date have been on the smaller side, and so the net is hoisted and dumped into the black crate containing three smaller baskets. The deck crew slides this through double doors leading into the wet lab and we begin sorting species. Crew members often linger to see what cool things have been hauled aboard, and when they are impressive enough—like medium-sized squid and King-of-the-Salmon almost as long as you are tall—we take photos of each other, shaking our heads at the marvel of it. Ethan weighs the biomass of creatures that are not hake, then they go down the chute back to the ocean and return to the food chain. 

Jenny, wearing black overalls, rubber boots, gloves, and a Teacher at Sea hat, stands in the wet lab surrounded by plastic sorting bins. With her right hand, she hoists up a very large fish by its gills. it is pinkish in color, with a large head and a body that tapers all the way from a large round eye to the tail. the top of its open mouth is about in line with Jenny's hat, and the tip of its tail rests on her boot.
A King-of-the-Salmon almost as long as me!


The goal is 400 hake per haul, and to date we’ve counted 282 as the biggest catch. A handful of other species are measured, usually others that are commercially fished.

Depending on the number of hake collected, 50 have otoliths (ear bones) removed for aging and a random 10 of these have their stomachs examined. Krill and Blue lampfish appear to be favorite foods. A measuring device for the stomachs provides us with a number for the volume of food in their stomach.

If the ideal haul is taken, 350 hake are sexed and measured. The sexes are sorted into baskets of different colors: green (“little green men”) for the males and white (“snow white”) for the females. A set number of females have their liver and gonads taken for examination. I have yet to find out why just the females have this done.

After we’ve processed everything we clean the lab after each haul. If you don’t, the fishy aspect can get out of control quickly. Allegedly herrings are the smelliest. 

two scientists work at adjacent tables in the wet lab; Ethan in foreground, and Liz in the background. each wears navy blue shirts, orange overalls, orange gloves, and hats. they are working up fish on electronic boards connected to computer screens mounted above the tables. With his left hand, Ethan holds a sliced-open fish (probably a hake) steady; with his right, he reaches with tweezers to remove a part of the fish.
Ethan Beyer, Wet Lab Lead
Liz Ortiz, Fisheries Technician

Taxonomy of Sights

Day 3. Multiple whale spouts throughout the day. Species that appeared in our hauls: King- of-the-Salmon, Pyrosomes, Spiny dogfish, Brown cat shark, Glass shrimp, Jewel squid, and a viperfish that looked like the stuff of nightmares! A couple of albatross cruised behind us during one of the trawls, hoping for some fishy treats.

Day 4. One Jack mackerel mixed in with hake, a monitored species, so we took its measurements. One partial squid tangled in the trawl net.

You Might Be Wondering…

Do you have to wear a life jacket the whole time?

Life jackets and hard hats are required on the aft deck when there is an operation in progress. The safety mantra is, “If you don’t need to be on the deck, don’t go on the deck.” Each of us carries a PLB, or personal locator beacon, in the event of a worst-case scenario. Life jackets, along with immersion suits, are located in staterooms as well as the wet lab. No, I do not wear a life jacket while sleeping, showering, and spending time on the interior of the ship. Safety equipment is never far away. Emergency egress arrows show you a way out, and there are three emergency shower and eye wash stations on the ship. There are also devices called EEBD (Emergency Escape Breathing Device) that contain 15 minutes of oxygen. 

If you have questions you are curious about, please leave them in the comments section!

Floating Facts

Nautical Terms
Aft is the back of the boat where the trawling happens. The bow, or forward, is the front of the ship. Port is left, which you can distinguish from starboard because port and left have the same number of letters. Starboard is right. Stairs are referred to as “ladders,” walls are “bulkheads,” not to be confused with “bulwark,” which are the sides of the vessel above the main deck.

New Blue Economy
The “blue economy” is a new term for me. According to Dr. Richard Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere & NOAA Administrator, it’s “a knowledge-based economy, looking to the sea not just for extraction of material goods, but for data and information to address societal challenges and inspire their solutions.”

40% of the U.S. population lives in or near coastal communities. A NOAA article on the blue economy states, “If American coastal counties were an individual country, they would rank third in the world in gross domestic product, surpassed only by the United States and China.” I assume this means as compared to the remainder of the United States that do not qualify as a “coastal community.”

The demands of climate change only hasten the need for information about our oceans and coastal regions. NOAA serves as a foundation for the blue economy, providing free, open source data–temperature, water level, hydrography, fisheries health, pH, salinity, and surface currents to name a few. The shipping challenges that the recent global pandemic posed have increased the need for U.S. seaports to add terminals and piers. Maritime commerce is expected to triple by 2030. (source: New Blue Economy, NOAA)

Educator Resources
If you are an educator and have not been to the Oregon Coast STEM hub website, it is highly recommended. It is managed by Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center. There’s something for everyone, even if you and your students aren’t located in Oregon.

While aboard I learned that the University of Oregon—my alma mater—also has a Marine Biology program. In fact, U of O’s Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB), located in Charleston, Oregon near Coos Bay, is a field institute like the Hatfield Marine Science Center. OIMB also has a section on its website for educators including lessons and resources. There is some crossover with the STEM hub, but both sites are valuable and worth examining. Note that at the time of my visit to the OIMB site there were some broken links on the resources page. 

watercolor illustration of a Pacific giant octopus. handwritten words at the top read: HATFIELD MARINE SCIENCE CENTER Oregon State University.
A watercolor and pen drawing from a previous visit to HMSC.

Personal Log

The NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada has seven levels: (from top to bottom) flying bridge–where our marine mammal and bird observers spend much of their time; bridge–where officers spend much of their time, where navigation happens, where a marine mammal watch happens before a trawl, where the boatswain, also known as a bosun, (deck boss) has a view of the nets going in and out, operates the net reel and communicates between nav crew and deck crew; officers berth–along with the hospital and quarters for the Chief Engineer; science berth–including lounge and offices; labs, mess deck, and access to the aft deck where the net is pulled in and the catch is transferred to the wet lab; deck crew berth–along with gym, winch and trawl rooms, centerboard access; and finally additional machinery rooms–including one for the bow thruster. I have been promised a tour of the engine room toward the end of our cruise, so I am looking forward to that!

photo of an open metal locker with space for hanging clothes and smaller shelves for shoes, etc.
Stateroom locker
view of bunk beds (berths), with a metal ladder up to the top level. the upper one appears to be used for storage right now, filled with what might be survival suits in their bags. the lower berth has a reading light and a curtain.
Stateroom bunk
a crocheted seagull wearing a little red knit hat, perched on a bunk
The third bunkmate in our stateroom



Monday and Tuesday were great days, particularly Tuesday. I felt good, held all my meals, talked with a variety of crew members about their work, and got my hands dirty for the first time in the wet lab. Julia Clemons said of Tuesday, “It was a great day for science!” We made a record number of trawls—three—for the 2023 survey thus far.

sun rising over a mountain range beyond blue waters
Sunrise on Tuesday.
sun setting over the horizon
Sunset on Tuesday.
a gloved hand holds a fish (possibly a hake) straight toward the camera so we can see down its open mouth to its gill rakers
Oh, the horror of being seasick!


Highlights of Wednesday’s trawl were part of a squid tangled in the net (much larger than the jewel squid), and some baby hake. I got into a rhythm assisting Ethan with entering data. He measured, weighed, sexed, examined stomach contents of some, and removed otoliths. I supported by entering the barcodes from the otolith collection vials manually (nothing new for a librarian who has her own trouble with temperamental barcode scanners from time to time), entered sex and maturity level, entered data on stomach contents (primarily blue lanternfish, and euphausiids, aka krill).

a small squid on a metal table
Jewel squid
just the tentacles of another squid
Squid remnants
a fish on a white surface
Jack mackerel
a pile of seven small hake, about 10 cm long, rests at one end of the measuring board. this close-up photo shows the printed measuring lines and the board's name - Ichthystick - and logo, a stylized picture of a fish
Baby hake, known as fingerlings once scales and working fins are developed.

Librarian at Sea

“The world turns and the world spins, the tide runs in and the tide runs out, and there is nothing in the world more beautiful and more wonderful in all its evolved forms than two souls who look at each other straight on.” ~Gary D. Schmidt, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

In this middle-grade novel, a friendship is formed between Turner Buckminster, son of a preacher, and Lizzie Bright Griffin, a resident of Malaga Island. Malaga is located off the coast of Maine and was founded by people who were formerly enslaved. The quote above refers to a moment when the two young people are in a boat and Turner comes eye to eye with a whale five times the size of the dory they are traveling in. It reminds me a little of looking into the eyes of the creatures who come aboard in our net. I wonder if some are still capable of seeing… 

Hook, Line, and Thinker

The NOAA Teacher at Sea program requires fortitude, flexibility, and following orders.
On Monday the crew followed orders for our first safety drills. These include special signals indicating fire, abandon ship, and man overboard. The science crew (which includes me) musters in the wet lab for fire, where the Chief Scientist reports muster to the bridge. “Muster” means that all are assembled who should be there. During an abandon-ship drill, the crew is split up between six life rafts, three on each side of the ship. New members of the crew try on their immersion suit, a bulky get-up that guards against hypothermia and increases flotation. I tried on two different sizes, and while neither was quite right we concluded bulkier was better than too small. As the XO put it, “It will save your life. Throw in your shoes and a loaf of bread and you’re good to go!” The man overboard drill requires the science crew to muster on the flying bridge where we locate the individual in trouble (in the case of a drill, a couple of buoys tied together) and point.

Can you think of an example in which following orders may save your life?

A Bobbing Bibliography

On the bridge you will find binoculars on the sill of many windows. You will also find whale and dolphin identification guides, as well as one for birds. Some of the binoculars are “reticulated.” When you look into the eyepieces of these you see a series of fine lines (reticules) to determine distance between marine mammals and the vessel. Line up the top line to the horizon and you have the distance between objects and the ship.

There are many great spots along the Oregon Coast for whale watching that don’t require going out on the ocean. Oregon State Parks has a whale watching site with more information. 

The book Whales and Other Marine Mammals of Washington and Oregon, by Tamara Eder and illustrated by Ian Sheldon, is propped up against a window. Through the window we can see a deck of the ship, the ocean, sea spray.
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Jenny Gapp: Let’s Get Specific in the Pacific, July 24, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23, 2023 – August 5, 2023

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 5)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the Northern California Coast working north back toward coastal waters of Oregon.
Date: July 24, 2023

Weather Data from the Bridge

Sunrise: 05:46 | Sunset: 20:51
Current Time: 8:30am Pacific Standard Time (0830)
Lat 42 06.5819 N, Lon 124 58.5931 W
Visibility: less than 1 nautical mile
Sky condition: overcast, Present weather: fog
Wind speed: 10 knots
Wind direction: 115° (east southeast ESE)
Barometer: 1017.5 mbar (millibars), approx. 30 hg (inches of mercury)
Sea Wave height 1 ft | Swell 260°, 3-4 feet in height
Sea temp 15.2°C (59.36°F) | Air Temp 57.38°F
Course Over Ground (COG): 359.2°
Speed Over Ground (SOG): 11.3 knots (13 mph)

Science and Technology Log

Let’s break down the weather and navigation data that you may not be familiar with:

What is a nautical mile as compared to a “regular” mile?
Nautical miles are used to measure the distance traveled through the water. A nautical mile is slightly longer than a mile on land, equaling 1.1508 land-measured (or statute) miles. A nautical mile equals exactly 1,852 meters or approximately 6076 feet. The nautical mile is based on the Earth’s longitude and latitude coordinates, with one nautical mile equaling one minute of latitude. (Source: NOAA)

What are knots?
One knot equals one nautical mile per hour. A knot is a unit of speed that ties directly into the global latitude and longitude coordinate system. Aviators and sailors find knots are easier to navigate due to their relationship with degrees of latitude. Land-based miles per hour do not share a relationship with latitude and longitude. A knot is equal to about 1.15 land-based miles. Knots are tied (pun intended) to nautical miles traveled. The origin of measurement comes from a piece of wood tied to the ship with a piece of knotted rope, with the crew members then counting the number of knots between the ship and the piece of wood after a certain amount of time.

an animation on loop of a ship sailing away from view. it deploys a piece of wood tied to a knotted rope, which extends in length as the ship sails away. an animated hourglass drips sand as the ship sails to show the passage of time.
Measuring ship speed with a knotted rope. (GIF credit: NOAA)

What is a millibar?
A unit of atmospheric pressure equal to ¹/₁₀₀₀ bar or 1000 dynes per square centimeter. Wait, what’s a dyne? This is a physics concept. A dyne is a force that acts for one second and produces a change in velocity of one centimeter per second in a mass of one gram. When I blow on the surface of my peppermint tea to cool it off I am exerting the force of my breath and changing the velocity of the tea’s surface.

The air around you has weight and exerts pressure on everything it touches. Press lightly with your fingers on the back of your other hand to feel more noticeable pressure. Gravity is pulling on the air as well, just like it is keeping you anchored to Earth.

Atmospheric pressure is an indicator of weather. It’s obviously a windy day down in the land of peppermint tea when (my) wind is blowing. When a low-pressure system moves into an area, it usually leads to cloudiness, wind, and precipitation. High-pressure systems usually lead to fair, calm weather.

Barometers gauge pressure. Hg represents inches of mercury in a classic barometer. One inch of mercury is the pressure exerted by a 1-inch high column of mercury at 0°C (32°F ) Millibars is a metric measurement while inches of mercury (hg) is the English unit of measurement.

a graph of atmospheric pressure versus altitude. The x-axis is labeled "pressure (mb)," with a scale of 0-1,200 mb. the y-axis is labeled "altitude (km)," with a scale of 0-50 km. A curved red line plots the inverse exponential relationship. Pressure is near 0 mb at 50 km; it reaches more than 1,000 mb (1,013.25 mb, to be exact) at 0 km, or sea level. dotted lines mark the troposphere (0-10 km high) and the stratosphere (13-50 km high).
Atmospheric pressure at various altitudes. (Image credit: Britannica)

What is a heading?
The direction in which a vessel’s bow points at any given time. It is the angle between North and the bow of the boat.

What is Course Over Ground?
Course Over Ground is the actual direction of progress of a vessel, between two points, concerning the earth’s surface. The vessel’s “heading” may differ from the Course Over Ground (COG) due to the effects of wind, tide, and currents.

an illustrated diagram of a ship's headings (HDG) and courses over ground (COG) at different points of time. A. the boat points to the right; HDG: 90 degrees, COG: 90 degrees. a right arrow connects this illustration to the next at B, again with HDG 90 and COG 90. At C, the boat begins to experience strong wind, current, or tide. Now it faces diagonally toward the lower right. It's HDG: 135 degrees, but COG still 90 degrees. Same for time point D. Between D and E, the boat experiences COG 135 (moving toward the lower right) but straightends itself to a heading of HDG 90. at F it resumes HDG 90 and COG 90.
A ship’s headings v. its course over ground. (Image credit: FleetMon)

How do you read wind direction in degrees?

a compass rose with 32 labeled wind directions. N is 0 degrees, E is 90 degrees, S is 180 degrees, and W is 270 degrees; 28 other arrows are labeled pointing to directions in between.
How to read wind direction (Image credit: Windy.App)

Career feature

NOAA works with a multitude of contractors that are associated with other entities such as Oregon State University (OSU) and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC). The science crew on leg 3 includes three individuals associated with OSU concerned with marine mammals and birds (Nick Metheny, Chris Hoefer, and graduate student Jake Marshall), one fisheries technician (Liz Ortiz, with PSMFC), two independent contractors (Ethan Beyer, Wet Lab Lead; Samantha Engster, environmental DNA sampling), and two NOAA employed scientists: Steve de Blois (Chief Scientist, Acoustics), and Julia Clemons (Acoustics). 

The lesson here is that you can be contributing to NOAA’s Fishery work but not necessarily receiving your paycheck from them, as is the case with contractors. NOAA also welcomes ocean enthusiast volunteers, which is true both of myself and second-year graduate student Jake. Jake’s focus is to examine how proposed wind farms off the Oregon Coast, along with rising sea temperatures, may impact the migratory patterns of hake. His undergraduate degree is in applied math. 

Career trajectories are well represented within the science crew. Liz represents an entry-level position, while Steve represents a senior scientist with many surveys under his belt.  

Tour of Hatfield Marine Science Center Campus

On Friday, July 21st I had the opportunity for a brief tour of buildings on the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) campus. The general public is limited to the Visitor Center where a Giant Pacific Octopus is on display along with numerous educational exhibits.

My guide was Alicia Billings, a Fishery Biologist who specializes in engineering (such as underwater cameras) and database management for NOAA Fisheries. She is currently working on a Master’s in Data Analytics at Oregon State University. Truly a renaissance woman, who crafts all sorts of contraptions for expeditions, she also serves as a point of contact for the TAS program.

I met her at a cafe just inside the new Marine Studies Building. It’s the newest structure on campus and allegedly designed to withstand a magnitude 9.0+ earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It’s touted as a vertical evacuation structure and contains a community cache with emergency supplies. An imposing stairway leads to the upper floors and is lined with an art installation that imitates portholes on a ship. Alicia pointed out an Innovation Lab on the main floor which appeared to have many interesting mechanical devices to experiment with. A bulletin board at the entrance announced summer and fall classes: Food From the Sea, Phycology (micro & macroalgal biology), Aquaculture Lab.

The next stop was the OSU Guin Library, which I couldn’t resist peeking into. An impressive whale skeleton hangs near the entrance. Marilyn Potts Guin was the first librarian for HMSC. Under her “exuberant guidance,” she convinced the HMSC director at the time that the site needed a real library. The education building had room so Guin started filling it.

HMSC is an academic research field station that evolved into a multiagency research campus. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department along with its federal counterpart are all partners on campus. When the EPA provided funding for a new library building, Guin provided guidance on the design. Sadly, she passed away from breast cancer at age 45 while construction was underway.

Guin’s exuberance echoed long after her departure when a 2014 remodel was assisted by the sale of her house, which she had left to the university. The library continues to adapt to the ever-changing information landscape but maintains its core focus on materials related to marine fisheries and mammals, and information specific to the Northeast Pacific Ocean. A ‘new books’ display included: Tales of the Sea Cloud, Coastal and Deep Ocean Pollution, Seaweed Biotechnology, and (appropriate to the survey) Advances in Fish Processing Technology. 

A myriad of bookish treasures presented themselves: color plates of tropical coral fish from the Indo-Pacific, a glass-enclosed case of old tomes like Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory Contributions 1955-1974. Then, lo and behold, a modest collection of children’s books! All non-fiction science as far as I could tell. Rounded shelf marker stickers announced: Oceanography! Zoology! Sharks! On the way out I noticed a whiteboard asking, “What Are You Excited About for the Summer?” See the gallery images below for how I answered.

Corner of a building with a sign reading 909 OSU Guin Library
a whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling in front of an outside wall. we can see the top portion of signage that reads 'WHALES: WHAT'S DIFFERENCE?'
new books display
shelves of old reports
antique books: several volumes of the Den Norske Nordhavs Expedition, The Great Barrier Reef of Australia, Fossil Botany. a small book in front is open to reveal an illustration of "sea beet." a small bookmark sticking out of this book reveals that it was published in 1880.
more antique books, including Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory Contributions 1955-1974.
children's books display; most are marine-themed; on top are The Brilliant Deep and The Encyclopedia of Sharks. There are some toys on a lower shelf.
a whiteboard asking, What are you excited about for the summer? answers: sunshine, fishing, birding, berries, aquarium trips, tide pooling, vacation, diving, food, research, trees, roadtrip, microscopes, staying at Hatfield, Teacher at Sea Experience on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, eelgrass, and sulfide.
children's book sections labeled with round illustrated markers, such as Octopuses QI 430.3 (with a picture of an octopus)

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, there was a shelving cart labeled “Free Books.” I’m not sure that my elementary students will be as excited about a withdrawn copy of ‘Proceedings of the West Coast Squid Symposium (February 1983)’ as I was, but perhaps I can use it to introduce them to the word “symposium” and to use as scientific realia during a lesson on squids. 

Following the library tour, we walked over to NOAA’s Barry Fisher Building #955. In one room, otoliths (ear bones from which a fish’s age is determined) from previous legs of the hake survey were being processed. Other items of note in the building included a -80°C freezer for fishy samples awaiting transport. For example, gonads are processed in Seattle, not in Newport. Another freezer was filled with labeled crates: Big Skates & Black Skates, Deepsea Skates & Starry Skates.

Offices belonging to many of the science crew joining me on leg 3 were upstairs. This is where I first met Liz Ortiz, meticulously counting otoliths. One year is equivalent to an opaque ring (feeding activity) and a translucent one (lean times in the mess hall). The feeding cycle has to do with a pattern of upwelling, which produces elevated nutrients, and downwelling: “Hey! Who took away the salad bar?” Liz was looking at walleye pollock at the time and had recently counted 88 rings. The oldest fish on record are upwards of 200 years old. Hake are shorter lived with 15-20 years being the top end of the grumpiest specimens.

Alicia also showed me a room that houses a host of technology components. One of the items was a broken underwater stereo camera she attempted to fix. Unfortunately, it will not be ready for leg 3.

The final part of the tour was a preview of the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. In the wet lab, Alicia pointed out her contributions. Alicia’s knowledge of electrical engineering is self-taught (most NOAA tech is DIY). She used Python to create a software called CLAMS–Catch Logger for Acoustic Monitoring Survey. Data from the wet lab is added to the software and is backed up to a database (the mother CLAM, if you will) that lives in the acoustics lab. Alicia wired something together called the ‘electronic back deck’ where the fish data initially goes prior to being backed up to the Mother CLAM. There are four separate networks on the ship, but all data is shared among them. The old system used isolated spreadsheets… welcome to the 21st century!

Technology
Remember the ship tracker technology from blog post 1? Here’s a look at the AIS equipment on the bridge. Additionally, there are two radar screens in the suite of instrument panels available to navigators. One uses an X band for short range and the other an S band for long range. A gyroscope is used for maintaining orientation, and an analog compass serves as a last resort if redundancies in backup power fail more contemporary instruments. Two pedestals on the exterior bridge deck contain the gyro bearings. 

the automatic identification system technology - looks like two black boxes mounted to the bottom of a shelf
AIS on Bell M. Shimada allows you to track us.
instrument panels on the bridge.
A view of the “driver’s seat.” A few of many instrument panels on the bridge.

Taxonomy of Sights
Day 1. An albatross (observed by OSU marine mammal observer), a pod of humpback whales feeding last night near sunset (observed by fisheries technician with PSMFC).

Fog has impeded observations on day 2 of our leg.

Day 2. Several whale “blows” during our marine mammal watch prior to trawling. If mammals are within 500 meters of the ship we wait until they move off before dropping the net.

You Might Be Wondering…
Where exactly is this survey taking place?
We steamed south from Newport to a transect off the California coast– #35 in the image below. We’ll follow those lines similar to mowing the lawn, a back and forth to case the continental shelf for hake. The goal is to complete all transects through 57. A transect is simply a straight line along which observations, measurements, and samples are taken. The first hake survey on the West Coast occurred in 1977. In 1992 a partnership with Canada was formed, and in 2003 the FEAT Team started conducting biennial surveys. 

  • Like any industry there are acronyms that can get confusing. 
  • The FRAM division is Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division.
  • The FEAT Team is Fisheries Engineering and Acoustic Technologies Team (not to be confused with Fishery Ecosystem Analysis Tool).
  • The NWFSC is Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Further reading on the Hake survey.

A photo of a paper map of a portion of the coast of California. Red horizontal lines mark transects extending west from the coast line; they are connected to the next horizontal line either on the west or the east end, where the ship will travel. The red lines are marked with black dots (showing previous sampling locations, perhaps).
Map of planned transects for the hake and ecosystem survey

Floating Facts

The Bell M. Shimada flies the NOAA Service Flag along with the flag of the United States (National Ensign) and the POW/MIA flag of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. In port she also flew a Union Jack pennant from the bow mast. 

a view up at three flags flying on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. on top is the NOAA service flag: the NOAA logo, surrounded by a red triangle, inside a white circle, surrounded by a navy blue background. next is the American flag. finally, there's a mostly black flag whose design we are unable to make out. the sky is bright blue and clear.
Flags aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

Government Nesting Dolls:
The Department of Commerce is one of 15 departments in the federal government. View an organization chart here. See where NOAA falls under the 13 arms of the Department of Commerce here. NOAA has multiple branches as well. Our survey is made possible by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), including NOAA Corps, working together. Notice the nautical theme on the Department of Commerce emblem in the image below.

the logo for the United States Department of Commerce includes an eagle atop a shield; inside the shield is a large sailing ship, and a lighthouse.

Personal Log

The Road from Portland to Newport

I woke up with the birds on Friday, July 21st to travel via personal vehicle to Newport, Oregon from my home in Portland. Hwy 18 crosses the Willamette Valley in a south-westerly manner when originating from the north. The view out the window is something like an advertisement for “Made in Oregon.” A cornucopia of agricultural goods beckon: orchards of walnuts, hazelnuts, apples, pears. A combine parked under a tree made me think of my Dad, retired from the agricultural community, but driving a combine “for fun” for a farmer friend. Just the day before he had driven the behemoth machine onto the Buena Vista Ferry in Marion County crossing the Willamette River—which dumps into the Columbia, which runs into the Pacific, which is where I was heading.

Many years back, during the Ice Age floods, a rock came to rest on an improbably flat spot in what is now Yamhill County. An unassuming brown sign marks the road you turn down to view it. Unremarkable looking except for its size and location. This glacial erratic serves as an example of the power contained in collective molecules of H2O. The Valley (as locals call it) is fertile in part due to the rich silts washed here by ancient floodwaters (our apologies to Eastern Washington—here’s a glass of merlot from Siltstone Winery for your troubles). Farmer John’s Market boasts peaches, strawberries, apricots, raspberries, smoothies, shortcakes, and milkshakes—the latter of which do not grow on bushes or trees. After passing the sign for Wetzel Winery you get a few more grass seed fields, some fallow, some with boxes for bee colonies. The landscape then begins to transition into the foothills of the coast range. Queen Anne’s lace and Himalayan blackberry fill in the gaps between the field and road.

Yamhill is traded for Polk and the fir trees start to get serious, accompanied by ocean spray (the bush also called ironwood or Holodiscus discolor), vine maple, and rhododendron. The flower clusters of ocean spray are reminiscent of lilac, except these are a peachy off-white. At a distance, the multi-toned green of trees on distant hillsides illustrates staggered replanting after a patchwork of clearcut harvests. As Hwy 22 East merges with 18, I think about childhood trips to the beach. Our family most frequently traveled 22 to 18 to Lincoln City which sits 25 miles north of Newport. We made a pilgrimage about once a year, sometimes in the off-season to avoid crowds. A series of billboards still promote businesses that we patronized in the 1980s and 90s. Undersea Gardens—which is no more—was of particular interest to me. I was captivated by “Armstrong,” the Giant Pacific octopus who entertained visitors by interacting with a diver in his tank. The name made an impression on me, signifying that this was a creature to be respected. Our family stayed at The Inn at Otter Crest, Pelican Shores, and other establishments whose names are lost to me. Mo’s Chowder was a frequent stop, where I delighted in the chewy clam pieces floating in cream. I admit that as an adult I find the chowder a bit too rich, a bit too heavy in butter. Or maybe it’s just me that’s heavy!

Hwy 22 diverts from 18 just before Spirit Mountain Casino—operated by The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. CTGR puts on an excellent educator summit that happens annually. Oregon educators are compelled by the legislature to fulfill SB13, which promotes “Tribal History is Shared History.” It strives to share the stories of Oregon’s First Peoples with young Oregonians. Indigenous communities persist in our state and there are always a few students in my elementary school who declare tribal affiliations.

Among the other billboards are Chinook Winds, The Oregon Coast Aquarium (which broke ground in 1990), and one recommending, “Explore Lincoln City” with a sea lion balancing a glass float on his nose. When I was a child, the billboards were key in the escalating excitement of reaching the beach. The first glimpse of the Pacific was always a special moment in the car, often accompanied by celebratory mouth trumpets and squeals. The H.B. Van Douzer corridor and its whopping 760-foot Murray Hill summit is the last section of road to traverse before hitting Hwy 101. The coast range is fraught with landslides in winter and there are multiple patches of rough road. Cue the chorus of voices in a car full of children, “Ruh-ro!”

The sign for Tillamook County flashes by and the turquoise sky becomes populated with purple-hued clouds that have a misty edge, a tell-tale sign of marine influence. Lincoln County comes next and the sun is left behind at Slick Rock Creek. Speaking of rocks, the local news was all aflutter this past week with the tale of a cougar trapped by tides on Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. Another recent story comes from an Australian sailor and his dog (!) rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after three months adrift at sea.

You know you’re really close when you see the white and blue sign proclaiming, “Entering a Tsunami Hazard Zone.” I will do my best NOT to think about the statistical probability of a Cascadia Earthquake during the next two weeks. D Sands was often the first stop during family trips of yesteryear. It’s adjacent to D River, claiming to be the world’s shortest. Depoe Bay is the next town south of Lincoln City. Between Newport and this charming and often congested whale-watching spot is Beverly Beach State Park. During a geology project in college, I was infamously caught on camera here discussing “sands of grain.”

I was equally tongue-tied when I entered the gated MOC-P facility where the Bell M. Shimada lives when in port. “I’m with the Teacher at She program!” To which I sheepishly told the security guard, “Um, yes, I’m a she, but I’m here to go to sea.” I am now, in fact, at sea. Over the course of the following blog posts, I’ll share more about what life at sea is like. 

Librarian at Sea

“Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.― Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, the Whale


Day 1. 7:30pm As my stomach screamed over the yawning gulf it couldn’t quite reconcile what was happening and promptly evacuated its contents on the main deck about an hour after dinner. At which point I upgraded to scopolamine (prescribed slow-release patch behind the ear) over a cocktail of dramamine and meclizine. The lesson here: sometimes you can only learn through the school of hard knocks.

Hook, Line, and Thinker
What’s a whale’s favorite phrase? Where there’s a whale, there’s a way.

Innovating on the spot is a hallmark of research excursions. Chief Scientist, Steve de Blois, shared an anecdote about a time in 2005 when an instrument pod fell off the hull-mounted centerboard of an older vessel, making acoustic data impossible to gather. Where there’s a whale there’s a way, and the team sprung into action creating a new apparatus from parts available, though the frame for the solitary transducer was made off-site. In contrast, the Bell M. Shimada has fancy watertight doors that open up to its instrument pod, which can be raised or lowered as needed. This allows easy access for cleaning and tinkering as needed. This improvement in ship design eliminates the need for NOAA Divers in this case, who previously could only work on instrument pods from beneath the surface. 

view of the doors to the instrument pod
watertight doors to instrument pod

A Bobbing Bibliography

The ship’s lounge is where movie nights occur, where the ship store is located (clothing, stickers, and swag), and where you can grab a game, magazine, or book to pass the time. 

the library in the ship's lounge consists of two shelves of books, which have an extra bar across front to prevent the books from sliding off in rolling seas. a small sign labels this the Goeller Regional Library.
Library in the ship’s lounge
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Jenny Gapp: Reporting to 551.46 (Oceanography), July 19, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Gapp (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

July 23 – August 5, 2023 

Mission: Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) Survey (Leg 3 of 4)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean off the coast of Newport, Oregon
Date: July 19, 2023 (pre-cruise)

Weather Data from Newport, Oregon
NOAA Weather Service forecast for Wednesday, July 19th as of 7/17/23 6:35pm:
Mostly sunny, then sunny and breezy, with a high of 61 degrees. Wednesday night’s low around 55 degrees.

“Weather” is what it’s doing today. “Climate” is what it did today in 1942. Climate equates to the prevailing weather trends for a particular region. Having been born and raised in Oregon I know that you always dress in layers when going to the Oregon Coast. I know that sunburn is possible in March (anytime really) and balmy 60-degree weather is possible in February. Historically, the average temperature for the month of July in Lincoln County has remained between 60 and 63 degrees with a slight trend upward. I imagine it is a bit chillier out on the Pacific. I have packed accordingly!

A week from departure (July 16th) I was looking south from the cliffs on Cape Lookout near Tillamook, Oregon. The breeze was visible in shimmering white flashes across the surface of the ocean even as the tidal swells plowed steadily into shore beneath the gusts. The infamous summer fog shrouded much of the cape’s seaward view due to temperature and pressure differences between the coast and inland.

view of Cape Lookout from the cliffs. Beyond dirt cliffside and conifer trees, we can see the water is a vivid blue-teal color. A mountain range marks the far side of the cape. The sky is blue, but fog rises off the water.

As air heats up it ascends (rises), leading to low pressure at the earth’s surface. As air cools down it descends (sinks), leading to high pressure at the surface. Hot summer air rises inland and creates low pressure. Since the temperature of the ocean is much colder, high atmospheric pressure is formed. Higher-pressure air tends to move into lower-pressure regions, so the moist marine layer (caused by evaporation) gets pulled off the top layer of the water and moves inland. All that moisture creates low-flying clouds, known as “fog” when it touches the ground. Marine fog moves eastward (inland) and usually clings to the shoreline. Sometimes it moves further depending on the topography of the coast range. Summer winds on the Oregon Coast are caused by temperature-driven atmospheric pressure disturbances where the two pressure systems collide.

a diagram in three panels. each panel includes an illustration, in cross section, of a hilly coastline rising above the ocean. icons shaped like thermometers show temperature readings right near the shoreline, at the seaward base of the mountain, and at the far side of the mountain. Top panel: Early Morning, cloudy, temps of 60, 65, 75 degrees. Middle: Late morning, fog, temps of 60, 70, and 85 degrees. Bottom: Afternoon, sea breeze, temps of 70, 85, and 105 degrees.
https://www.seasonsinthesea.com/may/phys.shtml
diagram depicting cold air as straight black arrows flowing to the right, wind as a curvey blue triangle, and warm air as wavy orange lines rising diagonally
Why does wind blow? NOAA SciJinks | https://scijinks.gov/wind/

Listening to the weather forecast was something of a ritual in my childhood home. Mom would tune in to WKL96 at 162.475 and we’d dutifully hush up when the familiar “ding!” occurred to signal the top of the broadcast. To this day she still writes down the short-term forecast and puts it on the fridge. (Mom is an old-fashioned gal and doesn’t use the internet.) Find your local station here.

I got to tour my local National Weather Service office –home of the “ding!”– in Portland, Oregon during a DataStreme Climate class I took in 2016. Sponsored by the American Meteorological Society, I also took their DataStreme Oceans course. I highly recommend these classes to educators.

I’m a bit of a NOAA snob when it comes to the forecast. My old Subaru had a channel entirely devoted to NOAA Weather Radio. My new (used) one doesn’t, and I miss it! Friends and family look at a variety of weather apps, but I will always check their predictions against what NOAA says. When you visit National Park Visitor Centers around the country it’s usually the short-term NOAA forecast that is posted on visitor information boards. It is possible to access NOAA Weather from your phone. Go to the following website to learn how to add a bookmark to your phone’s home screen.

the cover of the book A Crack in the Sea by H. M. Bouwman.

Librarian at Sea

“Traditionally, a few people from Raftworld would decide to stay on the island; and a few from the Islands would elect to join Raftworld. These were volunteers, and they were celebrated for their choosing, for some people were simply happier living on land, and others happier at sea.” 
~H. M. Bouwman, A Crack in the Sea
(G.P. Putnam, 2017)

A Crack in the Sea is a middle-grade novel that blends fantasy with historical fiction, including characters who flee a slave ship, and those fleeing post-war Vietnam. One character also has a special skill: talking to fish. My special skill is talking to children about books…but I do much more than that. 

Introduction & Background

I have reported to 551.46 many times over my 18 years as a school librarian, but this will be my first reporting to its physical manifestation. Despite growing up near the coast I have never been out on the open ocean in a boat. I have visited the nonfiction shelves (organized by Melvil Dewey) countless times. You’ll find oceanography topics at 551.46. You’ll find my school, Peninsula Elementary, on an earthen finger of Portland, Oregon bordered by the Willamette River to the west and the mighty Columbia River to the north. Peninsula has been my anchor as an educator for the past 12 years. I call myself a “teacher librarian” in order to emphasize that my priority is to design and deliver lessons to students on top of managing a small library. My profession has state and national standards that cover information literacy, reading engagement, and social responsibility. One of the things I love most about being a school librarian is the academic freedom that I have. I can teach my standards by using the story of the haenyo mermaids of Korea, by analyzing infographics of the water cycle, and by playing truth or lie with shark facts. Cross-curricular approaches to learning are what get me excited about teaching. Science in particular is a subject I have long gravitated towards. 

My career in a, er, clamshell: As an undergraduate with a BA in Comparative Literature I said, what next? I promptly got a seasonal job as a Ranger Aide for Silver Falls State Park. What next? I applied to permanent ranger jobs…and my old school district (where I graduated high school) was looking for a school librarian. My alma mater hired me with zero experience on a restricted transitional license–which means I promised to go back to school and get certified. So, I got my teaching license, then a Master’s in Library Science–two distinct programs. While in graduate school I began branding myself as a “Ranger Librarian.” While working for the same junior high I once attended, I had the odd experience of working with colleagues who were formerly my teachers. A beloved high school social studies teacher still worked next door on our shared campus. He encouraged me to seek out opportunities for educators that provided residencies, travel opportunities, and hands-on learning. So, when I saw a brochure in the staff lounge for an Outward Bound course designed just for teachers I applied. What next? I applied for a Cultural Resources Internship at Grand Teton National Park where, among other things, I created an information package for prospective researchers to help them navigate the application process and eliminate research redundancy. I learned, for example, there is such a thing as collecting too many voles. I applied for a “Teacher Ranger Teacher” position at Grand Canyon National Park. I applied to be a seasonal ranger again, this time in the Columbia River Gorge. I applied for a Comparative Mountain Geography Institute with the Center for Geography Education in Oregon. I did all those things in the margins of my life as a teacher librarian. What next? I applied to be a NOAA Teacher at Sea! 

As the others in NOAA TAS Class of 2022 and 2023 will confirm, I then played the pandemic waiting game while the world figured out how to function with COVID. TAS candidates have to pass a medical clearance within a year of sailing so I even gave blood not once, but twice, while time and tide marched on. I have yet to sweat, and yet to cry, but the salt swims at the ready.   

we see only Jenny's and her husband's bare feet on the sand. The beach stretches well ahead of their feet to the ocean, a dark teal green lined with whitecaps where the waves are breaking. a vessel is only just visible on the horizon.
Getting a sunburn in March 2023 near Manzanita, Oregon with my husband. You can see a fishing boat in the distance.

Science, Technology & Career Log
You can track the location of NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada as well as other vessels here.  Alternatively, you can try this tracker.  Marine traffic includes all ships at sea such as tankers, military vessels, passenger ships, and fishing boats. An automatic identification system, or AIS technology, is used to follow traffic locations. The International Maritime Organization (a branch of the United Nations) launched the development of AIS as a collision avoidance tool for large vessels at sea that were not within range of tracking systems based on shore.

The IMO decided that all vessels over 300 gross tonnages on international voyages must have AIS aboard. A gross tonnage is calculated by measuring a ship’s volume. AIS allows ships to “see” each other and improves situational awareness before visual contact is possible. AIS is considered by some to be the most significant improvement to navigational safety since the development of radar. However, AIS is considered an enhancement and not a replacement for radar and other traffic services. Using a broadcast transponder system, AIS operates in the VHF (very high frequency) radio waves mobile maritime band. A complete system includes a transmitter and a receiver with data displayed on a screen (revealing the bearing and distance of nearby vessels). Originally, AIS made broadcasts from ships to land and had a capacity of 20 miles or so. Today, satellite-detected AIS allows us to “see” ships no matter how far away.

screenshot from Marine Traffic website marking the position of NOAA Ship Bell M Shimada with a tiny aqua-blue triangle just west of San Francisco. many other markers of different colors and shapes mark the positions of other vessels or buoys.
Position of NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada not long after the departure of Leg 2. Destination: Newport, Oregon
another screenshot from Marine Traffic, with a large arrow pointing offscreen to Bell M Shimada's marker off the coast of Oregon. an inset popup window shows a photo of the ship and shares its navigation status, speed/course, and draught.
Location as of 7/17/23 just coming into view at the bottom of the screen and headed for smiling Newport. Cruising Earth ship tracker.

Radio waves are one type of electromagnetic radiation–in the same family as X-rays, visible light, microwaves, infrared, and ultraviolet. Naturally occurring radio waves include lightning and objects in space including Jupiter and The Sun. It is possible to turn information like text, sound, and images into electrical signals. These signals are combined with radio waves–energy that moves–to send information across long distances. High-frequency waves have a shorter wavelength and send more wavelengths per second than low-frequency waves. In general, higher frequencies do not travel as far, which is why satellites have proven so useful to AIS. (Further reading)

physics diagram comparing high frequency waves (with short wavelengths) to low frequency waves (with long wavelengths)
Electromagnetic Spectrum: Radio Waves (BestOfScience)

Career feature

I am excited to meet all the people behind the research and ship operations. Prior to sailing, I checked out the professional mariner hiring portal facilitated by NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.  Current fleet vacancies included able seaman, oiler, and first assistant engineer. Reading the job descriptions brought to mind two things. One is my maternal grandfather. He was a World War Two Navy Veteran who worked as a motor machinist and drove a Higgins Boat on D-Day during the invasion of Normandy. He did not die in the war, but lived to age 89 and passed away in 2012. Among the family archives are records of his completion of a diesel mechanics course. This association made me think about encouraging students to make personal connections to whatever we are learning about.  After reminiscing about Grandpa, my train of thought spitballed keywords like boat, engine, ship, sailor, mechanic, and Titanic–which served as a bridge to thought number two. The fleet vacancies prompted a daydream about the next time I am helping a student interested in library books on one of these tangential ocean topics. In addition to a forthcoming lesson on NOAA careers, I should remember to mention a related career during book shopping and plant a seed. “Hey Johnny, I see you are interested in ships. Did you know that being a sailor is an actual job that you could do one day?”

a WWII-era headshot of a sailor in uniform
My maternal grandfather, Leroy Bowers. WWII Navy Veteran.

NOAA Fisheries has its own job opening portal. Openings at the time of my website visit included a statistician, IT Specialist (systems administrators are needed everywhere!), fish biologist, physical science technician, grants management specialist, budget analyst, enforcement technician, and acquisition management specialist. Fish biologist was an obvious choice but I had to click on enforcement technician to find out more. It appears to be an entry-level position related to NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (see video insert).  

Holy mackerel, this initial career investigation blew my mind with how many employment opportunities there are within NOAA. I think my students will be impressed with the broad scope of career choices as well. 

Floating Facts

NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada (in service since 2010) serves the entire West Coast and furthers the NOAA Fisheries mission to be “responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s ocean resources and their habitat.” The imperative of NOAA Fisheries is to maintain healthy ecosystems, safe sources of seafood, productive and sustainable fisheries, as well as the recovery and conservation of protected resources. NOAA’s parent agency is the U. S. Department of Commerce and so relates to economic growth and opportunity. Bell M. Shimada is known as a “quiet” ship, using technology to decrease its noise signature and increase scientists’ abilities to study fish without disturbing them. 

Bell M. Shimada, the man, was known for his studies of Pacific tuna stocks important to the development of commercial fisheries post-World War Two.  His name was chosen by a group of California high school students in a contest to name a new ship in the NOAA fleet. Born to Japanese immigrants in Seattle, Washington, he was imprisoned at Minidoka War Relocation Center in 1942 during the mass internment of Americans with Japanese ancestry. He was 20 years old at the time. He was able to leave the camp by enlisting in the U. S. Army. Shimada began as an infantryman, then an interpreter, translator, and radio traffic monitor, then compiled data on the impact of bombings in Japan. He ended up in Tokyo during its occupation and remained after the war in a civilian position where he analyzed the activities of Japanese fisheries. He returned stateside to finish a college degree that had been interrupted by internment. He went on to earn a Master’s and moved to Honolulu to work for the Fish and Wildlife Service. He worked with an influential fisheries scientist pioneering a holistic approach to fish management, blending fish biology with oceanography and meteorology. While in Honolulu he also began work on a Ph.D. The tuna research he is most well known for occurred when he was transferred to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission in La Jolla, California. 
His scientific pursuits were cut short in a plane crash en route to Mexico City on a return trip from a scientific cruise to Clarion Island off the west coast of Mexico. Shimada was just 36 years old. Think of this remarkable scientist next time you open a can of tuna…

front of a collector's card of NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, fisheries survey vessel
ttext reads: Bell M. Shimada. This ship is used to study marine life, sea birds, and ocean conditions along the U.S. West Coast. Homeport: Newport, OR. Commission date: August 25, 2010. Length: 208.6 ft. Areas of operation: Pacific ocean. Fun Fact! This ship was designed to run queitly as not to disturb fish and marine mammals during research studies. www.noaa.gov/education. www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/marine-operations/ships
Bell Shimada sits, shirtless, on the deck of a vessel surrounded by coils of rope

Hook, Line, and Thinker

As a part of my interdisciplinary approach to learning in the library, I often use philosophical questioning in order to inspire dialogue among my students. Something to think about…Is taking a creature’s life justified when it benefits the greater good? Many hake have given their bodies to science in order to not only benefit human activity but their own species as well.

Hmm, I made a Freudian slip just now. I originally wrote, “when it benefits the greater food.” I guess I’ve outed myself as a meat eater and a utilitarian when it comes to the sacrifice of creaturely bodies–within reason (remember the voles)–in the name of science. 

A Bobbing Bibliography

Books I currently use in the classroom to further ocean literacy with elementary students.

Books I use with grades K-2:

  • Inky’s Amazing Escape: How a very smart octopus made his way home, by Sy Montgomery (Simon & Schuster, 2018)
  • Inky the Octopus, by Erin Guendelsberger (Sourcebooks Wonderland, 2020)
  • Octopuses One to Ten, by Ellen Jackson (Beach Lane Books, 2016)
  • Whale in a fishbowl, by Troy Howell & Richard Jones (Schwartz & Wade, 2018)
  • Deep in the Ocean, by Lucie Brunelliere (Abrams Appleseed, 2019)
  • In the Sea, by David Elliott and Holly Meade (Candlewick, 2012)
  • Alien Ocean Animals, by Rosie Colosi (National Geographic Kids, 2020)
  • Ocean! Waves for All, by Stacy McAnulty (Henry Holt and Co., 2020)

Books I use with grades 3-5:

  • The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs: The Story of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation, by Kate Messner (Chronicle Books, 2018)
  • Science Comics: Coral Reefs: Cities of the ocean, by Maris Wicks (First Second 2016)
  • Otis & Will Discover the Deep: The record-setting dive of the bathysphere, by Barb Rosentock (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018)
  • The Mess That We Made, by Michelle Lord (Flashlight Press, 2020)
  • The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, by Tina Cho (Kokila, 2020)
  • Manfish: Jacques Cousteau, by Jennifer Berne (Chronicle Books, 2008)
  • Ocean Speaks: How Marie Tharp revealed the ocean’s biggest secret, by Jess Keating
  • Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist (Sourcebooks Explore, 2017)
  • Marine Science for Kids: Exploring and Protecting Our Watery World, by Josh & Bethanie Hestermann (Chicago Review Press, 2017)

During the three years I was sailing through the rough waters of the pandemic I took a hard look at the ocean-themed books in our school library collection. Library acquisition budgets are always tight, so I wrote a Donors Choose grant to purchase about 50 new titles. Since this occurred while I taught remote classes, my thank you package was also virtual. Students did a lovely job documenting their thanks using the tools they had available to them. I believe my NOAA experience will help me further promote the content of 551.46!

collage of digital children's artwork, and photos of children holding up handdrawn artwork, saying "Thank you donors, we love our new ocean books!" The children's faces are covered for privacy.
collage of digital children's artwork, and photos of children holding up handdrawn artwork, saying "Thank you donors, we love our new ocean books!" The children's faces are covered for privacy.
collage of digital children's artwork, and photos of children holding up handdrawn artwork, saying "Thank you donors, we love our new ocean books!" The children's faces are covered for privacy.
book shelf displaying ocean-themed kids' titles, including Field Trip to the Ocean Deep, Maps of the World's Oceans, Inky the Octopus, Alien Deep, Down Down Down, the Ocean Book, W is for Waves, Citizens of the Sea, Whales, The Mess That We Made, Ocean! Waves for All, The Ocean Calls, and others that are not as easy to ready.