Kelly Dilliard

May 15, 2015August 21, 2021

Kelly Dilliard: Still Before the Cruise, May 15, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kelly Dilliard
(Almost-Almost) Onboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
May 15 – June 5, 2015

Mission: Right Whale Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Date: May 15, 2015

Personal Log

Well, as you can see we are not quite on the ship yet. Today is the day, though. We are heading from Woods Hole, MA to Newport, RI to get on the Gordon Gunter and we are to set sail at 5 pm or 17:00. On Wednesday, I traveled to Newport and the Gordon Gunter with one of the scientists, a marine mammal specialist named Suzanne Yin (she goes by Yin). She was extremely helpful in making the shuttle to Newport and the Taxi to get onto the Navy base where the Gordon Gunter is docked.

Once there we met up with many of the other scientists and helped to unload all of the scientific equipment and two small boats that will be deployed off the stern. Antennas were installed for acoustic work and the science labs were organized. I got to meet many of the scientists who will be on board and some that are not travelling. The project involves personnel from NOAA Fisheries and from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). There are full time workers, contractors, and student interns. All of them are extremely nice and welcoming.

Equipment loading — Loading equipment onto the *Gordon Gunter* (photo taken by Yin)

Standing alongside the *Gordon Gunter* in port. (Photo taken by Yin)

After loading the ship and getting a bit organized it was determined that the ship would not make a good place to stay until Friday. One of the scientists, Chris Tremblay offered up a guest room and I headed back with them to Woods Hole. Yesterday (Thursday, May 14^th) while everyone continued getting ready, I headed on the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard where I rented a car and drove around the island.

Martha’s Vineyard is actually composed of two islands to the south of Cape Cod. The island, similar to Cape Cod is the remnant of glaciers. The island marks the location of a terminal moraine and consists of sediment that was pushed there by glaciers and then left behind as the glaciers receded. It is an island now as sea level increased and separated this part of the moraine from other parts. The island is covered in glacial erratics, large rocks left behind by the receding glaciers. Many of these smaller rocks have been turned into rock walls all over the island.

An interesting geologic feature of the island is Gays Head Cliffs. The cliffs are also referred to as the Aquinnah Cliffs and they are located on the western most edge of the island. The Gay Head Cliffs are composed of series of white, grey, red, and black clays that are Cretaceous in age (about 75 million years old). These beds once formed the coastal plain of North America but were pushed upwards by the moving glaciers to form part of the moraine. The top of the cliffs are composed of glacial deposits, including boulders, some of which have tumbled down to the beach. A viewpoint above and a walk on the beach provided a really nice view of the cliffs.

The Gay Head Cliffs, located on the western edge of the island.

I continued my tour around Martha’s Vineyard by heading east to Edgartown and the Katama Beach. I walked for a while on the beach trying to see the spit, but had to give up in the interest of time. Still, the beach was very spectacular especially since I seemed to have it all to myself. I found all sorts of seashells and dead crabs along my walk. The beach itself is bordered by vegetated sand dunes.

From Edgartown, I headed north to Oak Bluffs to see some unique architecture including The Gingerbread Cottages, a colony of more than 300 small, unique decorated homes around a central park. This area started out as a Methodist meeting place with families setting up tents around a central park in the late 1800’s. Over the years, the tents were built on platforms and then the platforms had porches, and then they became these small, elaborate cottages. They are very cute, but I am not sure I would want to take on the task of repainting one.

From Oak Bluffs I returned to Vineyard Haven to return my rental car and to board the ferry for Woods Hole. I had a wonderful day touring Martha’s Vineyard.

Reference: Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket: The Geologic Story, by Robert N. Oldale, 2001 (revised), published by On Cape Publications. (you can download the book from the author’s website: http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/staffpages/boldale/Default.htm)

May 13, 2015August 21, 2021

Kelly Dilliard: Before the Cruise, May 12, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kelly Dilliard
(Almost) Onboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
May 14 – June 5, 2015

Mission: Right Whale Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Date: May 12, 2015

Personal Log

I got into Providence, Rhode Island from Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Sunday, May 10^th. The ship, the Gordon Gunter was not in port yet, so I decided to take a bit of a tour around the area. I rented a car on Monday and headed for the New Bedford Whaling Museum located in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The museum is located in the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and includes exhibits, several whale skeletons, a model whaling ship, and lots of artwork. There are three whale skeletons, a right whale, a blue whale and a humpback whale hanging from the initial gallery. The right whale was accidentally killed while 10 months pregnant by a boat propeller cutting off her left fluke. The other two whales were also killed accidentally.

One thing I found interesting was how international the whaling industry was. Many people immigrated from Portugal and territories that belonged to Portugal, like the Azores and Cape Verde. Many whaling boats from New Bedford traveled all the way to the South Pacific and the Arctic. The main reason for whaling was for whale oil that was used to light houses and businesses. But other parts of the whale were also used including the baleen, which was used in corset stays. New Bedford is known as the “City that lit the world.” Whaling started in the area around the 1700s. New Bedford is also known for Herman Melville, a whaler and an author.

Another thing that was interesting was how small the boats were that went out to hunt the right whales. They were basically rowboats. Once a whale was killed by a harpoon, the whalers would either tow the whales back to shore or to larger ships. Whalers would then cut off the blubber and boil it in large cauldrons called try-pots. Try-pots could be used on ships and held 140 to 220 gallons of oil.

After going to the Whaling Museum, I then headed to Newport, Rhode Island to see The Newport Mansions. I took a walk on the Cliff Walk, a 3.5 mile trail that walks below many of Newport’s mansions and along the rocky eastern shoreline. Mansions on the route include The Breakers and Rough Point; both were built by Vanderbilts and represent architecture of the gilded age. The houses were magnificent, but so was the geology. The trail traverses over metamorphosed sedimentary rocks and granite, the Newport granite. There are locations on the trail that were destroyed by Super Storm Sandy.

Rough Point, from the Cliff Walk, Newport, RI.

Today, Tuesday, May 12, I decided to head further east traveling to Woods Hole and to Cape Cod National Seashore. I drove down to Woods Hole to see the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for myself. I have heard of WHOI since I was in elementary school and Robert Ballard was looking for the RMS Titanic. My elementary school principal was a Titanic buff and he involved us in the Jason Project. I toured the aquarium and even meet up with the Chief Scientist on my cruise, Peter Duley or NOAA.

I then traveled to the Cape Cod National Seashore. I had no idea that Cape Cod is considered a large barrier island, actually the largest in the world. A canal to west separates Cape Cod from the mainland. Cape cod was originally created by glacier that pushed sediment along as they flowed south and left that sediment when they retreated. One interesting feature I saw today was Doane rock, a large glacial erratic. This sediment left by the glaciers is constantly reworked by wind and waves. At Coast Guard Beach there are some spectacular beach cliffs. The last place I stopped was to view the Nauset Marsh, a spectacular salt marsh and tidal channels.

Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore

Nauset Marsh, Cape Cod National Seashore

Tomorrow I head back to Newport and onto the Gordon Gunter. We are scheduled to depart on Friday.

May 4, 2015August 21, 2021

Kelly Dilliard: Introduction, May 3, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kelly Dilliard
(Almost) Onboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
May 14 – June 5, 2015

Mission: Right Whale Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Date: May 3, 2015

Personal Log

Hello from South Dakota! My name is Kelly Dilliard and I am a college professor at Wayne State College (WSC) in Wayne, NE. Wayne State College is one of three schools with the Nebraska State College System and it is located in northeast Nebraska. I actually live in Vermillion, South Dakota, due north of Wayne and commute to school every day. My husband, Mark Sweeney, is an Earth Science Professor at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. We are located about 45 minutes northwest from Sioux City, Iowa and about an hour south of South Falls, South Dakota.

Map of locations. — Map of eastern Nebraska and parts of Iowa and South Dakota showing locations of where I am coming from.

Photo of me at Malibu Beach. — Me at a cove beach near Malibu, California in July of 2014. Taking lots of photographs and videos to use in my teaching.

I teach all sorts of Earth Science courses at WSC including Introduction to Geology, Environmental Geology, Historical Geology, Rocks and Minerals, Oceanography, and Introduction to Meteorology. I try to create a hands-on experience for my students, but teaching in Nebraska has its drawbacks. We are far from some of the best geology sites and from the ocean, so instead of taking my students to the rocks or the ocean, I try to bring the rocks to my students in the form of specimens, photographs, and videos. I believe that my students benefit from exposure to these samples and from the experiences that I bring into the classroom. I hope this experience out at sea will help me bring more of the ocean to them. As I teach mostly to future science teachers, I also hope this experience will open them up to taking similar opportunities to gain useful experiences to use in their own classroom.

Family at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. — My husband, Mark, myself, and our puggle, Penny Lane, at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, July of 2014.

As a youngster I had an interest in two sciences… geology and oceanography. I spent time in Hawaii when I was in fourth grade and fell in love with volcanoes and humpback whales. When it came to deciding on a major in college, I decided on geology and I have been actively engaged in researching and teaching about the Earth for the past 20 years. I am originally from eastern Pennsylvania, but through my graduate and professional career have lived in various states across the United States. I have three degrees in Geology, including a PhD from Washington State University.

Me and my brother in front of sign — My brother and I in April of 1986 standing by the map of the “Save the Whales” walk we took part in.

While I have an interest in oceanography and teach an oceanography class, I have never actually taken a formal oceanography course. I applied to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Teacher at Sea (TAS) program to gain some ocean research experience and to bring that experience back into my classroom. The Teacher at Sea program is celebrating it’s 25^th Anniversary this year and is, as I am finding out, a wonderful program (link to TAS program)! I was selected to take part in a Right Whale Survey off the Northeast Coast on board the NOAA ship the Gordon Gunter (see the ship’s website for information and photographs). I never dreamed that I would also be getting exposed to a “what could have been” experience, that is, if I had decided to study oceanography and whales 20 years ago as an undergraduate.

So let me tell you a little about what I have learned so far about the North Atlantic Right Whale. The North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is an endangered species and is protected under both the U.S Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Right whales were heavily targeted by whale hunters, being prized for their high blubber content, the fact that they float when killed, and their relative sluggishness. They were the “right” whale to hunt. Right whales are baleen whales like the humpback whale, but feed mainly by skimming through prey at or near the surface of the ocean. Right whales are recognized by their callosities, or rough skin (white in color due to whale lice!), on their heads. For more information on Right Whales check out the NOAA Fisheries article on them.

North Atlantic Right Whales. You can see their callosities. Photo credit: NOAA Fisheries

Next week I will be flying to Boston, Massachusetts and meeting up with the Gordon Gunter at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. But before then, I have to finish off the semester, participate at the WSC graduation, put in my garden (hopefully), and pack for my trip. The next time you should hear from me, I should be aboard the Gordon Gunter.

Map of home and WHOI — Map indicating where I live/work and where I will be leaving from for the Right Whale Survey.