Author: Kimberly Pratt

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kimberly Pratt
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II
July 2 – 24, 2005

Mission: Ecosystem Wildlife Survey
Geographical Area: Pacific Northwest
Date: July 23, 2005

Crew Interviews

Another successful scientist is Peter Pyle.  Peter became interested in Ornithology while helping his dad, a meteorologist, band birds in their backyard in Oahu, Hawaii.  Peter attended Swarthmore College and received his BA in Biology.  Peter who loves field work lived on the Farallon Islands for 24 years as a field biologist. When Peter is not  doing field work, he is busily writing scientific papers and manuals to compliment field guides for Ornithologists.  His manuals help age/sex determination, species ID, and are written for “bird in hand” observations.  Peter’s favorite bird is a Bristle-thighed Curlew, which is a rare bird that breeds in Alaska and winters in Hawaii and the tropical Pacific. Peter likes it because it acts like a goofball. Peter, who is married, has an understanding and independent wife. Peter’s advice to someone who would like to be an Ornithologist is to be a field person. In the field you get dirty, have to be patient; you may spend hours in cold blinds waiting.  You have to have a passion for biology really be successful. Lastly, Peter advises that if your heart is in the right place, you’ll be a successful biologist.

Another Ornithologist on this mission is Rich Pagen. Rich, who did his undergrad work in Environmental Studies, received his MA in Wildlife Biology.  Currently he lives in Minnesota, but in the past he lived on Catalina Island. He also taught an outdoor science class in Pasadena. During a Sea Bird meeting, he met Lisa Ballance who got him interested in the CSCAPE project. Previously, Rich has done shark satellite tagging, and has gone to Antarctica as a naturalist on a passenger ship. Rich will be completing this cruise as a Bird Observer.

If this group of scientists could have an action figure, it would be Juan Carlos Salinas.  Juan is in charge of tissue biopsy of the whales and dolphins. He is able to obtain these biopsies in very difficult circumstances. Juan who lives in Mexico City was hand picked  for these missions because of his talent for obtaining biopsy’s and his knowledge of marine mammals.  Juan learned biopsy sampling while in Baja in 1991 when studying humpback whales.

Juan has had extensive field work experience and will be going to Hawaii with the McARTHUR II until November 30th.  He’s excited about his mission to Hawaii because you always see something different.  The Hawaiian waters are just being studied and what’s out there is relatively unknown. During the mission in Hawaii, he will do species ID, population studies, determine the health of the animals and finally learn about their genetics. Juan states that the field of biology is much more specialized than before with genetics being the big thing today. Another marine mammal observer that is talented in tissue biopsy is Ernesto Vasquez. Ernesto, who is married with a family, does field work cruises about once per year. He currently works at the National  Resource Ministry as a Marine Biologist in LaPaz, Mexico. He’s been with the government for 3 years.  He graduated school in 1998 with his degrees in Marine Biology.  While away, he e-mails his wife and family and he likes getting close to the animals, and getting tissue samples to.

Currently being trained in biopsy operations is marine biologist Tim O’Toole. Tim graduated from San Diego State University and did his post graduate work in Australia. An avid surfer, Tim enjoys the ocean and having the opportunity to gain further field experience working with marine mammals. While on this research cruise, he’s gaining experience from other scientists as well as reading, and learning Spanish. He does, however miss friends and family and likes to stay in touch.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kimberly Pratt
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II
July 2 – 24, 2005

Mission: Ecosystem Wildlife Survey
Geographical Area: Pacific Northwest
Date: July 21, 2005

Crew Interviews: Scientists on board the McARTHUR II

The scientists on board the McARTHUR II are hardworking, dedicated people.  Their shifts can start at sunrise 6:00 am and end at sunset 9:00 pm.  Most scientists are on watch for two hours then off for two hours during the whole day.  While on watch they are observing mammals or birds, entering data and taking photographs.  When they’re off watch, they eat, do laundry, exercise and relax.  On board a ship, there are no weekends, so their schedule is set 7 days per week.

An excellent Senior Marine Mammal observer as well as the photo ID specialist is Cornelia Oedekoven. Cornelia is a soft spoken person who has an eye for detail.  She meticulously goes through the photos taken on the cruise then enters them in the data base.  This can be quite a project as some days there are as many 300 photos to be  processed. Cornelia, whose background is in marine biology, graduated from Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universitaet, Bonn, or the University of Bonn, Germany.  She received her “diplom” which is equivalent to a master’s degree in Biology.  She came to the United States to study marine ornithology in San Francisco. She now lives in San Diego.  She enjoys ship life because she’s met a lot of friends, and there is no commute to work. While on board, Cornelia has been known to do haircuts for other scientists and she also does oil painting.  In the past she’s done sea bird work, and she’ll be involved with CSCAPE until December 10th at which time she’ll go home to Germany to visit her family.  To be a successful marine biologist, she advises to get your degree, and then do as many internships as possible.

When things slow down on this cruise, you can count on Holly Fearnbach to say “we need a good Killer Whale sighting”. Holly, who has always liked marine biology, grew up near the beach. She received her BS in marine biology from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and from Old Dominion University she received her MS.  She’s looking to get her PhD from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland where she will focus her research on Killer Whales.  She states that right now there are 3 different types of Killer Whales, residents, off-shores and transients.  She’s excited because they are now finding another type in Antarctica. She loves the discovery of different types of marine mammals and her past work was with Bottlenose Dolphins.  She likes being on these field work cruises because she learns so much from the Cruise leaders and has been taught much from the scientists at the South West Fisheries Science Centers.  To become a scientist who studies whales and dolphins, she advises to do internships, and do volunteer work early in school. She also states that you need a good work ethic.  Holly, who is a marathon runner, actually trains while on ship.  She has completed 12 marathons and says that it is a great stress reliever.  She does however miss dry land and her friends and family while she is away.

An Independent Observer on board the McARTHUR II is Jan Roletto. Jan is the Research Coordinator for the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary.  Her primary role as Research Coordinator is to attract researchers to the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is the management agency protecting these waters. The science department conducts research, monitoring, permitting, disturbance, and investigates pollution issues.  The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary protects the body of water from Bodega Head to Año Nuevo, south of San Francisco. The Farallon Islands are managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the  National Wildlife Refuge works to maintain the seabirds and pinniped colonies on the islands. Jan’s background is in Marine Biology and she attended San Francisco State University. She really likes seeing different things and is challenged by the Sanctuary work. She states that sometimes they work with boat groundings, environmental issues, watershed issues, estuaries, pelagic and coastal areas; all very different ecosystems.  Her challenge as Research Coordinator is the lack of funding that the sanctuary receives for research and monitoring.  To enter the field of Marine Science, she advises to do your schooling, learn about computers, math and statistics.  She states that you will apply these disciplines to biology. Furthermore, she advises to volunteer and do unpaid internships as it is a small field and can be competitive.

Sage Tezak grew up in the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in San Francisco.  Sage has run a volunteer program for the last 3 years monitoring harbor seals for human related and other disturbances. That job brought her to San Francisco. Before that she lived in Humboldt and she’ll be starting grad school in 2 weeks at Prescott College in Conservational Biology/Environmental Studies.  She likes having the opportunity to gain further field experience and to see the  operations of a research cruise.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kimberly Pratt
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II
July 2 – 24, 2005

Mission: Ecosystem Wildlife Survey
Geographical Area: Pacific Northwest
Date: July 19, 2005

Crew Interviews: “The Officers of the McARTHUR II”

Officers of the McARTHUR II are commissioned by NOAA.  They are uniformed personnel with the exception of the First Mate.  They all are assigned different watches and their primary responsibilities are, under direction of the Commanding Officer, to run the ship, navigate, take care of the ship’s medical needs and to make sure that shipboard operations are running smoothly.

The McARTHUR II has 6 officers on board – LCDR Morris, First Mate Greg Hubner (who is not uniformed), Operations Officer Nathan (Herb) Hancock, Navigation Officer Paul Householder, and Junior Officers, Ensign Steven Barry, and Ensign Paul Smidansky.  All NOAA Corps Officers have two years at sea, initially followed by three years of shore duty and rotate between sea and shore duty unless they are aviators.

First Mate Greg Hubner has been with NOAA for 26 years. He has a background in the Navy and started with NOAA as a deck hand. He is currently a licensed Officer and enjoys being out to sea. He likes seeing different countries and his favorite port is an island off of Spain. Another NOAA ship, RONALD H. BROWN, is involved with international research so some NOAA ships travel the world, and Greg has had the opportunity to see many countries and cultures.

Operations Officer Nathan Hancock is readily noticeable by his sense of humor and laughter.  Nathan graduated with a BS degree in Environmental Sciences and a MS degree in Geology and Geophysics. Nathan really enjoys his position as it enables him to “drive the boat”.  In the future, he would like to be transferred to the Key Largo Marine Sanctuary or fly into hurricanes. Nathan developed a love for the water when he was a child living at the ocean and running charters with his father a marine biologist.

Navigation Officer Paul Householder is also the medical person in charge.  He has a BA/BS in Chemical Engineering and joined NOAA after being laid off during the downsizing of the semi- conductor era. He’s been with the ship for over a year and is adjusting to sea life. He likes seeing the different places, but does miss his weekends.

Ensigns Barry and Smidansky both have a background in Meteorology and Barry would like to join the National Weather Service. Barry, who joined NOAA in February ’04, enjoys the adventure of meeting different people.  On this tour, it will be his first time visiting Hawaii.  Ensign Smidansky, is a licensed airplane pilot, and is looking to join the air fleet of NOAA, but for the time being is enjoying his time at sea.

In order to become a NOAA Corps Officer, you need a college degree, preferable with a background in science or math.  You must be under 35 years old, with no arrests or criminal background.  Also, it takes between 6-9 months for your application to be processed and then the Secretary of the Commerce grants you a temporary commission.  The Senate grants you permanent status.  You must undergo three months training at the Merchant Marine Academy and then are assigned to a ship at sea to become a qualified deck officer. NOAA is constantly training officers for higher positions and Officer Householder will be promoted soon to Lt. Jr. Grade. All of the officers while professional and polite still have a sense of humor, they are gracious enough to keep answering the question – “where are we?”

Question: Malka, grade 5 – Where does the ship/vessel get fresh water?  The ship makes its own water, we take salt water and process it to turn it into fresh water.  Everyday we make 2,000 gallons worth. The process is started 10 miles out to sea.