Author: Laura Rodriguez

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Laura Rodriguez, June 2nd, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: June 2, 2010

Why is Ocean Science Important?

Four Peak Glacier
Four Peak Glacier

My cruise is coming to an end. We are now sampling the last of the stations as we make our way back to Kodiak. On Saturday, we had a safety stand down drill. This entailed finding a spot close to shore where we could drop anchor and then have a little bit of free time. Some people fished for halibut off the boat and others went ashore to explore a little bit. I went ashore with a group that included the XO, Jeff Shoup, Ensign Amber Payne, Glen Whitney, Dennis Boggs, and two of the scientists, Tiffany Vance and Kevin Bailey.  We hiked around a part of Katmai National Park and Preserve. This is an area filled with active volcanoes and glaciers. We saw a brown bear and a fox.

Four-peaked-glacier
Four peaked glacier

We also saw a raft of sea lions close to shore that eventually came closer and told us to go away. Katmai Preserve is home to an estimated 2,000 bears. The area we visited is very remote with no roads leading to it.  Once back on board, it was back to work sampling more stations.

My time on board the Oscar Dyson has shown me both the beauty of the ocean and the need for people to understand and care for it. We are inextricably connected to the ocean. Whether we live near or far from the ocean, we depend on the ocean for fresh water (think water cycle) oxygen (the majority of oxygen in our atmosphere is produced by the phytoplankton in the ocean), food, medicines, and mineral and energy resources. Many people depend on the ocean for jobs and recreation. Our oceans, however, are fragile ecosystems that are affected by the activities of humans. Dumping wastes into the ocean, overfishing, drilling for oil and development along coastal areas all have consequences for the living things that call the ocean home. I have learned about areas where overfishing has depleted species of fish that may never come back. There is an area in the Gulf of Mexico that is called the dead zone because of fertilizers from farms dumped into the Gulf from the Mississippi River. Right now, there is the Deep Horizons oil leak that has already spilled 20 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and is leaking over 500,000 gallons of oil a day. We have a history of taking the ocean for granted and believing that it is so big that it can absorb unlimited amounts of pollution. We are finding out how wrong we are. Taking care of the ocean is everyone’s responsibility. In order to take care of the ocean, it is crucial that we understand the interrelationships between what we do here on land and what happens in the sea. This is why research such as what the scientists are doing on the Oscar Dyson is so important.

Me and the four peaks
Me and the four peaks

Answers to your questions:

Dan 1. – Radar is different from sonar. Radar uses radio waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation (light) to detect objects. Radar stands for radio detection and ranging. Sonar uses sound waves to detect objects.  Sonar stands for sound navigation and ranging.

Dan 2. –  The weather is not nearly cold enough to need the de-icers. I was, however, standing by one the other day and felt the warmth, so they are on.

Olivia – My classification on this cruise is officially “Teacher at Sea.” I am, however, included with the scientists.

Kylei – I have been very lucky with the weather. We have not had any bad weather. One day, the ocean had some pretty good swells and we were rocking and rolling a bit, but no real storm. It has actually been unusually sunny and mild here.

Sea Lions
Sea Lions

Your question to answer: Research one of the activities below that affects life in the ocean:

  1. Overfishing ( factory fishing ships)
  2. Whaling
  3. Offshore oil Drilling
  4. Ocean pollution
  5. Coastal development

Find out:

  1. Why are people concerned about this activity?
  2. What are people doing to protect the ocean from the negative aspects of this activity?
  3. What can you do to help protect the ocean and the life within it?
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Laura Rodriguez, May 28th, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 28, 2010

Engineering

Sunset in the Shumagin Islands

Our sampling of Pollock larvae continues around the clock. It is interesting to see what stations have a lot of Pollock and which ones don’t. From my own observations of the condition of the bongo nets when they are retrieved, I have started to predict if there will be a lot of Pollock or only a little. If the nets are covered in reddish– brown algae, they usually do not have many Pollock, or anything else in them. The nets that are clearer, but still have some red from the copepods, seem to have more Pollock larvae. (I wonder why?)The scientists say that we have found more Pollock larvae than in the past couple of years. (Again, I wonder why?) That’s a good sign for the fishery, though. I told you in an earlier blog about how Kevin Bailey is using the data that we collect to create a model that will predict the future population of harvestable Pollock. The other two research projects that are going on have to do with determining how fast the Pollock are growing and how healthy the Pollock larvae are. Annette Dougherty, the chief scientist, is studying the otoliths, (small inner ear bones) in the Pollock. The ear bones add a layer of bone each year and create a pattern similar to the growth rings of a tree. The Pollock that are preserved are shipped to her lab where she will look at the otoliths and determine the age of the Pollock to the day. She can then compare that to the size of the Pollock and determine how fast they’re growing. Steve Porter, another scientist on board, is looking at the amount of DNA in the muscle tissue. If the muscle cells are growing and dividing into new cells, there will be a higher amount of DNA in the cells. This data shows how healthy the Pollock larvae are by showing how much their muscle cells are growing.

Engineering Main Control Panel
Diesel Generator
Electric Motor
Desalinization Unit
Sewage Treatment Unit
Hot Water Tanks

Today’s feature is on engineering. The engineering department on the ship is responsible not just for maintaining the engines of the ship that move us through the water, but also for all the major systems on the ship. They maintain the heating, cooling, electrical, plumbing and sewage systems. The ship is powered by 4 diesel generators that make the electricity for the ship.  The ship is then propelled by the use of electric motors. Using electric motors to turn the propellers decreases the vibrations being transmitted to the propellers and allows for the ship to run much more quietly. This is a good thing for a ship that wants to study fish, or anything else in the water that might be scared off by the noise.  The ship has 2 desalinization units that use heat from the engines to distill the water. The heat makes the water boil leaving the salt behind. It is then condensed back into fresh water. Ships that have engines that produce a lot of heat can use this method which is very energy efficient. Other ships have to use reverse osmosis (remember that word from the cell unit?)  Finally, engineering is responsible for collecting and treating sewage. Maybe in the old days ships would just dump their sewage into the ocean, but not anymore. The toilets are flushed by vacuum action rather than pushed through pipes by water. This decreases problems in the pipes that run throughout the ship. The waste water including what goes into the toilets is collected in a storage tank called an active tank. The active tank contains bacteria and yeast that break down the waste. From there, the water is filtered into a “Clean tank.” Here chlorine is added to make the water crystal clear before it is released into the ocean. The system contains one more tank for storage. It is used when the ship is within 3 miles of the shore and at dock so water is not released right by the land.
Answers to your questions

Hannah M. – The reason that the procedure was developed for how we sample is to minimize the shrinkage of the fish once they are caught. The scientists are trying to get an accurate measure of the fish so we try to collect and photograph them as quickly as possible. Keeping them cold helps to decrease the amount they shrink. They are preserved so that their DNA and otoliths can be examined back at the NOAA labs in Seattle.  The larvae that we are collecting are about 4 weeks old.

Exercise Room

Elaina – I haven’t spoken with each person about if they get bored on ship or not, but being on a ship is different from being on land. You have your work to do during your shift. Sometimes that can be very repetitive. On your off hours, there is not a lot to do. There are however, 2 exercise rooms, you can read or watch a movie or play video games. You can’t, however, just go out somewhere to do something.

Adeline and Deborah – Adeline asked me what my favorite job is and Deborah asked which crew member I would like to be. These are difficult questions to answer as I don’t see every aspect of each job. For what I’m doing, I enjoy seeing what we’ve caught in the net each time, and finding the Pollock larvae. As far as the different jobs on the ship, I think it would be very cool to be in charge of navigating the ship safely through the water. (See, I always want to be in charge)

Rick, the Chief Steward, in the Galley
Floyd, the second cook in the Galley

Lucy – The steward started collecting lunchboxes over 20 years ago. He did it for fun. Eventually he had so many he started to sell them. He sold an underdog lunchbox that he bought for 50 cents for $2500.00. He has sold the entire collection, now.   The Oscar Dyson stays close to Alaska. She and her 4 other sister ships were built to be used all over the US. Because of that, she is outfitted with air conditioning although it is seldom used. Her sister ships, that stay in warmer waters, also have de-icers on the windows that they never use.

Jasmine – In addition to studying the Pollock fisheries, the Oscar Dyson is also used for ecosystem studies, marine mammal and bird studies.

 

Your Question to answer

Find out more about one of the following jobs on board the ship: Include a description of their duties and requirements needed to get this job

 1.       Deck officers include CO – Commanding officer, XO – Executive officer, FOO – Field operations officer, Navigation officer, Safety officer, Medical officer

2.       Ship engineer

3.       Steward

4.       Survey technician

5.       Electronics technician

6.       Deck crew-  includes Boatswain, able-bodied seaman

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Laura Rodriguez, May 27th, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 27, 2010

Why is Ocean Science Important?

The Bridge of the Oscar Dyson

Me on the bridge
Me on the bridge

I’m starting to get into a routine on board the ship now. I wake up in time for breakfast at 7 AM. Then I read through your blog entries and catch up on emails. I head up to the bridge before my watch to check out the weather log and talk to the officer on watch. I get to the chemistry lab at 10:00 to start my watch. Lunch is at 11:00, so I may get one station in before lunch. Then we work straight until dinner at 5:00. The bridge tries to time the stations so we have at least 30 minutes to eat. On Monday, we had to eat in shifts because we came on the station right at 5:00. After dinner, we work until 10:00, then Ihit my bunk and its lights out.

Deck officers on the bridge
Deck officers on the bridge

The bridge of the Oscar Dyson is an amazing place. The deck officers rotate watches on the bridge. They are responsible for the safe piloting of the ship. All of the ship’s sensors and instruments can be accessed from the bridge. It is called an integrated bridge system. There are actually 4 bridge stations in the one large room. There is the main bridge consol as well as two wing bridges and an aft control station so that the officer on watch can control the ship from anywhere on the bridge. There is also an autopilot, although he always looks scared to death and about to scream. (see picture)

Auto Pilot
Auto Pilot

Some of the instruments include 2 radar screens, an electronic navigational chart as well as the traditional paper charts. There is an echo sounder to determine depth. The ship also has 2 GPS receivers to determine latitude and longitude and 2 gyro compasses to determine direction.

Radar on the bridge
Radar on the bridge
Pilot's view from the bridge
Pilot’s view from the bridge

The ship is also equipped with de-icers in the windows of the bridge. These heat the glass and keep them ice free.

De-icers on the window
De-icers on the window

Answers to your questions:

Jesse – The CO and the XO inspect the ship to make sure that it is stable. The CO must fill out a stability report before we leave dock. It details where the fuel and cargo are  located on board to make sure that the ship is balanced. The XO does a visual inspection of the ship before we leave to make sure that everything is secure.

Zach – The ship does a man overboard drill quarterly, that means once every three months. The last one was in March, so the next one is due in June. To do the drill, they throw a buoy overboard and then announce that it is a man over board drill. Everyone goes to their stations and the ship comes about and tries to get close enough to send a rescue swimmer to the buoy. If the ship cannot get close enough, they send the FRB (Fast Rescue Boat)

Ashley – Icebergs are not something that this ship would typically encounter. If there were an iceberg, it would show up on radar. The ship would then keep en extra lookout for it and also would give it a wide berth. What the ship typically encounters is flat or pack ice. This also shows up on radar so the ship knows when it’s coming.

Kellie – The ship ran aground in the Inside Passage in 2007.  The Inside Passage is in southeast Alaska down by Juneau. The propeller was damaged and had to be rebuilt.

Hannah M – To find crew for the ship, they use a pool of wage mariners. This is a listing of people who are qualified for the different jobs. Each type of job has different requirements and the people who would like to do that job need to have certain endorsements or qualifications to perform it. The ship has a permanent crew, but they hire people through what’s known as an augmentation pool to fill any temporary jobs. To apply for a job with NOAA is a lengthy process. It can take up to 6 months before a person is hired. They have to fill out an application, go through the interview process, get background checks, including a dental check, before they are eligible to be hired. The officers are part of the NOAA corps which has a different selection process.  Applicants for the NOAA corps must have a bachelor’s degree in a major course of study that relates to NOAA’s scientific or technological activities. They then apply to be a candidate for the NOAA corps. The candidates are selected for an intensive 4-5 month initial training program. They then have a 12-15 month obligation to serve on a NOAA ship. To learn more about the NOAA corps visit. http://www.noaacorps.noaa.gov/index.html

Kyle – The Oscar Dyson will make 11 research cruises this year. Since it was launched in 2005, that’s somewhere around  50 cruises so far.

Your questions to answer:

One of the most important jobs on a ship is to navigate the ship safely from one point to another. We now have very sophisticated technology to help us navigate, but people have been navigating ships for thousands of years. Research the history of navigation. Choose one civilization and describe how they navigated on the ocean.

As always, answer in complete sentences  and elaborate. Make sure you include the URL of the website where you found the information. Also, if you have any other questions for me please include.

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Laura Rodriguez, May 24th, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 24, 2010

Pollock Survey Begins

Robert and Kerri deploy the CTD
Deploying the Bongo nets
The bongo nets are almost in
Retrieving the bongo nets, full of algae and hopefully full of Pollock Larvae

On Saturday, my watch began at 10:00 AM. Two of the scientists, Annette Dougherty and Kevin Bailey have watch from 4 AM until 4 PM. The other two scientists, Tiffany Vance and Steve Porter, have watch from 4 PM until 4 AM. I guess being the teacher they took pity on me and gave me half and half. Before getting to one of the stations, the scientists make sure that everything is ready. They lay out the bongo nets on the deck where they will be used. The bongo nets are two nets that from the top look like bongo drums. (See picture) There is an instrument attached to the bongo nets called a SEACAT that takes conductivity, temperature and salinity measurements during the tow. Inside the lab, buckets, bowls and tweezers are all laid out ready to be used.

As we approach each station, the bridge informs the scientists and survey technicians. The bongo nets have already been readied and are set to be deployed (put into the ocean) from the hero platform. When the OK is given, the nets are lifted by the hydrowinch to a point where they can be maneuvered over the rail and then they are lowered into the water. The nets are lowered until they are at 100 meters or 10 meters off the bottom. As they are lowered, the pilot of the boat keeps the wire at a 45° angle by moving the boat slowly forward. Once the nets reach their maximum depth, they are slowly brought back up again.  ( I tried to upload a video showing the deployment and retrieval of the bongo, but it won’t work so I’ll show you the video when I get back.

Pollock larvae under the microscope

When the nets clear the water, they are hosed down to get any organisms into the bottle on the end of the net (called the cod end.) The cod end is then removed and the contents of one net are poured into a bucket for sorting. The contents of the other net are preserved and sent to a lab in Poland where they use instruments to get a very accurate count of the Pollock.

Annette Dougherty and Kevin Bailey in the chem Lab

Inside the chem lab, the contents of the bucket are scooped out and poured little by little into a mixing bowl. We then perform a rough count by removing the very small Pollock larvae and any other fish larvae and put them into a petri dish with cold water (the petri dish is placed on top of ice.) They are only a few mm long (averaging between 6-10mm.) Once we have gone through the entire contents, the Pollock larvae are counted, photographed and the length measured. They are then placed into a labeled vial with 95% ethanol. The other fish larvae are placed in a separate vial in 100% ethanol. They are kept in case another scientific team needs the data. The Pollock larvae will be sent to the scientists’ lab back in Seattle where they will perform further analysis on them. I’ll tell you more about that in the next blog.

 

Answers to your questions:

Annalise – The ship travels at 12 knots when we are going between stations.

Abandon Ship drill – You need to know how to put on your survival suit

Matt T– The ship is very safe. Drills are conducted every week. My first day on the ship, we had a fire drill and abandon ship drill. (See photo of me in my survival suit.)

Dan – The Oscar Dyson observes and records a number of environmental conditions. The bridge takes weather readings every hour and keeps them in a weather log. These include wind direction, wind speed, seawater temperature, air temperature, air pressure, cloud cover, sea swell height and direction. Conditions in the water are also constantly monitored such as temperature, conductivity, salinity, and amount of oxygen.

Olivia – The bongo tow is one way to get fish eggs. The mesh used on the bongo nets is very fine). It is able to filter out these very small larval fish and fish eggs, too.

Brittany – There is no specific number of fish that need to be caught for this experiment. Part of the experiment is to see how many larval fish there are. For our rough count, the scientists measure 20 larvae to get an estimate of their size. They will then look at the otoliths (small inner ear bones) to estimate their age.

Euphausid – Krill
Copepod

Amy – Aside from the Pollock larvae in the nets, we have caught cod larvae, larval squid, fish eggs, amphipods, terapods, jellies, Euphausids or krill, copepods and the larvae of other fish. The nets are small enough that we don’t catch any large fish or other animals.

Josh W. and Jon – Joel Kellogg has the night shift, so I haven’t met him yet. Stephen Macri is not on this cruise so I can’t ask him your questions.

 

Questions for today

In your answers to the last blog, many of you researched the large animals that live here in the Gulf of Alaska. The most abundant organisms, however, are much smaller. Two organisms that are very important to the survival of the large animals here are copepods and Euphausids. The larval Pollock feed on the larval copepods that are called copepodites.

Find out what other animals feed on copepods and euphausids. Then, describe at least one food chain that includes copepods and one that includes krill. In your food chain start with a producer or autotroph Ex. Algae) and end with the highest level of consumer or predator (Ex. blue Whale)

 

Again, Please be sure to include the link to the website where you got your information.  Answer the questions in your own words writing complete sentences with as much detail as you can.

Posted on

Laura Rodriguez, May 20, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 20, 2010

Dutch Harbor/Unalaska

Bridge to Dutch Harbor
Fuel Pier View of Captain’s bay
Church of The Holy Ascension, Unalaska
Bald Eagles are like Pigeons here
The Oscar Dyson at dock in Dutch Harbor

Thursday morning I left Anchorage for Dutch Harbor. The flight was only 3 hours long, but we stopped to refuel in King Salmon. (Find the route on Google maps.) In Dutch Harbor, I was met by a junior officer of the NOAA corps, Ensign Amber Payne. Amber’s job is on the bridge piloting the ship. She is originally from Michigan, but went to college in Florida studying marine biology. Once on board, Amber gave me a tour of my home for the next 10 days.

After settling in, I took the “Liberty Van” to downtown Unalaska to sightsee a little.  A Liberty Van is simply a van that goes into town every hour to ferry people back and forth to the ship. In Unalaska, I saw the Church of the Holy Ascension, a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1826 by the Russian American Fur Company. I went down to the beach to touch the water; very cold!! The van driver, Kerri, estimated that the temperature is probably around 2°C or just a little above freezing; colder than I want to swim in. I also walked past the 3 schools in Unalaska, the community center and aquatic center. They are all beautiful new buildings. After the Liberty Van brought me back to the ship, I took a walk down the road the other way and saw many bald eagles, oystercatchers, harlequin ducks and black guillemots. I also spotted a bald eagle building a nest. The bald eagles around here are kind of like pigeons. They are everywhere.

When I got back to the ship, the scientists had arrived. We went into Dutch Harbor together to get dinner at a very nice Mexican restaurant called Amelia’s. One thing on the menu I found very interesting was a Louisiana sandwich which was made with reindeer sausage. ( I don’t remember any reindeer in New Orleans during my Earthwatch trip.) The scientists all live in the Seattle area and are oceanographers or fisheries biologists. They work at the NOAA headquarters in Seattle.

Friday I woke early and went to the mess for a delicious cheese omelette breakfast. After breakfast, we spent the morning organizing the labs by moving crates and boxes from previous research cruises. We then went into town to do a little last minute shopping. I also got to visit the Museum of the Aleutians. The museum details the prehistory and history of the Aleutian Islands. Very Cool Fact – The Unangun or Aleuts made parkas from the guts and esophagi of any large sea mammal. Second Very Cool fact – The Japanese invaded Dutch Harbor during World War II. To learn more about the Unangans and the history of the Aleutians visit the museums website:http://www.aleutians.org/.

We shoved off from Fuel Pier in Captain’s Bay around 4PM and headed out to sea.

Now, I’ll answer some of your questions. If I don’t answer your question at this time, be patient I’ll try to answer all of them by the end of the cruise.

Kevin M and Kate – There are 27 people on board the ship for this cruise. There are the 4 scientists, me and 22 crew members.

Trisha – The crew all work together on the ship for each cruise. The group of scientists are different each cruise. The three oceanography/fisheries scientists work as a team and do this particular cruise each year. Tiffany, the IT specialist was hired by the team to help with this cruise. They work together in Seattle and seem to know each other well.

Devin and Becca – The sleeping quarters are very nice. I share a room with Amber Payne. We have bunkbeds. I have the lower bed which is usually Sara Duncan’s, but she’s not on board for this trip. We have a small head (bathroom) with a very small shower. (Lots of hot water, though and that’s important!!) Overall the ship is very comfortable. There is a large mess (dining hall) and a lounge area with a large screen TV. They have a collection of movies that you can watch in the lounge or on computer monitors in your room. Last night, Amber was watching Shrek in our room while I was reading through your blog entries. (I have to admit I watched some of it, too)

Bryant  and Lucas McC– The food so far has been delicious. I had an omelette for breakfast yesterday, today I had yogurt and fresh fruit (cantaloupe, papaya and strawberries.) For dinner last night, we had our choice of Cornish hens or spare ribs. I’ll keep you updated on the future cuisine. Yesterday, the last thing brought on board was the food, so we have some very fresh food. The food is kept in the galley, in large refrigerators and pantry areas.

Hannah D. – I asked Amber why she came up here after having lived in Florida where it is much warmer. She said that Florida was actually too warm and they have different, cooler (pun), marine animals up here. She wanted to see whales and sea lions, etc. You don’t get that in warmer waters. She also said that on her last cruise they saw killer whales or Orcas – very cool!

Ben – The water where we are sampling is on the continental shelf and doesn’t go much below 100 meters deep. We will always sample from at least 10 m off the bottom. Further off the islands (south) the bottom drops sharply to a trench. The deepest part of the trench is 7,679 meters (25,194 ft).

Chris – The Oscar Dyson is not an icebreaker, but it can go through ice to a point. On the last cruise they had to go through the ice pack to get a scientist to the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. The XO, Jeff Shoup told me they could only go so far and then they had to back up. The bow is reinforced for ice, but not the keel which could be damaged if they went too far.

Now it’s your turn – Find out about the types of marine animals that live in the waters of the Aleutian Islands. Then, describe one kind of animal in detail – Include information such as where they are found, what they eat and/or what eats them, their importance to humans and anything else you find interesting.

 

Please remember to include the website URL of where you got your information. And write in complete sentences including as much detail as you can.

Posted on

Laura Rodriguez, May 19, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 19, 2010

Anchorage

View from the Marriott Hotel Downtown Anchorage

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

I left Connecticut this morning at 8:15 AM and arrived in Anchorage at 2:00 PM local time which would be 6:00 PM back home. I’m staying in a beautiful hotel that has amazing views of the mountains that surround Anchorage. Since it’s still early here, I’ve had a chance to walk around town and even do a little window shopping. I had a Sockeye Salmon Salad sandwich (try saying that ten times fast) and salmon chowder. Both were delicious. When I come back after my research cruise, I’m going to try reindeer sausage.

Alaska State Monument, Anchorage

So here’s your challenge today. Alaska just celebrated its 50thanniversary of statehood last year. It became the 49th state in 1959. Research Alaska’s history and post at least one interesting fact. Try to find something a little different.

View of the Mountains from Anchorage
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Laura Rodriguez, May 13, 2010

The Oscar Dyson

The NOAA ship that I will be on is called the Oscar Dyson. Visit the homepage at :http://www.moc.noaa.gov/od/index.htm

Explore the webiste,  find and post 1 piece of information about the Oscar Dyson and its crew that you think is really interesting.

Then post one question you have about the ship and its crew that you would like me to find out while I’m on board.

Posted on

Laura Rodriguez, May 10, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Laura Rodriguez
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 24 – June 2, 2012

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 10, 2010

Getting Ready to go to sea

I leave for Dutch Harbor, Alaska in 9 days for my adventure on board the Oscar Dyson. I need to start getting ready. First I have to find out what the weather is like around Dutch Harbor. To help me, find the answers to the following questions and post in the comment section. 1. What is the latitude and longitude of Dutch Harbor, Alaska? 2. What is the average high and low temperature in May and June? 3. What is the average rainfall? 4. when will the sun rise on May 20th and when will it set?