NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 25, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
41.27 degrees N, 70.19 degrees W
Partly Cloudy with wind out of the W at 19 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 26.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 20.9 degrees Celsius
Waves: 2 feet Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.6 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
We received a call from the Coast Guard yesterday telling us to seek shelter because of the impending interaction of Hurricane Kyle with a strong cold front approaching us. We cut our cruise a day short and headed for Woods Hole. As we headed back in I had time to reflect on my experiences over the last couple weeks. I particularly appreciated all the positive energy of the scientific crew. They were always very helpful and thoughtful as well as efficient. I learned a lot from them. Each morning I found myself looking forward to what might unfold as we worked together. I totally enjoyed my four or five hours of free time each day. Often I would spend this time on the bow or the fantail taking in the rhythm of the sea. It was a very soothing experience much like watching a camp fire. The sunsets, too, brought a sense of awe and peace.
Each of the crew was a master of multiple tasks. Jon Rockwell was not only an expert cook, but a medic as were three others aboard. As part of their initial training with the NOAA Corps the four officers had entered a room fully in flames and totally filled with smoke. If they had to, they could navigate by the stars. Two of the officers were NOAA trained SCUBA divers. The engineers could fix anything whether it had to do with distilling water, leaking hydraulic pipes, stuck drawers, broken toilets, cracked welds, or the various diesel engines. They were experts in the “green” rules governing disposal of waste. The ET specialist could fix both hardware and software. The scientists knew their software programs backwards and forwards. All very impressive.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 24, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
41.27 degrees N, 70.19 degrees W
Partly Cloudy with winds out of the W at 19 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 26.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 20.9 degrees Celsius
Waves: 2 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.6 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
Marie Martin, the bird watcher, came rushing down from her perch on the flying bridge in the early afternoon announcing that she had just spotted a humpback whale close by. We all rushed here and there to get a view. I went up to the bow and looked for about 10 minutes. As I came back through the bridge LT(jg) Mark Frydrych, the OOD (Officer of the Deck), and Marie were talking about a right whale entangled in a net. Mark called the captain seeking his advice. Whenever a situation like this is observed the captain is expected to report it. The captain told Mark to report it and let the trained people steam out to try to find it. I interjected that I never did spot the pilot whale. Everyone said, “What pilot whale?” Mark said he saw a right whale. Marie piped up that she had said it was a humpback whale. Then I remembered that indeed she had said humpback whale. At that point the whole thing was moot because the humpbacks are not endangered. Then we asked Mike, the chief scientist, what would happen if a right whale got caught in his net. He said he didn’t want to think about it. When a sturgeon got caught he said he had two weeks of doing nothing but filling out forms. If a right whale got caught he would probably have 2 months of paperwork.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 23, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
42.42 degrees N, 67.39 degrees W
Cloudy with wind out of the N at 32 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 15.5 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 11.6 degrees Celsius
Waves: 6 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Science and Technology Log
Yesterday we were fairly busy doing CTD casts and trawls. Today we woke to find the night crew just starting to record the lengths and weights of their large catch. We grabbed some cereal and took over from them at 5:45 a.m. They had collected and sorted all the fish. Jacquie and I took about two hours measuring, weighing, and examining the innards of the half basket of herring they left us. Our chief scientist, Dr. Mike Jech, summarized his findings so far in a short report to everyone including those back at Woods Hole: “Trawl catches in the deeper water near Georges Bank have been nearly 100% herring with some silver hake. Trawl catches in shallow water (<75 m) have occasionally caught herring, but mostly small silver hake, redfish, butterfish, and red hake.
A night haul of herring. Notice the brilliant blue stripe on the top of the herring. The camera’s flash is spotlighted in the reflective tape on the life vests.
Small being less than 5-6 cm in length. We caught one haddock this entire trip. Trawl catches north of Georges Bank have been a mix of redfish and silver hake, with a few herring mixed in.” This afternoon the Officer of the Deck, LT(jg) Mark Frydrych, gave me a run down of many of the instruments on the bridge. I spotted a white blob on the northeastern horizon and pointed it out. He showed me where it was on the SIMRAD FS900, a specialized radar. The SIMRAD FS900is often able to identify a ship and its name. This time it couldn’t. Looking through binoculars we could see it was a large container vessel. Then we looked at a different radar and saw both the ship’s absolute trajectory and its trajectory relative to the Delaware 2. It was on a path parallel to the Delaware2 so Mark didn’t worry about it intersecting our path. We also noticed another ship off to the west and north of us on the radar, but we couldn’t yet see it on the horizon. It too was projected on a path parallel to us.
Then Mark pointed out an area on the SIMRAD FS900 outlined in red. It’s an area where ships can voluntarily slow to 10 knots in an effort to avoid collisions with whales. It seems that sleeping right whales don’t respond to approaching noises made by ships. There are only about 350 to 500 of them left and they are often killed by passing ships. The Delaware 2 was steaming at about 7 knots because in the 6 ft waves it couldn’t go any faster. However the container ship was steaming at 15.5 knots. Few ships slow down in the red zone.
Mark showed me how to fill out the weather report for that hour. I typed in all my info into a program on a monitor which assembled all my weather data into the format the weather service uses. I first recorded our position from an instrument displaying the latitude and longitude right there above the plotting table. I read the pressure, the wet bulb temperature and the dry bulb temperature from an instrument which had a readout in a room off to the starboard of the bridge. The ship has two anemometers so I averaged these to get the wind speed and direction. We looked at the waves and tried to imagine standing in the trough of one and looking up. I figured the wave would be over my head and so estimated about 6 feet. We also looked at the white foam from a breaking wave and counted the seconds from when it appeared until it rode the next wave. The period of the wave we watched was four seconds. Next we looked out the window to search out any clouds. It was clear in front of us but quite cloudy all behind us. I estimated the height of the clouds. I typed all this information into the appropriate boxes on the monitor. It was all so much easier than my college days when we had to gather the information manually then switch it by hand into the code appropriate for the weather service. The OOD sent this information to NOAA Weather Service on the hour, every hour operations permitting.
Personal Log
Though my son was instrumental in persuading me to apply for the Teacher-at-Sea position I haven’t seen much of him thus far. He’s standing the 1 to 4 shift both afternoon and night. When I’m free he seems to be sleeping. We don’t even eat meals together. That’s why I made a special trip to the bridge today to meet up with him during his watch.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 22, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
42.52 degrees N, 68.06 degrees W
Cloudy, wind out of the E at 11 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 15.2 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 14.0 degrees Celsius
Waves: 1 foot
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 16.9 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
Today was more of the same–more CTD’s and trawls. Just after lunch we had our weekly fire drill. This time the fire was in the galley and Jon Rockwell, the chief cook, was supposedly overcome with fake CO2 smoke. After everyone except Jon was accounted for the search for him began in earnest. The Hollywood style smoke machine produced smoke so thick the crew had difficulty finding Jon “passed out” on the floor of the galley. Part of the drill was lifting Jon on a stretcher up the stairs and out onto the fantail. Our station was redirected to the bridge this time where we were allowed to listen as LT(jg) Mark Frydrych conducted the exercise. I had noticed emergency firemen gear here and there in the halls. Always there was a radio charging next to the gear. That’s how they communicated. All in all I was very impressed with the expertise and calmness of everyone even when plan A didn’t work and plan B had to be tried. Safety always came first. For a good 45 minutes following the drill the crew and officers talked over possible improvements. There was no messing around. Everyone was in earnest and aware of the seriousness of the drill and the debriefing. Yet this group had been practicing fire drills weekly every time they were at sea.
Personal Log
I already knew three people aboard when I arrived. My son, LT(jg) Mark Frydrych, was the Operations Officer. He’s the one who suggested I apply for the Teacher-at-Sea position. On a previous visit to Woods Hole I had met Erin Earley, the engineer wiper. We had hit it off then and continued to get to know each other better on this cruise. Then there was my hiking pal from Colorado, Jacquie. She and I both work at Pikes Peak Community College in the math department. She’d taken the semester off and was looking for an adventure. After applying for the Teacher-at-Sea position I learned that the Herring Legs needed volunteers. Jacquie signed up for the first two legs. This cruise was her second leg. I experienced a tremendously easy adjustment stage because of these friendships.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 21, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
42.00 degrees, 68.06 degrees W
Partly cloudy, wind out of the SE at 6 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 18.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 15.7 degrees Celsius
Waves: 1 foot
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 17.7 degrees Celsius
Red Fish waiting to be sorted and later in a clothes basket.
Science and Technology Log
We returned to a spot that Mike had marked on our computers as a place where he would have liked to have sampled the fish when the seas were high and we were unable to fish. We sent down a CTD at dawn and then deployed our net. I’m learning more about the importance of the man at the helm. If he speeds the boat then the net will rise. Conversely, if he slows the net falls. The desire of the scientist is to get a representative sample of the fish in the area, but not to take more than what is needed since we return very few alive to the ocean. The NOAA Corps officer at the helm knows this as well and has his own sonar so that he knows at what level the fish are located. He adjusts the speed of the boat as he sees fit to catch an appropriate number of fish while checking with the chief scientist or watch chief to ensure the net is where they want it. I also learned that red fish are often associated with American herring. Red fish are a sweet delicious fish, which were over fished during World War II. They’ve been on the US’s banned fishing list since that time.
We brought up in today’s catch about 200 small fry red fish. We also collected about 20 good-sized ones running to about 12”. The large ones take up to 60 years to grow to the size where they are worth harvesting to eat. We only brought up 5 herring. This time there was one 8” squid. We deployed the Tow Body this afternoon around 3:30 p.m. It’s an undersea camera. Unfortunately the wires connecting the Tow Body to the computers had gotten broken as it sat on the fantail. Possibly the wires got jostled during clean up. (We use a fire hose to clean the fantail after each trawl.) Possibly people stepping on and over the wires as they walked about on the fantail broke the wire. This wasn’t learned until moments before we were to deploy the instrument. The ET specialist, Dave Miles, figured out where the wire was broken fairly quickly and reconnected it. That gave us connectivity, but still there was a problem of the Tow Body not responding to commands from the computer. The chief scientist, Mike, tackled that part of the problem. Somehow he fixed the software. We got the go ahead signal about three hours later.
Getting ready to deploy the Tow Body
This was the only deployment in which the scientific crew was allowed on the fantail as part of the deployment. Like the fishermen we had to wear a life jacket and hardhat. Four of us held onto lines that kept the Tow Body from twisting as it entered the water. Unfortunately one of the lines got loose. Displaying great skill fisherman Jim Pontz used a grappling hook to retrieve it. By now we had drifted so far off course we had to circle back into position. When we finally got the instrument in the water our fish had left the area. We could tell that by the echograms. The plans were to leave the Tow Body’s lights off until the camera was surrounded by fish.
Otherwise the fish swim away from the lights. Only later when we again came into a school of fish did we learn that the lights weren’t responding. The endeavor was aborted. From a scientific standpoint we did learn something. The Tow Body needed more work. We also learned that we should start disconnecting the wires from the Tow Body when it’s stored on the fantail.
Personal Log
I watched the Broncos play this afternoon. No one else was interested. Four or five of the crew watched different football games throughout the day. They seemed to have time for their favorite team, but no one seemed to spend hours and hours watching game after game. The most popular form of relaxation was watching movies. There must be over a hundred DVD’s to choose from. The screen is a large flat panel screen.
Jim Pontz using the grappling hook to retrieve a loose line.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 20, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
42.53 degrees N, 67.51 degrees W
Cloudy, wind out of the E at 11 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 15.2 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 14.0 degrees Celsius
Waves: 1 foot
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 16.9 degrees Celsius
A goosefish, also called a lumpfish.
Science and Technology Log
We did a CTD with an attached water bottle and then deployed a net. We backtracked today and redid the sites we found yesterday which had good herring potential. About 10:30 in the morning we collected about 1/3 of a clothesbasket of fish. Most of that were herring and mackerel, with the usual small butterfish, goosefish or lumpfish, red hake fish, small jellyfish, and Ilex squid. The catch included an unknown two inch fish which Mike, the chief scientist, conjectured had gotten caught in a warm eddy off the Gulf Stream and ended in the wrong part of the ocean much like the jet stream blows birds off course. Part of sorting the fish involved gutting one to three each of the different lengths of herring to determine their sex, age, and what they had been eating. With practice and much patience on Robert and Jacquie’s part I learned to recognize the stomach and sex organs of the fish. None of the herring today had anything in their stomachs, while those of two days ago had lots, mostly krill. With two of us working it took about 45 minutes to measure the length and weight of each herring. They varied When we finally collected the net we had 3 basketsful of redfish, half a basket of silver hake, 4 herring, one large goosefish about a foot long, and a rare Atlantic Shad about 2 feet long.
To measure our fish we used the magnetized pointer. We lined up the fish’s head against the black backstop and stretched the body straight out. When we pressed the pointer against the end of the fish’s body an electrical circuit closed and the computer automatically recorded the fish’s length. The fish are silver hake.
We froze samples which we’d opened up for Mike and then one ungutted sample from each of the nine categories for the University of Maine. We did another CTD about 11:30 and deployed the net again. All did not go well this time. The sonar showed that the net was twisted and the opening blocked. The fishermen were called upon to bring it in and straighten it. The first thing they did was to take the two 400 pound chain weights off. Then they sent the net back out hoping it would straighten itself. Alas, they had to bring it in and send it out a couple more times as they manually untangled all the lines. It was very strenuous work and took them about 45 minutes. As a result we steamed about 3 miles past the point where we intended to fish.
We’ve sorted a smaller catch on the measuring board. We measured and weighed these fish, but never opened them to determine their sex. We did that only for herring. The scale is under the gray container on the right. We only had to press a button for the computer to record the weight
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 18, 2008
Marilyn entering below deck.
Weather Data from the Bridge
41.27 degrees N, 70.19 degrees W
Partly Cloudy
Wind out of the W at 19 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 26.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 20.9 degrees Celsius
Waves: 9 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.6 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
We suspended operations. The seas were from 8 to 9 feet for the next day and a half. Conditions were unsafe for the fishermen to work. Everyone spent the day reading, playing board games, watching movies, or typing on the three computers provided for everyone’s use. Erin Earley, the engineer wiper, took the opportunity to show Jacquie and me the engine room. She took us through all the portals marked, “Do Not Enter”. They all had ladders under them leading to the bowels of the ship. The engine area was compartmentalized and was entered from different spots from above. Erin showed us the ubiquitous colored handles which turned the various valves on and off.
Marilyn ducking under pipes below deck
There were yellow handles for transmission oil pipes, green for seawater, orange for hydraulic fluid, red for emergency fire hose water, blue for drinking water, and brown for engine oil. We headed down under the galley where we passed next to the 12-cylinder Detroit Diesel engine which powered the screw. It was about ten times the size of a good-sized pickup engine. Erin explained the importance of placing all this heavy machinery so that the weight is evenly distributed within the ship. The engine being so heavy is usually near the center of the ship. This necessitates a huge long drive shaft connecting it to the screw. The drive shaft, spinning away at high speed, was out in the open just under and alongside the catwalk. One slip would be catastrophic. Most of what we saw was large 5’ by 5’ or larger rectangular tanks for fuel, distilled water, black water, gray water, and used oil. The black water from the toilets is stored in a tank with “bugs” or a bacteria in it which eat the refuse and in effect clean up the water. The gray water is from the sinks and showers and contains soap which kills the bugs. The gray water has to be saved in tanks separate from the black water. All this is dumped into the sea in designated areas. Only the used oil is saved to be offloaded back at the dock.
Erin Earley pointing out hydraulic fluid pipes.
We saw two workshop areas, a storeroom with all the parts that might be needed for any possible repair, an extra emergency generator, and the Engine Control Room (CERC), where Engineer Chris O’Keefe was standing watch. The CERC room contained all the gauges to monitor all the engine systems. By the end of the tour Jacquie and I were totally impressed with how clean and organized everything was and how much knowledge the engineers needed. The four of them had to be experts in heating and cooling, in welding, in diesel engine repair, in electrical repairs, and hydraulics. Each of them had either mastered these fields or was in an apprenticeship with that as their goal. Usually people master one of these fields in a lifetime. We were also impressed with how many safety features were built in everywhere. It seemed everywhere we went there were three foot CO2 bottles which would automatically spray everywhere if a fire were to occur.
Personal Log
Two holding tanks
Sleeping was difficult for me that evening. I did succumb to seasickness Friday morning, but was fine after downing a sea sickness pill. We frittered away the rest of the day. Robert Gamble, second scientist under Mike Jech, got out his game called Hive and taught three or four of us how to play. Otherwise I read, did Sudoku, rode the exercise bike, and ate.
The food was tremendously good. All of it was prepared from scratch. The two cooks were at least four star cooks. They not only cooked, they also cleaned up their own mess, did the dishes, and cleaned up the dining area. They appeared the hardest workers on board. For both lunch and dinner they prepared two entrees, three veggies, homemade soup, and two salads. They baked two luscious desserts as well. So far we have sampled lamb chops, salmon, lobster bisque, crab ravioli, pork chops with a luscious applesauce, and grilled swordfish.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters
Deploying the fishing net
Date: September 17, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
41.27 degrees N, 70.19 degrees W
Partly Cloudy
Wind out of the W at 19 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 26.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 20.9 degrees Celsius
Waves: 2 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.6 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
A fisherman dumping the catch
The third day out was much like the second day. Our first job was to fish with the big net. This time the chief scientist wanted to know what some small vertical echoes on the echogram were. He guessed that they were shrimp or krill. The acoustic echogram used three frequencies: 18 kHz, 38 kHz, and 120 kHz. If dots appeared in all three then he was pretty sure it was fish and most likely herring. These particular vertical dots appeared only in the 18 kHz echogram. He guessed they were very small fish, but wanted to determine if the signature belonged to opening were huge metal doors. They looked like doors, but in fact never closed. They were actually more like the front edge of an airplane wing. Their purpose was to stay parallel to each other and keep the net open. The net was rolled up on a large roller, which sat at the center back of the fantail. It was about 250 ft long. When it was time to deploy, the fishermen used a winch to unwind the net. The person at the helm had to be extremely careful that the boat kept at a steady headway of about 3 to 4 knots. The doors were stored at the very end of the stern. With the help of their own hydraulic winches they were lifted to a spot where they could be attached to the net. There was a place on each side of the net where the side wire changed to a chain link. The metal doors were clasped on these links and then dragged into the sea. Another link in the wire was for heavy chains. Their weight of about 400 pounds each held the sides of the net down.
Fishermen setting up the recorder sent outwith the net.
The night crew, on from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am were busy Wednesday night and on into the morning. They did two CTD’s and three net deployments. They left us about 50 herring and silver hake to observe in the morning. Richie Logan, one of the fishermen, used these to write a birthday note to his daughter. Here’s his picture. Each time we sent out a net we were hoping for about half a clothes basketful of fish. Last night they filled 30 baskets. Only about 1/3 of a basket is ever measured and weighed. The rest are tossed back. Our chief scientist said he can remember processing enough to fill 60 baskets. So far most of the biomass in the basket has been krill. Mixed in with the krill are small anthropoids maybe a half inch square, jelly fish about twice that size, Illex squid from 2 to 6 inches long, baby silver hake, butterfish, or red hake. These last three are all in the neighborhood of 1 inch long.
This morning we pulled up a lamprey eel about 2 feet long and a couple two inch lumpfish in the evening. Most of the fish were dead when we got to them. We had to wait until the fishermen were totally finished with winding the net and had dumped the net’s contents onto the deck before we were allowed on the fantail. Then we sorted the large fish into clothes baskets and the smaller ones into small trays. Wednesday Jacquie Ostrom, another volunteer from Colorado Springs, noticed that two 3-inch lumpfish were moving. She added some water to our rectangular sorting pan and a piece of clear hard plastic we had thought was some molt or litter also started to move. No one seemed to know what the “plastic” was. After a quick reference to the Internet we learned it was the larva of the spiny lobster.
Richie Logan making a Happy Birthday email for his daughter.
Personal Log
We must have passed by the north-south migration path of the whales. We didn’t spot any today. The work load is really light compared with teaching. We work two or three hours cataloguing the catch after each trawl, clean up with the saltwater deck hose, and then wait for the next trawl maybe three or four hours later. A 20 minute CTD deployment every now and then is the only other work we are expected to do. The cruise is turning out to be very relaxing. I spend quite a bit of time just staring out at the sea, immersing myself in its gentle rhythm.
Seven basketsful of herring from a haul in the deep waters near Georges Bank.The piece of “plastic” turned out to be the larva of a spiny lobster.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 16, 2008
The Newston net hanging from a pulley on the A-frame
Weather Data from the Bridge
41.27 degrees N, 70.19 degrees W
Partly Cloudy
Wind out of the W at 19 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 26.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 20.9 degrees Celsius
Waves: 2 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.6 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
Today started slowly since we were still in transit to our starting position. All morning there were 15 to 20 terns and gulls flying nearby. Occasionally we’d spot land birds. A small yellow-rumped warbler actually flew into the dry lab area of the boat. It was far from where it belonged and probably wouldn’t make it back. The terns skimmed the water surface, but never actually seemed to touch the water. Our bird scientists, Marie-Caroline Martin and Timothy White, decided they would deploy a Newston net to try to determine what the birds were eating. The fishermen, who do all the deploying of instruments, hung the net from the A-frame pulley on the starboard side and swung it out over the water. For 20 minutes it bounced in and out of the water never getting more than a foot or so above or below the surface. The Neuston fine mesh net is about 10 feet long and has a mouth about 4 feet by 2 feet.
Jim Pontz, a fisherman, working the A-frame.
When the fishermen brought it in, it mostly held salp and jellyfish, but also some small crustaceans which looked like miniature shrimp about 1/2 in. long. The jellyfish were small, without stingers. Marie carefully washed the contents of the net down to its opening with a salt water hose. Then she used her unprotected hands to slide her catch into a glass jar about the size of a medium peanut butter jar. She graciously separated a few of the crustaceans for us to observe. About 11:30 a.m. we finally reached our starting point. The plan was to do parallel north-south transects. We would cross the east-west transects without stopping . We fished with a huge net off the stern. The chief scientist, Dr Michael Jech, decided when to fish. Sometimes he put the net in to prove that there were no herring there and the echoes he was receiving were correct. Other times he saw a new signature on the screen and checked to see what it might have been. Still other times he recognized the herring signature (he’s about 90% accurate) and fished to determine sizes, sexes, and stomach content. At other times he had predetermined stations where fishing had been good in the past.
A herring in a clothes basket. Note the brilliant blue stripe on top.
At each 90 degree turn we deployed a CTD – conductivity, temperature, and depth instrument. The instrument measured how easily electricity can flow through the seawater, its conductivity. From this and the temperature and pressure (or depth) the salinity of the water can be determined. The equations involve the 5th power of both temperature and pressure. They appear to be Taylor’s series approximations. The CTD is also used to calculate the speed of sound which is important for the accuracy of the sonar equipment. Only the crew may actually deploy instruments. None of the scientists touch the instruments going over the side. The scientific crew’s job was to communicate via a handheld radio with the fishermen working the winch and the one putting the instrument into the water. We told them when to start after we had initialized the computer programs and when to haul back the CTD as it came within a few feet of the ocean bottom. We could simultaneously look at a cam on a nearby monitor showing what was happening at the A frame. I watched the first time this was done, but with everyone’s help soon caught on and was doing it myself.
Jacquie Ostrom at her post radioing the fishermen when to start the CTD
The second time I helped with the CTD we attached a Niskin water bottle to the bottom of the CTD and signaled to have it stopped about half way back up the ever present bottom layer isotherm. We paused for about a minute as it filled with the surrounding water. At that point both ends were wide open. A fisherman dropped a messenger, a heavy round metal doughnut, down the line to the bottle. It tripped a lever which then allowed the lids connected with tremendously strong elastic bands to snap shut. The tube is a little larger than a 2-liter soda bottle. When we were given the retrieved bottle, we washed out a small, maybe 1-cup, bottle 3 times with the seawater from the Niskin bottle before we filled and capped it and replaced it in its position in a crate. The water can be used to calibrate the salinity readings the CTD recorded and to determine various other chemicals at that spot of collection in the ocean.
Sunset silhouetting the CTD bottle balancing against one arm of the A-frame.
Personal Log
Today being the first full day at sea I was introduced to a wonderful daily ritual. Each morning at about 10:30 the chiefs brought out from the oven their first baked dessert of the day. Today’s was the most perfectly seasoned peach cobbler I’ve ever tasted. Once toward evening we spotted dolphins around the ship. We could occasionally see them jumping through the air. A pair played in the bow wake for a short while. About the same time the crew pointed out to us some three or four pilot whales about 100 yards off the starboard stern. I hadn’t expected to see so much sea life. This is turning into a very memorable adventure.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Marilyn Frydrych
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II September 15-25, 2008
Mission: Atlantic Herring Hydroacoustic Survey Geographical area of cruise: New England Coastal Waters Date: September 15, 2008
The Delaware II (Photo courtesy Jacquie Ostram)
Weather Data from the Bridge
41.27 degrees N, 70.19 degrees W
Partly Cloudy
Wind out of the W at 19 knots
Dry Bulb Temperature: 26.0 degrees Celsius
Wet Bulb Temperature: 20.9 degrees Celsius
Waves: 2 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.6 degrees Celsius
Science and Technology Log
The purpose of my trip on the Delaware II was to find interesting venues for presenting various math lessons to students at Pikes Peak Community College where I teach and to students of different grades and ages at the K-12 public schools in Colorado Springs. We left on time yesterday, though I was unaware of the departure. I had been busy unpacking my things and making my bed. Then I decided to learn my way around the boat. I happened to look through a porthole and noticed we were about 25 yards from the peer. The NOAA Corps officer, ENS Charlene Felkley, taking us out had used the bow thruster to move us away from the dock. It was so smooth that I hadn’t noticed any movement. I thought that strange considering the size of the Delaware 2. We steamed all day toward our station about 250 miles east of Cape Cod.
NOAA’s dock at Woods Hole, Massachusetts
After we were out of the channel we started our drills. We’d all been given a station billet stating where our stations were for emergencies. The first was a fire drill followed by an abandon ship drill. I started to my station at the stern for the fire drill, but one of the engineers redirected me to the bow stating that the fire was in the stern. About 15 of us gathered in the bow. We had all carried our survival suit, life vest, long sleeve shirt, hat and gloves, and anything we thought we might need. I brought as extras my sunglasses and a bottle of water. When we were dismissed, about 15 minutes later after the officers and crew had practiced using the fire hoses by spaying over the side of the boat, we proceeded to the stern where those of us who had not been on the last cruise dressed in our survival suits. I soon learned that the easiest way to put on a survival suit is to stretch the legs and boots out on the deck, sit down in its middle, draw its legs onto your legs, stand up and finish with the upper body. Pulling the zipper up proved quite difficult. The hood enveloped my face and I could feel its suction. The suit is designed to keep the cold water away from your body. It was well insulated but still in icy cold waters would only protect you for about an hour.
Jacquie Ostrom and Marilyn on the bow
Personal Log
That evening we spotted some whales spouting. It was migration time so we must have been crossing their path as they headed south. We were told they were probably humpback whales because of their size and the shape of their spouts. I saw a couple fins, but mostly just their massive bodies surfacing. I learned about “fin prints” the spot where their fin flattens the water. The little ripples, prevalent everywhere on the ocean’s surface, seem to be smoothed out at the spot where the fin hits the water. These areas were about 6 ft by 4 ft and glistened smooth in the setting sun. We watched spout after spout for about 2 hours.
Marilyn and Debbie Duarte on the bowOur four bunk room. Debbie Durate on the night shift and Jacquie Ostrom and I on the day shift shared this room. It was understood we were not to return to the room any time during our 12 hour shift. The shower is behind the sink and not much wider.Marilyn in survival suitRobert Gambel, scientist, standing in front of our fishing net ready to put on his survival suit
