mebarker2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Melissa Barker

Aboard NOAA ship Oregon II

June 22-July 6

Mission: SEAMAP Groundfish Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico

Date: June 22, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge: In port at Pier 21, Galveston, TX waiting out Tropical Storm Cindy.

Latitude: 29 18.61 N

Longitude: 94 47.56 W

Air temp: 28.8 C

Wind: gusty

Sky: overcast

Science and Technology Log

There is not a lot of science happening yet on the Oregon II. We are waiting out Tropical Storm Cindy that has made landfall on the gulf coast, so the science team has not yet arrived. The ship is pretty quiet with a few folks taking care of odds and ends. LT Reni Rydlewicz and ENS Chelsea Parrish welcomed me and showed me around the ship. Both officers took me to the bridge, the command center for the ship, to look at charts of where we will be sailing once underway.

I learned that we will be sampling at a set of randomly predetermined sampling stations in depths of 5-60 fathoms (fm). One fathom is equal to six feet, so we will be sampling at depths of 30-360 feet. We will use a 40-foot trawl and sample within 2.5 mile radius of the station locations. We will use paper and electronic charts to navigate our way from station to station. I’m looking forward to getting underway, hopefully on Friday evening.

Electronic navigational chart

Paper navigational chart

Our sampling stations are highlighted in yellow on the electronic chart. All the dots are oil and gas locations. On the paper chart, the lines that look like roads are called fairways and are safe areas of navigation. The numbers are depths in feet. The Oregon II has a 15 foot draw, so we typically try to stay in water at least 35 feet deep. NOAA creates these charts and give frequent updates to the officers.

Personal Log

I’m making the most out of my time in Galveston and at port on the Oregon II. I spent some time learning my way around the ship. Take a tour of the Oregon II by watching my short video below. The video can also be accesses here.

While exploring around the downtown area, I realized that I am definitely not use to the 100% humidity that we are experiencing. It really makes me appreciate the dry heat at home, but I am glad that it stopped raining making my exploring slightly drier.

I visited the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum. The Ocean Star is an old jack-up rig that was decommissioned in 1984 and now serves as a museum to educate the public about exploring, drilling and producing offshore energy resources.

I had no idea how many rigs there are in the gulf and that much of the oil is transported back to the mainland via pipelines. As of 2008, there was over 27,000 miles of active oil and gas pipe in the gulf transporting nearly 200 million barrels of oil and 1 trillion cubic feet of gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “the Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts for 17% of total U.S. crude oil production.” And as of 2013, the oil production in the gulf exceeds 686 million barrels per year.

When rigs are decommissioned they can sometimes be converted into artificial reefs. According to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, as of July 2015, 470 platforms have been converted into permeant artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. You can learn more about this program here and see a short video of how rigs are turned into reefs here.

rigs to reef (photo credit: bsee.gov)

Did You Know?

As we collect data, we will be transmitting realtime shrimp biological data to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) in Ocean Springs, MS. Often times it can take weeks, months and even years to process data from large scale scientific projects. The realtime data transmission allows the GSMFC to use the most current data to manage the fisheries effectively.

Dawson Sixth Grade Queries

What does your room look like? Where do you sleep? (Emma, Mia)

You can check out my video above to see my berth or stateroom as well as the rest of the Oregon II. My room is compact and uses space efficiently like everything on the ship. If I stand in the middle of the room and stretch my arms out I can touch the wall and cabinets at the same time. The other dimension (bed to far wall) is longer, roughly 8 feet with a little entry for the door. There is about enough room to do downward dog or warrior one, but not much else. With our 12 hour shifts, there is little time for hanging out, so sleeping is the main concern when in our staterooms and the bed is very comfortable.

How many people are on the boat? (Sylvia, Maylei)

Right now there are not many people on the ship, but when we hopefully set off on Friday evening we should have about 28 people total, including 10 in the science party and 18 officers, crew, engineers, fishermen, and stewards. Look for more information about the folks who live and work on the Oregon II in future posts.

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Melissa Barker

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

June 22 – July 6, 2017

Mission: SEAMAP Groundfish Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico

Date: June 14, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge

Here in Longmont, Colorado where I live, we are settling into warm summer days often topping out in the high 80’s to 90’s F and typically with low humidity. In Galveston, Texas, where I’ll board the ship it is in the 80’s F this week with 90% humidity. I’ll have to get used to that humid air.

Science and Technology Log

NOAAS_Oregon_II_(R_332) — NOAA Ship *Oregon II*. Photo courtesy of NOAA.

I will spend two weeks aboard the NOAA fisheries research vessel Oregon II, in the Gulf of Mexico, working on the SEAMAP (Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program) Summer Groundfish Survey. The objective of the survey is to monitor the size and distribution of shrimp and groundfish in the Gulf of Mexico.

gfmexico — The Gulf of Mexico. Photo from world atlas.com

What are groundfish, you ask? These are the fish that live near or on the bottom of the ocean. This survey is conducted twice per year; the data help scientists monitor trends in shrimp and fish abundance as well as changes over time. We will also be collecting plankton samples and environmental data at each site. The second leg of the groundfish survey works off of the Louisiana coast and the outlet of the Mississippi River where a “dead” or hypoxic zone forms in the summer. I am very interested to see the what we pull up in this area.

Personal Log

When the NOAA Teacher at Sea email arrived in my inbox in February, I held my breath as I opened and read it as fast as possible. I was accepted! I was going to sea! I am honored to be a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Teacher at Sea program.

I teach Biology and direct the Experiential Education program at the Dawson School in Lafayette, Colorado. I love sharing my passion for learning about the biological world with my students and engaging my students’ curiosities. Many of my favorite teaching moments have been times when I can take students outside to observe and explore their surroundings.

P1070391 — My classroom for a week in the San Juan Mountain Range, CO. March 2017. Photo credit Pete Devlin

I’ve lived in Colorado for about 17 years and love to play in the mountain environment on foot, ski or bike. Having lived land locked for most of my life, I can’t wait for the opportunity to explore the ocean ecosystem this summer. As a child, I spent short amounts of time exploring tide pools in Maine and beaches in Florida and was always intrigued by the vastness and mystery of the ocean.

Tending my garden to grow delicious food

Now, I’m heading out to sea for two weeks to dive right into (not literally) learning about the ocean. Like my students, I learn best by doing, so I am thrilled to be working with the NOAA Fisheries team.

Did You Know?

Did you know that June is national ocean month? Celebrate the ocean this month.Check out this great video from NOAA and visit NOAA’s Celebrate the Ocean page for more information.

Dawson Sixth Grade Queries

Just before the end of the school year, I visited the Dawson sixth graders to talk about my NOAA Teacher at Sea expedition. We learned about the importance of the ocean, even for us here in Colorado, and the sixth graders wrote questions for me to answer while I’m at sea. Look for this section in my blog where I will answer some of those questions.

Dawson School sixth grade. Photo by RuthAnne Schedler.

-What do you think the most common organism is that you will find? (from Allison)

One of the main goals of the Groundfish survey is to collect data on the abundance and distribution of shrimp, so I think I’ll be seeing a lot of shrimp in our net. I’ll be sure to post photos of what we find.

-Are you going to scuba dive? (from Gemma, Emma and Margaret)

I will not be scuba diving on my trip. I am not certified and the Teacher at Sea program does not allow teachers to scuba (even if they are certified). Instead I will be learning from above the water’s surface and pulling up samples to learn about what lives deep below.

Now it’s your turn to ask the questions…

What are you curious about? Maybe you are interested to know more about what we haul up in our nets or how to become a NOAA scientist. You can write questions at the end of any of my blog posts in the “comments” section and I’ll try to answer them.

Author: mebarker2017

Melissa Barker: Waiting out the Storm, June 22, 2017

Melissa Barker: Breaking the Land Lock, June 14, 2017