After my shift ends at 1600, I usually hit up one of the gyms. That’s right, I said gyms – plural. There is a forward gym that contains a treadmill, an exercise bike and an elliptical and an aft gym, located in the winch room, which contains a treadmill, an ERG machine, a spin bike and free weights. Abby, Katie, Michele and I usually hit up the gym at about the same time and have a great time comparing our ability to not do ring push-ups while we rock out to music.Workout time is a way for us to zone out for a while even though we have to stay focused on our movements when the swells are high (see weather entry for more information). I’ve tried using the treadmill a couple times and feel like I’m getting twice the workout because I have to use my core and arms to keep me steady.Since the gym is a popular place for many residents of the Oscar Dyson, Ensign Amber Payne spearheaded a “European Challenge of the Century.” While we travel our transects on the Bering Sea, officers, crew and scientists are tasked to climb the Matterhorn (lower body workout), bike the Tour de France (exercise or spin bike), swim the English Channel (there is a pool in Dutch Harbor), hang-glide across Ireland (ab workouts), and more. We were assigned teams randomly and have the opportunity to contribute while we are at sea. My team, Chuck Norris Snuggle Muffin, has taken an early lead but other teams are getting into the spirit and the gyms have been more crowded recently. The competition will last until the end of the field season (early October) but I am excited to contribute while I can.
Chuck Norris
In addition to the gyms, people who are off duty congregate in the computer rooms or the lounge. Everyone on the ship has some quantity of work to do on the computer and email/messenger is the most reliable method of communication to family and friends off the boat (even though the Internet is less than reliable as we go farther north). We are lucky to have comfortable couches, a big screen TV and a collection of hundreds of movies, including several recent movies. Recently, a large group of us day shifters watched the classic Enter the Dragon and periodically imitate Bruce Lee as we launch XBTs and process pollock.
While on the subject of leisure activities, I should mention that I have taken an obscene number of photographs while I have been here and get entranced just looking out the window or watching the path of the short-tailed albatross. Here is a photo I took this morning after our first trawl of the morning (Fulmars are always circling the ship while we trawl):
Fulmar at Sunrise
New animals seen
short-tailed albatross (endangered)
brittle stars- Ophiura sp.
basket star
hermit crabs
2 types of cockles- Clinocardium sp. and Serripes sp.
Tanner crab
Aleutian moonsnail
Arctic moonsnail
amphipods
Dall’s porpoises
flounder- Kamchatka flounder
spiny lumpsucker (at right)
lumpsucker
walrus
Weather Data from the Bridge Time: 1400 Latitude: 59.12 N Longitude: 174.02 W Cloud Cover: 5/8 Wind: 17 knots Air Temperature: 8° C/ 46° F Water Temperature: 7° C/ 45° F Barometric Pressure: 1006.9 mb
Aside from weather helping you decide what to wear for the day, weather is critical on board a research vessel. Each hour the bridge collects the same data that is then input into the AMVER Sea system and sent to NOAA Weather. Some of the information included is: time, latitude, longitude, cloud cover, air and water temperatures, wind, barometric pressure, visibility, and swell height. This helps determine our exact location (check out NOAA Shiptracker for more information) as well as the weather at sea and also weather inland. It is not uncommon for marine weather systems to move inland. This information also helps us understand long term climate changes, precipitation, and ocean currents.
Exactly where are we?
The latitude and longitude help determine the position of the ship and the time is recorded to understand how the ship is moving and in what direction. This allows the scientists to follow the transects to conduct their research. If I told you at 1500 hours (3pm) our mark was 58.00N and 171.48W, you would be able to pinpoint our location on a map. Our latitude so far on this trip (July 7th) has been in the range of 56.12N-58.69N depending on the transect that we are following and the longitudes’ range is between 170.01W-171.48W.
Map of ship route
It’s cloudy again?
Clouds from the deck
It tends to be quite cloudy and foggy here in the Bering Sea and cloud cover is measured in eighths of the sky. For example, on July 6th the cloud cover at 1500 hours was 7/8 which means that 87.5% of the sky was filled with clouds. Cloud type and location can help predict the type of weather. The majority of our days have been 8/8 or 100% cloud cover with stratus clouds and lots of moisture in the air.
This is definitely not the heat wave they are getting back home!
This brings us to air temperature and wind. The temperature is always taken on the windward side of the ship because this is the side of the ship in the stream of air fresh from the sea that has not been in contact with or passed over the ship. There are two types of thermometers in each case on the deck in front of the bridge. The dry bulb measures the air temperature and the wet bulb has a muslin wick which absorbs heat from the thermometer. The temperature difference between the two, called the depression of the wet bulb, can help determine what the percent humidity is by referring to the humidity chart. Wind can affect these readings which is why there are thermometers on either side of the bridge. The wind direction is logged as the same direction from which the sea waves are coming. Average temperature through July 7th for Leg II has been 5.680C/420F with winds averaging 10.29 knots. The weather mentioned has been the trend for Leg II; however, this could be changing by the end of the week…stay tuned!
Wet Bulb-Dry Bulb
Hold on tight!
It’s July 10 and we are still waiting for the big seas to hit us. (not that I am complaining about calm weather!) The swells have gotten larger and the wind definitely picked up yesterday. The strongest wind recorded yesterday was 26 knots while on my shift. There is still a chance for NW sustained winds up to 25 knots and 10 foot seas before the weekend is up. Part of the reason for calmer seas yesterday was that we were so far north and the low pressure system was to the south of us. It was actually the farthest north I have ever been, and we will go even farther north before it is time to head back to Dutch Harbor.
Word of the day
guile: deceit
New Vocabulary
barometric pressure: the downward force that the atmosphere exerts per unit of a certain area.
swell height: measure of wind waves generated locally; vertical distance between trough and crest
muslin wick: plain woven cotton fabric
humidity: the amount of moisture in the air
gale force winds: strong winds between 28-47 knots
One of my favorite things about science research is that scientists accept that there will be errors. Sometimes things will not go as you plan. While you might have great luck one day, everything might go wrong the next day. Life at sea is similar in that way – while you have some sense of what you will be up against, you have to be flexible for the challenges that may arise. As I reach the halfway point of my trip, I wanted to highlight a few of those challenges as most of my entries have been all about the successes.
XBT Fail As I mentioned earlier, XBTs are a pretty routine part of the day on the Oscar Dyson. On a given day, we might conduct an XBT every one to two hours. In addition to being regular they are also pretty easy. Basically, you drop a torpedo shaped sensor into the water and record data until it reaches the bottom. Sounds straight-forward right? As long as you know where the bottom is. On my second day, I was tasked with throwing the XBT and cut off the sensor before it reached the bottom. (I didn’t realize that the computer would tell me when it reached the bottom. As some of my students would say “Swine.”) While I was teased for my error, this apparently is a common mistake and the fix is easy enough – throw another one.
Talk of Whales I keep missing the orca sightings. Either I am too far from a window or without binoculars when I am told there is a sighting or I am only told hours later. The challenge of course is that cetacean sightings are brief by nature. These air-breathing mammals only need to come up to the surface once every 10 to 20 minutes. If you are not in the right place at the right time, you will miss it. It doesn’t help that there have been several occasions where it has been too foggy to see any whales that weren’t next to the ship. I could mope about my lack of visible evidence, but I instead recognize that I cannot plan a whale sighting and need to be patient if I hope to see them.
A Tree of Hope One afternoon, while stalking the mammal observers on the bridge, we got word on the radio that they had spotted something about a half mile ahead and the mammal observers requested that we slow down to check it out. Everyone on the bridge hustled into action – scanning the horizon with the binoculars and trying to identify what object could be floating on the surface and covered with Murres. As you probably guessed from the title of this section, it was only a tree. We all had a good laugh at ourselves and remembering that there is humor in failure was an experience worth having.
Searching for Fish Just like whales, you can’t force the pollock to stop by at the appointed time. Although I might be ready to fish, there may not be fish in our area of the Bering Sea. On the days when we spent 12 hours waiting for fish, I have to remind myself that the point of the survey is that there are places with no fish. If there were fish everywhere, we wouldn’t need to conduct a survey. As a teacher, I am used to constantly being pulled in several directions at once and it has been a challenge to build up my reserve of patience and to capitalize on my quiet time to get as much as I can out of this experience.
Time Delay Even though there is a great deal of down time, I am finding it hard to make sure I get enough sleep each night. Waking up for the 0400 shift is challenging because I find it hard to convince myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour. My body does not seem to understand that even if the sun is breaking through the clouds for the first time at 8 pm, it is time to go to sleep or that when the alarm rings at 3:30 and it is pitch black outside, it is time to wake up. Even though this is challenging for me, I recognize that the 0400-1600 shift is a preferred shift because I am able to keep my eating schedule on track. Scientists and crew who work an overnight shift eat meals out of order and have to prepare food to heat up later. Time Delay Part 2 You also may have noticed that sometimes the dates and times listed on the posts do not correspond to when they were actually posted. Although the Eastern Bering Sea is behind most of the US time zone wise, we are not THAT far behind. It usually takes me a little time to write up what I have done and get it ready for posting. Also, we don’t always have Internet (as we are in the middle of the ocean). Even as I am posting this, things are changing. Who knows what will be next…
And now for your questions…What else would you like to know about our research, my activities or life on board? Post a question in the comments and I will try to answer in an upcoming post.
Where are we? Time: 1500 Latitude: 57.59N Longitude: 171.10W Cloud Cover: 100% Wind: 11 knots Air Temperature: 7.20 C/ 44.960 F Water Temperature: 5.50 C/ 41.90 F Barometric Pressure: 1010 mb
Now that I have provided you with information about the importance of pollock and how the Oscar Dysonworks to survey the stock in the Eastern Bering Sea, I wanted to answer a few related questions.
What about other species?
In the Bering Sea, pollock are so abundant that our mid-water trawls capture mostly pollock. However, there are a lot of other species in the Bering Sea that scientists are interested in. In addition to the Oscar Dyson, NOAA charters fishing boats (such as the Alaska Knight and the Aldebaron) to trawl on the ocean floor. This allows scientists to see more species in the Bering Sea. These ships trawl all day; sometimes up to 6 trawls a day. The groundfishing boats cover the eastern Bering Sea shelf, extending up to the region around St. Lawrence Island (a wider area than the Oscar Dyson will cover). While the Oscar Dyson focuses on euphausiids and pollock, the groundfishing boats examine everything else found on the bottom.
Who owns the water?
International laws provide countries with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) within 200 miles of their shoreline. The area we are studying in the Bering Sea can be fished solely by fishing boats operated in the United States. On the other side of the Sea, Russians fish in their own 200-mile zone. However, in the middle there is a “donut hole” which is considered “international waters.” This Donut Hole supported a large pollock fishery in the late 1980’s. Here is a diagram showing the Donut Hole (interesting note, it is also called the Donut Hole in Russia (or at least called Bubleek — the Russian word for a donut hole.))
How do American scientists collaborate with scientists from other countries?
The United States works with other Pacific countries to conduct research on the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. For example, the Oscar Dyson, in addition to hosting two Teachers at Sea, is hosting two Russian scientists from the Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (TINRO) in Vladivostok, Russia – Mikhail Stepanenko and Elena Gritsay. I had the opportunity to sit down with Mikhail the other night and asked him about his experience and how he ended up on the Oscar Dyson.
Mikhail Stepanenko
Born and raised in Primorye, Mikhail spent a great deal of time at the Ussuri River. He studied biology at The Far East State University in Vladivostok and began researching at sea soon after his graduation in 1968. After the first USA-USSR agreement regarding marine research, Mikhail visited the United States and worked out of La Jolla, CA starting in 1969. He has spent about 5-6 months at sea per year for the last 40 years, including the last 18 summers on the NOAA summer pollock survey (specifically on the Oscar Dyson and its predecessor the Miller Freeman). This wealth of experience has made Mikhail an expert and he is a well-respected member of the Pacific marine science community.
Throughout the years, there have been numerous conferences between stakeholder countries and Mikhail has played an active role in recommending action for working together to maintain the populations of pollock and other fish. Mikhail has served on the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) – a six-nation committee that meets biannually to discuss fishing polices in the “donut hole.” In addition, Mikhail worked as a Russian delegate during meetings which led to the creation of PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization), an “intergovernmental scientific organization, was established in 1992 to promote and coordinate marine research in the northern North Pacific and adjacent seas.” (Visit their website for more information.) Mikhail was elected Chairman of the Fisheries Science Committee (FIS), a branch of PICES, in 2008 and is currently preparing for their next meeting in October.
Each organization is trying to find the best policies to help understand the organisms through reproduction, population dynamics, stock assessments and fishery management. Mikhail’s wealth of knowledge, collaborative scientific research and commitment to the sustainable fishing benefits all members of the international community and we are lucky to have such a science superstar in our midst.
Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays although more for the activities accompanied with it than for the meaning. I usually celebrate the fourth by enjoying Food, Fireworks and time with Friends. On the Oscar Dyson some of those “F”s were substituted and as the festivities were around Fish, Food, and Flares. After what felt like forever, we finally trawled for fish today. It had clearly been too long for most members of the ship as we were surrounded by the paparazzi as we pulled the fish out onto the table and sorted through the mass of jellyfish. It was great to be actually sorting fish and I became an expert otolith-remover.After our shift finished, we were able to enjoy the holiday properly. Our steward department prepared an excellent Fourth of July BBQ complete with Flag Cake. I was a little surprised that the Oscar Dysonhas a grill on board but it made dinner feel more like an occasion. Weheld the BBQ on the boat deck and the lack of tables provided an opportunity to talk with new and different parties. I was glad that I was able to enjoy the BBQ (as some members of the staff were sleeping or on watch, they weren’t able to relax).
Ray with Cake
Also, it couldn’t be Fourth of July without a few colored smoke displays. Luckily, the Oscar Dyson had some expired flares and I was able to convince Operations Officer Sarah Duncan to show me how they worked. Different chemical reactions produce rapid heat and brightly colored smoke. If our boat were in distress, these flares would be used to alert other boats of our location. I was excited to see these flares up close (but not too close – Safety First!) and got some great footage to use when we discuss flame tests and emission spectra.Although our Fourth of July was more low key than in years past — the flare demonstration could not compare to the fireworks display on the Mall and I was in bed by 9 pm – it was a great way to celebrate the holiday.Animals Seen
brown jellies or northern sea nettle- Chrysaora melanaster
pollock- many 1-3 years
smooth lumpsucker
rock sole
fulmarsWord of the day
Propiate: appease
