Sandra Camp

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Sandra Camp
Aboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai
June 14 – 24, 2015

Mission: Main Hawaiian Islands Reef Fish Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Hawaiian Islands, North Pacific Ocean
Date: June 15, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge: partly cloudy, scattered showers, visibility > 7 NM (nautical miles), winds east 10-15 KT (knots), temperature 78° F

Science and Technology Log

We often talk about safety during science class: how to properly handle tools, materials, and equipment, how to work cooperatively with other people, and how to protect ourselves from accidents. Just like safety is very important during science class, it is essential when doing science anywhere else in the world. In my first day aboard the Hi’ialakai, I have discovered that NOAA ships take safety very seriously. Because the scientific mission of this cruise primarily involves diving, safety is extra important because there are many ways divers’ lives can be at risk. All safety procedures have to be thoroughly reviewed before any diving is allowed to happen. We started the morning of my first day aboard ship by rotating through three different safety stations. Here is what we learned at each station:

Gear Check: Katie Mahaffey, the ship’s Program Support Specialist and dive master, inspected everyone’s diving gear to make sure that it operates correctly. If any equipment is malfunctioning, it can cause serious problems for a diver. She also showed everyone where to store their diving gear. Although I will not be diving, I was given a locker to store my snorkeling gear, my life jacket, and my hard hat (life jackets and hard hats are two very important pieces of safety equipment on ships).

O₂ and Back-boarding: At this station, we learned what to do in case there is some kind of accident in the water and a diver becomes injured. We were trained on how to administer oxygen from a tank of emergency O₂ and on how to strap an injured diver onto a backboard for safe transport. Both of these items are carried on the small boats that take divers out each day in case of an emergency.

DEAP and EPIRB: DEAP stands for Diving Emergency Action Plan. Each team of divers is supposed to know and follow NOAA’s plan for emergencies while diving. An EPIRB is an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. It is a handy device that can send out a signal that can be used to help locate a diver’s position in the water in case she/he becomes separated from the boat.

That was not the end of the safety training! We also practiced some emergency drills. Just like we have fire and earthquake drills at school, ships have emergency drills they practice so everyone can react quickly in the event of an emergency. Each type of emergency on a ship is indicated with a different signal on the ship’s horn. This information is located on each person’s emergency billet. Here is a picture of mine:

In the comments section below, I would like you to write what the signal is for abandon ship!

Today, we went through a fire drill and an abandon ship drill. As you can see on my billet, in the case that we have to abandon ship, I have to muster (gather together with others) by life raft 1 on deck 03. When you abandon ship, you not only have to muster at your designated spot so that the ship’s crew can account for everyone, you also have to put on an immersion suit. This suit is designed to protect you in case you have to be in water a long time, and it makes you look like a red Gumby.

Personal Log

The view from the top of Diamond Head is amazing.

Before I boarded the Hi’ialakai in Pearl Harbor, I got to have a few adventures on Oahu. First, I hiked from my hotel in Waikiki to the top of Diamond Head. Diamond Head is the crater of an extinct volcano, and there is a fantastic view of Honolulu and the coastline from the top. It was a long, hot, and sweaty uphill hike, but at the end of it, I ran into one of my lovely students who is vacationing with her family in Hawaii, and went swimming with her at her hotel’s pool. Hello, Emogene!

swimming — Emogene and Ms. Camp after going down the water slide

It was also a state holiday while I was there, King Kamehameha Day, which honors Kamehameha the Great, the king who first established the unified kingdom of Hawaii. There was a parade that day to celebrate. Here is a picture of the Princess of Kauai from the parade.

Before the ship left dock, I also had a little time to look around Pear Harbor. Joanna correctly wrote that Pearl Harbor is famous because the Japanese attacked it, which ultimately caused the United States to become involved in World War II. It was a very sad and tragic moment in our history, and there are several memorials to the lives that were lost on the sunken ships around the harbor. Here is a picture of the USS Utah sunken ship and memorial, which is close to where the Hi’ialakai is docked:

Here is a photo of the shipwreck of the USS Utah, as I promised to Joanna.

Soon after I came aboard, I had to get to know my way around the ship and learn some important words that indicate location on a ship. These words are used on all ships, no matter what their affiliation.

Hi'ialakai — The Hi’ialakai at dock on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor

port: the left side of a ship

starboard: the right side of a ship

bow: the front of a ship

stern: the back of a ship

forward: toward the front, or bow, of a ship

aft: toward the back, or stern of a ship

galley: ship’s kitchen

mess: dining area

stateroom: the room where you sleep

head: the bathroom

Thankfully, I have not suffered from any sea-sickness, but it has been a challenge trying to walk in a straight line!

Did You Know?

The word SCUBA in scuba diving stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Most divers use an open-circuit scuba, where the diver’s exhaled carbon dioxide is vented into the water in the form of bubbles (like when you blow out from your nose under water in a pool). Scientists are concerned that these bubbles may scare away the fish they are trying to study and count while they are under water, so on this trip, some divers will be trying out rebreathers. Rebreathers are designed so that when a diver exhales, the gas is circulated back into the apparatus instead of being exhaled into the water. No bubbles!

Important Words

billet – the place you are assigned to stay on a ship, like a bunk

muster – to assemble or gather for inspection

immersion – under water

The answer to the previous poll was: Corals get their various colors from the algae that live inside them.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Sandra Camp
Soon to be aboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai
June 14 – 24, 2015

Mission: Main Hawaiian Islands Reef Fish Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Hawaiian Islands, North Pacific Ocean
Date: Friday, June 5, 2015

Personal Log

ocean and bay — The Golden Gate Bridge between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay

My name is Sandra Camp, and I teach math and science to 5^th graders at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco in northern California. San Francisco is located on a peninsula, which means it is surrounded by water on three sides. On the eastern part of the city lies San Francisco Bay. The western side is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. The famous Golden Gate Bridge spans the divide between these two large and important bodies of water.

The Pacific is sometimes called the “Mother of all Oceans” because it is the largest ocean on our planet. Although we have many beautiful beaches here, in San Francisco the Pacific Ocean is much too cold for humans to swim in. Even though I can’t swim in it, I do love to go tide pooling along the Pacific Ocean, looking for tiny sea creatures when the tide goes out like sea stars, crabs, and anemones.

kelp forest — Kelp Forest – *photo courtesy of NOAA*

Being surrounded by so much water makes us care a great deal about the health of the world’s oceans and the plants and animals that live there. In our part of the Pacific Ocean, there are giant kelp forests. We are also home to many different kinds of marine animals, such as sea otters, harbor seals, elephant seals, crabs, sea lions, bat rays, and sharks. When there are healthy populations of these creatures living off the coast of northern California, it indicates that our part of the Pacific Ocean is healthy.

I am very excited, because in about a week I will be visiting a different part of the Pacific Ocean, a part where the ocean is warm enough to swim in! Hawaii is a chain of islands located in the northern Pacific Ocean. Unlike San Francisco, islands are surrounded on all sides by water, and because the ocean water there is warmer, it allows coral reefs to grow. I will be flying to Honolulu, Hawaii where I will board the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Ship Hi’ialakai at its home port in Pearl Harbor. Do any of you know what Pearl Harbor is famous for? If so, write your answer to me in the comments section of this blog. As a Teacher at Sea, I will spend 10 days aboard the ship while scientists conduct reef fish surveys around the main Hawaiian Islands. This means that they will be studying the fish that normally live in the coral reefs around the islands. If there are healthy populations of these fish in the reefs, then that means the coral reefs are healthy. If not, then that indicates the reefs are having problems. Here is a picture of the Hi’ialakai. Its name means “embracing pathways to the sea” in Hawaiian.

It takes a lot of people to run a ship this big. Stay tuned, because in addition to the scientists, I will introduce some of the people who work aboard the ship to you in my upcoming blogs.

Science and Technology Log

coral polyps — Coral Polyps – *photo courtesy of NOAA*

What exactly is a coral reef, anyway? Coral reefs are ecosystems located in warm, shallow ocean water that are home to a very diverse amount of sea creatures, including fish, crabs, turtles, octopus, sharks, eels, and shrimp. Reefs are structures that are made from the skeletons of colonies of tiny animals called coral. The individual animals that make up the colonies are called polyps. Polyps usually have a cylindrical-shaped body with a mouth surrounded by tentacles at one end. The polyps use these tentacles to catch tiny animals that drift by called zooplankton, which they eat for food.

The coral polyps have a symbiotic relationship with algae. The algae help corals build their skeletons, and the corals provide the algae with protection and compounds they need for photosynthesis. Coral reefs are the largest structures built by animals on Earth! Sadly, coral reefs around the world are in danger because of human factors like pollution, over-fishing, and global warming.

diver — Scientist Diving – *photo courtesy of NOAA*

Most of the scientific work aboard the Hi’ialakai will be conducted by scientists who are scuba diving. While they are under the water, scientists can take pictures of the ocean floor and the coral reefs, as well as count the number of reef fish they find. The information they gather will help them determine if the reefs around Hawaii are healthy places for animals to live. I will be sharing a lot more about the work they do with you in the blogs I write while I am aboard the Hi’ialakai.

Did You Know?

The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is over 1400 miles long! Even though coral reefs are the largest structures built by animals and are home to so many diverse species, they cover less than one percent of the ocean floor.

Important Words

peninsula – a body of land surrounded on three sides by water

symbiotic – a relationship between two different species that benefits them both

polyp – the individual body of a coral animal, which is shaped like a cylinder, and has a mouth surrounded by tentacles at one end

zooplankton – tiny aquatic animals

Author: Sandra Camp

Sandra Camp: Safety First, June 15, 2015

Sandra Camp: Aloha from San Francisco! June 5, 2015