Author: Sue Zupko

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Sue Zupko: 15 The Bandwidth Highway

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to Biscayne Bay, FL
Date: June 11, 2011
Time: 1400 EDT

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 25.5°N 080,0°W
Present weather: 5/8 SC AC
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 034°true
Wind Speed: 12 kts
Surface Wave Height: 1-2 ft
Swell Wave Direction: –
Swell Wave Height: 2-3 ft
Surface Water Temperature: 28.3°C
Barometric Pressure: 1011.1 mb
Water Depth: 49 m
Salinity: 36.5 PSU
Dry/Wet Bulb: 30.0°/26.5°

This blog runs in chronological order. If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take the quiz before reading this post.

One of the first questions I asked when informed that I had been selected as a Teacher at Sea was, “Can I use Skype with my students?”  Well, no.  There isn’t enough bandwidth.  I really had no idea what that term meant.  After discussing this with my chief scientist, he asked the “Powers-that-be” (I really don’t know whom he asked) if we might be able to Skype.  We received permission to communicate with some classes.  Oh, was I excited.  Now, we needed to find the classes.  My school would be out for the summer by the time I came onto the Pisces.  However, my Robotics Club mentors are very flexible and generous.  Mr. Chua, who also helps teach me about computers in my class, offered up his dining room for the Robotics Club to use to Skype.  This was very appealing to me since the kids would see a real robot in use.  Of course, the mentors enjoyed it immensely and asked lots of questions themselves.  We also had a high school class from Cary, NC signed up.  My niece, Debra Zupko, read the email telling the family to read my blog.  She asked if her 4th grade class could Skype with and and jumped on the opportunity when I said yes.  Her class communicates with the Jason Project and is interested in oceanography.  Before departure, I practiced a Skype conference call between me, the ROV crew, and two scientists.  The results were mixed.  We weren’t sure with our limited bandwidth (there came that term again) if we’d be able to do this conference call from the ship.  So, we decided to contact each class individually and do a one on one call like you normally do with Skype.

Bob up at the ceiling working with wires
Bob works with wires

I brought my webcam and computer.  Good thing.  The scientist who was going to bring this equipment did not come at the last minute and I didn’t know until I was on board.  I’m so grateful I took my equipment as a backup.  The Electronic Technician (ET), Bob, informed me when I checked in that we could practice with Skype before our scheduled meeting times. All electronic gear has to be scanned and approved before anyone can use it with the ship’s equipment.  How horrible it would be to infect the computers on the ship with something.

I emailed the teachers we would be Skyping with and set up practice times.  The first group I spoke with was Mrs. Zupko’s 4th grade class in New York.   She has to check out the equipment from the library so it wasn’t a simple process as it is in my classroom where all the gear is ready to go.   I practiced from my stateroom.  They got to see what our room is like and looked out the window at the ocean.  The oohs and aahs from the classroom helped me know this was a cool way to practice.

Mike in white baseball cap in front of computer talking on walkie-talkie
Mike communicates with the bridge

 So, what is bandwidth?  A good analogy was used by the Survey Technician, Mike, that bandwidth is like a highway.  Highways have two directions.  I am talking about the internet highway here.  All emails, blogs, watching the news, playing online, facebook, twitter, streaming movies, ship’s data, communication, etc.  goes on this highway.  When it gets too crowded, it’s like a traffic jam and some things won’t move.  This is when you have to be mindful of others and be polite.  On ship you aren’t allowed to Skype normally (remember, we had special permission and I’ll explain that later), watch movies online such as with Netflix, work on Facebook for hours, play online games, or other things which take up a lot of bandwidth.  Email doesn’t use much so it’s a good way to communicate.  One thing the crew is allowed to use, during non-business hours, which sucks up bandwidth is the phoneline called Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP).  This is how people keep in contact with family.  Folks up north, such as in Alaska, don’t have access to these things very often because of where the satellite is and the ship can’t easily communicate.  So, email, but don’t plan to have immediate access.  You might have to wait until the satellite comes in sight and the server can send out the messages.

Back to the bandwidth highway.  All the NOAA ships have to share the highway to and from the satellite.  They are usually allocated 128 KB of bandwidth.  We might have purchased some extra bandwidth from the satellite company or used bandwidth allocated to a ship which is in getting repaired or something.  However they did this, we were allocated enough to Skype with the students and for this I am grateful.  Opening that up was like letting us use the carpool lane.  There is less traffic there and it is less susceptible to traffic jams.

When the high school class was speaking with us, we were actually launching the ROV.  I had the computer set up by the window and held my webcam out the window so they could see that was happening in real time.  Then, they got to speak with the scientists while the ROV was diving to the bottom.  Later, they saw footage from the bottom.  They asked some great questions of the scientists.  Perhaps one of these students will have their interest piqued and become a scientist or ROV engineer.  Maybe a teacher:)

Dave in a blue helmet and orange PFD standing outside with a joystick with the ROV in the distance
Dave uses the joystick to pilot the ROV on the surface

The Robotics Club was very interested in the ROV.  Dave Murfin, taking a break from piloting the ROV and on his way to lunch, graciously sat down and answered some questions.  I learned from Scott Mau, another ROV pilot, about creating underwater ROVs.  Bet we could use our YMCA to run them.  We also have access to some swimming pools.

Back on the bandwidth highway.  I asked Kevin Stierhoff about some pictures we were processing for the website.  I used the incorrect term and said upload when I should have said download.  These always seemed like synonyms to me.  If you have a desire to understand the difference, read on.  On the highway there is coming to your computer and going from the computer.  If you are uploading something, you are copying it from your computer.  While on the ship, these data travel on a highway to a satellite then on to Silver Spring, MD where the internet service provider is.  The server then sends it to where you want it to go.  To download, something is going into your computer.  It comes from somewhere else through Silver Spring to the satellite to your computer on the ship.  The lane for the bandwidth going to the ship is about three times wider than what is going out.  Skype is really bad on our highway since it travels in both directions, and it really hogs the lane.  It’s like one of those homes being moved on the road taking up a lane and a half or more and going slowly.   Everyone has to slow down or get off the road to make room.

FYI, I asked one of the engineers who helped build the Pisces the total length of the electrical cables are on the ship.  “Long.”  He did then give me a number.  Over 200,000 feet.  How many miles long is that?

Myriad white tubes on the sea floor
Polychaete Tubeworm Forest

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Sue Zupko: 14 Cnidarians–Get the Vinegar!

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to Biscayne Bay, FL
Date: June 10, 2011
Time: 09:30 EDT

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 26.0°N  79.5°W
Present weather: 5/8 Alto Cumulus
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 066°true
Wind Speed:  16 kts
Surface Wave Height:  4 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 120° true
Swell Wave Height:  4 ft
Surface Water Temperature:28.5 °C
Barometric Pressure: 1011.8 mb
Water Depth:  307 m
Salinity: 36.187 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 28°/24.8°

This blog runs in chronological order.  If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take the quiz before reading this post.

 

Purple pink sea fan on a cobble bottom
This octocoral is a sea fan

Are all cnidarians corals or are all corals cnidarians?  Definitely, all corals are cnidarians (pronounced nye-dare-ee-ans).  Hydroids, corals, jellyfish and sea anemones are all cnidarians, so all cnidarians are not corals.   Part of our mission is to study deep-water corals in the Gulf Stream.   My berth (room) mate, Jana Thoma, is working on her doctoral dissertation (thesis) on corals.  She gave me an elaborate chart explaining all the branches of cnidarians the first day because I couldn’t remember the difference between hexacorals and octocorals.  So, do you know what these are?  If not, you are in good company.  Octocorals are like octopi (octopuses?) (octopodes?) .  As I’m writing this the scientists in the room are discussing the proper plural form of the word.  Checking the internet we have found the answer is…all are correct.   Back to the coral/octopus example.  An octopus has eight tentacles (or arms).  An octocoral has eight tentacles.  Cousins?  I think not, but the prefix octo- in Greek means eight and they both have eight tentacles.  The octocorals are usually soft.  Sea fans, sea pens, and soft corals are all examples of octocorals.  Originally people thought these were plants because they look and act like plants waving in the current.  Jana is helping me write this, and it’s obvious I’m still having trouble.  So, here is a quote from Jana to help us all better understand corals.

a forest of white-colored black sea coral whips
Stichopathes sp

“Uh…great, this is for posterity.  Okay.”  So, when most people hear the term coral they think of hard corals like brain coral, staghorn, or elkhorn coral that are known to build shallow-water reefs.  However, I study those corals that bend and flex in the water current – like sea fans or gorgonians.  As with all rules, there are exceptions and confusion ensues (follows).  Hexacorals are those animals that have six, or multiples of six tentacles; examples include hard corals, black corals, and anemones (that sometimes house clown fish).  Octocorals have……that’s right, eight tentacles; examples include gorgonians (sea fans), soft corals, sea pens, and the strange blue coral.  Last major group of “corals” are…stay with me folks… lace corals, which are actually hydrozoans and more closely related to the Portuguese Man o’War (the colonial jelly-fish like animal that partially floats on the surface and has long tentacles dangling in the water).” (Jana Thoma, doctoral candidate, University of Louisiana Lafayette )

white hard puffy ball of coral
Oculina varicosa

So, if I’m understanding this correctly, the hard corals, such as the Oculina varicosa, more often than not are the primary reef building animals.  They can provide an exposed hard surface for the sea fans to attach to.  This hard surface can also be covered with sediment that can be home to other sessile (sedentary like a couch potato that can’t ever get up) cnidarians.  Jana is nodding to this last statement.  Yeah!   Further, the living portions of corals are made of polyps, the hard skeletons are calcium carbonate and are formed by the polyps.  One sea fan is not a single polyp, but perhaps thousands.  All stacked up like an elaborate apartment building, they create a beautiful sea fan (or things which look like a sea fan).

What do scientists do when they have a few minutes not looking through a microscope or classifying new species?  At my request, they create songs about what they study.  Here is one, written today by Stephanie Rogers, Chuck Messing, and Jana Thoma:

Marine Snow (set to the tune of “Let it Snow”)

Oh, the sea is quite inspectable

Where the light is not detectable

And since we’ve got funds to go

Marine snow, marine snow, marine snow

Oh, the ocean’s gently rolling

And the crew is out aft trolling

The fish are goin’ to an’ fro,

Marine snow, marine snow, marine snow.

When we finally get to depths,

Oh, the critters swimming around

And I start to hold my breath

When we collect from the mound.

The R-O-V is slowly flying

And the scientists are sighing

Since we can’t collect no mo’

Marine snow, marine snow, marine snow.

Grey anemone waving tentacles in water catching food
Anemone

Just a reminder, marine snow is the detritus and plankton floating along in the current.  Most cnidarians are filter feeders, meaning they grab particles passing by.

We have visited several deep-water coral sites to check on their health and condition.  I know we visited places where we expected to find colonies of Oculina and Lophelia.  The first few we visited were in and near a new Marine Protected Area (MPA), others have been in or near a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) established in the 1990s and in a giant HAPC established last year.  The soft bottom areas reminded me of the surface of the moon. However when we reached the coral mounds the abundance and variety of life was amazing.  You can see where we went on the NOAA Shiptracker.

Colorful reef shot with pink, purple, white corals
Protected reef

The difference between the protected and non-protected areas was striking.   In the areas protected for over 20 years I almost felt like I was watching a National Geographic documentary, with lots of beautiful fish, interesting coral, and unusual creatures like the sea cucumber.  While there was still life in the non-protected areas, the corals were in much worse condition and there were fewer fish.  Corals are the architects and builders of elaborate reef habitats that provide habitat and shelter for a huge diversity of life. Coral reefs are complex ecosystems. Many reef species are important fishery resources, or the food for important commercial species; some are sources of compounds with medical uses, others help us understand basic biological, ecological and physiological processes. Reefs offer protection to coastlines from erosion by waves and currents.  Coral reefs are very important.  I think I prefer the ones which look alive and healthy because of protections.  We will all benefit as a result even if we do not see the evidence on a daily basis.

Feathery creature like a duster
Hydroid

What did C3PO say to R2D2?

Hi, Droid!

Jana’s purpose for being on this cruise was to collect samples of the coral gathered from the bottom.  These samples would undergo testing and DNA analysis later in the lab.  It’s a challenging process.   Salt water was refrigerated in clear plastic containers to help keep the samples cold and avoid necrosis (death) of the polyps.  Identification tags were prepared.  The numbers help them catalog the specimens they collect.  John Reed uses the following system: 10-VI-11-201 means the specimen was gathered on the 10th day of June 2011 and 201 is a the category of specimen–in this case a dugong rib.  Every scientist has their own way of cataloging their specimens and this is just one example.

Cnidarians have nematocysts with either sticky, spiraling, hooking, or some other form of “harpoons” which sting and/or capture their prey.  If you happen to get in contact with these nematocysts, you might suffer an adverse reaction (like it might hurt or itch).  So, grab the vinegar and pour it on.  Jana tells me urine is a traditional home remedy that she says she has heard of (she won’t tell me if she has experimented with this or not).  The chemicals in these liquids often help ease the sting from contact with nematocysts.

Blue-gloved hands taking black coral sample from the manipulator arm of the ROV
Retrieving a sample from the ROV arm

When the ROV brought up a coral sample in its manipulator arm, the biologists were  prepared.  Wearing latex or nitrile gloves, like what doctors and nurses snap on with a flourish in the movies, they are ready to catch the coral before it hits the deck and gets contaminated.  Cameras at the ready, the specimen is put on a black background with the prepared tag and a ruler to show its size and a photograph is taken.  Parts of the specimen are put in different containers.  Animals are preserved in different chemicals which have different purposes.  Formalin fixes tissues, but can degrade deposits of calcium, and can be used for future morphological (the study of shape or form of an organism).  Ethanol can be used to slow down the process of decay.  Acetone does an even better job, however, its use is limited because it is more difficult to obtain and isn’t what people normally use.  Additionally, you can freeze the specimen, which slows down decay.  This is when they use the cold sea water, put the specimen in that, and place it in a very cold (-80°C) freezer.  Sometimes it is kept dry and frozen.  On the Pisces I saw them use all of these methods to preserve the specimens.  The specimens which must be kept frozen will be packaged in dry ice for the journey back to the lab.  Andy David, our lead scientist, has developed a strategy for getting people to the airport to catch planes or rent a car for their journey home.  After dropping other scientists off to get their cars, he will stop at the grocery store and pick up some dry ice.  We literally had a meeting to discuss needs and time schedules to be as efficient as possible.

Coral oozing
Oculina varicosa with mucus

I also learned that when they are stressed, corals ooze mucus.  Every creature gets stressed.  When I’m stressed I eat.  Others can’t eat when they are upset.  I witnessed the oozing coral when it was brought into the lab.

I felt the scientists were often speaking a foreign language.  Guess what–they were.  Latin.  I learned that in scientific classification different endings mean different things.  Phylums end in -a such as Porifera (sponges), Mollusca (sea shells) or Cnidaria (coral, anemones, jellies).   Classes end in -da, -iae, -ta, -ea, or -oa.  When writing the genus and species of an animal, you capitalize the genus, but not the species name, and italicize both.

Last, what do you do when you discover a new species?  You get to name it. We found a couple I want to share.

Stuffed toy grey pelican lying on black backgroun with id numbers and ruler below
Bigbeakus zupkoii
Yellow toy stuffed duck with a black shirt on, lying on black background with identification numbers and a ruler below it.
Yellowduckus thomaii
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Sue Zupko: 13 Who Ya Gonna Call? Mud Busters!

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to Biscayne Bay, FL
Date: June 9, 2011
Time: 1900

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 25.4°N  79.5°W
Present weather: overcast
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 075°true
Wind Speed:  20 kts
Surface Wave Height:  4 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 100° true
Swell Wave Height:  4 ft
Surface Water Temperature:28.5 °C
Barometric Pressure: 1011.8 mb
Water Depth:  308 m
Salinity: 36.5 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 28°/24.8°

This blog runs in chronological order.  If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take this quiz before reading this post.

 

James and Jeff wait for the winch to lift the pyramind-shaped grey grab
Waiting to lift the grab

When I started my journey as a Teacher at Sea, I wondered what scientific research the ship I would be placed on would be doing.  Would it be marine mammals in Alaska or Hawaii, hydrography (bottom mapping), a fishery study, buoy placement, or something I’d never heard of.  When I was told I was placed on the Pisces and we’d be using an ROV (remotely operated vehicle), I only knew we’d be using the vehicle to go to the bottom and look at corals since it is too deep to scuba dive.  I had no real concept of what else would be going on.  I did know my students liked the idea of the ROV since I am the Robotics Club advisor at Weatherly Heights Elementary.

Pyramid shaped grey grabber hanging over the ocean
Benthic Van Veer Grab

We have three missions on the Pisces.  One is to look at the bottom through the eyes of the camera lens to see what is actually happening with the coral and its habitat.  Another purpose was to update existing maps.  The third mission was the most difficult for me to get a grasp of just because it sounds so strange.  Benthic grabbing.  Benthos means bottom in Greek.  Like the soil on land, sediment lying on the bottom of the sea is full of creatures and information needed to fully understand the health of the corals and their habitat.  You don’t see the most of the animals living in soil usually either.  In soil on land and in the sea sediment, the animals living inside are called infauna, and provide food and nutrients to the epifauna (those living above the surface).  What effect has man had on this foundation of the coral reef?  What diversity of life is there and how plentiful are they?  What size are the lithogenic (of rock origin) particles?  It all means something and needs to be studied.

Sand on bottom of ocean
Sandy bottom for grab

According to Dr. Jeff Hyland, NOAA NCCOS (National Centers for Coastal Ocean Sciences), “People may wonder why scientists want to study the seemingly ‘barren’ sand (or muddy sand) layer that covers vast stretches of the ocean floor.  One good reason is because this important habitat is not barren at all!  The unconsolidated (loose) bottom that occupies the majority of the sea floor can be teaming with life.  The types of animals found can include polycheate worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish.  Some are large enough to see with the naked eye, but many are so small that you would need to use a microscope to see them. “

Three men in safety gear standing behind the pyramid shaped grey grab
James, Steve, and Jeff harvest their grab

The crew of scientists using the Van Veen grab equipment include: Dr. Jeff Hyland, James Daugomah, and Steve Roth (Grab Guys) of NOAA’s NCCOS Laboratory in Charleston, SC.  Ocean floor mapping is done prior to an ROV dive to help pinpoint the choicest spots for investigation.  After the ROV records the video from its dive, the “Grab Guys” go to work.  The science team confers and selects the best spots for study.  The beginning spot is relayed to the bridge, which then “makes it so” by taking the ship to those coordinates.

So, now what?  Every group on deck must wear hard hats and PFDs (life jackets—Personal Floatation Devices) since the winch will be used and they will be working near the side rail of the ship.   The fishermen (deck hands), scientists (both observers and the Grab Guys), and anyone who happens to be nearby must wear this equipment.  Safety first.

The fishermen and Grab Guys prepare for the sampling by dragging the 300 pound Van Veen grab close to the side.  It sits on a specially constructed table made of 2×4 wood and is painted grey.

Sink with water and plug plus two buckets on the left
Benthic cleaning equipment

Nearby, Steve sets up a smaller table with a sink in it, plus several buckets, a large spoon, and two rectangular plastic tubs nearby.  I really wondered what that was all about.

The winch hook is attached to the Van Veer grab and everyone stands ready.  When the bridge radios to the fishermen that the ship is over the drop site, they spring into action.  The winch operator waits for the signal from the lead fisherman that all is ready and is told by hand signals to raise it up.  As the winch lifts up the grab, those working the equipment help steady it over the deck and release it when it’s over the side.  The grab is lowered to the bottom as the winch operator monitors the amount of cable deployed.  The idea is that when the grab hits the bottom the release bar will pop and close the “grab jaws”.  If the grab isn’t going fast enough or lands on an angle it won’t close.  Plus, it might not go deep enough into the sediment to get a good sample.

Men standing in protective gear looking upward at the winch pulley
Watching the pulley for movement

It takes longer than you would think for that grab to hit bottom.  Remember, patience is a virtue.  The equipment drops 80 meters per minute.  Yesterday we were dropping to 320 meters.  All eyes are targeted on the winch’s pulley.  When the grab hits the bottom, it causes the pulley on the winch cable to swing, meaning that the grab has made contact.  Everyone crosses their fingers that the grab not only closed, but also got a large enough sample for an accurate test.  The winch driver begins to retrieve the gear.  It’s just like doing a science fair project.  You must repeat your experiment and have the right amount of sample so your repeated experiments  are as similar as possible when you repeat your procedure.  They must make three grabs which bring up the correct amount of sediment.  Often trial and error comes into play.  The current not only made things difficult for the ROV operations, it made the grab go down at an angle so it wouldn’t close (grab or fire) a few times.  They had to keep dropping until it worked correctly.  At one point the bottom was 370 meters and we had let out 425 meters of cable.  That meant that the wind and the current were really strong and pulling the grab out at an angle.

Pulley wheel hanging from an orange support
The winch pulley moved
Sieve bucket being swirled around in sink
Cleaning the mud off

Once the grab gets a sample, they scoop out sediment with a spoon and put it in a blue bin.  This is carried over to a sieve bucket and is half submerged and swished around in the sink to get the mud off.  This is repeated until all the sediment particles are clean.

Jeff in white helmet and orange PFD write information on a clipboard
Jeff records important information

The samples are scooped out of the sieve bucket and placed in containers which will be processed back at the laboratory.  In general, they are looking for sediment size (grain size), infauna (living organisms from the sediment), and chemicals from man.  The containers have been labeled with what tests need to be run.  Jeff is recording the numbers on the containers and whether that sediment should be tested for metals, toxicology, total carbon, organics, and sediment size.

Steve in PFD holding container with sediment and pink color
Steve holding organics sample

A special insert is placed in the grab to measure an exact amount of sediment to determine the amount of  the infauna.  This sample is cleaned and put in a large container with formalin mixed with rose bengal.  The rose bengal had been premixed by Dr. Hyland the first day so that when added to the sediment it will turn the living organisms a pink color, making them easier to find.

After the sediment samples are put in the smaller bottles, the top is screwed on, sealed with electrical tape to make sure it doesn’t open, and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. All these benthic samples will be sent to Barry Vittor, a company specializing in sediment analysis.

I have a new appreciation for the sediment in the ocean.  I’ve learned that sediment on the north side of a coral mound in the Gulf Stream usually has less nutrients since the current flows from south to north.  The coral and other plankton-consuming animals eat a lot of the food flowing in the current over the mound so the water on the north side contains less food and can support less infauna.  I hope my students enjoy learning about the benthos as much as I have.  Perhaps with the data we collected, scientists will be able to help determine what we need to do to preserve the corals of the reefs.

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Sue Zupko: 12 What’s in the Water?

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to St. Lucie, FL
Date: June 8, 2011
Time: 1900

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 25.3°N  79.6°W
Present weather: 3/8 Alto Cumulus
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 065°true
Wind Speed: 10 kts
Surface Wave Height: 3 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 110°
Swell Wave Height: 3 ft
Surface Water Temperature: 28.4°
Barometric Pressure: 1013.2 mb
Water Depth: 363 m
Salinity: 36.28 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 27.7/24.8

This blog runs in chronological order.  If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

Take this quiz before reading this post.

Bucket hanging by rope in water
Straining bucket

Dr. Diego Figueroa and I went fishing over the side of the ship this evening with a straining bucket to try to catch zooplankton (animals which cannot swim against the current–free floating).  We had no plankton net so we had to improvise.

Diego pouring a cup of water into a bucket from the bottom
Diego pours water into the bottom of the bucket

Diego, a zooplankton expert, got a plastic container like you’d use to store food in the fridge, and we headed to the lab with what we hoped would be a good catch.  He got a cup of salt water from the special faucet in the ship’s science lab and poured it into the bottom of the bucket.  As he poured the water, he had the plastic container at the top of the it to retrieve our catch.

Diego peering into a plastic food container with water
Diego examines our catch

We  then examined the container to see what the naked eye could find.

Wow!  Our first specimen was a shrimp.  It’s huge.  Well, huge in comparison to the other zooplankton.  We still saw it best under the microscope.  He left that in to container to pull out later and caught some copepods with an eye dropper.

White buglike creature, transluscent, with long antennae
Calanus copepod

Eureka!  There were at least six Calanus copepods.  Cope– is Greek for oar or handle and pod–  means foot or limb.  These are very common off the coast of Florida and about 80% of all the zooplankton on the planet are some type of copepod.  He explained that the Calanus has five rows of legs that flap downward (like the doggie paddle that most of of use when learning to swim) in order to move around.  The Calanus eats phytoplankton (algae), making it a primary consumer.  It has five pairs of mouth parts.  The hairy seta (the plural is called setae)  act like a sieve when it eats.  This is so interesting.  The Calanus opens its mouth parts and gathers water molecules toward its body.  Then, it pulls its mouth parts in and squeezes the water out. What’s left is a scrumptious meal of diatoms.  The grazing copepod we watched was a female.  Her tail is shaped differently than the male’s tail.

The shrimp is at least 20 times bigger than the Calanus.  Diego hasn’t studied the shrimp like he has the copepods.  That’s because the shrimp are one of the bigger zooplankton and large ones make up only about 5% of all zooplankton.  He says that there are more copepods in the world than all the insects combined.  That makes sense since the earth’s surface is  71% water.

Jellyfish with tentacles spread against a black background with white particles near
Jellyfish in snow

When the ROV was flying through the ocean, we always saw snow in the water.  I used to scuba dive a lot and I never really noticed the snow.  If it was deep, they weren’t there.  Andy David explained that we see them so well since we’re shining light on them.  These are mostly zooplankton in the water.  In addition, there is a bunch of decaying organic matter called detritus flying along.

Curled up bee looking creature
Hyperiid

Further examination of the water yielded a Microsetella rosea, a hyperiid, and a Chaetognath (arrow worm). The Microsetella is a detritis-eating filter feeder, but it is only about 1/5 the size of the Calanus.   Well, with micro in its name, small had to figure into it somehow.  Since it’s small, it eats smaller things.

Clear ghost-like arrow-shaped creature surrounded by lines of white
Arrow worm

The arrow worm is like something from a horror movie because it attacks its prey viciously (it’s a carnivore and is a voracious predator).  I asked what all the other floating bits were in the water.  Detritus.  It’s the snow we kept seeing.

White shrimp with one claw showing viewed through microscope
Shrimp

Diego has a special camera which attaches to the microscope.  We would examine the zooplankton in the petri dish and then he would take off the microscope eyepiece and insert his camera.  Then, through the viewfinder, he would try to find the zooplankton resting somewhere.  Apparently, they don’t rest much, but he still got photographs.

Diego searches for our catch under the microscope while Sue looks on
Diego hunting for zooplankton

I really enjoyed this mini lab.  Diego taught me things about plankton in general and I now better understand this amazing  world of particulates in the ocean a bit better.  Jana and I had gone on deck last night to see what it was like in the pitch black.  We discovered it isn’t totally dark, though your eyes do have to adjust.  The moon kept peeking from between clouds off the starboard (right) side and lights shone from portholes below deck.  These lights reflected off the waves and were so fascinating to watch.  I’ve only had a beachside view of the ocean at night so this was a real treat.  Jana and I watched for bioluminescence in the water, a sign of some plankton.  We found little sparkles of green in the wave and hypothesized these were zooplankton.  After explaining what we had seen to Diego, he confirmed that these were zooplankton rather than phytoplankton.  Zooplankton have little sparkles in turning water while phytoplankton will cover a large area and just glow.  Too interesting.

Special thanks to Diego for sharing his knowledge with me after a long day and to Jana for helping get some pictures of this.

And the answer to the quiz above….Copepods.  They are so small you don’t notice them, but there are almost as many copepods as there are grains of sand on the beach.  It’s hard to fathom that many creatures swimming around.  Diego said that they eat the phytoplankton so fast that often there are more zooplankton than phytoplankton.