Category: Debbie Stringham

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Debbie Stringham
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 5 – 15, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific, Alaska
Date: July 14, 2005

Weather Data 

Location: U.S. Coast Guard Dock, Kodiak, AK
Latitude: 57 48.6′ N
Longitude: 152 21.9′ W
Visibility: 10 nm
Sky Description: partly cloudy

Science and Technology Log 

The ship has reached Kodiak, AK and has docked at the U.S. Coast Guard Station. Preparations are already underway for an inspection and the departure of crew members and arrival of returning or new crew members. The next leg will focus on fisheries research so preparations of the winches for nets is underway.

I’m a little wistful in returning to shore. I’ve grown accustomed to the rocking of the ship and have thoroughly enjoyed my entire experience aboard the FAIRWEATHER. I’m amazed at the autonomy of the ship and the crew aboard. I’m walking away with valuable and useful information that can be applied in laboratory experiments in the classroom and can hardly wait to implement them.

Tonight, I spend my last night aboard the ship and tomorrow morning depart for a day ashore Kodiak and then a long flight home. What an amazing experience this has been!

Answer from Previous Day 

Believe it or not, the Indonesian tsunami and Alaska 1964 earthquake are important to hydrographic survey. Plates shifting near Indonesia created the large tsunami that traveled so far and decimated so many villages. The 1964 earthquake, also caused by shifting plates, creating likewise devastating effects. This impacts hydrographic survey, because the navigation charts printed before 1964 would not show the rise in sea floor of over 30 feet that occurred because of the shifting plates!

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Debbie Stringham
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 5 – 15, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific, Alaska
Date: July 13, 2005

Weather Data 

Location: in transit
Latitude: 52 44.1’N
Longitude: 156 45.3’W
Visibility: 10 nm
True Wind Speed: 10 kts.
True Wind Direction: 270
Sea Wave Height: none
Swell Wave Height: 6 ft.
Swell Wave Direction: 220
Sea Water Temperature: 11.0 C
Sea Level Pressure: 1008.0
Sky Description: partly cloudy
Dry Bulb Temperature: 14.0 C
Wet Bulb Temperature: 12.5 C

Science and Technology Log 

Last night, the ship received word that a tsunami buoy had gotten loose and needed to be retrieved in waters to the south. So, heading to the farthest waters south that the FAIRWEATHER has seen since March, the ship made its way to the last known location of the buoy. I stood watch on the bridge from 0400 until 0800 and no sight of the buoy had been taken on RADAR or by person. At about 0830, the buoy was spotted and operations to retrieve it were commenced. A smaller vessel with four crew members was launched to aid in the retrieval and the A- frame on the fantail was rigged to pull the large instrument aboard. By 0930 the buoy was captured and hoisted onto deck and by 1030 it was securely fastened to the fantail. The issue of pulling aboard several thousand meters of the buoy’s rope took several more hours after that. Whew!

The December 26, 2004 Indonesia tsunami “traveled at 700 kilometers per hour to rear up like a hydra onto shores, sweeping away some 225,000 lives and millions of livelihoods across 12 nations,” Madhusree Mukerjee reported in the March 2005 issue of Scientific American. That historic tsumani event raised a lot of concern regarding the early warning systems that are in place for tsunami events. Unlike the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean is known to have a well established warning system in place, but efforts are being taken to ensure that we know as much as possible about possible tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean. Tsunami buoys are located extensively along the major coastlines of countries neighboring the Pacific Ocean and the data collected from those buoys is carefully analyzed and recorded.

Ships similar to the FAIRWEATHER, in the NOAA fleet, usually perform routine maintenance and retrieval of buoys. The FAIRWEATHER has been looked at for this purpose, but never actually engaged in the process. This is the first time the FAIRWEATHER has taken part in tsunami buoy retrieval.

Question of the Day 

What do the 2005 Indonesian tsunami, the Alaska 1964 earthquake, and hydrographic survey have in common?

Answer from Previous Day 

The best types of sea floor to anchor a ship are mud/clay or sandy, mud combinations. Firm sand is okay, but loose sand, soft mud, rocks, and grassy/kelp areas should be avoided.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Debbie Stringham
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 5 – 15, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific, Alaska
Date: July 12, 2005

Weather Data 

Location: Eagle Harbour, Shumagin Islands, AK
Latitude: 55 06.8’ N
Longitude: 160 06.9’ W
Visibility: 10 nm.
True Wind Speed: 16 kts.
True Wind Direction: 340
Sea Wave Height: 1 ft.
Swell Wave Height: none
Swell Wave Direction: none
Sea Water Temperature: 12.0 C
Sea Level Pressure: 1011.5 mb
Sky Description: Partly Cloudy
Dry Bulb Temperature: 15.5 C
Wet Bulb Temperature: 12.5 C

Science and Technology Log 

Today, is a quiet day aboard the FAIRWEATHER. There are no vessel launches to join, but it is a good opportunity for me to work on lesson plan ideas. I’ve been most interested in the bottom sampling operations and why it is important to understand the nature of the sea floor for anchorage. I found a very helpful seaman text that should provide good direction for a lesson plan.

Earlier in the leg, a crew member and survey tech exchanged with a member of a contractor for NOAA that acquisitions hydrographic data using airplanes. The airplanes essentially have two beams, one that hits the top of the water and one that penetrates to the sea floor. The data is then compared and the difference between them equals the water depth. The survey tech said that there are some benefits and limitations to the use of airplanes.

Benefits are that it can collect data much more quickly than our ship. Our ship travels at ten knots, but the airplane can fly over a hundred knots and cover many more miles. The airplane can also collect data in shallow water and pinpoint water depth over shallow rocks whereas the ship cannot. Also, Surveyors do not have to stay at sea for weeks at a time and can go home to dry land at the end of the day.

On the other hand, limitations of the airplane include lower resolution because the plane is flying so fast. Choppy seas or kelp forests impede data collection, as is true for data acquisition from the ship as well, and the planes cannot collect data from deep waters.

Question of the Day 

What type of sea floor is best for anchoring one’s ship?

Answer from Previous Day 

Understanding atmospheric sciences is important in navigating ships because the weather affects the ship’s course and ability to conduct business or research every day. Understanding such basic concepts as weather fronts, air mass characteristics, large scale wind systems (ie.  Polar Easterlies), and weather phenomenon (ie. hurricanes) can be life saving when out at sea.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Debbie Stringham
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 5 – 15, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific, Alaska
Date: July 11, 2005

Weather Data

Location: Shumagin Islands, AK
Latitude: 55 17.7’ N
Longitude: 160 32.1’ W
Visibility: 8 n.m.
True Wind Speed: 12 kts.
True Wind Direction: 190
Sea Wave Height: 1 ft.
Swell Wave Height: none
Swell Wave Direction: none
Sea Water Temperature: 11.7 C
Sea Level Pressure: 1014.0 mb
Sky Description: Cloudy, Drizzle
Dry Bulb Temperature: 11.5 C
Wet Bulb Temperature: 10.0 C

Daily Log 

Last night, some of the crew, including myself, went ashore while anchored in Eagle Harbor. I was eager to learn of the geology of the Shumagin Islands, but have had no opportunity to take samples from shore. It is not so much the composition of the rocks that I’m interested in as the process and time frame of which they formed. I collected both rounded pebbles from the beach and oxidized, angular fragments from a cliff face. I’m extremely impressed by the magnitude of folding, faulting, and glaciation process that are apparent–even from the deck of the ship many miles away. Upon inquiring, I have discovered that there is only one crew member who has any geologic text on the area and she is not on board for this leg.

This morning, I was once again assigned to a launch that would collect bottom samples, but the unfortunate event of well-developed seas and high winds drove us back to the ship. Our sunny weather for the past two days is definitely at an end and our bottom sampling is postponed until further notice.

On this leg, the ship does not have any tide stations to install, but I inquired as to how that affects data collection anyway. Tide stations are used as vertical control on water depths. The Chief Survey Technician said that local tidal data is collected from a primary station on Sand Point and vertical corrections are made to the hydrographic survey data as it is collected. If the data were not corrected to the Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW), the depths displayed on hydrographic charts could mislead ships navigating in shallow waters.

Question of the Day 

Why is knowledge of atmospheric sciences helpful in navigating ships?

Answer from Previous Day 

SONAR stands for Sound Navigation and Radar. Essentially, the purpose is to emit sound waves and capture their echo as they bounce off of the sea floor or other objects to determine shape, position, and/or location. Marine organisms use a similar type feature to detect prey.

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Debbie Stringham
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 5 – 15, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific, Alaska
Date: July 9, 2005

Weather Data 

Location: Eagle Harbour, Shumagin Islands, AK
Latitude: 55 06.8’ N
Longitude: 160 06.9’ W
Visibility: 10 nm.
True Wind Speed: 16 kts.
True Wind Direction: 340
Sea Wave Height: 1 ft.
Swell Wave Height: none
Swell Wave Direction: none
Sea Water Temperature: 12.0 C
Sea Level Pressure: 1011.5 mb
Sky Description: Partly Cloudy
Dry Bulb Temperature: 15.5 C
Wet Bulb Temperature: 12.5 C

Science and Technology Log 

Today, I was assigned to go on a bottom sampling launch. The purpose of these launches is to collect floor samples to determine the nature of the sea floor. The instrument used is called a bottom sampler and looks like a large heavy metal pipe about a foot in length and four inches in diameter. There is a large metal spring attached to the top of it along with a scooping mechanism that clamps shut when it hits the sea floor. On the other end, is an O-ring where a line can be strung through and attached to a pulley.

First, the designated sampling locations are decided by where they lie in relation to the coast. There are collection standards that regulate where sampling can occur and how often. If the region is deemed anchorage, then samples may be taken 1200 meters apart. If the region is not considered anchorage, then the samples need to be spaced 2000 meters apart. Using a Digital Terrane Model (DTM), the survey technician chooses an arbitrary point and fans out from there, choosing collection locations in accordance with the regulations above.

Once the bottom sampling is underway, the boat will use a Global Positioning System (GPS), to locate where a sample will be taken from. The survey technician will open the scooping mechanism and lower it over the side of the boat. When the bottom sampler hits the bottom, it will be brought back to the surface where the sample, if any, will be analyzed and recorded. If no sample is retrieved after three attempts, then the sea floor is recorded as hard. Survey technicians use abbreviated terms to describe the bottom samples. For example: crs S = coarse sand, brk Sh = broken shells, gy M = gray mud, med P = medium pebbles.

Question of the Day 

Why is looking at the nature of the seafloor material important?

Answer from Previous Day 

In the early days of sailing, the steering board (eventually to become starboard) was on the right hand side of the ship. And the side of the ship that was usually tied up to port was the left hand side. Sailors began calling the right side of the ship (when facing front) the starboard side and the left hand side of the ship port.