Category: Tamil Maldonado

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Tamil Maldonado, July 22, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tamil Maldonado
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 18 – 28, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 22, 2005

Science and Technology Log

FOCI… Today I have been working hand in hand with scientists, throwing nets, collecting depth, pressure, temperature, and chlorophyll data.  We have also been washing nets, getting survey of larvae, writing it down in sheets database, labeling, freezing larvae and chlorophyll samples.  We analyze some graphs we were getting from the experiments.

Here are some questions I have… how is global warming affecting ecosystems? How do fish overcome these changes?  Do they go up or down in the ocean columns?  Are they changing their nursery places?  How is their behavior in comparison to other years? Which parameters affect them most: salinity or temperature?  Some of these questions are being answered by the scientists, and others are still unanswered for which we are trying to find the answers. It seems that Alaskan fish can adapt easily to salinity changes.  Remember that glaciers are melting more continuously than before and fresh water (since it is less dense than seawater) stays in the surface, which means there is a change in salinity and temperature in the ocean.  Therefore there could be changes in fish behavior and in their ecosystem.  It seems the larvae and fish will be affected by temperatures.  They could be moving from ocean columns to get to the right temperature.  But they also need food like plankton that maybe stays at a different column of seawater.  That will be a survival problem.

Scientists are focusing their work on commercial fish such as Pollock and Pacific Halibut. It is the first time they have done this survey during summer.  They want to have a template for next year to compare data with.  Later we could do some statistical models, and mathematical models to compare in terms of years or data columns.

Navigation… This afternoon I as actually sailing the boat…  I had the power on my hands.  I needed to be really focused and follow instructions at all times.  We also calculated times for some positions, stations where we were going to do survey.  I also calculated True Speed, which depends on relative speed, wind speed, angles and locations of the boat.

I had the chance to see whales, little fish and a jelly fish of the size of my 4 fingers.

I also did some hydrographic studies of the region,  got some data, pictures and depths of the ocean.

We had problems with the coaxial cable again and I got some other information about sonars that I started to read.  I even worked out today!

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Tamil Maldonado, July 21, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tamil Maldonado
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 18 – 28, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 21, 2005

Science and Technology Log

Navigation… Today we studied latitude and longitude and their relation to each other.  We used geometry concepts like degrees, parallel lines, circles, transversal lines, alternate internal angles, and alternate external angles.  We used charts, grids, compasses, and different instruments from the bridge.  We shared information about how people were measuring latitude and longitude in olden days and how it is measured nowadays.  We discussed mathematical relations of degrees, minutes, seconds and nanomiles.  One question for you… how are the Sun and angles utilized in calculating latitude and longitude?

Hydrography Lab… I got the chance to look at some hydrographic data, and to get to know information about the different sonars they are using to retrieve all the data.  The Difference among sonars is the beams per particular time that sonars are shooting.  FAIRWEATHER ship has a sonar that does 160 beams in 220 microseconds.  They also use little boats to go to shallower grounds and have sonars of 111 beams and 101 beams per 220 microseconds.  They get a huge amount of data coming into their computer devices, and then they use software called Cares Hips and Sips, which recollects all the data plotting it in two dimensional and three dimensional grids.  It also used colors to identify how deep it is in that particular region. Blue is used for deeper regions, while red is used for shallower regions. There are a few issues that needed to be corrected.  There is some noise in the data due to salinity, movement of vessel, and tides.  An important key is that they need corrections on real time.  To correct this data, they use another instrument like POSMV.  After all data is collected they could go back and get pictures per zone, and per beam too.  Therefore they could analyze all data and get correct information.  They also use satellites called GPS – Global Positioning System.  In the future I will be talking to Richard (the ET- Electrical Technician) about all satellites they are using on board.

FOCI… They had some problems today too with the computer system,  so in order to know about the depth of the net in the seawater they have to calculate “by hand” using charts.  For an approximately 45 degree angle measured between the cord holding the net and perpendicular to the floor of the ship, you need how much wire is out, how wide the circle is that holds the wire, how many revolutions, and if there is a linear relationship between this information and the desired net depth.  For example if you want the net 40 meters deep vertically then you need 57 m wire out.  Remember that the boat keeps moving at certain time and that will give you an angle (in this case you need the angle to be approximately 45 degrees).  Scientists use available charts for this information, but we can actually calculate it manually.

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Tamil Maldonado, July 20, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tamil Maldonado
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 18 – 28, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 20, 2005

Science and Technology Log

The Tucker trawl and Method Net had been deployed all night and day.  Scientists have shifts of 12 hours every day. Equipment is attached in the fantail area (back of ship).  There was a problem with the coaxial cable… it was broken, wet and they had to cut a portion of it.  The Electrical Technician needed to set up the cables, put them together, and use a cable coating so the wires would not get wet again.  Still, the data was not going through the wires into the computer data base.  After a few hours they had some data and started doing experiments with the CTD and Tucker net.  I was washing bottles they use to recollect larvae, taking them to the lab, freezing the bottles and chlorophyll filters, writing data down on their sheets, etc.  It was very exciting to see larvae, jelly fish, and little fish.

I also went to the bridge and we started talking about the mathematics behind navigation, including all the geometry, trigonometry and vectors involved.  We used the charts (maps) to find out our position, calculate how much time it would take for us to get to the next station where we were going to do another survey on larval fish.  I also got to know all instruments on the bridge, and how they use them for traveling, and navigation.  Moreover, we calculated true speed looking at the relative speed and using instruments, vector, ship speed, and charts.

At the end of the day I read the Draft of the scientific research, which helped me to know more information about their equipment and specifications of nets, CTD, and computer interface, among others.

I also talked to some students that are doing their internship with NOAA vessels.  It was great to get to know them, and see their different interests on the ship.

Tomorrow I am going to interview people from the Hydrographic lab department, and learn some more about navigation.

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Tamil Maldonado, July 19, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tamil Maldonado
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 18 – 28, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 19, 2005

Science and Technology Log

We took off from port at 10:00 a.m., after dealing with some ship problems.  An hour after we started testing all research equipment and noticed there was a problem with the coaxial cable that connects nets with computer interface.  The Electrical Technician worked with that issue for hours. Everything else was fine.  This coaxial cable and getting data information to computers was really important to get research correctly.  They should be able to know depth, temperature, salinity, pressure and chlorophyll information through the net’s path in water, main keys for their oceanographic research.

At night I interviewed Chief Scientist Janet T. Duffy-Anderson and other participating scientists (Colleen E. Harpold, Matthew T. Wilson, Miriam J. Doyle, Sigrid A. Salo, Dylan Righi, David G. Kachel and William J. Floering).  We discussed cruise objectives and operations.  FOCI will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the Gulf of Alaska in the vicinity of Kodiak Island, Alaska. This area is a known nursery ground for a variety of species of fish – walleye Pollock, Pacific cod, rock sole, Pacific halibut.  Work is needed to describe larval fish and zooplankton assemblages in summer, and to examine the movement of water and associated biota from the slope to the shelf.  Six satellite-tracked drifters will be released to study current trajectories in the vicinity of Port Lock Bank. Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth profiler casts will be made to characterize water column properties, collect nutrient and chlorophyll information, and to evaluate the flow field.

A goal of the Eco-FOCI is to identify the physical and biological factors that underlie ecosystem change, and to understand how those factors interact.  One focus is the effects of perturbation at lower trophic levels; therefore they will collect ichthyoplankton using a 1 m2 Tucker net and collect juvenile and small fishes using a Method net.  And Sea-Bird Electronics SBE 911plus Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) casts will collect physical data as well as water samples for nutrients and chlorophyll.

Scientific Computer System shall operate throughout the cruise, acquiring and logging data from navigation, meteorological, oceanographic, and fisheries sensors.

I recorded their first test and learned how to throw the nets, how to get them back, etc.   In that way I was going to be able to do it myself for the next stations.

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Tamil Maldonado, July 18, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tamil Maldonado
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 18 – 28, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 18, 2005

Personal Log

Today we did not get out of port. We were supposed to sail this morning, but there were a few problems we needed to take care of.  First, the scientists’ equipments did not come to the ship on time.  Second there was a problem with the fuel pier.

I read the Standing Orders and saw a video about FAIRWEATHER Ship.  Both helped me to understand some rules, daily duties, safety information, and hierarchy of people and their positions in the ship.  For example, the highest position in the ship is called Commanding Officer (CO),  then we have the Executive Officer (XO), Officer of the Deck (OOD) and Officer In Charge (OIC).

I also learned some concepts that are well used in the ship.  Some of these concepts are brow, galley, bridge, fantail, etc.

I got to know people in the ship and scientists that were part of ECO- FOCI research.  ECO-FOCI stands for Ecosystem and Fisheries- Oceanography Coordinated Investigation.  It is the first time these scientists are on FAIRWEATHER ship since the boat it is mostly used for Hydrographic work.

After the scientists got their equipment (sent from Seattle), they installed machinery, nets, and computers.  It took a long time to do this.