NOAA Teacher at Sea
Karolyn Braun
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana October 4 – 28, 2006
Mission: TAO Buoy Array Maintenance Geographical Area: Hawaii Date: October 22, 2006
The crew conduct an abandon-ship drill.
Science and Technology Log
We are still a little behind schedule this morning. We’re preparing the next TAO buoy for deployment later on in the week, and I’m getting ready for my busy schedule of CTD profiles. After our 930 CTD was up and secure on deck, we had an abandon-ship drill. Those are always fun. Mike and Joe, the ET guys instructed us on the use of the emergency VHF radio, the EPIRB, Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons the PEPIRB, Personal Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons and the SARTS, Search and Rescue Transponder System. Our drill was over in time to enjoy a nice lunch, after which we were back outside getting ready to clean one of the lockers when we had a scenario fire drill. The scenario was that a fire broke out in the paint locker. We all had to report to muster to be accounted for. Once we did that, I assisted by bringing out the hose to the grated deck and made sure certain vents were closed. The drill was definitely adrenaline pumping, but I am glad we haven’t had a real one onboard.
After the drill was said and done, I had to conduct a CTD profile. It was supposed to be short and sweet but turned out to be a little longer than expected due to something wrong with the winch speed and another fuse blowing. I don’t think the computer likes me. The CTD was finally finished and we steamed off towards the next buoy to conduct a dive operation to repair some fittings on the TAO buoy. I got in a work out and a nap before my late CTD at 2300. What a day.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Karolyn Braun
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana October 4 – 28, 2006
Mission: TAO Buoy Array Maintenance Geographical Area: Hawaii Date: October 21, 2006
Plan of the Day
The alarm went off at 2 a.m. Am I crazy or what? I pulled myself out of bed to go view the Orionid meteor shower. What is a meteor you may ask? Well a “meteor shower,” also known as a “meteor storm,” is a celestial event where a large number of meteors are seen within a very short period of time. These meteors are small fragments of cosmic debris entering Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds, leaving streaks of light that very quickly disappear. Most of the small fragments of cosmic debris are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all fragments are burned up and never hit the earth’s surface. Fragments which do contact earth’s surface are called meteorites. These events are one of the few astronomical phenomena where everyday people, equipped with only their eyes, can experience the beauty of astronomy at its best. There are approximately ten mornings each year when the meteor activity is exceptional. What about the other 355 nights per year? Well, these are the nights when the activity is so sparse one can barely stay awake. YAWN! The Orionid meteor shower is active throughout October and the first week of November. This shower is produced by the inbound particles of the famous Halley’s Comet, which last passed through the inner solar system in 1986. The Earth passes closest to the comet’s orbit on October 21. At this time the Earth actually only skims the outer fringes of the debris field produced by Halley’s Comet. The Orionids can still produce a very entertaining display of celestial fireworks, especially when viewed from rural locations. When seen near maximum activity, an observer can count 15 to 25 Orionid meteors per hour. I was lucky to see 30 or more on my hour observation. Definitely worth losing sleep over!
The morning came and went and around 1330 as I assisted the Electronic Technicians with the TAS intranet web page. I learned how to use FrontPage too so it was worth the time and effort. I also helped spool some of the line for the TAO buoy retrieval and fed the line to deploy it. It was a long day but the work got done. Today’s Buoy retrieval was last minute so it will make the ship behind schedule. But only time will tell.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Karolyn Braun
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana October 4 – 28, 2006
Mission: TAO Buoy Array Maintenance Geographical Area: Hawaii Date: October 20, 2006
TAS Braun contacts the winch to bring up the CTD carousel.
Plan of the Day
Well after a long and fun-filled three-day transit we arrived safely at our new longitude line, 170W, to follow. The ship was buzzing early with preparations to retrieve the TAO buoy. Mother ocean is VERY calm with a small swell but smooth as velvet. Why is that you ask? Well, the winds cause waves on the surface of the ocean (and on lakes). The wind transfers some of its energy to the water, through friction between the air molecules and the water molecules. Stronger winds (like storm surges) cause larger waves. You can make your own miniature waves by blowing across the surface of a pan of water.
Waves of water do not move horizontally, they only move up and down (a wave does not represent a flow of water). You can see a demonstration of this by watching a floating buoy or a bird bob up and down with a wave; it does not, however, move horizontally with the wave. So the lack of waves makes things easier on the boat but tough on the fantail spooling, as there is little breeze to keep cool. By 800 the buoy was secured and the spooling fun begun. We finished spooling the line and prepped for the deployment just as lunch was beginning. Perfect timing. After a full belly and some much needed rest indoors we deployed the “Samoan Legend” buoy and spent the next three and half hours releasing the line before dropping anchor. We finished conducting a 3000m CTD and released an ARGO when Mr. Moon greeted us. Another wonderful day in paradise…Good night!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Karolyn Braun
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana October 4 – 28, 2006
Mission: TAO Buoy Array Maintenance Geographical Area: Hawaii Date: October 19, 2006
TAS Braun displays her creative buoy artwork.
Plan of the Day
Paint designs on TAO buoys; Go for a swim in the “pool”
Today was our last day of transit before we arrived at our destination of 8S/170W. After breakfast I got my paints out and spent literally all day painting the three buoys we will be deploying in the next few weeks. I enjoyed myself. I created an Aloha Buoy with plumeria flowers; a Samoan Buoy with a Samoan designed fish, turtle, shark, ray and an island scene; and my third one is of a fisherman trying to lure an octopus with a lure made of a large cowry shell that resembles a rat (isumu). The Samoan legend about the octopus (fe’e) and the rat comes into the picture.
TAS Braun relaxes in the KA’IMIMOANA’s “pool.”
Gather round, story time: It all started with a sightseeing canoe trip on the ocean by an owl, a snail and a rat. Their canoe started to sink, so the owl escaped by flying away, the snail sank with the canoe to the bottom of the ocean (goto uga), and the rat tried to swim to shore but he had a long way to go. He saw an octopus and called for help. The octopus agreed and swam to shore with the rat on his head. When they got to shore, the rat jumped off and thanked the octopus for saving his life and said that he left a little present on the octopus’s head. When the octopus realized that there was a rat dropping on his head, he became extremely angry and told the rat, “If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you.” To this day, the octopus is mad about this and is still looking for the rat. Whenever a fisherman uses this rat shape lure he is sure to bring an octopus home.
After my lunch break I went to relax in our ‘pool’ on the bow before returning to finish up the painting. It was fun and everyone seemed to get a laugh at my paintings. I was exhausted by the end of the day but it was worth it. Tomorrow starts another busy week with buoy ops, CTD’s, late nights and early mornings so I am enjoying the slow pace. OK this is enough for the day. Till tomorrow.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Karolyn Braun
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana October 4 – 28, 2006
Mission: TAO Buoy Array Maintenance Geographical Area: Hawaii Date: October 18, 2006
TAS Braun using the Fluorometer to test CTD water samples.
Plan of the Day
Transit; TAO buoy painting; Testing CTD samples using the Fluorometer
Woke up at 5am to get a head start on the painting. I’d rather work in the morning before the sun comes up. I finished painting the white strips before breakfast so the crew could flip the buoys over to paint the red on the bottoms before the end of the day. I spent most of my day in front of the Fluorometer testing the CTD water samples.
Ok Learning time: To calculate chlorophyll you need to use the following equation: Chl (ug 1 ) = F*Ve((Fo-Fa)/S)Vf Where F = fluorometer calibration factor
Fo = total fluorescence
Fa = Fluorescence after acid
Ve = extract volume (acetone extract; 10ml)
Vf = filtration volume (volume of filtered seawater in liters; 0.528L
S = sensitivity To obtain Fo we need to fill the cuvette, a test tube-like glass beaker, and place into the Fluorometer. Record data. Then add 3 drops of 10% HCL to cuvette while still in the fluorometer. Re-read the fluorescence at the same sensitivity setting. Record data. Making sure in between samples the cuvette is cleaned with acetone. In completing the equation, we discovered that out here most of the chlorophyll is deeper than in most places. Let’s get to the basics. The ocean can be divided into five broad zones according to how far down sunlight penetrates:
The epipelagic, or sunlit, zone: the top layer of the ocean where enough sunlight penetrates for plants to carry on photosynthesis.
The mesopelagic, or twilight, zone: a dim zone where some light penetrates, but not enough for plants to grow.
The bathypelagic, or midnight, zone: the deep ocean layer where no light penetrates.
The abyssal zone: the pitch-black bottom layer of the ocean; the water here is almost freezing and its pressure is immense.
The hadal zone: the waters found in the ocean’s deepest trenches.
Plants are found where there is enough light for photosynthesis; however, animals are found at all depths of the oceans though their numbers are greater near the surface where food is plentiful. So why is more chlorophyll found deeper the further you travel away from the equator? Well my hypothesis is because all the nutrients are found in the deep cold layers of the midnight zone. Near the equator and near coastlines upwelling occurs so the nutrients are brought up to the sunlit zone. As you go further away from the equator less and less upwelling occurs so the phytoplankton is unable to thrive in this sunlit zone. The phytoplankton will grow deep enough in the twilight zone to obtain the nutrients, yet shallow enough where photosynthesis can occur. I also think that like land plants, too much sun can reduce the growth of the phytoplankton.
Chlorophyll fluorescence is often reduced in algae experiencing adverse conditions such as stressful temperature, nutrient deficiency, and polluting agents. Phytoplankton photosynthetic efficiency is one of the biological signals that rapidly reacts to changes in nutrient availability as well as naturally occurring or anthropogenically introduced toxins (contaminants). The results can be used as an indicator of system wide change or health. I finally finished the samples around 3 p.m. Got in a work out, watched a movie and was off to bed but not before we retarded our clocks 1 hour. We are now entering my normal time zone. So close to American Samoa yet so far away•
