My last blog left off with a late night longline
going in the water around 9:00pm on 9/23/19.
We were able to successfully tag a great hammerhead, a scalloped
hammerhead, and a tiger shark. We also
caught a blacknose shark, three gafftopsail catfish (Bagre marinus), and three red snappers.
Female great hammerhead caught on 9/23/19 aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
Male scalloped hammerhead caught on 9/23/19 aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
Deploying the Longline
Today I’m going to explain to you the five jobs that we rotate through when we are deploying the longline. When there are about 15-20 minutes before deployment we grab our sunglasses, personal floatation device (pfd) and rubber boats and head to the stern of the ship. All scientists are responsible for helping to cut and bait all 100 gangions (hooks and line). The hooks are 15/0mm circle hooks and the gangion length is 3.7m long. The bait used for this is Atlantic mackerel cut into chunks to fit the hooks. We are all responsible for cleaning the deck and the table and cutting boards that were used.
Kristin cutting bait and Taniya and Ryan baiting the 100 hooks
The first job on the deployment is setting up the laptop computer. The scientist on computer is responsible for entering information when the high flyer, the three weights (entered after first high flyer, after gangion 50 and before final high flyer), and the 100 baited gangions entered into the water. This gives the time and the latitude and longitude of each to keep track of for comparison data.
The second job is the person actually putting the high flyer and buoy in the water. Once the ship is in position and we receive the ok from the bridge it is released into the water. The high flyer is 14ft from the weight at the bottom to the flashing light at the top. (see picture)
Kristin and Kathy getting ready to put the first high flyer in the water
The third job is the “slinger”. The slinger takes each hook, one by one, off of the barrel, lowers the baited hook into the water, and then holds the end clamp so that the fourth scientist can put a tag number on each one (1-100). It is then handed to the deckhand who clamps it onto the mainline where it is lowered into the water off the stern.
Placing the numbers on the gangion before being put on the mainline
The final job is the barrel cleaner. Once all the lines are in the water the barrel cleaner takes a large brush with soap and scrubs down the inside and outside of the barrel. The barrels are then taken to the well deck to get ready for the haul in. The last weight and high flyer are put into the water to complete the longline set, which will remain in the water for one hour. Everyone now helps out cleaning the stern deck and bringing any supplies to the dry lab. At this time the CTD unit is put in the water (this will be described at a later time).
Personal Log
Last night was so exciting, catching the three large sharks. During this station I was responsible for the data so I was able to take a few pictures once I recorded the precaudal, fork, and total length measurements as well as take a very small fin sample and place it in a vial, and record the tagging numbers.
Shout
Out: Today’s shout out goes to
my wonderful 161 students, all my former students, fellow teachers, especially
those in my hallway, my guest teachers and all the staff and administration at
Palmetto Ridge High School. I would also
like to thank Mr. Bremseth and Michelle Joyce for my letters of
recommendations!
I
couldn’t have been able to do this without all of your help and support. I have sooo much to tell you about when I get
back. Go Bears!!
Weather
Data from the Bridge (at beginning of log)
Latitude: 28.07 Longitude: 93.27.45 Temperature: 84°F Wind Speeds: ESE 13 mph large swells
Science and Technology Log
9/21/19-We left Galveston, TX late in the afternoon once the backup parts arrived. After a few changes because of boat traffic near us, were able to get to station 1 around 21:00 (9:00 pm). We baited the 100 hooks with Atlantic Mackerel. Minutes later the computers were up and running logging information as the high flyer and the 100 hooks on 1 mile of 4mm 1000# test monofilament line were placed in the Gulf of Mexico for 60 minutes. My job on this station was to enter the information from each hook into the computer when it was released and also when it was brought onboard. When the hook is brought onboard they would let me know the status: fish on hook, whole bait, damaged bait, or no bait. Our first night was a huge success. We had a total of 28 catches on our one deployed longline.
NOAA TAS Kathy Schroeder with a red snapper caught on the Oregon II
We caught 1 bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), 2 tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), 14 sharp nose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), 2 black tip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus), 7 black nose sharks (Carcharhinus acronotus), and 2 red snappers (Lutjanus campechanus). There were also 3 shark suckers (remoras) that came along for the ride.
Sandbar shark – no tag. Oregon II
I was lucky to be asked by the Chief Scientist Kristin to tag the large tiger shark that was in the cradle. It took me about 3 tries but it eventually went in right at the bottom of his dorsal fin. He was on hook #79 and was 2300mm total length. What a great way to start our first day of fishing. After a nice warm, but “rolling” shower I made it to bed around 1:00 am. The boat was really rocking and I could hear things rolling around in cabinets. I think I finally fell asleep around 3:00.
9/22- The night shift works from midnight to noon doing exactly what we do during the day. They were able to complete two stations last night. They caught some tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) and a couple sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus). My shift consists of Kristin, Christian, Taniya, and Ryan: we begin our daily shifts at noon and end around midnight. The ship arrived at our next location right at noon so the night shift had already prepared our baits for us. We didn’t have a lot on this station but we did get a Gulf smooth hound shark (Mustelus sinusmexicanus), 2 king snake eels (Ophichthus rex), and a red snapper that weighed 7.2 kg (15.87 lbs). We completed a second station around 4:00 pm where our best catch was a sandbar shark. Due to the swells, we couldn’t use the crane for the shark basket so Kristin tried to tag her from the starboard side of the ship.
We were able to complete a third station tonight at 8:45 pm. My job this time was in charge of data recording. When a “fish is on,” the following is written down: hook number, mortality status, genus and species, precaudal measurement, fork measurement, and total length measurement, weight, sex, stage, samples taken, and tag number/comments. We had total of 13 Mustelus sinusmexicanus; common name Gulf smooth-hound shark. The females are ovoviviparous, meaning the embryos feed solely on the yolk but still develop inside the mother, before being born. The sharks caught tonight ranged in length from 765mm to 1291mm. There were 10 females and 3 male, and all of the males were of mature status. We took a small tissue sample from all but two of the sharks, which are used for genetic testing. Three of the larger sharks were tagged with rototags. (Those are the orange tags you see in the picture of the dorsal fin below).
Taking the three measurements
King snake eel caught on a longline.
Personal Log
I spend most of my downtime between stations in the science dry lab. I have my laptop to work on my blog and there are 5 computers and a TV with Direct TV. We were watching Top Gun as we were waiting for our first station. I tried to watch the finale of Big Brother Sunday night but it was on just as we had to leave to pull in our longline. So I still don’t know who won. 🙂 I slept good last night until something started beeping in my room around 4:00 am. It finally stopped around 6:30. They went and checked out my desk/safe where the sound was coming from and there was nothing. Guess I’m hearing things 🙂
Shout out! – Today’s shout out goes to the Sturgeon Family – Ben and Dillon I hope you are enjoying all the pictures – love Aunt Kathy
Geographic Area of
Cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak – Aleutian Islands)
Date: September 22, 2019
Weather Data from Richmond, Virginia
Latitude: 37 44.36 N Longitude: 77 58.26 W Wind Speed: 5 knots Wind Direction: 195 degrees Air Temperature: 31 C Barometric Pressure: 1018 mBar Sky: Clear
Conclusion
Wow, it’s hard to believe that my time on the waters of Alaska aboard the Oscar Dyson are over. It was an experience I will never forget. I just hope that I can instill in my students the idea that all kinds of things are possible when you follow your interests.
It has taken me several days to reacclimatize to life on land. Standing in front of my class, I have caught myself swaying. It also took several days to readjust my sleep schedule. (I don’t get rocked to sleep anymore and my hours are completely different.)
There were so many things I will miss and never forget: all of the unique experiences and sights I got to see, starting with my side trip to Barrow and swimming in the Arctic Ocean before the start of the expedition, getting to explore some of Kodiak before we left port, all of the open sea and species that were part of the random samples, the little coves we snuck into when storms were approaching, getting a “close-up” of the Pavlof volcano, and getting to explore the native land around Dutch Harbor where we were able to watch Salmon spawning and Bald Eagles doing their thing.
Arctic Ocean swimming partners
Spires marking the opening of Castle Bay where we hid out from the storm.
Pavlof Volcano and Pavlof’s Sister
Shelikof Strait
Bald Eagle fishing near Dutch Harbor
Bald Eagles were common site. This one perched on a Russian Orthodox Steeple.
It was also interesting talking to and learning from the ship crew. There are some interesting stories there about how they got to NOAA and what they have experienced since then.
Oscar Dyson crew preparing the nets for the next trawl.
Survey crew, Megan Shapiro checking out a smooth lumpsucker.
Ensign Lexee Andonian and 1AE Alan Currie managing the trawling equipment off the ship stern.
Survey Chief Phil White and Megan Shapiro monitoring the trawl nets in the water.
Engineer crewmember Gavan Roddey showing me the water purification system.
Scientists and Survey Crew working together.
At the top of the list though would have to be the connections I made with the scientists I spent almost three weeks with. Being able to go out into the field with them and talking about what they have seen and learned over years of research has really reenergized my love for science in general. Starting my shift looking forward to seeing what each Bongo station would bring up or what each trawl would bring to the sorting table, made for an expedition that went much too quickly. It was interesting listening to my fellow scientists comparing how the numbers and ages of pollock caught at the various stations compared to what they had found in the Spring and in previous years.
The science crew all had the chance for one last meal together at the Anchorage airport before parting ways. I am very thankful for being accepted so well and for everything I have learned.
Overall, this has been an experience I will never forget. I have learned so much about Alaska, the ocean, marine species, global warming, and scientific technology. My time as a Teacher at Sea aboard the Oscar Dyson is something I will never forget and hope I can pass the excitement and experiences on to my students.
Mission: Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research project
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northern Gulf of Alaska – currently
sheltering in Kodiak harbor
Date: September 21, 2019
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Time: 12:20 Latitude: 57º47.214’ N Longitude: 152º24.150’ E Wind: Southwest 20 knots Air Temperature: 12.8ºC (55ºF) Air Pressure: 990 millibars Clear skies
Science and Technology Log
As we sit in the shelter of Kodiak harbor, I thought I would dedicate this blog to the R/V Tiglax and her crew. Careers in oceanographic research would not be possible without the support of research vessels and their crew. R/V Tiglax is a 121-foot long U.S. Fish and Wildlife vessel that was commissioned in 1987. Her primary mission is to support scientific research in the Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge in the Aleutian chain and she was designed and built to accommodate this mission.
The layout of R/V Tiglax. Image credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
R/V Tiglax has an amazing fuel capacity of 40,000 gallons which allows it be away at sea for long periods each summer without refueling. Additionally, it has a water desalination system that can produce approximately 500 gallons of fresh water daily. The ship seems to have at least two of everything: 2 engines, 2 generators, 2 cranes, 2 zodiac skiffs, 2 freezers, 2 washing machines, 2 stationary bikes, 2 televisions, and at least 2 fresh baked goods every day!
Below is brief photo tour of the interior of R/V Tiglax.
Looking down the hallway from the main deck aft.
The mess, where we eat all our meals and spend our down time.
The galley, where our amazing meals are prepared, even during 12-foot seas!
Down in the hold, there are several staterooms, storage rooms, and the very important laundry and boot dryers.
My stateroom. There are 4 beds total and a small desk, and I have the top bunk.
The hold, where the science crew stores a lot of gear during the trip.
One of the two science labs onboard. Active research is done throughout the day here as samples come aboard.
Much of the summer, R/V Tiglax can be found transporting scientists to remote field camps in the Western Aleutians and then up into the Bering Sea to the island of St. Matthews. The science the ship supports is diverse and includes seabird and marine mammal monitoring, volcanic research, invasive species management and archeological studies. Although the crew does not participate in this research directly, they are a critical piece to its success. They are responsible not just for the transport but also for the logistics of getting the scientists from ship to shore at each of the remote sites and assisting with the setup of equipment.
Since 2005, R/V Tiglax has been supporting the oceanographic research on the Seward line and for the past two years the ship has been contracted by the LTER project for $11,376 per day to complete the spring and fall cruises. Again, the crew plays an integral part in this ocean research. All of cranes and winches aboard the ship that are used for the water sampling gear and nets are operated by the crew. Additionally, the captain and first mate navigate the ship to and from sampling sites and manage the vessel amid the changing seas during sampling sessions. Their knowledge of the ship, currents, weather and tides is imperative in making decisions with the chief scientists as to travel, scheduling, and sampling.
Captain John navigating the ship from the wheelhouse.
R/V Tiglax has a crew of six: a captain, first mate, two deckhands, an engineer and a cook. For some, being a crew member is a long-time career choice. For others, it is a job to gain skills and experience and serves as more of a stepping stone to the future.
John Farris began his career aboard R/V Tiglax nineteen years ago as a deckhand and has moved his way up to captain, a position he has held for the past four years. He works closely with Russ Hopcroft, the chief scientist, to assure the success of the mission. John is warm and welcoming to the science crew and genuinely concerned about each member’s well-being during the cruise. Safety is his number one priority and John closely monitors not only the ship but also the science work each day.
Captain John meets with the science team prior to deploying the CTD rosette.
Dan Puterbaugh is the first mate who has been a member of the crew for the past two years. Dan has thirty-years’ experience working on ships in a variety of capacities and has a wealth of knowledge of the oceans. He pilots the ship from 10 pm – 6 am and helps oversee the science team on the night shift. Dan greets each day with a smile and his passion for being out at sea and supporting the science research that goes on is truly evident.
Dan keeping watch in the wheel house.
The two deckhands aboard the ship are Dave and
Jen. Dave works the day shift with John
and has been a crew member for the past 6 years. He shares the challenges of working the night
shift versus the day shift on the ship and is happy to have worked his way up
to his current position on the crew. Dave
describes the sheer beauty of the Aleutians and the seabirds and marine mammals
that inhabit them and how appreciative he is to experience this during his
work.
Jen works on the night shift and joined the crew just this season. She is one of the most interesting and eclectic individuals I have ever met. Although she is new to the ship, she is not green and can maneuver a crane or a winch with precision and style. Jen’s spirit and energy helped get us through the long hours of the night shift. She enjoys combining her passion for science with her love of the ocean and will spend her winter crewing aboard a tall ship for the Woods Hole Semester at Sea program. Whatever Jen’s future holds, it is assured to be tied to the sea.
Jen getting time at the wheel.
Andy, the ship’s engineer, began with his time
aboard R/V Tiglax eleven years
ago. He, like others before him, started
out as a deckhand and worked his way up in the ranks. He spent time in the Navy doing propulsion
work, so this experience serves him well in maintaining the mechanics of the Tiglax.
Although Andy is a bit more elusive, he is always right there when
things needed repair. He helped us get
through several winch issues, a broken hydraulic line on the crane and a downed
freezer and refrigerator in the galley.
Last, but most importantly, is Morgan, the chef aboard R/V Tiglax. Morgan has been with the ship for six years, and continues to wow the crew and scientists alike with her amazing meals. Morgan attended culinary school in Denver before joining the ship as a relief cook her first summer. When asked about how she manages to cook during high seas she says it took some getting used to at first but she quickly learned to manage. Morgan’s talents are apparent in her daily fresh sourdough breads and home-made desserts. Despite being out to sea for long periods of time, she maintains variety in each meal and does her best to infuse fresh ingredients wherever possible. Morgan will spend her winter furthering her culinary training in Portland before returning for another season with the ship.
Morgan’s puff pastries with homemade raspberry rhubarb sauce. They disappear so fast I couldn’t even photograph a full pan.
Personal Log
As is the theme for this September cruise, we
once again were chased ashore by our fourth gale. On Thursday night, just after
starting our night shift we were shut down by the building wind and waves and
made a 16-hour harrowing transit from the Seward line to shelter in Kodiak
harbor and reevaluate as the weather. Although we were not happy to be missing more
sampling, everyone was appreciative for the time to get cell reception and step
foot on solid land.
We arrived in Kodiak harbor at 5pm on Friday night and had the fortune of docking at the state ferry dock. After eating dinner aboard, we all ventured off into town. My dock rock continued as all of Kodiak seemed to be moving up and down and side to side. All the crew and scientists ended up in same spot and enjoyed socializing together on our down time. We returned to the ship and all appreciated a night of sleep that didn’t involve almost rolling out of the bed with each swell.
Climbing off the ship can be challenging when the tides are low.
This morning we awoke to blue skies and strong winds. Unfortunately, the night crew caved in at 3am and slept for a few hours. Having a day off from work makes it easy to slip back to the normal schedule and working tonight might be difficult. We await the afternoon forecast to see if we can head out to sample the Kodiak line before another gale blows in on Monday. One thing that I have learned this trip is that successful oceanographic research requires a delicate dance with Mother Nature.
Did You Know?
R/V Tiglax often travels up to 20,000 nautical miles in one season! A nautical mile is equal to 1.15 land measured miles and is based on the circumference of the earth. One nautical mile is equal to one minute of latitude and is useful for charting and navigating.
Mission: Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research project
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northern Gulf of Alaska – currently
sampling along the Seward line.
Date: September 19, 2019
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Time: 18:30 Latitude: 59º53.587’ N Longitude: 149º33.398’ E Wind: South 15 knots Air Temperature: 15.5ºC (60ºF) Air Pressure: 998 millibars Partly cloudy skies
Science and Technology Log
A major component of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project is the collection and analysis of physical parameters in the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) and how these abiotic (non-living) factors interact with and impact the biological community. A variety of physical oceanographic research is occurring during the day shift on R/V Tiglax, one of which includes looking at metals in the ocean water.
Mette Kaufmann is the onboard research professional
working on the collection of trace metals from the surface water. Specifically, Mette is working to sample and
process iron species for Dr. Ana Aguilar-Islas who is the principal
investigator for iron biogeochemistry on the LTER study. One might ask, why is there such a focus or
interest in iron in the surface ocean water?
In the past few decades it has become evident through research that iron
is major player in the productivity of the ocean ecosystem. Prior to this, nitrogen was assumed to be the
most important nutrient and limiting factor in phytoplankton growth and
production. It is now known that iron
influx from surface and atmospheric sources is the major limiting factor in our
coastal and offshore ecosystems.
Glacier runoff from the Kenai peninsula and the
Copper River plume carry this iron into the ocean and allow for a rich spring
bloom of phytoplankton over the continental shelf. Sampling the iron levels at different
locations helps paint a picture as to the overall availability, transport and
use of iron in the NGA. For example, one
question the researchers are examining is, do fall storms bring up iron to the
surface from deeper water? Additionally,
copper samples are being collected for analysis on this cruise, as a factor
that can potentially suppress photosynthesis at higher levels.
As I mentioned in my second blog, there is a tool for every job and for iron sampling, it is the “iron fish.” The iron fish looks a bit like a rusty torpedo being dragged next to the boat with a simple plastic hose attached to it. However, looks can be deceiving, as this piece of equipment is quite high tech.
The iron fish weight resting on the zodiac.
The actual sampling piece of the iron fish is the white tubing that can be seen in the picture below. The tip of the tubing has a red cap and is attached to the weight. This tubing is treated with acid and has an inner lining of Teflon to assure for a “clean” catch of metals.
The iron fish tubing coiled up with the red-capped collection tip attached to the weight.
As we transit between stations the iron fish is towed at 1-3 meters of depth off the starboard side of the boat. The pump, which runs off of the boats air supply, send the water through the tubing and into the “van” on the mid deck. This van is a small connex that is used for trace metal processing. Inside the van, the water samples are processed through a 0.4-micron filter to remove any particulates and then stored in acid for analysis back in the metals laboratory at UAF.
The iron fish being towed while underway and sending samples into the van on the deck.
Annie Kandell, a graduate student under Dr. Aguilar-Islas, works to process the water samples in the van clean room to avoid contamination.
Personal Log
As we started our shift on Tuesday evening heading into Wednesday morning, we knew a gale was approaching. We wanted to squeeze in as many sampling stations as we could before the weather chased us away. It was challenging to manage both the Methot and Multinet in the high seas and building wind, but also a lot of fun. We were handling the waves crashing over the back deck and rushing across us as we sampled and measured and getting really good at pouring off the cod-ends with the rise and fall of the boat in the swell. Unfortunately, by our third station of five, the wind and waves were putting such a strain on the winch that the Multinet couldn’t get an accurate reading or sample. The winch began to not respond and the decision was made to call it for the night, even though it was only 2:30am. We strapped things down and proceeded to make a run for shelter back in Resurrection Bay.
I awoke on Wednesday at around 11am expecting it to be raining sideways and blowing still, but was surprised again by partly cloudy skies and a much calmer sea state. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that we were going to take the afternoon for an excursion to Bear Glacier. We all donned our mustang coats and took three groups in the zodiac to head to shore. We were diverted due to rough breakers to a separate beach away from the glacier but all of us were happy to be ashore.
The night shift and part of the day shift preparing to go ashore.
We had about 4 hours to hike around and explore the shoreline. One of the drawbacks of the beauty of the amazing rocky shoreline along the Gulf of Alaska is that it is littered with human trash. The trash entering from around the Pacific circulates through the ocean driven by the currents. Some of the water gets caught up in the counterclockwise gyre of the Gulf of Alaska current and then gets deposited on land by the storms. Just a few steps onto the shore and plastic water bottles are visible everywhere. What is less visible is the plastics that are broken up into small pieces or micro-plastics that then invade the entire water column. These plastics get ingested by marine organisms, such as seabirds, and can cause death from starvation, as their stomachs are clogged with debris. It makes you appreciate our impact on the oceans and the dire need for a shift in our plastic use and disposal.
Can you spot the 6 plastic bottles just in this one picture?
Aside from the trash, the beach held other treasures and the walk in the fresh air and sunshine was greatly appreciated.
An empty egg case for a Skate, also known as a Mermaid’s Purse.
Beautiful colors of red, green and brown algae decorate the rocky shore.
I did have an interesting case of what the seasoned crew calls “dock rock.” This is when you are used to the motion of the sea and everything on land seems to be moving like the ocean. It didn’t make me land sick but it did throw me off a bit. I wonder how long I will sway when I return!
A view of our current home, R/V Tiglax from the shore.
We boarded the ship in time for another fabulous dinner and prepared to head back out to the Seward line for another night of sampling.
Did You Know?
Dr. Thomas C. Royer is a physical oceanographer who was the first to begin water sampling along the GAK (Seward) line almost 40 years ago. His research led to the discovery of significant coast currents in the Northern Gulf of Alaska that are driven by freshwater input. It was this knowledge of coastal currents that assisted with the prediction of oil spill trajectories during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. His groundbreaking work was the start of the Long Term Ecological Research study that I am assisting with today!
