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.
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak – Aleutian Islands)
Date: September 12, 2019
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 57 35.35 N Longitude: 153 57.71 W Sea wave height: 1 ft Wind Speed: 14 knots Wind Direction: 208 degrees Visibility: 8 nautical miles Air Temperature: 15.4 C Barometric Pressure: 1002.58 mBar Sky: Overcast
Science and Technology Log
Well, we only have a few days left on this trip and it looks like mother nature is going to force us to head for Dutch Harbor a little early. I thought this might be a good time to spend some time sharing some information on some of the species we have been pulling out of the ocean. This is far from a complete list, but just the ones that made “the cut”.
Pollock Age 3
Pollock Age 0
At the top of the list has to be the Pollock. After all, this is the primary objective of this study. On the left is an adult three-year-old pollock and on the right is an age-0 pollock. The sampling of age-0 pollocks is a good indicator of the abundance of the future population.
Coho Salmon
Pink Salmon
There were several species of salmon caught on our trawls. On the left is a Coho Salmon and on the right is a Pink Salmon. These fish are very similar, but are classified as separately Coho Salmon are larger and have larger scales. Coho also has a richer, fuller flavor with darker red meat while the Pink Salmon has a milder flavor and a softer texture.
Another important part of this survey is the collection and measurement of zooplankton as this is a primary food source and the amount and health of the zooplankton will have a lasting impact on the ecology of the fish population in the area.
Capelin is another common fish caught in our trawls. This fish eats krill and other crustaceans and in turn is preyed upon by whales, seals, cod, squid, and seabirds.
The Pacific Saury was a fish that wasn’t expected to be found in our trawls. Also called the knifefish, this species always seemed to be found in substantial quantities when they were collected – as if the trawl net came across a school of them. They are found in the top one meter of the water column.
The Prowfish was another interesting find. This fish is very malleable and slimy. Adults tend to stay close to the ocean floor while young prowfish can be found higher up in the water column where they feed on jellyfish. As with the saury, the prowfish was not kept for future study. It was weighed, recorded, and returned to the water.
Jellyfish were abundant on our hauls. Here are the five most common species that we found.
The Bubble Jellyfish, Aequorea sp., is clear with a rim around it. This jellyfish is fragile and most of them are broken into pieces by the time we get them from the trawl net and onto the sorting table.
The Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia labiata, is translucent and when the sun or moon shines on them, they look like the moon all lit up.
The White Cross Jellyfish, Staurophora mertensi, was another mostly clear jelly that was very fragile. Very few made it to the sorting table in one piece. You have to look close it is so clear, but they can be identified by their clear bell with a distinctive X across the top of the bell.
The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish, Cyanea capillata, are the largest known species of jellyfish. These guys can become giants. They are typically a crimson red but could appear faded to a light brown.
The Sunrise Jellyfish, Chrysaora melanaster, was the most common jelly that we found. It is also arguably the least fragile. Almost all made it to the sorting table intact where they were counted, weighed, recorded, and returned to the water. It lives at depths of up to 100 meters, where it feeds on copepods, larvaceans, small fish, zooplankton, and other jellyfish.
Arrowtooth flounder are a relatively large, brownish colored flatfish with a large mouth. Just one look at its mouth and you can tell how it got its name. Their eyes migrate so that they are both on the right side and lie on the ocean floor on their left side.
Eulachons, sometimes called candlefish, were another common find on the sorting table. Throughout recent history, eulachons have been harvested for their rich oil. Their name, candlefish, was derived from it being so fat during spawning that if caught, dried, and strung on a wick, it can be burned as a candle. They are also an important food source for many ocean and shore predators.
The Vermilion Rockfish – This guy was the only non-larval rockfish that we caught. Most can be found between the Bering Sea and Washington State.
Smooth lumpsucker
Spiny lumpsucker
While the Smooth Lumpsucker is significantly larger than the Spiny Lumpsucker, both have unique faces. The Smooth Lumpsucker is also found in deeper water than the smaller Spiny Lumpsucker.
Squid
Squid
Most of the squid caught and recorded were larval. Here are a couple of the larger ones caught in a trawl.
Seabirds
Black-footed Albatross
There were a
variety of seabirds following us around looking for an easy meal. The Black-footed Albatross on the right was
one of several that joined the group one day.
And of course, I couldn’t leave out the great view we got of Pavlof Volcano! Standing snow capped above the clouds at 8,251 feet above sea level, it is flanked on the right by Pavlof’s Sister. Pavlof last erupted in March of 2016 and remains with a threat of future eruptions considered high. Pavlof’s Sister last erupted in 1786. This picture was taken from 50 miles away.
Personal Log
In keeping with the admiration I have for the scientists and
crew I am working with, I will continue here with my interview with Rob
Suryan.
Robert Suryan is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Scientist. He is currently a Research Ecologist and Auke Bay Laboratories, Science Coordinator, working on the Gulf Watch Alaska Long-term Ecosystem Monitoring Program.
How long have you been
working with NOAA? What did you do
before joining NOAA?
One and a half years.
Prior to that, I was a professor at Oregon State University
Where do you do most
of your work?
In the Gulf of Alaska
What do you enjoy
about your work?
I really enjoy giving presentations to the general public, where we have to describe why we are conducting studies and results to an audience with a non-science background. It teaches you a lot about messaging! I also like working with writers, reporters, and journalists in conducting press releases for our scientific publications. I also use Twitter for science communication.
Why is your work
important?
Having detailed knowledge about our
surroundings, especially the natural environment and the ocean. Finding
patterns in what sometimes seems like chaos in natural systems. Being able to
provide answers to questions about the marine environment.
How do you help wider
audiences understand and appreciate NOAA science?
I provide information and expertise to make
well informed resource management decisions, I inform the general public about
how our changing climate if affecting marine life, and I train (and hopefully
inspire) future generations of marine scientists
When did you know you
wanted to pursue a career in science an ocean career?
During middle school
What tool do you use
in your work that you could not live without?
Computer! So much of our instrumentation and sampling equipment
are controlled by software interfaces. Also, much of my research involves data
assimilation, analysis, creating graphs, and writing scientific papers.
Although, at the very beginning of my career, most of our data collection was
hand written, as were our scientific papers before typing the final version
with a typewriter. So glad those days are gone!
If you could invent
one tool to make your work easier, what would it be?
For in the office: a computer program that
would scan all of my emails, extract the important info that I need to know and
respond to, and populate my calendar with meetings/events. For the field: a
nano-power source that provided unlimited continuous power for instruments AND
global cell phone or wireless connectivity.
What part of your job
with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
I joined NOAA later in my career and had
collaborated with NOAA scientists for many years, so everything was what I
expected for the most part.
What classes would you
recommend for a student interested in a career in Marine Science?
Biology, math, chemistry, and physics are good foundation
courses. If you have an opportunity to take a class in marine biology at your
school or during a summer program, that would be ideal. But keep in mind that
almost any field of study can be involved in marine science; including
engineering, economics, computer science, business, geology, microbiology,
genetics, literature, etc.
What’s at the top of
your recommended reading list for a student exploring ocean or science as a
career option?
I originally studied wildlife biology before marine science and one of my favorite books initially was A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold. For marine biology, I would recommend The Log from the Sea of Cortez, by John Steinbeck.
What do you think you
would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
I would probably work at a university again –
I was a professor at Oregon State University before working for NOAA.
Do you have any
outside hobbies?
Pretty much any type of outdoor adventure, most frequently kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, camping, and beachcombing with my family and our dogs.
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak – Aleutian Islands)
Date: September 7, 2019
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 56 15.09 N Longitude: 157 55.74 W Sea wave height: 8 ft Wind Speed: 1.9 knots Wind Direction: 179 degrees Visibility: 10 nautical miles Air Temperature: 12.8 C Barometric Pressure: 1010.45 mBar Sky: Clear
Science and Technology Log:
One of the more technologically interesting pieces of equipment we are using is the Bongo net. One of the main aspects of this cruise is the zooplankton survey. As I have stated before, this survey is important to studying the prey for the juvenile pollock and is done at the same stations where we trawl for juvenile pollock so that scientists looking at the data can compare the ecology of the pollock with the ecology of their prey. The Bongo net is used to collect the zooplankton. This contraption is a series of two large and two smaller nets attached to metal rings. It gets its name because the frame resembles bongo drums.
20 cm bongo nets
Bongo we are currently using
The diagram on the left shows a 20 cm bongo net set-up. (Photo credit: NOAA – Alaska Fisheries Science Center). The picture on the right shows the Bongo we are currently using on the Oscar Dyson with two 60 cm nets and two 20 cm nets.
The Bongo has just been lowered into the water and following its descent.
The bongo net design we are using includes two large nets on 60 cm frames with 500 micrometer nets and two small nets on a 20 cm frames with 153 micrometer nets. The 500 micrometer nets catch larger zooplankton and the 153 micrometer nets catch smaller zooplankton. The diagram above has just two nets, but our Bongo has 4 total nets. At the top of the bongo net setup is a device called the Fastcat. This records information from the tow including the depth that bongo reaches and the temperature, salinity, and conductivity of the water.
This whole process involves a lot of working together and communication among the scientists and crew. It usually involves three scientists, one survey tech, a winch operator, and the officer on the bridge. All members involved remain in radio contact to ensure that the operations run smoothly. Two scientists and the survey tech work on the “hero deck”. They oversee getting the nets overboard safely and back on the deck at the end of the evolution. The unit is picked up and lowered over the side of the ship by a large hydraulic wench attached to the side A-frame. Another scientist works in the data room at a computer monitoring the depth and angle of the Bongo as it is lowered into the water. As the Bongo net is lowered, the ship moves forward at approximately 2 knots (2.3 mph). This is done to keep the cable holding the Bongo at a 45-degree angle. A 45-degree angle of the wire that tows the Bongo is important to make sure that water flows directly into the mouth opening of the net. One of the scientists on the hero deck will constantly monitor the wire angle using a device called an inclinometer or clinometer and report it to the officer on the bridge. The bridge officer will then adjust the speed if necessary, to maintain the proper wire angle.
Here, I am monitoring the angle of the Bongo wire using the inclinometer.
The flat side of the inclinometer gets lined up with the wire and an arrow dangles down on the plate and marks the angle.
The depth the Bongo is sent down depends on how deep the water is in that area (you wouldn’t want an expensive piece of equipment dragging on the ocean floor). The Bongo is deployed to a depth of up to 200 meters or to a depth of no less than 10 meters from the bottom. When the Bongo is at the designated depth, the survey tech will radio the winch operator to bring the Bongo back up slowly. It is brought back up slowly at 20 meters per minute and the 45-degree angle needs to continue to be maintained all the way back up. When the Bongo reaches the surface and is lifted back into the air, the survey tech and two scientists grab it and guide it back onto the deck. This operation can be difficult when the conditions are windy, and the seas are rough.
Once the Bongo has been returned to the deck, the scientist that was in the data room will record the time of the net deployment, how long it took to go down and back up, how much wire was let out, and the total depth of the station. They will also come back out to read the flowmeters in order to see how much water has flowed through the net during the deployment. If anything goes wrong, this is also noted on the data sheet.
Next the nets are washed down with sea water, rinsing all material inside the net towards the codend. The codend is the little container at the end of the net where all the plankton and sometimes other organisms are collected. The codends can then be removed and taken into the Wet Lab to be processed with all the collected material placed in glass jars and preserved with formalin for future study.
Zooplankton sample from the Bongo
Specimen being preserved with formalin
Specimen sample from the Bongo.
Plankton specimen samples ready for shipment
These samples are then shipped to Seattle and then on to Poland where they are sorted, the zooplankton identified to species, and the catch is expressed at number per unit area. This gives a quantitative estimate of the density of the plankton in the water column and can provide good information on the overall health of the ocean as they indicate health of the bottom of the food chain. After all, a high density of pollock prey means there is a good feeding spot for juvenile walleye pollock, which in turn means more Filet-O-Fish sandwiches down the line.
Species caught during the last Shift:
Common NameScientific Name
Capelin M. villosus
Northern Smoothtongue L. schmidti
Walleye Pollock G. chalcogrammus
Eulachon or Candlefish T. pacificus
Arrowtooth Flounder A. stomas
Rockfish S. aurora
Smooth lumpsucker A. ventricosus
Prowfish Z. silenus
Sunrise Jellyfish C. melanaster
Lion’s Main Jellyfish C. capillata
Moon Jellyfish A. labiata
Bubble Jellyfish Aequorea sp.
Fried Egg Jellyfish P. camtschatica
Shrimp
Isopods
Personal Log:
As I have said, I am working with some interesting people with some very interesting stories. I am going to start sharing a little of their stories here.
LT Laura Dwyer is the Field Operations Officer on the Oscar Dyson.
How long have you been working with NOAA? What did you do before joining NOAA?
Laura has been a commissioned officer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Corps for almost seven years. Before joining NOAA, Laura attended James Madison University, earning her degree in International Business. She went to Bali, working as a dive instructor before moving on to Australia to do the same. While in Australia, she decided she wanted to study Marine Biology and came back to the states to study at George Mason University.
Where do you do most of your work?
Most of the time, she can be found on the bridge navigating the ship.
What do you enjoy about your work?
Laura said the most fun thing about the job is driving a 209-foot ship.
Why is your work important?
She gets to safely navigate the ship safely while working with scientists to help them get their work done.
How do you help wider audiences understand and appreciate NOAA science?
Laura had the opportunity to be the second NOAA officer who completed a cross-agency assignment with the Navy. While there, she said she was able to show the Navy personnel that they were using NOAA products such as navigational charts and weather data. Most of them did not realize that these products were made by NOAA.
When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in science an ocean career?
Laura said that while she was in Australia, she was working with another diver who was going out counting fish species for his PhD. She said that experience made her realize her father was right all along and she should have studied science.
What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
Radar
What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
Driving ships. She also stated that she never expected to be part of a Navy Command and shooting small arms weapons.
What classes would you recommend for a student interested in a career in Marine Science?
A lot of your regular classes, but definitely any conservation classes.
What’s at the top of your recommended reading list for a student exploring ocean or science as a career option?
“Unnatural History of the Sea” – about overfishing throughout history
“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemmingway
What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
Laura said she would probably be going back to school to work on her Masters in Marine Biology, particularly coral conservation, or going to Fiji to be a dive instructor.
Do you have any outside hobbies?
Diving, reading, working on puzzles, and just being outside exploring (I also understand that she is a pretty good water polo player.)
Did You Know?
For each minute of the day, 1 billion tons of rain falls on the Earth.
Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth.
Question of the Day:
The fastest speed of a falling raindrop is __________.
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak – Aleutian Islands)
Date: September 2, 2019
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 57 35.35 N Longitude: 153 57.71 W Sea wave height: 1 ft Wind Speed: 14 knots Wind Direction: 208 degrees Visibility: 8 nautical miles Air Temperature: 15.4 C Barometric Pressure: 1002.58 mBar Sky: Overcast
After a series of unfortunate events, we finally got underway! It turns out arriving several days before the ship departure ended up being very helpful. My checked bag did not arrive with me and the morning of departure it still had not arrived. I had given up on seeing it before we pulled out and gone shopping for replacement “essentials”. Then, an hour before our scheduled departure I got a call from my airline hero saying that my bag had finally made it to Kodiak. A quick trip to the airport and back to the ship and I was ready to go. That’s when the waiting game really started. Repairs to the Bongo apparatus caused a several hour delay as we waited on repairs, then after moving out into open water to test it, we found that it still wasn’t working properly. The ship crew worked to make adjustments and finally, we were off!
Science and Technology Log
We departed for the stations where the previous group had left off. The first couple of stations were methodical as everyone was becoming accustomed to what to expect. I have been asked by multiple people what kinds of things are going on during these expeditions and what the day-to-day life of a scientist is on this ship. There are several projects going on. The primary focus is on assessing the walleye pollock population, but there is also data being collected simultaneously for scientists working on other projects.
Each station starts with a bongo tow in which the bongo nets are lowered over the side and pulled along collecting plankton. Once the bongo is pulled back onto the ship, the flowmeters are read to record the amount of water that went through the net, and the nets are then carefully washed down to concentrate the plankton sample into the cod end. This end piece can then be removed and taken into the lab area to prepare the sample for shipping back to the NOAA labs. As this process is being completed, our ship’s crew is already working to bring the ship back around to complete a trawling operation in the same area.
Trawling operations off the ship’s stern. During an average trawl, the net will extend up to 540 meters behind the boat and up to 200 meters deep.
A good example of scientists and crew working together during a trolling operation. Ensign Lexee Andonian is manning the helm and watching the trawling operations on the monitor while scientist, Annette Dougherty is recording data off the monitors.
It is preferable to complete both operations from the same location since the plankton are the primary food source and a comparison can then be made between the amount of producers and consumers. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. During one of the trials yesterday, a pod of humpback whales decided they wanted to hang out just where we wanted to trawl. Because of this, it was decided to attempt to move away from the whales before starting the trawl. When all goes well, the trawling nets should bring in a nice variety of species and in our case, a large number of pollock! For the first two trials, we found mostly jellyfish with only a few other fish samples. Later trials, though, have been much more successful in finding a better mix of species. Below is a list of species caught during the last Station.
Table full of jellies
Jelly
Jelly
As the catch is spread onto the table, all other sea life is separated from the jellyfish and sorted for measurement and recorded. The jellyfish are weighed as a mixed sample, then re-sorted by species and weighed again. The fish are all measured, recorded, and bagged and frozen for future use by scientists back in the lab in Seattle that are working on special projects.
Species caught during the last Station:
Common Name
Scientific Name
Sockeye Salmon
O. nerka
Northern Smoothtongue
L. schmidti
Walleye Pollock
G. chalcogrammus
unidentified juvenile Gunnels
Pholidae family
Eulachon, or Candlefish
T. pacificus
Isopods
Shrimp
Sunrise Jellyfish
C. melanaster
Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
C. capillata
Moon Jellyfish
A. labiata
Bubble Jellyfish
Aequorea sp.
Personal Log
Drills were the word of the day the first day as we went through fire drills and abandon ship drills. It is always nice to know where to go if something goes wrong while out at sea. I now know where the lifeboats are, how to get into my immersion suit, and what to do in case of a fire on the ship.
*** Of course, just when we really start to get into the swing of things, a weather front comes through that forces us to find a place to “hide” until the waves calm down.
On another note, I have seriously been geeking out enjoying talking to the NOAA scientists about their research and experiences. There is a wealth of information in the minds of the scientists and crew on this ship. I have initially focused on getting to know the scientists I am working with and slowly branching out to get to know the crew. Hopefully I will be able to translate some of my admiration here in the coming posts.
Did You Know?
Did you know, there are approximately 1800 thunderstorm events going on in Earth’s atmosphere at any one time?
Question of the Day:
What type of fish can be found in McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich, Arby’s Classic Fish Sandwich, Long John Silver’s Baja Fish Taco, Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen, and Birds Eye’s Fish Fingers in Crispy Batter?
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak – Aleutian Islands)
Date: August 27, 2019
Personal Introduction:
OK, this may be the
science geek in me, but I’m feeling a bit like Leonard from Big Bang Theory
when he was invited on Stephen Hawking’s expedition to the North Sea. My excitement has been simmering as I made it
through what I thought was going to be an expedition to the Caribbean coral
reefs – only to have it cancelled due to ship engine problems. Luckily, I was
rescheduled for a different expedition; this time off the coast of Alaska.
There was a silver lining to having the first trip cancelled. In its place, I was able to join with fellow science teachers and Chesapeake Bay Foundation staff for a week studying the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the effects of global warming and erosion on Tangier Island. It was interesting getting a taste of the scientific research done while taking samples and measuring water quality of both the James River and the Chesapeake Bay near Tangier Island for comparison. The environmental challenges facing Tangier Island and the Chesapeake Bay are similar to the challenges facing other places. Now I am anxious to head the other direction to the seas of Alaska to do some real scientific work aboard the Oscar Dyson!
Science teachers to Chesapeake Bay!!!
Striped Burrfish
Blue Crab
Striped Burrfish – a native of the Chesapeake Bay, a bottom-dweller found in the grassbeds eating invertebrates such as hermit crabs and barnacles.
Blue Crab – living in the grass beds of the bay, they are an important economic species of the Chesapeake Bay as well as an important key to the reading the health of the bay. (and very tasty!)
Tangier Waterman
Tangier Island
Tangier waterman out checking crab pots. 35% of the blue crabs caught in the United States come from the Chesapeake Bay.
Tangier Island has shrank by 66% since 1850 and could completely disappear by the end of this century.
Science Introduction
The research team on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson is conducting an acoustic-trawl (AT) survey to collect data, primarily on walleye pollock, to be used in stock assessment models for determining commercial fisheries quotas. When collecting data, scientists will work in 12 hour shifts and be looking to determine things such as species composition, age, length distribution etc.
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson Photo credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Growing up as a farm
boy in Kansas, I never dreamed I would have a chance to spend two weeks on a
research ship in the middle of the ocean exploring a part of our world that we
really know little about. In teaching my
students about the importance of learning about the world around us and taking
care of this rock we live on, I find it ironic how we know more about space
than we do about our oceans. I myself
spent a 20-year career in the Army that took me to numerous parts of the world,
but my experience with the oceans has been limited to time at the beach,
paddling or snorkeling close to the shore, or researching on land.
This is one of the
reasons I am so excited about being selected for this specific expedition. I have joined the concerns of many
scientists where it comes to the receding of our glaciers and icebergs and what
this means to our Earth as a whole. The
health of our oceans is so important to the health of our earth as a whole. and
yet we are just now realizing how our species has created such havoc to the
ocean ecosystems. I can’t wait to bring
back everything I learn from this trip to share with my students.
