2023 – Page 3 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

August 14, 2023September 13, 2023

Gail Tang: And We’re Off! Aug 8, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Gail Tang

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette

August 4, 2023 – September 1, 2023

Mission: Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Hawaiian archipelago

Date: Tuesday August 8, 2023

Weather Data from the Bridge

Temperature: 26.97°C

Latitude: 27.428517 N

Longitude: -167.325400 W

Science and Technology Log

Scientific results reach the general public as a nice package of carefully curated nuggets designed to attract the average reader. It’s not unlike watching a production (movie, play, etc) in its final form. The audience is glamoured by the show or results; we aren’t usually privy to the behind-the-scenes efforts in putting together these massive operations. With this view, there is an illusion of perfection that can hide the true nature of knowledge production. This is often the case in a traditional mathematics classroom that utilizes lecture-based teaching; the instructor works out a problem beforehand and presents the solution to the students. The students do not witness the creative process of trial and error, idea generation, incubation, evaluation of each step, decision-making, or any possible collaboration involved. In brief, the beauty of doing science or math is largely hidden for the general public. I believe that the opportunity for growth lies in the process of discovery just as much as the discovery itself. My access to the data collection process of this project is one of the main reasons I am so thoroughly enjoying myself on this HICEAS (Hawaiian Islands Cetacean Ecosystem Assessment Survey) mission.

Today is our fifth day at sea. Every moment is invigorating. During our first two days underway, we searched for the elusive Cross Seamount beaked whales (BWC). These whales have been identified acoustically, but not visually or genetically. The acoustics team heard them throughout the night on our first night, and the visual team had a sighting of a suspicious unidentified beaked whale during the third day but we didn’t get close enough for any species or individual identification. There was a lot of excitement on the ship. To learn more about beaked whales check out my roommate and lead acoustician, Jennifer McCullough’s, newest paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mms.13061

Though I missed it, there was an important bird sighting of the Hawaiian bird, the nēnē. This is a notable sighting because it was formerly endangered (now listed as threatened). After conservation efforts, the population increased from 30 in 1950 to 3,862 in 2022. To read more about the nēnē, visit: https://www.fws.gov/story/2022-12/plight-nene

The most exciting sightings for me were the rough-toothed dolphins and the bottlenose dolphins. They came by to ride the ship’s bow waves. It was utterly magical. In a conversation with Marine Mammal Observers Andrea Bendlin and Suzanne Yin, I learned a little bit about these two species that I’ll share here.

You might recognize the bottlenose dolphin from Flipper, a popular TV show from the 60s or the movie version in the 90s. You may have also seen these dolphins at the aquarium as they can survive in captivity better than other dolphin species. They are described as the golden retrievers of the ocean. In the wild, they are regularly observed hanging out with other species.

An interesting observation of an interaction between a mother humpback whale and a bottlenose dolphin was captured by scientists and written up in a paper. They hypothesize three reasons for this interaction 1) aggressive whale response towards the dolphin 2) epimeletic (altruistic behavior towards a sick or injured individual) whale response towards the dolphin 3) they were playing!

To read the paper check out: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228684912_Two_Unusual_Interactions_Between_a_Bottlenose_Dolphin_Tursiops_truncatus_and_a_Humpback_Whale_Megaptera_novaeangliae_in_Hawaiian_Waters

Three bottlenose dolphins swim through bright blue water. Two have breached the water's surface, giving us a clear view of their dorsal sides. A third is visible swimming underwater, underneath the two breaching. — Bottlenose dolphins came to say hi! (Permit #25754) Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries Gail Tang

Rough-toothed dolphins are named for their rough teeth. They have a more reptilian sloped head. These animals communicate via whistles and clicks. Echolocation clicks are primarily used for sensing surroundings and searching for prey vs. communication. According to roomie and Lead Acoustician Jennifer McCullough, usually whistles look like a smooth increasing and then decreasing function, however, their whistles look like “steps” and are named stair step whistles (see the pictures below).

A graph of frequencies (measured in kilohertz) over time (measured in seconds). It is titled: Figure 1. Spectrogram of whistles produced by Steno bredanensis (44.1 kHz sample rate, 1,024 FFT, Hann window.) The background of the graph is gray with white speckles - looks like 'fuzz' - but distinct black lines trace the stair-shaped patterns of rough toothed dolphins' whistle frequencies. — Figure from Rankin et al. (2015, p.5)

Rough-toothed dolphins can take a while to identify because their echolocation signals (clicks) are outside the general frequencies for dolphins (e.g. bottlenose, striped, spinner, spotted) and “blackfish” (e.g. killer whale, false killer whales, pygmy whales, melon-headed whales). Blackfish signals go from 15-25kHz, dolphins go from 30-50kHz, while rough-toothed dolphins bridge these two ranges at 20-35kHz. For reference, the frequency range of adult humans is 0.500 kHz and 2 kHz.

Rough-toothed dolphins playfully riding the ship’s bow waves. Permit #25754.

Reference:

Rankin, S., Oswald, J., Simonis, A., & Barlow, J. (2015) Vocalizations of the rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis, in the Pacific Ocean. Marine Mammal Science. 31 (4), p. 1538-1648. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12226

Career Highlights

As I mentioned earlier, the information I’m receiving about the animals are from the scientists on board. In this particular post, Marine Mammal Observers Andrea Bendlin and Suzanne Yin (who goes by Yin), and Lead Acoustician Jennifer McCullough gave me insight to the dolphins. I’d like to share some of their background to give students an idea of their career trajectories.

Andrea Bendlin double majored in zoology and psychology at University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a focus on animal behavior. For the first 4 years after college, she worked on several different field projects including, 4 winters of humpback whale research, one summer study on bottlenose dolphins, and several summers in Quebec studying large whales. Then she started working on boats doing snorkel trips and whale watches. I can attest to Andrea’s snorkeling expertise as I had my favorite snorkeling experience in Hawaii when I was following her around. She pointed out my favorite snorkeling sighting which was an egg sack of a Spanish dancer nudibranch! As you can see in the picture below, it looks like a ribbon wound around itself. For math folks, it is a hyperbolic surface! Since then, Andrea has collected data for many cruises with cetacean research programs.

this egg sack, perched on a rock underwater, consists of elegant reddish-pink folds - from a distance it looks like a flower, like a carnation — Spanish Dancer Egg Sack. Photo Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

Yin studied biology at Brown University. After school, she worked at Earth Watch, and also did field work on humpback whales, spinner dolphins, and bowhead whales. These projects were conducted on what they call “small boats” (less than 50 ft long) as opposed to a ship like the one we’re currently on, which is is 224 ft long. On these small boats, Yin drove, took photos for species and individual identification, collected acoustic data, and used theodolites to measure angles. Later, she attended graduate school at Texas A & M University for her Masters degree. She studied wildlife and fisheries science with a focus on acoustics of dusky dolphins and tourist impact on them.

Gail, in front, takes a selfie with Andrea (to her right) and Yin (to her left) inside a stateroom. We can see bunk beds, luggage, a fan, metal lockers. — Andrea Bendlin, Gail Tang, Suzanne Yin in my Leg 1 stateroom

Jennifer McCullough is the Lead Acoustician on HICEAS 2023. She first started at Hubbs Sea World Research on killer whales where she learned acoustics. She participated in a joint polar bear project with the San Diego Zoo. She then completed a Master’s thesis on the giant panda breeding vocalizations through the San Diego Zoo and China Wolong Panda Reserve. She spent 6 months over 2 years in the Sichuan region. We talked about the Sichuan peppercorn for a bit since I love them so much. She prefers them whole, while I prefer them ground up. After that she worked at Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California and later moved to the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, Hawaii and was the Acoustics Lead during HICEAS 2017. With the exception of a HICEAS project year, she is at sea for 30-60 days a year and the rest of the time she is ashore analyzing data from previous missions and constructing equipment for future ones! She loves the balance between the equipment work (technical side), field work (data collection), and lab work (data analysis). As a side note: she makes amazing quilts!

Jennifer holds up a quilt with both hands to show off the design: an abstract, feathery shape made from a fabric of many blue shades, sown onto a white background. — Jennifer McCullough with the quilt she just finished!

Personal Log

Life at sea reminds me a bit of my college dorming-days; you’re sharing a room and you leave your door open to invite others in! I share my room with really great roommates. Dawn Breese is a seabird observer and creates a nice vibe in the room with flowers she picked ashore and some sweet feathers taped to the wall. Alexa Gonzalez is an acoustician with whom I do crosswords and play “road-trip”-type games. Jennifer McCullough, highlighted above, is going to teach me how to watercolor!

All in all, I am fairly comfortable on the ship. I spend time bouncing between the acoustics lab, the flying bridge (where the visual team observes), the local coffeeshop—The Forward Mess—(where I do most of my work), and the grated deck, stern, and wet lab (where the plankton team works). The acousticians and visual observers work from dawn to dusk, while the plankton team works from dusk until a few hours before dawn. This means I have very long days and have succumbed to the napping culture aboard the ship!

When not checking in on the scientists, I have been spending my free time getting know the people on board, learning knots, riding the stationary bike on the boat deck, and attempting pull ups. It’s a wonderful life!

Oh and please enjoy this photo of me in my “gumby” suit (a protective suit in case of abandon ship).

Gail in a red survival suit, thumbs up. She's in an interior room of the ship. — Gail Tang in gumby suit. Photo Credit: Suzanne Yin.

Food Log

plated meal of eggs, hash borwns, sausage, fruit. Teacher at Sea Alumni Association mug visible, with tea bag. — Breakfast

plated meal of fried something (chicken?), salad, something else. — Breakfast

To be honest, due to limited physical activity on board, I stopped eating breakfast or even going down to the mess at that time because I have no self-control when it comes to food! The oxtail udon is the highlight so far. It was incredible! Third assistant engineer, Jason Dlugos, requested it and even brought his own rice cooker with his own rice down to dinner.

Jamie and Jason sit at a table. Jamie rests her chin on crossed arms above empty plates. Jason sips from a travel cup in his left hand, and with his right, holds a spoon over his bowl of udon and rice. The rice cooker is on the table in front of him. — Jamie Delgado (Medical Officer), Jason Dlugos (3rd Assistant Engineer) and his personal rice cooker.

Catch of the Day!

Ichthyoplankton researchers Jessie Perelman and Andrea Schmidt caught two squaretail fish (Tetragonuridae), one live fish and one in its larval stage. Not much is known about this fish. One thing we do know is that these fish live inside (!) the body of an invertebrate called salp. Below is a picture of some fish living in a salp.

three small, likely juvenile, fish swim inside a gelatinous blog called a salp. the fish in front is rounder, while the two fish flanking it are narrower. — Fish inside salp. Photo credit: Rich Carey/Shutterstock.com

August 14, 2023August 15, 2023

Germaine Thomas: Big Boats and Little Boats and How They Fish Differently, August 10, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Germaine Thomas (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 7 – August 21, 2023

Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey (Leg 3 of 3)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean/ Gulf of Alaska
Date: Friday, August 10, 2023

Weather Data
Lat 59.47 N, Lon 149.36 W
Sky condition: Cloudy and rain
Wind Speed: 23.73 knots
Wind Direction: 72.22°
Air Temp: 14.47 °C

Science Log

Comparing Set Netting to Trawling

There are many different ways to catch fish. I am comparing set netting, in a little boat, a 24 ft. skiff to trawling on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, a big boat which is 208 ft. This is a little bit like comparing apples to oranges; set netting and trawling are different gear types used to catch fish very differently. Set netting targets mostly salmon, while trawling in Alaska targets mostly pollock. Both of these methods of fishing can be used by scientists to collect samples and to catch fish commercially to sell in global markets.

Set Netting:

I am a commercial set netter, which uses a gill net, specifically designed to catch salmon by the gills. Salmon will swim along the shoreline. Set netters place their nets perpendicular to the shore so salmon have to swim around the nets or try to swim through them. When they try to swim through the fish get caught by the gills. Watch the video below on how I pull the net in using a hydraulic roller and pick fish out.

Pulling in the net and picking a Sockeye salmon

[Transcript: Yup, here I am, picking a… Sockeye salmon! Yup, here it is, a beautiful, lovely, amazing Sockeye salmon that I picked. This is what I do in the summer! Yeah!]

When you watch the video you will see the net is a light color that matches the water. Again, salmon do not see the net and try to swim through it and then they are caught. At the end of the video I place the fish in a brailer bag filled with ice and sea water to keep the fish cool. The better the fish are cared for, the better the product that goes to market.

Trawling

Unlike set netting, which is done on a small skiff with just a few people, trawling is done on a large boat with a big crew. The Oscar Dyson has the ability to use echo-sounders to find out where fish are, and then they can lower a trawl net into the water specifically sampling at that depth for fish. A trawl net is like a big bag with are large opening that funnels fish into it.

The Scientists on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson use a much smaller net than a commercial trawler does to catch fish. They compare what they see on their echo-sounders to what is caught in their net. They use this information to get a general idea of what kind of fish are present in a specific part of the ocean they are sampling. This helps scientists provide accurate information to both the federal and state government to help manage fisheries and keep intact healthy populations of fish.

A commercial trawler will try to catch a specific kind of fish, their target species. If they catch fish other than their target species this is known as bycatch. Large commercial trawlers can have nets up to 50 meters in length, so they can catch a lot of fish. They can only keep and sell their target species. The fish that the Oscar Dyson catches cannot be sold or eaten, but the data the collection provides scientists a great deal about what kind of fish, approximately how many, and at what stages of reproductive development, are located in specific areas of the ocean.

How trawling can impact salmon fisheries like set netting:

Knowing what is happening in a different part of the ocean is very important to other fisheries. Salmon initially develop in fresh water lakes or rivers and then migrate to the ocean. They spend most of their adult life migrating large distances in the ocean, and they depend on food that is present out where the trawlers are fishing. They also may be caught by trawlers as bycatch.

Below is a short sped up video of crew members retrieving a trawl net.

Crewmembers aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson retrieve a trawl net. [No audible dialogue.]

In Alaska there is a bit of controversy over one gear type taking away fish from other gear types. Specifically there is concern about commercial trawling, picking up non-target species like salmon from local coastal fisheries and subsistence users. A lot of the answers may exist in the data that the science team is collecting.

Personal Log

At the beginning of the blog in the weather report you will notice that the wind speed is pretty high at 23.72 knots. A gale is heading towards our area in the Gulf of Alaska. We are finishing a transect line and then heading into a protected bay in the Kenai Peninsula to wait out the weather. While the ship is protected, the science team will work on recalibrating the echo-sounders below the ship. The science team has been experiencing a bit of unexplained noise in one of their lower frequencies. Hopefully, the opportunity to do this calibration will help.

Crew Member in the Spotlight

The Oscar Dyson has a science team and a crew that work together to collect the data for the acoustic trawl sampling and run the ship. Working for NOAA can provide exciting opportunities for young people to experience life on the ocean. When you are on board the ship, you have free lodging and food, which on this leg of the cruise is quite excellent, so you can save money while on board. So far everyone I met enjoys their job and is willing to let me ask them questions about how they got here.

Dee with a picture of the Oscar Dyson in the background

Meet Elvricka “Dee” Daniels from Jacksonville, Florida. She has been on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson for about 2 months. She was originally temping for an agency in Florida when a friend told her about a subcontractor for NOAA, Keystone. She is currently working as a deckhand for the contractor Keystone.

What does she enjoy aboard the ship?

“Fishing! What kind of different fish come in the trawl net. There is always something different every time we fish.”

She also really likes being on whale watch on the bridge. The science team cannot set out the net if there are whales in the area, so there is always a crew member looking for whales.

As a high school teacher, I like to ask people what their school experience was like. Everyone has a different experience in high school some good some, perhaps not so good, but many go on be successful adults. What was high school like for Dee?

“It was good at first and then it got bad. I made poor choices that impacted my life, I had to go to summer school to make up for missed school. Doing well in school is very important to my family.”

So now here she is out in the Gulf of Alaska helping science happen and impacting others by what she does.

August 11, 2023August 16, 2023

Gail Tang: Teacher NOT at Sea, July 14, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Gail Tang

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette

August 4, 2023 – September 1, 2023

Mission: Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Hawaiian archipelago

Date: July 14, 2023

Update!

We got notification that we have a Chief Engineer. However, we also got news that the ship needs some repair. The new sail date is now Friday July 21, which means I will not be able to sail on Leg 1 and that I will be returning home. Luckily, Chief Scientist Erin Oleson, the Teacher at Sea Program, and my university granted me permission to sail on Leg 2 of the HICEAS Survey! I will teach my classes on board NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette, so I will truly be a Teacher at Sea!

Engineer Highlight

In my previous post, I talked about the structure of the crew on the ship. We currently have four engineers on the ship: Jason Dlugos (3rd Assistant Engineer), Dylan Hepburn (3rd Assistant Engineer), Greg White (JUE), and Shannica (Neek) Matthews (General Vessel Assistant). I was fortunate to spend a good deal of time with each of the engineers. The engineers are responsible for a myriad of tasks on the ship, and the primary one is making sure the engines of the ship function properly. The engine room also holds generators, as well as the salt water filtration system that cools the ship and provides the ship with drinking and cleaning water. I am simplifying the engine room for this post, but it is very clear that the jobs of the engineers on the ship are absolutely crucial to mission success.

Shannica crouches in the engine room, gripping a ribbed yellow hose with her right hand. She's turned her head to call to someone over her left shoulder. She wears yellow earphones. She is surrounded by machinery, pipes, other yellow hoses, and a row of wrenches mounted on the wall behind her. — Shannica (Neek) Matthews, General Vessel Assistant, Wiper in the Engine Room

Greg stands between two of the ship's large engines and looks directly at the camera, his hands on long rails that line each engine. His earphones are propped up high on his head, not covering his ears at the moment. — Greg White, Junior Engineer (JUE) in the Engine Room

In this photo, taken from an outer, lower, deck (or perhaps the dock) we are looking up at two levels of decks above the main. On the highest deck, Jason leans over the rail, supporting himself on a lower railing rung, to smile for the photo. Behind him we see two bright orange fast rescue boats in their storage berths, and a mounted satellite system. Below Jason, Dylan leans casually on a rail on a lower deck. — Top: Jason Dlugos, 3rd Assistant Engineer. Bottom: Dylan Hepburn, 3rd Assistant Engineer.

In this post, I will share some of my conversations with Neek. Neek’s homebase is in Virginia. After high school, she worked in the shipyard painting ships and installing insulation. She spent most of her time at dry dock, but then learned about opportunities working on traveling vessels. She started looking into jobs on vessels that explored the world. Now, she splits her time working on ships at the shipyard and ships out at sea. Through her job, she’s traveled nationally to Seattle and Hawaii, as well as internationally to Japan, Greece, Italy, and France. She said it’s the best decision she’s ever made! What she enjoys the most about her work is that she gets to solve problems and be creative.

In her current position, Neek is learning new things in the engine room so that she can work more within that department in the future. Her company is also sponsoring her to take classes to further her engineering career. As the Wiper, she performs her work in every space of the ship. She describes her responsibilities as keeping spaces clean (picking up trash and wiping down oil and water), and making sure everything is secure. Both cleanliness and security are very important for all of our safety aboard the ship. When I’ve run into Neek on the ship, she’s been working with Dylan on fixing plumbing on toilets, examining leaks, and using the technique of sounding to measure the height of fluids in tanks. Unfortunately, Neek is only on Leg 1 so we will miss sailing with each other on NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette! Regardless, it’s been a blast hanging out with her and the other engineers!

Science and Technology Log

The Marine Mammal Observers (MMO), Birders, and I continue to help the Monk Seal and Green Turtle groups prepare for their projects. Since everything is so new to me, I really enjoy learning about the science!

I helped Biologist Shawn Murakawa from the Marine Turtle Biology & Assessment Program sort green turtle humeri! In my conversations with Shawn and in my reading of the National Sea Turtle Aging Laboratory Protocol for Processing Sea Turtle Bones for Age Estimation (Goshe et al., 2020) she provided, I learned about the process and will provide a summary of it below.

Humeri bones are important in estimating the turtle’s age and growth since there are currently no known age estimating techniques using external structures. By looking at the cross-sections of these humerus bones, scientists can analyze growth marks to estimate the age of a turtle—similar to looking at the rings of a tree, but not quite. This age-estimation method is called skeletochronology. Before all this, scientists need to carefully clean the humerus bones and then dry them—a process that can take up to 30 days. Measurements of the bones such as diameter and length are taken, followed by cutting cross sections. Thin 2-3 cm cross-sections are decalcified and then stained with hematoxilyn. The stained thin section is now ready to be mounted on a slide for imaging. An example of the final result for a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) is shown below:

a blue, vaguely oval-shaped image that reveals a discernible growth rings. two points along a horizontal line are labeled "A - annulus"; a red line connects the two, with the measurement 7.57 mm. The annulus seems to span the middle of the image, before the rings start. Two points, farther out from the center, are labeled "B" and connected with a horizontal red line with the measurement 11.95 mm (maybe). This may mark the outer range of the clearly readable rings. — Stained cross section of a humerus bone from a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle

I helped to sort bones that were already dried. If the clearing and drying process is not sufficient, the bones begin to degrade and are no longer useful for skeletochronology. My job (then Suzanne Yin, Allan Ligon, and Dawn Breese joined me later) was to sort the bones into three categories:
1) moldy bones for discarding
2) good candidates for skeletochronology that came from turtles with no tumors from Fibropapillomatosis
3) good candidates for skeletochronology that came from turtles with tumors from Fibropapillomatosis.

According to the NOAA (2011), fibropapillomatosis is a tumor-causing disease that debilitates sea turtles and can cause death depending on the severity and size of the tumors. While the disease is most common in green sea turtles, it is now found in all seven sea turtle species. It is not yet known how this disease is spread or caused so there is not yet any treatment for it.

a hand holds up a thick bone, maybe 6 inches in length, sealed in plastic, above a plastic bin on a metal table. — Turtle Humerous Bone

Gail takes a selfie in front of a metal table containing six or seven plastic-wrapped bones — Turtle Humerous Bone

Later, Yin organized a group of us to go take a tour of the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), a University of Hawaiʻi campus on Moku o Loʻe (Coconut Island). Lars Bejder, the director of the Marine Mammal Research Program at the institute, was our host and gave us a tour of the labs on the islands. Some of the research conducted by the labs include testing out shark deterrents, creating structures to grow coral, and recording the body condition indices of female whales during gestation and after birth. For internship and volunteer opportunities, check out their webpage: https://www.himb.hawaii.edu/education/interns_volunteers/

a line of people stand looking over a railing on a pier over calm, inland water. one man points his right arm to direct their gaze. beyond the water is a shoreline with buildings and palm trees. something - nets or scientific sampling equipment - extends from the pier down into the water. — Touring the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology

Lars stands at a table in a laboratory, his hands on a paper chart in front of him. also on the table are large conical, spiral things, perhaps bones or coral structures. four women on the tour stand around the table and look at the chart. — Touring the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology

After the tour, we listened to a talk by Jessica Kendall-Barr, a Scripps Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Marine Biotechnology & Biomedicine at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in UC San Diego, on the sleeping behavior of Elephant Seals. Jessica’s integrated art and science into her talk which made it very engaging. She did a really good job motivating the research and outlining the implications of the results. In a nutshell, wild animals have developed sleeping adaptations to balance feeding and sleeping while avoiding predation (Kendall-Barr et al., 2023). For example, “cows sleep-chew, horses sleep-stand, ostriches sleep-stare, and frigate birds sleep-fly” (Kendall-Barr et al., 2023, p.260). After developing a new submersible system to record brain activity, heart rate, depth of dive and elephant seal motion, Kendall-Barr et al. (2023) showed that elephant seals sleep-spiral at depths of approximately 300 m, where they are largely out of sight of predators, for a total of about 2 hours a day over the course of 7 months. The results have implications on conservation efforts as well as aid in understanding conditions for human free divers.

You can access the article here:

Brain activity of diving seals reveals short sleep cycles at depth

References:

Goshe, L.R., L. Avens, M.L. Snover, and A.A. Hohn. 2020. National Sea Turtle Aging Laboratory Protocol for processing sea turtle bones for age estimation. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-746, 49 p. https://doi.org/10.25923/gqva-9y22.

Kendall-Bar, J., Williams, T., Mukherji, R., Lozano, D., Pitman, J., Holser R., Keates, T., Beltran, R., Robinson, P., Crocker, D., Adachi, T., Lyamin, O., Vyssotski, A., & Costa, D. (2023). Brain activity of diving seals reveals short sleep cycles at depth. Science, 380, 260-265. DOI:10.1126/science.adf0566

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Fisheries. (2011, February 11). Fibropapillomatosis and Sea Turtles – Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/fibropapillomatosis-and-sea-turtles-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFibropapillomatosis%2C%E2%80%9D%20commonly%20referred%20to,also%20form%20in%20internal%20organs.

Personal Log

I had been looking forward to sailing since 2019 and was thrilled to finally meet the scientists and crew; they are all so inspiring! Each task the Chief Sci had us work on was all so exciting and new. I truly enjoyed working with the MMOs and Birders to support the monk seal and green turtle research teams. When I first got the notification that the mission was delayed a second time, curtailing it to just one week at sea, I was devastated because it meant I would be probably going home. I am really grateful that Erin (Chief Sci) and Emily (Teacher at Sea) could arrange for me to join leg 2! I’ve been learning the visual surveying procedures and bonded with the MMOs and the birders so I’m overjoyed to be returning. Let’s just keep in mind that I’m not guaranteed to sail because anything can still happen.

Below are some group pictures with my team!

Gail and five colleagues seated at a table in a busy, well-lit restaurant — Introduced dim sum to a couple of folks! Left to right: Dawn Breese and Mike Force (Birders), me, Ernesto Vasquez, Allan Ligon and Paul Nagelkirk (MMOs). Photo credit: Paul Nagelkirk

a group selfie (by Jason, seen in close-up) at a volleyball court. Gail is wearing her Teacher at Sea t-shirt. — Volleyball! Jason Larese, Suzanne Yin, Paul Nagelkirk, Kym Yano, Erin Oleson, Me, Juan Carlos Salinas, Ernesto Vasquez

group photo of 8 people on a picnic bench. not far behind them is a beautiful view of a cove, a coastal city, and mountains. the sky is cloudy with patches of bright aquamarine sky. — Late lunch at He’eia State park. Back row: Ernesto Vasquez, Allan Lingon, Paul Nagelkirk, Me, Juan Carlos Salinas. Front row: Dawn Breese, Suzanne Yin, Andrea Bendlin. Photo credit: A postal worker on their lunch break.

a silly group photo at night, on the dock, with the ship darkly visible in the background. Gail is wearing a NASA t-shirt (hey!) and flower leis. Jason has jumped in front of everyone. — My last night at the ship. Back Row: Logan Gary, Darryl Henderson II, Paul Nagekirk, Dylan Hepburn, Andrea Bendlin, Ernesto Vasquez. Middle Row: Nich Sucher, Evan Schneider, Denzil Simons. Front: Me, Greg White. Photobomber: Jason Dlugos.

Food Log

a whiteboars reads: Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Spaghetti & Meat Sauce. Salmon. Garlic Bread. Broccoli. Salad bar. Mushroom ravioli. Brownies. Bone-apple-tea!! — Menu for Wednesday, July 12

plated meal: toast with tomatoes, eggs, tater tots, sausage, bacon. — Breakfast

plated meal: shrimp, rice, salad, broccoli, asparagus — Breakfast

The food on board continues to be too good. On weekdays while in port, we get breakfast and lunch. The menu is displayed on a whiteboard. As you can see in the image, there is usually a little spark of joy written on them that bring a smile to my face. (I think Medical Officer Jamie Delgado writes them!)

Ichthyoplankton researcher, Justin Suca, invited us to a Fish Fry to enjoy the fish he and his friend, sailor Ateeba, speared. It was my first fish fry and it was incredible! They caught Tako (Octopus), Nenue (Sea Chub), A’awa (Table Boss), Uhu (Parrotfish), and Kumu (Goatfish). They prepared the Tako as ceviche, Nenue as poke, A’awa as fish nuggets, and very interestingly, the Uhu and Kumu were prepared Chinese-style. Chinese-style fish is first steamed (in this case Justin “steamed” in foil on the grill), usually with ginger, garlic, and green part of scallions. After steaming, heat up oil, pour it on the fish, and delight in the sizzling sounds. Add some shoyu (soy sauce), and maybe some Shaoxing cooking wine, if you wish. The Kumu was my absolute favorite. It was so silky and smooth.

a line of harvested octopi an dfish on a black rock on the edge of a beach, the surf visible behind — Spearfished tako, nenue, uhu, kumu

a fish cooked whole on foil on a tray — Spearfished tako, nenue, uhu, kumu

Kailua Beach. Left to right: Justin Suca, Gabriella Mukai, Kelly Anne Kobayashi, Atiba, Don Kobayashi, Me. Photo Credit: Cody Kobayashi

Did You Know?

Since the toilet water is pumped from sea water, you can see the bioluminescent life if you turn off the lights while flushing! I found the best time to do it is early in the morning when no one has used the toilet in a while. MMO and roomie Andrea Bendlin shared this little special gem with me.

August 10, 2023August 10, 2023

Germaine Thomas: Meet the Teacher at Sea on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, August 9, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Germaine Thomas (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 7 – August 21, 2023

Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey (Leg 3 of 3)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean/ Gulf of Alaska
Date: Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Weather Data
Lat 58.16 N, Lon 148.97 W
Sky condition: Cloudy
Wind Speed: 2.88 knots
Wind Direction: 301.28°
Air Temp: 12.44 °C

Personal Log

School will soon be starting in Anchorage at Bettye Davis East High School. I will not be in school for the first three days because I am having fun on a teacher’s field trip. Good things come to those who apply for it. I applied and got accepted on this cruise before the pandemic, but life and safety concerns made my journey about three years longer. Finally, I am living the dream and out in the Gulf of Alaska surrounded by pure ocean, whales, seabirds and catching lots of fish.

selfie of Germaine on a kayak (too close to see the kayak, but we can see she's surrounded by water, with some forested shoreline beyond.) she wears a life jacket, sunglasses, baseball cap. A small white dog peers over her left shoulder. — Kayaking in Prince William Sound with Loki the dog. My family commercial fishes for Sockeye Salmon in Main Bay.

My name is Germaine Myerchin Thomas. I was born and raised in Ketchikan Alaska. I am the daughter of a fishermen and a teacher. I, myself, am a teacher, and I commercial fish in Prince William Sound. So far I have spent most of my summer fishing in the Eshamy district about 45 miles outside of Whittier. It has been a cold dark wet summer( the word “summer” is debatable). Recently, I jumped from Set Net fishing for Sockeye (Red) Salmon, in small open skiffs, to the fabulous NOAAS Oscar Dyson.

Just visualize the ice sculptures, swimming pool and yoga studio on the Lido Deck… nope! The NOAAS Oscar Dyson is a research vessel that you can find more about by clicking the link above. Currently there are 24 crew members and 8 scientists. The ship is outfitted to conduct an acoustic trawl survey, but there are other scientific projects going on during this leg of the cruise. It, also has great food and two gyms. The waves rolling under the hull of the boat make the feel of gravity extra strong while trying to do push ups.

Already I have discovered that working out in the ocean requires being very flexible and adaptable. Sometimes the weather or wildlife can delay setting out the trawl net. Last night the boat was surrounded by whales (Fin and Sei), marine birds (Fulmars, Shearwaters and Black footed Albatross) all enjoying the abundant fish that we wanted to catch in our trawl net. Naturally we just let the animals enjoy the abundance while the scientist patiently waited for their turn in another area.

When the cruise ends I will head back to Anchorage and teach high school, chemistry, oceanography, and marine biology. I am really looking forward to meeting my students for the first time. I hope that I might be able to Zoom into my classroom and share what I am doing while I am out here.

August 9, 2023August 10, 2023

Germaine Thomas: The Adventure Begins Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, August 7, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Germaine Thomas (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 7 – August 21, 2023

Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey (Leg 3 of 3)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean/ Gulf of Alaska
Date: Monday August 7, 2023

Weather Data
Lat 58.31 N, Lon 151.58 W
Sky condition: cloudy
Wind Speed: 12.43 knots
Wind Direction: 357.55°
Sea Wave height: 1 ft | Swell: 340°, 1-2 ft
Air Temp: 12.35 °C

Science log

The purpose of this trip is acoustic trawl sampling for pollock (Gadus chalchogrammus). There are other projects that people are working on during this leg that I will report on in other upcoming blogs.

Today, at about 5:30 pm we deployed a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth – Probe). This probe measures the salinity using conductivity, the temperature with a digital thermometer, and records the data all at different depths in the water column. This CTD also records fluorescence which is an easy way to determine the amount of plankton present. The plankton at the surface are producers and have chlorophyll, which reacts to fluorescence and can be recorded. This information will be important when we start taking trawl samples, so the ships crew will routinely send out the CTD while we cover our transects.

Watch the videos below of the crew members deploying and recovering the CTD.

Crew members deploying the CTD

Recapturing the CTD

The data from the CTD collection are shown on the picture of the computer screen below:

a photo of a computer monitor showing a screen with three graphs in a row. The first depicts fluorescence (indicating chlorophyll levels) and turbidity v. depth. Chlorophyll levels start out high toward the surface but asymptote toward zero as the probe travels deeper. The central graph is blank. The third depicts salinity and temperature v depth. Salinity stays largely constant, but it does gradually increase with depth. Temperature is higher toward the surface, declines quickly and then slowly with depth. — CTD Data: Fluorescence, or Chlorophyll (green) and Turbidity (orange) v. Depth on the first graph, and Salinity (yellow) and Temperature (blue) v. Depth on the third graph.

The data from the CTD are presented in graphical form. The first frame shows chlorophyll, which is the green line. The second frame is percent oxygen (which they were not measuring so it remains zero). The third frame shows salinity (yellow line) and water temperature (blue line).

Personal log

Currently we are cruising out to our transect destinations over the continental shelf. The seas are a little rough (6-8 foot waves) and I am enjoying some saltine crackers that help with mild sea sickness. It has been a while since I have been in a large boat in rolling seas.

Three days ago, I flew from Anchorage to Kodiak Island on an a sunny afternoon and met the science team for the cruise. The whole team was extremely welcoming, sharing stories of past cruises, colorful characters and the science behind acoustic trawl sampling. Later, they invited me to go surfing the next day at a beach on the far side of the island.

Through the camaraderie of playing in the waves I was introduced to these amazing people and their knowledge and love of the ocean. They are very professional and willing to share what they are studying. They also have a deep concern for the changes occurring in the ocean and honestly hope that their information can be shared and understood in order to mitigate the impact of change. Sitting on my surfboard I quickly learned I was the beginner, and they were the experts. With the experience of time, they would effortlessly snap up and slice through the waves. Smiles and whoops encouraged each other as the sea crashed into the beach.

Four surfers sit on surfboards, facing away from the camera, awaiting the next wave. Beyond the surfers we see a line of mountains. The image is a color palette of grays: gray cloudy sky, gray ocean, dark gray-blue mountains. — Surfing off of Kodiak Island. Photo credit: Mathew Phillips

A surfer rides a wave back toward shore. We can see a mountain, part of Kodiak Island, behind the surfer. Both the sky and the ocean are gray. — Surfing off of Kodiak Island. Photo credit: Mathew Phillips

Surf photos courtesy of Mathew Phillips

The next day was spent with the science crew getting ready to bring aboard equipment they will be using, accessing and streamlining the information they need for the data collection, and also a little bit more shore time with fishing and hiking. I hiked up a local mountain called Pyramid.

Overall this has been a great start for a wonderful trip. I love to get my students outside experiencing the real world. After a year of taking both Oceanography and Marine Biology my students get to touch, see and smell the ocean through a field trip. They get to see marine birds and mammals, touch and taste icebergs and smell the brine scent of the ocean. They also get a chance to apply the knowledge and skills that they have learned in my class. The NOAA as Teacher at Sea Program is my field trip. I get to see the science and technology in action and share it with my students, friends and family. Thanks so much for letting me play!