Category: Alexa Helm

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Alexa Helm: Setting the Scene, September 17, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Alexa Helm

Aboard R/V Tiĝlax̂

September 10-20, 2024

Mission: Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Monitoring Project

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northern Gulf of Alaska – in transit from Seward Line to Prince William Sound

Date: September 17, 2024

Weather Data from the Bridge

Time: 2230

Latitude: 60.576°N

Longitude: 147.770°W

Wind: NE 25 knots

Air Temperature: 52°F

Air Pressure: 1000 millibars

Seas 3 ft

Science and Technology Log

Everyone loves a good story. Something I’ve been learning over the course of this cruise is that the Northern Gulf of Alaska ecosystem has a story to tell, and all of the researchers connected to the NGA LTER project are working together to figure out what exactly this story is. We know it’s a story about connections, resilience, richness, and productivity; there’s what seems like a never-ending list of characters deeply connected to this story, ranging from bacteria, plankton, and invertebrates to fish, whales and people, plus everything in between. And this story has conflict in the form of short- and long-term changes that have affected, are affecting, and will affect these characters and this place. And in this case, studying nutrients is key to learning more about the setting in which this story is taking place. 

view over the railing of the lower back deck - there is a roof - of the sunrise. we can see piles of plankton nets on deck.
Sunrise over the water from the back deck on a particularly beautiful morning

Phytoplankton are important primary producers in the ocean, meaning they convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrients into sugars and oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Taking a closer look at nutrient levels within a marine ecosystem can tell you quite a bit about its potential productivity, as nutrients promote phytoplankton growth similar to how adding fertilizer to your garden boosts plant growth.

There are two main groups that researchers look at when studying nutrient levels: macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients include nitrogen, phosphorus and silicate, and micronutrients include iron, copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc and other trace metals. And as they’re used up by phytoplankton, nutrients become the limiting factor for productivity, as they mostly come from terrestrial sources.

Mette Kaufman is part of the chemical oceanography research group at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), and has been collecting samples from many depths at every CTD cast on this cruise. When collecting her samples from the Niskins, Mette runs the water through a super fine (0.4 micron!) filter in order to remove anything that might mess with the nutrient composition in the bottles between the time it’s collected and the time she processes it in the lab. And after she’s collected everything she needs, the samples go directly into the freezer.

a woman in a heavy float coat stands on the back deck holding a small water sample bottle in her left hand and a large plastic syringe in her right; she is squeezing the water in the syringe through a filter into the sample bottle. She pauses to look up and smile for the photo. on a shelf behind her are cotainers with more sample bottles.
Mette filtering water for one of her many, many samples

Back in the lab at UAF, Mette uses an instrument called an autoanalyzer to measure nutrient concentrations based on color. Yep, you read that right, she uses color to find out how much of each macronutrient is present in her samples. By adding chemical reagents to the samples and running everything through the autoanalyzer, she can look at the shade and intensity of the color that the sample turns to measure nutrient composition! She also uses a mass spectrometer to look at micronutrients in the samples too; by running all of her samples through the two instruments, she’s able to get both macro- and micronutrient levels throughout the water column.

And so thanks to these nutrient studies, the NGA team has learned that the setting for this story changes a bit depending on where you are and what time of year you’re there. In spring there’s an influx of nutrients coming into the NGA from freshly-melted rivers along the NGA coast, the largest being the Copper River, and Prince William Sound, and from there they catch a ride on the Alaska Coastal Current heading west. There’s also a lot of mixing happening slightly offshore at the shelf break, where nutrients from deeper waters get brought up towards the surface.

simplified map of the Gulf of Alaska, showing water in white and land in gray. a blue polygon at the northern tip of the Gulf is labeled "NGA." Points of interest on the map are labeled too: Kenai River, Susitna River, Seward, Copper River, Yakutat, Sitka. Bold arrows show the flow of water movement. In the center of the Gulf of Alaska is the Gulf of Alaska Gyre, whree water comes in from the west, loops north, and heads east back out of the Gulf. South of that is the North Pacific Gyre, where water comes in from the west but turns south along the west coast, meeting up with the California Current. In between the two gyres is a horizontal band labeled North Pacific Drift, all west to east.
Map of water movement in the northern Pacific Ocean. The NGA LTER area is outlined in blue (Photo Credit: NGA LTER)

And these nutrients vary seasonally too. In the early spring, there are a lot of nutrients entering the NGA ecosystem through the Copper River, and that water will stay nutrient-rich for just a little while because there isn’t quite enough sunlight yet to really get the phytoplankton going. As the days get longer, the phytoplankton community grows significantly, which is great news to the rest of the NGA’s inhabitants and means there’s a lot of energy transferring through the food web. As the summer bloom peaks, nutrient levels go down, and the phytoplankton community changes a bit depending on what nutrients are still available. And then productivity cools down quite a bit in the fall as the sunlight starts going away and we move into the winter months.

But another characteristic of this setting is that there’s a light layer of fog, as it’s shrouded in just a bit of mystery. What’s driving nutrient levels that enter the NGA through the Copper River? The research team had a feeling the Copper would be rich in silicate because of all the glacial flour and sediment, but they didn’t realize it’d be so rich in phosphorus and nitrogen as well. The answers may eventually be revealed with more research, but for now, who doesn’t love a good mystery!

Personal Log

Last night we were surprised with a pretty special treat: the aurora was out! We saw that the KP index was particularly high yesterday, and a couple of us on the day shift asked the night shift to wake us up if the predictions came true. Around 1:30, there was a soft knock on our stateroom door, and zooplankton researcher Emily Stidham poked her head in to say the lights were indeed out. We scrambled to put on some extra layers and our shoes, and made our way up to the wheelhouse.

view over the upper back deck at the sky showing splashes of neon green across almost the entire dark sky
Aurora dancing over the R/V Tiĝlax̂, turning our attention up towards the sky instead of down towards the water

This whole trip I’ve been pretty much constantly in awe of the vastness of this place. I’ve spent a good amount of time out on the water in Kachemak Bay and a little in Prince William Sound, but this has been my first time being fully surrounded by the sea since moving to Homer a few years ago. I stood up on the flying bridge for a chunk of the afternoon yesterday with seabird and marine mammal researcher Dan Cushing and flux researcher Tom Kelly during Dan’s survey, and it struck me just how surrounded we were. We were talking about just how much life is in the water around us, and how the samples they study are just a peek into the massive picture that is the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem; Dan mentioned that he enjoys having a 360° view from his surveying spot and asked how many plankton, viruses, bacteria, and larger animals might be surrounding us in that moment. I spun in a circle to take it all in and chew on his question, which made my brain short-circuit for a second. There’s so much all around us out here, and we’re not even that far off the coastline! 

So I wanted to extend a little gratitude to the NGA – thank you for allowing us to visit, learn, appreciate, sample, wonder, and be in constant awe of you and all of the micro- and macroscopic life you support. I feel pretty lucky to get to know you in such a unique way, and am thoroughly appreciating every moment of it. And thanks for keeping us on our toes, whether it’s with the Dall’s porpoises splashing around off the stern or the 15-foot swells that test our balance and instantly humble us 🙂

Dall’s porpoises splashing along behind the ship

Did you know?

A cool result of the multidisciplinary work that the NGA LTER project is doing is that nutrient and phytoplankton researchers are able to work together and share what they’re finding. And in doing so, they’ve observed that different classes of phytoplankton use micronutrients at different ratios!

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Alexa Helm: Meet the CTD, September 15, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Alexa Helm

Aboard R/V Tiĝlax̂

September 10-20, 2024

Mission: Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Monitoring Project

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northern Gulf of Alaska – Seward Line

Date: September 15, 2024

Weather Data from the Bridge

Time: 1100

Latitude: 58.414°N

Longitude: 148.138°W

Wind: SW 30 knots

Air Temperature: 55°F

Air Pressure: 1003 millibars

Seas 12-15 feet

Science and Technology Log

I feel like any time I cook a meal that I’m really excited about, I manage to use just about every single thing in the kitchen. I never totally notice until it’s time to clean up, but then suddenly I find myself washing pots, pans, cutting boards, baking sheets, measuring cups, ladles, spatulas, mixing bowls, knives, the food processor and just about every spoon in the drawer. And it’s always fully worth it because skipping any one of those steps just to save on a couple minutes of cleaning would make the end result just slightly less spectacular.

This was the thought that kept going through my head while we were mobilizing at the Seward Marine Warehouse and started unpacking gear as it was loaded onto U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s R/V Tiĝlax̂. We had to bring everything aboard in waves because there wasn’t space for it all at once. It was pretty incredible to see all of the supplies, gear and instruments that would be needed throughout the 10-day cruise, and my brain was spinning as I tried to imagine what all of it would be used for.

on the covered, wooden back deck of the ship, we see stacks of locked plastic bins, carrying cases, and at least one cardboard box. behind the stack is the CTD rosette. we can see the pilings over another dock, and in the far distance, mountains, over the open railing.
Gear staged on the back deck, waiting to be unpacked

The more we unpacked and got everyone settled into their stations, the more it really sunk in that not only is all of this gear fascinating and cool (and maybe just a little heavy), but it is all extremely critical for the multifaceted research that the NGA LTER team is conducting. As I mentioned in my last post, there are many different disciplines that are being represented by the researchers aboard the ship, including productivity and phytoplankton, zooplankton, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, particulate matter, inorganic carbon, seabird and marine mammal surveys and physics. All of these pieces are important to take into consideration in order to paint a full picture of the NGA ecosystem’s richness and resiliency. Kind of like how deciding not to sauté your veggies before adding them to a soup will change the entire flavor profile, something would seriously be missing if any one of these disciplines and researchers were to not be a part of the NGA LTER project! I know, it’s definitely a stretch to compare making soup to the research happening aboard the ship, but it’s a fun comparison to make.

Every year, R/V Tiĝlax̂ usually travels 15,000 – 20,000 nautical miles and keeps a pretty busy schedule. It’s primarily used by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge to sail out to the Aleutian Islands, and will also head to Southeast Alaska, the Bering Sea, and the Gulf of Alaska depending on the particular mission and what other institutions are also using it for research.

This past winter, R/V Tiĝlax̂ went through a big ole upgrade to keep up with its busy schedule and make sure everything is staying in top shape, so there were a couple of things that needed to get sorted out and tested before we could get going. In addition to the new A-Frame (more on that later), the ship essentially got an entirely new wheelhouse complete with brand new systems and instruments. So new, in fact, that the research equipment had a hard time connecting to them! Eventually the crew and science team got it all figured out, and the cable we were waiting on for the winch came in, which meant it was time to head to a nearby station called RES 2.5 out in Resurrection Bay the evening of September 11th.

view of blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and calm blue seas through the row of window surrounding the wheelhouse. inside, we see mounted computer monitors, a keyboard, and radio equipment.
View from the wheelhouse

It didn’t take long to get to the station, and once we arrived it was time to start the full round of sampling and try out the ship’s brand new hydraulic A-Frame. This was the part that everyone was most excited (and maybe a little nervous) about, as this is how the nets and CTD are moved between the deck and the water. Previously, R/V Tiĝlax̂ had a fixed line that hung off the stern that sometimes made deploying and retrieving equipment a little tricky, so this new A-Frame seems like it’s quite the game changer. It’s all really exciting, but there’s also a certain degree of uncertainty surrounding just how it’s going to work since it is brand new. Plus the A-Frame and winch are controlled separately, so there’s also a piece of wondering what it will be like to maneuver both things at the same time.

view over the upper aft deck of the new A-frame, painted blue and mounted at the very back.
The new hydraulic A-Frame, AKA the ultimate gamechanger

And the whole process went swimmingly! The crew and researchers worked together to get the CTD off the ship and into the water smoothly and safely. And then the CTD was off to start collecting data and samples at the first station of the cruise.

I’ve mentioned the CTD a couple times so far, but haven’t actually explained what it is yet. Every instrument on the ship is cool and important, but the CTD is really cool and important – without it, we wouldn’t be able to collect water samples and get real-time readings of all sorts of physical oceanography-related data points. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to a new friend of mine: the CTD!

the CTD rosette on the wooden deck. it's a large white cylindrical metal frame containing a circle of tall gray water sampling bottles as well as the CTD probe itself and other instruments. a woman in an orange coat, yellow rain pants, boots, and gloves leans in from the side of the image to start collecting a water sample from one of the bottles
The CTD, rosette, and Niskins, freshly pulled up from a cast. Researcher Audrey Piatt is attaching a hose to one of the nozzles to collect a sample

This whole thing is called the CTD, but the CTD device itself is only a piece of it. The rosette is the metal frame that holds everything together, and the gray cylinders are all Niskin bottles, which are used to take a sample from a super specific spot in the water column by closing off both ends of the bottle at the click of a button. At the bottom, there are a bunch of different instruments that measure all sorts of things as the unit moves through the water column. And then get this: the CTD gets hooked up to a cable that’s run through the winch, which is connected to another cable that comes down into the lab and to a computer. Meaning all of the readings taken by the instruments are transmitted instantly to the computer system in the lab! 

CTD stands for conductivity (or salinity), temperature, and depth, which are some of the many readings this device collects as it moves through the water column. Isaac Reister is a researcher involved with the project, and once the CTD is deployed, he’s usually the one at the computer watching data come in from the CTD. He was kind enough to answer my never-ending list of questions about the CTD, and he showed me which instruments are responsible for collecting which data during casts.

a man in a bright orange coat sits at a computer desk with his right hand on the mouse. the computer screen displays some graphs - we cannot read them in any detail. the computer is surrounded by a mess of cables.
Isaac showing me what the CTD is transmitting from the water. He’s watching the altimeter, which uses acoustics to determine how far away the CTD is from the bottom

This is what Isaac’s screen looks like as the CTD moves through the water column. As you can see, there’s a lot going on! The graph on the far right shows how temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and fluorescence change based on depth. The middle top shows nitrate levels and water density, and the one below shows photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and beam transmission. Isaac explained that PAR is basically measuring the specific wavelength of light that phytoplankton can use to photosynthesize, and basically tells us how deep the photic zone goes. And then the beam transmission scans for particles in the water and tells us how turbid, or cloudy, the water is.

A closer look at Isaac’s screen

All of the data that the CTD collects is important for contextualizing the water samples taken from the Niskin bottles. Physics, biology, and chemistry are three broad disciplines that all go hand in hand when studying the NGA and the marine environment in general. The CTD collects a bunch of information about how physics and chemistry change throughout the water column, which can then be used to inform what’s happening on the chemical and biological levels. Without the CTD’s data-collecting superpowers and the Niskin’s ability to collect water samples from specific depths, this research would look WAY different!

Personal Log

I feel like I’m settling in quite nicely to life aboard R/V Tiĝlax̂. We’ve hit a solid stride of collecting samples at three or four stations every day, and I’m finding that I really love the feeling of getting rocked to sleep by the waves. I don’t love the rocking while I’m trying to shower, but at least it’s helping me laugh at myself a bit. I’m also learning I have a lot more tiny muscles in my ankles and feet than I previously thought, and boy are they getting a lot of use as I try to keep myself stable while the boat rocks in the waves.

The science team and ship crew are all so unbelievably knowledgeable, kind, and welcoming, and have been so patient with me while I ask millions of questions. It’s pretty incredible to have so many people who are all so passionate about what they do together in the same space, and I’m thankful they don’t mind taking time to share what they’re doing with me. I can’t wait to keep learning from them for another week!

Did you know?

There are three species of albatross that can be found in the Gulf of Alaska, and yesterday we saw all three! They are the Black-footed Albatross, the Laysan Albatross, and the Short-tailed Albatross, with the Short-tailed being the least common; their global population is only around 4000 total. The shelf break in the Gulf is an especially important feeding ground for these large seabirds, as well as for many other animals that call these waters home. This is because the shelf is an area of upwelling, where nutrient-rich waters from the deep rise up to the surface and become accessible to all of the life up top.

photo taken through a telescope of a group of birds floating on top of the water
The three species of albatross, all in one photo! The darker (and most numerous) is the Black-footed, the white and gray albatross to the right is the Laysan, and the slightly more mottled with the bubblegum pink bill towards the left is the Short-tailed
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Alexa Helm: Introduction, September 10, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Alexa Helm
Aboard R/V Tiĝlax̂
September 10-20, 2024

Mission: Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Monitoring Project

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northern Gulf of Alaska – Port: Seward

Date: September 10, 2024

Weather Data from the Homer Spit

Time: 0930

Latitude: 59.601° N

Longitude: 151.410° W

Wind: ESE 1.9 knots

Air Temperature: 51.6°F

Air pressure: 29.97 in

Personal Introduction

Ahoy! My name is Alexa Helm, and I am so beyond excited to be joining the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Monitoring (NGA LTER) team for their fall cruise on R/V Tiĝlax̂! I live in Homer, which is a short (3.5 hour) drive down the road from Seward where we’ll be departing from tonight and beginning our 10-day science adventure in the Gulf. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be as calm in Seward as it is right now in Homer… I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

I work for an environmental education nonprofit called the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS), and my job is somewhat of a two-parter. During the summertime, I coordinate and lead overnight youth and family camps across Kachemak Bay from Homer, and during the school year I work as an educator leading a variety of day and overnight programs for students of all ages. We strive to make these programs place-based, culturally-responsive, and led by student inquiry and exploration to facilitate meaningful learning experiences and relationship building with all of the wonders within and surrounding Kachemak Bay. 

A common theme for my job throughout the year is that I get to work with youth from Homer, other parts of Alaska, and from the Lower 48 outside in the incredibly rich and special ecosystems of Kachemak Bay. One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get the opportunity to learn just as much (and honestly, usually more) from the students I work with as they learn from me. 

Here are a couple highlights from some of the programs I’ve had the privilege to be part of recently:

two middle-grade students (we cannot see their faces) stand on either side of table that contains a partially-laid out skeleton. each student grasps a bone (or perhaps bone replica) and works to place it in the layout.
Campers investigating marine mammal anatomy during a tabletop skeleton articulation. Photo courtesy of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.
three students - one standing, the other two crouching - are on a seaweed-covered pile of rocks at the edge of a tide pool. the middle student reaches down to grasp something. beyond, the bay is calm, we can see tree-lined mountains on the other side, and the sky is bright with many white wispy clouds.
Campers learning about intertidal ecology during low tide. Photo courtesy of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.
Four students stand around a table set up on an outdoor pavilion, with trees in the background. on the table in front of them are two salmon laid out on plastic; they've been partially dissected and salmon organs also dot the table. three of the students look on eagerly and reach to touch the organs. a fourth sits back, looking more skeptical, holding hands out of the way.
Campers exploring salmon organs during a dissection. Photo courtesy of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

Science and Technology Log

The NGA LTER project is really cool for a lot of reasons. It’s focused on investigating the many different factors and processes that drive productivity in the NGA and that make it so rich and resilient, and how all of these pieces respond to short- and long-term changes associated with climate change. These are some pretty massive questions, which means that there are a lot of different disciplines, individuals, and institutions working together to learn more about this exquisite ecosystem. On this cruise, researchers will be diving into questions related to zooplankton, phytoplankton, nutrients and chemistry, physics, marine mammals and seabirds… the list goes on! 

This cruise will be sampling stations along the 150-nautical-mile-long Seward transect line and in Prince William Sound, though the project also samples other transects in the NGA during other times of the year. Not only is this the 28th year of a fall survey along the Seward Line, but it also marks the 54th year of collecting data in the Gulf of Alaska more broadly.

a simple map of the Gulf of Alaska, including some shaded colors to indicate bathymetry and topography. survey transects are marked in dotted lines extending into the Gulf from, west to east: Kodiak Island (through Albatross Bank), near Cook Inlet (through Portlock Bank), south of Seward - GAK-1 - through the Amatuli Trough, then also from east of Prince William Sound (MI), and east of Copper River (KI).
NGA LTER survey transects (Photo credit: NGA LTER)

A huge part of this research is all of the partnerships and collaborations that help to make it all happen. The NGA was established as an LTER through the National Science Foundation back in 2018, and has been funded by the North Pacific Research Board, the Alaska Ocean Observing System, and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council since 2005. Before that, surveys were part of the U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics program, and even before that, it all started thanks to University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) professor Dr. Thomas C. Royer with the first Seward Line survey back in 1970. Don’t worry, I won’t quiz you on this, it’s just pretty cool to see how many different institutions have helped to make this research happen over the years.

Nowadays, the NGA LTER project has a lot of incredible people working on it from a lot of different places, including UAF, Western Washington University, University of California Santa Cruz, Oregon State University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Hawaii Manoa, Axiom Data Science, and the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. NGA researchers supply data and written contributions to NOAA’s regular Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Status Reports, and collect larval fish samples for other NOAA Fisheries research projects. Oh, and did I mention that R/V Tiĝlax̂ is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife vessel? The list of collaborators seems endless; it’s pretty incredible to see so many people and institutions coming together to learn more about the NGA.

view of the 120-ft long research vessel alongside a pier. the sky is gray and cloudy, and the water in the harbor is very still.
R/V Tiĝlax̂ in the Homer Harbor this spring!

I’m so grateful to be part of NOAA’s 2024 crew of Teachers at Sea, and can’t wait to bring you all on this adventure with me!