Amy Orchard – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

September 27, 2014August 21, 2021

Amy Orchard: Days 9-13 – Conch, NOAA Corps, Seining, & Mission Stats, September 27, 2014

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Amy Orchard
Aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
September 14 – 27, 2014

Mission: Conchs Surveys and Fish Seining
Geographical area of cruise: Marquesas Keys Wildlife Management Area
Date: September 22-26, 2014

Weather: September 25, 2014 17:00 hours
Latitude 24° 27 N
Longitude 82° 14 W
Broken clouds, Lightening, Funnel Clouds
Wind speed 7 knots.
Air Temperature: 28° Celsius (82.4° Fahrenheit)
Sea Water Temperature: 29.9° Celsius (85.8°Fahrenheit)

MONDAY

Typical Day

Today started as it has every other day – up at 5:15 am, a trip to the gym, 30 minutes of yoga under the stars on the “Steel Beach” on the top deck of the ship, a sunrise and a delicious breakfast by Lito & Bob.

gym — The elliptical or the rowing machine are my normal choices for caloric burning.

sunrise — Be sure to notice the silver of a moon among all those gorgeous colors.

Then science begins at 7:30 am and usually goes till 7:30 pm or later if I am writing, studying fish identification books or asking a million questions of the scientists!

Conch

Today I began with small boat trip to assist the conch scientists Bob and Einat (pronounced A KNOT) Their surveys will be the same all week (in different locations) They drop a weight tied to a rope with a bouy and dive flag on top. They dive down the line and survey four transects, to the north, south, east then west. Each transect is 30 meters by 1 meter. They only count the Queen Conch within that defined area. Then they come back up the line and move to the next site. They have already made 270 dives this summer alone. Einat told me they may dive up to 11 times a day! I’m not sure Einat’s hair ever dries out.

measuring tool — This is the tool used to measure the lip (or the curled up front part of their shell) The largest slot would indicate a sexually mature adult, the middle; a young adult and the skinniest (TL stands for Thin Lip) for the youngest.

Einat on the transect line — Here you can see Einat as she glides along the measuring tape which marks the area of study. In her hand she holds a measuring caliper and her clipboard (which she can write on underwater!)

Einat measuring conch lip — Einat measuring a Queen Conch with her measuring tool.

NOAA Corps

While our coxswain ENS Conor Maginn and I waited for Bob and Einat, I asked lots of questions about the http://www.noaacorps.noaa.gov/about/about.html As I have mentioned before, I am impressed with the character, quality and kindness of everyone on board. I truly hope I am able adequately convey the experiences I have had to my Junior Docents and Earth Campers and perhaps inspire many of you to look into NOAA as a career option. It’s very possible my career would have taken a different direction if I had known about the NOAA Corps earlier in my life.

The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. They are not trained for military action, but rather for positions of leadership and command in the operation of ships and aircraft which support scientific research. Conor told me about his training which included leadership, 1^st Aid and CPR, firefighting, navigation, seamanship and radar. In addition to the 320 officers in the Corps, there are 12,000 civilian employees; some of these positions do not require an advanced college degree.

Seems like a wonderful agency to work for with great benefits such as seeing the world and supporting scientific data collection which leads to making the world a better place.

ENS Conor Maginn

ENS Carmen DeFazio

Stowaway

TUESDAY

More on Conch

Einat was happy to have me out on the boat with them again. She claims I am a lucky charm because the only time they have found conch on their surveys has been while I am aboard. Perhaps I should become a conch whisperer.

really pink conch — I took this photo last week of a Queen Conch at Fort Jefferson. Bob was surprised how pink & purple it was. They get their color from the algae they eat.

Queen Conch have an average life span of 8-11 years, although some in the Bahamas have been aged up to 40 years old. About the only way to age them is to date the corals which grow on their backs. They are herbivores which graze mostly on red algae. They are docile and Bob says “very sweet animals”. Bob and Einat are surveying to collect more information about their population densities as they will not reproduce unless there are enough numbers in one location. The Queen Conch is a candidate for the Endangered Species Act. Harvesting of conch has been illegal in Florida and its adjoining waters since 1986. This is a big deal because collecting conch for meat, fishing bait and their beautiful shells has been an important part of the Florida Keys since the early 19^th century.

Conch harvesting 1959

Mural which welcomed me to the Key West airport

When all conditions are just right, a Queen Conch will lay 400,000 eggs at once, called an egg mass. Only 1 in 8 million of these eggs will survive to adulthood. Many efforts are being made to help their populations increase including raising for release into the wild. Bob told me that they have even taught these captive-raised conch how to avoid predation so when they are released they can survive.

conch with egg mass — Bob and Einat were very excited to see Queen Conch laying egg masses. Understandably so since the eggs hatch 5 days after being laid, there is a very short time frame in which to see this in the wild.

I try to be as helpful on the small boats as I can be. Here is a slide show of me working really hard to pull the weight dive flag back to the boat.

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WEDNESDAY

Receiver Data Retrieval

Today the divers retrieved acoustic receivers from the ocean floor which have been out for a year in order to bring the data top side for analysis.

Dani seems pleased with the retrieved data.

Each color represents an individual fish. Each small dash indicates one “ping” or one transmission from that particular fish’s tag.

The work the FWC has been doing in this area has been vital to providing the data necessary to show that these reserves act as connected highways essential to numerous species of fish and to justify the creation of these large ecological reserves which closed 150 square miles to commercial and private fishing. Their data shows an increase in both the abundance and size of at least 4 species of fish in the protected areas where there was a decrease or no change at all in the non-protected areas in the same region.

It has been fulfilling to give a hand in collecting this critical data.

THURSDAY

Seining

The small boat took us to the Marquesas Islands today for some seine netting. The fish biologists were not sure what to find since they don’t have opportunities to get this far out. They were especially pleased to see Lane Snapper since they rarely find them. We also saw 17 other fish species. These mangrove islands are crucial habitat for juvenile fish. Many species will spend the beginning of their lives in the sea grass beds near the islands, seek refuge as they grow within the mangroves and then head out to deep waters to live their lives as large adults.

Amy snorkeling off shore of the mangroves

Best thing to happen today – I finally saw a sea turtle! They surface only occasionally but then dive back down so quickly that it is really hard to get a photograph of them, therefore no photo to share, but it is certainly a wonderful memory I will keep with me forever.

Dominoes King

The game was on again at the end of the second week. The science team lost its crown. The Commanding Officer of our ship LCDR Jeff Shoup won the championship and thus the crown stays on the Nancy Foster – right where it is meant to be.

FRIDAY

We pulled into Key West a day early, giving me plenty of time to finish up my writing and collect some statistics from our 13 day scientific cruise:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission personnel – 10
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Personnel – 7
University of North Carolina at Wilmington Remotely Operated Vehicle Operators – 2
Nancy Foster Officers – 9
Nancy Foster Crew – 14
Teacher at Sea – 1
Media Reporter at Sea – 1
ROV Operations – 14 hours and 20 minutes underwater
ROV digital stills – 957
ROV longest dive – 4 hours and 10 minutes
ROV deepest dive – 128 meters (420 feet)
Multibeam seafloor mapping distance – 787.9 linear nautical miles
Dives – 167
Fish surgeries performed- 8
Acoustic Receivers exchanged – 6
New Acoustic Receivers Installed – 5
Reef Fish Visual Census (or fish counts) – 40 dives on 11 stations
Seine Net pulls – 5
Number of species of fish counted in seines – 18 species
Total fish counted during seining – 290
Conch surveys- 14
Conch measured – 57
Conch females laying eggs – 2
Egg masses – 1
Facebook Reach on the FKNMS Account with Cruise Posts as of 8:15 on 9/26/2014: 528,584
Laughs – lots!
Fun had – tons!
Days/Nights of sea sickness for Amy – 0
Number of accidents- 0

Mission was a success!

Challenge Your Observational Skills

Can you find the fish in this photo? Hint, it is NOT yellow!

hide and seek — You will have to zoom in to find this itty, bitty fish. Good luck finding it!

NOTE: Scott Donahue, Chief Scientist for this cruise, actually found TWO fish in this photo! Can you find them both? He has a good eye!

BONUS QUESTION: Can you identify the fish in the photo once you find them?

Answer to the last blog’s question: Goliath Grouper is no longer being considered for Endangered listing because their populations have recovered due to a fishing ban.

Definition of the word EXTIRPATED: Completely removed from an area.

Sunset at port - Key West — Sunset at port – Key West

The sun has set on my adventure, now it’s back to Arizona. I leave better educated, but with plenty of questions to still find answers to. I leave more inspired. I am a better scientist, educator and a better person because of my Teacher At Sea experience.

A heart-felt “Thank You!” goes out to each and every person who made it possible for me.

September 23, 2014August 21, 2021

Amy Orchard: Day 7 & 8 – ROV, Multibeam, New Scientists, More Dolphins, September 22, 2014

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Amy Orchard
Aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
September 14 – 27, 2014

Mission: Deep Habitat Classification
Geographical area of cruise: Tortugas Ecological Reserve and surrounding non-reserve area
Date: September 21 & 22, 2014

Weather: September 22, 2014 20:00 hours
Latitude 24° 25.90 N Longitude 83° 80.0 W
Few clouds, clear
Wind speed 10 knots
Air Temperature: 28.5° Celsius (83.3° Fahrenheit)
Sea Water Temperature: 29.9° Celsius (86° Fahrenheit)

CLICK ON THE SMALL PHOTOS TO MAKE THEM LARGER

SATURDAY:

The ROV

All week we have had the privilege of using the Remotely Operated Vehicle. This model is the Mohawk 18. It has two cameras, one that provides still photographs and the other takes high-definition video. Both are geo-referenced so we know exactly which latitude and longitude we are working.

ROV on deck — Here you can see the ROV awaiting its plunge into the ocean waters. It is gently lifted by one of the ship’s many cranes and slowly taken off the deck and lowered overboard.

ROV head on — Here you can see the cameras, the lights, and the mechanisms to maneuver the craft.

It has an amazing maneuverability and gets around, over and under things quite quickly. The footage is sent back up aboard in real time via a long fiber optic umbilical cord.

Linh all safe — Linh is testing out her safety equipment. Each person helping lower the ROV off the edge of the ship wears a waist harness and is tethered to the ship’s deck so there is no possibility of falling overboard.

ROV being lowered — The long umbilical cord (the yellow cord laid out on the deck and being played out by Alejandro) is made up of fiber optics so we are very careful as we lower the ROV into the water that the cord does not get twisted. Photo by Scott Donahue

crane lifting ROV — Here you can see the long, black arm of the crane lifting the ROV. Once in the water, the cable will be released so it can fly solo.

This amazing piece of equipment has allowed us to see down to depths that the divers would not have been able to reach. It has also allowed us lengthy bottom times that the divers would not have been able to sustain. Most of the divers have been trained to dive with double air supply tanks, which affords them more bottom time, but the ROV can stay down for hours and hours at a time. The only limitation is the stress it puts on the pilots. Jason and Lance, our pilots, said that a four hour dive is about all they can run at a time without getting extremely crossed-eyed and need a break! However, they are troopers and we have been doing multiple ROV dives each day, some lasting up to 4 hours.

Here are some fun things we have seen.

Scamps Groupers — Scamp Groupers Mycteroperca phenax

Old Trap — This old trap has become home to many things.

Goliath Grouper mouth — Goliath Grouper Epinephelus itajara

The last ROV dive of our day (& this cruise) was to a 56’ shrimp boat wreck which was down 47 meters (154 ft) just along the boundary of the North Reserve. We saw nine Goliath Groupers (Epinephelus itajara) all at once. Groups of these fish are often seen on wrecks, but the scientists were a bit surprised about the high density on such a small boat. Due to over fishing of the Goliath Grouper, about twenty years ago, a moratorium was placed on fishing them and they were being considered for Endangered Status. After just 10 years, a significant increase in population size was observed. It’s still illegal to bring them over board but they are not on the Endangered Species list. Juveniles live in the mangroves but adults live in deeper waters where our scientists were able to observe them with the ROV.

During the last 6 days we spent 14 hours and 20 minutes underwater with the ROV. The entire time was recorded in SD and the scientists recorded the most significant events in HD. They also sat at the monitors the entire time snapping still shots as often as they saw things they wanted photos of. 957 digital stills were taken. The longest dive was 4 hours and 10 minutes. Our deepest dive was 128 meters (420 feet!)

scientists & ROV — Scientists took turns during the entire 14 hours and 20 minutes to watch the screen and take still photos of things they wanted to preserve images of. Here Dani and Ben are on watch.

Jason at his monitors — In addition to the two monitors for the scientists, the pilots have their own set of 4 monitors.

ROV monitors — Here is the entire array of monitors, scientists and pilot. Very impressive set up.

The screen on the left shows the map of the area the ROV is surveying.

Multibeam data & joy stick — At the bottom of the photo you can see the control panel for the ROV. If you like playing video games, this may be a GREAT job for you! Including the ROV work, there are many careers aboard a NOAA ship that do not require an advanced college degree. The benefits are AMAZING and include traveling the world, learning from scientists and being a part of the “family” that is the crew of a ship.

4 ROV pilot monitors — In addition to the control panel, the pilots must keep their eye on these four monitors. The one in the upper left shows footage from the HD camera, upper right is the SD footage, lower right is similar to a car’s dashboard and the lower left is the MBS data. Photo by Scott Donahue

MBS of shipwreck — The large blue image is the Nancy Foster. The red rectangle is the ROV and the fuzzy blob to the left is the shrimp boat wreck.

These maps were created by the Multibeam Echo Sounder (MBES) The ROV depends on the MBES as do the fish scientists. Without these maps, the ROV would not know where to dive and the fish scientists would not know where to conduct their research. The MBES gives the fish scientists a wider view of the terrain than they can get on their own by SCUBA diving in smaller areas.

Multibeam Sonar

The Multibeam Echo Sounder (MBES) uses SOund NAvigation and Ranging (Sonar) to create high-definition maps of the sea floor and it’s contours (as well as other objects such as shipwrecks) by shooting sound waves (from 512 sonic beams) down to the seabed and then listening as they reflect back up to the ship.

cartoon of MBES — On the Nancy Foster, the Multibeam Echo Sounder sends down 512 sonic beams and listens as they return. Image courtesy of NOAA

This is very similar to the way a topographic (topo) map represents the three-dimensional features (mountain and valleys) of the land above water. Instead of using contour lines to show variations in relief, MBS uses color to depict the bathymetry (submarine topography) Red shows the shallowest areas, purple the deepest.

topo mt lemmon — Topographic map of Mount Lemmon just outside of Tucson, AZ showing changes in elevation through contour lines. Stock image.

red vs purple — The MBES uses color to show changes in elevation on the sea floor. Can you identify the shallowest areas? The deepest areas? Image courtesy NOAA

Another important element of the MBES for the fish researchers is called backscatter. This byproduct of the sonar action wasn’t always collected. Not until advances in technology allowed for an understanding of how to gather useful information from the backscatter did technicians realized how valuable it can be. Backscatter is the amount of acoustic energy being received by the sonar after it is done interacting with the seafloor. It is now recognized that the information from backscatter can determine substrate type. Different types of substrate will “scatter” the sound energy differently. For example, a softer bottom such as mud will return a weaker signal than a harder bottom, like rock.

Layering together the multibeam data (which provides seafloor depth information and is computed by measuring the time that it takes for the signal to return to the sonar) with the backscatter, provides information which is especially helpful to fish researchers as it can assist them in classifying habitat type. This allows them to know where they might find the species of fish they are looking to study.

multibeam grid — MBS grid. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, MCR Expedition 2011

mosaic — Mosaic, or a layering of the two previous images to in order to gather information to classify habitat type. Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, MCR Expedition 2011

Engine Room

Tim Olsen, Chief Engineer, toured Camy and I through the engine room. It was overwhelming how many wires, cranks, moving parts and metal pieces there were. Tim and the other engineers are brilliant. I can not fathom what it takes to keep this 187 foot ship going with it’s multiple cranes, winches, engines, thrusters, small boats, air conditioners, toilets, kitchen appliances, etc.

I was most interested in the water systems. The ship makes all its own drinking water since salt water is non-potable and it would take a lot of storage space to carry fresh water (space its tight on a ship!) They have two systems. One is a reverse osmosis system which, using lots of pressure, moves sea water through a membrane to remove the salts. This system produces 1500 gallons of potable water a day. The second one is a flash distiller. In this system, seawater is heated by the engine and then pumped into a vacuum chamber where it is “flashes” into water vapor which is condensed and collected. The distilling system makes 1800 gallons a day aboard the Nancy Foster. Distillers, in some form, have been used on ships since the 1770s.

water production 2 — Reverse Osmosis System

The other thing that caught my attention was the sewage treatment system. Earth Campers, this one is a bit smaller than the one we toured!

sewage treatment "plant" — sewage treatment “plant”

Of course, I also took a ride out in one of the small boats to assist the divers. Sometimes all I do is fill out the dive log and pull the buoys back into the boat but I really enjoy being out in the open ocean, feeling the sea spray in my face and watching the light move across the top of the water.

Amy on boat — I always am happy to get out on the little boats!

Mexican Train

This week Tim has been coming around every now and then wearing his Domino King’s crown and cape, reminding us all to come challenge him to a game of Mexican Train (a fun dominos game).

Tim has won every tournament game on the Nancy Foster in the last three months and has the bling to show for it! Then tonight, to the surprise of all, one of the scientists, Mike, dethroned the king! This was the first time ever that a member of the science team has won the championship game.

Tim - Dominos King — Not only does Tim have a crown and cape, he also has a dominoes necklace, a scepter, a large blingy ring and a unicorn chalice.

Dominoes King & Oreos — The taste of glory!

SUNDAY:

Today was a fairly quiet day. Not too much science was done except setting out a few more fish traps.

The big news was that we steamed back to Key West and made a science crew change. We said goodbye to Jason, Lance & the ROV as well as Sean, Brett, Linh, Alejandro, Ariel, Ben and Camy. They will all be missed. Be sure you see Camy’s Miami Herald news articles–the first: (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article2113805.html); and second: (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article2500074.html)

New Scientists

We welcomed aboard NOAA’s Mary Tagilareni, Deputy Superintendent for Operations & Education and Beth Dieveney, Deputy Superintendent for Science & Policy as well as Lonny Anderson, our new dive master. From the FWC, Bill Sympson, Biological Scientist, as well as our conch biologists Bob Glazer, Associate Research Scientist and Einat Sandbank, Biological Scientist.

Lonny – dive master, Beth & Mary

newly arrived Bill with Jeff, Dani and Paul

Einat Sandbank – conch biologist

Bob Glazer – Conch expert

Ship Propeller

Also while in port, a few of the crew dived under the ship to check for any calcium carbonate secreting critters that may be growing on the transducer. While down there, they found some lobster pot line that had caught on the propeller.

Sam dives under ship — Samantha Martin, Senior Survey Technician, is seen here diving to remove the lobster pot line. Again and again I was incredibly impressed with the NOAA crew. Their skill set was so vast. Sam not only runs the multibeam system but also dives, loads the small boats on & off the ship, drives the small boats and just about anything that needs done. This was the same for all the crew members. Photo taken by Sam’s diving buddy, the Commanding Officer, LCDR Jeff Shoup.

More Dolphins

To end the evening, a pod of dolphins can by again and Ensign Conor Maginn caught this video.

WORD OF THE DAY: Extirpated

BONUS QUESTION: Tell me about any Sonoran Desert species which were once being listed as Threatened or Endangered (or were being considered to be listed) and then had their populations recover.

Answer to the quiz from the last blog: Lion Fish are INVASIVE.

September 20, 2014August 21, 2021

Amy Orchard: Day 4, 5 & 6 – Tagging, Gumby suit, Lion Fish Dish and Fort Jefferson, September 19, 2014

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Amy Orchard
Aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
September 14 – 27, 2014

Mission: Fish Tagging
Geographical area of cruise: Tortugas Ecological Reserve North & South sections: Tortugas Bank
Date: September 17, 18, 19, 2014

Weather, September 19, 2014 20:00 hours
Latitude 24° 35’ 07’’N Longitude 83° 01’ 09’’W
Broken clouds, clear.
Humidity 10%.
Wind speed 7 knots.
Air Temperature: 29° Celsius (84° Fahrenheit)
Sea Water Temperature: 30.2° Celsius (86.7°Fahrenheit)

CLICKING ON THE SMALL PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM & REVEAL HIDDEN TEXT.

WEDNESDAY:

Resetting Traps

We did not have great success with the shrimp bait. Guess these fish prefer their shrimp au naturel where as we gave them cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp. This morning we set out again in the small boats so the divers could re-bait the traps with squid instead.

Nick our coxwain & the GAR — Look up the word coxswain if you don’t know what it means. Here we pronounce it “COXS-UN”. Before each dive, we run through a safety assessment, called the GAR (shown here by Nick) It stands for Green, Amber, Red. We rank the following categories and if our numbers are low enough to fall into the Green category, divers are allowed to dive: Supervision, Planning, Crew Selection, Crew Fitness, Environment, Event Complexity. If we come up with an Amber, we know we need to dive with caution and Red means we won’t be diving that launch. The Commanding Officer (CO) has the ultimate authority to say if divers go out or not.

Squid for bait — This was left over from the last science trip and we were glad to have it since our shrimp didn’t lure the fish into our traps.

FWC diver. Taken with my underwater camera from the small boat.

Ariel the Scientist — Finally Ariel looks much more like a scientist now that she has a pen in her pocket!

Safety on the ship

Safety always comes first on the Nancy Foster. We have had briefings on safety, we wear hard hats while the cranes are moving, we wear closed toe shoes (except when in the shower) and we have had fire drills & first aid emergency drills. Today we had an abandon ship drill. First we each arrived at our muster stations (our assigned place to meet), then we climbed into our Survival Suits (nicknamed the Gumby suit.) This is made of very thick neoprene, probably 7-9 millimeters thick, and covers you from head to toe to fingertips. It is meant to keep you safe from hypothermia if you were overboard for a long period of time.

Survival Suit (Gumby Suit) 1 — Getting into this full body, super heavy neoprene suit is a real chore! I discovered the best way is to jump up and down. Photo by ENS Conor Magnin

Survival Suit (Gumby Suit) 2 — It is confirmed. I am not as tall as the average adult. This suit hangs so low that I look like I am kneeling down. Oh well, I would most certainly still be warm in open seas. Photo by ENS Conor Magnin

This is Gumby. Can you see the resemblance? Photo credit: Stock Photo

After wriggling back out, we went to find our assigned life raft. There are 6 rafts which each hold 25 people. There is enough bunk space on the ship for 37 people, so there are plenty of life rafts for all. Three rafts sit on each side of the ship so even if the ship was under water listing to one side, we could still access enough rafts for all.

life raft sign — 6 rafts x 25 people each = 150 lives saved. Only 37 on the ship at a time, so I think we are safe.

Life Raft #1 — Inside this capsule is the life raft. It opens upon hitting the water and has a cool tent for shade. Still, I prefer the Nancy Foster and have full faith in our crew to keep her upright.

In addition to the Survival Suit, Nick thought he would be safer being more visible so he wore a few extra items to ensure his safety!

Nick fuzzy hat w/ bow & cool googles — Nick has a horde of awesome hats. Keep your eyes peeled for more.

Dancing with the Remotely Operated Vehicle

Part of each day has been spent looking underwater with the Remotely Operated Vehicle piloted by Lance Horn and Jason White from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (yet another partner in this 14-day collaboration)

ROV pilots — Lance Horn and Jason White are geniuses with the Remotely Operated Vehicle. There are lots of very highly technical parts to this equipment and they do it all – and they do it well.

I will be sharing lots more information about the ROV in an upcoming post. Today I wanted you to see who else besides scientists are curious about the ROV (the large instrument with the yellow top you see in the video here)

THURSDAY:

Fish Surgery

We checked traps again this morning and had success with the squid. The dive teams will perform surgery today! The surgery only takes about 10 minutes, which may seem quick, but since they are underwater at a depth of about 100 feet, they must work quickly so as to not run out of their air supply. One scientist (usually Paul Barbera, FWC Associate Scientist – who they call the Fish Whisperer) will hold the fish steady while another will make the incision, insert the acoustic transmitter and then stitch up the incision. The stitches will dissolve in about a week or two. The acoustic transmitter (fish tag) will last 2-5 years. Life span of the tag is determined by it’s battery life. The smaller tags (for smaller fish) can last 2 years and the larger tags (for larger fish) will work for about 5 years. This allows the scientists to gather information on the same fish for multiple years, giving them a really good idea of their seasonality – or the fish’s movements between different areas, both protected an unprotected.

fish tags — Acoustic Transmitters – Fish Tags which will be surgically placed in the fish at a depth of about 100 feet. Here you can see the smaller ones are about 4 cm and the larger 6.5 cm

This footage was not shot during our cruise, but Ben Binder, FWC Biological Scientist, shared this video with me describing the surgery process. Here you will see two scientists who are aboard the Nancy Foster with me. Paul is securing the fish and Mike McCallister, FWC Biological Scientist, is performing the surgery. They are working with a Lion Fish here.

Placing the fish tag is just one part of the process of collecting the data the scientists are hoping to gather. The second part is to place an instrument which can read the acoustic transmitter as it swims past (within the fish of course!) Danielle Morley, FWC Assistant Research Scientist, and I worked to prepare some previously used acoustic receivers. Each of the 90 receivers the FWC have placed in the waters off the Florida Keys costs about $2500. Therefore, used receivers are reprogrammed, repainted with anti-fouling paint and used again. Anti-fouling paint makes it very difficult for animals like barnacles to build their calcium carbonate skeletons on the receiver’s exposed top. The receivers are made up of a hydrophone, a circuit board and a battery. I replaced the batteries and cleaned up the O rings. The O rings are extremely important as they ensure the capsule is completely water-proof and can be submerged in ocean water for a year at a time.

Acoustic Receiver — The red on the top of the receiver is the anti-fouling paint. It is the only part of the receiver which is exposed to sea water.

tending to O rings — Here I am cleaning and lubricating the O rings to ensure a water-tight seal. I tried really hard to find at least one photo of me without a HUGE grin on my face so you can see that we truly are serious about science around here (we are just having a REALLY good time doing it!) Photo by Danielle Morley.

These are the receiver stands, which are allowed under a special permit from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, will sit on the ocean floor. They have a concrete block on the bottom to weigh them down and then a series of PVC pipes to hold the receiver. If you are wondering why these are sitting on dry land, I snapped this shot during my tour of Scott’s office before we left for sea.

After a year, the batteries need replaced and the data needs retrieved. Today, the divers will retrieve 6 acoustic receivers on Riley’s Hump and replace them with those we reprogrammed. This is footage of our divers (Jeff, Sean and Colin) making the swap. Thanks to Cammy Clark, the Miami Herald reporter, who dived down about 100 feet to capture the action.

FRIDAY:

Trap Retrieval

Over the last 5 days, there have been 65 dives and 3 surgeries performed. The scientists deem this as very successful trip. Additionally, all divers returned safely to the ship after each dive! This morning the divers are retrieving the traps, which like the receiver stands are allowed by a special permit from the FKNMS. Even if conditions did not allow us to get the traps and they needed to stay at the bottom, no fish would be caught for very long. Each trap is closed with a zinc clip that will dissolve after a week or two.

Zinc Clips — Zinc clips keep the traps closed, but only temporarily. They dissolve after a week or two allowing any fish to escape if a trap has to be abandoned due to weather or other conditions.

The large fish we are trapping can easily stay down in a trap that long. But today, the weather allowed us to retrieve the traps.

Along with the traps, Ben and Ariel brought five Lion Fish Pterois volitans back up.

Ben & Amy & Lion Fish — I was told that if I held the fish way out in front of my body, it would look bigger – but since this was a whopping 42 cm, I didn’t need to hold it out far to make it look large. Photo credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Kiss the fish — Kissing this invasive species good-bye (well, at least these five) Photo credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Lion Fish upclose — Notice the large, wide mouth. This is a voracious predator which is part of the problem with them moving in to the area. Photo by Amy Orchard

Lion Fish are not naturally found here. They are native to the Indo-Pacific. It has not been determined exactly how they got to the area but they are very popular for home aquariums. However, since they are voracious predators, after eating all their other aquarium fish, people have been dumping them in the Atlantic Ocean for decades. It was decided that efforts to eradicate the species would be futile since they are prolific breeders, have no natural predators and have been found in extremely deep waters where it would be unfeasible to reach them. Instead, there are large efforts to manage their populations in certain areas.

One does need to be extremely careful as they have venomous spines – 13 along the top (dorsal spines) and 3 along the bottom (anal spines) The pain they inflict & the reaction people can have when stung sounds very similar to the bark scorpion.

Lion Fish teeth — All these teeth are not used for chewing. A Lion Fish swallows it’s prey whole. It uses a striking method to capture its prey, but these teeth help to hold it in once it is caught.

Lion Fish Spines — If you look closely along the bottom part of the fish, you can see its anal spines. The 13 spines on the top (dorsal) are easy enough to see.

Lion Fish spine up close — Once the spine enters, the loose skin covering the spine is pushed down, causing a compression of the venom glands which releases the venom via the grove in the spine. Here the loose skin has been pushed down to reveal the spine.

I found out they are SUPER tasty! Especially since Bob Burroughs, 2^nd Cook and Lito LLena, Chief Steward prepared them as ceviche – my favorite.

I have been eating SO WELL! Usually when there is a large group eating together, the cooks cringe when the vegetarians come by, but Bob & Lito are always happy to see me and have made me some DELICIOUS dishes. Thanks Bob & Lito!

Fort Jefferson

In the afternoon we got a special treat. We left the waters of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and ferried over to Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas National Park for a tour and some snorkeling. One can only reach the fort by boat or sea plane. It was built between the years 1846 and 1875 as a way to claim the main shipping channel between the Gulf of Mexico, the western Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. It never saw battle, mostly because it’s fire power was so massive that no one wanted to go up against it!

Fort Jefferson 2 — This huge cannon was on the top tier of the fort and was one of many that protected the fort.. It was brought up by man power. Quite a feat. You can see that it was able to rotate 360 degrees in order to protect the fort from ships coming in any direction.

Fort Jefferson 3 — Lots of restoration work is being done to bring it back to its original state.

Even though I have been able to travel out into the open ocean on the small boats each day, it was SO GOOD to actually get into the water and snorkel around. So many amazing things to see and take photos of.

Christmas Tree Worm & Brain Coral — Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) and Brain Coral (Diploria clivosa)

Sargent Major & Fire Coral — Sargent Major (Abudefduf saxatilis) and Fire Coral (members of the phylum Cnidaria, class Hydrozoa, order Capitata, family Milleporidae)

There were many jelly fish (mostly Moon Jellies) and we all got stung a lot, but the underwater scenery was well worth it.

Moon Jelly while snorkeling — Aurelia aurita Taken while snorkeling

Bonus Points – make a COMMENT and tell me how the LION FISH and the GILA MONSTER are similar!

Answer to my last post: It was a DOLPHIN. The Common Bottlenose Tursiops truncatus

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/bottlenosedolphin.htm

Also, the definition of RECIPROCITY is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit.

I have been so impressed with the seamless collaboration between the crew & science team as well as the different agencies within the science team. Everyone gives of themselves so freely for the main goal of the scientific mission.

September 17, 2014August 21, 2021

Amy Orchard: Day 1, 2 and 3 – Cool Scientists, Multibeam, Setting Traps, Cetaceans, September 16, 2014

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Amy Orchard
Aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
September 14 – 27, 2014

Mission: Fish Tagging
Geographical area of cruise: Riley’s Hump: Tortugas Ecological Reserve South
Date: September 14, 15, 16, 2014

Weather: September 16, 2014 20:00 hours
Latitude 24° 30’ 30’’N Longitude 83° 09’ 9’’W
Few clouds, clear. Humidity 10%.
Wind speed 7 knots.
Air Temperature: 28° Celsius (83° Fahrenheit)
Sea Water Temperature: 30.4° Celsius (86.7°Fahrenheit)

SUNDAY:

Getting to Know the Nancy Foster

Scott Donahue, Science Coordinator for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Chief Scientist for this cruise, brought me aboard and gave me a tour of the Nancy Foster early in the day. Also there was Tim Olsen, Chief Engineer, who I had met on the plane from Atlanta to Key West. I was overwhelmed with the capacity of the ship. It is huge and fully equipped for a wide variety of scientific endeavors, diving, mapping, surveying, launching large equipment etc. I feel lucky to be a part of what is going on.

Click on these two photos for more information

When I boarded the small jet plane from Atlanta to Key West, the man sitting behind me pointed at my TAS hat and said “You are on my ship tomorrow!” It was nice to have a friendly greeting even before I saw the ship. Photo by Scott Donahue 9/14

Scott Donahue, Chief Scientist, showed me the ship and then gave me a nice tour of the NOAA’s ship Nancy Foster Complex where his office is. They have a great LEED certified building with low profile solar panels (due to hurricanes) Photo credit: Tim Olsen 9/14

Short Jaunt into Key West

After taking some time to see Key West, I headed back to the ship where I met Cammy Clark from the Miami Herald who will be with us for one week reporting on our experience. Cammy and I spent the night on the ship awaiting the science team to arrive early tomorrow morning. The ship is in dock so I can’t yet be sure if I will suffer from sea sickness. However, I hear that there is 100% survival rate if it does occur!

Click on these two photos for more information

Key West beach. No one was swimming but me and the pelicans – can’t be near water without getting wet!

Drinking water out of native coconuts, chopped open by a local with a machette. Photo by: nearest tourist!

MONDAY:

Meeting the Scientists

During the two weeks aboard, I will be working with 10 scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), 7 NOAA Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary scientists and 2 ROV pilots from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I am excited to be a part this interagency collaboration. Seems like an efficient way to communicate and share experiences.

Guess which photo shows the scientists I will be working with…

stock photo

photo by Amy Orchard

Answer: PHOTO ON THE RIGHT. FWC scientists from left to right: Mike McCallister, Jeff Renchen,Danielle Morley, Ariel Tobin (in front), Ben Binder, Paul Barbera. Not as reserved or stodgy as you might picture a group of scientists, but they are incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated to their work. They are unbelievably cool people! They have amazing stories to tell, are easy-going and love to have a good time. I want to be like them when I grow up!

Preparing to Do Science

One of the many things we will do this week is tagging fish. To do this, we will travel away from the ship on small boats to set fish traps. Once the right fish are contained, the dive team will surgically insert an acoustic tag which will allow them to monitor the fish’s movements throughout different reaches of the sanctuary. This information is important to see the effectiveness of protected areas vs. non-protected areas.

The divers perform this surgery underwater (usually at depths of 95-110 feet) in order to reduce stress on the fish and to avoid air bladder expansion.

Today the divers went out to practice their diving skills before the intense work begins. I got to travel with them in the small boat. Even though I am certified to SCUBA dive, only American Academy of Underwater Sciences divers and other divers with official reciprocity are allowed to dive off NOAA ships. (reciprocity is the word of the day – look it up!) The diving these scientists do is much more technical than the recreational diving I do in Mexico, but they enjoy it just as much.

Best note of the day: No sea sickness! (yet)

dive boat being lowered — The 4 small boats sit on the back deck of the ship and are lowered over the side with a large crane. Once the boat is on the water, we climb down a rope ladder (which is swinging ferociously in the waves!)

me on the small dive boat — The *Nancy Foster* has four small boats. Three for dive operations and one reserved as a rescue boat. It was exciting to have a different perspective and to see the *Nancy Foster* out at sea from the small boat. Photo by Linh Nugyen

TUESDAY:

Multibeam Sonar

Last night was the first night I slept on the ship while it was out to sea. I had a really hard time sleeping as I would awaken every half hour feeling as if I were going to roll over and fall out of my top bunk! This movement was due to the fact that science is being done aboard the Nancy Foster 24 hours a day. During the night time, Nick Mitchell and Samantha Martin, the Survey Technicians, are running the Multibeam Sonar which determines ocean depth and creates a map of the sea floor contours. Using 512 sonic beams, sound is emitted, bounces off the sea bed, then returns to the ship.

See these videos for more information: http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/education_animations.htm

The ship would travel out about 3 miles, then turn 180° to make the next pass. Cruising at about 1 mile every 10 minutes (walking speed) we were turning about every 30 minutes, explaining my rockn’ night!

Amy Orchard: Headed Out to Sea! September 5, 2014

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Amy Orchard
(Soon to Be) Onboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
September 14 – 27, 2014

Mission: Fish Survey (Cubera Snapper and Black Grouper)
Geographical area of cruise: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Date: September 5, 2014

Pre-Trip Introduction

Greetings from the sunny Sonoran Desert. My name is Amy Orchard and I live in Tucson, Arizona, USA. This is a wonderful time of the year to be in the desert. Although the day-time temperatures can soar into the 100’s (100 degrees F/37.8 degrees C) the monsoon rains are falling and the desert is lush with many hues of green. Plants that appear to be dead most of the year have sprung alive with a bounty of leaves. Below is a close up of one of my favorites, the Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) If you look closely you can see that the stem itself has some green on it as well, this is how they photosynthesize when there isn’t enough water to support leaf growth.

Foquieria splendens - Ocotillo — Desert monsoon rains bring to life plants that appear to be dead the rest of the year. Zoom in to see the chlorophyll present in the STEM of the plant which allows it to photosynthesis when it is too dry to support leaf growth.

I am lucky enough to have my dream job! Actually, I work two jobs, and both are dreamy. On the side, for fun and for my personal growth, I teach yoga. Most of my students are Middle School aged, but I teach K-adult as well. Yoga is a great way to chill out, become strong and learn to be flexible (physically and mentally.)

My full-time job, the one that opened up this wonderful opportunity to be a Teacher At Sea with NOAA, is as an Education Specialist at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is an amazing place that is all at once a museum, a zoo, a botanical garden, an art institute and an aquarium. We only display plants and animals native to the Sonoran Desert Region. This makes it a very unique place. I work with live animals such as tarantulas, snakes, hawks, tortoises, toads, porcupines and skunks.

Mephitis macroura - Hooded Skunk — Do not worry! He is de-scented.

I also work closely with the wildest of all animals – teenagers! I run the youth programs at the museum including our Earth Camp summer expeditions and the teen volunteer program – the Junior Docents. I love working with students in middle school and high school. They are so curious about the world around them and have a passion to work towards protecting it for the future. They are eager to learn through my adventures on-board the Nancy Foster. I will challenge them to increase their understanding of the natural world by providing a “Challenge Your Understanding” section at the end of my posts. (Prizes for anyone who answers ALL of my questions while on board!) Feel free to take the challenge questions yourself, even if you aren’t a wild teenager.

Earth Campers at Arches National Park — This rugged group of teens and I traveled the Western United States exploring the issue of water use. We hiked, backpacked, river rafted and drove many, many miles through the beautiful, open lands of Arizona and Utah.

I will miss my family while I am gone. They are the coolest people on earth… well the Earth Campers and Junior Docents I have worked with over the last 15 years are superbly awesome as well, but my family takes the cake! I’m not exactly sure that my daughters will miss me very much. They are busy on their own adventures. Sonora, my oldest, is in China for 4 months teaching English. Naomi, a Junior in High School, is attending an Environmental Stewardship boarding school in Northern WI called Conserve School until Christmas. I hope they will find time to follow my blogs! And I hope my poor husband will get along without his three ladies to keep him entertained.

Orchard Family — We aren’t always this nicely dressed. We are most often found in biking, hiking or rafting gear.

I am thrilled to have been selected to be a Teacher At Sea. There were nearly 200 applications this season and only 24 of us were chosen. It seems like a miracle they picked me. However it came about, I couldn’t be more honored. I love learning new things and cannot imagine all the knowledge I will gather aboard my 14-day scientific cruise. Even though I live in the desert, I am very interested in ocean acidification, sea level rise and melting glaciers. I understand that the changes happening to our climate affect all of us, no matter how far in-land we live. I look forward to understanding more about changes in fish populations and coral reef health from my time about the Nancy Foster using ROVs and multi-beam sonar to survey fish populations. I will be eager to take my new knowledge back to Tucson and enhance the way we share our new aquarium and information about the oceans with the 50,000 visitors to our museum.

You may be wondering why we have an aquarium at a desert museum! Check out the map below to understand that we have sharks and sea stars in our desert! It is a part of our landscape, weather systems and culture. That leads me into the my first Challenge-Your-Understanding question.

Sonoran Desert Region Map — The Sea of Cortez, or Gulf of California, is sandwiched right in the middle of our desert.

Challenge Your Understanding

(mark any that apply)

Bonus Points to anyone who adds a comment and defines the word ENDEMIC!