NOAA TEACHER AT SEA JASON MOELLER ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON JUNE 11 – JUNE 30, 2011
NOAA Teacher at Sea: Jason Moeller Ship: Oscar Dyson Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey Geographic Location: Gulf of Alaska Date: June 12th, 2011
Personal Log
Welcome back explorers!
Fog over Kodiak
Once again, I woke up this morning to a thick, heavy fog and drizzling rain that enveloped Kodiak like a wet, soggy blanket. While Tammy, who will be the other Teacher at Sea with me, was able to make it into Kodiak, the majority of our science party is still stuck in Anchorage, trying to get aboard a flight. Even though Tammy was able to make it in, her suitcase and clothes did not follow suit, and she was forced to make a Wal-mart run. The result of the weather has been a delay on the cruise, and we hope to set sail for equipment trials tomorrow.
As usual, I had a great day regardless of the rain. I started by helping our steward (cook) stock up on supplies for the ship’s galley. For 40 people on a 19 day cruise, we have $25,000 worth of food stashed away on board. It takes quite a bit of money to stock up a ship!
This is a photo of the river I explored weaving its way to the ocean.
After helping shop for the fresh produce, I had the rest of the day off, so I turned to my favorite Kodiak past time, and decided to embark on another bear photo hunt. In addition to bears, I was also on the lookout for salmon (I do not count eating salmon as seeing it) and bald eagles, both of which should be common. Today’s location was the same river that I explored on my first day, but I was much further south. My starting point was where the river met the ocean, and then I walked inland. I will let the photos and captions talk from this point on.
I turned left to explore the beach first. It is a black sand beach, the first I have ever seen.This photo is of the same beach, and better shows the fog cover we had today.While walking down the beach, I noticed a freshwater stream coming out of the woods and winding down to the ocean. I ducked under a pine tree at the edge of the beach and saw this waterfall.Another photo of the waterfall.The same waterfall, falling away towards the ocean.After I left the waterfall, I continued to walk down the beach, and just happened to look up at the right moment to capture this bald eagle, high above the trees. They are so common here that the eagles are jokingly called roaches of the north.I saw a total of 8 bald eagles, including this pair in the trees. The fog makes them a bit difficult to pick out.After exploring the beach, I headed upstream to look for salmon and bears. This is what the river looked like by the ocean.The path by the river was difficult, if it was there at all. Most of the time, I just trudged my way through it. There was not a dry spot on me by the time I finished the hike. It was worth it though.For the first half mile, the river was in a marshland, which the photo shows accurately. However, the marshland quickly gave way to pine forests, which can be seen in the next image.The river running through the woods.A photo of the woods running alongside of the river.In the end, I didn't see any bears or salmon in the river, and the vegetation became too thick to go on without a trail. As I was leaving, however, to head back to the ocean and catch my ride home, I ran across this piece of white lichen which contrasted with the darkened woods surrounding it. For me, the photo was worth the trip.
Science and Technology Log
The Science and Technology log will begin at the start of the Walleye Pollock survey.
Species Seen
Bald Eagles!!!
Arctic Tern
Gulls
Magpie
Reader Question(s) of the Day!
Reader questions of the day will start at the beginning of the Walleye Pollock survey! At the moment, I have not received any questions yet, so please send them in! I can take questions at jmoeller@knoxville-zoo.org.
NOAA TEACHER AT SEA JASON MOELLER ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON JUNE 11 – JUNE 30, 2011
NOAA Teacher at Sea: Jason Moeller Ship: Oscar Dyson Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey Geographic Location: Gulf of Alaska Date: June 11, 2011
Personal Log
Welcome back, explorers!
Kodiak, Alaska
Today was my official first day in Kodiak Alaska! Kodiak is a small city on Kodiak Island, which lies off the southern coast of Alaska. The city had a population of 6,653 people in 2009, and is likely growing due to its unique population of animals, including salmon, Kodiak bears, and bald eagles. The city’s main livelihood comes from the ocean, where halibut, pollock, several species of salmon, scallops, and crabs are pulled from the waters surrounding the island. A second source of income comes from tourism.
I woke up today to find the city covered in mist with rain steadily falling. This was bad news for several of our scientists and Tammy, the other teacher at sea on our trip, as they were unable to fly in from Anchorage due to the weather.
Jason's Stateroom on the Oscar Dyson
The weather, however, did not stop me from having an active day in the city. The first thing that I did was move onto the ship into my stateroom, where I will be sleeping during the research expedition. I was surprised at the size, as the room was larger than several college dorm rooms that I had seen.
Once I was moved in, I began to explore the ship. While I have not been given an official guided tour as of yet (that will happen when Tammy arrives), I was able to move around and find some of the rooms that I will be in frequently during the trip.
This is the sound/acoustic room, where we will look for the fish using sonar!This is the command deck of the Oscar Dyson. If I ask nicely, will they let me drive?The all important mess hall!Fred Zharoff Memorial Bridge
In talking with several individuals onboard, I found out that some of the best hiking in the area was within walking distance of the Oscar Dyson. Even better, hikers in this area occasionally saw bears. As I still wanted to see a bear in the wild, I immediately left for the bridge that would take me to another island right off the coast of Kodiak Island. I passed through town on the way.
After walking through town, I reached this bridge and crossed it.
This is the island that I was headed to.
After crossing the bridge, I came across the following park which had some stunning nature trails. I am going to let my photographs do the talking for this next part of the blog, as words do not do justice for the beauty of this place.
There were many of these thick bodied pines in the park.This image, as well as the next, shows the abundant moss in the woods. It carpeted the forest floor completely!
A nice view of the ocean from the trail.Another beautiful view of the ocean from the trail.Many of the low-lying bushes also had moss and lichens on them.One of the most common trees was the Pacific Red Elderberry. Elderberries are often used for making wines, and occasionally as the punchline in a joke.A few Elderberry trees!
Surprisingly, I did not see a great deal of wildlife, only seeing songbirds. I still have time to see a bear, but I did not spot one today and did not see any bear tracks. Deer tracks were in abundance but I did not see any deer on the pathways.
All in all, I was out hiking on the trails for over three hours, and was soaking wet when I got back.
After the hike and a change of clothes (it rained the entire time), I went out to dinner with a few of the ship’s engineers to a sushi/seafood restaurant. The salmon just melted in my mouth, I have never had salmon that fresh. I also had the opportunity to taste Alaskan king crab, and wish that I hadn’t. I am now addicted, and it is expensive at $47.00 a pound being the market price!
Science and Technology Log
The science and technology section of this blog will begin after the survey of the Walleye Pollock has been started.
Species Seen
Arctic Tern
Pacific Red Elderberry
Reader Question(s) of the Day!
The reader question(s) of the day will start after the survey of the walleye pollock begins. I will answer at least one question during each log, and hopefully will be answering more than one. Please submit your questions to me at jmoeller@knoxville-zoo.org.
NOAA TEACHER AT SEA JASON MOELLER ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON JUNE 11 – JUNE 30, 2011
NOAA Teacher at Sea: Jason Moeller Ship: Oscar Dyson Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey Geographic Location: Gulf of Alaska Date: June 10, 2011
Personal Log
Welcome aboard, explorers!
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Jason Moeller, and I am the on-site coordinator of education at Knoxville Zoological Gardens. I teach the school groups, scouts, homeschool students, and student researchers who come to the Zoo to learn about the natural world.
The Oscar Dyson sits in Kodiak Harbor
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has invited me on board the Oscar Dyson, a research vessel that will be spending the next three weeks researching a fish known as the walleye pollock in Alaska’s Bering Sea. According to NOAA’s website, the pollock made up 56.3% of Alaska’s groundfish catch, easily making it the most caught fish in Alaska’s waters. Pollock is commonly found in imitation crabmeat as well as a variety of fast food fish sandwiches.
The crew of the Oscar Dyson will be studying the population of pollock over the course of the next three weeks. I will be working with Tammy Orilio (another teacher at sea) in processing the catch. Orientation will be on June 11th, and we will set sail on June 12th.
Clouds above Canada
Today (June 10th), however, was mainly a travel day. After waking up at four in the morning, I caught a two-hour flight from Knoxville to Chicago, which was then followed by a six-hour flight to Anchorage. Finally, I had a forty-one minute flight from Anchorage to Kodiak. Cloud cover marred what would have been spectacular scenery, but there were some beautiful views from the aircraft otherwise.
After a quick look at the Oscar Dyson and dinner at the hotel, I went to explore the river running by our hotel. According to several fishermen, Sockeye Salmon are beginning their yearly run upriver. Grizzly Bears, though uncommon this time of year, are also occasionally spotted.
Unknown Large Track
Unfortunately, I did not see bears or salmon, but I did see this track. While faded, it did look suspiciously like the mold of a track back at the zoo.
While I did not see any bears or salmon, I did get lucky in other regards. I saw a beautiful red fox, which moved too quickly to catch on film, and rabbits were in abundance. The scenery was also beautiful.
Wind on a hill shaped these trees
A river in Kodiak
Science and Technology Log
The Science and Technology segment of this blog will begin after the Walleye Pollock Survey aboard the Oscar Dyson begins.
Species Seen
Red Fox
Rabbit
Reader Question(s) of the Day!
The reader question(s) of the day will also begin after the start of the Walleye Pollock Survey aboard the Oscar Dyson. Readers are encouraged to send questions to jnmoelle@knoxville-zoo.org. I will attempt to answer one or more questions in future posts.
