Kathy Schroeder – Page 2 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

May 12, 2010April 6, 2021

Kathy Schroeder, May 12, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathy Schroeder
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 5 – May 18, 2010

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 12, 2010

5/12 Mooring Buoy

Today we launched another type of buoy. It is called a Mooring Buoy. Its height is 5 meters above the surface (pictured on left) and 72 meters below the surface, which ends with a concrete dome that weighs 4110 (pictured on right). You can see the mooring being towed by the ship to get it into the right position. It has a barometer (measures atmospheric pressure), an anemometer (measures wind speed) and a thermometer on the top. There are sensors at different depths that measure salinity, chlorophyll, temperature, pressure, and nitrates.

The information is transmitted to satellite Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (NOAA) that monitors the surface and subsurface of the Bering Sea. This piece of equipment costs $250,000. There are two other moorings already in this location. One measures ocean currents the other measures acoustic plankton. On one it has an underwater rain gauge. Can you figure out what that means? Headed to the Pribilof Islands today. On the way some crew saw sea ice. I’ll be looking! I love reading everyone’s comments. Keep them coming!

May 10, 2010April 6, 2021

Kathy Schroeder, May 10, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathy Schroeder
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 5 – May 18, 2010

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 10, 2010

5/10 Drifter Buoy

Last night I couldn’t sleep. I still saw my glow-in-the-dark alarm clock at 1:15am. I guess I was looking forward to waking up in the middle of the night to deploy the drifter buoy. It was 5am and it was time to go. It was still dark and I put on my float coat, gloves and hardhat. We went to the stern of the ship where it was lightly snowing and set up the drifter. I was able to write on the side of the drifter! 🙂 Key Biscayne Community School is now being represented in the Bering Sea! Of course I drew a Green Sea Turtle for Jonah on the top!A drifter buoy floats on the surface and is tracked by satellite. Some drifters make observations of currents, sea surface temperature, atmospheric pressure, winds and salinity. The ball floats on the surface of the water. It is attached to a wire that is 40 meters long and attached to a holey sock drogue, which looks like a tunnel Jonah would play in. They usually are active for 3-12 months. This particular drifter will just be tracked only by location because we are placing it close to large amounts of larvae pollock to determine where they are headed. Usually they are headed closer to shore. Once I return home I will be able to track it for our science class. We hope to deploy two more on this trip. The water got much rougher tonight. Using two hands to hold on while going up and down the stairs. Headed towards the Pribilof Islands tomorrow.

May 9, 2010April 6, 2021

Kathy Schroeder, May 9, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathy Schroeder
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 5 – May 18, 2010

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 9, 2010

5/9 Finding Jellyfish!

Found three different types of jellyfish yesterday and today. About 10 in total. The largest so far is about the size of the opening on a 5 gallon bucket. Who can figure out how many meters it was? Seas are getting rougher today.

May 8, 2010April 6, 2021

Kathy Schroeder, May 8, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathy Schroeder
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 5 – May 18, 2010

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 8, 2010

CTD Water Samples 5/8

Today I was able to see a different type of equipment deployed. It is called a CTD (conductivity temperature depth). The CTD went down 150 meters. On the metal frame that holds the CTD are 12 water bottles with caps at each end. The frame is lowered with both end caps open.

Once at its depth the end caps are closed to take a water sample. This is then repeated at 5 different depths on its return to the surface. The water is then put into plastic containers of known volume, which are then taken to a filter (about the size of a quarter) that separates the microscopic plants called phytoplankton from the seawater. The filters with the phytoplankton are then frozen in small plastic vials to be sent to a lab in Seattle where they determine how much chlorophyll was on each filter. The amount of chlorophyll tells us how much phytoplankton was in the water at each depth. Another water sample taken from the CTD is to verify the salinity values measured by the CTD. We haven’t found much pollock the last few hauls. We are now finding Pacific cod, and of course krill and arthropods such as copepods, amphipods, barnacle nauplii. Amber spotted a Minke whale this morning. I hope to see one soon!

May 7, 2010April 6, 2021

Kathy Schroeder, May 7, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathy Schroeder
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
May 5 – May 18, 2010

Mission: Fisheries Surveys
Geographical Area: Eastern Bering Sea
Date: May 7, 2010

Bongo Nets

Here are two pictures of the Bongo Nets. I am holding the canister that collects the samples, which is then removed to sort through or store the samples. The other picture shows the two different sizes as it is about to be lowered into the cold water.