NOAA Teacher at Sea – Page 503 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 31, 2007April 1, 2021

Claude Larson, July 31, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Claude Larson
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 23 – August 3, 2007

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey
Geographical Area: North Atlantic Ocean
Date: July 31, 2007

Weather Data from the Bridge
Air Temperature: 17º C
Water Temperature: 18.3º C
Wind Speed: 10.8 knots
Wind Direction: W Latitude: 41 24.54 N Longitude: 66 34.50 W
Cloud Cover: 8/8
Humidity: 100%

Dive Master and Executive Officer Kurt Zegowitz (left) and Commanding Officer Steve Wagner (right) inspect the hull of the ALBATROSS IV prior to setting sail.

Science and Technology Log

NOAA ships are equipped with the necessities for successful scientific research and sea voyages. Much of which goes unnoticed, unless a specific set of circumstances arises. With these capabilities, there is an understanding that not only does the ship have a wealth of material resources, but the ship’s crew has been trained in the operation, maintenance and procedures required for use of all of these devices. One aspect of gear and training I’d like to focus on is this log entry is the SCUBA capabilities on board. I caught up with the ship’s Dive Master and Executive Officer, LCDR Kurt Zegowitz to get a better understanding of what the SCUBA team does on board the ALBATROSS IV.

The ALBATROSS IV SCUBA team also includes crew members Commanding Officer Steve Wagner, Operations Officer ENS Chris Daniels, and Navigation Officers ENS Chad Meckley and ENS Chris Skapin. Their primary responsibility is ship husbandry or taking care of the ship’s hull. To ensure proper operation of the ship the hull must be inspected, usually before each sail. The propeller is checked for line entanglement. The bow thruster, transducers and sea suction intake grates are also cleaned. The sea suction intake grates allow sea water to be brought in to cool the engine as the boat steams along. While in Woods Hole, the crew also helps the aquarium by clearing the intakes for their sea water supply.

Some other aspects of SCUBA team work throughout NOAA include research, sample taking and fish collecting. For example, on research trips off of the Hawaiian Islands scientists will have the divers collect species of fish and other sea creatures for scientific study. In order to collect fish, the divers use a Hawaiian sling and collect the fish in a bag that is attached to their leg and towed behind them at a distance of about 30 feet. This precaution protects the divers in the event that a shark in search of the injured fish is in the area.

NOAA Corps personnel who choose to receive SCUBA training can go to one of two sites, Seattle, Washington or the Florida Keys. The basic training requires three intense weeks of work with SCUBA gear and dives. Upon completion of the training they receive the title of working diver and with increased experience and training can move up to advanced diver, master diver and diving instructor. NOAA divers are required to dive every six weeks and do so in both warm and cold water. They have wet suits for warmer weather and dry suits for colder months.

Now for a quick physics lesson. The SCUBA air tanks are filled with compressed air and weigh approximately 35 pounds when full. Which is quite a lot to tow around on land however, in the water the buoyant force equalizes the weight and the divers can float easily even with the 35 pound weight on their backs. The air lasts for approximately 40 minutes give or take, depending on their rate of breathing and lung capacity. The divers must also wear weight belts to help them stay submerged easily. Some physics here again, the larger you are the more buoyant you are and the leaner you are the less buoyant you are. This means that if you a larger person you will need a heavier weight belt to keep you submerged, whereas a thinner person will only need a small amount of weight. Again, these belts feel like they’d be rather uncomfortable to wear on land, but with the counter force of buoyancy the divers do not feel the weight once they are in the water.

Although modest about his skills, it is obvious that Kurt is an accomplished diver and that he enjoys it thoroughly. SCUBA training has given Kurt opportunities to dive in Hawaii, Alaska, Seattle, New England and the Chesapeake Bay. He’s been up close and nosey with tiger sharks at 80 foot depths and has seen giant kelp beds and coral reefs. Executive Officer LCDR Kurt Zegowitz encourages anyone from the Corps who is interested in becoming SCUBA certified to go through training with NOAA.

July 30, 2007April 1, 2021

Susie Hill, July 30, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Susie Hill
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 23 – August 3, 2007

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey
Geographical Area: North Atlantic Ocean
Date: July 30, 2007

Weather Data from the Bridge
Air Temperature: 17.5° C
Sea Temperature: 18.6° C
Relative Humidity: 100 %
Barometric Pressure: 1014.8 millibars
Wind Speed: 3.62 knots
Water Depth: 65.3 meters
Conductivity: 43.45 mmhos
Salinity: 32.03 ppt

Science and Technology Log

I can’t believe it’s already been a week already since we left from Woods Hole, MA. I’m still getting a hang of the time schedule, but it’s working out okay. The weather has been beautiful. The staff is great—I’ve learned so much from them. The food is delicious, too! Today’s focus will be on the dredge. This is a metal frame with a metal ringed and meshed net that we use to dredge or scoop the sea bottom in hopes of finding our prize catch, sea scallops. The bag is about 8 feet wide with 2” rings and mesh netting. The mesh netting, called a liner, is in the dredge to ensure catching of the smaller scallops as well as the other species that coexist with the scallops. The dredge is lifted, put into the water, and dragged using a motorized gantry with a block and tackle system. The dredge is towed for 15 minutes at each station. The depths for this trip have been ranging from 29 meters to 112 meters. Sea Scallop dredge surveys have been conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Services since 1975.

July 30, 2007April 1, 2021

Elizabeth Eubanks, July 30, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elizabeth Eubanks
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
July 22 – August 3, 2007

Mission: Relative Shark Abundance Survey and J vs. Circle Hook Comparison
Geographical Area: Pacific Ocean, West of San Diego
Date: July 30, 2007

Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: 10 miles
Air temperature: 20.0 degrees C
Sea Temperature at 1,000m: -No CTD test tonight
Sea Temperature at surface: 19.8 degrees C
Wind Direction: 270 W
Wind Speed: 11 kts
Cloud cover: Clear –very cloudy, stratus, cumulus
Sea Level Pressure: 1011.9 MB
Sea Wave Height: 2 ft
Swell Wave Height: <1 ft

Science and Technology Log

Today as my early shift which means I was up and on deck by 5:45 am. The morning was beautiful. I got to clip the gangion with line, hook and bait onto the long line. This has the potential to be a very stressful job, if it is really windy or there are large waves. I have avoided this job, for fear I would get tangled and go over board or miss the long line and drop the baited line, miss the space to clip my gangion or get the alternating Circles and J’s messed up. Lots to remember. But when Dr. Kohin asked me to do it, of course I said “sure”. And guess what nothing bad really happened. I didn’t wreck the whole survey or anything! The long line has little bolt like things on it with a space between where you are supposed to clip the gangion. It can be tricky to clip them on, because the long line is moving out past you to the sea. I did miss two, but it wasn’t a huge disaster. The circles got a little knotted in the basket so there was nothing that could be done about keeping those in order, it was more important to get bait on the hooks, but later we added a few extra circles to keep the data on target and even.

Gangion clip attached to 20 foot line with hook (Circle or J) and Pacific Mackerel bait.

Funny, I actually found it to be my favorite job. It was exciting and challenging and keeps your attention. Of course it was a calm day so it wasn’t as stressful as it could’ve been. The hardest thing about clipping this morning was to resist running to get my camera. The sun magnificently peaked through the clouds as a bright pinkish red ball at 6:30 am . The ocean was alive with visible life as sea gulls circled, and dolphins and seals splashed in the water. I worked on de-meating shark jaws for a while, which is tedious but fun. Their teeth are so plentiful and sharp. Fours hours later we hauled the line and had four Mako Sharks. Not the best set, but not the worst either!

Heather Marshall, grad student from U Mass. of Dartmouth on the phone with her mother. Too bad she couldn’t talk to her boyfriend, but he had just boarded a research vessel studying northern shrimp out of Maine for Massachusetts. — Heather Marshall, grad student from U Mass. of Dartmouth on the phone with her mother. Too bad she couldn’t talk to her boyfriend, but he had just boarded a research vessel studying northern shrimp out of Maine

Personal Log

We arrived near Avalon, which is on Santa Catalina Island, California at 3:30pm. As soon as we got close to it people started to pull out their cell phones. I have to admit that as wonderful and adorable that Avalon was the best part was talking to Rob, my mom, Jim, Bob and Sue. Telephones are not a luxury that we have on this ship. I am sure I wasn’t the only one that felt this way, because every time I turned around either on the ship or on Avalon, people were on their phones. In fact even down to the last minute while the ship was pulling away from civilization, people were still making one last call to their loved ones.

“26 miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a waiting for me” – old tune from the 50’s – Who is the artist?

Santa Catalina Island is about 25 miles long and 26 miles off of the west coast of California. To get there from the mainland you take a Ferry from Long Beach, which is south west of Los Angeles. You need special permission to bring a car. We were in a town called Avalon, it is located in the south eastern part of the island. The Wrigley’s, as in Wrigley’s gum family use to own a lot of the Island, but some years ago donated most of it to the state, the Nature Conservancy and to the University of Southern California. Many organizations such as the Boy Scouts use some of the areas and are allowed to continue providing they take care of it. Avalon was very popular back in the day. During the big band swing era in the 50’s musicians like Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey would come place at the Casino which is really a Ballroom. It is a quaint little town with electric cars, buses and golf carts driving all about. Rarely do you see a typical car. There are lots of shops and cute places to eat.

Harbor at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California. The former Wrigley house is the one that sits highest on the mountain in the photo.

We were brought over to the island on Zodiacs, a small rubber watercraft and stayed for 2 or so hours. A group of us wandered around, while some swam and others ate. It was such an unexpected bonus and so nice to be in a town. About an hour or so after we arrived I was interviewing Charlie with my camcorder and as I looked at the screen I noticed I was rocking – okay so I felt like I was rocking! I didn’t expect this. When I told Ann Coleman who was an experienced scientist at sea, she said it was common and said the strangest would be when I get home and take a shower, especially when I close my eyes and when I go to bed. I will see how that goes.

Question of the Day

Why do you think it is important to throw the fish and the line overboard before you clip the gangion onto the long line?

Question of the trip: Which hook, the J or Circle, will catch more sharks?

Please make a hypothesis. Utilize resources to justify your hypothesis. ———Yes, you get extra credit for this.

July 28, 2007April 1, 2021

Susie Hill, July 28, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Susie Hill
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 23 – August 3, 2007

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey
Geographical Area: North Atlantic Ocean
Date: July 28, 2007

Here I am measuring a skate using the FSCS system.

Weather Data from the Bridge
Air Temperature: 21.4° C
Sea Temperature: 19° C
Relative Humidity: 100%
Barometric Pressure: 1013.6 millibars
Wind Speed: 10.78 knots
Water Depth: 62.4 meters
Conductivity: 44.76 mmhos
Salinity: 32.58 ppt

Science and Technology Log

I am completely exhausted! We had about 12-14 stations almost back to back last night. Down on your knees picking through the sort to find scallops and fish to back bending of lifting up full baskets and cleaning the deck, I’m tired. It was loads of fun, though. We went from collections of sand dollars to big scallops, quahogs (clams), flounders, big sea stars, and sticky, slimy skates. When the scallops, flounders and skates come in, we weigh them on a scale and then measure their length and count them using the Fisheries Scientific Computer System (FSCS). It’s pretty cool how it works. You lay the species on the electronic board, and it gets measured by us using a magnetic stick to mark it. Once marked, the measurement goes right into the computer as well as counts it. One station, we counted 788 scallops! That is a lot, but they say there’s more where that came from!

July 28, 2007April 1, 2021

Elizabeth Eubanks, July 28, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elizabeth Eubanks
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
July 22 – August 3, 2007

Mission: Relative Shark Abundance Survey and J vs. Circle Hook Comparison
Geographical Area: Pacific Ocean, West of San Diego
Date: July 28, 2007

Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: 10 miles
Air temperature: 19.0 degrees C
Sea Temperature at 5000m: 6 degrees C; Sea Temperature at surface: 20.3 degrees C
Wind Direction: 270 W
Wind Speed: 16 kts
Cloud cover: clear –some cumulus, cirrus
Sea Level Pressure: 1013.7 mb
Sea Wave Height: 1-2 ft
Swell Wave Height: 2 ft

Science and Technology Log

The mortality (death) rate has spiked a little – very sad. We brought in a Blue shark last night that had evertted (thrown up) its stomach. Sometimes sharks do this when they eat something bad, like a hook. Most times they just suck it back up. It isn’t a common thing to happen and obviously it is a last extreme measure to feel better. It is probably dangerous to throw up your stomach when you have all of those teeth it needs to get passed to leave your mouth. When the scientists first saw the shark, they said it would be okay. We were all hopeful, but by the time it got on the ship it had died. Of course as always when there is a mortality, paper work is filled out and researchers use so much of the shark, so that is the good part.

Bedrooms on board the DAVID STARR JORDAN -mine is the bottom bunk

Personal Log

Simplify, Simplify. -Henry David Thoreau

One “simplify” would have sufficed. –Ralph Waldo Emerson, in response

Life on this ship is simple. I have not looked in full length mirror since I boarded. Actually I haven’t seen myself too much below my chest even. Well, a couple of times in a photograph I saw my full body. Makeup, jewelry, matching clothing, high fashion, hats, they just aren’t important out here. In fact I did boycott the hats for a few days, because ever since I shaved my head I felt like I looked funny in a hat – like a boy. Oh well, too bad. It is so sunny out here so I need to wear my floppy hat to protect my skin. I need to wear Rob’s knit hat, because it gets equally as cold. My shirt sleeves smell fishy some of the time. But instead of washing the whole shirt, I was the sleeves. Quite often I sleep in the clothes – hat and all I wore all day if they aren’t dirty, because for some reason it is so chilly in my room. I live in the same clothes day after day if they don’t smell fishy. We eat what we are fed and get called to eat by an extremely loud bell. We sleep in small, simple bed. I washed a batch of clothes yesterday – sheets included. It all went in one load and took me about 5 minutes to put away.

We work at certain hours and relax or help out, read or wander about the ship, watching the ocean for creatures. We aren’t at the grocery store choosing what food to buy or shopping at a mall. We aren’t talking on the phone or watching a whole lot of TV, we do have to pick movies sometimes though (500 choices – now that is complicated). Dovi, one of the Doctoral students did not take a shower or change his clothes until yesterday (mid trip). I didn’t get too close to him, but didn’t notice him smelling from a distance. Simple life. I imagine the most extravagant thing about living on this ship is the fancy food we get to eat and the huge choice of movies—and the no-brainer—being in contact with sharks. Of course I am definitely putting some time into my hobby – photography and boy have I got thousands of interesting shots. I like it. I can easily see how people make this life style a permanent one. The hardest thing about it is missing your family and I do miss Rob and Hooch! Now my goal is to bring parts of this life style with me when I return to land, that will be the challenge and goal! How is your life simple and how is complicated?

Question of the Day

Make a list of things that complicate your life. Make a list of things that simplify your life.

Question of the trip: Which hook, the J or Circle, will catch more sharks?

Please make a hypothesis. Utilize resources to justify your hypothesis. ———Yes, you get extra credit for this.