NOAA Teacher at Sea – Page 562 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 2, 2006March 19, 2021

Dena Deck, July 2, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Dena Deck
Onboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai
June 26 – July 30, 2006

Mission: Seabird Survey
Geographical Area: Central Pacific Ocean, Hawaii
Date: July 2, 2006

A Laysan Albatross fledgling practices how to take flight

Science and Technology Log

Early the sun arose, with our group preparing to band Laysan Albatross on Green Island in the ring of Kure Atoll. Cynthia Vanderlip, Dept. of Land and Natural Resources Field Camp Leader along with Jacob Eijzenga a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, and his wife Heather a volunteer, instructed our group in the proper protocol for banding fledgling albatross.

The chicks were hatched in January. Their parents are diligent caregivers, with both doting parents providing endless warmth to their single egg. The caregivers balance the egg on the tops of their feet and tucked in the brood patch to keep it warm. As we walked in single file to the banding area, our path was alive with young albatross fledglings holding wings out that would soon find their way to the sky. The young chicks accepted our group into their flight training area. They seemed to be interested in objects as we set up to band. I set my wide brimmed hat on the ground and set to capture a bird for banding. When I went to recover my hat, one of the inquisitive chicks was playfully pulling at the brightly colored band around my hat.

One of the many "hair-dos" of the Laysan Albatross chicks. We call this one the Abe Lincoln. — One of the many “hair-dos” of the Laysan Albatross chicks. We call this one the Abe Lincoln.

After he lost interest I donned my gloves and began to team up to accomplish the morning’s task. The chick hatchling arrives, and the parents start the long and tedious job of feeding their down covered chick. Both parents contribute countless hours of flight time to collecting meals for their young. Unknowing they will likely return with a gullet full of misplaced plastics that may cause a slow and painful death, providing little nutrients to the young chick. Albatross mortality is higher when the chicks are younger. There are various reasons, one being that they may have lost a parent and aren’t getting enough nutrition or their nest cup is too deep in a shrub that the parent has a hard time relocating them to feed. Albatross chicks also succumb to heat, dehydration or a failure to digest food due to the ingestion of plastics. Parents looking for their chicks in the dense, alien verbesina plants may succumb to the heat, leaving the chick with just one parent to care for it to fledging. Generally, the parents locate their chick by the high-pitched squawking sounds and whining whistles. The chicks do some bill clacking and foot stomping while waiting up to two weeks for food delivery.

The bands are now made of stainless steel, identified by number, and logged with a facility in Maryland. The stainless steel is expected to last at least 40 years, which should provide some good data over a long period of time. In conversation, Cynthia commented to us that maybe the longline fishermen would believe that these birds were of a greater value if someone had taken the time to band them.Each albatross personality is augmented by the down wear off, almost a haircut of sorts. The Abe Lincoln look or the Mohawk cut is fashionable. We laughed as we walked down the old paved airstrip of the island. Cameras were clicking continuously for over two hours of our evening stroll.

Claire practices her technique of bird banding on Green Island

Laysan Albatross are very tame, seemingly heedless. To band you must quickly take your left hand to the bird’s head, while your right hand frames the wings. A gentle hold will keep the bird docile for another team member to band the right leg. The birds need to be held with great care as to not damage the primary and secondary under wing feathers. In some instances, their feathers get a little ruffled, but nothing they can’t shake out easily.

The importance of banding birds helps us understand migration patterns and the longevity of the species. Cynthia believes that the albatross, the largest of the seabirds, live between 40-50 years and possibly even to 60 years old. From previous banding efforts we also now know that Laysan Albatross are a species that mate for life.On this particular day, we successfully banded 93 Laysan albatross. Each bird having its own attitude when the banding was complete. Some walking away unfazed, others lounging aggressively, clapping their beak. The Kure Atoll team plans to band nearly 300 Laysan Albatross this season on this particular area of the island. That way they have a small plot they can track the return of the albatross over time. Before our arrival, they had banded over 2,000 Black-footed Albatross before they fledged. Apparently the Black-footed Albatross are more feisty and put up a bigger fight when getting banded. We weren’t nearly as challenged with the somewhat docile Laysan Albatross.

It is truly an open ocean bird with a mastery of gliding flight. They rarely approach land, only to breed on isolated, remote islands, such as Green Island in Kure Atoll. The fledglings will return in 4 years to the same location or within meters of their original nest cup, which is where they were born. At four years of age albatross are able to mate, but have little success. However, by the age of seven, the success rate increases with viable eggs.

After our banding activity, we pulled out some of the invasive verbesina weeds to clear a “runway” for the fledglings. The greatest joy of this activity was seeing my banded bird attempt to take flight. Somehow it seems right to have a full runway left on Green Island by the Coast Guard in 1992. It serves as “real” flight training site for the albatross.

July 2, 2006March 19, 2021

Jessica Schwarz, July 2, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jessica Schwarz
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
June 19 – July 1, 2006

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Alaska
Date: July 2, 2006

NOAA ship RAINIER, anchored in Islet Passage.

Personal Log

So I survived the trip across the Gulf with only some minor sea sickness and for the last couple days been having an incredible time with the crew of the RAINIER on Kodiak Island. The island is very green and we’ve been so lucky to have beautiful sunny weather.

The NOAA ship FAIRWEATHER, RAINIER’s sister ship, is in port as well. On Friday there was a Change of Command ceremony brining in a new Commanding Officer for FAIRWEATHER. I visited the FAIRWEATHER today and it looks almost identical to RAINIER. Seeing the ships docked side by side is pretty impressive.

Tomorrow I fly home to the Big Island and I just can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. I finally know my way around the ship and now it’s time to leave. I do want to say, as this is my last log, how grateful I am to have had this experience. I have learned an amazing amount on a variety of different subjects and truly feel myself enriched both personally and professionally.

The crew of the RAINIER has been amazing! I can’t thank them enough for welcoming me aboard the ship and letting me hang with them these last couple weeks. Everyone has been extremely generous with their time and has taught me an amazing amount!! I am leaving the RAINIER, having made some great new friendships. I feel sad to be on my way so soon, but very excited to share all that I’ve learned with my students at WHEA.

Thanks again to everyone at NOAA for providing educators with such a unique opportunity to live and work together with NOAA mariners and scientists! It’s been great! I’d just like to know, when can I go again?

Mahalo and Aloha!! Jessica Schwarz

July 1, 2006March 19, 2021

Brenton Burnett, July 1, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Brenton Burnett
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
June 26 – July 6, 2006

Mission: Shark Abundance Survey
Geographical Area: California Coast
Date: July 1, 2006

A hooked pelagic ray swims aside the DAVID STARR JORDAN.

Weather Data from Bridge
Visibility: 10 nautical miles (nm)
Wind direction: 315 degrees
Wind speed: 12 kts
Sea wave height: 1’
Swell wave height: 2-4’
Seawater temperature: 19.6 degrees C
Sea level pressure: 1012.5 mb
Cloud cover: Clear

Science and Technology Log

Today’s first run was sharkless but instead we did catch eight pelagic stingrays. In the afternoon we caught two smaller makos and another ray. As I mentioned yesterday, chimera, skates and rays, and sharks make up Class Chondrichthyes. The chimera are the most ancient grouping of these cartilaginous fish. Later came the skates, rays, and sharks in the Subclass Elasmobranch which make up 96% of the cartilaginous fish species. In general, the rays and skates are characterized by a flattened body with their pectoral fins fully attached to the head. This design is an adaptation to living on the seafloor. Creatures that live here are described as benthic. This lifestyle is in contrast to sea life that lives in the open ocean, which is described as pelagic.

Which of the toy models is a ray and which is a skate? Skates have dorsal fins located near the ends of their tails

The pelagic stingray is the only stingray that is not benthic. This behavior may be a relatively recent occurrence on evolutionary time scales, however, as it retains a number of characteristics best designed tails. Like all skates and rays, their mouths are located under their flattened body. In this position, they can swim along the bottom and suck in prey off the seafloor. I recently witnessed such feeding as I fed a bat ray at SeaWorld last week.

The gills of skates and rays (collectively known as the batoids) are located underneath, or ventral, to the body. When resting on the bottom, water flow through the gills is limited and so obtaining oxygen would be a problem if it weren’t for another feature common in cartilaginous fish, the spiracle. Most sharks also have spiracles, which are small holes on either side of their head. They have a respiratory function. In rays and skates these spiracles are located just behind the eyes up on the top of the head. When the pelagic rays are out of the water, the opening and closing of the spiracles as they breathed was obvious. There are two features most useful in distinguishing a skate from a ray. Most skates have one or two dorsal fins located far back on their tails, and they never have spines that are typical of rays.

The spine of a ray is often toxic and used as a defense by the ray. When the pelagic rays were brought on board, the first priority was the safety of the humans. The spine was snipped or if possible, the ray is placed upside down on foam that ultimately will take a spine “hit” and from then on cover the spine. The toxin of a ray’s spine is not delivered in the way a snake’s fangs might inject its poison. A ray’s spine is serrated and acts like a harpoon or barbed hook, preventing removal in the opposite direction from which it was inserted. The spine of a stingray has serrated edges but is in the form of a mucous that fills two that make it virtually impossible to remove a grooves on the underside of the spine.

The spiracles of a stingray are located just behind the eyes. The spine, sometimes two or three of them, is found near the base of the tail.

A pelagic ray is on the shark platform belly up. Its spine is safely lodged into the foam. A puncture made by the spine that may then be infected by the toxic mucous. Telling shark from batoid is not always easy. The order of sharks known as angel sharks bear resemblance to batoids but their pectoral fins are clearly not fully attached to the head, and their mouths are at the front of the head and not underneath as it is in all rays and skates. Other kinds of sharks and rays that can be confused are the sawshark, which is a shark, and the sawfish, which is a ray. Both have a bizarre flattened snout from which teeth stick laterally, or sideways, outwards. They both have a thicker more sharklike body. Both have two dorsal fins, a set of pectoral fins and a set of pelvic fins. But they are no more closely related than any shark is to any ray. When two different types of animals (or plants, or other living thing) are faced with similar challenges, they can sometimes independently evolve in a way that arrives at a similar solution. Bats, birds and butterflies each independently evolved flight. Triceratops and rhinos evolved head horns. Mako sharks and dolphins evolved sleek torpedo shaped bodies for rapid swimming.

And sawsharks and sawfish have independently evolved a saw shaped snout. Each is believed to use their snout to capture and kill prey. But they also retain their sharkiness Angel sharks are flattened like a ray but their pectoral fins are distinctly unattached from the head. Angel sharks have mouths at the front of the head while all batoids have mouths located ventrally, or under the body. There five known species of sawsharks. They, like most other sharks, have their gill slits on the sides of their head. Also, their pectoral fins are not fully attached to the head. Sawsharks have a pair of barbels coming from the sides of their snouts, giving them a mustachioed appearance. Sawsharks like other sharks have a sensitivity to the electrical disturbances created by moving fish and other prey. Their snout enhances this sensitivity. But the sawfish has no such electrical organ. The sawfish does have pectoral fins that attach fully to the head where the sawshark’s pectoral fins do not. Additionally, the pectoral and pelvic fins of the sawfish are flatter and more flush with the body. And the gills of the sawfish are underneath the head, but they are found on the side of the head on the sawshark. Lastly, another feature that distinguishes the two are the sawshark barbels that stick out from the middles of their snouts like moustaches—sawfish do not have these.

The spine of a stingray has serrated edges that make it virtually impossible to remove a spine by simply pulling it out the way it went in.

I need to address a couple of student questions that I don’t believe I’ve yet answered:

Oxytetracycline (OTC), the dye used to stain the vertebrae for aging studies, is not known to do harm to the shark if given in excess. However, a table of calculated dosages based on length is used because if too much OTC is used, growth layers other than just the present one will also become stained.

The J-hooks typically used are about four inches in length. The shark abundance survey has been going on since 1994, and to maintain consistent and scientifically comparable data, they continue to use these hooks.

Sharks have few enemies in the oceans. They tend to be the top predators in their food webs, but as the vast majority of sharks are less than one meter (three feet) long, they can be come prey for other, larger sharks, or even whales like orca. By far the species that poses the largest threat to them are humans. Mostly humans kill sharks when it is other types of fish that meant to be caught. The shark would then be referred to as “by-catch”. At other times sharks are intentionally caught for their meat or as sport—this is often the case for mako sharks.

Angel sharks are flattened like a ray but their pectoral fins are distinctly unattached from the head.

Sawfish have their gills located underneath their head like all other batoids.

Oxytetracycline is light sensitive, meaning it reacts and breaks down when exposed to enough light. For this reason the bottle is brown and kept in a bag, and loaded syringes are kept inside a glove for ready use.

The J-hook and somewhat smaller circle hook are used for mako and thresher shark lines.

Personal Log

I continue to have a good time here, if not for the sights and sounds but for the people I am working with. Lots of interesting, friendly, and fun-loving folks. And, happily, they have been quite tolerant, and even obliging of me walking around with my video camera catching this and that.

Angel sharks have mouths at the front of the head while all batoids have mouths located ventrally, or under the body.

There five known species of sawsharks. They, like most other sharks, have their gill slits on the sides of their head. Also, their pectoral fins are not fully attached to the head.

Sawsharks have a pair of barbels coming from the sides of their snouts, giving them a mustachioed appearance.

Sawfish have their gills located underneath their head like all other batoids.

Oxytetracycline is light sensitive, meaning it reacts and breaks down when exposed to enough light. For this reason the bottle is brown and kept in a bag, and loaded syringes are kept inside a glove for ready use.

The J-hook and somewhat smaller circle hook are used for mako and thresher shark lines. — The J-hook (right) and somewhat smaller circle hook are used for mako and thresher shark lines.

June 30, 2006March 19, 2021

Brenton Burnett, June 30, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Brenton Burnett
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
June 26 – July 6, 2006

Mission: Shark Abundance Survey
Geographical Area: California Coast
Date: June 30, 2006

Weather Data from Bridge
Visibility: 10 nautical miles (nm)
Wind direction: 250 degrees
Wind speed: 9 kts
Sea wave height: <1
Swell wave height: 1-2’
Seawater temperature: 17.6 degrees C
Sea level pressure: 1015 mb
Cloud cover: Clear

Russ Vetter and Rand Rasmussen position a blue shark so they can measure its length and remove the hook.

Science and Technology Log

Today was a slower day in terms of numbers of sharks—we only caught three. But the mood was good because each of the sharks caught was large enough to accommodate satellite tags. And, we caught one of each species of shark that we anticipate seeing—a blue, a thresher and a mako. The mako was particularly lively giving a good kick as it left the shark trough. Any of the sharks tagged on this trip, or others in the same effort, can be monitored here. On this cruise we have attached SPOT tags to two makos (on Tuesday #60986 and today, #60998), a blue (#60989) and a thresher (#53797). Note: I’m told that all four of these MAY be listed as blues on the website until the website is fully updated, but the tracks of all four sharks should be viewable right now!

All sharks are in the phylum Chordata. They, along with rays and skates, and a strange and even more ancient group of fish called chimera, make up Class Chondrichthyes, which are the fish with skeletons made of cartilage. The only bony material in a shark is its teeth and for this reason very few shark fossils beyond teeth are found. The other classes of chordates are the jawless fishes (hagfish and lamprey), the bony fishes (minnows, mola, cod, seahorses, etc.), amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds.

The goblin shark—perhaps the ugliest shark ever!

Each class is divided up into orders, and there are eight orders of sharks— one order includes the sawsharks, another the whale shark and wobbegong, and another the angelsharks (which have some resemblance to rays). The frilled and cow sharks make up another order, the bullhead sharks another, and there is an order for the dogfish sharks (including the spiny dogfish which might be the most numerous of all shark species—closer to shore, we may hook one). All of these orders are sharks but when people think of sharks they typically envision either mackeral sharks, which include great whites, makos, tigers and threshers, or the ground sharks, which include leopard sharks, hammerheads and blue sharks.

The 16 species of mackeral sharks are among the most specialized of sharks. Many, like the mako, are swift swimmers. Threshers have a tail that is as long as the rest of their body is. It is believed that they use this tail to “corral” fish and then slap the fish to stun them. The goblin shark lives in the dark of the deep and has a strange snout jaw structure that makes it arguably the ugliest shark. The first of these was caught in 1897 near Japan. A scientist there delivered it to Professor David Starr Jordan, for whom the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship we are on is named.

The DAVID STARR JORDAN awaits the return of its Zodiac boat. — The ship awaits the return of its Zodiac boat.

With over 200 species, the ground sharks are the most diverse and varied order of sharks. The blue shark is a generalist living in open waters in nearly all of the world’s oceans. Others, like the catsharks are benthic, or bottom-dwelling. Most are small and harmless but some are the largest of predatory sharks. All of them have what’s called a nictitating eyelid which covers the eyes to protect them as the shark bites.

Personal Log

During today’s afternoon set, we inadvertently lost a buoy that was intended to be clipped to the longline. Fortunately, such a mishap is occasion to let loose the ship’s two engine Zodiac. Myself, Stephanie Snyder (an intern with NOAA), Miguel Olvera, and crewmembers Chico Gomez and David Gothan, set out to retrieve it. The buoy was dropped early in the set so we had to travel a couple miles out. On the way, we briefly saw four molas. Later a sea lion passed by.

An adventure here, an adventure there—the fifth day is as interesting as the first!

June 30, 2006March 18, 2021

Chris Harvey, June 30, 2006

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Chris Harvey
Onboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette
June 5 – July 4, 2006

Mission: Lobster Survey
Geographical Area: Central Pacific Ocean, Hawaii
Date: June 30, 2006

Science and Technology Log

“Finish well.”

-Terry Harvey, my mother

-Larry Harvey, my father

(Strange they both offer the same advice!)

Everyone’s spirits seem to be up this afternoon, for good reason. The work is finally done and we are on our way back to Honolulu! The last two days I have risen from my sleepless sleep before sunrise to drink a cup of tea before work. Recently the sunrises have paled in comparison to the sunsets, and have been followed by an inundation of rain at the same time we were set to begin hauling traps. Yesterday there was lightning and thunder so heavy that some people were actually hesitant to go outside. I cooed a gentle sigh at the sign the thunderstorm, as it was a friendly reminder of summer back home in Jacksonville. It rains hard every day for about an hour around 4-5 in the afternoon, and I usually find a way to curl up in bed and listen to the storm outside. After that, the skies clear and life goes on.

We worked through the rain both mornings. From my position yesterday as a cracker I was forced to wear foul weather gear to keep me warm and dry underneath. Again, images of an orange Gumby come to mind. But it worked and, despite the rain, we finished on time. Today I ran traps between the crackers and the stackers, though I accepted the cool rain as refreshment instead of something to be avoided.

Being on the subject of finishing, I always use the quote, “Finish well” near the beginning of the semester to try to get my kids focused on the idea of completing a task to the best of their ability. I find from my own experience, as my mother constantly reminds me, I have always struggled with the idea of finishing well. Usually I find that the last part of any given task is the hardest. Most commonly, this final segment of work is the cleaning up part. And who likes to clean up anything?

It is fun to start projects. Everyone loves a fresh chance to earn good grades, do well in an athletic season, or learn how to perform well at a new job. But very few of us enjoy finishing a semester that we did not do particularly well in, participating in an athletic event that does not matter whether we win or lose, or finishing up those last two weeks after we have put in notice of quitting a job.

Those tend to be the hardest moments, in my opinion, because our heart is no longer in whatever we are doing. If we are finishing a mediocre semester of school, our mind is either on the break between semesters or on the next semester already. If we are playing in that last sporting event and we have no chance of going into the postseason, we are probably thinking about how much free time we will have available to us or how we will begin preparing for the next season. In quitting one job, most of us would already have our minds set on our next job, or at least be thinking about how to make ends meet in the time between jobs.

So I remind my kids at the very onset of the semester, especially in the fall when they are beginning their first year of high school, to finish well. Although they have four months between the first and last day of class, each day in between contributes to whether or not they finish the semester well. Franklin Covey would tell you to “Begin with the end in Mind.” In either case, it is good to think about how you plan to finish a particular task. If you plan on finishing poorly, what is the point of even beginning the undertaking in the first place?

We are nearing the end of this cruise and have completed most of the hard work. However, there are still three days separating us from land and there are still the tasks of cleaning up and packing. Already I have found myself in denial of the fact that we still have to clean up. Kenji, our chief bosun, blasted an air horn when we hauled in the last buoy. Everyone in the pit let out their own sigh, or scream, of relief at having finished our hauling for the trip, and then cleaned up and went to lunch. I was content to let this cruise be finished, and to take these last three days as the beginning of my summer vacation. Yet as I sat in the galley eating lunch, the sound of my mother’s voice came to my head. “Finish well,” she said.

We have agreed to take the rest of the afternoon off and finish cleaning everything up tomorrow. That is good because no one is in the mood to work now anyway. The sun is finally shining outside and I think I will go take a nap in its rays, listening to my music, and thinking about nothing in particular.