NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

Justin Garritt: I Came, We Fished, I Learned. . . 2 Amazing Weeks Aboard Shimada: September 14, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Justin Garritt
NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada
September 1-14, 2018

Mission: End of Hake Research

Geographical area of cruise: Seattle, Washington to Newport, Oregon

Date: September 11-14, 2018: Day 11-14

Location: Off the coast of Newport, Oregon. End of research cruise.

IMG_E1260[1]

Throughout my life there have been moments when I recognize I am in the presence of something truly unique and special. Moments when I realize just how beautiful our planet can be. Moments I know will be engraved in my brain as life passes by. Hiking Zion National Park, night boat riding down the beautiful Saint Lawrence Seaway in the heart of the Thousands Islands, the view on top of Whiteface Ski Mountain, climbing the mountain islands in Greece, landing a helicopter on an Alaskan glacier, gigantic waves crashing in on an empty Puerto Rican beach with nothing but the moon in sight, taking a train ride up the gigantic Alps, and color of the fall leaves over the Castleton University skyline in Vermont are just a few of those moments I have been so privileged to have experienced in my short life. Monday evening, I got to add another new nature wonderland experience aboard the NOAA Bell M Shimada.

It was 5:15pm and I was eating a terrific dinner when one of the scientists came in the galley to tell us fishing was on hold because of the abundance of marine wildlife that was surrounding our ship. I immediately ran upstairs to check it out. When I stepped in the bridge (command room of the ship) the first thing I noticed was the beautiful blue skies with a touch of clouds and the sun that set the stage for the spectacle. My ears rang with the crashing waves against the boat and seagulls squawking in the background. As I looked over the side of the boat there were two pairs of dolphins synchronized swimming all around the ship. After a few minutes, three California sea lions came floating by on their backs waving at the passing ship. Another minute later, the dolphins came back for their encore followed by a spray of a Humpback whale spouting directly behind it. As the whale came closer it swam gracefully in an up and down pattern until it bent its massive dinosaur-like body down followed by its tail flipping over as it took a deep dive below the surface. As soon as the whale took the dive another pair of sea lions came floating by smiling as they took in the heat of the sun. Before I could look again, a Pelagic Cormorant landed directly in front of me on the ship. Right after I took a picture of that I looked up and saw at least fifteen spouts surrounding the ship like a spectator would see at the Bellagio Hotel light show in Las Vegas. For the next hour whale after whale surfaced, spouted, and even breached behind the beautiful blue sky backdrop. No matter where I looked I was seeing whales grace our presence. No camera could capture the magic of that hour as I ran from side to side on the viewing tower above the bridge to soak in as much of this experience as possible. I was in awe at the majesty of the sea creatures. As the ship made its way through the evening and to sunset, the whales slowly trickled off beyond sight as the sun came down in the background. Hope that future generations can experience this beauty for centuries to come.

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The reality is the ever growing world’s population consumes large amounts of fish. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states that in 2016, the global seafood trade was worth $140 billion. In the US it is estimated that 1.5 million people are employed by the fishing industry. That is a lot of communities and families that rely on the resources in our water systems. Throughout the week I learned that so much of the work of NOAA is not limiting the growth and catch of our fishermen/fisherwomen, but it is to ensure there is a fish population to catch and future generations can experience what I was able to experience these past two weeks. Part of NOAA’s mission is to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. Having the most high tech equipment constantly being researched to seek improvements mixed with “ground truthing (catching and surveying)” to analyze different species is crucial for the future of the world’s fisheries.

Two weeks ago I wrote about the main goals for this research cruise. The first was to gather data to study the impact of the US 32mm net liners and the CANADIAN 7mm net liners. The second was to compare the old acoustic equipment called the EK60 with the new equipment called the EK80. Throughout the last two legs of the trip, scientists have gathered data and will be working on analyzing it over the coming months to make better conclusions on these goals. The vision is for someday to reduce the number of surveying trawls needed to determine the population of fish, and instead, use this highly advanced acoustics equipment instead. If those ships are filled with as curious, hardworking, and focused people as the people I met on this ship, I am confident we will be able to obtain this goal in the future.

Here are some pictures from the final 3 days of fishing and exploring the ship:

Hake are present. . . it’s go time!

Another pile of krill (the hake eat these)

Jellyfish

Holding a Big Squid

Sturgeon poacher

Myctophids

Rockfish being caught in the net onscreen

A large catch of hake

A Big Squid

Scientists analyzing the Big Squid

Super Chu

Myctophid x-ray

Spiny dogfish shark

A Big Squid

Spiny dogfish shark

Bringing my experience back to the classroom:

Throughout the past two weeks I constantly thought about how I can bring my experience back to my students in Baltimore. My students receive half the amount of hours of science instructional time than math and reading. After much reflection I decided to use the same core standards we are obligated to teach but begin rewriting most of the 6th grade statistics unit. At the start of the unit I will begin with the purpose of NOAA, pictures of my trip, and exciting stories from my adventure. From there I will have investment in the subject from my students which will allow me to dive in to applying data collected at sea to find: mean, mode, range, variability, mean absolute deviation (MAD), and interquartile range (IQR). We will also be able to use real live data to create histograms, frequency tables, box and whisker plots, and dot plots. I believe it will be exciting for them to have the opportunity to apply required statistical concepts to learning how NOAA (along with others) survey our fish population so species will survive for generations to come. It will also make our school’s 6th grade teacher, Mr. Davis, very happy!

My view while lesson planning

rfgfg — An example of my change in classroom instructional materials to teach Box Plots with data from the research cruise.

At any given moment, there are thousands of NOAA employees studying our environment across the globe. I had the honor of sailing with incredibly intelligent and hardworking people who are dedicated to the mission. From them, I learned so many valuable things that I will carry with me as I disembark on Friday.

Chief Scientist, Rebecca Thomas was an excellent manager/role model. She taught me that leading through kindness, support, trusting others, and giving people rest will produce better and more accurate results than pushing people past their limitation.

Chief Scientist Rebecca Thomas

Scientist Steve de Bluis encouraged me to maintain a hobby outside of work that you love. Steve loves to fly planes and dive and talked about these trips all the time. You can tell how much joy it has brought him and how excited he is to continue to dive well into his retirement in a few years. He was also a BEAST in the wet lab!

Roommate and Future Scientist Charlie Donahue taught me the importance of accuracy over speed. He constantly pushed me to be sure the data we were collecting was as accurate as possible. He never let speed and efficiency take away from quality. For those of you who know me, this is certainly an important push for me!

Scientist John Pohl taught me about supporting newcomers. He was the first guy I met aboard and always spent time breaking down complicated science topics for me.

IMG_1086[1] — Scientist John Pohl analyzes the depth of the net vs. the acoustic picture on his screen

Scientist Melanie Johnson taught me about working through chaos with calmness. She has been on both commercial and scientific ships and constantly kept calm during any situation that arose.

Scientist Dezhang Chu (Super Chu) taught me about focus. No matter what was going on “Super Chu” always kept a clear view of his own goals and purpose aboard and stayed focused on the prize. Chu was also super hard working and was in the acoustics lab at 6:30am when I went to the gym and still in on his computer analyzing data from the day when I returned from yoga at 10pm. I think he could even give KIPP Ujima Resident-Principal Reese a run for it in terms of work ethic!

Super Chu and I

Super Chu

Volunteer Scientist Heather Rippman taught me about service and life-long learning. Heather commits herself to volunteering for important science missions across the country. After leaving an executive position with Nike, she now travels and volunteers to learn all she can about marine science and give back to the marine science community. She shared so much knowledge with me and was the first person to teach me how to dissect hake.

Master Chef Arnold Dones reminded me about the power of food bringing people together. At exactly 7am, 11am, and 5pm, roughly 40 people from all over the country with all types of jobs aboard came together to feast. Arnold made that happen because of the pride he takes in his craft.

Chef Arnold

Chief Engineer Sabrina Taraboletti spent 3 hours with me on our last day to show me the massive engine room. She explained what every piece of equipment does below deck. I learned the science behind creating freshwater from sea water. I learned the regulations behind sewer and contaminants. The best part was climbing to the bottom of the ship and watching the shaft that makes the propeller turn move. Her team of engineers barely see daylight and work long hours to make sure the ship moves safely and all the amenities and scientific research equipment works flawlessly. She keeps the morale of her team high, keeps an impressively organized work space that is approximately the size of over a dozen typical garages, and is one of the most knowledgeable professionals I ever crossed paths with.

Sabrina teaching me about controlling the generators for the engines

The 2nd of 4 generators

Heather and I in the engine room

How to apply for the Teacher At Sea Program:

Ms. Ellmauer is a 25 year veteran science teacher from my hometown of Liberty, NY. She was also my high school ski coach. She has been following my blog and reached out about information on how to apply. I am humbled to see so many teachers and school officials reading my blog from across the country so I thought I would pass on the website with information about the program and how to apply for this once in a lifetime experience. Please reach out to me at JAGarritt@gmail.com if you have any questions.

https://teacheratsea.noaa.gov/#/home/

Tomorrow we pull in to Newport, Oregon, and the research cruise will come to an end. Thank you to the nearly one-thousand readers who have been following my journey. I am grateful for your support.

Good bye for now, until I hopefully sail again a part of the NOAA Teacher At Sea Alumni Program,

Justin

September 13, 2018October 4, 2018

Mark Van Arsdale: What Makes Up an Ecosystem? Part I – Chemistry, September 13, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Mark Van Arsdale

Aboard R/V Tiglax

September 11 – 26, 2018

Mission: Long Term Ecological Monitoring

Geographic Area of Cruise: North Gulf of Alaska

Date: September 13, 2018

Weather Data from the Bridge

Clear skies, variable winds, swell 4-6 ft

59.58 N, 148.38 W (Gulf of Alaska Line)

Science Log

What Makes Up an Ecosystem? Part I Chemistry

CTD (water chemistry) data visualized along the Gulf of Alaska Line.

The scientists aboard this ship are trying to understand the working parts of the North Gulf of Alaska ecosystem. Since Descartes, the western approach to science has required that the understanding of complex systems begin with the reduction of a system it to its simpler working parts. For example, to understand the clock, you must take it apart and try to understand the mechanism of each piece separately. The Gulf of Alaska is huge, and its ecosystem is both highly complex and highly variable. Changes take place because of weather, season, and climactic regime. Nonetheless, the first step to understanding it is to understand its chemistry.

The CTD gets dropped or “cast” at each station. On this boat, that means four people shoving it out the back door while trying not to fall out themselves. There is more than $100,000 worth of equipment attached to the CTD Rosette and there is a moment in each cast where the CTD swings precariously before the winch lowers it down into the water. When the CTD comes back up, all of that data is run through a computer and it paints a picture of what conditions are like at depth.

Inside the "van" where water samples are processed for trace medals — Inside the “van” where water samples are processed for trace medals

CTD stands for conductivity, temperature, depth. In reality, it tests for those things plus salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, pressure, and florescence (which is a measurement of the chlorophyll in phytoplankton). The CTD also has a camera onboard that takes gray-scale images of particles and plankton in the water column as it goes down. Most of our CTD “casts” are showing a water column that is highly stratified, with a surface layer that is relative warm (34^o Celsius), lower salinity, and a chlorophyll maximum around twenty meters. The CTD shows a thermocline (rapid change in temperature) around fifty meters. Below that, the water is colder and has a higher salinity, both of which results in water with a higher density. The density differences between these two layers make it so that they don’t easily mix. The stratification effect had been intensified by the recent stretch of sunny weather and light winds. Stratification by density “traps” phytoplankton at the surface in waters ideal for photosynthesis except that in September, the availability of nutrients needed for growth is quite low. Nitrates, nitrites, and silica have been used up by growing phytoplankton earlier in the summer and their absence now limits growth.

Catch from a Multi-net, mostly small euphausiids (krill)

We have scientists on board measuring the surface waters for trace metals – iron in particular. It’s a common joke on board that the smaller the subject you study, the greater the equipment needs. Whale watchers just need binoculars but the chemists have their own lab set up inside a twenty-foot shipping container or “van” strapped to the top deck. The metals team drags a missile shaped device along the side of the boat known as an “iron fish.” The iron fish, is connected to a long plastic tube and pump that provides them a constant stream of surface water. Samples are continuously collected and frozen for later analysis back in Fairbanks. Months of work will be required to process all of the samples collected on this trip.

Our plankton catches were much less variable last night. The Multi-net caught almost exclusively small euphausiids (krill.) The Methot net caught four kinds of jellies, including one moon jelly that the jelly expert was very excited about – perhaps a species not described in Alaska before. The Methot net also caught a lot of small fishes swimming at the surface. One of which was the three-spine stickleback. This was exciting for me because the three-spine stickleback is a species we use in my AP Biology class as an easy to understand and highly local example of natural selection. The three-spine stickleback is a small fish, around 1 inch in size, found in both fresh and saltwater. In saltwater, they have three large spines that discourage predators from eating them. Out here in the ocean, the spines give the fish a selective advantage. During the last ice age, some sticklebacks were trapped in fresh water ponds and lakes in South Central Alaska. There, they underwent a change. The spines which were such a great defense in the ocean were a disadvantage to them in freshwater. Aggressive dragonfly larva use the spines like handles to grab the small fish and eat them. Over time there was a selective advantage to have smaller spines, and today freshwater sticklebacks have greatly reduced pelvic spines as compared to their saltwater cousins. Natural selection did not design a better fish, it simply picked which variants were more likely to survive and reproduce in its environment.

Personal Log

Cetacean acoustic recording buoy recovered by the Tiglax.

My second night shift was not any easier, but it was more pleasant. Just before sunset, we took a slight detour from our transect line to recovery a buoy for a scientist from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. An acoustic recorder, designed to count whales by their unique calls, it had been deployed a year earlier in 900 meters of water. The crew had onboard a device that would talk to the buoy and signal it to release from its mooring. It took about a half an hour, but eventually there we saw it bobbing at the surface. Luckily the seas were pretty calm, and we were able to pull it through the side door.

The seas and weather continue to be excellent. Last night we were treated to a display of the aurora around 3:30 AM. It was so calm and so quiet that at one point, we could hear whales breathing around us. Both served as distractions to the routine of net deployment, net retrieval, sample containment, repeat.

As we traveled the ten nautical miles between stations, the flood lights on the front deck were turned off and I would sit down to watch the stars. To ancient mariners, the clear night sky was a map that could direct you across an ocean. It made me think of the Polynesian navigators tracking their small canoes across the Pacific. It also made me think about Ptolemy, who thought the Earth was encased in a perfect glass sphere with stars painted along its interior. I could see how you would think of such a sky as art.

Did You Know?

Did you know the Earth is round? It seems silly to have to say, but as a science teacher, the battle against the fantasies and fallacies of the Internet are never ending. Last year was the first year in twenty-one years of teaching that I was challenged by a student to prove to him that the Earth is round, and it happened twice. So here goes. On a boat in the Gulf of Alaska on a clear day, you know the Earth is round because as you move slowly away from the mountains, they disappear from the bottom up. By the end of the day we had traveled far enough from shore that we saw just the snow-covered tips of mountain peaks.

Sunset, it must be time to go to work. — Sunset with the mountains receding in the background, it must be time to go to work.

Animals Seen Today

Dall porpoise
Lots of seabirds including black-footed and Laysan albatross, sooty shearwater, puffins and fulmars.

September 13, 2018

Ashley Cosme: Special Situation Lights, September 11, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Ashley Cosme

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

August 31 – September 14, 2018

Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Longline Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico

Date: September 11, 2018

Weather data from the Bridge:

Latitude: 28 40.5N
Longitude: 91 08.5W
Wind speed: 22 Knots
Wind direction: 080 (East)
Sky cover: Scattered
Visibility: 10 miles
Barometric pressure: 1014.5 atm
Sea wave height: 3-4 feet
Sea Water Temp: 29.9°C
Dry Bulb: 25.9°C
Wet Blub: 24.6°C

Science and Technology:

When NOAA Corps officers go through training they learn a poem to help them remember how to identify Special Situation Lights on other vessels.

Red over green, sailing machine.

Red over white, fishing boat in sight.

Green over white, trawling at night.

White over red, pilot ahead.

Red over red, captain is dead.

The mast of the Oregon II is identified by the arrow.

When driving a vessel like the Oregon II it is always important to have the ability to analyze the radar, locate other vessels in the water, and determine their current situation by reading their mast lights. Line 1 of the poem describes a vessel that is currently sailing by use of wind without the use of an engine, line 2 describes a boat engaged in fishing operations, line 3 indicates that the vessel is currently trawling a net behind the boat, line 4 indicates that the vessel is a pilot boat (a boat containing a pilot, who helps guide larger tanker and cargo ships into harbors), and line 5 of the poem is used for a situation when the vessel is not operating properly and other vessels should steer clear.

Personal Log:

There are currently three named storms in the Atlantic, including a category 4 hurricane (Florence) that is headed towards the Carolinas. I have never experienced a bad storm while out on the water. The waves the last 24 hours have ranged from 3-5 feet, with an occasional 8 foot wave. We have changed our port call location and will now be going back to Pascagoula, Mississippi instead of Galveston, Texas. There was also no internet for part of the day so my team and I sat in the dry lab and told ghost stories. I was also introduced to the “dinosaur game” in Google Chrome, which is sort of like a low budget Mario. Apparently it is the dinosaur’s birthday so he is wearing a birthday hat.

I am still making the most of every minute that I am out here. Our last haulback was very active with many large blacktip sharks. It is a workout trying to handle the sharks on deck, while collecting all required data, and getting them back in the water as fast as possible. I am loving every second!

Did you know:

Sharks possess dermal denticles (skin teeth) that makes their skin feel rough when running your hand tail to nose. Shark skin used to be used as sandpaper before it was commercially manufactured. It can also give you shark burn, which is sort of like a rug burn, if the shark brushes up against you.

Animals Seen:

Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae)

Blacknose Shark (Carcharhinus acronotus)

Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Flying Fish (Exocoetus peruvianus)

Gafftopsail Catfish (Bagre marinus)

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuate)

Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus)

Spinner Shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna)

Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)

September 13, 2018October 4, 2018

Mark Van Arsdale: Night Work, September 12, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Mark Van Arsdale

Aboard R/V Tiglax

September 11 – 26, 2018

Mission: Long Term Ecological Monitoring

Geographic Area of Cruise: North Gulf of Alaska

Date: September 12, 2018

Weather Data from the Bridge

Partially Cloudy, Variable Winds, Seas to 3ft

59.43 N, 149.21 W (Gulf of Alaska Line)

Science Log

Night Work

Most of day one was spent loading, sorting, unpacking, and storing gear. Scientists do not travel light. There were more action packers on board than I have ever seen in once place. At midday, we had a safety training, which consisted of learning how to put on a survival suit and how to use the coffee machine without flooding the galley. For night work, I was assigned a mustang float coat, a water activated flash light, and satellite locator, so that they could find my body if I went overboard.

After dinner, work shifted to putting together various nets and the CTD which I will describe in more detail later. We got underway at about 8:00 PM, just as the sun was setting. I slept for an hour and was woken at 10:30 to begin my shift doing zooplankton tows.

The first tow uses a Methot net, which is a large square steel frame attached by d-rings to a heavy mesh net, ten meters long. The net ends in a plastic sieve tube called a “cod end” that keeps any jellies from escaping. The net is quite heavy, and it takes four of us to guide it as a crane raises it off of the deck and then lowers it over the side. The net is dragged at the surface for twenty minutes. In the darkness of night, it glows slightly green as ctenophores and other bioluminescent jellies smash into it.

Dave demonstrating the proper technique for putting on a survival suit

After the Methot net is retrieved and secured on deck, we leave the collected jellies for a few minutes to go deploy the next net, called a Multi-net. The Multi-net is a steel box about the size of a dishwasher with a funnel entrance and five separate fine-mesh nets hanging off of the back. The net also has a heavy “fish fin” that acts to drag it down and keep it moving straight. The four of us work the net to the edge of the boat, open the back gate, and use two winches to lower it overboard. Once in the water and if the bottom depth allows it, the Multi-net gets dropped to a depth of two hundred meters and the first net is opened. The Multi-net allows you to “carve up the water column.” Each net can be triggered remotely to open and collect a horizontal sample of zooplankton at a specific depth. The electronics also allow you to measure how much water volume flows through the net. Each net is about two meters long, made of a fine mesh that funnels plankton into a soft sieve or “cod end”. While the Multi-net is “fishing,” we sort, classify, and measure the jellies collected in the Methot net tow.

The Seward Line Transect is made up of fifteen stops or stations. Each one designated as GAK1, GAK2, etc. Once we finish sampling a station, the boat speeds up and drives us ten nautical miles to the next station. Last night we managed to sample four stations, finishing the last one just as the sun rose around 7:00 AM. When daylight comes, the Tiglax makes its way back to the place the night shift began. All of the day-time sampling has to be done at each of the stations we sampled the night before. The day-time sampling uses different tools, the main tool being the CTD Rosette Sampler. The Rosette is a steel cage with water collecting “Niskin Bottles” and lots of other instrumentation strapped into the cage. There are fifteen bottles and each is triggered by computer to close at a specific depth. This allows the scientists on board to measure a variety of physical and chemical properties of the water at depth.

Personal Log

The night shift was surprisingly dark. That may sound obvious, but after a long Alaskan summer, with campfires and hikes that often went past midnight in perfect daylight, dark is an adjustment. The night was beautiful and warm, but the work of deploying and retrieving nets was tedious and physical. By morning I was exhausted, but I was reminded repeatedly that there are no cutting corners. No matter how tired you get, each sample needs to be meticulously cared for.

After the sun came up, I forced myself to eat some breakfast and then I fell in bed for a hard sleep. I could only stay there for a couple hours before my well-trained, morning-self wanted to greet the day. The day was flawless, picture-perfect, sunny and calm, the kind of days you don’t often seen in the stormy Gulf of Alaska.

Animals Seen Today

Dall Porpoise
Lots of seabirds, including black-legged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants, and sooty and flesh-footed shearwaters.

Shearwater taking off, photo credit Callie Gesmundo

September 12, 2018

Ashley Cosme: Otoliths, Ice Cream, and Annabelle – September 9, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Ashley Cosme

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

August 31 – September 14, 2018

Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Longline Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico

Date: September 9, 2018

Weather data from the Bridge:

Latitude: 28 08.58N
Longitude: 92 24.27W
Wind speed: 8.66 Knots
Wind direction: 143 (from Southeast)
Sky cover: Scattered
Visibility: 10 miles
Barometric pressure: 1011.96 atm
Sea wave height: 0-0.5 feet
Sea Water Temp: 30.4°C
Dry Bulb: 28.7°C
Wet Bulb: 25.4°C

Science and Technology Log:

In addition to collecting data on the many species of sharks in the Gulf of Mexico, this survey also collects data that will go towards assessing the population of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus). One piece of evidence that is collected from the red snapper is their two distinct otoliths. Otoliths are structures that are used for balance and orientation in bony fish. One fascinating characteristic of the otolith is that they contain natural growth rings that researchers can count in order to determine the age of the fish. This information is important for stock assessment of the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

Otoliths from a red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus)

Personal Log:

I would have to say that the hardest part about being out at sea is not being able to see Coral and Kai. I miss them so much and think about them nonstop. Coral is at a very curious stage in her life (I hope the curiosity stays with her forever) and I cannot wait to get home and tell her about all the animals that I have been lucky enough to witness on this adventure. Kai is just the sweetest little boy and I can only imagine the way he will react when I get home.

I am very busy on the boat and when there is down time my team and I are getting shark lessons from the incredibly intelligent Chief NOAA Scientist, Kristin Hannan, or we are in the movie room catching up on all the Annabelle movies. It is almost impossible to get scared while aboard a ship. It may seem that many things could go wrong, but the lights are always on and someone is always awake. It is the perfect environment to watch any horror film because this atmosphere makes it much less scary.

Probably the scariest thing that is happening on this boat is the amount of weight I have gained. All of the meals are delicious and they come with dessert. It is kind of nice to not have to worry about going to the gym or staying on a normal routine. Life is always so hectic day to day when I am at home, but being out here on the water gives me time to relax and reflect on the amazing people I have in my life that made this opportunity possible.

I am sad to report that the Chicago Bears lost tonight to Greenbay, but I did show support for my team! I think the best part of the day was when I was on the bow of the boat and Kristin announced over the radio that the Bears were winning 7 to 0. It is exciting being out here seeing everyone cheer for their fantasy team, as well as their home town team.

Animals seen:

Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus)

King Snake Eel (Ophichthus rex)

Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo)

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuate)

Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae)

Blacknose Shark (Carcharhinus acronotus)

Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Gulf Smooth-hound Shark (Mustelus sinusmexicanus)