Latitude: 33.64° Longitude: 117.62°
Sea wave height: 1-2 ft
Wind speed: 4 kts
Wind direction: 90
Visibility: 10 nm
Air temperature: 29.0°C
Barometric pressure: 758 mm Hg
Sky: Clear
The past few days back home have given me a chance to share my experiences as a NOAA Teacher at Sea with family and friends and to enjoy some slime and scale free days in southern California. I no longer have the picturesque sunrises and sunsets, but I don’t have to climb down a ladder to get out of bed anymore. I am so grateful that I was selected to be a Teacher at Sea this season and that I had an opportunity to learn from and work with some fantastic people.
NOAA Ship Pisces route for SEFIS Survey, July 10 – 23, 2018 (image from Jamie Park)
My experience as a NOAA Teacher at Sea greatly exceeded my expectations and has reinvigorated me as a teacher. From the first full day on NOAA Ship Pisces, I was having fun learning about and collecting data that are used to create models of fish populations. The techniques the NOAA scientists taught me not only allowed me to contribute to their research in a small way, but it gave me an opportunity to collect data that I can immediately integrate into my classroom. My students will be able to analyze salinity, temperature, and pressure changes as depth changes, as well as biological data such as fish length, weight and age using tissue samples I was able collect while a Teacher at Sea. Furthermore, I was also able to learn about the men and women that serve as officers in the NOAA Corps, engineers, and deck crew, without whom the scientists would be unable to gather the necessary data. Meeting these dedicated men and women and learning about the mission of NOAA will allow me to help my own students know about career opportunities in marine biology and STEM fields. Every day was an opportunity to learn and I am eager to share my experience and knowledge with my future students as well as my colleagues in Irvine.
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I want to thank Nate Bacheler and the entire NOAA science group for not only teaching me how to extract otoliths and ovaries, but for answering my many questions and including me in everything. Whenever I asked if I could help out in some way I always got a, “Sure, let’s show you how to get that done.” I truly had a blast getting slimed by flopping fish. I also would not have learned so much about the NOAA Corps and the mission of NOAA without being able to freely go to the bridge and engage with the officers on duty. They too were willing to tell me the story of how the came to be NOAA Corps officers and answered my questions ranging from navigating and the propulsion of NOAA Ship Pisces to college majors and family-life.
View from a bow hawsehole. (photo by David Knight)
Today I had the opportunity to shadow the acoustics team in the dry lab. The acoustics team uses a linear array or a prototype tetrahedral array of hydrophones to listen to the sounds that whales and dolphins make under the water. So far in this journey, the team has only used the linear array. The array has been towing behind the ship with the “line” of hydrophones parallel to the surface of the water about 10 meters below the surface.
Linear array of hydrophonesThe hydrophone is the black device in the cable
When the array is deployed, the acoustics team uses a computer software called PAMGuard to record the sounds and track the clicks and whistles of whales and dolphins. PAMGuard can be programmed to record sounds in any frequency range. On this cruise, acoustics is looking at sounds up to about 100,000 hertz. A human being can hear from about 20 Hz to about 20 kilohertz with normal human speech frequency between 1,000 Hz and 5,000 Hz. The optimal hearing age for a person is approximately 20 years of age and declines after that.
Beaked whales click at a frequency too high for human hearing; however, PAMGuard can detect the clicks to help the acousticians possibly locate an animal. PAMGuard produces a real-time, time series graph of the location of all sounds picked up on the array. A series of dots is located on a continual graph with the x-axis being time and the y-axis being bearing from the ship. The array picks up all sounds, and PAMGuard gives a bearing of the sound with a bearing of 0° being in front of the ship and a bearing of 180° being behind the ship. The ship creates noise that is picked up by all the hydrophones at the same time, so it looks like a lot of noise at 90°. The acousticians must sift through the noise to try to find click trains. Rain and heavy waves also create a lot noise for the hydrophone array. The acoustician can click on an individual dot which represents a sound, and then she can see a Wigner plot of the sound which is a high resolution spectrogram image of the sound.
A screenshot of a spectrogram from PAMGuard
Scientists have determined what the Wigner plot image of a beaked whale sound should look like.
Wigner plot of a True’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus) or a Gervais’ beaked whale (Mesoplodon europaeus)
Wigner plot of a Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
When a Wigner plot image looks to be a possible Mesoplodon, the acoustician starts tracking a click train on the time series graph in hopes of getting the sound again. If the acoustic signal repeats, the acoustician then adds it to the click train. Each time the acoustician adds to a click train, the bearing to the new click is plotted on a graph. The array cannot calculate the actual location of an animal, so a beam of probability is plotted on a chart. Then the acoustician uses the angle of each click in a click train to determine a possible location on the port or starboard side of the ship. If the click train produces a sound that can be localized with the convergence of beams to a certain point, the acoustician can call the visual team to look on a particular side of the ship or ask the bridge to slow down or turn in a certain direction. Mesoplodons have average dive times of between 15 and 20 minutes and foraging dive times of up to 45 minutes, so there is a time delay between getting the clicks and seeing an animal.
PAMGuard map of a sighting of a beaked whale
The objective of this cruise is to find the occurrence of beaked whales, but PAMGuard does not record just beaked whale clicks, so several other whales and dolphins are heard by the array. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) have clicks that can be heard by the human ear with an average frequency of 10 KHz. Sperm whales have a synchronized click train. It can be thought of as “click click click click…” with about 0.5 to 1.0 second between each click. Scientists believe the clicks are used for echolocation. Since it is very dark in the ocean and light does not travel far underwater, sperm whales use their clicks as sort of flashlight for locating food which usually consists of squid. When a sperm whale senses the location of food, it produces a rapid series of clicks called a buzz. After the buzz, the animal makes a dive. If the dive is not successful, in other words the whale did not get food, then clicks return to their normal pattern until another attempt is made. Clicks are also used for social interaction between sperm whales. Sperm whales have been very vocal on the cruise so far.
Personal Log
I have been spending my days rotating between the visual sighting team and the acoustics team. Even when I am not scheduled to be there, I am in acoustics. I find listening to the sounds very interesting. I had no idea whales made clicking sounds. I knew dolphins whistled, but clicking is not a term I was familiar with until this cruise. We have had several episodes where many dolphins will go by the ship. When that happens, the whole plot in PAMGuard almost turns black from all of the dots on the screen. It is amazing to hear all of the clicks and whistles from the dolphins. My favorite whales right now are sperm whales. I can now look at the screen and see the clicks and know it is a sperm whale. I get so excited.
Getting a Mesoplodon click train is like watching a whale lover’s version of Storm Chasers. When a possible Mesoplodon click train is detected, everybody gets excited in hopes of seeing a beaked whale. I can really understand how the visual sighting team relies on the acoustics team to find a location. We have two people on big eyes and two people on binoculars, and the ocean is all around us. We have a high probability of missing a Mesoplodon, so having the acoustics team getting a click train with convergence in a certain direction helps to focus the visual sighting team in sighting an animal. The reverse idea is also true. When the visual sighting team sees a Mesoplodon, they call down to acoustics to see if a click train can be detected.
Life aboard the Gordon Gunter has been a real classroom for me. I think I learn something new about every five seconds. Since I have been out of college, I have not dealt with biological sciences much, so this math teacher is relearning some key information about marine animals. I have really enjoyed seeing the passion in everyone’s eyes for the beaked whales. When we get a sighting of a beaked whale on the flybridge, everyone rushes to that side of the ship in hopes of just getting a glance at the elusive creature. When we get a Mesoplodon click train, the acousticians get really excited. One evening, we got a sustained click train for a Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens). One of the acousticians was not in the dry lab, so I went to try and find her with no luck. She was really upset when she returned, because she had not been there to see it. I hope to develop that kind of passion in my students, so they can become great thinkers about life in their futures.
Did You Know?
Even though Moby Dick was a fictional sperm whale, real life event inspired Herman Melville to write the novel. Check out this page on those events: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/mobydick.html.
Sperm whales use an organ in the front of their head, something called the spermaceti organ, to make their clicking sounds. Check out this PBS article: http://www.pbs.org/odyssey/odyssey/20010809_log_transcript.html.
Animals Seen
Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)
Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus)
Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus)
Manta ray (Manta birostris)
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus)
Vocabulary
(Ocean) Acoustics – the study of how sound is used to locate whales and dolphins and how whales and dolphins communicate
Bridge – the room from which the boat can be commanded
Click train – a series of whale clicks
Dry lab – a lab that primarily uses electronic equipment such as computers
Echolocation – a process used by whales and dolphins to locate objects. A whale will emit a pulse, and the pulse then bounces off an object going back to the whale. The whale can then determine if the object is food or something else.
Flybridge – an open platform above the bridge of a ship which provides views of the fore, aft, and sides of a ship
Hertz – a measure of sound frequency. For example, when you hear someone singing in a low (or bass) voice, the frequency of the sound is low. When someone is singing in a high (or soprano) voice, the frequency of the sound is higher.
Hydrophone – a microphone that detects sound waves under water
Mission: Mapping Deep-Water Areas Southeast of Bermuda in Support of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation
Weather Data from the Okeanos Explorer Bridge
Latitude: 29.01°N
Longitude: 61.56°W
Air Temperature: 27.7°C
Wind Speed: 13.91 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Depth: 5288.3 meters
Science and Technology Log
The NOAA Corps is composed of professionals trained in engineering, earth sciences, oceanography, meteorology, fisheries science, and other related disciplines. Corps officers are responsible for operating NOAA’s ships, flying aircraft, managing research projects, conducting diving operations, and serving in leadership positions throughout NOAA. Officers are trained for effective leadership and command whether it be at sea or on land. After successfully completing NOAA’s Basic Officer Training Program, the newly trained officers report for their first two-year sea assignment aboard one of NOAA’s 16 ships. Upon reporting aboard their ships, they will be assigned watch standing responsibilities and tasked with various collateral duties (i.e., Damage Control Officer, Imprest Officer, Navigation Officer, Morale Officer, etc.).
A typical navigational bridge watch consists of two four-hour shifts (ex. 0800-1200 and then 2000-2400) with eight hours in between to work on collateral duties. While on watch, the Officer of the Deck (OOD) is stationed on the bridge (vessel’s room from which the ship can be commanded) and accompanied by an able-bodied seaman acting as lookout or helmsman, and often times a Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD) who is training for their OOD qualification. The OOD has earned the trust of the Command and is a direct representative of the Commanding Officer, having responsibility for the ship while the CO is not on the bridge.
The Bridge aboard the Okeanos Explorer
Safe navigation is the top priority. Before each change of the bridge watch, it is essential that clear, specific communication has been passed to the oncoming OOD and watchstanders to ensure the oncoming watch are aware of changes regarding navigation, traffic, weather, operations, etc.
Hourly position, weather, and sea conditions are logged aboard the Okeanos Explorer to show trends in meteorological conditions.Nautical charts used to record hourly location coordinates (a.k.a. fixes)
The marine radar equipment located on the bridge of the Okeanos Explorer is crucial for carrying out safe navigation operations while underway. Radar instruments are mandatory systems for collision avoidance. The bridge watch rely on radar to successfully identify and track the precise positioning of vessels and aids to navigation out at sea. Radar uses rotating antennas that transmit and receive electromagnetic waves.
S and X Band Radars
Marine radars on the Okeanos Explorer are either X (10GHz) or S (3GHz) band frequencies. Since X-band radars have higher frequencies, they are used to generate a sharper image and resolution; whereas, the S-band radars are used for long-range identification and tracking. The X-band radars pick up weather conditions and small targets and are best used for close ranges (12 mile or less). The S-band radars are very useful in rainy or foggy weather conditions and help identify objects that located farther away (24 mile range or greater). It is especially important to use these radar systems to determine if impending vessels are in the area. The radars are equipped with an AIS (Automated Information System) feed. The AIS tool allows the user to acquire additional information about vessels in the vicinity about the size and type of the vessel, speed, course, distance of the closest point of approach (CPA) and time to CPA.
S Band Radar
X Band Radar
Steering Stand
The steering stand is used to direct the ship by controlling the rudder and can be put in different modes such as autopilot or manual. This piece of equipment has two gyrocompass inputs (or feeds) to provide accurate heading by determining “true north”. The gyrocompass is an instrument that relies on the use of a continuously driven gyroscope to accurately seek the direction of true (geographic) north. It functions by seeking an equilibrium direction under the combined effects of the force of gravity and the rotation of the Earth.
Steering stand on the Okeanos Explorer
A magnetic compass is an instrument containing a magnetized needle that reacts to the Earth’s magnetic field by pointing to magnetic north. The magnetic compass on the Okeanos Explorer is housed in a binnacle that uses mirrors to project the compass that is located on the flying bridge. It is important that the magnetic compass is far away from electronics to prevent interference from occurring.
Magnetic compass binnacleMaster gyrocompasses
The gyrocompass repeater (pictured below) is mounted on the bridge wings and displays directional information on the basis of electrical signals received from the master gyrocompass. Repeater compasses are designed to receive and indicate the true heading transmitted electrically from the master gyrocompass.
Repeater for gyrocompass
ECDIS
Electronic Chart Display and Information System, known as the ECDIS, is a computer-based navigation system that requires the use of electronic charts, sensors, and radars to offer an alternative to paper charts. ECDIS is an effective tool that allows navigators to plan and monitor routes that even include waypoints and tracklines. On this expedition, we use ECDIS along with a computer programming system known as Hypack to plan survey lines 180 nautical miles in length. Once the precise lines are created on Hypack, they are saved on a flash drive and transferred to the bridge so the person navigating the ship has the exact lines and coordinates necessary to steer the ship and obtain accurate data and overlap. ECDIS eases navigators’ workloads due to its automatic capabilities such as route planning, route monitoring, and automatic ETA. ECDIS provides many other sophisticated navigation and safety features, including continuous data recording for later analysis.
Propulsion controls
The propulsion controls located below the ECDIS computer monitor are known as the “sticks”. These throttles control the two fixed pitch propellers under the hull. In case of an emergency, control can be shifted to the engineers in the main control space, and the engine order telegraph (E.O.T) can be used to communicate desired speed.
ECDIS (pictured on the computer screen) is used to view lines created in Hypack
Dynamic Positioning System
Although this system is not being used on this particular cruise, the dynamic position system is designed to hold the ship in a precise position exclusively using thrusters. This system is used primarily for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) casts, and during Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) cruises when the “vehicles,” Deep Discoverer and Seirios, are in the water.
Dynamic Positioning (DP) System
Marine Propulsion equipment
Okeanos Explorer is equipped with bow and stern thrusters to help maneuver the vessel and hold station while in DP. In its raised position, the bow thruster is used in tunnel mode, but it can also be lowered to allow it to rotate 360 degrees for better control. The two stern thrusters are in fixed positions and work simultaneously in tunnel mode.
Generator Mimic
This screen displays information about the four diesel generators that are used to power the Okeanos Explorer. Three generators are online while the remaining one is used as a backup in case of emergencies. This system provides information about which generators are currently being used, the cylinder temperatures to ensure that the engines are not overheating, and alarms that indicate any potential malfunctions. The engineers abroad conduct daily maintenance to keep these engines in tip-top shape.
Generator Mimic
Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
The GMDSS is a distress and radio communication system that can relay a variety of important information. This system reports weather forecasts for the navigation area approximately every six hours and includes tsunami alerts, boat reports, and ship to ship messages to ensure the safety of all vessels out at sea.
Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
Personal Log
Cribbage is a card game that can be traced back to the 18th century and has been popular in the U.S. Navy since World War II. Traditionally, the game is played by two players and each player tries to form various counting combinations of cards to earn points. Score is kept by inserting pegs into holes arranged in rows on a cribbage board and the first person to reach 121 points wins. Since there is going to be a cribbage tournament aboard the Okeanos Explorer, we learned the rules of the game tonight and completed a bunch of practice rounds. We are going to make a winners and losers bracket and start the tournament this week!
Cribbage championsPracticing Cribbage!
Did You Know?
Compasses are affected by nearby ferrous materials or electromagnetic fields. When they are placed on the vessels that have high metal contents, they have to be corrected and calibrated. That is done with the use of built-in magnets fitted within the case of the compass.
Mission: Mapping Deep-Water Areas Southeast of Bermuda in Support of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation
Weather Data from the Okeanos Explorer Bridge
Latitude: 28.39°N
Longitude: 65.02°W
Air Temperature: 28.3°C
Wind Speed: 11.8 knots
Conditions: Partly sunny
Depth: 5092.22 meters
Science and Technology Log
“Explorations of opportunity” including NASA Maritime Aerosol Network are conducted on the Okeanos Explorer while underway. The Maritime Aerosol Network is an organized opportunity to collect aerosol data over oceans. Aerosols are liquid or solid particles that can be generated in two ways: natural phenomena (volcano, sand storm, pollination, waves, etc.) or anthropogenic sources (combustion of hydrocarbons, chemical industries, etc.). The open ocean is one of the major sources of natural aerosols of sea-salt aerosols. Sea-salt aerosols, together with wind-blown mineral dust, and naturally occurring sulfates and organic compounds, are part of natural tropospheric aerosols.
Depending on their color, aerosols absorb sunlight in different ways. For instance, soot particles generated from the combustion of hydrocarbons absorb all visible light, therefore generating a rise in atmospheric temperature. Conversely, crystals of salt reflect all visible light and cause climatic cooling. Other studies have shown that their presence is essential for the water cycle: without aerosols, water could not condense in the form of clouds. Therefore, these particles influence the climate balance. In order to achieve this, NASA provides sunphotometers to “Vessels of Opportunity.” These vessels can be either scientific or non-scientific in their nature of operations.
Sunphotometer device used throughout the expeditionGarmin GPS used to collect coordinates before obtaining sunphotometer reading
How Does This Process Work?
Sunphotometer takes aerosol maritime measurements by using a photometer that is directed at the sun to measure the direct-sun radiance at the surface of the Earth. These measurements are then used to obtain a unit-less parameter: Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). AOD is the fraction of the Sun’s energy that is either scattered or absorbed (attenuated) while it moves through the Earth’s atmosphere. The attenuation of the Sun’s energy is assumed to be a result of aerosols since the measurements are collected when the path between the sun and the sunphotometer instrument is cloud-free.
Why Is This Process Important?
This collaboration between NOAA and NASA allows for the addition of thirteen more data sets to the Maritime Aerosol Network. Regions in the open ocean are unable to be studied from land-based sunphotometers located on islands, so ships are the only other alternative to compile data. As a matter of fact, satellite based measurements are not as accurate over the ocean compared to hand-held surface measurements. Therefore, the measurements we have been logging serve as ground truth verification for satellites. In addition, the Maritime Aerosol Network allows for the expansion of data sets to the Arctic, thanks to NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown and other West Coast hydrographic ships.
Tatum and I collecting sunphotometer readings
Personal Log
Safety is an absolute priority while out at sea, so the team aboard the Okeanos Explorer conducts weekly fire/emergency and abandon ship drills, and a man overboard drill every three months. We completed a man overboard drill today with an orange buoy. Everyone on the ship has designated reporting locations once the alarm sounds and the drill commences. Once you arrive at your assigned area on the ship, you must scan the water for the target and point in its direction once you find it. The fast rescue boat (FRB) is deployed to go retrieve the target and once it is safely back aboard, the drill is complete.
Fast Rescue Boat used during the Man Overboard DrillMan Overboard Drill on the Okeanos Explorer
Did You Know?
The Mauna Loa Observatory record of solar transmission of sunlight is the longest continuous record in existence!
Mission: Mapping Deep-Water Areas Southeast of Bermuda in Support of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation
Weather Data from the Okeanos Explorer Bridge
Latitude: 29.03°N
Longitude: 62.11°W
Air Temperature: 27.5°C
Wind Speed: 6.38 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Depth: 5167.70 meters
Science and Technology Log
SIMRAD EK 60 echo sounder readings – 38kHz frequency is not pictured
In conjunction with the EM302 multibeam sonar, the Okeanos Explorer uses five different frequencies of SIMRAD single beam echo sounders to identify biomass in the water column: an 18 kHz, 38kHz, 70 kHz, 120 kHz, and 200kHz. (38 kHz is not pictured because it is not used in conjunction with the EM302 since the frequencies are too similar and they can cross talk). These sonar systems are common on fishing boats for estimating fish abundance and they’re used for other marine research, as well. In deeper waters, lower frequency sonar is used. Since we are surveying in approximately 5,000 meters of water, the 18 kHz will be used.
3.5 kHz Knudsen sub-bottom profiler data
The third piece of important equipment used during this mission is a 3.5 kHz Knudsen sub-bottom profiler. This technology is used to assist in many surveys since these systems identify and characterize layers of sediment or rock under the seafloor. In sub-bottom profiling a sound source directs a pulse towards the seafloor and parts of this pulse reflect off the seafloor while others penetrate the seafloor. The portions of the pulse that penetrate the seafloor are both reflected and refracted as they pass into different layers of sediment. These signals return towards the surface and can be used to determine important features of the seafloor. For instance, the time it takes for the reflected sound pulses to return to the vessel can be used to determine the thickness and positioning (ex. Sloped or level) of the seafloor. The refracted pulses can provide information about the sub-bottom layers. The variability in density can be used to explain differences in composition (ex. greater density is representative of harder materials). Frequency differences can help scientists obtain optimal results that can be used when collecting data during a survey. Lower frequency pulses can penetrate the seafloor but produce a lower-resolution picture while higher-frequency pulses produce the opposite.
The EM 302, EK60, and Knudsen sub-bottom profiler are all used simultaneously during this seafloor mapping operation.
Personal Log
Throughout the cruise, one of the NOAA Corps Officers is in charge of planning fun morale events for everyone aboard to participate in. Today, we had a cookout complete with delicious food, music, and corn-hole on the fantail. Everyone had a great time! Additional morale events are planned throughout the rest of the mission so I will post about those later on!
Competitive Cornhole on the Fantail
Some of the Mapping Team aboard the Okeanos Explorer!
Did You Know?
The earliest technique of bathymetry (depth measurement in water) involved lowering a weighted-down rope or cable over the side of a ship, then measuring the length of the wet end when it reached the bottom. Inaccuracies were common occurrences using this technique because of the bending of the rope caused by deflection from subsurface currents and ship movements.
This technique was replaced in the 1920s by echo sounding, in which a sound pulse traveled from the ship to the ocean floor, where it was reflected and returned.
The multibeam echosounder was invented in the 1960’s.
