NOAA Teacher at Sea
Ryan Johnson
Aboard NOAA Ship: Oregon II
June 18 – July 2, 2024
Mission: SEAMAP Summer Groundfish Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: June 18, 2024
Personal Log
Prior to Departure
In the opening meetings/trainings, Teacher at Sea are introduced to the three F’s to a successful voyage: Flexibility, Fortitude, and Following orders. I love a good alliterative acronym as much as the next person, and this trio of foundational precepts really solidified for me as solid advice to always keep in the back (or front!) of my mind. Time and again, they have come in handy as a way to ground myself, take stock of the situation, evaluate, and purposeful act.
My 8th graders graduated on Friday, June 14th. As with most graduations, it was bittersweet. This was an interesting group as they were in 4th grade when Covid 19 lockdowns interrupted their school year. They were completely remote for 5th grade. Their 6th grade year (in Illinois) was completely in masks with extremely strict protocols that saw us stop classes and return to remote learning at least four times throughout the year. Their 7th grade year was all about triage/recovery, and while some progress was made, we lost our principal, assistant principal, dean, and instructional coach, making this year a complete unknown when we all walked back through the doors in August. Thankfully, it was an absolutely fantastic year (as I detailed in my first blog), and I will miss the kiddos greatly.
Two days later, on Sunday, June 16th, I boarded a plane for Texas to begin my Teacher at Sea adventure. The turnaround was a bit jarring, but the timing worked out as this journey feels like an extension of the school year.
Welcome to Texas – Bienvenido a Texas!
The flight was easy and uneventful, and as I took my shuttle from the airport into Galveston, Texas (the docking point for my ship, the Oregon II), the driver filled me in with a bit of local history, some points to see (and avoid), and what she enjoyed about living and working on the island. Somewhat ominously, she asked what my plans were for the week and when I told her about serving on the groundfish survey, she said, “Sounds fun, I hope you make it off, we have a big storm coming through.”
Famous last words. Word quickly came through that instead of leaving on Tuesday as originally planned, we were pushing our departure to Thursday due to a forecast of heavy rain, surging sea swells, and a whole lot of wind. While disappointed, I figured I would follow those three Fs and show my flexibility and fortitude while following orders by exploring Galveston and seeing what I could find.
My favorite way to explore a new place is on foot… so I went for walk! It was hot and humid at 90+ degrees with 90%+ humidity, but it was fun! I loved the wild cactus just growing along the sidewalk and all of the native sights, sounds, and smells were so different than home. Everything was going fine until the sidewalk ran out (cue Shel Silverstein joke here) and I had to do a bit of off-roading.
Within my first fifty steps I felt a sharp pain in left ankle and immediately thought I had been stung by a bee, which I also (in somewhat of a weirdly lucid moment) thought was strange as I hadn’t seen any bees yet. My next (not so lucid) thought was that I had been snakebit, and while that was sort-of an illogical thought at the time, I learned there actually are quite a few species of snakes in Galveston… “and some of them are venomous.”
Turns out, neither of those thoughts were correct. Oh no. I had just been introduced to the sand bur, described by Texas blogger Mimi Swartz as… “pernicious,” “noxious,” and “hateful.” Truly tiny but mighty, getting these burs off of my socks was even worse than getting speared in the first place as the spines drove into my fingers, one even drawing blood! I popped into the closest restaurant and used bunched up napkins to carefully rid myself of these tiny demons. They even drove into the rubber of my shoes!
After ridding myself of these creatures from R’lyeh, I decided to continue my walk along the beach instead…telling myself I was doing it to get a full picture of the area rather than cowardly avoiding the scary prickly plants…. showing fortitude indeed. Along the beach I found all sorts of cool bits and bobs amongst the detritus. The gulf coast of Galveston is totally different than most other beaches I’ve visited. The water is distinctly brown-ish (more on that later), extremely warm (about 85 degrees), and seemingly endless (32 MILES of beach!). I decided to turn in for the night as the next day I was scheduled to meet with the team at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) team.
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary – Santuario Marino Nacional Flower Garden Banks
The next morning I checked out of my hotel and took an Uber to FGBNMS offices about 15 minutes away. The morning news was ominous, with massive amounts of rain and flooding predicted. Our departure date was officially pushed again to Friday. I kept telling myself to follow the three Fs and show my flexibility in the face of uncontrollable circumstances.
Arriving at the sanctuary, I met with Taylor Galaviz (Constituent Engagement Specialist) as well as Rebecca (Becky) Smith (A research fishery biologist whose focus area is fishery management for the Southeast Fisheries Science Center, specifically shrimp). They gave me a wonderful overview of the history and mission of FGBNMS, as well as the educational components, outreach efforts, and plans for the future, as well as why the water here is its color because of the turbidity caused by rivers (especially the Mississippi) dumping into the Gulf.
Afterwards, I met some of the research team including Michelle Johnston (Sanctuary Superintendent), Desda Sisson (Vessel Operations Coordinator), and Research Specialists Olivia Eisenbach (fish), Ryan Hannum (water quality), Marissa Nuttall (mesophotic ecosystems), Josh Harvey (mooring buoy specialist), and FORMER CHICAGAN Kelly O’Connell (data specialist). It was fascinating to learn what the team does, coordinating expeditions, and the value of long-term monitoring.
Next, I met with Sasha Francis (Gulf Restoration Education & Outreach Manager, Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Mesophotic & Deep Benthic Communities Restoration) who took me to the coral labs to see the amazing work being done to research, preserve, and conserve mesophotic (deep water) corals, especially in the aftermath of the DWH disaster. HERE’S a great NOAA article if you’re interested in learning more about this inspiring work!
Welcome to the Ship: Oregon II – Bienvenida al barco: Oregon II
The entire experience at FGBNMS was stellar. I was sorry to go but I had to check in with the crew of Oregon II. Taylor graciously offered to drive me and took me on a mini-tour of the Texas A&M Galveston campus (her alma mater) before heading to Pier 21. I met Commanding Officer (CDR) Adam Reed and ENS PJ LeBel (Safety Officer) who would be my initial bunkmate and showed me the vessel. It was a bit surreal. I have never been on a ship like the Oregon II before, so it was almost like experiencing culture shock as I was touring around. The engine room was particularly impressive and it was fascinating to see how logical and organized everything was. Even though PJ told me that it was a older ship (launched in 1967, commissioned with NOAA since 1977), everything seemed tip-top and I moved into my bunk with an eager sense of excitement, even though I knew we wouldn’t be leaving for a bit due to the storm.
I decided to tour ‘The Strand’ (the historic Galveston downtown) before tucking in for the night. It’s a really cute and historic downtown with plenty to see and do. I easily could see the draw of Galveston for visitors from near and far and plan on coming back with my family in the future. I was particularly impressed with all of the (sustainable!) community art! After dinner, I headed back to the ship to tuck in and see what the next days would bring.
