Albatross – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

August 16, 2016August 21, 2021

Cathrine Prenot: How a Fool Bird Regained its Footing. August 11, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cathrine Prenot
Aboard Bell M. Shimada
July 17-July 30, 2016

Mission: 2016 California Current Ecosystem: Investigations of hake survey methods, life history, and associated ecosystem

Geographical area of cruise: Pacific Coast from Newport, OR to Seattle, WA

Date: August 11, 2016

Weather Data from the Bridge: N/A

Science and Technology Log

Marine Mammal Excluder Net on the Bell M. Shimada. — Marine Mammal Excluder Net on the *Bell M. Shimada*.

Unreeling the nets behind the ship and trawling is the equivalent of ringing a dinner bell at sea. We may not even be in sight of land, but as soon as the fishermen begin to unroll the huge nets, birds begin descending from the skies, appearing in the distance, and gliding on their wings over the waves.

Black Footed Albatross. Photo By Kathryn Willingham

The birds are arriving in hopes of getting a part of the catch or the bycatch. They will patiently wait until fish that have been measured and weighed are tossed overboard, and were particularly fond of Walleye Pollock liver from the Oscar Dyson. Sometimes marine mammals like Pacific White Sided Dolphins will also show up, but all fishing operations stop when they are in the waters around the ship—we don’t want to encourage them to associate nets with dinner.

White Sided Pacific Dolphins. Photo By Kathryn Willingham — Pacific White Sided Dolphins. Photo By Kathryn Willingham

Some of my favorite birds to watch are the albatross. They are enormous, with a six foot wingspan and feet wide enough to surf in the wake of the ship before splashing down. All of the albatross I saw were Black Footed, but one of the scientists on the ship, Ryan Shama from the West Coast Groundfish Observer Program, told me to keep an eye out for birds that looked like a black footed albatross but with a bright bubble gum pink bill. These were the “vulnerable” Short Tailed Albatross, and there were only about 4,750 in the world—up from 25 individuals in 1954.

I got pretty excited a few times, but evidently their bills are REALLY pink, not just pink-ish.

Short tailed albatross populations are rebounding after a pretty devastating 200 years. They were collected for food, but their numbers really declined through feather hunting, which was fueled by a ladies’ fashion craze.

To give you an idea of the scale of this craze, below is the full bird count from two afternoon walks in 1886 through the streets of NYC by Frank Chapman, an Ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History:

“Robin, four. Brown thrush, one. Bluebird, three. Blackburnion warbler, one. Blackpoll warbler, three. Wilson’s black-capped flycatcher, three. Scarlet tanager, three. White-bellied swallow, one. Bohemian waxwing, one. Waxwing, twenty-three. Great northern shrike, one. Pine grosbeak, one. Snow bunting, fifteen. Tree sparrow, two. White-throated sparrow, one. Bobolink, one. Meadow lurk, two. Baltimore oriole, nine. Purple grackle, five. Bluejay, five. Swallow-tailed flycatcher, one. Kingbird, one. Kingfisher, one. Pileated woodpecker, one. Red-headed woodpecker, two. Golden-winged woodpecker, twenty-one. Acadian owl, one. Carolina dove, one. Pinnated grouse, one. Ruffed grouse, two. victorian hatQuail, sixteen. Helmet quail, two. Sanderling, five Big yellowlegs, one. Green heron, one. Virginia rail one. Laughing gull, one. Common tern, twenty-one. Black tern. one. Grebe, seven.” (from here )

All of these birds were on women’s hats. Of the 700 hats he counted, 543 were decorated with feathers.

And then let’s start looking at the specifics of the decimation of the albatross population:

“From the mid-19th to the early 20th century it was highly fashionable to wear extravagant hats decorated with feathers, wings and even whole birds. In 1875, the magazine Harper’s Bazaar described one such hat: “The entire bird is used, and is mounted on wires and springs that permit the head and wings to be moved about in the most natural manner.” The demand for feathered headwear was enormous. By 1886 more than five million birds were harvested annually for the millinery trade in North America. Large albatross feathers were popular, and hunters harvested hundreds of tons of feathers annually—first from Japanese islands and then from Northwestern Hawaiian islands where albatrosses breed. In 1904 Japanese hunters killed 285,000 albatrosses on Lisianski Island in six months, then another 70,000 albatrosses on Laysan Island that same year—just for feathers. All over the world many species of birds were hunted for their plumage, to near extinction.” (from here)

The Short Tailed Albatross nested almost exclusively on one island in Japan, and “feather hunters” killed an estimated 5 million birds over many years. The birds wouldn’t move as the feather hunters moved among them, clubbing them to death, giving them the name “Ahodori” in Japanese, which means “fool bird.”

From here. The site is also a good read.

But you can read all about it in Adventures in a Blue World: “The Fool Regains its Footing.”

Adventures in a Blue World: The Fool Regains its Footing. CNP

Personal Log

The scenery on the last day at sea was pretty wonderful. The Strait of Juan de Fuca is absolutely gorgeous, and although we traveled a lot of it under the cover of darkness, I went up on the flying bridge at dusk and loved watching huge container ships in the channel next to us. After being on the largest ship for two weeks—with smaller fishing vessels keeping about a mile or more radius and having the ocean be the whole world around you, it was somewhat comforting to see land on either side and ships many times more massive than us cruising calmly by. Once day broke, we got to see constant ferry traffic between the islands around Seattle, and tons of small boats scurrying around us like ants.

As you might note from the dates, I am no longer out at sea. We pulled into the port of Seattle on August 30, and I made a beeline to the airport thanks to some of the scientists, and got home in time to start work the next day. I am SO very thankful for the crew, Corps, and scientists from the Shimada for making me feel so welcome and including me in all of their work. I have a few more cartoons to go, so will continue to blog, but I won’t be able to report to you in as much detail all of the “freedom of the seas” that I was granted on the Shimada.

It's a tough life, being a Teacher at Sea! — It’s a tough life, being a Teacher at Sea!

Did You Know?

Pacific White Sided Dolphins are extremely acrobatic and live and travel together in groups of up to 100 individuals!

Resources:

Interesting articles on the bird hat craze. This one, and this one, and oh yeah, one more.

August 12, 2011April 28, 2021

Elaine Bechler: A Survey on the R/V Fulmar! July 21, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elaine Bechler
Aboard R/V Fulmar
July 21- 26, 2011

Mission: Survey of Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones NMS
Geographical Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean, Off the California Coast
Date: July 21, 2011

Science and Technology Log

Welcome to the July 2011 Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies six-day survey of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The purpose of this survey was to find out if there were any biotic or abiotic changes happening in the sanctuaries. Prior to the trip, transect lines

transect lines along study area — This map shows transect lines in the areas we are studying in the sanctuaries.

were drawn on a map. The science team onboard the R/V Fulmar planned to survey as many of the lines as was possible. While following the transect lines, all animal sightings were recorded. Once the data is collected, the scientists can compare the 2011 survey results to other years of data. What questions do you think a marine biologist might have while surveying the organisms in the marine sanctuary? What might motivate an organization to send scientist on a survey such as this?

The vessel we boarded was the R/V Fulmar . If you check the website you will see it is a survey machine! For this cruise there were seven of us on the science team and two crew – the captain and the mate. What features make this vessel a good one for ocean surveys?

Prior to disembarking, the crew and scientists frequently checked the conditions of the ocean in order to determine if the survey could be safely conducted. They used a computer on board to check the conditions from NOAA websites. Another website was real time buoy data . The computer indicated that the ocean was going to be very active on our first two days with 10-foot swells. It felt like we were in a washing machine. Needless to say a few of us were feeling sea sick! It was quite a humbling experience yet it bonded us too. What remedies are there for sea sickness? What would you do to prepare yourself for a trip on the R/V Fulmar?

abiotic: nonliving

The science team was divided into two groups: those working on the flying bridge at the bow or front of the vessel and those working on the back deck with nets. On the flying bridge there were three observers, two on either

observers on the flying bridge — Observers on the flying bridge

end, the port (left) and the starboard (right), who would spot all marine mammals (Carol Keiper and Jan Roletto). An ornithologist on board would identify birds (Sophie Webb). The other member (Jaime Jahncke) recorded what the animal was, where it was, how many there were and what the organisms were doing. Sometimes there was a lot going on at one time and they would use a second recorder (Kaitlin Graiff) temporarily to document all the animals. The data is always gathered in this way. Those who were not observers were allowed to watch but not to assist the observers. Can you think of a reason why?

They spotted 50 whales: 10 blues and 40 humpbacks; some breaching, some tail lobbing. We documented 16 different species of birds including the Tufted Puffin, Cassin’s Auklet, Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Western Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel, Ashy Storm-Petrel, Brown Pelican, Brandt’s Cormorant, Common Murre, Elegant Tern, Pigeon Guillemot, Red-necked Phalarope and Black-footed Albatross. (Sophie Webb, the ornithologist on board took these shots). Each of these animals are predators and some of them were found in the thousands out in the sanctuaries. What would be possible prey for all of these animals?

male Common Murre and chick — Male Common Murre and chick

Having many different species living in an area is called biological diversity. Diversity is a measure of health in an ecosystem, the more different species that are supported, the better the ecosystem can deal with environmental change. What would be some possible environmental changes that the organisms in this ecosystem might be experiencing?

Many of these animals are pelagic, which means they live their entire life without visiting a mainland. Many of them are predatory on the fish and zooplankton living in the ocean. Where does the energy to support such large numbers of predatory animals come from? What organisms are at the bottom of the food chains that support these animals?

Check out the other posts from this cruise to learn more!

August 12, 2011April 28, 2021

Elaine Bechler: Phenomenal Feeding Frenzy, July 25, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elaine Bechler
Aboard R/V Fulmar
July 21 – 26, 2011

Mission: Survey of Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones NMS
Geographical Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean, Off the California Coast
Date: July 25, 2011

Science and Technology Log

sophies-vertical-lunge-feeding1 — Humpbacks performing vertical lunge feeding

Cool stuff today. While transiting between one transect and another, the R/V Fulmar happened upon a major feeding event. While approaching, hundreds of birds could be seen flying and diving along with evidence of many humpback whale spouts. It turned out to be a furious feeding frenzy of myriads of birds, dolphins, pinipeds and whales. Very dramatic was the vertical lunge feeding of the humpback whales. We could see their huge mouths open and pointed upward as they gobbled silvery fish. The whales would release huge loud exhales over and over. A pod of 20 Pacific white-sided dolphins would lunge and dive down randomly seeking the swift swimmers. Entering from the north side came a pod of Northern-right whale dolphins so sleek and moving in a group as if choreographed. Thousands of seabirds including Sooty and Pink footed Shearwaters, Northern Fulmars, Black-footed Albatrosses, Western Gulls, Fork-tailed Storm Petrels and Common Murres were diving and competing for the fish. We could hear the feet, wings, beaks and calls from their interactions on the surface. It was remarkable to see the shearwaters swimming after the prey. The feeding group would move and change as the school of fish darted about from below. It was a tumultuous feast.

birds-feeding-frenzy-2 — Bird feeding frenzy

shearwater feeding under water — Shearwater feeding under water

What we witnessed was the food web in action! Each of these animals was supported by the fish they were eating. Those fish were supported by a smaller food source such as smaller fish and zooplankton. Those small organisms rely on the phytoplankton to capture the solar radiation from the sun and to use the deep water nutrients which were upwelled to the surface waters. Create 5 food chains 5 organisms long that could have been in place in the ocean that day.

Earlier I noted a Western Gull spy a white object in the water and attempt to land on it for feeding only to find it was a piece of paper. I had never observed the interaction of a marine animal with marine debris until now. It was obvious that the debris caught the gull’s attention from a good distance away and had attracted it to the surface of the water. How could this action affect the food web?

I feel fortunate to have been chosen to experience this cruise and all that went along with it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat (with sufficient amounts of seasickness medication!). Thank you R/V Fulmar crew, ACCESS team, PRBO Conservation Science , TAS team and NOAA for this opportunity. Thank you Sophie Webb for all of the photos of the frenzy on this page.

Pacific White-sided dolphins and Kaitlin

June 21, 2011April 28, 2021

Jason Moeller: June 19-20, 2011

NOAA TEACHER AT SEA
JASON MOELLER
ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON
JUNE 11 – JUNE 30, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Jason Moeller
Ship: Oscar Dyson
Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographic Location: Gulf of Alaska
Dates: June 19-20, 2011

Ship Data
Latitude: 54.29 N
Longitude: -165.13 W
Wind: 12.31 knots
Surface Water Temperature: 5.5 degrees Celsius
Air Temperature: 6.1 degrees Celsius
Humidity: 97%
Depth: 140.99 meters

Personal Log

Welcome aboard, explorers!

To be honest, there is not a great deal to write about for the personal log. My daily schedule has settled in quite nicely! I get off work at 4 in the morning, shower, sleep until 2:30 in the afternoon, and then head down to the acoustics room where we track the fish. When we are processing a catch (see the science and technology section of this blog), I am in the fish lab wearing bright orange waterproof clothes that make me resemble a traffic cone.

The rest of the time is down time, which is spent reading, working on the blog, learning about the ship, and dreaming up lesson plans that I can use to torment my students. I hope they are interested in a summer fishing trip, as that is the one I am currently planning.

Most of the blog work involves running around and taking photographs. My wife’s camera was soaked beyond repair during the prank that was pulled (see the previous post) as Sarah was holding the camera when the wave came over the railing. Fortunately, there was another camera on board.

Our survey is keeping us very close to the coast and islands of Alaska. As a result, I’ve gotten some gorgeous photos. This place is just beautiful.

Wind — Jason in front of an island. It was a bit windy, but at least it was sunny!

view — Mountaintops visible just above the island coast. Jake took this photo while I was in the fish lab.

Science and Technology Log

We finally started fishing! As I mentioned in my very first blog, the Oscar Dyson is surveying walleye pollock, which is an important fish species here in Alaska. Walleye pollock make up 56.3% of the groundfish catch in Alaska, and is eaten in fast food restaurants around the world such as Wendy’s, McDonalds, and Burger King. It is also used to make imitation crabmeat.

Our first catch had a little over 300 walleye pollock, and we processed all of them. Three hundred is an ideal sample size for this species. If, for example, we had caught 2,000 pollock, we would only have processed 300 of the fish, and we would have released the rest of them back into the ocean.

The photo captions below will provide a tour of the fish lab as well as introduce blog readers to the data we wish to collect and how scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson collect it.

Conveyer belt — This is the conveyor belt. After the catch is pulled on board, it is loaded onto this conveyor belt and moved down the belt and into the lab. At this point, the scientists separate the pollock from the rest of the sea life that was accidentally in the net. Today, the majority of the "extra" sea life were brittle stars, sponges, and a few squid.

Gender Box — Once the pollock and other sea life are separated, they are moved to this box to be sexed. In order to do this, we would have to cut the fish open and look at the internal organs of the fish. Once this was done, females would go over the yellow sign on the right and into the box that was hidden behind it. The males went into the box on the left.

Length Station — Once we had determined the pollock's gender, we moved to the measuring station, which was on the other side of the last station. We laid each individual fish on the table on top of the ruler, and then measured the fish from the head to the fork of its tail. We recorded the length by tapping the table at the fork of the fish's tail with a sensor that we carried in our hand. A sensor in the table recorded the data and sent it to the computer monitor seen above the table.

measuring pollock — Jason measures a pollock on the board!

From this catch (we will do this for any following catch as well) we also took and preserved twenty stomachs from random fish. This was done in order to later analyze what the pollock had eaten before they died. We also took forty otoliths from random pollock as well. An otolith is the ear bone of the pollock, and it is incredibly important to researchers as they will tell the pollock’s age in a similar manner to the way a tree’s rings will.

Stored Otoliths — After removing the otolith from the fish, they were put into these vials. Each pair of otoliths received their own vial.

While looking at pollock is the main focus of the survey, we did run into some other neat critters in this haul as well!

Atka Makerel — This is an Atka Mackerel. We also caught a salmon, but I didn't get a good look at it. Our kitchen grabbed it!

Basket Star — This is a basket starfish. We were trawling close to the bottom and pulled it up in the nets.

Lumpsucker — This is a lumpsucker! They spend their lives on the bottom where they eat slow-moving animals such as worms and mollusks.

Arrowtooth Flounder — This is an arrowtooth flounder. These are not very good eating fish, and are not the flounder found in the supermarket. Check out the nasty teeth in the photo below this one!

Flounder teeth — I wouldn't want to be bitten by this fish!

Species Seen

Albatross
Northern Fulmar
Gulls
Rockfish
Walleye Pollock
Lumpsucker
Arrowtooth Flounder
Atka Mackerel
Salmon
Pacific Grenadier
Squid
Shrimp
Basket Starfish

Reader Question(s) of the Day!

Today’s question is actually a request. It comes from Tish Neilson, one of our homeschool parents.

Hey Jason –
I had a super favor to ask of you. There is a little girl from Jackson’s school that is a 5th grader and she was recently diagnosed with leukemia. There have been some bracelets created for her that say “Going Bananas for Anna” to show support and several moms and I have gotten together and are putting together a scrapbook for her and trying to get as many people as possible wearing her bracelets in really cool places. Then we are having them take pictures to send to us to put in her scrapbook so she can she how far her bracelets have traveled and how many people are pulling for her. If it’s possible to do so and you would be willing to do it I would LOVE to try and get you a bracelet to take some pictures and send to me from Alaska. Her nickname is Anna Banana and she is always asking for pictures and such so that is why we came up with this idea.
Tish Neilson

Unfortunately, I had left for Alaska before I received the email, and as a result I do not have a bracelet. Hopefully, a sign will work just as well.

For Anna — Hi Anna! This is Unimak Island! It is one of the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska! Hang in there, we are rooting for you!

June 20, 2011April 28, 2021

Jason Moeller: June 17-18, 2011

NOAA TEACHER AT SEA
JASON MOELLER
ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON
JUNE 11 – JUNE 30, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Jason Moeller
Ship: Oscar Dyson
Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographic Location: Gulf of Alaska
Dates: June 17-18, 2011

Ship Data
Latitude: 52.34 N
Longitude: -167.51 W
Wind Speed: 7.25 knots
Surface Water Temperature: 6.6 Degrees C
Air Temperature: 7.1 Degrees C
Relative Humidity: 101%
Depth: 63.53 meters

All of the above information was found on http://shiptracker.noaa.gov. Readers can use this site to track exactly where I am at all times!

Personal Log

Welcome back, explorers!

It has been a very eventful 24 hours! We have started fishing, but have done so little that I will wait to talk about that in the next log. Tammy, the other Teacher at Sea, has not begun fishing yet, and as we will be writing the science and technology log together, I will save the fishing stories until she has had a chance to fish.

After turning in last night’s log, we managed to spot eight or nine humpback whales on our starboard side that appeared to be feeding at the surface. They were too far away to get any decent photos, but it was a lot of fun to watch the spouts from their blowholes tower up into the air.

Whale Spouts — Ten whale spouts rise in the distance.

This afternoon started off by dropping an expendable bathythermograph (from here on out this will be referred to as an XBT). The XBT measures the temperature and depth of the water column where it is dropped (there will be more on this in the Science and Technology section). I was told that I would be dropping the XBT this time, and was led off by Sarah and Abby (two of the scientists on board) to get ready.

Ready to launch! — The first thing I had to do was to get dressed. I was told the XBT would feel and sound like firing a shotgun, so I had to put on eye, ear and head protection. I was also put in a fireman suit to protect my body from the kickback, since I am so small. The XBT launcher is the tube in my hands.

Pranked! — This is me launching the XBT. Why no smoke? All we actually needed to do was drop the device over the side. The whole shotgun experience was a prank pulled off by the scientists on all of the new guys. Their acting was great! When I turned towards Sarah at one point with the launcher, she ducked out of the way as if afraid I would accidentally fire it. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

However, the prank backfired somewhat. As the scientists were all laughing, a huge wave came up over the side of the ship and drenched us. I got nailed, but since I was in all of the gear, I stayed dry with the hem of my jeans being the only casualty. Sarah didn’t get so lucky. Fun times!

Science and Technology Log

Today, we will be looking at the XBT (the expendable bathythermograph). Bathy refers to the depth, and thermo refers to the temperature. This probe measures the depth and temperature of the water column when it is dropped over the starboard side of the ship.

“Dropping” isn’t exactly the right phrase to use. We use a launcher that resembles a gun. See the photo below to get an idea of what the launcher looks like.

Pin — The silver loop is the pin for the launcher. To launch the probe, we pulled the pin and flung out our arm. The momentum pushed the probe out of the tube and into the water below.

The probe is connected to a length of copper wire, which runs continuously as the probe sinks through the water column. It is important to launch the probe as far away from the ship as possible, as the copper wire should never touch the ship. If the wire were to touch the ship, the data feed back to the ship would be disrupted and we would have to launch another probe, which is a waste of money and equipment. The survey technician decides to cut the wire when he/she has determined that sufficient data has been acquired. This normally occurs when the probe hits the ocean floor.

This is a quick and convenient way to collect data on the depth and temperature of the water column. While the ship has other methods of collecting this data (such as a Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) probe), the XBT is a simpler system that does not need to be recovered (as opposed to the CTD).

Data collected from the most recent XBT.

Latitude: 53.20 degrees N

Longitude: 167.46 degrees W

Temperature at surface: 6.7 degrees C

Temperature at bottom: 5.1 degrees C

Thermocline: 0 meters to 25 meters.

The thermocline is the area where the most rapid temperature change occurs. Beneath the thermocline, the temperature remains relatively constant.

Species Seen

Humpback Whales

Northern Fulmar

Albatross

Northern Smoothtongue

Walleye Pollock

Mackerel

Lumpsucker

Squid

Pacific Sleeper Shark

Reader Question(s) of the Day!

Today’s reader questions come from James and David Segrest, who are two of my students in Knoxville Zoo’s homeschool Tuesday classes!

1. Did pirates ever travel the path you are on now? Are there any out there now?

A. As far as I know, there are no pirates currently operating in Alaska, and according to the scientists, there were not any on the specific route that we are now traveling. However, Alaska does have a history of piracy! In 1910, a man named James Robert Heckem invented a floating fish trap that was designed to catch salmon. The trap was able to divert migrating salmon away from their normal route and into a funnel, which dumped the fish off into a circular wire net. There, the fish would swim around until they were taken from the trap.

Salmon and trap — Workers remove salmon from a fish trap in 1938. Historic Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife - Fisheries Collection - Photographer: Archival photograph by Mr. Sean Linehan, NOS, NGS.

For people who liked eating fish, this was a great thing! The salmon could be caught quickly with less work, and it was fresh, as the salmon would still be alive when taken from the trap. For the traditional fisherman, however, this was terrible news. The fishermen could not compete with the traps and found that they could not make a living. The result was that the fishermen began raiding the floating traps, using any means possible.

Salmon barge — A barge of salmon going to a cannery. Fishermen could not compete with traps that could catch more fish. Historic Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife - Fisheries Collection -Photographer: Archival photograph by Mr. Sean Linehan, NOS, NGS

The most common method used was bribery. The canneries that operated the traps would hire individuals to watch the traps. Fishermen would bribe the watchers, steal the fish, and then leave the area. The practice became so common that the canneries began to hire people to watch the trap-watchers.

2. Have you seen any sharks? Are there any sharks that roam the waters where you are traveling?

This is a Pacific Sleeper Shark. It is called a sleeper shark as it does not appear to move a great deal, choosing instead to glide with very little movement of its fins. As a result, it does not make any noise underwater, making it the owl of the shark world. It hunts much faster fish (pollock, flounders, rockfish) by being stealthy. They are also known to eat crabs, octopus, and even snails! It is one of two animals known to eat giant squid, with the other one being sperm whales, although it is believed that these sharks probably scavenge the bodies of the much larger squid.

The other shark commonly seen is the salmon shark. Hopefully, we will catch one of these and I will have photos later in the trip.

June 17, 2011April 28, 2021

Jason Moeller: June 14-16, 2011

NOAA TEACHER AT SEA
JASON MOELLER
ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON
JUNE 11 – JUNE 30, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Jason Moeller
Ship: Oscar Dyson
Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographic Location: Gulf of Alaska
Dates: June 14-16, 2011

Personal Log

Welcome back, explorers!

June 14

I think I posted my last log too soon, because as soon as I hit the send button interesting things began to happen. First, I was called up to see some Mountain Goats feeding in the wild! I was able to take a picture of them as well! (Well, kind of…)

The mountain goats were so far away I had to use binoculars just to spot them. If you can spot the two tiny white dots to the right of the snow, that is them! There is also one that is on the left hand side in the middle of the photograph. You will have to take my word for it.

While this was going on, the professional members of the science team were still calibrating the sonar that we are going to use to catch the fish! I have explained the process in the captions of the following photographs.

sonar balls — Calibrating starts with these little balls. The one used to calibrate our sonar was made of Tungsten (like the black ball at the top)

Pole — The ball was suspended underneath the water on three poles, placed in a triangular shape, around the ship. This is a photo of one of the poles.

Screen. — Once the ball was placed underneath the boat, the scientist swept sound waves off of the ball and used the above screen to see where the sound waves were striking the ball and reflecting. This allowed them to adjust the sound waves to hit the ball (or out in the ocean, the fish) exactly where they wanted it. This optimizes the amount of sound coming back to the boat and paints a better picture of what is under the water.

The process took several hours, but once we finished, we headed back out to sea to start the two-day journey towards our first fishing spot!

June 15-16

The most common sight off of the boat for the past two days has been this one.

We are currently in Unimak Pass, which will lead us to the Bering Sea! Unimak Pass is the fastest sea route from the United States into Asia, and as a result is a common merchant route between Seattle and Japan. It is also the best way to avoid rough seas and bad weather when travelling between the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, as it receives some cover from the landmass.

The Bering Sea likely needs no introduction, as it is arguably the best crab fishing waters on the planet and is well-known from the television show The Deadliest Catch. Aside from crab, the Bering Sea is teeming with life such as pollock, flounder, salmon, and halibut. As a result of this diverse and tasty biomass, the Bering Sea is an incredibly important area to the world’s fisheries.

Steaming towards our destination has kept us away from any land, but there are still things to do and to see! We did a second dry cast of the net, but this time two different pieces of equipment were tested.

net 2 — This is a better view of the codends. The codends are opened and closed using a series of six bars. When the first bar is dropped, the first codend is able to take in fish. When the second bar is dropped, the codend is unable to take in fish. The bar system has not worked incredibly well, and there is talk of removing one of the codends to make the net easier to use.

The second piece of equipment was this camera, which was attached to the net. It allowed us to see what was coming in the net. Even though this was a dry run and we were not catching anything, I still saw a few Pollock in the camera!

Even though this was a test run and we did not catch any fish, the birds saw the net moving and came to investigate. The remaining photographs for the personal log are of the several species of birds that flew by the boat.

Bird 1 — A Northern Fulmar flies alongside the Oscar Dyson

Bird 2 — An albatross (by the thin wire just below the spot the water meets the horizon) flies away from the Oscar Dyson

Bird 3 — Fulmar's and Gulls wheel about the Oscar Dyson, looking for fish.

Science and Technology Log

This section of the blog will be written after we start fishing for Pollock in the next day or so!

New Species

Mountain Goats

Northern Fulmar

Albatross

Gulls

Reader Question(s) of the Day!

First, I owe a belated shout out to Dr. John, Knoxville Zoo’s IT technician. He lent me the computer that I am currently using to post these logs, and I forgot to mention him in the last post. Thanks Dr. John!

The two questions of the day also come from Kaci, a future Teacher at Sea with NOAA.

1. What is it like sleeping on the boat?

A. Honestly, I am being jostled around quite a bit. Part of this is due to the way the beds are set up. The beds go from port to starboard (or right to left for the landlubbers out there) instead of fore to aft (front to back). This means that when the boat rolls, my feet will often be higher than my head, which causes all of blood to rush to my head. I still haven’t gotten used to the feeling yet.

Part of the jostling, though, is my fault. I had heard that most individuals took the bottom bunks given the option, and since I was one of the first individuals on board, I decided to be polite and give my roommate, who outranked me by some 10-15 years at sea, the bottom bunk. It turns out that the reason people pick the bottom bunk is that the top bunk moves around more since it is higher off the floor. I’ve heard stories about people being thrown from the top bunk in heavy seas as well.

The most comfortable place to sleep has turned out to be the beanbag chair in the common room. It is considered rude to go into your room if your shift ends early, as your roommate may still be sleeping. My shift ended two hours early the other night, so I sat down on the beanbag chair to catch some zs. The ship’s rocking was greatly reduced by the bean bag chair, and I slept very well for the next couple of hours.

2. Is it stressful so far?

A. The only stressful part of the trip so far has been the seasickness, which I have not yet been able to shake. The rest of it has been a lot of fun!

June 29, 2010April 15, 2021

Rebecca Kimport, JUNE 29, 2010 part2

NOAA Teacher at Sea Rebecca Kimport
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 30, 2010 – July 19, 2010

Mission: Summer Pollock survey
Geograpical Area:Bering Sea, Alaska
Date: June 29, 2010

Time with Birds and Mammals

On our way out of Dutch Harbor and Captain’s Bay, I spent some time on the bow with Katie, Michele and birder Nate Jones. As I know very little about birds, I quizzed him on every flying specimen we encountered and used his binoculars to observe the birds up close. After a few sightings, I was able to identify the Fulmar by its unique wing movement (quick quick quick soar). We also saw tufted puffins and a black-footed albatross. There are two birders (Nate and Marty from US Fish and Wildlife Service) on this leg who are responsible for scanning the horizon and counting and identifying the seabirds they observe from the bridge.Here is bird observer Nate Jones scanning the horizon for seabirds:

We were distracted from our bird watching by a call of orcas. We hustled up to the “flying bridge” to join the marine mammal observers. There are three “mammals” (Paula, Yin and Ernesto from the National Marine Mammal Laboratory) on this leg and they are constantly scanning the horizon with their “big eyes” to observe and identify cetaceans. I was able to observe two separate groups of orcas and heard that porpoises were also spotted.Here is marine mammalian observer Ernesto Vazquez looking through the big eyes on the flying bridge:

Although I am technically on the fish shift, I hope to check in with the “birds” and “mammals” later in the cruise. After spotting birds and mammals, it’s time for the first installment of the “animals seen” list:Animals Seen in Dutch Harbor
Bald eagles
Ground Squirrel
Sea Urchin
Sea Stars
Sea Cucumber
Pigeon Guillemot
Oyster Catchers
Mussels
Chiton
Limpets
Hermit Crabs
Snails
(but no horses…)Animals Seen in Transit
Orcas
Fulmars
Black Footed Albatross
Tufted Puffin

UPDATE
As many of you know, I am a horrible speller. When I went to check the spelling for the birds I had seen, I spotted a Thick-billed Murre from the bridge. Okay, in reality, the observation and identification went more like this:

Me: “Hey that’s a bird”
Nate: “Yes, it was a Thick-billed Murre”

I am impressed by the seabird and marine mammal observers’ abilities to spot and identify birds and mammals from such far distances. Like any recall-related skill, I recognize that animal identification takes both an innate talent and years of practice. But the animal observers also need to have extreme patience to maintain a clear focus, a methodologically-sound routine and a sense of possibility (as the weather is not always in their favor). We’re lucky to have such talented scientists counting species in the Bering Sea.

As we say goodbye to land, we know the real adventure is about to begin

More soon!

August 14, 2009April 6, 2021

Justin Czarka, August 14, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Justin Czarka
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II (tracker)
August 10 – 19, 2009

Mission: Hydrographic and Plankton Survey
Geographical area of cruise: North Pacific Ocean from San Francisco, CA to Seattle, WA
Date: August 14, 2009

Weather Data from the Bridge

Sunrise: 6:29 a.m.
Sunset: 2033 (8:33 p.m.)
Weather: patchy mist
Sky: partly to mostly cloudy
Wind direction and speed: Northwest 10-15 knots (kt)
Visibility: unrestricted, reduced to 1-3 nautical miles (nm) in mist
Waves: northwest 3-6 feet
Air Temperature: 17.50°C
Water Temperature: 17.63°C

Science and Technology Log

Today I rotated to a new job assignment. I have been working with the CTD water samples, storing nutrient samples, and preparing chlorophyll samples. Now I work with Jay Peterson, researcher from Oregon State University, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport, Oregon, deploying, retrieving, and preparing live samples from the vertical net and bongo net on a cable.

The vertical net gets rinsed off after the tow.

The nets collect all types of plankton, both plants and animals. As with all the sample collections occurring aboard the McArthur II, communication is the backbone of the operations, or “ops.” For the vertical net and bongo net, two people manually place the nets over the ship’s starboard side, while a winch operator deploys and retrieves the nets from the ocean, and the bridge navigates the ship. For vertical nets, the goal is to take the net to 100 meters (m) depth and then hauled up vertically. The purpose is to catch organisms from the entire water column up to the surface. It is the same depth for the bongo net, but the goal is to have the cable at a 45° angle with the ship moving at a steady 2 knots (kt). Both nets have flowmeters to determine the volume of water that goes through the net. Once back on the deck, the nets are rinsed from the top to the bottom so that everything in the net can be analyzed. The samples are placed in jars or buckets to observe under microscope. We find euphausiids (krill), copepods, Tomopteris, Chaetognatha (arrow worms), fish larvae, Phronima, and even bird feathers! You have to check out these animals online, as they all have fascinating features. More importantly, while small in size, they are an essential part of the food web. Without them, many species would struggle to find food.

Personal Log

Today we a day of plenty in terms of sighting marine mammals and other species as well! The day started out near shore at Newport, Oregon and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The McArthur II travels roughly in a zigzag approach near shore to off shore and back for this mission. Getting ready for the day watch, I saw some whales off the port (left side facing forward on a ship). That was just the beginning. As we headed due west on the Newport transect line (44 39.1′ N latitude) we spotted brownish and reddish jelly fish, albatross following along the starboard side during bongo tows, sea lions skirting by the stern, and a shark fiddling with driftwood presumably looking for small fish that were utilizing the log as a habitat. Later in the day, we navigated near breaching humpback whales on the starboard side. Towards evening, a group of 5-6 pacific white-sided dolphins followed along for 10 minutes or so.

A Doliolid, which feeds on plankton, was caught in the vertical net before being released into the ocean. Note the pinkish lines, the muscle bands, and blimp-like shape.

Being out here witnessing the wildlife in their environment is fascinating. You start to internalize the ocean planet as more than a vast emptiness. There exists a tremendous amount of species diversity living above and below the surface. Yet sadly, since few of us spend regular time away from our land habitats, we tend to neglect the essential nature of the ocean. The ocean truly sustains us, whether providing the majority of our freshwater (through evaporation and, consequently, rain), supporting our nutritional diets, and driving the weather we experience daily. Teacher at Sea really reinforces this revelation since I get to spend an extended amount of time away from my terrestrial existence learning to appreciate the ocean’s influence on our lives. May we gain enough understanding to ensure the sustainability of the ocean ecosystem.

Animals Seen

Humpback whales
Shark
Jellyfish
Doliolid
Albatross
Albacore tuna
Sea lion
Pacific white-sided dolphin

August 6, 2009April 6, 2021

Bryan Hirschman, August 6, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Bryan Hirschman
Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman (tracker)
August 1 – 17, 2009

Mission: 2009 United States/Canada Pacific Hake Acoustic Survey
Geographical area: North Pacific Ocean; Newport, OR to Port Angeles, WA
Date: August 6, 2009

Weather Data from Bridge (0800)
Visibility: 6 nautical miles
Wind: light
Wave Height: <1
Wave Swell: 2-3 ft
Ocean temperature: 15.9⁰C
Air Temperature: 15.5⁰C

Science and Technology Log

John and Melanie sexing and measuring the fish — Melanie sexing and measuring the fish

Today the day started with a fish tow at 8:00 am. The acoustic scientists, Steve, Larry, and Chu, predicted the fish would be mostly myctophids, and wanted to be certain. The fisherman sent the net out and about an hour later the net was brought back. As predicted the net was filled with mostly myctophids. This is an important step in being able to determine the fish type and numbers using acoustic data only. Scientists will then be able to acoustically count fish populations for most schooling fish (Pollock, Pacific Hake, anchovies, and mackerel to name a few), with out using nets. After the nets are brought in the fish biologists (and me) get to work. We separate all the organisms into their own piles. We then count and weigh them, and log this into a computer using their scientific names. It’s amazing how Melanie and John (the fish biologists) can identify and recall the Latin names of these organisms.

Question: Do we just fish in random locations?

Answer: No, the acoustic scientists choose to fish in locations that appear to be different from previous fishing locations. The parameters which make them different are depth, color intensity, or pattern of the markings on their computer screens. The scientists get real-time acoustic pictures as the boat travels along on a pre-determined path (called a transect). The more they can relate the graphs on the computer screens to the actual catch in the nets the less fishing which needs to be done.

Here is an acoustic image (2 frequencies) as seen on the scientist’s screen. The bottom wavy line is the seafloor, and the colored sections above are organisms located in the water column.

Here is the second tow consisting of Pacific Hake and Humboldt Squid.

The second fish tow of the day produced Pacific Hake and Humboldt Squid. We weighed all the squid first (then quickly returned to the ocean), and 10 were randomly selected for a stomach dissection. The stomachs contained pieces of squid, Pacific Hake, and other unidentifiable fish. Another purpose of this cruise is to determine the effects of the squid on the Hake, and by looking at the stomachs the scientists will be able to determine the relationship between the squid and hake. The third tow of the day involved an open net with a camera. The camera could record for an hour. The scientists then view the footage to estimate the size and quantity of the hake passing through the net. This is another method the scientists are using to verify their acoustic data.

Here I am holding the delightful meal of tuna.

I also had the chance to launch an XBT (Expendable Bathythermograph). This device is launched at the back of the boat. The sensor is released into the water and is attached by a tiny copper wire. As the sensor travels down the water column it sends the depth and temperature data to the bridge. This data is saved and used by physical oceanographers to better understand temperature profiles found in the ocean.

Personal Log

Today was a great day. The seas were calm, I slept well last night, and the food was great. I even got to exercise for 1.5 hours. The exercise room has a television hooked up to watch movies, and it made using the elliptical trainer and stationary bike much more enjoyable. I also had a great time working with the fish biologists. We were throwing and catching squid like the professionals who work at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Best of all was dinner, freshly caught tuna, which I got to filet.

Animals Seen Today
Dolphin, Mola-mola, Albatross, Sheerwaters, Slender Barracudia, Ribbon Barracudina, Blackbelly Dragonfish, Pacific Hake, Lanternfish (myctophids), Salps, Sunrise Jellyfish, Purple Cone Jellyfish, Wheel Jellyfish, Humboldt Squid, Black-eyed Squid, Pacific Hatchetfish, and Spiny Dogfish shark.

Question of the Day : Can you identify the animals in the photo?

Answer to the last question: Lancetfish

July 16, 2009April 5, 2021

Jennifer Fry, July 16, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jennifer Fry
Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman (tracker)
July 14 – 29, 2009

Mission: 2009 United States/Canada Pacific Hake Acoustic Survey
Geographical area of cruise: North Pacific Ocean from Monterey, CA to British Columbia, CA.
Date: July 16, 2009

Here is Dr. Chu using a sonar readout to determine where the hake are located.

Weather Data from the Bridge
Wind speed: 20 knots
Wind direction: 358°from the north
Visibility: foggy
Temperature: 15.2°C (dry bulb); 13.4°C (wet bulb)

Science and Technology Log

We conducted several sea trawls for hake and other various fish species. First, the scientists conduct an acoustic survey using 4 different frequencies. Then the nets are lowered and drug at depth. The fun begins when we don our rubber overalls, gloves, and galoshes and count, identify and, weigh the fish. The most numerous fish in the trawls were myctophids (see photo), bioluminescent fish with some species having 2 headlights in front of their eyes to help attract prey.

HAB/ Harmful Algal Blooms Test: Throughout the day we took HAB samples, “harmful algae blooms”, which measures the toxins, domoic acid, and chlorophyll levels in the water (which correspond to the amount of plankton present). The HAB sample entails collecting sea water and putting it through a filtering process. Julia Clemons, a NOAA Oceanographer, and I conducted the HAB survey (pictured below). Fifty milliliters of sea water is measured into a graduated cylinder then filtered.

This is a type of fish called a myctophid. They are bioluminescent.

Sea water is collected at specific times during each transect or line of study. The sea water goes through a filtering process testing domoic acid and chlorophyll levels. These results will be evaluated later in the lab. One thing that strikes me is the importance of careful and accurate measurement in the lab setting. The harmful algal bloom samples are conducted 5-6 times daily and accuracy is essential for precise and definitive results. Later scientists will review and evaluate the data that was collected in the field. It is very important that the scientists use the same measurements and tools so that each experiment is done the same way. Making accurate data collection makes for accurate scientific results.

Animals Seen Today
Numerous albatross circling the stern of the ship, Viper fish, Octopi (approx. 6 inches in length), Squid (approx. 3 inches in length), and Myctophidae (see photo).

Here I am observing Julia as she filters a HAB sample.