NOAA Teacher at Sea: Tammy Orilio NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson Mission: Pollock Survey Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska Date: 21 June 2011
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Latitude: 54.25 N
Longitude: -163.31 W
Wind Speed: 13.56 knots
Surface Water Temp: 7.5 degrees C
Water Depth: 69.38 m
Air Temp: 6.8 degrees C
Relative Humidity: 95%
Personal Log:
We did our (well, my) first bottom trawl today. The trawl net is outfitted with rollers/wheels that ride over the seafloor while the net collects benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms. One thing I talk about in Marine 2 is how bottom trawling is damaging to the environment, and we definitely saw that firsthand today- there were quite a few rocks brought up in the net along with the animals. The seafloor was not as flat as we had hoped- in fact, the net ended up with a 4-foot hole ripped in it, which the deckhands/lead fishermen sewed for us later on in the day. Now, in the case of bottom trawling to collect scientific data, I don’t have a problem…but in the case of doing it for profit, as in the case of commercial fishing operations, I can’t abide by that. I would probably feel a little different if ALL we were doing was bottom trawls, but we’ve only done 2 so far, so…that’s how I’m rationalizing it. What’s your take on this? Should scientists damage an environment and/or kill organisms just to collect scientific data? And just so you know, the data we’re collecting on this survey is not just sitting around, completely useless- we are using it to actually help manage fish populations and regulate commercial fishing. The limits that all commercial fishermen have- how much they can legally take- are determined by knowing the current population status, and we can only learn that by seeing what’s out there, where things are, their age, what they’ve been eating, etc etc.
Following are some pictures of the animals from today’s bottom trawl.
Black Rockfish- we had some fried rockfish for dinner tonight!Cushion star- also called Slime Star b/c it secretes slime when it’s disturbed…which I discovered today!Fanellia compressa- a soft coral- it’s pinkish/peachish in colorAtka mackerel
One last thing…we went by Unimak Island today- it’s the easternmost of the Aleutians, which means that we will soon be re-entering the Alaskan peninsula- but we’re still a long way from Kodiak 🙂 Unimak Island has an active volcano on it called Shishaldin, and we were able to see it today. Pretty awesome!
Weather/LocationÂ
Position: N 56.30.202; W 172.34.37
Air Temp: 7.4 (deg C)
Water Temp: 7.4 (deg C)
Wind Speed: 19 knots
Weather: Overcast
Science and TechnologyÂ
Once the fish are onboard a rigorous data collection process begins. All of the data collected are recorded via instruments linked to a computer network in the fish lab. Below is a series of photos showing the process used in the fish lab to collect valuable data.
Once the fish are on the table, we carefully look through the fish for any species other than pollock caught in the trawl. These non-pollock species are sorted into bins and accounted for. The fish are weighed one basket full at a time as they reach the end of the conveyor belt. Initially, we take a count of how many fish fill one basket. There is a scale connected to a computer program that records the basket’s weight.
The sorting begins. The pollock are sorted between male and female.
After weighing the pollock, we move on to sorting a sample of approximately 300 fish by sex. To find the sex of a fish we cut open its belly and look for either male or female reproductive organs. The sexed fish are then placed in the appropriate bin. Next, each pollock from the male/female sort is measured in centimeters. We use a measuring board linked to a computer that records the size of each fish. There is a small tool in my hand that gets placed at the “v” of the fish tail. Sensors on the board detect the placement of the measuring wand, and send a length measurement to the computer so it can be recorded. This program also keeps track of how many fish we measure, so we get an accurate sample count.
The stomach of a pollock is prepared for preservation.
Several scientists have asked us to collect pollock for various research projects. One project, designed to study the diet of pollock, requires us to sex, measure, weigh and take the stomach of 20 pollock from each haul. A label with all of the information is placed in a bag with the stomach. They are placed in a freezer for preservation purposes.
Here I am using the measuring board.
We also use a similar process for scientists examining one-year-old pollock. This study asks for the entire fish to be preserved, not a specific organ. In one 12-hour shift there is a maximum of 3 trawls if fish sign is identified in the acoustics lab. Each trawl takes 2 to 3 hours to process. It’s possible another trawl could happen while finishing up the data collection from the previous haul. This makes for a very busy, fish filled shift.
Personal LogÂ
I was in charge of weighing the fish!
Working in the fish lab has provided for a tremendous amount of new learning to take place. I’ve learned to identify species of fish that mix in with pollock (capelin, flatfish, skate and cod), and have seen several crustaceans and jellyfish, too. All of the measuring technology has been straight forward and user friendly. Sexing the fish has been the most difficult job, but has become easier with practice. Examining the innards to identify male or female reproductive organs seems nearly impossible in the young fish, and it’s not always clear in the older fish.
Today I was in charge of weighing the fish as they came down the conveyor belt. I was certainly mistaken when I thought it would be a simple task. First off, I had to count the fish as they dropped into the basket at a speed faster than I could count. At the same time I had to control the speed of the belt and open the gate so more fish would move down the line. When the basket was full, I stopped the belt and placed the full (semi-accurately counted) basket on the scale and waited for the scale’s “steady” signal to come on. Since the boat is constantly in motion the steady light rapidly blinks on and off. It took me three tries before I managed to get the basket weighed. Meanwhile the rest of the team patiently waited. Maybe I’ll give it another try tomorrow.
This average sized skate was flapping his wings making him difficult to hold. Look closely at the fish on the conveyor belt and you will see hermit crabs and seastars.Basketstars were brought up in a bottom trawl.Hermit crabs and snails were also caught in the trawl.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Ruth S. Meadows
Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow June 12 – July 18, 2009Â
Mission: Census of Marine Life (MAR-Eco) Geographical Area: Mid- Atlantic Ridge; Charlie- Gibbs Fracture Zone Date: July 5, 2009
Dumbo octopus
Weather Data from the BridgeÂ
Temperature: 10.3o C
Humidity: 93%
Wind: 8.9 kts
Science and Technology LogÂ
Dr. Mike Vecchione holds a very large dumbo octopus from one of the deep sea trawls. This octopus got its name from the large fins that look like the ears of “Dumbo” the elephant. It is a benthic cephalopod (an ancient group in the phylum Mollusca) that lives above the floor of the ocean. It probably feed on copepods and other small crustaceans, but we don’t know much about its biology. This particular species (Cirrothauma magna) has only been caught a few times before.
A very large example of a slickhead
John Galbraith and Tom Letessier hold a very large example of a slickhead. These fish are dark in color and their exterior is slippery. These soft-bodied soggy fish are common in waters greater than 1000m deep. They get their common name from the slimy look of their head. They lack a swim bladder and make themselves as light as possible by having weak bones and watery flesh. Chimeras are distantly related to sharks and rays and can be found at depths up to 2500m. These fish have cartilage instead of bones. We caught several of these in the benthic trawls, but this one was the largest. Most of these fish have a venomous spine at the back of its dorsal fin.
This is a chimaera that weighed in at 12 kilograms.Basti (from Germany) with a chimaera, Venda (from Portugal) has a slickhead and Meridith (from Boston) has a lizardfish.
Do You Know?Â
What would happen between a shark and an octopus? Find out here. Â Â
This cruise’s mission is two fold: 1) stock assessment of fish and invertebrates and 2) mapping of the hypoxia zone. To assess the fish and invertebrate stock, a 40-foot bottom trawl net collects bottom samples from designated sites. The samples are gathered, identified, measured and weighed by the scientists on board the ship. Data collected is eventually used to set bag limits for fish and shrimp. To measure the hypoxic zone, equipment is deployed from the ship at specific sites. Dissolved oxygen level is collected. This data is used to map the Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxic zone.
Personal LogÂ
I arrived onboard the OREGON II on July 4th eager to set sail. However, we have been delayed because the auxiliary emergency generator onboard will not start. Once the generator functions properly, we will be able to set sail.
My position title is watch stander and am told training for my position is “on the job”. I am scheduled on the day shift which is 12:00 to 24:00. I look forward to fulfilling my duties as a watch stander to better understand how the samples are collected and processed.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jacob Tanenbaum Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman June 1 – 30, 2006
Mission: Bering Sea Fisheries Research Geographic Region: Bering Sea Date: June 19, 2006
Mountains in the clouds
Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: Less than 1 mile
Wind Speed: 14 miles per hour
Sea Wave Height: 2 feet
Water Temperature: 44.06 degrees
Air Temperature: 41.36 degrees
Pressure: 1018 Millibars
Personal Log
NOTE: We will arrive in the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska on June 20. As the project draws to a close, I would like to evaluate how effective it was. There is a link to an electronic survey. I would like to ask students, teachers, parents, and other visitors to the site to take a few moments to let me know what you think of this idea. The survey is all electronic and only takes a minute or two to complete. Thank you in advance for your time. Click here to access the survey. I should be able to send one more blog tomorrow from Dutch Harbor. Check back and I will let you know what being on land again feels like. Dutch Harbor should be an interesting place.
Large sea stars from the bottom trawl
We passed the Pribilof Islands. Home to one of the largest worlds largest gatherings of marine mammals in the summer time. I got up to see the islands at midnight and again when we passed a second one at 4:00 AM. We were covered in fog both times, so we will have to come back another day. At midnight, the sun had not yet set. Our sun set last night at about 12:15 and it took a long time to grow dark after that. The sky began to grow light at about 5:00 and it came up a little after 6. A short night.
Science Log
Last night we had another bottom trawl. This one had some of the largest sea stars I have ever seen. One was close to a foot long.  In addition, there is a coral here called sea raspberry. It is common along the Bering Sea Shelf. I thought coral was only in tropical seas, but here it is in the Bering Sea. Since it is our last day at sea, I spoke to our Chief Scientist Dr. Paul Walline from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle Washington about what we have learned so far.
Finally, we were testing a platform today that can open nets at different depths. We lowered the platform to about 390 feet before a technical problem forced us to raise it back up to the surface. As an experiment of my own, I tied a bag of Styrofoam cups to the platform to see what the pressure at that depth would do to them. Want to see more? Click here for a video
Question of the Day:
What was your favorite part about participating in this project. Please write and let me know.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jacob Tanenbaum Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman June 1 – 30, 2006
Mission: Bering Sea Fisheries Research Geographic Region: Bering Sea Date: June 18, 2006
Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: 10 miles
Wind Speed: 9 miles per hour
Sea Wave Height:2 feet
Water Temperature:41 degrees
Air Temperature:40.8 degrees
Pressure: 1013 Millibars
Personal Log
NOTE: We will arrive in the port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska on June 20. As the project draws to a close, I would like to evaluate how effective it was. There is a link to an electronic survey. I would like to ask students, teachers, parents, and other visitors to the site to take a few moments to let me know what you think of this idea. The survey is all electronic and only takes a minute or two to complete. Thank you in advance for your time. Click here to access the survey.
Sea cucumbers
By now, you have met many of the interesting people aboard NOAA ship MILLER FREEMAN. There are three groups of people aboard these ships. The officers on the ship are part of the NOAA Corps. This is a uniformed service of the United States consisting of about 300 officers who complete rigorous training and hold ranks, like ensign, or commander. They are in charge of ships operations and stand watch on the bridge. The scientists aboard are mostly from NOAA research labs, like the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. Many of the other members of the crew are civilian wage mariners. These are professional sailors who handle many of the day to day operations of the ship. Some, such as Chief Engineer Bus, have made their home on this ship for close to 30 years. Other sailors are contract workers who come aboard for a few months, go home and take a break, then join the crew of another ship for a different sort of cruise. Sometimes they are on research vessels, sometimes they are on freighters, sometimes they are on tankers. Today, lets meet able-bodied seaman, or AB Michael O’Neal. Click each question to listen to the answer.
We had another in a series of amazing bottom trawls last night. When the nets trawl along the bottom out here, some of the most interesting creatures of all get swept into our nets. Creatures that live on the bottom are often stranger looking for a few reasons. They are adapted to blend into the bottom so that predators cannot see them. They often wind up looking like rocks or plants as a kind of defense. They are also adapted to an environment with higher pressure and less light than the surface. Some of their adaptations can also make them look very different from other fish. Since they don’t have to worry about predators below them, these fish may be flat and have both their eyes sticking up. These creatures often do not need to be fast swimmers, since their defense is to blend into the environment rather than swim away when predators approach. The basket of sea cucumbers was one of the strangest things I’ve seen so far. These sticky blobs are not plants. They are sea creatures that live on the bottom of the sea and sift through the sand or water to find food. There are several different kinds of sea cucumbers in this basket. Can you see the different types? Mud stars, on the other hand, are soft and sticky, not like the sea stars we have at home. It may be called a mud star, but I think looks like Patrick from Sponge Bob.
Another kind of sculpin with large fins that look like the wings of a butterfly, called a Butterfly sculpin.
Question of the Day
Now that you have seen some of the different jobs aboard NOAA Ship MILLER FREEMAN, if you were on a ship, which job would you prefer? Write me a comment on the blog and let me know!
Answer to Yesterday’s Question
Look at the movements of the ship described above. When the ship drives into the wind and waves, sailors call it a corkscrew motion. Can you think why?
A corkscrew motion occurs when the ship is struck by waves in such a way that it moves in several motions at once. In other words, it may pitch, roll, surge, and sway all at the same time. I’m getting a funny feeling in my stomach just thinking about it!
Answers to Your Questions
Sorry that I left off the link from Friday where you can see the position of the ship. Here it is. Fair warning, the site was down for most of today, so if it does not work, just try again later.
After we put in to port, I’ll have a day or two in Dutch Harbor to look around, before I can get a flight in to Anchorage. After that, I’ll be visiting some friends and family out west before I head back east. Thanks for writing.Â
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeff Grevert
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II June 8 – 16, 2005
Mission: Surf Clam Survey Geographical Area: New England Date: June 15, 2005
The dredge
Weather Data
Latitude: 41° 12′ N
Longitude: 070° 45′ W
Visibility: 2 nm
Wind Direction: 220°
Wind Speed: 13 kts.
Sea Wave Height: 2 ft.
Swell Wave Height: 2 ft.
Sea Water Temp.: 13.3° C
Sea Level Pressure: 1007.9 mb
Cloud Cover: 5/8 (Altocumulus, Cirrus)
Science and Technology Log
0000- 0600: After one successful trawl, an electrical component on the dredge lost power. During the next four hours, scientists and engineers dismantled the component and realized that it had a leak which allowed water to enter. The component was most likely damaged when the dredge was dragged over rocks yesterday. The component was repaired by the end of my watch. We then went off watch and ate dinner. When I awoke for my next watch, I learned that the next watch (0600-1200) also experienced power loss to the component. Again it had to be dismantled and repaired.
1200-1800 The dredge and all components worked smoothly for my second watch. Our trawls yielded few clams however. One trawl filled the dredge with nothing but benthic sediment. After being relieved by the next watch I ate dinner and went to work on lesson plans and interviews.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeff Grevert
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II June 8 – 16, 2005
Mission: Surf Clam Survey Geographical Area: New England Date: June 14, 2005
Skates!
Weather Data
Latitude: 40° 28′ N
Longitude: 69° 27′ W
Visibility: < 1nm
Wind Direction: 230°
Wind Speed: 12 kts
Sea Wave Height: 1 ft.
Swell Wave Height: 3 ft.
Sea Water Temp: 10.3° C
Sea Level Pressure: 1004.1 mb
Cloud Cover: 1/8 (Altocumulus)
0000- 0600 Went on watch. Conducted a few trawls which yielded ocean quahogs. Bycatch included little skates and starfish. At the end of my watch I ate breakfast and went to sleep.
1200-1800 Conducted more successful trawls. This was the first day that my watch had two uninterrupted watches. We got a lot of work done and had good clam yields. Interesting bycatch included a goosefish. Not knowing any better, my cabin mate stuck his hand in the goosefish’s mouth and got bitten. At the end of my watch I ate dinner and went to work on my lesson plans.
On the next watch the dredge hit an underwater rock field and got mangled. The crew and scientists successfully replaced the front blade assembly with a spare. This halted operations for a while but soon we were back to work.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeff Grevert
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II June 8 – 16, 2005
Mission: Surf Clam Survey Geographical Area: New England Date: June 13, 2005
Clam sizes
Weather Data
Latitude: 41° 12′ N
Longitude: 070° 45′ W
Visibility: 2 nm
Wind Direction: 220°
Wind Speed: 13 kts.
Sea Wave Height: 2 ft.
Swell Wave Height: 2 ft.
Sea Water Temp.: 13.3° C
Sea Level Pressure: 1007.9 mb
Cloud Cover: 5/8 (Altocumulus, Cirrus)
Science and Technology Log
We’re back underway 🙂 The repairs went well and the Delaware II set sail at 1400 hours. It was about a three-hour steam to our first sampling station. Once we arrived, there was time on my watch to conduct one trawl. Only one Ocean Quahog was collected. Some bycatch included sea stars, sponges, sand dollars and a crab. At 1800 hours I went off watch and ate dinner. Later I worked on my lesson plans and collected data from the ship’s weather log. Currently I’m waiting for my second watch (midnight). I think I’ll get some rest.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeff Grevert
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II June 8 – 16, 2005
Mission: Surf Clam Survey Geographical Area: New England Date: June 11, 2005
Weather Data
Latitude: 38 39 N
Longitude: 73 50 W
Visibility: < 0.5 nm
Wind Direction: 190
Wind Speed: 10 kts
Sea Wave Height: 2′
Swell Wave Height: N/A
Sea Water Temp: 15.8 C
Sea Level Pressure: 1021.4 mb
Cloud Cover: Fog
Our entire day was spent steaming en route to Woods Hole, MA. We arrived around 1600. Many of the scientists and crew dispersed to go home to their families. No scientific research took place.
