NOAA Teacher at Sea Tom Savage (Almost) On Board NOAA ShipHenry B. Bigelow June 10 – 19, 2015
Mission: Cetacean and Turtle Research Geographic area of Cruise: North Atlantic Date: June 2, 2015
Personal Log
Greetings from Western NC. My name is Tom Savage, and I am a Science teacher at the Henderson County Early College in Flat Rock, NC. I currently teach Chemistry, Earth Science, Biology and Physical Science. In a few days I will be flying to Rhode Island and boarding NOAA ship Henry B. Bigelow, a research vessel. We will be traveling in the North Atlantic region, mostly in Georges Bank which is located east of Cape Cod and the Islands. The research mission will focus on two types of whales: Sei and Beaked Whales. Our primary goals will be photo-ID and biopsy collection, acoustic recording, and prey sampling. I am looking forward to learning about the marine life and ocean ecosystem, and I look forward to sharing this knowledge with my students.
This will not be the first time that I have been out to sea. A few years ago, I spent a week with eighteen other science teachers from across the county, scuba diving within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. This week long program was sponsored by the Gulf of Mexico Foundation and NOAA. This exceptional professional development provided an opportunity to explore, photograph and develop lesson plans with a focus on coral reefs. I also learned about how important the Gulf of Mexico is to the oil industry. I had the opportunity to dive under an abandoned oil platform and discovered the rich, abundant animal life and how these structures improve the fish population.
Prior to becoming a teacher, I worked as a park ranger at many national parks including the Grand Canyon, Glacier and Acadia. Working at these national treasures was wonderful and very beneficial to my teaching.
Providing young adults with as many experiences and career possibilities is the hallmark of my teaching. During the year, I arrange a “Discover SCUBA” at the local YMCA. Students who have participated in this have gone on to become certified. In the fall I have offered “Discover Flying” at a local airport, sponsored by the “Young Eagles” program. Here students fly around our school and community witnessing their home from the air. A few students have gone on to study various aviation careers.
“Discover Flying”
I am very excited in learning about the many career opportunities that are available on NOAA research vessels. It would be very rewarding to see a few of my students become employed with the NOAA Corps or follow a career in science due to this voyage.
NOAA Teacher at Sea: Karen Matsumoto Onboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette April 19 – May 4, 2010
NOAA Ship: Oscar Elton Sette Mission: Transit/Acoustic Cetacean Survey Geographical Area: North Pacific Ocean; transit from Guam to Oahu, Hawaii, including Wake Is. Date: Friday, April 29, 2010
Science and Technology Log
We passed over a seamount, which is an undersea mountain that rises from the seafloor (usually volcanic) to an elevation below sea level. Seamounts often project upwards into shallower zones and are more inviting to sea life, which provide habitats for marine species that are not found on or around the surrounding deeper ocean bottom. This may explain the numerous sightings we have experienced the past couple days.
In addition to simply providing physical presence, the seamount itself may deflect deep currents and create upwelling. This process can bring nutrients into the photosynthetic zone, producing an area of activity in an otherwise desert-like open ocean. These seamount areas may be vital stopping points for some migratory animals such as whales and seabirds. Some recent research also indicates that whales may use seamount features as navigational aids throughout their migration.
I have been working primarily with the acoustics group, launching and monitoring sonobuoys. Over the past couple days, we have detected minke whale boings and sperm whale clicks on a consistent basis. Our sonobuoys did not pick up the whistles of the melon headed whales, but these high frequency whistles were showing up on the towed hydrophone array. Often when visual sightings are reported to acoustics from the “flying bridge” observation deck, we have long been monitoring their vocalizations!
Sperm Whale. NOAA photo
Finding and observing cetaceans while at sea is very challenging, and viewing conditions are strongly dependent on weather and sea conditions. I also spent a couple days with the visual monitoring team up on the “flying bridge.” Because we are looking for visual observation cues up to a distance of several miles using the “Big Eyes” binoculars, it is critical that the observer pick up on whale and dolphin “signs” other than seeing the animals themselves out of the water. These signs include blows, splashing, dorsal fins at the surface of the water, or the presence of congregating sea birds.
A trained whale observer, like a seasoned birder, is able to pick out distinguishing characteristics from a distance, including the shape and size of the “blows”. Each species has a distinctive blow due to differences in blowhole (nostril) placement, number of blowholes, and the amount of time the whale can go between blows.
Direction and shape of blows of the main whale species.
Source: Alan N. Baker, Whales and dolphins of New Zealand and Australia: an identification guide. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1999, pp. 42–43
Personal Log
It was a terrific two days for the research team. We had a record number of sightings, including my first whale sighting on the “Big Eyes”! It was really exciting to be the first person on a whale sighting event. I first noticed it’s “blow” which led to me seeing others. I guess I now understand the phrase, “Thar she blows” through firsthand experience!
We had a full moon on April 29th, and we also crossed the International Dateline. We should have watched the movie “Groundhog Day” last night on board the ship!
I had fun helping out with dinner, and made Vietnamese salad with Doc and helped Jay and Randy with the mashed potatoes. Randy also made his most famous cheese and dill biscuits, which are heavenly!
Jay, steward and cook aboard the Sette and Karen making mashed potatoes for dinner.Cook Randy’s glorious cheese and herb biscuits!
In acoustics, we have been monitoring the vocalizations of several cetaceans that we have not seen through visual observations. Amanda, one of our acousticians (I never heard of this profession before – it means acoustics specialist!) has also been monitoring minke whale boings. This is her interpretation of what we could be hearing:
Question of the Day: If it is Thursday on the east side of the International Date Line what day is it on the west side?
What is the International Dateline?
The International Date Line is the imaginary line on the Earth that separates two consecutive calendar days. The date in the Eastern hemisphere, to the left of the line, is always one day ahead of the date in the Western hemisphere. The dateline has been recognized as a matter of convenience and has no force in international law.
Without the International Date Line travelers going westward would discover that when they returned home, one day more than they thought had passed, even though they had kept careful tally of the days. This first happened to Magellan’s crew after their circumnavigation of the world. A person traveling eastward would find that one fewer days had elapsed than recorded, which is what happened to Phineas Fogg in “Around the World in Eighty Days” by Jules Verne (which allowed Fogg to win his bet when he thought he had lost!).
In celebration of crossing the dateline, the Sette crew launched expired signal flares as a “safety exercise”! I had similar signal flares before when I had a boat, but have never used them before! The crew let me light one off. Pretty exciting!
Sette Officer Mike Marino showing how to set off the trigger for the signal flare.
New Term/Phrase/Word of the Day: Blow
A blow is a visible cloud of warm, moist air expelled from a whale’s lungs as it surfaces. It can appear low and bushy, or tall and columnar, depending on the species. Blows are used as a feature in identifying cetaceans in the field.
The blowhole is really a nostril, or respiratory opening of a cetacean. Odontocetes, toothed whales have one blowhole, and mysticetes, the baleen whales have two.
Did you know that:
Sperm whales form stable, long-term groups made up of females which form the core of sperm whale society. These groups consist of about a dozen adult females accompanied by their female and young male offspring. Males about six years or older leave their mother’s group to join all-male bachelor groups called “bachelor schools”. As the male sperm whales become older, they leave the bachelor group and essentially become solitary during their prime breeding years and in old age. Matriarchy is common among whale societies.
Animals Seen Today:
Sooty tern
White-tailed tropic bird
Red-footed albatross
Melon headed whales
Sperm whales
Animals Heard Today:
Sperm whales
Melon headed whales
Minke whales
Full moon from the Sette at daybreak, the day we crossed the international dateline.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Greta Dykstra-Lyons
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan August 1 – 20, 2005
Mission: Cetacean Abundance Survey Geographical Area: U.S. West Coast Date: August 15, 2005
Science and Technology Log
Last night I was invited to attend an early morning session in the oceanography lab with oceanographer Candy Hall. Like most mornings on this cruise, she and colleague Liz Zele were collecting water samples from 1000 meters and up with a device known as the CDT (Conductivity, temperature with depth). These samples are used to test things like nutrient, salt, and chlorophyll levels. Candy also runs a primary productivity test on the samples. This test will identify the rate at which phytoplankton grow.
After a short nap, I was off to the flying bridge. Due to the fact that the sun was shining (a first in over 2 wks) and the seas were calm, it felt like a promising day. There was the typical early morning fin whale sighting, followed by a lull. During this let-up it must have been decided that our time would be best spent fishing for albacore (as several trawlers were within sight). Almost as soon as the fishing lines were tossed over a blue whale appeared not far from the boat. The sun on the whale’s back made for a beautiful sight in and out of the water. It did not take long to get the small boat launched and on the trail of the whale for a biopsy and photographs. The time between mammal sightings was spent watching birds. My highlight today was observing a flock of arctic terns headed to Antarctica. This I am told is the longest migration of any animal. Today became more fruitful when four adorable Dall’s porpoises flirted with our bow for several minutes. To top it all off…as we were beginning to enjoy our first visible sunset and the rising of a nearly full moon, observers found spunky dolphins engaging in acrobatics worthy of gold medals near the horizon. It was not long before they graced us with their playful presence. Several of us took turns in the bow chamber and caught some underwater glances as well as auditory treats! Smiles all around.
Yesterday, Monday, a somewhat elusive whale species showed itself despite the horrid weather. Two Baird’s beaked whales appeared around the boat for several surfacings. Luckily, the photographers were able to get a few good head shots. And, like most days, there was the morning fin whale sighting! Due to poor visibility, observers went off effort a bit early. Sunday also supplied us with less than perfect condition, but a fin whale was recorded before noon. The JORDAN picked up a worn-out, far from home hitchhiker in the afternoon. The deck of the ship hosted this cowbird for the evening. She hasn’t been seen since.
Saturday’s conditions were similar to Sundays, but it was even colder. The only sighting was…you guessed it, a morning fin whale. When there are few sighting to report and animals to observe, the members of the JORDAN become curious about floating objects. During these “slow times” the ship has collected a few things, three buoys to be exact. Two of them are your standard orange plastic fishing buoys (probably headed for the dumpster). These buoys provided bonus entertainment because they had lines attached to them and thus “things” attached to the lines. The other buoy is a much more prized and sought after glass fishing buoy once used by Japanese fishermen. It was given to the captain.
Tomorrow is our last full day of the cruise. Currently we are about 60 miles from the coast. Due to our position and course, tomorrow has the potential to be an outstanding day for observing marine mammals and birds.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Greta Dykstra-Lyons
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan August 1 – 20, 2005
Mission: Cetacean Abundance Survey Geographical Area: U.S. West Coast Date: August 14, 2005
Drew Barth
Profile of More Crewmembers
Name: Drew Barth Age: 20 Home: Billings, MT Position on DAVID STARR JORDAN: Wiper–engine room Years of experience: 1 Favorite part of job: Traveling to different places Favorite cruise: Shark cruise Favorite port: Yet to be discovered Memorable experience: Dolphins bow riding while in the small boat Continents visited: 1
Jason Larese
Age: 37 Home: San Diego, CA College: UC-San Diego and University of Washington Major: Undergrad—chemical engineering; Graduate—Marine Policy Job: Biological Technician Position on DAVID STARR JORDAN: Independent observer Number of months at sea this year: 1 Highlight of job: Stimulating, exposure to interesting things Memorable experience: First stranding—deceased juvenile gray whale; bow-riding dolphins in bioluminescence Favorite species: Risso’s dolphins Concern: Apathy Continents visited: 4
Mike Sapien
Name: Mike Sapien Age: 37 Home: San Diego, CA Position on DAVID STARR JORDAN: 2nd cook Years of experience: 2 Previous experience: In port support for DAVID STARR JORDAN and deck crew Favorite part of job: Star gazing Favorite cruise: Clipperton Island Favorite port: Acapulco, Mexico Memorable experience: An 8′ sand shark brought up in bottom trawl net Other boats in NOAA fleet: ALBATROSS IV and DELAWARE Continents visited: 1
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Greta Dykstra-Lyons
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan August 1 – 20, 2005
Mission: Cetacean Abundance Survey Geographical Area: U.S. West Coast Date: August 13, 2005
Profile of Another Crewmember
Name: Laura Morse Age: 36 Home: Portsmouth, NH College: SUNY Buffalo, NY Majors: Biology and anthropology Job: Field Biologist (specializing in marine mammals) Position on the DAVID STARR JORDAN: Mammal Observer Years of experience: 11 Months at sea this year: 9 (including work with river dolphins in Cambodia) Best part of job: Travel, being on the ocean, and the freedom and flexibility the job offers| Concerns: Coastal pollution and fisheries interaction Favorite species: North Atlantic right whales Continents visited: 7
