communication – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

September 13, 2024November 9, 2024

Lisa Werner: How Does Communication with Popoki Work? September 11, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Lisa Werner

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

August 29-September 13, 2024

Mission: EXPRESS Project

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Coast, near Northern California

Date: September 11, 2024

Weather Data from the Bridge (Coquille Bank):

Latitude: 42º58.378’ N

Longitude: 124º50.146’W

Wind Speed: 23.78 knots

Air Temperature: 14.3ºC/57.74ºF

Conditions: Rain

Science Log

Let’s talk about how Popoki, the autonomous underwater vehicle (or AUV), ‘converses’ with the AUV pilot aboard the ship. The map and directions for the route Popoki will be mapping is programmed into her computers ahead of each dive. On this mission, Popoki has been deployed daily, so every evening, the scientists carefully plan out where she will go on each deployment. They also plan the path Popoki will go when on location – this cruise she has made a lot of sawtooth-shaped patterns to give the scientists the greatest survey of what is in the areas they want to study.

photo of a computer screen showing, at center, an image from a computer-generated model of the underwater bathymetry of an area. Overlaid on the image are topographic lines and depth numbers. overlaid on that is a zig-zagging white line showing Popoki's route. — *Of course, tomorrow’s dive pattern is not a sawtooth pattern. The pattern is drawn out in the white lines over the diagram of the ocean floor contour.*

Though this seems like it would be easy to set up Popoki and let her run her course, that is not quite the end of the story. During a dive, the ocean current is sometimes unknown in any given area, so the AUV pilot needs to be able to help Popoki adjust her positioning. It would not be a very big help to get pictures of an entirely different area than the scientists were aiming for because the ocean currents took Popoki to a different area of the sea floor. The scientists also need to be able to help Popoki if she gets stuck on fishing line, or if the conditions above the water change – such as weather changes or vessel traffic – that would require Popoki to surface ahead of her scheduled time.

To communicate with Popoki, an acoustic modem system is used. There is a modem aboard the ship that can send messages to Popoki through a series of chirping sounds. The pitches and lengths of the chirps are all part of the code that Popoki can understand. She has a device that ‘listens’ for these sounds and can then follow the coded instructions to alter her pre-programmed course. She also communicates regularly with the AUV pilot – sending the coordinates she believes she’s at, her depth, battery life, and how many pictures she has taken so far in the dive.

close-up view of a piece of electronic equipment inside a water-proof housing (with the lid removed to show the contents). There are knobs, dials, CAT-5 cables. — *The modem that communicates with Popoki*

Popoki’s communication device points upward, so when deployment is taking place, the scientists place a transducer into the water to use to communicate. Once Popoki is on her way to her programmed starting point, and farther away from the ship, the transducer is removed from the water.

crewmembers, wearing hard hats and life vests, lean over the rail of the ship and use hooked poles to guide a small yellow object suspended from what looks like a fishing pole safely down toward the water's surface. — *This is the transducer that is placed in the water for deployment*

Sometimes there are difficulties with this communication, and this is where the ship’ crew plays a very important role. The officers on the bridge work to position the ship in areas that allow for Popoki and the acoustic modem to speak to each other easily. The angle of the ship will change as Popoki goes through her programmed patterns, adjusting so that the chirps of the modem have a direct line to Popoki. Distance also plays an important part of the communication process – if the ship and Popoki are too far away from each other, there can be interference with the communication. Ocean current, wave heights and lengths, and other sounds coming from the ship can interfere with the communication, as well. The AUV pilot and the ship’s crew work very closely together throughout the entirety of the dive to help the Popoki and the pilot have clear communication.

photo over someone's shoulder of a computer screen displaying a gridded graph. on the graph is a simplified outline of the ship (like a rectangle with a triangle attached to one end) and some dots to the ship's port side — *AUV pilot Jeff Anderson’s screen showing the ship’s position and Popoki’s position (Denoted as dots)*

At this point, you may be wondering WHY do we use Popoki. I’m sure that you can see her benefits in exploring areas we have not yet seen, but the why actually goes much deeper than that (no pun intended). One of the first things Popoki is doing is looking at areas that are being considered for future offshore wind farm sites. There is a great interest in putting wind turbines over the ocean to create renewable energy for our country. Having been on the Pacific Ocean for 2 weeks now, I can definitely attest to the fact that the wind is very strong in these areas, so there is plenty of energy to harvest. Popoki is identifying the deep sea habitats and geological features on the seafloor that would need to be considered when anchoring any wind turbines.

Popoki is also looking at the changes to the habitats as a result of different regulations that have taken place in fishing areas in this region. Some of the locations we have visited were mapped out by Popoki in the past, and scientists are looking to see whether fishing regulations have helped the populations of ocean life return. Finally, Popoki has been looking for evidence of seeps in the ocean floor. These geological areas are spots where cracks in the ocean floor have occurred due to plate tectonics.

underwater image of the seafloor. it's mostly muddy, with only a little relief, but through the center is a dark crack in the floor, with what appears to be steam (maybe hotter water) rising out of it. we can also make out what might be corals, and a fish. — *Picture of an ocean seep (Photo credit: Popoki)*

Personal Log

The ship’s crew spends a lot of time preparing for safety. Just like we have fire, tornado, and lockdown drills in our school, the ship has drills to practice for emergencies as well. They need to be ready for any emergency, and everyone has a role to play. We have practiced the drills each week.

Throughout my time on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, I have gotten to experience some pretty amazing things. However, my absolute favorite moment was getting “Helm time.” That’s right – I got to drive the ship! With Ops Officer Lieutenant Jaime Hendrix and Ensign Megan Sixt guiding me, I got to turn the ship to hard rudder, causing her to drive in a circle. I also got to get her back to her appropriate heading for the transit we were making, and then practice keeping her on course. It was really interesting to see how the ship reacts to the controls and to see what she does! I am so grateful to CO Laura Gibson for this opportunity, and really appreciate the help LT Hendrix and ENS Sixt gave me!

photo of Lisa wearing a bright red survival suit - all we can see of her is her eyes (with glasses) and a portion of her Teacher at Sea beanie hat. she stands on deck on a clear day and stretches her arms out for the photo — *Me wearing the Immersion (or “Gumby”) suit (Photo credit: Curt Whitmire)*

We practice where to gather, or ‘muster,’ in the event of a fire or abandoning ship. At the very beginning of the cruise, we get right to work with a tour of where to find the lifeboats, how to deploy them, and then we get to the drills.

Recently, I had the opportunity to learn to use the flares and the line thrower. The line thrower is used for ship to ship transfers or for rescuing someone who’s fallen overboard. Although it is really fun to get the experience to use these devices, it is definitely something that you hope only gets used in training. However, knowing they are there and that everyone knows how to use them makes you feel a bit better if an emergency does happen.

Lisa, wearing very large, thick gloves, poses near the ship's railing and smiles at the camera. in her left hand, over the railing, she holds a lit flare. it's a mostly clear day, and the sky is blue with a few clouds, and the ocean has a few whitecaps. — *I now know how to use the flares! (Photo credit: Alice Kojima-Clarke*)

Trying out the line thrower

We are not on autopilot!!! ENS Sixt and LT Hendrix helping me learn to drive a ship! (Photo credit: Randy Scott)

Music Connections

Communicating with Popoki has a lot to do with acoustics. Listening to her pilot talk about how important the angles between Popoki and the ship are reminded me a lot of preparing for a recital when I was a music education student at UW-Whitewater. As an undergraduate, we had several performance requirements per semester. For solo performances, the more experienced music majors would always pass on a very important piece of acoustic information to the new undergrads – always aim the trombone bell at the 3rd exit sign along the stage right wall. Hitting this sweet spot would cause the recital hall to ring, the trombone sound to be dark and full, and the experience to be the best for all who were listening. New trombone majors learned very quickly that this was not a piece of urban legend, but by bouncing the brass sound off of the wall at this angle, it was much more pleasant for the audience than to play directly at their faces.

view of an empty performance hall — *The beautiful Light Recital Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater – a great place to perform and explore acoustics! (Photo credit: Dr. Glenn Hayes*)

Communicating with Popoki is similar in a way – rather than bouncing her communications off of corners and walls, however, she responds better to the sound waves coming directly at her. She has a sweet spot, too, but it is more about decreasing the angles. This is a much more efficient method of communication for her, because she does not care about the timbre of her chirps!

Another great moment I really enjoyed during our time together was helping our Chief Scientist Dr. Clarke learn ukulele! I always believe that music is everywhere, and Dr. Clarke proved that theory again for me by bringing her ukulele along on this cruise when she heard the Teacher at Sea was a music teacher! Hopefully she had as much fun as I did!

In the computer lab, Lisa and Dr. Clarke sit in chairs facing one another. Lisa, smiling, leans forward to hold up an open laptop where Dr. Clarke can see it easily. Dr. Clarke watches the screen as she picks at her ukulele. — *Dr. Elizabeth Clarke showing off her virtuoso skills with a little “Hot Cross Buns” (Photo credit: Alice Kojima-Clarke*)

Sounds from the ship today will feature the sound of the ship’s engine outside from the very top deck of the ship.

This is the sound of the engine humming from the Fly Deck. You can also hear the waves, as we are in transit to our next station!

Student Questions

St. Bruno students are fascinated by sea creatures, and they have sent me on a quest to learn about the octopus. I think they will be very excited to see this picture and learn about the deep sea octopus!

underwater image of the seafood showing many brittle stars and some corals. in the lower right, there is a sponge, which since it is viewed from above appears as a white ring. inside the sponge, an octopus is curled up - we can see one eye and several tentacles — *Look at the octopus curled up in a sponge in the bottom right corner. You can see the octopus’s eye sticking out! (Photo credit: Popoki*)

Final Notes

The NOAA Teacher at Sea Program is an incredible opportunity for any teacher. As you can see, you do not need to be a science teacher in order to apply. There are so many connections to be made with the ocean, and students get really excited about learning through their teacher’s experience. Applications for the program will open soon. You can find more information here. Thank you so much to the crew of NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, the EXPRESS Scientists, and the NOAA Teacher at Sea program for this opportunity. What an incredible experience!

August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

Germaine Thomas: Farewell to the Oscar Dyson and Summer, August 19, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Germaine Thomas (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 7 – August 21, 2023

Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey (Leg 3 of 3)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean/ Gulf of Alaska
Date: Saturday, August 19, 2023

Weather Data
Lat 58.1 N, Lon 150.1 W
Sky condition: Partly Sunny
Wind Speed: 5.81 knots
Wind Direction: 346.98°
Air Temp: 12.91 °C

Science Log

The last trawl sample that the Oscar Dyson’s crew and scientist’s took was in deep water with a Methot net, named after Dr. Rick Methot, the NOAA scientist who developed it. This type of trawl net slows down the water as marine organisms tumble into it, so their delicate bodies are not crushed. The codend looks a lot like what you would see in a plankton tow, only it will catch a lot more organisms.

Micheal, wearing foul weather gear, yellow gloves, a hard hat, and a flotation jacket, stands on deck holding a net draped into a plastic bin. He turns his head to the side to look at the camera for a photo. Beyond, the sky is cloudy and the water is calm and gray. — Michal Levine as he removes the codend from the Methot trawl net

Sub-samples are taken from what the Methot catches. Some krill is preserved and sent back to NOAA in Seattle for identification and analysis. On board, the krill are weighed and counted. The krill and other organisms are small, so the tools used to sort them are designed for capturing and moving small organisms.

several strainers resting on a white table surface. two are rimmed circles with mesh centers. one is a standard kitchen strainer with a handle. we can also see a knife, a pencil, electrical tape, and a small torpedo-shaped device for measuring flow inside the net. — The tools used to sort krill

some krill (maybe 40, not thousands) displayed on a white surface — Krill

After the last krill was counted and weighed, the science team quickly jumped into action cleaning up the Fish Lab. Yes, I am including this in the science log, because cleanup is an important part of science that many high school students seem to forget.

view of cleaned equipment on the aft deck. Stacks of empty buckets, some suds still visible on the deck surface. a trawl net rests in a pile in the background. — Totes and baskets were scrubbed and then washed with a pressure hose

The crew had unreeled the trawl nets and were getting ready to ship them to Washington state.

trawl nets, orange and blue in color with ropes and buoys attached to them, sit in piles on deck beneath the large spools (now empty) where they had been mounted during the survey operations — Trawl nets neatly stacked on deck

Personal Blog

Being a Teacher at Sea on the Oscar Dyson was a fantastic way to end the summer for me. Shortly I will be heading back to Anchorage where high school has already started and students have already been to my class with a substitute teacher. I look forward to teaching school, but am so thankful for the opportunity to have this adventure.

It has been so wonderful working with the science team on this cruise. After so many unforeseen delays the objectives were met through team work and the organizational skills of the lead scientist Taina Honkalehto.

The people on this ship really enjoy working on the ocean. Whether it is captaining the boat, engineering, the mess, to programming echo sounders, identifying species of fish, weighing and sampling them, they all love what they do. They also really care about the work that they are doing, the health of the ocean, and they want to support the people working and living with it. Also, there is a unique brand of humor that comes with working together for extended periods of time at sea. You just have to laugh at strange fish that come aboard and wonder at the beautiful sunsets or northern lights.

two crewmembers wearing foul weather gear and large yellow gloves stand laughing at the sorting table in the wet lab. a woman holds a grenadier fish in two hands and closes her eyes in laughter while the man reaches toward the fish with something else (not discernable) in play. — A Grenadier fish

Germaine poses for a photo at the railing. the sun set creates nice pink and orange colors over a mountainous shoreline in the distance. — A Grenadier fish

On the bridge I found the ship’s communication flags. These flags are a way to communicate with other ships if the radios are not working or to hang on holidays with a message. When I was a kid back in Ketchikan, Alaska, I admired the flags so much I would draw cartoons with flag messages. So, to NOAA, the science team and the crew of the Oscar Dyson…

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with horizontal bars in red, white, blue, meaning "T" — T

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with white on top and red on the bottom, meaning "H" — H

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with white on top and blue on the bottom, and a notch in the blue, meaning "A" — A

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with blue and white checkers, meaning "N" — N

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with blue on top and yellow on the bottom, meaning "K" — K

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a white flag with a blue square in the middle, meaning "S" — S

May the seas lie smooth before you. May a gentle breeze forever fill your sails. May sunshine warm your face, and Kindness warm your soul. – An Irish Sailor’s Blessing

July 12, 2022July 12, 2022

Laura Grimm: How Do We Communicate?, July 12, 2022

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Laura Grimm

Aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson

July 4 – July 22, 2022

Mission: Hydrographic Survey of Lake Erie

Geographic Area of Cruise: Lake Erie

Date: July 12, 2022

Weather Data from the Bridge

Latitude: 42ᵒ 11.79’ N

Longitude: 080ᵒ 07.79’ W

Sky Conditions: Few clouds

Visibility: 10+ miles

Wind Speed: 13.9knots

Wind Direction: 245ᵒ E

Lake Temperature: 22.3 ᵒC

Wave Height: 2-4 ft. ***

Dry Bulb: 24.3 ᵒC

Wet Bulb: 22.1 ᵒC

Relative Humidity: 84 %

(*** As the wave height increases, going up or down stairs is a lot like being on a roller coaster. As the ship moves up on a wave, you feel somewhat weightless. As the ship moves down, the G-forces (gravity) make you feel “heavy”. It is fun – until you run into the wall!)

Science and Technology Log

Standing on the bridge, one hears a lot of radio communication between boats and occasionally the Coast Guard. The bridge also communicates frequently with the survey technicians via an intercom.

This made me start to wonder about how the ship communicates in other ways. Let me tell you, there are many other ways for the ship to communicate other than radio. One way is via Morse code. According to Kiddle Encyclopedia, “Morse code is a type of code that is used to send telegraphic information using rhythm. Morse code uses dots and dashes to show the alphabet letters, numbers, punctuation and special characters of a given message. When messages are sent audibly (with sound) by Morse code, dots are short beeps or clicks, and dashes are longer ones.”

Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, who helped invent it. It is not used as much today as it was in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some people still use Morse code to communicate on amateur radio. I have a friend who is an amateur radio operator. He communicates with people all over the world using Morse Code. (He even signs birthday cards in Code!) In Girl Scouts, we were encouraged to learn Morse code. All I remember is the distress code: SOS (. . . – – – . . .).

*International Morse Code chart of letters and numbers*

Another way the ship can communicate is with a signal light. The operator opens and closes louvers in front of the light using the same Morse code dot & dash patterns.

a NOAA Corps Officer closes blinds over a large circular light on a rotating stand — *Morse code is still used on ships using lights.*

Messages can be relayed via the ship’s horn. I discussed in a previous post the ship’s alarm signals that indicate a fire or other emergency, man overboard, or abandon ship. However, the ship also has bells and whistles (different types of horns) that can be used for additional communication; these broadcast a message to a wider audience. There are rules that regulate horn usage in inland and international waters. These signals can communicate navigation or emergency information – and so much more.

Example: two prolonged blasts followed by one short blast = “I intend to overtake you on your starboard side”

If you are in distress, other ways to communicate include lights; a rocket parachute flare or a hand flare showing a red light; guns or other explosive devises; flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc.); a smoke signal giving off orange-colored smoke; slowly and repeatedly raising and lowering arms outstretched to each side; etc.

Flags are also used to communicate with other ships or people ashore. They consist of flags and pennants of varying colors, shapes, and markings. The flags have independent meanings; however, when used together they can spell out words and communicate complex messages. The book International Code of Signals lists literally hundreds of 1-3 flag combinations that mean everything from describing medical conditions of crew members to issues regarding safe maritime travel. The International Code Signal of distress is indicated by the flags that represent the letter “N” followed by the letter “C”.

two flags representing the letters "N" and "C." The "N" flag is checkered with navy and white squares. the "C" flag has five horizontal stripes: navy, white, red, white, navy. — N C = International Code Signal of Distress

a chart of flags (representing letters) and pennants (representing numerals) — *International Flags and Pennants sometimes referred to as the Nautical Alphabet.*

Something else you should know about communicating on a ship (or as an airplane pilot), each letter is represented by a word. A = Alfa, B = Bravo, C = Charlie, D = Delta, etc. To learn more, see the International Flags and Pennants illustration above.

For the little Dawgs . . . (and older)

Q: Where is Dewey today? Hint: People on the ship use these to communicate.

Dewey the beanie monkey is tucked into a cubby storing flags and penants (close-up) — *I’m not sure where you are, Dewey! But it looks like you have found a very colorful playground.*

A: Dewey is in the signal flag storage area.

Dewey the beanie monkey is tucked into a cubby storing flags and penants (wide view) — Signal flag storage area

The radio call sign of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson is WTEA (Whiskey Tango Echo Alfa). Do you see the flags flying from our mast in the pictures below? The triangle pennant above the flags that indicate our radio call sign is called our commissioning pennant- indicating a government vessel (NOAA ship) in commission. The triangles on this pennant symbolize a concept in navigation called triangulation. According to Wikipedia, “triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points”. It is a perfect pennant for a hydrographic vessel.

on the tower of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, we can see four rectangular flags (corresponding to the call sign, WTEA) and one skinny commissioning pennant — *Radio call signs for NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson WTEA (Whiskey Tango Echo Alfa)*

four rectangular flags (corresponding to the call sign, WTEA) and one skinny commissioning pennant — Radio Call Sign Flags

Students, I challenge you draw out your name using International Flags.

image of five letter flags in a row — These flags spell out, “GRIMM” (Golf, Romeo, India, Mike, Mike)

image of six letter flags in a row — These flags spell out, “DALTON” (Delta, Alfa, Lima, Tango, Oscar, November)

Click on this link and/or watch the video below for more information about International Flags and Pennants.

International Code of Signal Flags

Ship Joke of the Day

How do boats say hello to one another? (They wave!) . . . Or, do they wave their flags?

Personal Log

Speaking of flags, I had very meaningful thing happened today. I was just hanging out in the bridge. I like to see how they navigate and steer the ship. (It is also a great place to bird watch.) Operations Officer, LT Levano, asked me if I would like to have a flag that flew over the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson. Whenever a flag becomes a bit tattered or torn, they take it down and replace it with a new one. They usually give the old flag to the Boy Scouts of America for disposal. This time, however, they gave it to me! It brought me to tears. It was a very special moment for me as a Teacher at Sea.

Able Bodied Seaman (AB) Kinnett and ENS Brostowski folded the flag and made the formal presentation.

First, AB Kinnett and ENS Brostowski hold the flag by its corners.
They fold it lengthwise in quarters…
… and then make a series of triangle folds.
Almost finished
ENS Brostowski and AB Kinnett present the folded flag.

Previews of coming attractions:

Tonight, is movie night in the lounge. Word has it that the featured film will be Monty Python and the Holy Grail! Woo Hoo! That is one of my favorites!
Also, the Plan of the Day (POD) for tomorrow states that the crew will be deploying and recovering the Fast Rescue Boat (FRB). Sounds like fun!
I will share the results from the first Human-Interest Poll (HIP) of the crew.

July 12, 2013August 13, 2021

Jennifer Petro: Diving into the Deep, July 10, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jennifer Petro
Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
July 1 — 14, 2013

Mission: Marine Protected Area Surveys
Geographic area of cruise: Southern Atlantic
Date: July 10, 2013

Weather Data
Air temperature: 28.4°C (81.5°F)
Barometer: 1010.20 mb
Humidity: 76%
Wind direction: 103°
Wind speed: 1.5 knots
Water temp: 27.5° C (81.5°F)
Latitude: 32 81.67 N
Longitude: 78 12.95 W

Science and Technology Log

The most integral piece of equipment on board is the ROV. A Super Phantom S2 to be precise. The ROV is operated by the team of Lance Horn and Glenn Taylor from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (UNCW). Dubbed by me as the “ROV Guys”, Lance and Glenn have almost 50 years of combined experience working on and operating ROVs. The Super Phantom S2 is part of UNCW’s Undersea Vehicle Program which currently consists of 2 ROVs and 1 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle or (AUV). In the fall they will be adding a third ROV to their fleet. The ROV set-up is quite impressive and centers around one key component….communication. The ROV is tethered to the ship by an umbilical. During each and every dive the ROV operator is in constant contact with the ROV deck. The umbilical is either payed out over the side or brought back in according to the dive depth and that needs to also be communicated to the wench operator. The ROV deck is constantly watching the direction and tautness of the umbilical so that it does not get overstretched or goes into the boat’s prop. All the time the ROV driver is in contact with the bridge. So, there is a lot of communication and it is integral in every aspect of ROV operations.

Not only are all of the people involved in ROV ops communicating but the ROV and boat are communicating

as well. The ROV uses an integrated navigation system to provide real-time tracking of the ROV and ship to the ROV operator and the Pisces bridge for navigation. Ship and ROV positions with ROV depth, heading and altimeter reading are logged for each dive and provided to the scientist in an Excel file. Geo-referenced .tif files can be used as background files to aid in ROV and support vessel navigation.

The vessel has a machine shop which allowed the ROV guys to fox the transducer early in the cruise. — The vessel has a machine shop which allowed the ROV guys to fix the transducer early in the cruise.

The front of the ROV showing spot lights and camera arrays. — The front of the ROV showing spotlights and camera arrays.

The ROV can go to a depth of approximately 305 meters (1000 ft). Our deepest dive on this cruise is 200 meters (650 ft) which is 20 atm of pressure! What does that mean? At sea level, the weight of all the air above you creates one “atmosphere” (atm) of pressure equivalent to 14.7 pounds pressing on each square inch. In the ocean, the pressure increases very rapidly with depth because water is much denser than air. For every 33 feet (10 meters) of depth, the pressure increases by 1 atmosphere. So at 20 atmospheres there is a lot of pressure pushing down on all sides. It is the increase in pressure that makes it difficult to do manned deep water dives and one of the reasons why the use of ROVs is so important.

As an experiment we sent styrofoam cups that we had decorated in a bag along with the ROV down to a depth of 170 meters 550 ft. The cups shrink due to the increased pressure of the water. The deeper you go the more they will shrink.

Styrofoams cups. Before and after being sent down with the ROV.

Data collection: Data is collected during each dive by the means of video recording and still camera photos. Each camera is in a special pressure rated, water proof housing. There is special attention given to the 7 target species (5 of which we have recorded this cruise) as well as any new or interesting species that we have seen. This data is analyzed back in the lab. So far we have approximately 64 hours of video and 2400 still photos. Needless to say reviewing the data is time-consuming but a very important aspect in confirming what we see during the actual cruise.

Still photos taken with the ROVs Nikon CoolPics camera.

Photos taken by the still camera of the UNCW Super Phatom ROV. — Photos taken by the still camera of the UNCW Super Phantom ROV.

Driving the ROV is much like playing a video game, only you have many more screens you have to monitor. I did get an opportunity to drive it over sand! According to Lance it takes about 20 hours of training to learn to drive effectively drive the ROV. There are no simulations, all of the drive time is hands-on and in the water.

Lance Horn giving me pointers on how to keep the ROV level and on course.

Personal Log

While I was in the Acoustics Lab speaking with the folks that do the multibeam mapping, I looked down at the probes that they use and a single word jumped out at me: “Sippican”. I know this word from my childhood. We used to visit my Aunt Carol and Uncle Al in Marion, Massachusetts which sits on Sippican Harbor off of Buzzards Bay. Sure enough the probes are made by Lockheed Martin Sippican, Inc. located in Marion, MA. This struck me as so apropos. My Uncle Al was a marine biologist and started a research lab in Falmouth, MA. I would go to the lab with him and count flounder larvae for hours on end. He was very instrumental in developing my love for marine science and I was overjoyed to have a connection, albeit small, to a man whose work I admired very much.

June 9, 2011April 28, 2021

Sue Zupko: 11 Belts and Suspenders

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Sue Zupko
NOAA Ship: Pisces
Mission: Extreme Corals 2011; Study deep water coral and its habitat off the east coast of FL
Geographical Area of Cruise: SE United States from off Mayport, FL to St. Lucie, FL
Date: June 7, 2011
Time: 10:00 EDT

Weather Data from the Bridge
Position: 27.3°N 79.6°W
Present weather: 4/8 Alto cumulus
Visibility: 10 n.m.
Wind Direction: 082°
Wind Speed: 4 kts
Surfacel Wave Height: 2-3 ft
Swell Wave Direction: 100° true
Swell Wave Height: 2-3 ft
Surface Water Temperature: 27.1°
Barometric Pressure: 1014.5mb
Water Depth: 80m
Salinity: 36.56 PSU
Wet/Dry Bulb: 27.2/24

This blog runs in chronological order. If you haven’t been following, scroll down to “1 Introduction to my Voyage on the Pisces” and work your way back.

The first ROV we used on the Pisces for our Extreme Corals 2011 expedition is a custom designed craft called The Arc. The crew, led by Dr. John Butler at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, has been developing The Arc since 2007 and launched it in January of 2011. The Arc is ideal for monitoring fisheries, improving species identification, and developing new methods of studying fisheries. It can withstand pressures and dive to 1000 meters (actually it dives to 600 meters since that is how long the tether is). When on land, it weights 264 kg (580 pounds). It has a rectangular prism shape with a length of 190 cm (75 in), width of 117 cm (46 in), and a height of 84 cm (33 in). Just for fun, do this math quiz.

The pilot sits on the ship and tells The Arc what to do. It’s like playing a video game. The pilot and his navigator coordinate movements, watching the computer screen with the ship’s and The Arc’s positions clearly showing. The navigator is in constant communication with the officers on the bridge of the Pisces using a walkie-talkie to relay messages and information between the ship’s pilot and the ROV’s pilot. The bridge also has a navigation screen to monitor the position of the ship relative to the ROV. The fishermen on the deck running the winch also have walkie-talkies so they can be told when to adjust the length of the cable to the ROV. Communication is very important.

Front of ROV with headlights peering down. Lots of black tubing and a yellow rectagle. — Front of ROV

The ROV is pretty neat. It has headlights similar to robots from old Sci-Fi movies so it appears creature-like, but without the spindly legs. Bright lights are needed because that’s about the only light that is available at great depths. There are four LED lights with 2600 lumens each. A 100 watt incandescent light bulb in your lamp has about 1750 lumens. How many lumens total does the ROV produce? Again, doing the math it would be 2600×4=10,400 lumens for the ROV. This is roughly twice as much as your four lightbulbs at home. Looking at the pictures from the bottom of the sea where it is normally dark and the tiny amount of light reaching the bottom makes everything look dark blue or black (see my earlier post on light in the ocean) we can see the colors almost as they would appear in a tidal pool.

The ROV has many instruments to measure data and take photographs of what it “sees.” It has a CTD ( measures Conductivity, from which we calculate salinity, Temperature, and Depth) as well as an oxygen sensor. The best part is the laser beam system which measures things like a ruler. With the help of the high definition camera, we were able to see the fish and invertebrates we were studying. Using the laser beams, we could not only measure their size, but how far away they were.

Crab on sandy bottom with 4 red laser beam lights and one green — Cancer borealis

Note the red dots parallel to each other. The top two red ones are always 20 cm apart and in this picture the two on the bottom are 40 cm apart. The green light helps measure the distance to the crab. Apparently this crab is about 20 cm across. The lasers are fabulous for helping to keep things in perspective.

Yellow hose with some pink covering — ROV Tether

Dave Murfin, one of the ROV crew, was commenting to me about this picture after reading my blog. He said the pink stuff was the foam jacket used for floatation cut off from an old ROV cable, and he thought it looked ugly. However, given a new perspective of it, he thinks it looks cool. The pink foam helps protect the tether on deck and if it scrapes across rocks on the ocean floor. These ROV engineers added the large floats for the last 40 meters of the tether to keep it off the bottom and avoid becoming tangled in the coral and rocky habitats we are studying.

Spool with yellow tether — Spool of ROV tether

The tether for The Arc is wrapped on a spool for easy retrieval and transport. It is 610 meters long and has three fiber optic cables in the center surrounded by insulation. Around that are copper wires to conduct power from the ship, which is why they need a cable. If it ran on a battery, like a submarine, it could be on the bottom alone and the scientists would have to wait for it to return to see what data was stored inside. By using a tether, the scientists have much more control and can move the ship to study something of interest. Although technology is rapidly advancing, it is not quite possible yet to create a vehicle which would do everything the scientists need. Therefore, we continue to use the tether with the ROVs.

So, what do belts and suspenders have to do with the ROV? Well, there is an old saying that you don’t rely on just one thing; you always have a backup. If the belt on your pants doesn’t work, you have the suspenders to hold them up. The Arc is a new system. It is the belt and the system with 700+ dives to its credit is the spare (suspenders), just in case. Technology. It can be fabulous, but very frustrating when it gives you problems. As a teacher, I have to plan for technology to be down as well. I can’t have my whole lesson plan revolving around technology. What if the internet is down that day? Well, the students could get pretty wild without a back up plan. As my mom used to say, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” What if the basket dropped? You are out of luck.

As I mentioned before in my blog, these men and women are dedicated professionals. They have lots of experience with this equipment and know the unexpected can happen. If you forecast about the unexpected, you can be prepared. I have always known that duct tape is a useful tool. Bungee cords are useful. Redundant cables, nuts, bolts, and spare parts are all on board. Having the spare ROV was just good planning and good sense. We have still been able to work our mission with some modifications. Bravo to this bunch for continuing to make things happen despite the unexpected happening. Because of them, we have some wonderful video and photographs to see what is happening on the coral reefs we have been studying.

Scott searching for cables in a box — Scott Mau searches for necessary cables

And the answer to the poll at the beginning of this post is…less than 2 knots. They really prefer currents less than 0.5 knots. This week we’ve launched in currents which were 3.5 knots. Sometimes it caused problems, sometimes not. Here are some pictures from the bottom.

Purple sponge which looks like a jaw opening from the bottom. — Purple barrel sponge

Pinkish purple sea fan on bottom — Sea Fan Octocoral

Sea floor with white whiplike strands — Black coral "forest", Stichopathes

Everyone keeps asking me if I have driven the ROV. I asked the ROV crew about it and they all just smiled. Although it looks like a video game, the ROV is not a toy and not to be given to a novice to control. Considering I can’t get down the stream on Wii Fit without crashing into the side of the stream, they sure don’t want me at the helm of this incredible piece of technology. With the ROV, there is no opportunity for a second chance if you crash and burn. Therefore, I’ll leave the driving to them.

Men watching computer screens in control room piloting the ROV — Teamwork. Kevin is piloting the ROV with the help of John and Dave.