The McARTHUR II is fortunate to have two very talented men handling its electronics and surveys. They are Electronic Chief Clay Norfleet and Sr. Survey Tech Lacey O’Neal. Electronic Chief Clay Norfleet is responsible for all the radar, radio, Simrad, computers, networks e-mail communication and ship cell phones. Clay comes to NOAA after an extensive career in the US Navy. In the Navy, he conducted torpedo research and traveled extensively. His favorite port was Seychelles, 200 miles east of Madagascar. He enjoys his position with NOAA and likes the camaraderie with his shipmates. He will be sailing with the McARTHUR II to Hawaii and then will be boarding the OSCAR ELTON SETTE, sailing to Guam and Saipan to lend support to NOAA personnel. Clay is used to extended time at sea. In the Navy, he was out for 9-10 months at a time and one time he didn’t see land for 124 days. While in port in San Francisco, he plans to shop for things for the ship. His advice for someone wanting to be an Electronics Tech would be to get certifications before applying.
Another talented man works in the dry lab, surrounded by beautiful photos of Humpback, Killer Whales and dolphins. This man is the very helpful Sr. Survey Technician, Lacey O’Neil. Lacey helps the oceanographers do their work. He runs the computers for the CTD, SCS system an also runs the ship store. He’s been on both the McARTHUR and McARTHUR II for a combined 7 years. He was previously in the military serving as a paratrooper. His hobby is photography, so being on the McARTHUR II gives him an opportunity to take great pictures of marine mammals. He also enjoys going to Hawaii with the ship and gets to meet a lot of interesting people.
Every evening, one hour after sunset, while everyone on the ship is settling down to a good night’s rest, the oceanographers are busy, collecting samples, analyzing data and preparing for the next collection that has to be taken.
On board the McARTHUR II, you will find oceanographers, Mindy Kelley and Liz Zele. When you first meet them you’re struck with their laughter, and the lightheartedness of these two scientists. You have to have a sense of humor when working at odd hours and conditions, and these two scientists know how to do serious science and yet still have fun.
Mindy Kelley has always enjoyed the ocean, especially when she visited Florida during family vacations. Born in Pennsylvania, she treasured these trips and it led her to becoming a Marine Scientist. She went to school at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and did summer field work through Wallops Island, VA. Her field work led her to the Assateauge Island National Seashore where she gained extensive experience within the Barrier Islands and its marshes. She obtained a BA in Biology and a BS in Marine Science/and Environmental Studies.
Her education took a total of 5 years. Her first job was working with the Pennsylvania’s Department of Environment Protection – West Nile virus surveillance program. It was a great experience and pushed her forward to pursue a Marine Science career instead a settling on an environmental career. Mindy really likes the computer aspect of being an oceanographer and hands on collecting of specimens. She enjoys seeing her field work and data analysis come together and makes sense. Working in the field is quite challenging. This tour she will be gone from July 2nd to November 30th on the McARTHUR II. After porting in San Francisco on the 24th she’ll head to Hawaii for the rest of her tour. In order to meet the demands of ship life she relaxes by e-mailing, doing art projects, listening to music and practicing ballet. With a long history of practicing ballet, Mindy has adapted her routine so she can still work out on the ship. While in port in Hawaii, she’ll attend some classes to make sure that her training is not being compromised. Her advice to someone perusing a career in Oceanography would be to take a lot of math. She says, “even if you don’t like math, when you can apply it to science, you’ll start to like it”. She also advises to take calculus, chemistry and physics. Most importantly is the desire to make it work.
You have to be assertive and aggressive to work in the field and if you are, then you’ll be successful. Her goal is to return to school, and do further studies in computer science, physical and biological oceanography. A typical day in the life of an oceanographer is demanding. They arise 1 hour before sunrise, around 4 am, collecting chrophyll, nutrients, salt samples and productivity. Next, throughout the day they collect surface chlorophyll, temperature, and record other data. 1 hour after sunset, they run a CTD station and then to a Bongo Tow. They also send daily reports to their home base in LaJolla, CA and monitor their data throughout the day.
Liz Zele
Helping Mindy with this large task is Liz Zele. Liz has a background in marine mammal identification and acoustics. She attended the University of San Diego where she received her degree in Marine Science with a biology emphasis. After she graduated, she was involved with science education and informal science. Liz has worked for NOAA for almost three years and this is her second long cruise. She enjoys field work because it lets her use what she learned in school, but she does admit however that she misses her family and friends while out at sea.
This project started for her in late June and will end on December 7th on board the DAVID STARR JORDAN working with another oceanographer. In order to relax on board a ship, Liz reads, watches movies, and goes to the gym. In December, Liz hopes to buy a home and would like to open an education facility and continue with marine mammal acoustics. For anyone wishing to enter the field of marine science she advises to volunteer and go after opportunities. She states the field is very competitive so network and meet as many people as you can.
Crew Interviews: “Serving up Yummy treats – The Cooks of the McARTHUR II”
Sitting in the galley of the McARTHUR II, is like sitting in a warm kitchen with good food all around. The Cooks, Art Mercado- Chief Steward and 2nd Cook Art Mercado, has been with NOAA for 32 years. He started as Mess Man, then was promoted to 2nd cook, and then to Captain Steward. He’s sailed on the FAIRWEATHER, the Old McARTHUR, and the DISCOVERER to Guam. He’s sailed all over the world, including Hawaii, Costa Rica, Montecito, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands. His duties as Chief Steward is to order all the food, plan menus, supervise the 2nd cook, and do all the cooking with the 2nd cook. He cooks for 39-40 when there is a full compliment. The best thing about his position is that it keeps him busy; he gets to talk to officers, crew and scientists. Also he loves it when he can fish and has caught 110 lb. Yellow fin, 35 lb, Mahi Mahi, a 95 lb. Wahoo. The only challenge is that sometimes he gets bored and sometime feels like he has too much to do. When he gets bored, he watches TV and walks around the ship. Art will be retiring in 1 ½ years and is thinking about Hawaii for his retirement years. His most memorable cruise with NOAA is when he was in Alaska, not only did they have beach barbeques, but they also were allowed to go on-shore and see beaver, deer and moose. His toughest cruise was in the Bering Strait when the weather became very rough. Even though his supplies were secure, they still fell off the shelves and made a big mess.
Helping Art is 2nd Cook Carrie Mortell, who has been with NOAA one year in August. Carrie’s experience is with a fishing boat in Alaska. She used to fish for Salmon in the summer and Black Cod and Halibut in the spring and fall. She loved the excitement of being out at sea on a 40 ft. Power Troller. At that time she lived in Prince Wales, Alaska. She enjoyed Alaska because she was surrounded by water and saw plenty of deer, moose and even bear. She came to work for NOAA because she really likes being on the water, and is looking at either Alaska or Hawaii as her home port. Her life on the McARTHUR II is very busy. She needs to be at work at 5 am and finishes her day between 6-6:30 pm. She likes the fast paced work on the McARTHUR and during her time off she likes to read, relax, exercise and play cards, Carrie along with Art prepare 3 meals per day, along with a morning snack. Her favorite thing to bake is desserts and her favorite fish to eat is King Salmon, which she states is high in Omega-3. Carrie’s having fun working for NOAA.
Crew Interviews: Interview with the Engineering Dept.
The Engineering Department onboard the McARTHUR II is really amazing. They are responsible for many of the operations on board. They maintain and operate the 4 generators that provide all the electricity. One generator can power 10, 075 light bulbs! The electric/diesel engine has 3400 HP and consumes 2,850 gallons of fuel a day. The ship that was built in 1984 was originally a Navy spy ship, spying on submarines. The ship also makes its own water by taking in sea water, boiling it, letting it evaporate, treating it, and then it can be used by everyone on the ship. The ship processes approx. 2400 gallons of water and 2200 gallons are used, so a 2 day reserve is kept on board. The ship also has a machine shop to fix or create parts that my break down while out at sea. The ship has two propellers and its top speed is 11.5 knots.
Luke Staiger, Jim Reed
The ship can go 90 days at 3 knots. The ship has 7 levels including the fly bridge. The person in charge of the Engineering Department is Jay Prueher who is the Chief Engineer. He’s worked for NOAA for 10 years and has a total of 20 years in Alaska. His favorite ports are Sitka and Juneau. What he likes best about ship life is no commute and dislikes being away from his family. His wife, who won the Washington State lottery, resides in their home in the Cascade Mountains with their 6 cats and 6 dogs. During his time off, he likes to visit his daughter in warm and dry Tennessee. He really likes this department because all the engineers work together to envision what the scientists need to complete their mission. Then they plan to make it real. Even though Jay does enjoy his job, he plans to retire in 1 year, 11 months and 13 days, to spend time with his family in their beautiful home.
Thanks to all the engineering staff for touring me around and teaching me about the ship.
Today, I met with LCDR Daniel Morris on the McARTHUR II. Morris is one of 270 uniformed officers of the NOAA Corps. His assignment is varied with 2 years of duty on a ship and 3 years at shore. Morris’ background is in the Navy, where he attended the Naval Academy, and was promoted from Ensign to Lt. Jr. Grade, to Lt. Upon leaving the Navy, after some time he joined the NOAA Corps. In NOAA he again started as an Ensign, Lt. Jr. Grade, Lt. Commander and now is a Lt. Commander. In August, Dan will be completing this tour of ship duty and will then be posted at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. While on board the McARTHUR II, Morris is responsible for all the operations on the ship, and the safety of personnel on board. One of his challenges as Commanding Officer is to make the ship a better place to work and live. Morris is on-call at all times aboard the McARTHUR II. He is consulted with navigation questions and vessel traffic situations. During his down time he likes to ride his stationary bike and read. He keeps in contact with his wife who he met while he was a sailing instructor in the Navy and two daughters who live in Gloucester, Massachusetts via e-mail. In the past, Dan has sailed the original McARTHUR, and the FERREL. A port of call that he really enjoyed was in Panama, where he spent time with a friend whose backyard was in a rainforest. He describes life on board a ship like a very small city, and close attachments are made. All personnel who have experienced storms and challenging situations work harder together and become closer. There are 22 people who work together to run the ship, and Morris, admires the crew who work onboard a ship year in and year out. Morris also believes that educating others about sea life is important as he’s done outreach and worked with teachers to give them reports and pictures from sea to share with their students. His advice for anyone wanting a career in maritime is to learn the skills you need for working on board a ship. He also stresses the importance of learning the Maritime traditions, and getting a mentor to help you to get the most out of a maritime career.
Mission: Ecosystem Wildlife Survey
Another talented man works in the dry lab, surrounded by beautiful photos of Humpback, Killer Whales and dolphins. This man is the very helpful Sr. Survey Technician, Lacey O’Neil. Lacey helps the oceanographers do their work. He runs the computers for the CTD, SCS system an also runs the ship store. He’s been on both the McARTHUR and McARTHUR II for a combined 7 years. He was previously in the military serving as a paratrooper. His hobby is photography, so being on the McARTHUR II gives him an opportunity to take great pictures of marine mammals. He also enjoys going to Hawaii with the ship and gets to meet a lot of interesting people.
