NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeannine Foucault Onboard NOAA Ship Pisces November 7 – 19, 2009
Mission: Ecosystem Survey Geographic Region: Southeast U.S. Date: November 15, 2009
Crew in safety gear
Science Log
If you have been using the ship tracker you would be able to follow that last night we cruised around the bottom tip of Florida out of the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean. The waters were a bit rough with wind gusts up to 40 knots. It was a rocky night. Not to mention a very sleepless night with the greenish way I was feeling :)! Needless to say I haven’t had much to eat today except for some dry Captain Crunch cereal. The head chef on the mess deck suggested it would be a good stomach filler. We will see and I will let you know!
Once I got my sea legs back I was anxious to see what everyone else was doing. The crew as well as the scientists were very busy; therefore, I stayed pretty much out of their way for a while. The crew was trying to get us an arrival in Jacksonville, FL and the tech crew was busy trying to get us online since the internet signal went down. Talking to the captain he says that with a new boat there are always kinks that have to be ironed out …that’s why we call these sea trials.
Lab equipment aboard the ship
The mammal scientists were working on their equipment trying to get their equipment calibrated correctly. They explained to me that PISCES is equiped with many sensors (transducers) and these sensors are connected to different pieces of equipment to help pickup the ocean ecosystem. For instance, the mammal scientists are using the echo sensors on the computers (see below) that operates seven echo sound frequencies. Then the scientists can use this realtime data for analysis of targets, concentrations, the layers of ocean, etc. This provides a broad scope of marine acoustic survey from plankton to large schools of fish.
While I was on deck watching the waves I noticed a bunch of birds that flew into the water but never came up. I watched a while longer and again, but this time these creatures came up from the water and flew across it into a huge dive back into the ocean. These were not birds…..these were ‘flying fish’! They are C.melanurus common to the Atlantic. They are silly little fish always flying from a predator under water.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Chris Imhof Onboard NOAA Ship Pisces November 7 – 19, 2009
Mission: Coral Survey Geographic Region: Southeast U.S. Date: November 15, 2009
Science Log
Rough winds and big choppy waves coming around the Keys and into the Gulf Stream last night kept many awake and few of us with a taste of sea sickness. We make port in Jacksonville tonight and take on the ROV and more scientists. While making the first leg of this voyage it has been good to get to meet most of the crew and learn what they do and where they work on the Pisces; these include NOAA engineers, electrical and computer technicians, deck crew, stewards, and the NOAA Core officers. Since this is a maiden voyage, many of these people have worked on other NOAA ships – bringing their expertise and skills to get the Pisces up and working smoothly. Many of this crew will stay with the Pisces – operating the ship for NOAA scientists who come aboard to run experiments or do research in the months to come.
When I boarded the Pisces last Wednesday, the mammal scientists Tony Martinez and Lance Garrison were already on board testing equipment for an expedition this coming January – for detecting concentrations of sperm whale prey – from small fish to squid – acoustically and visually. Two pieces of technology they use are the EK60 Echosounder and ME70 Splitbeam:
1) The EK60 Simrad Echo-Sounder: This piece of technology uses a devices called a transducers that are located on the bottom of the Pisces to detect organisms. The Echo-Sounder operates on 4 frequencies – split beams of 200 and 120 khz (kilohertz) for shallow water detection – giving good data on zooplankton and small schools of fish, and the 18 and 38 khz frequencies which can detect fish, mammals and squid much deeper. The transducers issue a ping at each frequency every .5 seconds which bounce back creating a picture or vertical scatter. The scatter shown is a reflective signature – which the scientist use to identify what is below.
2) The ME70: The ME70 is brand new technology that uses a single high frequency – but based on amplitude reverberates from 80 transducers in a fan or swath -like shining a spot light down the water column. This gives another kind of visual image of what is below – especially the characteristics of the concentrations of zooplankton and nekton or schools of fish.
Tools and technology like this help scientists conduct surveys of marine species in deep and shallow waters, they can improve the way we estimate fish stocks – and the more it is used and tested can be a passive way to identify species in their habitats through their acoustic signatures.
An interesting aspect of this technology is the growing study of “swarm behavior” – understanding why schools of fish glide in precise synchronous movement. This field of study is becoming more important as we learn that self-organizing coordinated systems like schools of fish are extremely resilient and efficient. Mammal studies conducted by Tony and Lance aboard the Pisces may have larger implications in the future when looking at the behavior of crowds, or traffic on a highway, or how people move in a work place.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Christine Hedge
Onboard USCGC Healy
August 7 – September 16, 2009
Mission: U.S.-Canada 2009 Arctic Seafloor Continental Shelf Survey Location: Beaufort Sea, north of the arctic circle Date: September 1, 2009
The path of the Healy through the ice with the Louis S. St. Laurent from Canada following (See it way in the distance?)
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 800 26’N
Longitude: 1370 16’W
Temperature: 200
Science and Technology Log
Why Are Two Icebreakers Traveling Together?
All of the countries that have a coastline on the Arctic Ocean are trying to collect data to determine where their extended continental shelf (ECS) ends. One of the types of data needed is called seismic data. Collecting this information involves towing a long (a kilometer or more) streamer behind the ship. It is difficult to do this well in ice-covered water. So, the Canadians and the Americans are collecting data together. One icebreaker leads and breaks a path for the second following with the seismic streamer being towed behind. For most of our trip together, the Healy has broken ice for the Louis S. St. Laurent. We are both collecting data – just different types with different instruments.
FOR MY STUDENTS: Can you name all the countries that have coastlines on the Arctic Ocean? Of which country is Greenland part?
Why Do We Care Where Our Extended Continental Shelf Is?
Close-up of the Louis S. St. Laurent collecting data behind the Healy
The oceans and ocean floors are rich with natural resources. Some countries obtain much of their wealth from mining the oceans, drilling for oil or gas in the oceans, or from fish or shellfish obtained from the oceans. Currently, a nation has the right to explore for and harvest all resources in the water and everything on or below the seafloor for 200 nautical miles beyond its shoreline. One nation can allow other nations to use its waters or charge oil companies for the right to drill in its seafloor and thus make money. But what if we could use resources beyond that 200-mile limit? That would add to a country’s wealth. If a country can show with scientific data that the continental shelf extends beyond those 200 miles they can extend their rights over:
1) The non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil (minerals, oil, gas)
2) The living resources that are attached to the seabed (clams, corals, scallops ) An extended continental shelf means a nation has rights to more natural resources.
FOR MY STUDENTS: Look at a map of the oceans. Can you find the continental shelf marked on the Atlantic coast of the United States? What types of resources can you think of that we get from the ocean and the seafloor?
Where Exactly Is the Healy Going?
The red line shows where the Healy has been. The yellow waypoints show where we might be after September 1, 2009.
Our trail looks random to the untrained eye but it does have a purpose. We have been helping the Louis get good measurements of the thickness of the sediments on the seafloor. You see there are certain features of the seafloor that help a nation identify its ECS. One is related to depth. Another is related to the thickness of the underlying sediments. Another is related to the place where the continental slope ends (the foot of the slope). We have been following a path that takes us to the 2500-meter contour (where the ocean is 2500 meters deep) and following a path to measure the thickness of the sediment in the Canada Basin. I was surprised to think that there was thick sediment on the seafloor in this area. But, the Arctic is a unique ocean because continents surround it. It is more like a bowl surrounded by land. As rivers have flowed into the Arctic over millions of years – layers and layers of sediment have covered the Canadian Basin.
Erin Clark, Canadian Ice Services Specialist has been working with us on the Healy.
The U.S and Canada have been sharing personnel as well as sharing a science mission. Coast Guard personnel and science party personnel have been traveling between the two ships via helicopter to share their expertise. As the Canadian visitors come through our science lab and eat meals with us – we have had plenty of time to discuss science and everyday life. There has also been a longer-term exchange of personnel. A scientist from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been sailing on the Louis since they left Kugluktuk, Northwest Territories. Dr. Deborah Hutchinson is on the Louis to provide USGS input to scientific decisions made during the cruise.
My roommate, Erin Clark, is a Canadian Ice Services Specialist. Erin hails from Toronto, Ontario and is staying on the Healy to exchange expertise with the American ice analysts. It has been interesting getting to know Erin and hearing the story of her career path. She was one of those kids in school who just couldn’t sit still in a structured classroom environment. Erin is a visual learner – and often had a hard time proving to her professors that she understood the material as she worked on her degree in Geography. Where other students used multi-step equations, Erin used diagrams and often didn’t “show her work”. NOTE TO STUDENTS: Do you know how you learn best? What is your learning style?
Matthew Vaughan a Canadian geology student from Dalhousie University shows us pictures of the seismic gear on the Louis
Erin was lucky enough to have instructors that worked with her and now she is one of about 20 Marine Services Field Ice Observers in Canada. Luckily, she has found a career that offers lots of opportunities to move around. Some of her time is spent analyzing satellite photos of ice on a computer screen, some ice observing from a ship, and some ice observing on helicopter reconnaissance trips. She communicates what she observes about ice conditions to ships; helping them to navigate safely in ice-covered waters.
FOR MY STUDENTS: What kind of skills do you think an Ice Specialist would need to succeed in their career?
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Christine Hedge
Onboard USCGC Healy
August 7 – September 16, 2009
Mission: U.S.-Canada 2009 Arctic Seafloor Continental Shelf Survey Location: Beaufort Sea, north of the arctic circle Date: August 26, 2009
Science and Technology Log
This is what we see in the Science Lab of the Healy before the data is processed. It is like a cross-section through the top 50-100 meters of the sea floor. Here you can see it was flat and then climbed uphill. The numbers represent round trip travel time in seconds.
Is There a Bird in My Room?
When I first got on the Healy, I thought there was a bird in my room. Then I realized the chirp that I kept hearing every 9 seconds or so was not just in my room. It got louder as I went down the ladders to the deepest part of the ship near the laundry. I found out that this chirp is the sound transmitted by the subbottom profiling system. This instrument is being used on the Healy to collect data about the depth of the water and the nature of the sea floor. These subbottom profiler transducers are mounted on the hull of the ship. The “chirp” sound reflects (echos) off the bottom of the ocean and also reveals the sediment layers below the bottom. This is one of the systems I watch on a computer screen when I am working.
Using Sound as a Tool to See Inside the Earth
Sound is an amazing tool in the hands of a geophysicist, who is a person who studies the physics of the earth. The subbottom profiler uses a low frequency sound. Low frequency will penetrate further into the earth than the higher frequencies used by echosounders. This helps scientists to “see” about 50 meters below the surface, depending on the type of sediment (clay, sand, etc). By looking at how the sound waves are reflected back to the ship, scientists can see layering of sediments, infer sediment type (REMEMBER SAND, SILT, CLAY???), and sometimes see evidence of channels under the sea floor.
The subbottom profiler data is processed and an image is generated for scientists to analyze. This is an image from the 2005 Healy trip to the Arctic. You can see the types of features the sound waves can “see” for us.
FOR MY STUDENTS: DO YOU REMEMBER STUDYING SOUND IN 6TH GRADE? WHAT DOES FREQUENCY REFER TO?
These pictures appear on many doors of the Healy
Why Is This Important?
Geologically speaking, the Arctic Basin is poorly understood. We are not sure how some of the major features formed or even where the plate boundaries are. When you look at maps of the tectonic plates, you might notice that they are not clearly marked in the Arctic. Understanding how the sea floor is shaped and what lies beneath will give us clues to understand the history of the Arctic Basin. From a practical standpoint, geology can tell us where important natural resources might occur. When companies are searching for natural gas or petroleum, they are using clues from the geology of the sea floor to decide where to look.
As far as I can tell there is no place on a ship where it is completely silent. There are fans, air compressors, engines, doors opening and closing and of course on this ship ice breaking and chirping. There are some places on the ship where we are warned to use ear protection because the machine noise could, over long periods, cause hearing loss. Many doors on the ship have pictures reminding us to wear ear protection in certain areas to protect our hearing. The crew spends time working in areas with high intensity noise – so they are often seen wearing protective headsets.
In addition, all over the ship, there are boxes of earplugs. These are available for people to use whenever they need them. My first week, I slept with earplugs every night. The constant chirping, the sound of the engines and the doors opening and closing were more than I could handle. I thought I would need to use earplugs for the entire journey. Now, I am sleeping like a baby even with the additional sound of us plowing through ice. I guess the human body can get used to just about anything.
Earplugs are found near every doorway that leads into an area with dangerous noise levels.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Christine Hedge
Onboard USCGC Healy
August 7 – September 16, 2009
Mission: U.S.-Canada 2009 Arctic Seafloor Continental Shelf Survey Location: Beaufort Sea, north of the arctic circle Date: August 25, 2009
Weather Data from the Bridge
Temperature: 30.150F
Latitude: 81.310 N
Longitude: 134.280W
Science and Technology Log
This multibeam image of the new seamount is what I saw in the Science Lab.
A Day of Discovery…
Today, our planned route took us near an unmapped feature on the sea floor. A 2002 Russian contour map showed a single contour (a bump in the middle of a flat plain) at 3600 meters. This single contour line also appeared on the IBCAO (International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean) map. We were so close that we decided to take a slight detour and see if there really was a bump on this flat, featureless stretch of sea floor.
The contour was labeled 3600 meters and the sea floor in the area averaged about 3800 meters so a 200 meter bump was what the map suggested. As the Healy traveled over the area we found much more than a bump! The feature slowly unfolded before our eyes on the computer screen. It got taller and taller and excitement grew as people realized this might be over 1000 meters tall. If a feature is 1000 meters or more, it is considered a seamount (underwater mountain) and can be named. Finally, the picture was complete, the data was processed, and a new seamount was discovered. The height is approximately 1,100 meters and the location is 81.31.57N and 134.28.80W.
The colors on this 3-D image of the newly discovered seamount indicate depth.
Why Isn’t the Arctic Mapped?
Some areas of the sea floor have been mapped and charted over and over again with each improvement in our bathymetric technology. Areas with lots of ship traffic such as San Francisco Bay or Chesapeake Bay need to have excellent bathymetric charts, which show depth of the water, and any features on the sea floor that might cause damage to a ship. But in the Arctic Ocean, there isn’t much ship traffic and it is a difficult place to collect bathymetric data because of all the ice. Therefore, in some areas the maps are based on very sparse soundings from lots of different sources. Remember, older maps are often based on data that was collected before multibeam echosounders and GPS navigation – new technology means more precise data!
Personal Log
This is the IBCAO. (International Bathymetric chart of the Arctic Ocean) It is a great resource for ships exploring the Arctic Basin.
It is still very foggy. We are about 625 miles north of Alaska and plowing through ice that is 1-2 meters thick. This time of year it is the melt season. Increased evaporation means more water in the atmosphere and more fog. Even though we are usually in water that is 90% covered by ice (REMEMBER 9/10 ice cover?) we rarely have to back and ram to get through. It is noisier lately and the chunks of ice that pop up beside the ship are more interesting to look at. There are blue stripes, brown patches of algae and usually a thin layer of snow on top.
I cannot send a current sound file because of our limited bandwidth on the Healy. When we are this far north it is difficult to get Internet access. But, if you would like to hear what it sounds like when the Healy is breaking ice, click on this link from a past trip through Arctic sea ice.
