ecosystem monitoring survey – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

August 11, 2025August 14, 2025

Dorothy Holley: Basking Sharks, Great Shearwaters, and Phronima Amphipods, Oh My! August 9, 2025

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Dorothy Holley

Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces

July 31 – August 15, 2025

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (EcoMon)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Date: August 9, 2025

Weather Data from Bridge:
Latitude: 4118.447 N
Longitude: 06649.365 W
Relative Wind speed: 17
Wind Direction: 314
Air Temperature: 18.8
Sea Surface Temperature: 18.979
Barometric Pressure: 1022.28
Speed Over Ground: 8.7
Water Conductivity: 4.348
Water Salinity: 32.04

closer view of a great shearwater in flight, as seen from above. we can make out the dark head, white throat, patterned back. the water is rippled blue and white.

a great shearwater, visible only as a silhouette, swoops low over calm waters reflecting an orange sunset

a great shearwater swoops low over calm blue waters

side view of great shearwater in flight; we can see its white underside well. it flies above calm waters reflecting a blue and pink sunset.

Photos of Great Shearwaters in flight by Cameron Cox, NOAA Seabird and Marine Wildlife Observer

First, A blog-reader texted me to say that it looked like I was having fun! Yes, while NOTHING could be more fun than your birthday party, Teacher-At-Sea is at the top of the list of fun teacher-things to do! I hope that ALL teachers, especially those from North Carolina, will apply to be a NOAA Teacher at Sea as we continue to grow strong STEM ecosystems while helping our communities make informed decisions. Thanks for reading Elaine!

Second, an answer to last BLOG’s math problem: If 1 knot = 1.15 mph, and the ship is traveling 8 knots, a stop 15 miles away will take us a little over 1 and a half hours (about 1.6 hours) to reach.

a woman sits in an observation chair on the flying bridge — Allison Black, NOAA Seabird and Marine Wildlife Observer

Science at Sea

Animal monitoring is an active part of our floating weather station. A dolphin sighting texted through WhatsApp brings lots of off duty folks up to see. The NOAA Corps on the bridge keep a constant vigil to make sure we don’t hit a whale. But the “Seabird and Marine Mammal Observers” are a functional part of our Science team. They spend their daylight hours on the Flying Bridge scanning the horizon and recording their findings. The species, group size, and photos are catalogued and stored for long term monitoring. This data can be used to estimate bird and mammal abundance in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean now as well as set baseline data through AMAPPS (Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species). NOAA Scientists are conducting surveys and developing abundance and distribution models to better understand how protected species such as whales, dolphins, and sea turtles use our waters. (Read more here)

illustration of a NOAA vessel in the ocean; nearby are silhouettes of birds in flight and marine mammals swimming — *Diagram of an observer on the flying bridge a NOAA ship looking for seabirds and marine mammals.*
*Credit: Su Kim, NOAA Fisheries*

Career Spotlight

Cameron Cox has been able to turn his love of birdwatching into a career. As a Seabird and Marine Mammal Observer Scientist on NOAA Ship Pisces, he can be found on the Flying Bridge during the daylight hours.

portrait of a man wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, banana around nectk, sitting at a wooden table on the deck of NOAA Ship Oregon II. a closed laptop and a fancy camera sit on the table. — Cameron Cox, NOAA Seabird and Marine Wildlife Observer

Cameron’s passion for birding kinda snuck up on him. He remembers hiking with a neighborhood friend who had started birdwatching for a hobby. At age 13, Cameron was hooked. Since he was homeschooled, Cameron was able to carve out time to pursue this new interest. He spent his 20’s traveling around the United States looking at birds. He had a 2-thousand-dollar car and 6-thousand dollars worth of optics – binoculars, camera, and spotting scope.

Cameron explained to me that the long term monitoring projects are hard for Universities and non government organization (NGOs) to fund, which is why our NOAA work is so valuable. The data sets are free and readily available to everyone. Unfortunately, when the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill decimated the Gulf Coast, there wasn’t baseline data available for recovery and accountability. He was able to assist in creating possible baseline data by performing Seabird and Marine Observations off the coast of Florida, a similar ecosystem.

These days, Cameron leads birdwatching tours in what he calls “Environmental Entertainment.” He loves watching others connect with the importance of the natural world, and hopes to help them become conservationists. Cameron has also published two books, Terns of North American: a Photographic Guide, and a Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight, co-written with Ken Behrens. Writing at the rate of one book a decade, his ongoing projects will ensure he has a long life! This is Cameron’s first time being a Seabird and Marine Mammal observer with NOAA. We hope it is not his last!

the silhouette of a bird banks low above the water, reflecting a firey sunset — Wilson’s Storm Petrel. Photo by Cameron Cox.

Interesting Things: The Seabird and Marine Mammal Scientist Observers onboard are monitoring lots of animals specifically, but there are other animals we are studying or just find in our nets.

top down view of a blue crab resting in a white bucket containing a couple inches of water

a blue crab rests in the corner of a large red bin, filled with a few inches of water

Engineer Drew found this crab in our sea strainers (they strain the water used around the engines). ET Alex named her Crustacina (spelt like crustacean, but pronounced like Cristina). We will keep her on-board until we can get to more shallow waters for release.

NOAA Scientists are collaborating with a group in Miami to study ocean acidification on pteropods’ shells. The phronima amphipod (see video below) inspired the movie alien. They commandeer a salp, eat the flesh, and then lay eggs in the empty pouch.

Phronima amphipod (left) and salp pouch (right)

For 50 years….. Basking Shark Videoed by ENS Keene-Connole

close-up view of a small fish on a petri dish

microscope set up, with petri dishes and pipettes nearby

A microscope is always ready to check out the latest find!

Personal Log

Have you heard of or participated in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC)? Started in 1900 by 27 dedicated birders, this GOAT Citizen Science Project provides long term data sets that help conservation biologists of all forms study long term bird health and guide conservation actions. The CBC is one example of how good can win (Side Hunt, no link will be provided). Consider joining a Christmas Bird Count this year to learn more about Citizen Science and the importance of long term data sets (see CBC ).

You do the Math: The First Christmas Bird Count was held December 25, 1900. If 18,500 individual birds representing 89 different species were logged by the 27 participants, how many different birds were seen (on average) by each person? Check in the next blog post for the answer.

a line of styrofoam birds - all the same base shape, but decorated with marker to resemble specific species, including a puffin and a cardinal - sitting on a tabletop. — *These styrofoam birdies are going to be a science experiment of their own…. stay tuned!*

August 8, 2025August 11, 2025

Dorothy Holley: The Driver’s Seat!? August 6, 2025

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Dorothy Holley

Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces

July 31 – August 15, 2025

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (EcoMon)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Blog Post #4: August 6, 2025

Weather Data from Bridge:
Latitude: 43^o20.065’ N
Longitude: 067^o11.122’ W
Relative Wind speed: 6
Wind Direction: 66
Air Temperature: 19.6
Sea Surface Temperature: 16.91
Barometric Pressure: 1029.76
Speed over ground: 9.3
Water Conductivity: 4.13
Water Salinity: 32.04

Dolphins on the bow!

First, A blog-reader reader emailed to ask me why they put tennis balls on the chairs in the mess hall. Their guess was that it keeps the chairs from sliding. What do you think? Should I ask the captain? Thanks for reading and asking questions!

portrait photo of Dorothy, wearing a sweatshirt, very large orange work overalls, and a swim vest. she stands on a narrow side deck of NOAA Ship Pisces, one hand on the rail and one hand on her hip. — *After a CTD collection, Dorothy watches the sunset*

view of the bridge room of NOAA Ship Pisces: we see control panels with monitors and displays, a chart table in the center, and a line of windows surrounding the room. — The BRIDGE: where the driving happens……

Second, an answer to the math problem from the last blog: If I filtered water from 3 CTD Rosette bottles for 12-minute protocols at 100 stops, then I would spend 2.5 days just on that project. (Yes, I could spend a fraction of a day on a project.)

Science at Sea: This Summer EcoMon cruise is collecting data that will be analyzed to support NOAA’s mission to protect, restore and manage the use of living marine, coastal, and ocean resources through ecosystem-based management. Our planned path through the northwest Atlantic Ocean, from Rhode Island to Cape Hatteras to the Gulf of Maine, is shown in the map below. NOAA Ship Pisces is a floating weather station, reporting temperature and weather data (available on the Windy app).

a map of the station locations. the x axis ranges from 76 degrees West to 64 degrees West and the y axis ranges from 35 degrees north to 45 degrees north. We see the coastline from North Carolina's Outer Banks to Newfoundland. sample locations are marked with blue dots (bongo only stations), red dots (911 + CTD deployments) and red dots with black circles (both). A few green dots denote bongo sampling locations near wind energy areas.

Once we embarked, NOAA Corp members and Scientists evaluated weather data to determine it was preferable to go north before heading south. So, we are now in the Gulf of Maine, one of the most biologically productive marine ecosystems and possibly one of the most rapidly warming.

Unique bathymetry (that’s topography, but under water) of the area is shaped by the mixing of cool freshwater from the Arctic, the Labrador Current, and over 60 Nova Scotia to Cape Cod rivers with warmer salty Gulf Stream currents. Referred to as a semi-enclosed sea, the Gulf of Maine has shallow and deep areas such as the Bay of Fundy and Georges Shelf. As our polar ice cap melts, the Labrador Current and the more-shallow rivers become warmer. Warming temperatures strengthen the Gulf Stream. The “bath tub” effect for the Gulf of Maine translates to warming at nearly three times the global ocean average. (Read more about the Gulf of Maine and Acadia National Park’s 60 miles of coastline and 18 islands in the U.S. National Park Service here )

We have had to maneuver around humpback whales and tons of lobster pots to reach our stops and collect data that will better help scientists understand and manage this important ecosystem. But when we talk about how fast we are going, those steering the ship use the unit of “knots” instead of mph. Why?!

screenshot of Google maps from Dorothy's phone showing the current location: the blue dot surrounded by solid blue (which is how the ocean appears on Google maps)

Screenshot Photos of Dorothy’s phone: Google Maps isn’t very helpful in the ocean!

Interesting Things: Mariners (and aviators) don’t have road maps or Google maps to steer them. They must navigate using latitude and longitude readings, based on the circumference of the earth. One nautical mile is equivalent to one minute of latitude, and one nautical mile per hour is then called one knot. NOAA Ship Pisces cruises at around 8 knots between stops. My land-based brain is still trying to convert!

On the bridge, our NOAA Corps is constantly figuring out speed, time, and distance problems to make sure the Pisces is getting where it needs to be on time, or how we’ll pass with another vessel. LT Urquhart posts the stations for the following day in our “Plan for the Day” Communication.

You do the Math: If 1 knot = 1.15 mph, how long (in hours) will it take us to get to the next stop, 15 miles away? Remember, the ship is traveling at 8 knots. Check in the next blog post for the answer.

Career Spotlight

LT Karina Urquhart

LT Karina Urquhart is a part of the Ship’s NOAA Corps. In other words… She gets to DRIVE THE SHIP! (NOAA Ship Pisces currently has seven NOAA Corps officers, collectively called the Wardroom.) A fascination with the ocean and a strong work ethic developed through years of competitive swimming propelled her into this role. Growing up in Sanford, Maine, she began swimming in elementary school. While she appreciated the access to deep family roots, her mom also grew up in Sanford, she chose to leave Maine to attend college and continue swimming. (She didn’t especially enjoy academic studies, but figured the classes would take care of themselves. Right?)

Graduating from Clark University in Massachusetts with a degree in Environmental Science Conservation Biology and a minor in Studio Art, LT Urquhart returned to Maine summer beach lifeguarding and then found a USDA Pathways Internship in Washington, DC. The lifeguarding and internship experiences, especially spending 8-hour shifts with a colleague observing ocean currents and movements, set the stage for her NOAA Corp Basic Officer Training Class (BOTC) application. Once accepted, she was trained in ship handling and navigation to prepare her for her role as an Officer in NOAA.

BOTC provided many opportunities to sharpen her problem solving and perseverance skills. She often said, “I can do one more week of this,” and then, at some point, it got better. Her first ship assignment was on NOAA Ship Rainier, for 2.5 years, where she conducted hydrographic operations from Alaska to Guam. LT Urquhart took the technical foundation she gained from Rainier and then rotated into a three-year land assignment at NOAA’s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) where she supported seafloor and lakebed habitat mapping. While working full time, she pursued a master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, from the University of Maryland.

As advice for people starting a new opportunity, LT Urquhart suggests leaning into the things that scare you the most because they’ll probably help you grow the most. It’s scary for a reason. If you feel stressed or overwhelmed, she suggests doing the thing that you don’t want to do first. Sometimes you just have to get over it and sometimes you have to be the person pushing yourself. LT Urquhart credits her experiences in NOAA with helping her distinguish between the challenges she can overcome, when to ask for help, and when to take a step back.

As one of two Operations Officers on board Pisces, LT Urquhart invests in the crew and scientists on our EcoMon mission, making sure we have what we need so that our mission runs as smoothly as possible. She prints the daily “Plan of the Day” listing the stops and times we’ll be collecting samples. She begins by asking “where do I think we’ll be at midnight?” and “Is this 24 hours worth of stations + transits?”. She credits our electronics and Navigation Officer (ENS Cheney) for doing much of the leg work (and math!) for the team. One tool she says that she couldn’t live without are the RADARs– the ship’s eyes that let us see objects and hazards way further than we can actually see. I’m personally glad that she has her camera. While taking pictures is not a part of her official duties, you may have noticed I’ve posted LT Urquhart’s photos in some of my blogs.

Currently, LT Urquhart is reading The Hero Within by Carol S Pearson and On Character by Stanley McChrysal. Two books she would highly recommend are Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man, by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic and The Curve of Time, by M. Wylie Blanchet. I enjoy reading her daily updates. Thank you for communicating so well!

Personal Log

Here are some pictures of my cabin (called a stateroom). In the last blog, I posted some amazing pictures taken by my cabinmate Alyssa. Since we are working opposite shifts, we each feel like we have a private stateroom! While I think I am the oldest person onboard, Alyssa (a college student) is the youngest. I wonder if she can share more information on NOAA scholarships, internships, and volunteer opportunities available to college-aged students? Maybe we should ask….

view into a stateroom: we see two bunkbeads with curtains, a window with the curtain drawn, a desk chair, a suitcase. — Berths

view out the stateroom window: a plastic ducky with a sailor's hat sits on the sill looking outward — Berths

Photos: Home, sweet home on NOAA Ship Pisces!

Isn’t it nice to have so many great photographers in one place? It has been said that a picture says a thousand words. Come meet a member of the science team who has published two bird books in my next blog…

Beautiful sunset over the Atlantic

August 6, 2025August 8, 2025

Dorothy Holley: Columns of Information, August 5, 2025

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Dorothy Holley

Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces

July 31 – August 15, 2025

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (EcoMon)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Blog Post #3, August 5, 2025

Date: August 5, 2025

Weather Data from Bridge:
Latitude: 4259.65 N
Longitude: 07026.35 W
Relative Wind speed: 15
Wind Direction: 356
Air Temperature: 21.3
Sea Surface Temperature: 18.996
Barometric Pressure: 1023.4
Speed over ground: 9.9
Water Conductivity: 4.265
Water Salinity: 31.21

Sky is overcast due to the Canadian wildfires!

First, a Thank you to Pam who posted a comment to my last post. When out at sea, it is good to know someone is reading along!

Second, an answer to the math problem….. If we are out at sea for two weeks, and deploy the Bongo nets at 100 different stops, our team of scientists will deploy and collect plankton over seven times each day, and since there are two groups, we’ll each deploy and collect about 3-4 times each day. (No, we can’t do partial, or fractional, jobs!)

Dorothy, wearing a 35th anniversary Teacher at Sea sweatshirt, takes a selfie from an upper deck. the sun is starting to set in an aquamarine sky over light blue water. — *Photo: Sunset while on duty is the best!*

Science at Sea:

Over 70% of our planet’s surface contains water. While we can’t analyze every single drop, we can monitor and evaluate water quality patterns to better understand and predict changes in weather, climate, oceans, and coasts. NOAA scientists’ work supports severe weather preparedness and international shipping.

a view from farther down the rail of a CTD rosette suspended just at the water's surface; the sky and water are very gray

a view from farther down the rail of a CTD rosette suspended above the water's surface; the sky and water are very gray

a view from farther down the rail of two crewmembers wearing life vests pulling the CTD rosette back on board; the sky and water are very gray

Photos: Scientist team and Deck team work together to get CTD equipment in place. Photos by LT Karina Urquhart.

The CTD Rosette is an instrument used to collect water samples in the water column at our stops on our Ecosystem Monitoring (EcoMon) Cruise. “CTD” stands for conductivity, temperature and depth. Closer to the ocean floor, the temperature will be colder (lower) and the pressure will be higher. Conductivity describes how well electricity is being conducted and can be used to determine salinity. Taken together, salinity, temperature, and pressure influence water density, which in turn drive ocean currents and influence global climate patterns. Monitoring salinity and temperature patterns helps us better understand marine life distribution and predict changes in our planet’s water cycle.

The CTD Rosette also has oxygen sensors and a fluorometer. There are 12 Niskin bottles that open and close to collect water samples at different depths in the column. Water from three of the bottles is for a project on chlorophyll concentration. We filter water from three different depths to be examined back at the land lab. (Find out more about CTD Rosettes here.)

view of the CTD rosette resting on deck. the sky is hazy gray blue, and the water is gray. at the horizon, a few windmills are barely visible.

view of the ocean over the deck; the sky is cloudy and gray, and the water is gray. at the horizon, a few windmills are barely visible.

CTD Rosette waiting for the next stop. Do you see the windmills?!

You do the Math: If I filtered water from 3 CTD Rosette bottles at each of our 100 stops, and it takes 12 minutes to run the protocol to filter each bottle, then how much time (in days) would I spend on the project? Check in the next blog post for the answer.

Interesting Things: There are no landfills in the ocean. So what happens to our waste?! After every meal we scrape our food waste into a bucket and our paper and plastic waste into another bucket. Plates, cups, bowls, and silverware are washed for the next meal. The food waste is pulverized and dumped into the ocean to biodegrade. The other bucket’s waste is incinerated onboard.

Career Spotlight:

portrait view of Santanna on deck. He is wearing black work gloves, a life vest, and a yellow hardhat. We can see part of a bongo plankton net on deck behind him. The sky is a muted blue, cloudless; the ocean is blue and very calm. — Santanna Dawson, professional mariner

Santanna Dawson has been a part of the deck department on NOAA Ship Pisces for the last year and a half. His team is responsible for everything deck – docking, undocking, equipment, cargo, operations, maintenance, painting, repairing, and even security rounds (in case something comes loose and starts rolling around in the night). He ensures the science experiments actually happen by getting the equipment safely in place.

Santanna speaks with a Gullah Geechee dialect, a mixture of creole and low county charm. And even though he grew up around the ocean in South Carolina, his plan was to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the Air Force. A car accident after graduation snapped his femur in half, changing everything. Santanna began his career with little knowledge of the maritime industry, working his way up from entry level with training (earning a spot at a maritime school in San Diego) and persistence.

One tool Santanna says he can’t live without is a hammer. A tool he doesn’t have yet is a Bluetooth screw driver. The next book on his reading list is Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins.

Santanna was one of the first people I met on the ship, and he made me feel right at home. How is that? It wasn’t the obvious southern drawl (he sounds more Senegalese!) but the fact that Santana recently lived in Knightdale, NC, my hometown! He knows about the beautiful Knightdale Station Park and his son attended Knightdale High School. As my mom would say, it really is a small world!

Personal Log: It is joyful to get to “do science” every day! Today I saw pilot whales on the flying bridge with binoculars and a fish egg in the lab with a microscope. I hope you get to experience some joy today, too!

close up view of a tiny sea star in a plankton sieve — Sea star

top down view of a sieve filled with small jellyfish — Sea star

Photos by my cabin mate, Alyssa Rauscher

August 4, 2025August 8, 2025

Dorothy Holley: Is it Important to Take Your Temperature? August 2, 2025

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Dorothy Holley

Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces

July 31 – August 15, 2025

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (EcoMon)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Date: August 2, 2025

Weather Data from Bridge:
Latitude: N41^o30’0’’
Longitude: W67^o17’0’’
Sea Wave height: 8 feet waves
Wind speed: 13 kt
Wind Direction: 40^o SW
Visibility: overcast
Air Temperature: 20.^oC
Barometric Pressure: 30.22 inHg
Sky: gray to clear

view from across the cement dock of NOAA Ship Pisces in port. the sky is pale blue with a few fluffy clouds.

view looking up at a line of flags hanging vertically off an upper deck of NOAA Ship PIsces. Four of the flags spell the letters WTDL, the Pisces' call sign, in semaphore

Photos: NOAA Ship Pisces in port in Newport, Rhode Island; NOAA Ship Pisces’ call sign; Teacher at Sea Dorothy Holley and NOAA Ship Pisces.

Science at Sea

When someone I care about tells me they don’t feel so good, the first thing I want to do is put the back of my hand to their forehead. Do you have a temperature? If so, your body is probably fighting off something. A thermometer can give a more quantitative answer. With more precise data, I can best treat the underlying cause.

view over the railing of the sunset; the nets are visible in the foreground, folded up inside the metal rings that serve as the opening

two crewmembers wearing life jackets and hard hats stand at the rail and reach out toward the bongo nets suspended above the water's surface; it is evening and the sun has only just set

two crewmembers wearing life jackets and hard hats guide the nets back onto deck; it is evening and the sun has only just set

Photos: Bongo nets on deck, awaiting deployment; Ed Williams and Alyssa Rauscher deploying the bongo nets; Pulling the nets back on board. Photos by LT Karina Urquhart

NOAA scientists help us take the temperature of our oceans by monitoring plankton – the base of the marine food web. I’m not talking about sticking tiny thermometers into copepods or krill, I’m talking about measuring plankton abundance and composition over time. NOAA collects plankton data four times each year – summer, fall, winter, and spring. With over four decades of plankton data, NOAA scientists are able to help fisheries make informed decisions to maximize production as well as protect vulnerable species.

Our team uses Bongo nets to collect plankton on this NOAA Summer Ecosystem Monitoring cruise. We will make over 100 (I think there are about 160 planned stations but we probably won’t have time to get to all of them) stops from Cape Hatteras to the Gulf of Maine, collecting samples that will later be sorted and catalogued. (For a more detailed description of Bongos, see Teacher at Sea Tonya Prentice’s blog here)

You do the math: If we are out at sea for two weeks, and deploy the Bongo nets at 100 different stops, how many times does each group need to collect plankton from the Bongo nets each day? Check in the next bog post for the answer.

view of tables in the mess. each of the chairs' legs is capped in a cut tennis ball. — *Mess hall or Cafeteria?*

Interesting Things: I am surprised by the ways I have been prepared for life on a NOAA ship by classroom life in a public school. The chairs all come with tennis balls on the bottom. In my classroom, we put tennis balls on the chairs so that they don’t make loud noises or create as many scuffs on the floor. Why do you think we have tennis balls on the chairs on a NOAA ship?

photo of the seal of NOAA Ship Pisces, displayed somewhere on the ship. It features an illustration of the ship against a simple map of the Gulf of America, above two swimming fish. on the land of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, there's a pale image of an old diving helmet and crossed tridents. The seal includes the words NOAA Ship Pisces; R-226; Pascagoula, Mississippi. The circle of the seal is bordered by the design of a rope. — NOAA Ship *Pisces* home port is Pascagoula, MS

*Amanda Jacobsen, Science FIeld Party Chief*, NOAA Ship *Pisces*

Career Spotlight

Amanda Jacobsen is our Science Field Party Chief. She works in the NOAA Fisheries lab in Rhode Island, and sails on NOAA cruises like this one. She grew up in Connecticut and attended a small, liberal arts school, Connecticut College. While there, Amanda took a broad spectrum of science courses including Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and even Environmental Law. Her degree in Environmental Studies helps her understand the many impacts on Marine Ecosystems.

Amanda is now a full-time NOAA scientist and a part time graduate student, studying to earn a Master’s degree in Marine Biology from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her thesis examines the energy of plankton in the food chain. (Alert: we will do bomb calorimetry labs next year with Amanda’s data!) Better understanding the bottom layer of the energy pyramid is important to harvesting all of the tropic levels above it. If you like eating fish or even fish sticks, you will benefit from Amanda’s work because plankton provides food for nearly every creature in the ocean either directly or indirectly!

One tool that Amanda can’t live without is the Katy Clip (shout out to NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow survey technician Katy McGinnis!). The Katy Clip helps us wash down the Bongo nets when collecting plankton.

Amanda is currently reading the Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown. She also recommends The Ocean’s Menagerie by Drew Harvell. Amanda enjoys doing just about anything as long as it is outside. I am glad she is helping take the temperature of our oceans so that we might enjoy fishing for many years to come!

group photo of two women and a man lined up on deck against an outer wall of the ship. Dorothy, on the left, and Miles, at right, wear life jackets; Miles also wears a green hard hat. Amanda, at the center, has an intercom radio receiver attached to the neck of her sweatshirt. — A part of our Science team: Dorothy, Amanda, and Miles

Personal Log

The ship is going 24/7, so the scientist are, too! Our team is divided into two groups – one that works 3 am – 3 pm and the other works 3 pm- 3 am. Amanda, Miles and I are in the second group. We get to see the sunset every day, but I probably won’t make it to breakfast!

Sunset over the ocean; the sun has almost dipped beneath the horizon. the sky is mostly clear except a few wisps of low clouds. — Sunset over the Atlantic

August 23, 2024August 27, 2024

Tonya Prentice: NOAA’s CTD and Carousel, August 20, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Tonya Prentice

Aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow

August 8 – August 24, 2024

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Date: August 20, 2024

Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 42.2212 º N
Longitude: 70.29659º W
Wind Speed: NW at 12 mph
Air Temperature: 19.8° Celsius (67.64° F)
Sea Temperature: 19.3 Celsius (66.74° F)

Science and Technology Log

Monitoring Ocean Parameters with NOAA’s CTD and Carousel Bottle Sampler

The CTD and Carousel Sampler are essential tools NOAA uses to monitor ocean conditions. “CTD” stands for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth, the primary parameters this device measures. By running profiles of the water column from the surface to the bottom, the CTD helps us understand key ocean characteristics. The Carousel Sampler paired with the CTD allows collection of water samples at depth for laboratory analysis.

What Does the CTD Measure?

Conductivity: Helps determine the salinity of the water.
Temperature: Measures the thermal profile of the water column.
Depth: Tracks how deep the CTD is during data collection.

Together, these measurements give us a detailed profile of the water column, helping scientists monitor what we call “the Big Four” parameters.

Carousel: Collecting Water Samples

The CTD and Carousel is equipped with twelve Niskin bottles, which are used to collect discrete water samples from specific depths. The bottles are numbered 1-12, and are “fired” (closed) at different depths to capture water samples.

For example, bottle 1 might be fired near the bottom (a few meters above the seafloor), bottle 2 at 10 meters, bottle 3 at the determined chlorophyll maximum (C Max), and bottle 4 couple just below the surface. Multiple bottles are often fired at each depth to collect additional water. These samples provide critical data about the ocean’s chemical properties at various levels.

view of the carousel sampler resting on the deck of NOAA Ship Henry B Bigelow at night. A white cylindrical metal frame holds twelve gray cylindrical bottles in a round. The bottles have opened stoppers connected at the top and bottom. the CTD probe, at the center of the round, is not visible. Tonya has added yellow text boxes to label the following: carousel, Niskin bottles, top stopper, valves, bottom stopper. — CTD Carousel Bottle Sampler

Preparing the CTD Carousel Bottle Sampler

Before deployment, we ensure that all the stopper valves at the top and bottom of each Niskin bottle are closed. We also hook the wires at the top and bottom to prepare the bottles to open at the designated depths. Once the CTD is ready, it is carefully lowered into the water, beginning its descent through the water column.

Analyzing the Key Parameters

Once the water samples are retrieved, we focus on analyzing these key parameters:

Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC)
pH
Total Alkalinity (TA)
Nutrients
Chlorophyll

view of a large scientific instrument, a cylindrical metal frame containing a round of tall dark gray sample bottles, suspended over the rail of a ship. The sky and the water are both a dark blue, fading into one another at the horizon. — Lowering the CTD into the water.

photo of a computer monitor displaying a graph; the graph itself is not really readable — Lowering the CTD into the water.

Storing the Samples

After processing, the nutrient and chlorophyll samples are stored in a freezer kept at -80°C (-112°F) to preserve them for further analysis. Mercuric chloride is added to the DIC, pH, and TA samples to preserve them until they are measured in the laboratory. These samples provide invaluable insights into ocean health. The DIC, TA and pH samples help us monitor the effects effects of ocean acidification— which occurs when carbon dioxide dissolves into the ocean. The chlorophyll samples measure the amount of phytoplankton living in the water. Like plants on land, microscopic phytoplankton carry out photosynthesis, produce oxygen, and are at the base of the marine food web.

Understanding these parameters allows us to monitor the ocean’s health and better predict how it may change in the future. For more information on ocean acidification, check out this resource: NOAA Ocean Acidification.

By closely monitoring DIC, TA and pH we can track important changes in our oceans, providing critical data for research and conservation efforts.

Personal Log

Life on a 12-Hour Work Shift at Sea

Working a 12-hour shift at sea might sound intense, but there’s often some downtime between stations and even a few hours after the work is done. The time you get can vary depending on how far apart each station is. Sometimes it’s just enough to process samples before heading to the next station, while other times you have several hours to relax and recharge.

So, how do you spend that free time on a ship? There’s no shortage of options. You could enjoy a movie in the lounge area, dive into a good book, play a board or card game with other crew members, or head to the flying deck to spot seabirds and marine life, or simply take in the stunning ocean views. Another interesting way to pass the time is visiting the bridge, where you can see how the ship is navigated, maneuvered, and commanded.

Let’s not forget “Activities and Crafts with Katy,” which can bring a whole new adventure to your day. Today, this included visiting the lab and looking at the different species of marine organisms that have been collected, such as stingray barbs, dogfish, and scallop shells. Katy then showed us how to make our own Acadian Redfish otolith (ear bone) earrings. “Scientists use the ear stones (bones) as a way to age the fish. Also called otoliths, they are bones found right behind the skulls of bony fishes.” (Smithsonian)

The balance of work and downtime can make those long shifts much more manageable and even enjoyable, offering moments to connect with colleagues and the environment around you in a way that few people get to experience.

view of two rows of large brown comfy-looking recliners facing a tv screen mounted on the wall above cabinets. there is a bookcase off to one side. — The Lounge area.

the flying deck - the uppermost deck on the ship - is bisected by the ship's yellow mast. a tall metal frame appears to be shade structure but may serve additional purposes. There are picnic benches and beach lounge chairs. — The Lounge area.

Did You Know?

“One atmosphere is equal to the weight of the earth’s atmosphere at sea level, about 14.6 pounds per square inch” (NOAA Water Pressures at Ocean Depths). Beneath the ocean’s surface, water pressure increases by approximately one atmosphere for every 10 meters of depth.

To illustrate just how intense this pressure can be, we conducted a simple yet fascinating experiment. We decorated 16 ounce styrofoam cups with artwork, then placed them in a mesh bag attached to the CTD Carousel Sampler. The CTD , along with the cups, was submerged to a depth of about 500 meters (1640.42 feet), where the pressure equals roughly 725 pounds per square inch (psi). We repeated this process by submerging the cups to 200 meters (656.17 feet), which equals about 291.18 psi.

As the cups descended into the depths, the increasing water pressure caused them to shrink dramatically because the air inside the cups was compressed. This simple experiment vividly demonstrates how powerful the forces at play beneath the ocean’s surface can be.

three styrofoam cups in a row on a table or desk surface. the leftmost cup is the standard size, undecorated. The middle cup is 30-40% smaller. It's colored with marker to be a flower scene, with "2024" written around the top rim. The rightmost cup is the smallest, probably less than half the size of the original. It says Go Wildcats, August 2024, Henry B Bigelow. — This is a normal size ounce styrofoam cup (left side). Here is the cup after it was submerged 200 m below the ocean surface (middle). The last cup was submerged 500 m and then again at 200 m (right side).