Geographic Area of Cruise: Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Date: August 26, 2018
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 39.487 N
Longitude: 73.885 W
Water Temperature: 25.2◦C
Wind Speed: 13.1 knots
Wind Direction: WSW
Air Temperature: 26.1◦C
Atmospheric Pressure: 1017.28 millibars
Water depth: 30 meters
Science and Technology Log
As if catching plankton and sneaking a peak with the microscope wasn’t exciting enough (see the picture of the larval eel!), there’s a lot more data being collected on this ship. All of it helps scientists understand what’s going on in this part of the Ocean. And some of it I am able to help with, which is my favorite thing about this cruise (well, maybe that and the incredible views).
I was able to examine some of the plankton samples with a microscope. Do you see the larval eel in the tray next to the scope?The CTD rosette and niskin bottles
At some of our stations, we lower a big and important science tool (called a rosette) into the ocean that contains niskin bottles (bottles used for water sampling) and a Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth meter (CTD). As the rosette is lowered into the depths and raised back up, the scientists can remotely operate the open niskin bottles to snap shut at specific depths. This allows each bottle to come up to the surface with a sample of water from many different depths! Meanwhile, the CTD can take measurements of conductivity (which indicates the salinity of the water), temperature, and pressure, among other things. Scientists have thought of many ways to collect A LOT of data at one time.
Bringing the CTD up from the depths.
When the CTD comes back onto the ship, it’s time for us to use the samples for different purposes. We collect water from 3 different bottles (so 3 different depths) to test the amount of chlorophyll in the water. Do you know what the chlorophyll comes from? If you said plants, you’re right! What are some plant-like things that are drifting all over the ocean? You guessed it! Phytoplankton! So the amount of chlorophyll gives scientists evidence as to how much phytoplankton is in the water. But first, we need to extract (take out) the chlorophyll from the water. We run the water through special filters and soak the filters in a chemical that extracts the chlorophyll. Then we can put the sample through a special machine that uses light to sense the amount of chlorophyll. Wow. One thing I am learning on this trip is how important light is in understanding a water ecosystem.
Me extracting chlorophyll samples
Do you remember what a hypothesis is? It’s an educated guess that answers a scientific question. When scientists come up with a hypothesis, it gives them something to test in an investigation. If you were presented with the question, “At what depth is phytoplankton most abundant?”, what would be your hypothesis?
Another thing we do with the water samples is collect a bit from most of the bottles to preserve and send to the lab to test for the amount of nutrients. When you think of nutrients, you probably think of healthy vitamins for people. But nutrients for plants are actually made from broken down waste of animals. It’s important for ocean water to have a balanced amount of nutrients so that phytoplankton can be healthy. But too much nutrients can also cause algae and phytoplankton to overpopulate!
But that’s not all! The scientists also take samples from the niskin bottles to test for Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC). That sounds fancy, I know. Doing this basically helps scientists understand the pH of the water and look for evidence of ocean acidification (a result of climate change).
Jessica and I taking nutrient samples from the niskin bottles
Can you believe how much scientists can learn from dropping a big science tool into the water?
Scientist Spotlight – Harvey Walsh
Harvey is our Chief Scientist on the mission, meaning he oversees all of the scientific work happening on the ship. He has been so kind as to answer all of my many questions, including these:
Me – If you could invent any tool to make your work more efficient, what would it be and why?
Harvey – I would like a tool that allows you to easily and quickly identify fish eggs and larvae. Currently, it is a time consuming process that involves sorting through samples and identifying them in the lab. There have been and continue to be efforts to use image analysis and genetics to speed up the process. An image analysis has progressed quicker for phyto- and zooplankton, but fish and fish eggs still lag behind.
Me – When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in ocean science?
Harvey – I always thought I would end up studying freshwater fisheries in Minnesota, where I grew up, but after the first two ocean cruises I participated in, I knew the ocean was more for me and the lakes had less of an appeal.
Me – How long has EcoMon (the ecosystem monitoring program we are using) been conducted and how was the protocol (the methods we use) created?
Harvey – EcoMon started in 1992 but it was modeled after a program that started in 1977. The bongo plankton sampling has not changed much since it started, but with new technology we have added the water chemistry
Harvey relaxing in the bridge deck
testing, optics, and other instruments.
To create the protocol, scientists from around the North Atlantic region got together to form the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries. This council had the job of looking at plankton sampling techniques and deciding the best way to monitor plankton communities.
Me – Can you share an example of a way that people have used EcoMon data to form and test a hypothesis?
Harvey – Our data helps scientists make connections between different species in a food web, for example. After people noticed that Atlantic herring (fish) populations were getting low, they used EcoMon data to come up with a hypothesis like this:
“Increasing haddock populations lead to a lower stable state of herring because haddock feed on herring eggs.”
If people want to know more about a certain species of fish and how it survives and thrives, they need to understand the whole ecosystem, including the food web!
Personal Log
This cruise continues to amaze me. Sometimes we’ll have several hours between stations when I love to learn from others, bring a pair of binoculars up to the fly bridge and join the seabird observers, or catch up on a good book. Being around the water all day is calming and serene. I feel that this is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Me and the NOAA Drifter Buoy decorated for Ocean Studies Charter School!
Another rare opportunity came yesterday when I was able to launch my drifter buoy as part of the NOAA drifter buoy program! First, I decorated the buoy with our school’s name and a symbol for each of the classes at our school – the Sharks class, the Rays class, the Dolphin class, and the Sea Star class. Then, after gaining permission from the ship command, we dropped the buoy overboard!
The buoy has a long canvas tube that extends out like a spring after you release it. This allows the buoy to have a long tail that reaches into the water so that it can catch the ocean currents and drift. If it was just the floating buoy, it would get moved by the wind instead of the currents.
Everyone runs to the bow when dolphins are riding the wake!
The buoy has a satellite tag that sends a signal to a satellite wherever it goes. This way, back home my students and I can track the buoy online and see where it ends up! Where do you think the buoy will go?
Everyone on board gets excited when we spot a pod of dolphins or a whale spout! I can’t wait to see what’s out there tomorrow!
Did You Know?
Great Shearwaters are sea birds that spend most of their lives out at sea and only come to land to nest. They can dive deep to catch fish but do not have to dry out their wings like some other birds. They are almost always found soaring by air currents and they prefer stormy and rough weather for stronger air patterns to lift them up.
A great shearwater in flight. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
Challenge Yourself
If a plankton sample with 5,000 individual plankton contains 60% salps, 10% hake larvae, 20% arrow worms, and 10% crab megalops, how many arrow worms are in the sample?
Here’s a picture of an arrow worm from under a microscope. They are about the size of the letter “I” on your keyboard. Photo courtesy of NOAA.
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Date: August 22, 2018
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 991 N
Longitude: 590 W
Water Temperature: 22.3◦C
Wind Speed: 1 knots
Wind Direction: WSW
Air Temperature: 23.3◦C
Atmospheric Pressure: 66 millibars
Sky: Mostly Cloudy
Science and Technology Log
Haven’t you always dreamed of having your own Imaging Flow Cyto Bot (IFCB)? What an interesting scientific instrument that I am lucky enough to be taking care of while on this cruise! Before we even left the dock, Jessica Lindsey (volunteer from the Maine Maritime Academy) and I were trained by Emily Peacock, research associate at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, on how to run this amazing piece of equipment!
The IFCB is a computer, microscope, camera, and water flow controller all in one. Emily describes it as “plumbing combined with electronics”. It uses a water intake system from the ship to run a constant flow of water into extremely tiny hoses. As the water flows through these hoses, a laser beam of light shoots at every tiny particle that is in the water. The tiny particles in the water, mainly phytoplankton (microscopic drifting plants), react to the sudden burst of light. The phytoplankton scatters the light and also can react by fluorescing (reacting to one wavelength of light by giving off a different wavelength). The computer detects this scattering and fluorescing to determine where the phytoplankton is in the water flow. The microscope focuses in on each phytoplankton cell and the camera takes a picture! Scientists simply get the IFCB going and at the end of the day they have hundreds of pictures of plankton! Isn’t that incredible?!
Here I am learning how to use the IFCB! It is SO COOL!
One thing I’ve learned about this particular cruise is that it’s all about plankton! We are collecting samples and data for scientists at the University of Rhode Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and NOAA’s own Narragansett Lab, just to name a few. What are all of these scientists studying? Plankton! Why? Plankton is the microscopic lifeblood of the ocean. The word plankton comes from a Greek word, oikos, meaning “drifter.” Plankton refers to all the living things of the ocean that are drifting with the currents. They are present throughout the water column and consist of two types: phytoplankton and zooplankton. Can you guess the difference? Phytoplankton is like a plant. It has chlorophyll and does photosynthesis. Zooplankton is an animal. There are many zooplankton species that hunt, hide, and do other things that larger animals do. Most plankton is microscopic or close to it. Phytoplankton does at least half of all the photosynthesis in the WORLD. So you can think that every other breath you take contains oxygen created by phytoplankton.
Both types of plankton are the base of the marine food chain. If major changes happen in the community of plankton in the sea, these changes will impact the entire food chain all the way up to the apex predators (top predators). So, as you can see, plankton is SUPER important. If plankton populations are healthy, it indicates that much of the rest of the ecosystem is healthy too.
Some scientists use equipment, like the IFCB, to study samples of phytoplankton.
Associate Researcher Emily showing us the program that allows you to see pictures of the phytoplankton sampled.
We also are collecting zooplankton in nets (called “bongo” nets) and preserving samples for scientists to analyze in the lab. More on that to come soon!
My students have been learning that scientists always start an experiment with a question.
Scientists on this mission are not exactly leading an experiment, but they are responsible for monitoring. The monitoring of an ecosystem tells us WHAT is happening there. Scientists from all over the world can then use the monitoring data that we find to research and experiment WHY things are happening the way they are. This is where the scientific method will come in and an experiment will start with a question.
For example, through the plankton samples that we take on this monitoring mission, scientists may notice a change in the amount of larval hake (tiny baby hake fish). They can then ask the question, “Why are larval hake populations decreasing?” which may lead them to a hypothesis such as, “larval hake populations are decreasing due to climate change”. They can test this hypothesis by comparing the plankton data to other types of data (such as pH and water temperature) in the same areas over time. Thus, an experiment!
So our job now is to collect the important data that can help scientists understand what’s happening and think of ways to investigate “why” and “how”.
Bottom line, I really love plankton. And you should too. That breath you just took? Thank plankton.
Pictures of glorious plankton!
Scientist Spotlight – John Loch – Seabird Observer
Enough about plankton! During all of this plankton excitement, I have also spent some time on the fly bridge (the top level of the deck of the ship), asking questions to our two seabird observers, John and Chris. Their job is to stand watch all day, looking for and identifying seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles, and any notable (large) animals. Here’s a little interview with John Loch, Seabird Observer:
John observing seabirds from the fly bridge
Me – Why is your job so important?
John – My job is to monitor seabird populations to help detect changes in numbers or distribution of species. We estimate a 300 square meter area around the ship and record all birds seen within that area. We enter our data into a computer, noting species, life stage, number seen, and direction of flight. Over time, we may notice trends in numbers and distribution which is important to understand this ecosystem.
Me – What do you enjoy most about your job?
John – I enjoy seeing anything new or rare.
Me – How could scientists use your monitoring data to lead an investigation (using the scientific method)?
John – Our data has shown, for example, that some populations of birds, such as the gannet, have steadily declined over the last 20 years. Researchers can ask “Why are gannet populations declining?” and can use oceanographic data in combination with bird observation data to come up with a hypothesis to test.
Personal Log
I was excited to get underway this afternoon! Although many of us slept on the ship last night, we have been on the dock until 2:30 this afternoon, when we finally watched the crew release the lines and the ship cruise through the harbor and out to sea!
A view of the bow as we head out to sea!!
We began our day with a scientist meeting where Harvey Walsh, our Chief Scientist, explained our route and the “stations” where we would be slowing down or stopping the ship to take our data. He explained our 3am-3pm/3pm-3am shifts that we alternate so that whenever a station is reached, day or night, data can be collected. I’m lucky to intersect these shifts and work “on watch” from 8am-8pm! This means that I will support and assist scientist in their data collection during this time, and generally be present and available.
Chief Scientist Harvey explaining our route on the Northeast Shelf.
We also heard from Libby, our Operations Officer, who explained our state rooms, bathrooms, shared spaces, and general “do’s and don’ts” of the ship.
Libby, our Field Operations Officer, explaining the safety procedures of Gordon Gunter
I have to say I am pleasantly surprised by our living quarters aboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter. I have my own state room with a shared bathroom, small closet, sink, and even a desk. It is quite spacious! I’m also excited about the food options on board, but more about that later!
The view from my state room…not bad!
Tonight is our first night out at sea! Luckily, I’m not feeling seasick, but rocking and rolling as I type this does feel pretty strange! Everyone says we’ll get used to it and it will feel normal in no time.
I am so excited for our first morning and sunrise out at sea! Stay tuned!
Did You Know?
Phytoplankton come in all different colors, just like the flowers in your garden. Since they are so tiny, we don’t see the colors unless there is a lot of plankton all together. They also contain more than one color in their cells, similar to leaves that change from green to brown, red, or orange.
Colorful phytoplankton, photo courtesy of NOAA
Question of the Day
Do you think the amount and type of plankton in an area can affect how many sharks live there? Why?
Do sharks rely on plankton? Photo courtesy of NOAA
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northeastern Coast of U.S.
Date: June 3, 2018
Weather From Bridge
Latitude: 43°47.1′
Longitude: 068°40.41′
Sea Wave Height: 4-6 ft
Wind Speed: 20 knots
Wind Direction: NE
Visibility: 10
Air Temperature: 10°C
Sky: few clouds
Science and Technology Log
Sea Birds
As the Henry B. Bigelow traverses the Gulf of Maine sampling the microorganisms at stations, another pair of scientists are observing bird and marine mammal populations. Much of my time between sampling stations, I head up to the flying bridge and join Nicholas Metheny and John Loch, Seabird Observers, on the lookout for the seabird and marine mammals. The seabirds most commonly observed in the Gulf of Maine are the Wilson Storm Petrel and the Sooty Shearwater. These two species account for 60% of the birds seen. These pelagic seabirds live offshore and only return to land to breed, often on remote islands.
Seabird Observers on Observation Deck
South Polar Skua (photo by Nicolas Methany)
All the samplings taken with bongo nets are samplings of the producers and primary consumers, the small organisms in the food chain. On the observation deck, the fish and marine mammals that rely on a healthy bottom food chain are observed. Spotting marine mammals adds much to the excitement of the day. The bridge will announce a sighting and if possible, one gets to the flying bridge to see the wildlife. One of the first sightings was of humpback whales in the distance, followed by sperm whale and pilot whale sightings.
Sperm Whale (Photo by Nicholas Methany)
Short beaked Common Dolphins (Photo by Nicholas Methany)
The most fascinating sightings were of Mola Mola- Ocean Sunfish. They were spotted often and very close to the ship.
Mola Mola – Ocean Sunfish (Photo by Nicolas Methany)
Blue Shark (Photo by Nicholas Methany)
Personal Log
The science crew is kept busy sampling at each station. There is some down time steaming from station to station at 12 knots but it is enjoyable. I spend the down time talking to crew and scientists. Chief Scientist Jerry Prezioso has been an awesome mentor and photographer! I am learning so much and am so excited to bring it back into my classroom next year. The seas have been relatively calm but the forecast for the end of the cruise is not favorable for sampling due to high winds. If winds are over 30 knots, the crew has difficulty deploying the nets so sampling is suspended. The science crew has taken samples from 114 stations. These samples will be sent off to be analyzed at different labs.
Samples collected, boxed and ready to be shipped to analyzeScience Lab Work DeckAndrew and AJ helping deploy instruments
The deck crew and scientist party have been a pleasure to work with. I have learned so much from each of them
Science Party Day Crew: Jerry P, Mark, and Chris TFinal Day of Cruise Route map shows path of cruise
The cruise was cut short by two days due to high winds. The last sampling station was in Cape Cod Bay. Tomorrow the ship will head back to port through the Cape Cod Canal, ending a fantastic cruise. I am so excited to see the data from all these samples. Thanks Teacher at Sea program for a great adventure!
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Sue Cullumber
(Soon to be) Onboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
June 5– 24, 2013
Mission:Ecosystem Monitoring Survey Date: 5/21/13 Geographical area of cruise: The continental shelf from north of Cape Hatteras, NC, including Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine, to the Nova Scotia Shelf
My students on a field-trip to the desert.Howard Gray School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Personal Log:
Hi my name is Sue Cullumber and I am a science teacher at the Howard Gray School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Our school provides 1:1 instruction to students with special needs in grades 5-12 and I have been teaching there for over 22 years! In less than two weeks I will be heading out to the Atlantic coast as a NOAA Teacher at Sea. I am so excited to have this opportunity to work with the scientists aboard the NOAA ship Gordon Gunter.
I applied to the NOAA Teacher at Sea program for the following reasons:
First, I feel that directly experiencing “Science” is the best way for students to learn and make them excited about learning. To be able to work directly with NOAA scientists and bring this experience back to my classroom gives my students such an amazing opportunity to actually see how science is used in the “real world”.
Visit to Española Island – photo by Pete OxfordStudents holding “Piggy” and our other baby Sulcata tortoises.
Secondly, I love to learn myself, experience new things and bring these experiences back to my students. Over the past several years I have had the opportunity to participate in several teacher fellowships. I went to the Galapagos Islands with the Toyota International Teacher Program and worked with teachers from the Galapagos and U.S. on global environmental education. From this experience we built an outdoor habitat at Howard Gray that now houses four tortoises. Students have learned about their own fragile desert environment, animal behavior and scientific observations through access to our habitat and had the opportunity to share this with a school in the Galapagos. I worked with Earthwatch scientists on climate change in Nova Scotia and my students Skyped directly with the scientists to learn about the field research as it was happening. Last summer I went to Japan for the Japan-US Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainable Development. My students participated in a peace project by folding 1000 origami cranes that we sent to Hiroshima High School to be placed in the Hiroshima Peace Park by their students. We also held a Peace and Friendship Festival for the community at Howard Gray.
Completion of the 1000 cranes before sending them to Hiroshima.Japanese teachers learn about our King Snake, Elvis, from the students.
This year we had a group of Japanese teachers visit our school from this program and students taught them about many of the sustainable activities that we are working on at school. Each has brought new ideas and amazing activities for my students to experience in the classroom and about the world.
Dusk at the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
Lastly, Arizona is a very special place with a wide variety of geographical environments from the Sonoran Desert (home of the Saguaro) to a Ponderosa Pine Forest in Flagstaff and of course the Grand Canyon! However, we do not have an ocean and many of my students have never been to an ocean, so I can’t wait to share this amazing, vast and extremely important part of our planet with them.
So now I have the chance of a lifetime to sail aboard the NOAA ship Gordon Gunter on an Ecosystem Monitoring Survey. We will be heading out from Newport, RI on June 5th and head up the east coast to the Gulf of Maine and then head back down to Norfolk, Virginia. Scientists have been visiting this same region since 1977 from as far south as Cape Hatteras, NC to the an area up north in the Bay of Fundy (Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). They complete six surveys a year to see if the distributions and abundance of organisms have changed over time. I feel very honored to be part of this research in 2013!
NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter (photo credit NOAA)
One of the activities I will be part of is launching a drifter buoy. So students are busy decorating stickers that I will be able to put on the buoy when I head out to sea. We will be able to track ocean currents, temperature and GPS location at Howard Gray over the next year from this buoy. Students will be studying the water currents and weather patterns and I plan to hold a contest at school to see who can determine where the buoy will be the following month from this information. While out at sea my students will be tracking the location of the Gordon Gunter through theNOAA Ship Tracker and placing my current location on a map that one of my students completed for my trip.
Spending time with my husband, Mike, and son, Kyle.
Outside of school, I love to spend most of my free time outdoors – usually hiking or exploring our beautiful state and always with my camera! Photography is what I often call “my full-time hobby”. Most of my photos are of our desert environment, so I look forward to all amazing things I will see in the ocean and be able to share with my husband and son, students and friends! One of my passions is to use my photography to provide an understanding about the natural world, so I am really looking forward to sharing this fantastic adventure with everyone through my blog and photos!
Enjoying the view during one of my hikes in the Sonoran Desert.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Rebecca Bell
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II August 14-28, 2008
Mission: Ecosystems Monitoring Survey Geographical Area: North Atlantic Date: August 23, 2008
Alison, Shrinky Cup Project Director, with the cups before being sent under.
Weather Data from the Bridge
Time: 1919(GMT)
Latitude: 4219.5N Longitude: 6812.5 W
Air Temp 0C: 20.7
Sea Water Temp 0C: 19.6
Science and Technology Log
The Shrinky Cup Caper
A trip to sea is not complete without the classic experiment on ocean depth and pressure— Styrofoam cup shrinking. Styrofoam cups are decorated with markers, and then lowered in a bag attached to the cable during a vertical cast. In our experiments, pressure is measured in decibars (dbar). This means that 1 dbar equals about 1 meter of depth. So 100 dbars = 100 meters; 1000 dbars =1000 meters. For every 10m (33ft) of water depth, the pressure increases by about 15 pounds per square inch (psi). At depth, pressure from the overlying ocean water becomes very high, but water is only slightly compressible. At a depth of 4,000 meters, water decreases in volume only by 1.8 percent. Although the high pressure at depth has only a slight effect on the water, it has a much greater effect on easily compressible materials such as Styrofoam.
Attaching the cups
Styrofoam has air in it. As the cups go down, pressure forces out the air. See the results of the experiment for yourself. The depth of the cast was 200 meters or about 600 feet. (You can now calculate the total lbs of pressure on the cups). Addendum: Alison discovered that putting one of the shrunken cups down a second time resulted in an even smaller cup. The cups were sent to 200 meters again. Below right is a photo of the result of reshrinking the cup. Apparently, time has something to do with the final size as well. Resources: NOAA Ocean Explorer Web site – Explorations; Submarine Ring of Fire. AMNH Explore the Deep Oceans Lessons.
Over they go!
Personal Log
There is a noticeable difference in the amount of plankton we pull in at different depths and temperatures. I can fairly well predict what we will net based on the depth and temperature at a sample site. I’ve also noticed that the presence of sea birds means to start looking for whales and dolphins. I assume that where there is a lot of plankton (food) there are more fish and other lunch menu items for birds and dolphins. A high population of plankton means we are more likely to see more kinds of larger animals.
Animals Seen Today
Salps
Krill
Amphipods
Copepods
Ctenophores
Chaetognaths (arrow worms)
Fish larvae
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins
Terns
Minke whales
Pilot whales
Mola mola (4)
The results of what happened to the cups at a depth of 200 meters. The white cups are the original size.Left, a cup shrunk 2 times; center 1 time; and right, the original size
