essential fish habitat – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

August 6, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, August 4-6, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: FISHPAC
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: August 4-6, 2009

Position
Bering Sea, AK

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: Nice
Barometer: Steady (falling slightly on the 6^th after we were already close enough to Dutch to not feel the unsettled weather.)
Wind: light and variable
Temperature: 8.6º C
Sea State: < 3 feet

Personal Note

For about half an hour after the photo above, I just sat on E-Deck and watched the sun set. As I write this and look at the picture, I’m sadly realizing that this incredible month is rapidly drawing to a close. While I miss my sons and dog, this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I wish it could continue.

Science and Technology Log

While we were anchored up behind Hagemeister Island near Hagemeister Strait, I learned this island is named after Captain Leonty Andrianovich Gagemeister, a Russian Naval Commander in the early 1800’s. The island is undeveloped and has no permanent residents. It would have been fantastic to take a launch over to it, but there was a lot of work to be done on board the Fairweather. At 1400 hrs on the 4^th, Dr. McConnaughey gave a one-hour briefing on the FISHPAC and EFH work his team has been working on. The briefing was voluntary, but as you can see, almost everyone on board was there.

The crew listens to Dr. McConnaughey’s presentation about the FISHPAC research.

Actually, Dr. McConnaughey could have finished in an hour, but the crew had so many questions – really good questions – that the ensuing discussions lasted another hour. Even afterwards, conversations at dinner were reflective of the seminar. Once again, the collegial atmosphere on board the Fairweather was evident. It was great to listen to and watch the physical scientists going back and forth with the biology folks in interpreting each others’ results and parameters. At 1000 hours on the 5^th, we weighed anchor and got under way. It took a few hours to get back to where we had ceased survey and sampling operations two days earlier and we picked right up where we left off. The weather was quite nice and we got the remaining samples done in just a couple of hours.

When we had finished that part of the work, there was enough time left on the mission to resurvey some anomalies that had been observed several years ago. The Fairweather had documented several “mud volcanoes” or “mud plumes” in Bristol Bay and the CO wanted to verify their presence. In order to do so, Launch 1018 was deployed for several hours to try to find the anomalies with the Multi-Beam sounder on board, knowing, however, that bottom structures like this are sometimes transient in nature. They were looking for a 3 meter high “cone-shaped” mound, but instead found a depression about two meters deep. Perhaps the previous party had misinterpreted the side-scan data. This is the type of ambiguity that calls for continued surveying, research and the development of new technologies.

E.T. Phone Home
This leg has been a real busy one for Electronics Technician Mike Hilton. When we first arrived in Dutch prior to the leg, he had to go up into the satellite dome and reconfigure some of the internal settings in order to get internet and satellite access for the ship. We had actually lost that capacity during the rough night on the last day of the Shumagin leg. When we first lost internet (all the computers aboard are connected to a LAN) and folks were a little impatient, there was an announcement on board something like this, “Attention on the Fairweather, for those of you suffering acute internet withdrawal symptoms, the ET recommends you lay to the lounge and take out a couple of books and read them!” Without Mike, the ship would be severely handicapped.

Motorin’
During my time on the Fairweather, I was privileged to be given an under way tour of the engine room by Andy Medina (you remember Andy – with that big halibut!) Fairweather’s main propulsion plant is a pair of General Motors Electro Motive Division 12-567 CLR engines. I realize this sounds long winded, but what the model designation indicates is that the engine (remember, we have 2 mains– port and starboard) has 12 cylinders each of which is 567 cubic inches in size. In comparison, a 2009 Mustang has an option for a 282 cubic inch V-8. That means that EACH of Fairweather’s cylinders is about double the size of the whole engine in a new Mustang! Further translation – Fairweather’s main engines have the equivalent of 48 Mustangs of engines!!! They are HUGE! By the way, the Electro Motive Division is the division of GM that makes engines for Locomotives!

Fairweather also has two generators, each putting out 330 kilowatts of electricity and an additional diesel engine just for the bow thruster. Also, four more small diesels on the launches and a few outboards for the skiff and we have a pretty complex engineering need. Not only do they keep the engines running, but they are responsible for heating and cooling, waste water and sewage treatment (there’s a treatment system on board) and making fresh water. To keep all this running smoothly – as our mission is dependent on them all running flawlessly – two engineers stand each watch in a “4 and 8” rotation meaning they work for 4 hours and are off for 8 and we sail with a minimum of 8 members in the engineering department. (This is the standard watch schedule for officers and survey techs also.) There needs to be a member of the engineering department in the control room at all times while we are under way.

When I arrived in the control room for Andy to give me my tour, we could not leave because the other engineer on watch was on a short break and he was not permitted to leave the control room. After we chatted for 3 or 4 minutes, Mitchell came down and we went through the engine department. It took about half an hour and my eyes glazed over after only the first few minutes! There is SO MUCH stuff going on in there that it’s amazing the guys can keep track of it all.

Personal Log

As we headed back towards Dutch Harbor, I was again treated to a “whale show.” I wish there had been someone on E-Deck with me to take pictures because although I had both my still and video cameras, I could only use one at a time. In any event, I shot almost an hour of video and hope I got some good footage. I think I may have even gotten a breach! If so I’ll post it on my blog or perhaps NOAA will allow me one extra post as an “epilogue.”

August 3, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, August 2-3, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: FISHPAC
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: August 2-3, 2009

Position
Bristol Bay, AK

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: Low pressure
Barometer: falling rapidly afternoon of the 3^rd (as low as 994 mB)
Wind: building through the 3^rd to 45 kts
Low Temperature: 8.6º C
Sea State: 10-15 feet afternoon of the 3^rd

Science and Technology Log

One of the aspects of hydrographic surveying and research out of sight of land for extended periods of time is that the days and nights blur into an uninterrupted continuum. At breakfast today, LT Andrews said, “It’s Tuesday.” I said, “Is it?” and he responded that “It’s always Tuesday at sea.” I asked “Why not Wednesday, at least then it’s ‘hump day’ to the weekend?” He answered that sometimes it seems you’re never closer to anything. It was a fun exchange, but as the FISHPAC leg continues, I am realizing that the idea is spot-on accurate. Coupling the “sameness” of the days, with the fact that the ship is on 24-hour operations, it’s easy to get confused!

SeaBoss on the deck. In the background, the wave tops are being blown off the waves!

We’re using SeaBoss to grab samples every three to five hours and I’m learning about some of the relationships between bottoms and infauna. Significant, however, is the fact that almost regardless of sea state, SeaBoss gets deployed. I say “almost” for a reason. Legs 9 and 10 of the FISHPAC survey (as shown on a previous log) are in a North Easterly direction. Two days ago we received a weather update anticipating a strong low pressure system approaching. As we went through the day of the 3^rd, the barometer was falling rapidly, the wind ramped up continuously and seas grew to 10-15 feet. By early afternoon it became impossible to deploy SeaBoss safely and the CO ordered us to suspend operations and head for Hagemeister Island in order to anchor behind it.

Notice to the right of the SeaBoss – that’s a wave breaking onto the fantail!

We arrived there at 2000 hours (8 pm) and anchored. I took about a 10 minute video of the waves and the ship getting tossed around. I’ll try to post it when I get home next week. In the early 1800’s, Sir Francis Beaufort devised a scale to estimate wind speed based on the appearance of the ocean’s surface. It is a scale from 1-12 that correlates the appearance of the ocean surface with wind speed. It is called, appropriately enough, the Beaufort Scale and we experienced a solid 7 on the scale.

Personal Log

Exhausting but exhilarating! Anyone who takes the majesty and power of the sea for granted should undergo a thorough psychological exam! The officers on the Fairweather are commissioned mariners. In order to join the NOAA Corps of officers, one needs to be less than 42 years old and a college graduate. It is preferred that the undergraduate major be in the physical sciences, math, engineering or computer science. These are exceptionally qualified uniformed servicemen and women of the United States. A career with NOAA as an officer is rewarding and in service to the nation. It is a career I will certainly discuss with my future students.

Something to Think About

Just about everybody has heard of Latitude and Longitude, but what do they mean and how are they measured?

August 1, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, August 1, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: FISHPAC
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: August 1, 2009

Position
Bristol Bay, AK

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: nice all 3 days
Barometer: steady
Wind: light and variable
Temperature: low 7.0º C
Sea State: < 3-4 feet

This is the bottom sample after it has come straight from the water and into the collection bin.

Science and Technology Log

We have made about 30 stops along the tracklines for bottom samples as described in a prior log. When the SeaBoss comes to the surface, the scientists check to see if it grabbed an adequate sample. Sometimes it will strike the bottom at a bad angle, land on a rock, release prematurely or catch a big piece between the halves of the grabber and lose the sample on the way up. But on the 90% of deployments that are successful, the sample is emptied into a large bin and taken to the sifting table. It is washed with salt water and the critters within the sample are collected.

The bottom sample has been moved from the collection bin into a sifter box.

It looks pretty gross when you pull it up and the scientists estimate how full the sampler was, how deep it went into the bottom and describe the color and texture of the sediment. All of these criteria go into the evaluation of the bottom. This is the sample in the sifter box. The screen at the bottom has a 1 millimeter mesh which allows anything less than 1 mm to be washed through and overboard. It can take anywhere from 2-6 minutes to screen out the sample depending on the sediment grain size.

After it has been sifted out, the bottom sample reveals all the things it was hiding.

This is a screened sample from a relatively shallow grab (probably <150 feet.) One of the interesting things that Dr. McConnaughey and his team have determined is that the wave energy in the Bering Sea in the winter extends down to almost 250 feet! This wave action carries away the finer sediments which leaves a coarser bottom. The coarse bottom has interstitial spaces that allow for animals to burrow and survive. The “cashew-looking” critters are members of the Phylum Echinodermata, Class Holothuroidea (Sea Cucumbers). They represented a significant portion of several of our samples.

By establishing this correlation between sediment and animals present, and integrating that with gut analyses done on other ships catching target species at other times and cross-referencing that information with hydrographic survey information, it may be possible in the future to be able to predict what species will inhabit what areas. This type of data is absolutely essential to maintain a sustainable yield in the fishery and avoid depletion of the resource. It is environmental stewardship at the highest level.

Personal Log

I’ve been very fortunate in my life that this is my third time out to sea for more than just a day or so. The first time was almost 30 years ago in grad school in California (about 2 weeks), the second time in January of 1991 going from SC to the US Virgin Islands (a week) and not these legs with the Fairweather. One of the things I had forgotten was how dark it gets at sea at night. Even though dawn this leg is about 0615 and sunset is around 2300, we have been conducting 24-hour ops for most of the time. So we’ll be deploying the SeaBoss at all hours. I took one of these pictures with a flash and then turned the flash off and took the second. No explanation necessary. IT’S REAL DARK! SCARY DARK! As you can see, there’s plenty of light on the fantail to work, but outside our little orb of light, it’s real dark!

Weston Renoud and Adam Argento deploying the MVP fish. — Renoud and Argento deploying the MVP fish.

Questions for You to Investigate

The conversion formula for changing ºC to ºF is really quite simple. ºF = 1.8 (ºC) + 32. For example, 10ºC would be converted thus: ºF = 1.8 (10 ºC) + 32 → 18 + 32 → 50ºF

By the way, 10ºC is a warm day here!

Something to Think About

This line is laid out in a figure 8. Why would this be a good way to have a line arranged if it has to be paid out gradually rather than in a coil?

The next couple days should be interesting. CO says we have some weather coming!

July 29, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, July 27-29, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: FISHPAC
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: July 27-29, 2009

Position
In transit to Bristol Bay, AK

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: highly variable in the Bering Sea
Barometer: falling on the second day
Wind: Ranging from light and variable to 35 kts
Low Temperature: 7.0º C
Sea State: initially <1-2 feet up to 8 feet on the evening of the 29th

The sheet above shows legs 5-10 of FISHPAC in the Bering Sea, AK

What Is FISHPAC?

The Magnusen-Stevens Fisheries Conservation Management Act includes the broad designation of “Essential Fish Habitat” (EFH) as including myriad parameters which are to be considered for all life stages of the managed species. Included in them are bottom type, epifauna and infauna, grain size, and organic debris. Additionally, studies are to span the life cycles of those species. There is an enormous amount of historical data relating to commercial fisheries catches, but the data have not been assembled as a whole and screened for accuracy. Additionally, there has been virtually no search for correlations within the data. Dr. Bob McConnaughey is engaged in seeking correlations between bottom characteristics, managed species and sorting through extant records in the search for utilizing sonar data to anticipate species presence in the Bering Sea. The phrase I’ve heard is “using bottom characteristics as proxy for prey identification.” Earlier cruise results can be viewed here. It would take a long time to describe all that they do at the Alaska Fisheries Service Center, so what I highly recommend is that you spend a while at their site.

Science and Technology Log

In addition to searching for correlations between trawl catch data and bottom characteristics, Dr. McConnaughey and his team are trying to determine if sound data (Multi-beam Echo Sounders and Side Scan Sonar) can be used in anticipating what species will likely be present in a given area. There are 69 managed commercial species in Alaska alone, which represent an enormous proportion of the commercial US catch, and if technology and research can be gained here, it can conceivably be applied elsewhere. The Alaskan fisheries have also not been subjected to as much commercial fishing as, say, the coast of New England due to the remote, harsh and generally newly populated area which is Alaska. Commercial fishing here is, for the most part, less than 50 years old compared to the hundreds of years off the East Coast.

SeaBoss being deployed. It is suspended from the J-Frame and swung outboard. Tending the SeaBoss can be hazardous so crew members are tethered to the deck.

Alaska has over 45,000 miles of coastline, contains 70% of the United States continental shelf, and 28% of the Exclusive Economic Zone (a 200 mile legal designation) yet much of that area has never been properly surveyed. With the prospect of a warming climate and potential northerly relocation of commercially viable species, it is essential to document as much of this area as possible before long-term damage may be inflicted on it. In order to evaluate the EFH parameters, one of the tools the FISHPAC team uses to gather bottom samples is an apparatus called the SeaBoss (Sea Bed Observation System.)

SeaBoss on the way up--it can be seen as deep as about 5 to 10 meters — SeaBoss on the way up–it can be seen as deep as about 5 to 10 meters

SeaBoss allows the team to gather a 0.1m² bottom sample, descending and forward looking video and still pictures taken just before it hits the bottom. SeaBoss gets deployed twice at each site. The first sample is brought up and dumped into a sieve with a 1mm grid size. It is then gently hosed off with seawater to clear away the inorganic materials and large particles. The remaining biomass is put into containers with formalin solution for 2 days and then put into an alcohol solution to prevent decay. Those samples will be quantified back in the lab in the Seattle area. With the second sample from roughly the same bottom area, samples are taken of the bottom material itself from the surface and from a couple of centimeters below the surface. These, too, will be quantitatively evaluated back in the lab for grain sizes present and the proportions of those grain sizes in the sample. For background information on the SeaBoss, go here.

Jim Bush in the bosun’s chair. Rick Ferguson (l) and Chief Bosun Ron Walker assisting.

Personal Log

Before we left Dutch Harbor, we took on fuel (about ¼ of a load – only 22,000 gallons!) We took on ship’s stores (food.) 100+ gallons milk, 25 cases produce, a couple hundred pounds of meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb,) scores of loaves of bread, and numerous cases of ice cream as well as other things. It took several hours to stow it all away. We also took on about 10 pallets of scientific gear for the FISHPAC team. One of the more interesting scenes was watching AB Jim Bush rigging the A-Frame for deploying some of the equipment off of the fantail.

Questions for You to Investigate

Check out the web sites I listed, there’s some really cool stuff on them.

New Terms/Phrases

Biomass – organic matter created by living things epifauna – living animals on the surface of the bottom infauna – living animals in the bottom quantitatively – using numerical values