foul weather gear – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kaitlin Baird
Aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
September 4 – 20, 2012

Mission: Autumn Bottom Trawl Survey with NOAA’s North East Fisheries Science Center
Geographical Area: Atlantic Ocean steaming to south New Jersey coast
Date: September 6, 2012

Location Data:
Latitude: 41 ° 18.70’ N
Longitude: 71 ° 42.11’ W

Weather Data:
Air Temperature: 20.5°C (approx. 69°F)
Wind Speed: 4.97 kts
Wind Direction: from N
Surface Water Temperature: 22.2 °C (approx. 72°F)
Weather conditions: Sunny and fair

Science and Technology Log

The purpose of our mission aboard the Henry B. Bigelow is the 1st leg of groundfish surveys from Cape May all the way down to Cape Hatteras with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. The scientists aboard the ship are interested in both the size and frequency of fish at different targeted geographic locations. We will be sampling using a trawl net at about 130 different stations along the way, some inshore and some offshore. We will be using a piece of technology called the Fisheries Scientific Computer System (FSCS). This system will allow us to accurately take baskets of different species of fish and code them for their lengths into a large database. This will give us a snapshot of fisheries stocks in the Northeast Atlantic by taking a subsample. The computer system also allows us to see if any other things need to be done with the fish once they are measured. Tasks like otolith (I’ll tell you about these later!) and gonad removal, fin clips or whole organisms sampling may also be done. The computer system will allow us to label each of these requests and assign it a code for scientists requesting samples from this cruise. Additionally, there are scales along with the system for recording necessary weights. We will be sorting fish first by species, and then running them all through the coded FSCS which you can see in the photo below.

Measuring board for fish — Board for magnetically measuring fish

We are currently on full steam to get our first tow in early tomorrow morning. You can track our ship using NOAA’s ship tracker system. Here we are positioned currently passing Block Island.

Ship Tracker with Current Location — NOAA Ship Tracker

Can’t wait to tell you more about the FSCS system when we start using it tomorrow!!

Personal Log

We have just pushed off the dock at 0900 and are headed South to start our first trawl tomorrow morning. Everyone is getting used to the ship and some swells with a few storms in the Atlantic. I am really excited to get to see what comes up in our first tow. I have been assigned to the day watch which means that my shift runs from Noon-Midnight. The two other ladies that share our room will be on the night watch, so there will be a changing of the guard and some fresh legs and recorders.

Darcy and Caitlin two other volunteers learning the ropes

All ready to go — Helly Hansen gear to keep us all dry.

I am looking forward to bringing you some cool fish photos soon! Hello to everyone back in Bermuda! Stay safe..

Bye for now!!

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Lollie Garay
Onboard Research Vessel Hugh R. Sharp
May 9-20, 2009

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: North Atlantic
Date: May 17, 2009

It was great to see the Sun again after all the fog!

Weather Date from the Bridge
Showers/scattered thunderstorms
Temp: 12.2˚C
Winds: 11.1KT
Seas: 5-8 ft

Science and Technology Log

We have completed 138 stations and are halfway through today’s shift. Our transit today will take us to the closest we’ve been to the coast. Having said that, we are still about 40 miles offshore. The weather today has been better than we expected. Seas are still choppy, and the air is very cool.

Working out on deck requires us to bundle up. The fog has lifted after cutting visibility down to 100 ft yesterday! The captain said that he had three different computers going at the same time to insure safe navigation. This led to a conversation about how technology has changed on ships. Captain Warrington said in the old days all they used were 2 radars, a stopwatch, and “dead reckoning” where they lay out a line of travel (their course) on paper. As you can see from my past conversations about the science night crewmembers, people come from all walks of life to work in NOAA’s Fisheries Service. I have not written about the science day crew because the other Teacher At Sea, Elise Olivieri is working with them. Check out her logs to see what’s happening on her shift! And what about the ship’s crew?

We have Vessel Master James Warrington (the Captain). He has been with the University of Delaware for 25 years, and a Captain for 18 years. He started out as an engineer and decided he would like it better on the bridge! He has to go through re-certification periodically to maintain his license. I asked him what his most interesting assignment of all time was and he said it was working at the Bermuda Biological Station. Chris Bogan has been a Vessel Master since 1983 and is the First Mate on this cruise. He told me that 90% of his family had been sea captains, on both sides of his family!

One of the most important crewmembers on board is Paul Gomez, the cook! Paul is originally from Ecuador. His family lives in New York, but Paul, his wife and children live in Delaware. Paul has worked with the University of Delaware for 5 years and stays out at sea most of the year. He has been out at sea for 165 days already this year. Paul says he really enjoys his work because of all the people he meets. You can ask anyone on this cruise and they will tell you that he is a fabulous chef! And he is always smiling.

Personal Log

We had a lot of smiles this evening. We are within satellite range that has brought our cell phones back to life, at least for awhile. We are just off the coast of Manhattan, so everyone got busy with a call home. We also got a glimpse of city lights off in the distance. As I was getting into my foul weather gear again tonight, I started thinking about how many times this has happened this week. We have averaged 9 stations per day on our shift and have been working for 9 days so far, which means that I have put on this gear 81 times. This may sound trivial to you, but it’s one of those little details that help you laugh as you near the end of another long 12 hour shift!

New animals Seen Today

An interesting little crab (Parchment worm Polyonyx) that makes its home in Parchment Worm tubes.

Tag: foul weather gear

Kaitlin Baird: All Ashore Who Are Going Ashore, September 6, 2012

Lollie Garay, May 17, 2009