Fourth of July – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 5, 2022July 5, 2022

Laura Grimm: Finally! July 4, 2022

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Laura Grimm

Aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson

July 4 – July 22, 2022

Mission: Hydrographic Survey of Lake Erie

Geographic Area of Cruise: Lake Erie

Date: July 4, 2022

Weather Data from the Bridge

Time: 1600 (4:00 pm)

Latitude: 41ᵒ 34.45 N

Longitude: 081ᵒ 46.7 W

Sky Conditions: Overcast

Visibility: 10+ nautical miles

Wind Direction: 343ᵒ NNW

Wind Speed: 6 knots

Lake Water Temperature: 24.2 ᵒC

Dry Bulb: 25.7 ᵒC

Wet Bulb: 22.1 ᵒC

Science and Technology Log

Welcome from NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson!

Laura Grimm stands near the bow (front end) of the ship. — I am standing near the bow (front end) of the ship.

This experience started on land. NOAA provided a lot of information and training that needed to be read, studied, and completed prior to even setting foot on the ship. (Like I said previously: I am going to be more of a student and less of a teacher on this voyage!)

I found this statement on the “Standing Orders” to be very inspiring. It is from the Commanding Officer:

Command Expectation/Philosophy

“Thomas Jefferson is an ocean mapping platform that surveys the Exclusive Economic Zone of and for the United States. As such, we are responsible for maintaining and developing the Nation’s hydrographic expertise and technological capacity, as well as for producing timely quality surveys that can be efficiently used for many purposes, but primarily for updating NOAA’s suite of nautical charts. By sailing aboard Thomas Jefferson, you are part of this. Everyone aboard should be working to help Thomas Jefferson fulfill this role to the best of her ability, regardless of their individual role on the ship. To do this, we must work together to take care of ourselves, take care of each other, and take care of the ship. Be kind to yourself and to others; and work to build and keep the trust you earn from each other and the Command. This work of measuring our ocean territory is noble, challenging, unique, arduous, and ultimately rewarding.”

This is a hydrographic survey vessel. So just what is hydrography?

Hydro = water; Graphy = to write or record

Hydrography is the science that measures and describes the physical features of those areas on Earth that can be navigated by ships. These areas include oceans, lakes, seaways, and coastal areas. Hydrographic surveyors study these bodies of water to see what the “floor” looks like. NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is concerned about the safe passage of ships traveling to and from ports. Hydrographic surveys measure how deep the water is and make sure the coastal regions of the United States are safe for boats and ships to navigate. Surveyors pay particular attention to mapping locations of shallow areas and various obstructions (things sticking out of or sitting on the seafloor). Surveys also determine what the sea floor is made of (i.e. sand, mud, rock). This is important for anchoring, dredging, structure construction, pipeline and cable routing, and fish habitat. NOAA uses all this data to update nautical charts and develop hydrographic models.

a bathymetric map of the Great Lakes. We see the topography of the surrounding land, a few major cities (Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland) marked as dots, and the waters of the lakes colored to depict depth. Lake Superior is the deepest, and Lake Erie is the most shallow. — This is a hydrographic map of the Great Lakes. When looking at a hydrographic image, keep in
mind that blue = deep, red = shallow.

Can you tell from this image which lake is the deepest? Which lake is most shallow? Why do you think that the coasts of lakes look like rainbows?

This ship does very important work! By mapping water depth, the shape of the seafloor and coastline, the location of various obstructions, and physical features of bodies of water, hydrography helps to keep our maritime transportation system moving safely and efficiently.

What equipment and technology is used to do a hydrographic survey?

LOTS! I will include more information about the equipment and technology hydrographers use to get all of this data in a future blog post.

Personal Log

Yesterday was so very exciting! My husband drove me to the port of Cleveland.

Sign and the entrance to the Port of Cleveland. Downtown Cleveland is in the background. — Port of Cleveland. Downtown Cleveland is in the background. The Brown’s stadium in immediately to the left.

Laura points to NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, in port, from a distance — There it is!

Thomas Jefferson is docked at Pier 26. After all this time, it was wonderful to finally see the ship. I contacted the Officer of the Deck (OOD), he gave me permission to come aboard and immediately gave me a COVID test. Negative test = I can sail! I was never so happy to be
negative!

He showed me to my stateroom or berth. I have the upper bunk and a porthole! My roommate (you will meet her later) is a Hydrographic Senior Survey Technician (HSST). We share a bathroom (toilet and shower) “Jack and Jill” style with the room next door. On a ship, the bathroom is known as the “Head”.

close up of a sign that reads: "CREW SR 2-39-1" — This is the number on my stateroom.

2 = I am on the second deck. Each deck on a ship is numbered. The numbers from lowest to highest are 4, 3, 2, 1, 01, 02, and 03.

39 = the bulkhead the stateroom is closest to. A bulkhead is a dividing wall or barrier between compartments in a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle. The ship has about 100 bulkheads. They are numbered 1-100 from the bow (front end) to the stern (back end).

1 = This means that I am on the starboard (right side if standing on the ship looking toward the bow) side of the ship. If the last number was a 2, that would mean that my stateroom was on the port (left side if standing on the ship looking toward the bow).

view of stateroom; we can see two bunks and a dresser, some small rugs on the floor, hanging lights — This is my stateroom. I sleep on the upper bunk.

view of a shower stall and toilet — This is the “Head”.

The OOD then gave me a quick tour of the ship showing me the “Mess” (where we eat), the galley (kitchen), lounge, plot room (where they take the data that is collected during the day and where the data is made in to hydrographic “pictures”), laundry, and exercise room. He also took me to the bridge (where they pilot or drive the ship) and on all the decks. Later, I met one of the engineers and he took me on a tour of the engine room. So cool! I will include more information about these places on the ship in future blog posts.

Happy to be here! Happy to learn all about the important work being done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson and me – the very excited Teacher at Sea (TAS)

For the Little Dawgs!
Attention students in grades Kindergarten – 2nd grade. This section will be written just for you! I want to introduce you to my friend, Dewey. Dewey has been with me ever since my first year of teaching.

Dewey is a plush (perhaps beanie) monkey. He sits on a cushion wearing a paper sailor's hat that Laura made for him — My travel companion, Dewey. See his sailor hat!

He will help you understand what I am doing on this big ship! He is excited to be on NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson. He is also very thankful that we have a porthole in our bedroom. A porthole is a round window. I wonder why many of the windows on a ship are round?

Dewey looks out the porthole window — Here is Dewey looking out of the porthole window.

Q: Where is Dewey?

a toy monkey sits on a grated surface — Look at the surface. Can you tell where he is? Hint: You walk on it to get on to the ship.

a beanie monkey sits on the gangway leading up to NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson from the port — Dewey is on the gangway!

A: Dewey is on the gangway. The gangway is the name of the ramp that you walk on to get on the ship.

Well, that is all for now. Later tonight the crew will have the opportunity to watch the 4th of July fireworks over Cleveland.

A photo of the American flag flying, with downtown Cleveland visible behind it — This picture was taken from the stern (back end) of the ship.

a red, white, and blue banner in the mess hall reads "Happy 4th of July" — Happy 4th of July! Miss Parker, Chief Steward, decorated the Mess Hall for the holiday.

a view of tables and chairs in the mess hall, with red white and blue bunting, garlands, and American flags — Decorated Mess Hall

During the night, we will head toward Erie, PA to map the area around Presque, Isle.

white board reading: "NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson; Depart Port of Cleveland; Day & Time Monday @ 1400; Date July 4, 2022; Destination Presque Isle — Sailing Board for July 4, 2022

Sunset over Lake Erie — Sunday’s sunset over Lake Erie

July 10, 2019July 13, 2019

Erica Marlaine: Happy Fourth of July from the 49th State, July 4, 2019

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Erica Marlaine

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

June 22 – July 15, 2019

Mission: Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska

Date: July 4-5, 2019

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Latitude: 55º 48.9 N
Longitude: 159º 2.3 W
Wind Speed: 4.2 knots
Wind Direction: 186.5º
Air Temperature: 14.7º Celsius
Barometric Pressure: 1022.12 mb
Depth of water column 84.5 m
Surface Sea Temperature: 10 º Celsius

History

On March 30, 1867, Secretary of State Seward purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for 7.2 million dollars (or 2 cents per square mile). It was deemed a territory for many years until January 3, 1959 when President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska into the United States. The word “Alaska” comes from an Aleut-language idiom that means “object to which the action of the sea is directed.” It is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States. It is also the largest state. By comparison, it is twice the size of Texas.

Celebrating the Fourth of July, NOAA style

My usual Fourth of July at home includes a bar-b-que, swimming, and attending a fireworks show at night. The Fourth of July celebration on the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson was completely different, and literally a BLAST. At noon, an announcement was made for “all hands” to report to the galley for Fourth of July “mocktails” or fun non-alcoholic drinks. (There is no alcohol on a NOAA ship.) I had a delicious “mimosa” made of orange juice and sparkling cider. Later, we were taken on a wonderful ride past Mitrofania Island.

Photographs do not do it justice. It was my first time up on the fly bridge (the “roof” of the boat) and I loved being able to take in the 360 degree views. Many people never get to see this part of Alaska as it is not a route commonly taken by cruise ships. The “fireworks” part came the next morning, when “all hands” were again called to the deck to light off expired flares. While some made a popping noise, the one I did produced thick orange smoke for at least 30 seconds. It was, as I said, a literal blast!

Science and Technology

Later, we were back on the bridge but for a sadder reason. A dead whale was floating in the water right near the boat. I asked if anyone comes to pick up dead whales. It was explained to me that if a dead whale washes ashore, it will be picked up and taken for a necropsy to see if the cause of death could be determined. However, if they are at sea, they will be left to decompose and become part of the sea once again.

On a happier note, I was sent to the bridge later in the day to see if there were any whales in the vicinity as we do not fish if whales are nearby. It turned out that there were 5 whales in the distance (but close enough to see with binoculars). Whales are somewhat easy to spot as they must come to the surface often to breathe. When they exhale, they produce a spout of moist air from their blowhole. Since different species of whales produce different shape or size spouts, the spout is one way to identify the type of whale you are seeing. Other identifying features are size, color, fin shape, and whether they are alone or in a group. Some whale species travel in groups or pods, while others are more solitary. For example, killer whales (which are really dolphins) spend much of their time in large groups that travel and hunt together. Sometimes 4 generations of killer whales will be found together. In contrast, humpback whales are more often found alone or with their calf.

Whale Fun Facts

While many people think that whales spout water, it is actually mostly air. The spout is their exhale. Since they are mammals, and not fish, they do not have gills, and must come to the surface to breathe through their blowhole.

A baby whale is called a calf.

A group of whales travelling together is called a pod.

The blue whale is the largest animal in the world. It can grow to be as long as 3 buses, and its heart is as big as a car. Despite being so large, blue whales eat some of the smallest marine life, such as the krill discussed in an earlier blog.

A blue whale’s call is so loud, it can be heard underwater for hundreds of kilometers.

Whales are warm-blooded, so they need to develop a layer of fat (called blubber) to stay warm in cold water.

Whale blubber experiment for parents and kids to do together

Make a blubber glove by filling 2 ziploc-type plastic bags with shortening (such as Crisco) and taping them together to form a pocket.

Fill a bowl with water and ice cubes.

Allow your child to quickly touch the cold water in the bowl with their bare hand.

Then have your child put his or her hand in the blubber glove, and then put their gloved hand into the cold water.

July 8, 2013August 13, 2021

Amie Ell: Fireworks, Fish, and Flukes, July 6, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Amie Ell
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson (NOAA Ship Tracker)
June 30 – July 21, 2013

Mission: Alaska Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographical Area: Gulf of Alaska
Date: July 6th, 2013

Location Data from the Bridge:
Latitude: 55.29.300 N
Longitude: 156.25.200 W
Ship speed: 10.7 kn

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Air temperature: 8.6 degrees Centigrade
Surface water temperature: 8.6 degrees Centigrade
Wind speed: 14 kn
Wind direction: 210 degrees
Barometric pressure: 1008.5 mb

Science and Technology Log:

The Oscar Dyson is equipped with several labs to accommodate the researchers on board. In this blog post I will describe to you what is happening in the wet/fish lab. This is where I have experienced quite a bit of hands-on data collection.

Pollock being separated on the conveyor belt.

After a trawl, the crew dumps the load of fish into a bin. Inside the lab we can raise or lower this bin to control the amount of fish coming onto a conveyor belt. Once the fish are on the belt the scientists decide how they will be separated. We separate the pollock according to age into baskets. They are categorized by size; under 20 cm (age 1), under 30 cm (age 2), and any larger than 30 cm

At this time we also pull out any other sea creatures that are not pollock. So far we have pulled up quite a few jelly fish, la lumpsucker, shrimp, squid, eulachon, and capelin. These are also weighed, measured, and in some cases frozen per request of scientists not currently on board.

After organizing the pollock into appropriate age groups, we then measure and record their weight in bulk. Scientists are using a scale attached to a touch screen computer with a program called CLAMS to record this information. The pollock are then dumped into a stainless steel bin where their sex will be determined. In order to do this the fish must be cut open to look for “boy parts, or girl parts”. After the pollock are separated into female and male bins we begin to measure their length.

This is the tool used for measuring length of the fish.

The tool used to measure length is called the Ichthystick. This tool is connected to the CLAMS computer system. The fish is placed on the Ichthystick and a pointer with a magnet in it is placed at the tail end of the fish. There are three different types of length measurement that can be done: fork length, standard length, and total length. When the magnetic pointer touches the Ichthystick it senses that length and sends the information to the CLAMS computer system.

One of these bins of fish is placed aside for individual weighing, length measurements, and removal of otoliths. You may recall that I mentioned otoliths in the last blog post. These ear bones are sent to a lab and analyzed to determine the age of each of these individually measured fish. The Alaska Fisheries Science Center has created a demonstration program where you can try to determine the age of different types of fish by looking at their otoliths. Click here to try it yourself! (I will add hyperlink to: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/refm/age/interactive.htm)

Personal Log:

One afternoon while waiting for the fishermen to bring up the trawl net, I watched a group of porpoises swimming behind the ship. Another day I was able to see whales from up on the bridge. These were pretty far out and required binoculars to see any detail. I observed many spouts, saw one breach, and some flukes as well.

There is quite a bit of downtime for me on the ship while I am waiting in between trawls. I get to read a lot and watch movies in my free time. I have had the opportunity to talk with different members of the crew and learn about their roles a bit. The chief engineer gave me a tour of the engine rooms (more about this with pictures in a future post.)

The 4^thof July fireworks show on the Oscar Dyson was like no others I have ever experienced. Two of our crew, Ben & Brian, dressed in official fire gear shot expired flares off the ship into the sea. America themed music was played over the PA system. I have attached a video of our fireworks display. Happy Independence Day everyone!

July 5, 2010April 15, 2021

Rebecca Kimport, JULY 5, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea Rebecca Kimport
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 30, 2010 – July 19, 2010

Mission: Summer Pollock survey
Geograpical Area:Bering Sea, Alaska
Date: July 5, 2010

Celebrating America Day

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays although more for the activities accompanied with it than for the meaning. I usually celebrate the fourth by enjoying Food, Fireworks and time with Friends. On the Oscar Dyson some of those “F”s were substituted and as the festivities were around Fish, Food, and Flares. After what felt like forever, we finally trawled for fish today. It had clearly been too long for most members of the ship as we were surrounded by the paparazzi as we pulled the fish out onto the table and sorted through the mass of jellyfish. It was great to be actually sorting fish and I became an expert otolith-remover.After our shift finished, we were able to enjoy the holiday properly. Our steward department prepared an excellent Fourth of July BBQ complete with Flag Cake. I was a little surprised that the Oscar Dysonhas a grill on board but it made dinner feel more like an occasion. Weheld the BBQ on the boat deck and the lack of tables provided an opportunity to talk with new and different parties. I was glad that I was able to enjoy the BBQ (as some members of the staff were sleeping or on watch, they weren’t able to relax).

Also, it couldn’t be Fourth of July without a few colored smoke displays. Luckily, the Oscar Dyson had some expired flares and I was able to convince Operations Officer Sarah Duncan to show me how they worked. Different chemical reactions produce rapid heat and brightly colored smoke. If our boat were in distress, these flares would be used to alert other boats of our location. I was excited to see these flares up close (but not too close – Safety First!) and got some great footage to use when we discuss flame tests and emission spectra.Although our Fourth of July was more low key than in years past — the flare demonstration could not compare to the fireworks display on the Mall and I was in bed by 9 pm – it was a great way to celebrate the holiday.Animals Seen
brown jellies or northern sea nettle- Chrysaora melanaster
pollock- many 1-3 years
smooth lumpsucker
rock sole
fulmarsWord of the day
Propiate: appease