NOAA Teacher at Sea
Anne Artz
Aboard NOAA Ship Delaware II
July 25 — August 5, 2011
Mission: Clam and Quahog Survey
Geographical Area: North Atlantic
Date: July 26, 2011
Weather Data from the Bridge
Location: 40 32.672 N070 43.585 W
Temperature: 18.5 C
Winds: Easterly at 3-4 knt
Conditions: Sunny today, some clouds, ocean calm
Science and Technology Log
Our first full day at sea (and at work)! We left the dock at Woods Hole, MA yesterday at 2 pm and headed out past Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. While steaming towards our sampling site, we practiced two very important safety drills — a fire drill and the abandon ship drill. The abandon ship drill was unique in that we had to don our survival suits (supposedly in a minute but I think I took longer than that) that protect us in the water from hypothermia and also help keep us afloat.
Around 6 pm we reached our first sample location and the “day team” (that’s me and some fellow volunteers) started our work. The testing protocol is fairly simple: sample sites have been predetermined by computer. Survey sites are selected based on depth and location (latitude and longitude). When we reach those locations, a large sled-like cage called a dredge is lowered into the water and dragged along the ocean floor for a prescribed amount of time (generally 5 minutes).
The dredge is then brought up and the contents emptied onto the deck. Our work then takes 10-15 minutes to sort through what is brought up, keeping those items we are surveying or counting, and throwing the rest back into the water. We attempt to identify organisms we bring up and we count all live bivalves, any gastropods, hermit crabs, starfish and all fish. Species we identify and measure are the surfclam, the ocean quahog, the southern quahog, and sea scallops. Once we’ve separated out what we need, we weigh the catch then measure the size of each item collected. We throw everything back into the water and clean up the deck while heading to our next location. The procedure is repeated about twice each hour. For our work on the deck we wear protective clothing, hard hats, and of course, a life vest.
Personal Log
There are seven volunteers aboard this trip, including myself. They are a varied group from all over but are all very interested in ocean science. Some of them are college graduates, some are still in college and we are all first-timers on this type of research vessel. We were assigned a 12-hour shift, either noon to midnight or midnight to noon. I feel fortunate to be on the noon-midnight shift as that means I don’t have to alter my sleeping pattern much. It’s tiring work but the good part is there are breaks between each haul so most of us have our books with us on the deck (so handy to have a Kindle!). The crew here is as varied as the volunteers, from all over the country and they are all very good at what they do. I initially thought having 4 girls sleeping in a room the size of a walk-in closet would be difficult but it’s not. At any given time two of us are on deck, on duty, so the room is available for sleeping, changing, showering, etc. We all respect quiet below deck because at any given time, someone is always trying to sleep!
Interesting Things Seen Yesterday
A shark with a rather large fin above the water was following us from a distance for a while — maybe curiosity? We brought up several skates (they look like rays) the largest being about 12 inches long. They are incredibly beautiful up close, looking almost angelic. It seems a shame they have such a bad reputation!