Gulf – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Amelia Black

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

July 6-17, 2026

Mission: SEAMAP Summer Groundfish Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of America/Gulf of Mexico
Date: July 18, 2026

Science and Technology Log

Are you curious about the final number of marine taxa (types) that we caught on Leg 3 of the SEAMAP Groundfish Survey?

We caught more than even the scientists onboard predicted we would! However, before I tell you the final count, I want to explain a little bit about the process of sorting and identifying the different types of marine life counted during the survey.

Not everything that came up in the net was counted as part of the survey. Trash, empty shells, sea grass, and organisms small enough to pass through the holes in the net were not included. We first sorted everything into similar groups and then separated those groups further when needed. For marine life that looked very similar or was difficult to identify, the scientists would double-check each other’s work to make sure everything was sorted correctly. Remember, this survey was not just about fish but included all kinds of marine life living on the ocean floor.

Looking at these pictures, can you tell the difference between some of these organisms?

four flat fish displayed in a column down a white plastic measuring board. each flatfish is positioned with its mouth to the left of the photo, so that the two eyes, which are on the same (top-facing) side, are visible. the fish toward the top is noticeably larger than the three laid out beneath it. — Four different types of flatfish, most commonly known as Flounder, all caught in the same haul

two closed scallop shells photographed on a metal sorting table. the one on the left is larger, and appears lighter in color, mottled yellow and orange. we can see a few small barnacles attached to its shell. the one on the right is smaller, darker, and cleaner. — Two different types of scallops

Sometimes it was easy to tell the difference and other times it was very difficult. The scientists had to not only know the differences but also the scientific (Latin) names for hundreds of different marine taxa. Occasionally, we would catch something that was not common during the groundfish survey. When this happened the scientists would consult identification guides or databases to help identify what we had caught.

Over the past two weeks, I have learned so much and encountered many new names and words. Not only have I learned the common names of the marine life we encountered, but I have also learned their scientific names. I’m not sure how many of those names will stay in my long-term memory since I may never encounter some of these organisms again. I do know I have learned more than I ever expected.

I was able to identify a lionfish on someone’s shirt! Before this trip, I never would have recognized it.

a man stands in the wetlab, surrounded by metal work tables. on the table in front of him are several white plastic sorting baskets. His gloved right hand grasps the jaw of a lionfish and holds it toward the camera for a photo. we can see the dramatic spotted fins and striped body of the fish, its feathery pectoral fins, and its tall dorsal spines. — Scientist Dereke with a lionfish.

Lionfish are an invasive species from the Indo-Pacific region. They are related to scorpionfish and also have venomous spines. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lionfish-facts.html

So.. what was the final count?

The total count of different marine taxa (types) that we counted was…

350!

That’s 350 different marine taxa that we identified during Leg 3 of the survey. Then, every individual within those taxa had to be counted, with many also being measured and weighed. It was incredible to see the diversity of life living on the ocean floor.

Watch this slideshow to see video to see some of the amazing marine life we encountered.

Marine Life of the Groundfish Survey

Did you see any marine life that looked familiar? I did! I was surprised to learn that there are catfish in the sea! They are a different type than the catfish we have in the rivers back home in Kansas, but they look very similar.

Personal Log

Before leaving for this trip, I wanted to get a picture of the sunset every night. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen! At first, I did not realize the sun set around 8:00 p.m. in the Gulf instead of closer to 9:00 p.m. like back home in Kansas. By the time I figured that out, I had already missed a few beautiful sunsets. Thankfully, I was still able to capture several beautiful sunsets before the end of the trip.

a collage of 6 photos. the largest photo, at top left, is a selfie of Amelia taken in front of a railing at sunset. she wears her Teacher at Sea hat. this photo is surrounded by five smaller square images to its right and bottom sides. Each shows a different sunset, capturing a range of colors. One sunset is viewed through a porthole.

They say that if you are lucky, you might see a ‘green flash’ just as the sun disappears below the horizon because green is the last color visible before the sun is gone. I watched every chance I got, but I was not lucky enough to see one.

As I head back to Kansas, I just want to say thank you to everyone who made this experience possible. Thank you to the NOAA Teacher at Sea team, the crew of Oregon II, the science team, and everyone who followed along on my adventure.

It is still hard to believe that this was my life for the past two weeks. The entire Oregon II crew was incredibly welcoming and made the ship feel like a home away from home.

a collage of two photos, stacked. the top photo shows 5 people in hard hats, life vests, and gloves standing near the railing of NOAA Ship Oregon II. Four of the people are facing the camera to smile for the photo; the fifth is facing away, grasping a rope with both hands. One woman holds an empty sorting basket off to her side. In the bottom photo, 6 people stand in different locations around the wet lab, and smile for the photo. Four are positioned around a table to be sort and measure fish. — Part of the science team aboard NOAA ship *Oregon II*

To the science team, thank you for making room for a Teacher at Sea and for answering my thousand-and-one questions. You are an incredible group of people, and the research you do to help monitor the health of the Gulf is so important. A special thank you to Scientist Dereke for being willing to pick up the ‘spicy’ fish so I could take pictures, and to Mo, the college student, for learning alongside me and teaching me about marine biology.

Amelia takes a selfie in front of NOAA Ship Oregon II from the dock in Pascagoula. It is low tide, so the ship sits low compared to the dock and the hull is mostly out of sight. Amelia wears a maroon shirt that reads "There's No Place Like Home"

Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, “there is no place like home.” While I am happy to be back in Kansas and preparing for my next adventure at a new school, I know I will miss the people I met aboard Oregon II. It truly became a home away from home.

Artist Highlight

Meet artist Sean Gronquist, a member of the NOAA crew. Sean uses the Japanese art of fish printing called Gyotaku. Gyo means fish and taku means rubbing. This traditional art form began as a way for fishermen to record their catches before photography and is still practiced today. https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/get-involved/educational-uses-gyotaku-or-fish-printing

a man uses both hands to hold an unfurled piece of paper or perhaps a canvas displaying a black and white print of a dolphinfish. he has a serious expression. in front of him on a table, more artwork is rolled up on a wooden dowel. — Sean Gronquist displays a fish print of a dolphinfish

Activity Corner

Choose an ocean animal that interests you and do a little research. Where does it live? What adaptations help it survive? What role does it play in its ecosystem?

Here is a website you can use to help you learn more about your ocean animal: https://oceanconservancy.org

You can also learn more about Gyotaku https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_mG-Ka4mv8&t=1s or even create your own fish print https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tI92lYwL8U For younger children, I recommend using finger paints instead of traditional ink.

Book Recommendations

The science team shared some of their favorite ocean-themed books for readers of all ages. Whether you are just beginning to learn about marine life or you are looking for your next great read, I hope you find one that inspires you to learn more about our oceans.

Lower Elementary

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
The Cod’s Tale by Mark Kurlansky

Upper Elementary and Up

The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery
Why Fish Fart: Gross but True Things You’ll Wish You Didn’t Know by Francesca Gould

Middle School and up

Octopus: The Ocean’s Intelligent Invertebrate by Jennifer A. Mather
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery

Nonfiction High School and up

What a Fish Knows by Jonathan Balcombe
Emperors of the Deep by William McKeever
Longitude by Dava Sobel
So Excellent a Fishe by Archie Carr
A Shadow and a Song by Mark Jerome Walters

Fiction High School and up

Andy Weir: The Martian or Project Hail Mary
Merfolk by Jeremy Bates

Nonfiction Adult

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
The Reef: A Passionate History by Iain McCalman
The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales
Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith
Rachel Carson’ ‘s The Sea Around Us or Silent Spring

Adult Fiction Books

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Did You Know?

Oregon II will welcome another NOAA Teacher at Sea at the end of July for Longline Survey. It will be a different science team, but I hear they will be catching lots of sharks and snappers! Follow the NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog to continue the adventure.

Adventure awaits!

¡La aventura te espera!

Sources

https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/ctd/
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/oceanographic-and-ecosystem-sampling-during-pacific-hake-survey
https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/ocean-fact/ctd/
https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-surveys/indicators-conductivity
https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/expedition-feature/19gulfofalaska-logs-july26-2/ https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-07/parameter-factsheet_turbidity.pdf

Cheryl Milliken

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

July 25 – Aug 10, 2025

Mission: Bottom Longline Survey, Leg 1

Geographic Area of Cruise: Atlantic Coast of Florida

Date: July 21, 2025

Personal Introduction

Hello from Cape Cod, Massachusetts!
I’m so excited to be preparing for an upcoming experience at sea—a unique opportunity that will deepen my connection to marine science and bring new inspiration to my classroom.

For the past 23 years, I’ve taught high school science at Falmouth High School here in Falmouth, MA. I currently teach Marine Ecology, Marine Engineering and Technology, and Forensic Science. I love sharing my passion for these subjects and helping students make real-world connections through exploration and hands-on learning.

view of a classroom from the back; we see high school students seated at tables, facing away from the camera. at the front of the classroom are four women in matching t-shirts and orange lanyards. They are standing in front of a screen with a slide that contains a photo of a whale — Falmouth High School students in Marine Engineering and Technology learn about protecting North Atlantic right whales by implementing ropeless lobster gear from experts from the Whale and Dolphin Society. (Photo by C. Milliken)

My love for the ocean started early. When I was in second grade, a middle school teacher visited our class to share her seashell collection from around the world. I was mesmerized by the intricate beauty and complexity of those shells, and I’ve been curious about the ocean ever since. Though I grew up on Johnson’s Pond in the middle of Rhode Island—swimming, boating, and fishing on the lake—I didn’t spend much time by the ocean. But summer marine science camps, including two Girl Scout Wider Opportunities (now called Destinations), in Virginia and Michigan, helped solidify a lifelong love for marine science.

Cheryl, at left, wearing a green sash with Girl Scout patches, poses with a man in a suit in front of a flag. — *Girl Scouts from the Water-Is-Fundamental wider opportunity received the President’s Environmental Youth Award in Washington, DC, in 1985.*

I earned my Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of Rhode Island and my Master of Science in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire. At UNH, I learned to scuba dive and completed a thesis studying two crab species in the Gulf of Maine. I also worked as a teaching assistant and found a genuine joy in working with students. That experience shaped the path I would eventually take into teaching—and even earned me the Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.

After grad school, I spent a few years in research, including work related to the North Cape oil spill off Rhode Island. That’s actually how I met my husband, Henry, who now works full-time for NOAA Fisheries. We moved to Cape Cod for his job, and I began working as a contractor for NOAA’s Food Web Dynamics Program in Woods Hole. I participated in two habitat cruises to Georges Bank and the Great South Channel, examining fish communities in areas closed to commercial fishing. The biodiversity and fish abundance in closed areas was astounding!

During my NOAA years, we also welcomed two sons into our family, and my priorities shifted. With both of us working in marine science—and sometimes going to sea—I decided to transition into teaching full-time so I could be home with our kids. I took a one-year project mapping herring runs across Massachusetts (an adventure in itself!) and completed an accelerated teacher certification program designed for mid-career professionals.

That leap into education turned out to be the perfect fit.

a group photo 14 people (and two black labs) in a driveway in front of a house. they are all dressed warmly. — *Annual family gathering for Christmas 2024.*

This upcoming expedition feels like a full-circle moment—reconnecting with the marine science field I love and bringing that experience back to my students. I can’t wait to share what I learn with them and continue to inspire the next generation of ocean explorers.

Preparing for My Mission

I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be heading out on a new research adventure! This week, I’ll board the NOAA Ship Oregon II in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to begin Leg 1 of the Bottom Longline (BLL) Survey. Our mission is to assess the abundance and distribution of coastal sharks and reef fish, including red snapper, throughout the Southeast.

This will be my first time sailing in the Gulf—and my first time traveling through the Straits of Florida—so I’m eager to experience these regions and learn more about the diverse marine life they support.

One of the highlights of this mission will be launching a NOAA ocean drifter as part of the Adopt a Drifter program. This initiative is a collaboration between NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) program and the Global Drifter Program, which began in 1979.

The drifter is a sophisticated tool: it consists of a surface buoy, a tether, and a drogue (a long, submerged component that ensures the buoy follows ocean currents rather than just surface winds). The buoy includes a satellite antenna that transmits data such as sea surface temperature, location, and time. These data are crucial for forecasting weather, predicting the movement of oil spills and marine debris, and tracking hurricanes and storms.

*Illustration of NOAA drogue drifter, showing surface float with the capability to send location and data via satellite, and drogue or sea anchor suspended in the water column.*

I’ll be working with scientists and data specialists from NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in Miami, Florida, to launch the drifter and monitor its path over the next 18 months. As someone who has long been involved with student drifter programs, I’m excited to share this experience with my students. It’s a powerful way to connect them to real-world ocean science and to explore how currents influence ecosystems far beyond our local waters off Cape Cod.

Stay tuned for updates from the field—I can’t wait to share what we discover!

Tag: Gulf

Amelia Black, There’s No Place Like Home, July 18, 2026