integrated west coast survey – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jojo Chang

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

June 30 – July 15, 2025

Mission: Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey (Leg 2)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean, California Coast

Date: July 6, 2025

Weather Data from the Bridge

At 4:00 p.m., the temperature was 57.2°F (14°C). Our boat position was 35/17.2 North Latitude and 121/30.2 West Longitude. The sky was OVC 8 oktas, which indicates that all eight sections of the sky were filled with clouds.

Career Log: NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Onboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada are nine officers serving in the NOAA corps. This is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States government. NOAA Corps is a non-military branch that works to assist with ocean and atmospheric research. There is an application process to join NOAA Corps, and once selected, training is facilitated at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. According to the Commanding Officer Jeff Pereira, NOAA Corps’ job on this mission is to keep the crew and ship safe on the open waters at sea and to navigate the boat, ensuring success in both research and operations.

portrait photo of a woman wearing a navy blue NOAA Corps t-shirt (over a black long-sleeved shirt) and sunglasses, standing on the aft deck of the ship. Words superimposed on the photo read: Sanam / Ensign / NOAA Corps — Sanam, NOAA Corps Ensign

portrait photo of a man wearing a navy blue sweater, standing on deck. Words superimposed on the photo read: Aras / NOAA Corps / Senior Watch Officer — Sanam, NOAA Corps Ensign

Additionally, onboard there are many amazing deckhands who help with the challenging and somewhat dangerous operation of bringing the fishing nets in and out of the ocean.

portrait photo of a man wearing an orange t-shirt and a baseball cap, standing in the mess hall. Words superimposed over the photo read: Randy / Acting Chief Bosun

portrait of a man wearing a balck jacket and black overalls standing in a hallway, holding a cup of coffee and pointing upward slightly to acknowledge the photographer; words superimposed on the photo read Jimmy / Assistant Bosun

portrait photo of a man wearing a gray hoodie sweatshirt. it is hard to make out the background, but he stands on deck in front of gray skies and gray sea. words superimposed on the photo read: Shawn / Fisherman

portrait photo of a man in a beige t-shirt, standing in a hallway of the ship. words superimposed on photo read: Roy / Vessel Assistant

One particularly notable (and somewhat cinematic) event during our time at sea was the mid-cruise transfer of an additional crew member by small boat. Due to an unexpected medical emergency, one of the originally scheduled crew members critical to deck operations was unable to join the expedition, leaving the ship shorthanded for round-the-clock fishing and research duties.

view over the railing of an upper deck of a small vessel approaching the larger ship. we can see land not far away. the water is teal blue and the sky is mostly clear.

view over the railing from an upper deck at a small boat pulled alongside the larger ship. crewmembers on the vessel wear bright orange float coats.

To remedy this, a coordinated transfer was executed involving a small Coast Guard vessel and the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. The NOAA Corps officers navigated the maneuver with impressive precision, transforming what could have been a logistical headache into what felt like a scene straight out of Mission: Impossible. The transfer was successful: the new crew member leaped—quite literally—onto the Shimada. With his arrival, we were once again fully staffed for 24/7 scientific operations.

Mammal Watch

The flying bridge is at the very top of the boat, so we get to see some interesting things up there. One fantastic and rare sighting happened when we spotted several humpback whales united in coming up to the surface to feed. According to fish biologist Sabrina Beyer, whales will make a circle around the fish and then travel up through the circle for an awesome meal.

This behavior is further explained by Augliere¹:

Around the world, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) use bubble-nets to trap certain prey such as krill, herring, and young salmon, sometimes in coordinated groups and at times alone. The whales dive down below their prey and swim in circles while releasing bubbles from their blowholes to create a rising curtain. The curtain creates a visual barrier that tricks the prey into thinking there’s no escape. Once the prey is tightly corralled, the whales lunge through the bubble-net with open mouths to swallow their meal.

photo of three humback whales, mouths agape, breaking through the surface of aquamarine water. they are surrounded by feeding gulls. — Photo by Roland Schumann on Unsplash

Additionally, one important part of the scientist’s job is called “mammal watch.” This is usually done from the bridge before fishing nets are placed into the water. Watching the ocean helps reduce the chance that a mammal like a dolphin or a whale gets stuck in the fishing nets. Last night, we had many dolphin sightings and had to move the boat to another location. This delayed fishing for several hours.

Did You Know?

Did you know that there are 15 NOAA ships in operation? Being from Hawaii, I’m particularly interested in the vessels stationed there. Hopefully, once back in Hawaii, I can arrange a tour for my students of the NOAA Oscar Elton Sette. The ship’s home port is Honolulu, Hawaii.

Animals Seen Today: Butterfish, Storm Petrel, Hake, Octopus, Market Squid, Anchovies.

Today’s catch brought in a small batch of our target fish – hake – along with other ocean creatures, including the adorable butterfish. But the real scene-stealer wasn’t a fish at all. A small storm petrel has unofficially joined the crew, making himself quite at home aboard NOAA ship Bell M. Shimada. With his sleek webbed feet built for water paddling, he’s more sea-worthy than the rest of us. We haven’t caught him in flight yet, but his dinner situation is well taken care of.

At mealtime, scientist, Amanda Vitale, casually announced, “I’ve got a squid in my pocket.” This nice little gourmet offering was for Mr. Storm Petrel, named Jeff, after our Commanding Officer. Only an oceanographer would stroll into dinner toting a cephalopod takeout menu. How funny!

Jojo, wearing a Teacher at Sea beanie, overalls, and bright orange gloves, holds up a butterfish for a photo and smiles for the camera. she is in the wet lab.

a dark-colored bird stands o two outstretched hands; we see equipment in the background that is hard to make out

Works Cited:

Augliere, Bethany. “How Humpback Whales Use Bubbles as a Tool.” National Geographic, 26 Aug. 2024, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/humpback-whales-bubbles-tools. Accessed 9 July 2025. ↩︎

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jojo Chang

Aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada

June 30 – July 15, 2025

Mission: Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey (Leg 2)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean, California Coast

Date: July 3, 2025

Weather Data from the Bridge

7 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time

Currently, the air temperature is 14.3°C (57.7°F). The wind speed is 8.2 knots.

Science and Technology Log

These are some of the people in my new neighborhood! There are many different jobs and career titles on board NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. It is an interesting learning experience investigating the human work that goes on at sea. The ship occupations are broken down into the following categories: science, engineering, ship management, NOAA Corps, survey technology, electronics, and stewarding. Today, I will be writing about the scientists.

Science

On the science side, many different scientists are doing fascinating work on board. Here I will review just a few. Many of the scientists have PhDs and work in the exact field they researched in their graduate studies. Sabrina, Zach, and Melissa are fish biologists. They work directly in the lab, counting, dissecting, and investigating the health, population, and biology of the fish.

portrait photo of a woman wearing a purple beanie and an orange jacket, hands in pockets and smiling for the camera. she is standing in the wet lab next to a long metal table. — Sabrina, Fish Biologist

Most of their work on this voyage is focused on two different types of fish populations: hake, and coastal pelagic species (CPS) (which include Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel, Jack Mackerel, Northern Anchovy, Market Squid, and Krill.)

In addition to the biologists, we have a research economist, a software engineer, and a satellite oceanographer on board. These three scientists have volunteered to be on the ship for both the adventure and to get a better understanding of how their work combines with other NOAA research.

a young woman with long hair wearing a white sweatshirt poses for a photo near a poster of a ship. The poster's title, in recognizable font, jokes: "The Lore of the Shimada, Fellowship of the Integrated." — Phoebe, Research Economist

a woman wearing a black shirt and two unzipped outer layaors smiles for a portrait photo. she stands on the aft deck in front of the A-frame. — Phoebe, Research Economist

For example, Melina helped expand, adapt, and add functionality to a computer program called CLAMS: Catch Logger for Acoustic Midwater Surveys. The scientists work with this program in the wet lab to capture and record important data about the fish populations they are studying.

photo of a computer screen showing the homepage of the CLAMS V3.0 program. It reads CLAMS V3.0, Catch Logger for Acoustic Midwater Surveys, Ship: Bell M. Shimada, Survey: 202506, options to "Log Event," "Enter Catch," "Utilities," "Administration," "Exit." In the background there is an image of a large school of fish, as well as two cartoon sardines running on legs (wearing shoes.) — Homescreen for the CLAMS computer program

Personal Log

On the first day at sea, we practiced safety drills for fire/emergency and for the unusual occurrence of having to abandon ship. Being able to put on a survival suit is critical to an individual’s safety in the event of having to enter the water because it will protect them from hypothermia. In these photos, our crew is on deck and practicing drills to get into the survival suit. It is a bit like trying to put a chicken into a prom dress, but I managed to get it on with a little help and instructions from my crewmates.

A woman wearing a Teacher at Sea beanie and t shirt stands on deck, partially dressed in a thick orange neoprene survival suit. she smiles down as she uses her right arm to pull her left down into the arm of the suit. in the background we see piles of survival suits and other crewmembers working to don them. — Jojo works on getting her left arm into the survival suit

a woman smiles for the camera as she works to pull the hood of the survival suit over her head. she's standing on deck and there are other suits lying around and other crewmembers getting dressed. — Next step is the hood…

a woman, barely visible, stands in a survival suit with her gloved hands raised for a photo — Ta da!

Did You Know?

On board the NOAA ship Bell M. Shimada, there is a specialized acoustics lab that plays a vital role in scientific research. Currently, this lab is actively collecting meteorological, geophysical, and biological data from along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Meteorological data includes information about weather conditions, such as wind patterns, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. Geophysical data refers to the physical characteristics of the seafloor, including its composition, structure, and topography. Meanwhile, biological data focuses on the living organisms found in this underwater environment—particularly the fish species being studied. Together, this data provides crucial information concerning the ocean’s dynamic systems that propel scientific work.

Biological data is especially essential for the scientists aboard the NOAA ship Bell M. Shimada. To collect this information, the ship uses sound waves that are sent down into the water to detect fish. When these sound waves encounter schools of fish, they bounce back and generate an image on a monitor. Chief Scientist Rebecca Thomas explains that this process is similar to the echolocation used by dolphins to navigate and locate food in the ocean.

Expanding on this, research fish scientist Steve De Blois describes how the resulting acoustic map helps identify different species. For example, hake appear as a green, wavy snake deep in the epipelagic, or sunlight zone; rockfish resemble haystacks near the seafloor; and coastal pelagic species (CPS) show up as a red ball closer to the surface.

Since the Shimada is focused on fish research, the scientists rely heavily on this acoustic technology to locate and study their target species with precision.

Animals Seen Today:

Pacific white-sided dolphins and humpback whales.

Tag: integrated west coast survey

Jojo Chang: NOAA Corps – Making “Mission: Impossible” Possible, July 6, 2025

Jojo Chang: The People in the NOAA Shimada Neighborhood, July 3, 2025