Executive Officer Chris Duffy looking over the planned survey for the day
Executive Officer (XO) Chris Duffy greeted me as I climbed the stairs to the bridge with, “The best job on the boat!” and then promptly asked if I wanted to drive the ship. I asked for a tour of the bridge first. He pointed out the main engine and auxiliary engine and then spoke about how it was especially beneficial to use the auxiliary engine in tight spaces for a finer control of the ship. He also pointed out the ship’s communication system including two radios and then he showed me the two radars. There are two different radars and each works with a different frequency. One is a higher frequency (X-band with a frequency of about 10 GHz) and one is lower (S-band which is around 3 GHz). The X-band radar is used for collision avoidance and can even help identify some weather patterns like rain that is coming in. The S-band radar is used more to see bigger things like large ships further away or in bad weather. I was surprised by how easily the ship turned under my hand. I was only making adjustments of 5-15 degrees from the center of the ship and yet she turned around easily and quickly.
View from the Bridge
Then, he showed me the navigation system. It is possible to control the ship “in hand” and that means a person is controlling the ship’s motion instead of the computer. There is also an “auto” feature, which can set the ship on a heading and the ship will continue on that heading forever or until someone gives the ship’s computer another parameter. And finally, there is a different type of auto navigation, where the ship follows a predetermined path like if you could have your car follow a Google Maps route without having to touch the steering wheel. This setting is referred to as “nav nav” because you press the “nav” button twice. When this setting is used, the map is usually created by those down in survey because they have two programs running. One is seeing where the SONAR swath has been and they have the software that runs nav nav as well, which is also shown on the bridge.
My chance at the helm
Once I got familiar with the bridge, it was my turn. XO called out angles, “Right 15 degrees rudder” and I would follow his instructions, and then he would call out another angle, “Right 5 degrees rudder,” until we got the ship turned around so we could collect the next line of data with the multibeam.
I wasn’t really sure how the angles and the directions were being decided because I couldn’t picture it in my head. So, just like in my own classroom, XO pulled out a whiteboard and gave me a mini-lesson on what he was doing. I thought this would be a good chance to show his teaching in action, so the video of the impromptu lesson is below.
XO’s navigation lesson
Personal Log
Having spent years working with the American Physical Society to recruit physics majors, I am always on the lookout for physics in the real world. National graduation numbers highlight a stark gap: in the 2024–2025 academic year, only about 8,100 students earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, compared to roughly 141,000 in engineering. Yet, physics graduates are essential for advancing fields like quantum computing, fusion energy, and artificial intelligence.
While I have loved seeing hands-on physics applied across the bridge, survey room, and engine room, I was especially thrilled to meet someone using their physics degree outside of academia: Operations Officer Mark Meadows.
Operations Officer Mark Meadows as he collects a sample from the bottom of the lake
Mark discovered NOAA while completing his undergraduate degree. After participating in a research cruise, he fell in love with life at sea and applied to the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. The Corps requires officers to hold a college degree with at least 48 semester hours in STEM coursework.
After completing basic officer training, Mark joined NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson as a junior officer, mastering ship handling, watchstanding, and maritime operations. Now in his sixth year with NOAA, he serves as one of two Operations Officers on board, helping lead ship operations and troubleshoot complex challenges.
What Mark loves most is how seamlessly his role blends seamanship with active science. On any given day, NOAA Corps officers work side-by-side with the hydrographic survey team—deep in data acquisition, processing, and “sheet” management (how we break down survey areas)—while simultaneously steering the ship, running small boats, and leading maritime operations.
Another huge draw of the NOAA Corps is its unique career rotation: officers typically complete a two-year sea assignment followed by a three-year shore assignment. This cycle gives them hands-on experience across the entire agency, allowing them to bring real-world operational insight into land-based research, policy, and management roles before heading back to sea.
Did You Know?
The hydrographic survey crew frequently detects shipwrecks in their multibeam SONAR data. We recently mapped one during our run:
Shipwreck detected by SONARA Shipwreck detected by the SONAR
While raw SONAR images can take a moment to interpret, comparing the structural outlines to a ship’s internal frame brings the target into focus. As processing continues, the survey team will clean up the imagery and all the detailed information (location, depth, dimensions of the wreck, imagery, etc.) is packaged up and sent to the State Historical Preservation Office (SHPO). They will then assess whether the wrecks have historical significance.
Mission: Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey (Leg 4)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean, California Coast
Today’s Date: August 18, 2025
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Location: Newport, Oregon
Wind speed: 4.1 kts.
Wave height: 6-7 ft.
Air temp.: 15.5° C (60° F)
Sky: Clear
Science and Technology Log
Today we are heading back out to sea., emphasis on back. We had to make a brief stop back in Newport due to a malfunction with the fog horn. Since it had been very foggy, it was not safe. We had to wait in Newport for maintenance.
NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada back in Newport.
Therefore, we have not been doing any fishing since my last post. However, now that it has been repaired we are on our way again. It will take about 15 hours until we are back at the transects that we need to survey. We are all very excited to begin fishing again. In the meantime, in order to learn more about what it takes to be a full time NOAA scientist, I thought it would be a good idea to interview one of the scientists working with me on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada about his role on this mission.
Meet Gary Longo – Research Scientist 2 NOAA Southwest:
Gary Longo in Newport.
Why is your work important?
My work is important because it helps inform management and stock assessors of population structure within federally managed fisheries, because understanding population structure is critical to effective management.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
My favorite part of my job is getting to the point that you see results from data analysis, because often to get to that point it involves time in the field, collecting samples, extracting DNA in the lab, and preparing libraries for sequencing, analyzing the data, and finally starting to see the picture with the results of all your hard work.
Where do you do most of your work?
Most of my work is done at the Southwest Fisheries Center in La Jolla, California. However the species: pacific sardine, northern anchovy, lingcod, and various rock fish species, that I focus on in my work are generally distributed in the northeast Pacific.
What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
My computer, for running analysis and writing up results.
If you could invent any tool to make your work more efficient and cost was no object, what would it be and why?
An autonomous vehicle that hunted fishes and was non lethal but took tissue samples and sequenced each sample’s genome.
When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in science or an ocean career?
When I was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium I realized that my heart wasn’t into medicine, which I was studying at the time. I was a member at the aquarium and went there all the time and I thought this is what I want to do.
What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
Extra paperwork.
How do you help wider audiences to understand and appreciate NOAA science?
I try to explain things that I would want my grandmother to understand. Generally speaking when I am on hikes or birding I speak with curious people and try to engage with them.
How did you become interested in communicating about science?
I became interested when I became a teacher’s assistant in grad school and an instructor in ichthyology at UC Santa Cruz.
What’s at the top of your recommended reading list for a young person exploring ocean or science career options?
One of my favorites is Song of the Dodo by David Quamman. That’s a great book about island biogeography and the importance of habitat connectivity
What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
Using my dive masters to share my passion of diving with interested folks.
Do you have any outside hobbies?
I enjoy surfing, birding, hiking, and scuba diving.
Gary and the other scientists working on board NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada have been amazing. They are all very passionate about their work, and very knowledgeable about everything we are studying on this mission. It is inspiring to work with people who care so much about their work.
Personal Log
Maybe some of you have heard the expression, “Hurry up and wait.” I have heard that off and on at various times throughout my life. This part of our mission has seemed to embody the sentiment behind the expression like few other times I have experienced.
Getting ready for this mission seemed like a whirlwind with balancing my life at home with my family and trying to prepare mentally and physically for my time on NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada. Once I was in Newport things slowed down a little while adjusting to life onboard and making our way out to our first transect. Then business really picked up and everything was full of excitement and energy. Processing our first catch was a time filled with enough adrenaline to make all of us forget that it was one in the morning.
Then when the fog horn went out of commission everything came to a proverbial screeching halt. Hurry up, now wait. The initial feelings of frustration, restlessness, and even anxiety were pervasive. There were even temptations to gripe and have a “woe is me” type of attitude. Unfortunately, in life sometimes we have to deal with setbacks due to circumstances that are beyond our control.
I work through tough or frustrating situations in life by taking a step back to gain some perspective, and remembering that there are things outside of my life that are bigger and more important. My hope is built on nothing less. All other ground is sinking sand. When I put my life in a better perspective, I know there will be brighter days, and the things that were bothering me no longer seem so pressing.
Heading out to sea again has reinvigorated everyone onboard. We are chomping at the bit, and I think we are just going to rip it. Pull back and let the big dog eat. There is an excitement that is palpable. Being with people who care deeply about their work is a blessing. I want to take back as much as I can from this experience to my classroom for my students, but I want to remember that desire to do my work and do it well most of all. Hopefully, very soon we will be so busy processing catches and recording data that I will be nearly too tired to write, but when I do I’m sure I’ll have lots to say. Let’s hurry up!
Heading back out to sea!
Did You Know?
An otolith is a small structure found inside fish which helps them detect sound and keep their balance. Otoliths grow inside fish throughout their life and can be used to determine their age, almost like a tree, by counting the growth rings. Pretty cool!
Can you identify this species?
Mola Mola, aka. Ocean Sunfish
In my opinion, one of the coolest fish names, mola mola. They are also referred to as an ocean sunfish. Mola mola have a jellyfish based diet and can grow to be very large, on average 2200 pounds and six to seven feet wide. I spotted this one from the flying bridge on our way back to Newport. I speculate it was a little more than half those sizes.
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean
Date: August 14, 2025
Weather Data from Bridge: Latitude: 4025.699 Longitude: 07321.16 Relative Wind speed: 4 Wind Direction: 66 Air Temperature: 23.5 Sea Surface Temperature: Barometric Pressure: 1011.47 Speed Over Ground: 10.1 Water Conductivity: 4.69 Water Salinity: 31.21
First, Ferdinand asked about Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data the ship is collecting and how to access it. Storm Events, like the Hurricane Dexter and Tropical Storm Erin draw energy from warm ocean waters, which act as their primary fuel source. Warmer waters lead to increased evaporation and provide more latent heat to the storm, allowing it to strengthen. The National Weather Service (NWS) is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and uses SST data in making forecasts. The data is available publicly here. Thank you for reading and asking good questions!
Images from Windy App
Second, an answer to the math problem on the last BLOG: If each of the engines’ cylinders has a displacement of 51 liters, and the engine has 12 cylinders, so the total displacement of the engine is 612 liters. The displacement from a car engine could fit into the Pisces 204 times.
Victoria (left) and Rowan (right) wrangle a radiometer
Science at Sea
How do we know that satellite information is valid? The satellites must be calibrated, just like the sensors in all other electronic devices.
One ongoing project taking place on our NOAA Summer EcoMon cruise is a calibration validation of a NASA PACE satellite measuring plankton. (See more here.) Victoria and Rowan are Biological Oceanographers, studying how light interacts with the ocean. Once a day, when the PACE satellite crosses over our location, they throw out the radiometer, pull it to the surface from different depths, and ensure it is collecting radiation or light data as it sinks to about 1% light transmission.
Victoria and Rowan also test the water with radiometer casts, once per day during satellite overpass. If we are doing a CTD stop, they will use water from the Rosette, but if we aren’t doing a CTD stop they can use water from the flowthrough system in the chem lab sink. This is a special plumbing network that allows seawater from below the ship to be retrieved in the lab spaces. These tests must happen during daylight hours.
The water is filtered out for particulate matter (plankton and other stuff) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). These will eventually be used to characterize coloration through a spectrophotometer, although some of it will go directly to NASA. That’s right. They measure the wavelength of water, specifically how the light and color change throughout the water column.
The data are analyzed, triangulated, and compared with data being collected at other places. (Read about another validation team here.) Understanding light saturation might someday help fisheries measure water health in ways that will save money. If areas don’t have plankton, the bottom level of the food chain, then they won’t have higher levels either and fisheries should look elsewhere to fish.
Dorothy in the Pisces Chem Lab
Another member of the science crew is collecting dissolved oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon data as we make our planned stops. It seems like everything is tied to Chemistry in some way!
NOAA Graphic showing the Chemistry of Ocean Acidification
You do the Math: If we sorted through 1/8 of our last sample from the Bongo nets, and identified 20 krill, how many krill would you estimate to be in the total sample. Then determine abundance if the nets filtered through 5 cubic meters of water. In other words, how many krill would you estimate we would find per cubic meter in this part of the ocean. Check in the next blog post for both answers.
Career Spotlight: James Walker, Chief Boatswain.
Chief Boatswain James Walker
James Walker serves as Chief Boatswain on NOAA Ship Pisces where he manages a 7-person department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources from Park University. Having retired from serving 20-years in the Navy and serving as the Upward Bound Activities Coordinator for the University of Tennessee, James joined NOAA 18 years ago.
He is responsible for running the gear for our science experiments – cranes, hydro wrenches, A-frames, net grills, bongo nets, and CTD rosettes – as well as watch, lookout, and security. Without James and his crew, the experiments could not happen.
He loves playing all sports, especially bowling and baseball. His favorite tool is his computer because it keeps him informed of what is happening on the ship and in the world, but mainly because it keeps him in touch with his family. With his wife and nine children back home in Tennessee (ok, one child escaped to Mississippi), staying in touch is an important task!
Do you see James Walker’s name on the plaque?
Interesting Things: James Walker is also a NOAA Ship Pisces plank owner. That means he is a part of the original crew (since 2009) and has been responsible for establishing the operations. We don’t use that term in the Education-world, but if we did, we would say that Kris Bennet, Heather Earp, Chris Lee, Don Roncska, and Yvette Truman are West Johnston High School plank owners. These five teachers have been at West Johnston since 2003, the first year it was a four-year high school. Plank owners have a way of keeping things even-keeled. I think that every school should have a plank owner plaques!
Personal Log
When I was in high school, my Chemistry teacher Lavonda Ritchie showed me a styrofoam cup that had been sent to the bottom of the ocean and had shrunk. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. But now I have my own styrofoam cup. and bird. and ball. and another cup. I am SOOOOO excited to show my students! Thank you Mrs. Ritchie!!!
Before and after…. our styrofoam birdies shrunk! The picture on the left is before they were sent to the bottom of the ocean. The white, undecorated, styrofoam bird on the right is another way to see how big the birds were before the dive. Increased pressure from all the water molecules pushing down on them at the bottom of the ocean decreased the volume of gas trapped in the styrofoam. The cups and cones (below) were also part of the fun experiment!
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean
Date: August 11, 2025
Weather Data from Bridge: Latitude: 3956.51 N Longitude: 07043.5 W Relative Wind speed: 17 Wind Direction: 336 Air Temperature: 23.6 Sea Surface Temperature: 24.965 Barometric Pressure: 1022.81 Speed Over Ground: 9.8 Water Conductivity: 5.326 Water Salinity: 35.03125
Miles and Dorothy launch the drifter!
First, Janice from NC is asking about the drifters! In my first blog I mentioned the Global Drifter Program. Since 1979 countries have been placing and monitoring drifters around the world to better understand and make better predictions . Amanda, Miles and I launched the last of our drifters yesterday.
Sam Ouertani, CIMAS (UMiami/NOAA) Research Associate, provided the following answers to Janice’s questions: How long are the drifters collecting information? > Drifters typically collect data until the drifter runs aground, the batteries die, or the sensors die. Most drifters are able to collect data for 450 days, however they typically lose their drogue within a year. Without a drogue, data from drifters cannot be used to accurately estimate the surface current velocities, but drifters are still able to measure sea surface temperature and other parameters if equipped with additional sensors.
Are there cameras on the drifters? > Unfortunately, Global Drifter Program drifters don’t have cameras but several programs in NOAA have started to add cameras. The National Data Buoy Center has added cameras to almost 100 buoys. I believe the Arctic Buoy Program has started adding cameras to observe sea ice conditions, but footage is not yet available.
Do they collect data about depth of the ocean? >Drifters only collect data at the surface of the ocean; therefore they don’t measure any parameters below the surface, and they do not measure sea floor depth. Another NOAA program, Argo, collects temperature, salinity, and pressure below the ocean surface, but Argo floats do not reach the bottom of the ocean.
Where’s the deepest part? >The deepest part of the ocean is the Challenger Deep, 35,876 feet deep or over 6.7 miles deep, located in the Mariana Trench. Humans measured this depth by lowering a rope from a submersible vehicle.
Thank you Sam for such thorough answers, and thank you Janice for asking! You can find more information about the drifters we launched here.
Second, an answer to the math problem from the last BLOG: On the First Christmas Bird Count, 18,500 individual birds were logged by the 27 participants. On average, 685 birds were seen by each person. That’s a lot of birds! (The numbers 25, 89, and 1990 were not used to solve the problem.) How do you think that number compares to today’s counts?
Engineers Drew, Glen, and Eric on NOAA Ship Pisces
Science at Sea: If steel is heavier than water, how does the 1840-metric ton Pisces stay afloat? Her density, that’s how! The total volume of water she displaces (including steel, people, parts, and air) must have less mass than that same volume of saltwater. Saltwater’s density is 1.025 g/mL, that’s more dense than freshwater, making it easier for you to float in the ocean. You might remember the Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg, ripping the hull and allowing water to enter and add more mass to the ship.
I recently was given a tour of Pisces hull space by the fabulous Engineering Department. They literally make everything run.
Safety is paramount
With ear plugs safely protecting my eardrums, we traveled down into the engine space. Safety is paramount. Fire stations can reach any point on the ship with 2 different hoses. There are 2 or 4 of everything – fire hoses, engines, generators, AC units, proportion motors, you name it – because EVERYTHING needs a backup. There are traditional CO2 fire extinguishers, but I’ve never been to a school that had a CO2 flooding system like the engine room has. Carbon-dioxide (CO2) breaks the oxygen side of the fire triangle by displacing oxygen in the combustion reaction, effectively stopping the reaction. If you were taught to “stop, drop, and roll,” you learned another way to smother the fire. The CO2 flooding system is so powerful that it cannot be used without doing a full body count of the people onboard to make sure no one is in the engine room.
Engineer EricEngineer TravisDorothy tours the engine roomOily water separator
Engineers Eric (left) and Travis (right) show Dorothy how water, electricity, and power are provided
Our first stop was the water maker unit. The water needed for cooking, bathing, and drinking can be distilled from ocean water or processed through reverse osmosis. Both options are available on Pisces. Past the expansion tanks and power distribution units Engineer Eric pointed out the refrigeration system for our Chemistry lab above. We freeze chlorophyll samples taken in one of our CTD projects in an ultra low freezer maintained at -75oC. I was looking at the equipment that was making the freezer work. Air compressors, generators, and motors make the 600-volt electricity on board, step it down to 480 volts for the major machinery, and down even farther to 110 volts for the outlet in my stateroom to charge my cellphone.
Dorothy takes notes during her tour of the engine room
We continued inspecting the machinery that runs Pisces and enables our teams to fulfil our mission. Another piece of equipment that resembles an instrument from our chemistry lab is the centrifuge. It is used to purify the diesel fuel. These pull out the heavier impurities and store water, the lightest part of the mixture, underneath. You might have seen centrifuges at work in the dairy industry. Understanding the science of the engine room helps the science outside the engine room work even better!
Schematic (bottom left) of the 2 generators and 2 propulsion motors (down walkway on right). Water maker unit (top left) and refrigeration system (middle left) .
More information on Pisces: The ship is 206 feet long, is capable of trawling up to 6,000 feet, and can lift 8,000 pounds. She also has a “quiet hull” which helps reduce underwater sound. Maybe that’s why the whales and dolphins get so close?!
Feel the power!
You do the Math: If each of the engine’s cylinders displacement is 51 liters, and it has 12 cylinders, what is the total displacement of the engine? Compare this with a car engine which holds 2-3 liters. Check in the next blog post for the answer.
To increase the speed of the ship requires an increase in power, but this is not a directly proportional relationship. Doubling the speed requires the power to be cubed. Engineer Eric described the importance of understanding fuel use on ships, math is money! Large container ships easily spend $300,000 a day on fuel. Saving 1% translates to $30,000 savings.
Styrofoam science experiment…. submerged 500 meters…. inverse relationship between pressure and volume predicts the air pockets in the styrofoam will decrease when the pressure is increased. What do you think will happen?
Interesting Things: I am surprised by the ways I have been prepared for life on a boat by classroom life in a public school. At West Johnston High School, in Benson, NC, we have fire drills at least once a month. On a boat, we have safety drills at least once a week. The horn blows a series of long and/or short blasts to let us know if there is a fire, a “MAN OVERBOARD”, or if we need to “ABANDON SHIP!”
Everyone must get into their Gumby suit in less than a minute during an emergency fire drill. The FRB (Fast Reserve Boat) practices the man overboard rescue!
The Science team on NOAA Ship Pisces EcoMon Summer 2025
Career Spotlight: Meet NOAA Ship Pisces’ new CO! Commander Sinquefield.
Commander Sinquefield, NOAA Ship Pisces
Did you know there was a Change of Command last month? Our new CO brings a wealth of knowledge and a desire to be a good leader. He showed me around the bridge this week and shared some of his background (BTW, the view on the bridge is amazing!). CDR Sinquefield’s command philosophy is to respect yourself, respect your shipmates, and respect your ship. Likewise, take care of yourself, take care of your shipmates, and take care of your ship. He believes in personal communication and fresh air.
The things he likes about being CO? He likes seeing things you just can’t see on shore, the continuity of historical traditions (like the language, for instance the word “starboard,” has had meaning for 1000 years), training, the opportunity to put into action leadership skills that he was taught and learned through leaders he admired, and regulations. OK, regulations might be pushing it, but he did say he had great respect for the loss of life that has prompted many of the regulations in the shipping industry today.
Growing up in Mississippi, he joined the Coast Guard to complete the trifecta of working in cotton fields, chicken plants, and river tugboats. CDR Sinquefield worked on three different ships while in the Coast Guard, hauled more 80-lb batteries up Alaskan mountains to replenish navigation lights than he’d care to remember, and became familiar with NOAA projects that informed fisheries reports on the west coast. He left the Coast Guard as ship assignments became highly competitive as the service was taking older ships offline at a greater rate then they were being replaced. He left the USCG and he joined NOAA as a civilian, later joining NOAA’s uniformed service, the NOAA Corps.
CO teaches the teacher about maps available for navigation. ENS Howsman (top right) stands watch on the bridge. The center of the circular device (bottom right) spins so fast during cold weather it keeps the area ice free.
CDR Sinquefield was able to earn his commercial shipping license, but doesn’t plan on driving a Mississippi tug boat anytime soon. He stands firm with NOAA’s of 10,000 people, 7 line offices, 15 research and survey ships, and 10 specialized environmental data collecting aircraft. The extraordinary mammals – we’re talking seals and blue whales here – affirm his career choice every. single. day.
Personal Log
Life on is very different from life on land. We work 12-hour shifts. Everyone gets to walk to work – I take 53 steps (10 of them are down 1 staircase) from my cabin door to the door of the dry lab. I take 19 steps to the mess hall for lunch and dinner. There are 67 steps (up 3 staircases) from my door to the Flying Bridge where I see gulls, Mola mola, a full view of the sun in the day, and a sky load of stars at night. I am there now, working on this Blog post when I am not distracted by nature.
Dorothy “working” on this BLOG on the Flying Bridge
One thing that is the same on a boat is the need to wash clothes (probably more frequently since everything had to fit in a carry-on bag and I needed that fleece sleeping bag just in case!). Here is a picture of the laundry room. The ship has 3 washers, 3 dryers, and all the detergent you need.
Dorothy checks out the washer and dryer on board. Detergent is provided. The most important rule when using is to clean out the dryer lint trap before AND after using. Extra Credit if you can tell me why!
Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean
Date: August 9, 2025
Weather Data from Bridge: Latitude: 4118.447 N Longitude: 06649.365 W Relative Wind speed: 17 Wind Direction: 314 Air Temperature: 18.8 Sea Surface Temperature: 18.979 Barometric Pressure: 1022.28 Speed Over Ground: 8.7 Water Conductivity: 4.348 Water Salinity: 32.04
Photos of Great Shearwaters in flight by Cameron Cox, NOAA Seabird and Marine Wildlife Observer
First, A blog-reader texted me to say that it looked like I was having fun! Yes, while NOTHING could be more fun than your birthday party, Teacher-At-Sea is at the top of the list of fun teacher-things to do! I hope that ALL teachers, especially those from North Carolina, will apply to be a NOAA Teacher at Sea as we continue to grow strong STEM ecosystems while helping our communities make informed decisions. Thanks for reading Elaine!
Second, an answer to last BLOG’s math problem: If 1 knot = 1.15 mph, and the ship is traveling 8 knots, a stop 15 miles away will take us a little over 1 and a half hours (about 1.6 hours) to reach.
Allison Black, NOAA Seabird and Marine Wildlife Observer
Science at Sea
Animal monitoring is an active part of our floating weather station. A dolphin sighting texted through WhatsApp brings lots of off duty folks up to see. The NOAA Corps on the bridge keep a constant vigil to make sure we don’t hit a whale. But the “Seabird and Marine Mammal Observers” are a functional part of our Science team. They spend their daylight hours on the Flying Bridge scanning the horizon and recording their findings. The species, group size, and photos are catalogued and stored for long term monitoring. This data can be used to estimate bird and mammal abundance in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean now as well as set baseline data through AMAPPS (Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species). NOAA Scientists are conducting surveys and developing abundance and distribution models to better understand how protected species such as whales, dolphins, and sea turtles use our waters. (Read more here)
Diagram of an observer on the flying bridge a NOAA ship looking for seabirds and marine mammals. Credit: Su Kim, NOAA Fisheries
Career Spotlight
Cameron Cox has been able to turn his love of birdwatching into a career. As a Seabird and Marine Mammal Observer Scientist on NOAA Ship Pisces, he can be found on the Flying Bridge during the daylight hours.
Cameron Cox, NOAA Seabird and Marine Wildlife Observer
Cameron’s passion for birding kinda snuck up on him. He remembers hiking with a neighborhood friend who had started birdwatching for a hobby. At age 13, Cameron was hooked. Since he was homeschooled, Cameron was able to carve out time to pursue this new interest. He spent his 20’s traveling around the United States looking at birds. He had a 2-thousand-dollar car and 6-thousand dollars worth of optics – binoculars, camera, and spotting scope.
Cameron explained to me that the long term monitoring projects are hard for Universities and non government organization (NGOs) to fund, which is why our NOAA work is so valuable. The data sets are free and readily available to everyone. Unfortunately, when the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill decimated the Gulf Coast, there wasn’t baseline data available for recovery and accountability. He was able to assist in creating possible baseline data by performing Seabird and Marine Observations off the coast of Florida, a similar ecosystem.
These days, Cameron leads birdwatching tours in what he calls “Environmental Entertainment.” He loves watching others connect with the importance of the natural world, and hopes to help them become conservationists. Cameron has also published two books, Terns of North American: a Photographic Guide, and a Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight, co-written with Ken Behrens. Writing at the rate of one book a decade, his ongoing projects will ensure he has a long life! This is Cameron’s first time being a Seabird and Marine Mammal observer with NOAA. We hope it is not his last!
Wilson’s Storm Petrel. Photo by Cameron Cox.
Interesting Things: The Seabird and Marine Mammal Scientist Observers onboard are monitoring lots of animals specifically, but there are other animals we are studying or just find in our nets.
Engineer Drew found this crab in our sea strainers (they strain the water used around the engines). ET Alex named her Crustacina (spelt like crustacean, but pronounced like Cristina). We will keep her on-board until we can get to more shallow waters for release.
NOAA Scientists are collaborating with a group in Miami to study ocean acidification on pteropods’ shells. The phronima amphipod (see video below) inspired the movie alien. They commandeer a salp, eat the flesh, and then lay eggs in the empty pouch.
Phronima amphipod (left) and salp pouch (right)
For 50 years….. Basking Shark Videoed by ENS Keene-Connole
A microscope is always ready to check out the latest find!
Personal Log
Have you heard of or participated in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC)? Started in 1900 by 27 dedicated birders, this GOAT Citizen Science Project provides long term data sets that help conservation biologists of all forms study long term bird health and guide conservation actions. The CBC is one example of how good can win (Side Hunt, no link will be provided). Consider joining a Christmas Bird Count this year to learn more about Citizen Science and the importance of long term data sets (see CBC ).
You do the Math: The First Christmas Bird Count was held December 25, 1900. If 18,500 individual birds representing 89 different species were logged by the 27 participants, how many different birds were seen (on average) by each person? Check in the next blog post for the answer.
These styrofoam birdies are going to be a science experiment of their own…. stay tuned!
