NOAA Teacher at Sea
Rebecca Bell
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II August 14-28, 2008
Mission: Ecosystems Monitoring Survey Geographical Area: North Atlantic Date: August 23, 2008
Alison, Shrinky Cup Project Director, with the cups before being sent under.
Weather Data from the Bridge
Time: 1919(GMT)
Latitude: 4219.5N Longitude: 6812.5 W
Air Temp 0C: 20.7
Sea Water Temp 0C: 19.6
Science and Technology Log
The Shrinky Cup Caper
A trip to sea is not complete without the classic experiment on ocean depth and pressure— Styrofoam cup shrinking. Styrofoam cups are decorated with markers, and then lowered in a bag attached to the cable during a vertical cast. In our experiments, pressure is measured in decibars (dbar). This means that 1 dbar equals about 1 meter of depth. So 100 dbars = 100 meters; 1000 dbars =1000 meters. For every 10m (33ft) of water depth, the pressure increases by about 15 pounds per square inch (psi). At depth, pressure from the overlying ocean water becomes very high, but water is only slightly compressible. At a depth of 4,000 meters, water decreases in volume only by 1.8 percent. Although the high pressure at depth has only a slight effect on the water, it has a much greater effect on easily compressible materials such as Styrofoam.
Attaching the cups
Styrofoam has air in it. As the cups go down, pressure forces out the air. See the results of the experiment for yourself. The depth of the cast was 200 meters or about 600 feet. (You can now calculate the total lbs of pressure on the cups). Addendum: Alison discovered that putting one of the shrunken cups down a second time resulted in an even smaller cup. The cups were sent to 200 meters again. Below right is a photo of the result of reshrinking the cup. Apparently, time has something to do with the final size as well. Resources: NOAA Ocean Explorer Web site – Explorations; Submarine Ring of Fire. AMNH Explore the Deep Oceans Lessons.
Over they go!
Personal Log
There is a noticeable difference in the amount of plankton we pull in at different depths and temperatures. I can fairly well predict what we will net based on the depth and temperature at a sample site. I’ve also noticed that the presence of sea birds means to start looking for whales and dolphins. I assume that where there is a lot of plankton (food) there are more fish and other lunch menu items for birds and dolphins. A high population of plankton means we are more likely to see more kinds of larger animals.
Animals Seen Today
Salps
Krill
Amphipods
Copepods
Ctenophores
Chaetognaths (arrow worms)
Fish larvae
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins
Terns
Minke whales
Pilot whales
Mola mola (4)
The results of what happened to the cups at a depth of 200 meters. The white cups are the original size.Left, a cup shrunk 2 times; center 1 time; and right, the original size
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Rebecca Bell
Onboard NOAA Ship Delaware II August 14-28, 2008
Mission: Ecosystems Monitoring Survey Geographical Area: North Atlantic Date: August 22, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 4224.2 N Longitude: 6659.1 W
Sea Surface Temperature: 21.2 C
Depth: 202m
Becky proudly displays her drifter buoy before its deployment!
Science and Technology Log
It’s a buoy! Today has been busy—a vertical cast, baby bongos and the big bongos. But let me tell you about the other things. First of all, Alison and I deployed my very own buoy. NOAA has an Adopt-A-Drifter (buoy) program. Jerry Prezioso, our Chief Scientist, thoughtfully signed me up for it before we sailed. We deployed it today at George’s Bank, the deepest station we will reach.
The deployment consisted of picking up the basketball-sized buoy and throwing it over the side. There is a transmitter in the black float which will allow us to track the buoy’s motion for years. NOAA uses these buoys to assemble weather reports, monitor climate changes, etc. The buoy consists of the round ball with the transmitter and a “drogue” a long “tube” of cloth that fills with water. The purpose of the tube is to make sure it is the ocean current that moves the buoy, not wind.
With a little help, Becky gets ready to throw her drifter into the ocean
There is a diagram on the Adopt-A-Drifter site. The ball and drogue (sounds like an English pub) are attached to a metal ring which anchors the drogue and the ball. Here I am with the MSDE-decorated buoy. You can barely see the metal ring. The drogue is the green thing, folded up. You throw the whole thing overboard. The paper and tape dissolve and the drogue unfurls. It has to be kept tied up so you don’t go overboard with the drifter. NOAA’s Office of Climate Observation sponsors the “Adopt-A- Drifter” program. According to the Web site: “The “Adopt-A- Drifter” program (allows you to access) information about drifting buoys (drifters) that move with the ocean currents around the globe. The drifter floats in the ocean water and is powered by batteries located in the dome. The drifter data that are collected, including location with a GPS, are sent to a satellite and then to a land station where everyone can access the data.
And off it goes on its long journey
Drifters are continually being deployed from ships around the world. They last for a number of years unless they collide with something like an island in the middle of the ocean or a continent. Each drifter receives aWMO ID # (World Meteorological Organization Identification Number) so the data can be archived. The purpose of the drifters is to gather the information necessary for countries to: 1) forecast and assess climate variability and change, and 2) effectively plan for and manage response to climate change.”
This map indicates where the drifty buoy was deployed: where the Labrador Current, the Gulf Stream, and the North Atlantic current converge
We will release it in George’s Basin at 4224.2 N latitude; 6659.1 W longitude. This is an interesting area because of the way currents converge near this site. Above is a map of the area. Below it is a diagram showing the major currents.
A map showing the area where the drifter buoy was deployed from the Delaware II
As you can see, the buoy was deployed where the Labrador Current, the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current encounter each other. There is a chance that the buoy will travel into the Gulf Stream or through the Northeast Channel into the North Atlantic Current. It might also just stay within the basin, caught in the large gyre within the Basin. You can get on-line and track the buoy to see what happens to it.
More from the Web site:
“The Adopt-A- Drifter program provides an opportunity for teachers to infuse ocean observing system data into their curriculum. An educational sticker from each school is adhered to the drifter before deployment and teachers and their students access sea surface temperature and/or sea surface pressure data from the drifter online. Students plot the coordinates of the drifter on a tracking chart as it moves freely across the ocean and make connections between the data accessed on line and other maps showing ocean currents and winds. Drifter data are used to track major ocean currents and eddies globally, ground truth data from satellites, build models of climate and weather patterns and predict the movement of pollutants if dumped or accidentally spilled into the sea. It is important for teachers and students to understand how the data are measured, how often data are downloaded, and what data are available for schools and the general public to access.”
Source: Modified from Follow the world’s ocean currents with NOAA’s Adopt a Drifter Program
Stanitski, D.M.; Hammond, J. OCEANS, 2005. Proceedings of MTS/IEEE
Personal Log
As we move further north, our nets started pulling in krill. I hoped that whales were not far behind. I was not disappointed. Yesterday we encountered dolphins on three separate occasions. One group came very near the ship and I have some good video of them “porpoising” through the waves. We also spotted a whale spout, but I could not see the whale. Later in the day, during our safety drill, I was looking out to sea just as a pilot whale leaped straight into the air. We were able to see that there were a number of these whales feeding in that area. Towards afternoon, we saw a group of Minke whales. In late afternoon, another spout was spotted and we saw a huge tail disappear under the water- probably a humpback whale.
Ocean Explorer related lesson: Islands in the Stream- How geologic feature(s) in the structure of the ocean floor may cause an eddy to form in the current above it
So there I was feeling really confident on my introductory journal on krill only to realize I really knew nothing at all. Tonight I sat down with Alexei Pinchuk and Rachel Pleuthner, wow, I am so impressed with the depth of their knowledge and expertise. But now I am tasked with trying to open a small window into this vital part of an oceanic food web.You have met Kirby the krill, but we should have called him Sam the spud, for the krill is the potato of this ecosystem. These little guys fuel this bionetwork like there is no tomorrow. But I am getting away from myself. Let’s get back to the krill science going on aboard the HEALY.
Part of Tracy’s day is spent in front of a microscope keying out different krill species.
The krill team is currently involved with at least three different experiments, and I will try to describe each, but please cut me some slack, this is a field of discovery I am just beginning to learn and as Rachel was explaining I would find myself not writing notes and becoming totally engrossed with the discussion.
This machine is one of five different incubators aboard, fresh sea water is constantly run through so that the temperature stays constant for a krill environment.
Experiment # 1: Krill grazing /aging
We already touched on this aspect of the krill work, looking at the diet of krill over a 24 hour period. But what we didn’t hit on was what is then done with the krill after they have grazed. Tracy will measure and key out the specific species of each animal and then pass the krill off to Rachel…Rachel in turn will remove the eyes. Yes, this delicate operation will give a general idea on the age of the krill. Basically our team will extract from the eyes a substance called lipofusion which can then be used to age the krill.
This machine is able to quantify the lipofusion extracted from the krill.
Did that make sense? Because now Alexei comes into the picture, he is trying to actually raise krill in a controlled setting, providing valuable baseline data on how old a krill is to the day. When lipofusion is removed from wild krill it gives a general idea on aging, but is not completely quantitative, thus the two experiments work together to finding the exact age of a krill.
Experiment #2: Starvation is another component to the work the krill grazers are completing. At the start of the voyage, 14 days ago, approximately 20 krill were placed in filtered sea water. What that means is that the krill salad bar was empty. Then, once a week a sample has been removed to look at the lipids. The type of lipids in a krill will tell the scientists what they had been eating, and how the components are breaking down in their systems.
This is actually a female Krill, how can you tell?
A krill can live up to three years, with their specific ecosystem and species as two variables that can affect longevity, but what about the source and timing of food. If the juvenile (nauplii – first stage in krill development) hatch when there is no food and they need food well, you can guess what will happen. There are though some krill who store their lipids all winter so that they pass this nutrient source to their young, really fat babies, who are in turn not as dependant on the first zooplankton bloom.
Ughhhhhhh I really do have a beginning understanding to this krill research, but explaining it has been a challenge. I still have more to share, but need to do a bit more of my own fact finding and research.
There can be up to twelve stages in the life cycles of some krill.
Photo of the day:
Which of these three items is krill poop?
Quote of the Day: For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It’s always our self we find in the sea. -E.E. Cummings
FOR MY STUDENTS: Are there any microscopic organisms that might live in our aquatic ecosystems that you think we could study?
There can be up to twelve stages in the life cycles of some krill.
Today I would like you to meet Kirby Krill, well not really Kirby, it could be Kathy. Whatever the gender “The Krill Grazers” are interested!
(From left) Tracy Shaw, Karen Taylor, Rachel Pleuthner, Megan Bernhardt and Gigi (Virginia) Engel
These five women work nights, waiting until dark to collect their samples. They only need one sampling station an evening where they send down the “bongo net” and retrieve their live critters. What the “Krill Grazers” are interested in is: What krill eat, and if their food choice changes seasonally. They also want to know: if the krill are given a choice, what would they choose to eat. This is similar to a salad bar mentality, give the krill everything, and see what food they prefer, thus the need for a live experiment.
This krill has a parasite attached, can you find the parasite?
For the first part of our experiment, enter Tracy. She is after the live samples and will choose 4 – 8 krill, depending on size. She will then place the krill in a four liter plastic container with fresh sea water and observe them for 24 hours. Prior to placing the krill in the container, Megan and Gigi will take a sample of the sea water, and at the end of the 24 hours will take another sample of the same water from the krill containers. They put the water through a filtering process and preserve the flora and fauna. Megan’s job then continues back at the lab in Washington. That is when she will count and identify both pre and post samples to determine what the krill are eating. In the mean time, while still on the ship, at the end of the experiment, Tracy will remove the krill from their incubator, measure them, and figure out what species they are. This information will be important later when looking at the results of the experiments in order to understand whether larger krill are eating more or different types of food than smaller krill.
When you work all night it is important to have a sense of humor.
The sea water is collected with a CTD so the scientists can exactly match the depth from their live tow on the bongo and the CTD. So why are five women from three different states (Oregon, Washington and Maryland) working collaboratively on krill? Krill are a food source for many other species: fish, birds, baleen whales, and many other animals eat krill to live. Even the seals that eat fish need krill, for the fish have eaten krill. An oceanic food web is not complete without our little zooplankton buddies.
This BONGO is set up so that the samples are not crushed, thus live krill.
There is a lot more science to the grazing of krill, I haven’t even touched on what Rachel does and it involves the removal of the krill’s eyes. So check in tomorrow for “Grazing with krill.”
Gigi wondering if the krill soup is finished. Just kidding!
Quote of the Day: One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. William Shakespeare
FOR MY STUDENTS: What is an example of a microscopic plant or animal that might live in an Arizona aquatic ecosystem?
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Terry Welch
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan May 27 – June 7, 2008
Mission: Juvenile Rockfish Assessment Geographical Area: Central California Coast Date: June 7, 2008
Weather Data from the Bridge for Sat. 06-07-08 19:00 GMT
The DAVID STARR JORDAN Deck crew watches from the bow
Science and Technology Log
Heading for San Francisco!
The weather has again had an effect on the scheduled research tasks. As the week went on the weather deteriorated so that some nights we could only do one trawl before the waves crashing over the aft deck made it too dangerous to be out there. Safety was the primary issue in everyone’s mind on the ship – bridge officers and the scientists discussed weather conditions and forecasts and the deck crew were careful to point out safety concerns involving equipment or wearing protective clothing. Even with the ship feeling like it was doing a wild tango at one point, I felt very secure. Last night was a complete wash as far as doing the scheduled work. By evening the ship officers decided to stay out the night in Drake’s Bay since the peninsula would give some shelter from the wind and waves. We used the time to prepare for a new group to come aboard in San Francisco, cleaning our staterooms and doing laundry.
I sorted through notes and organized the dozens of photos taken over the last 12 days. Here are some squid facts Ken Baltz, the cruise leader told me about earlier in the cruise:
The Humboldt squid we caught were probably around 5 months old and will only live about 1 year
These squid are one of the fastest growing organism
They have a very rapid metabolism, eating about 20% of their body weight daily vs. our human requirement of 0.5 to 1%
Keith not only can tell you the scientific name of this big cephalopod, he can identify an incredible number of ocean animals
The bongo plankton tow ties in with the squid sampling in an interesting way. It shows how all of the research coordinated on the DAVID STARR JORDAN this cruise (and really all NOAA projects) is working towards understanding what life is like in the ocean and how the distribution of organisms is changing. One plankton sample from each bongo tow was preserved in ethanol. The other sample was preserved in formalin (a formaldehyde solution). The rationale behind this was that formalin denatures or destroys the structure of an organism’s DNA. The ethanol sample could be used to do genetic testing. When the samples are examined back in the lab, the researchers are hoping to find paralarvae of the Humboldt squid in the same location as the adults collected this cruise. This would give credence to the idea that they are now breeding off the coast of California, rather than in the tropics as has been the accepted understanding. Bill and Robert (two of the volunteers on this leg of the cruise) had great questions while Ken was explaining this part of his research. Bill (and the others) had been using a fluorescent lure to “jig” for squid. Squid are attracted to the bioluminescence found in some ocean animals, like the “headlights” on a California Headlight fish.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Sue White shows how gripping life at sea can be.
He asked if the squid are caught in the nets because they are hoping to feed on the small fish being concentrated there. His hypothesis was to see if luminescent lures in the net would increase the number of squid caught. Robert asked about using radioactive isotopes to label squid and then look for the radioactive label in the paralarvae as a way to see patterns in breeding. Such intriguing thinking. I was not alone in wanting to be awake for our entry into San Francisco Bay. We enjoyed a hot breakfast for the first time in days (and for some the first time ever on the ship!) and were invigorated by bright sunshine. Well, the sun seemed bright through the San Francisco haze after being on the night shift! Everyone was outside by the time land was sighted and we enjoyed watching the Golden Gate Bridge get closer. For days I had not noticed much traffic at sea (especially at night) so it felt like driving into a major city in that the traffic kept increasing the closer we got to the Bay. Huge shipping barges and small personal sailboats were all out on a beautiful Saturday morning.
The map distance from Drake’s Bay was not far, but our speed entering the bay was such that it took several hours to get around the bend and in to where the piers are in San Francisco. Just as in leaving San Diego, the ship officers were busy piloting the ship to its place at the pier. Staff from the Santa Cruz lab were waiting to help offload specimens, some ship personnel were already off duty and looking forward to a day in the city, and my husband was patiently waiting on the pier to hear my stories of life at sea.
Personal Log
After almost two weeks at sea it was interesting to adjust to life on land. I did feel the ground moving as I walked and especially felt phantom ocean waves when I tried to sleep or take a shower (no grab bars to steady yourself on land though!). The sounds were so different too with less of the ongoing sound of the ship engine or the air system in my stateroom and more collective noise of traffic and airplanes. I had missed the simple sounds of my backyard birds, but did not notice this until I realized how wonderful the familiar can sound. I am brimming with new information and connections to make with classroom labs and activities. I (and my husband) can hardly wait until school starts so I have a new audience for my Teacher at Sea stories.
Challenge Yourself
Think about the area where you live. How many people in your neighborhood can you name? List the types of dogs that live in your neighborhood, too.
Name any of the birds that may fly into your area. (Is this naming business getting harder?)
Name any other wildlife that may inhabit your neighborhood. (Remember that wildlife can be small and not all will be mammals!)
How many insects can you identify? Can you name specific types of one kind of insect? In other words, can you tell the difference between a monarch and swallowtail butterfly? What about a skipper and a sulfur butterfly?
Scientists, from experience, can name an incredible number of organisms. Often they can even give the scientific name for exactly one species that differs only slightly from another. You can also increase your naming ability with practice… what would you like to become an expert in identifying???
A unique view below the Golden Gate Bridge
“We can only sense that in the deep and turbulent recesses of the sea are hidden mysteries far greater than any we have solved.” ~Rachel Carson
