Mola mola – Page 3 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 11, 2009April 5, 2021

Ruth Meadows, July 11, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Ruth S. Meadows
Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
June 12 – July 18, 2009

Mission: Census of Marine Life (MAR-Eco)
Geographical Area: Mid- Atlantic Ridge; Charlie- Gibbs Fracture Zone
Date: July 11, 2009

Waiting to see what animals we can spot off the bow

Weather Data from the Bridge
Temperature 18^o C
Humidity 61%
Wind speed 4.2 knots

Science and Technology Log

Today is our last day at sea and the weather is certainly cooperating with us. We have beautiful blue skies, warm temperatures and calm waters. It is a perfect day for observing marine life. Several of us spent most of the day on the bow of the ship looking for any type of marine life. Throughout the day, we spotted three Mola mola fish, which is a very large ocean sunfish that can be found in temperate oceans.

A humpback whale breaches the water off the bow of the Bigelow. — A humpback whale breaches off the bow.

One went right by the ship so we were able to see the entire body of this fish through the water. Another one was just lying on its side but we were too far away to see it very well. Finally it was suppertime and we all went to the galley eat, somewhat disappointed that we had not seen more sea life. During supper, the call we had all been hoping to hear came, “Humpback whale off the bow.” We all left the galley and quickly ran up to the deck afraid we would miss seeing this majestic creature. We were in for a treat. It was as if the whale knew we were watching and performed for us. For over 40 minutes, the humpback whale slapped its pectoral fins, slapped its tail and even breached out of the water twice. It was an amazing sight.

As the whale slowly swam around, the ship carefully followed at a safe distance giving us an amazing opportunity to observe this massive mammal in its natural habitat. At one point, the whale was floating on its back and slapping both of its pectoral fins in the water at the same time. We were close enough to actually hear the sound of the fins hitting the water. Many members of the ship’s crew came to the bow to watch also. While we were watching, the chief engineer standing next to me looked down at the water next to the ship in time to point out a Mako shark swimming just below the surface moving slowly toward the rear of the ship. The afternoon turned into an amazing good bye present to the entire crew of the Bigelow. After the humpback whale made its final dive deep into the ocean, many of us stayed outside to enjoy our last sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.

Personal Log

The past four weeks on board the NOAA ship, Henry B. Bigelow, have been an amazing experience for me. We traveled over 5,000 nautical miles to search for rare and unusual animals that live in the deep ocean along the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. I was truly fortunate to have been selected for this particular scientific cruise. The scientific crew, NOAA corps and crew were second to none. Everyone worked around the clock to make sure the goals of the cruise were accomplished. In addition to the professionalism of all the members of this cruise, everyone seemed to truly enjoy working together to complete all parts of the mission. Everyone, from the captain of the ship, the engineers, the deck hands, the cooks and the scientific crew, made me feel welcome and included in all the activities on board. I will take many things with me from this opportunity I was lucky enough to be selected for.

I knew I would learn a lot about the ocean and the organisms that live there. What I didn’t know before I left was how much I would enjoy getting to know the people that were a part of the MAR-ECO cruise. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of this wonderful experience.

June 29, 2009April 5, 2021

Stephen Anderson, June 29, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Stephen Anderson
Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman
June 28 July 12, 2009

Mission: Hake Survey
Geographic Region: California
Date: June 29, 2009

We anchored in Monterey Bay. After putting the anchor down there were several tests that had to be made. The first was to send in SCUBA divers to check our propeller. The second test was to check on the transducers for our sonar. The third was to put over the side the CTD (conductivity, temperature, and density instruments). This instrument is useful not only to tell the composition of the water, but also to determine currents. Included in this set of instruments is an automatic camera that will catch video of the small animals (micro-organisms) at various depths (what the fish eat). The fourth test was to send three balls of different sizes and materials to hang under the boat using what we in Michigan would call salmon downriggers. Dr. Chu, our chief scientist, and Stan Tomich, our engineer, can control these miniature cranes to raise and lower these balls. They can then calibrate (set the readings on the sonar sensors) to make sure they have the correct depth for the fish they will be able to see with the sonar. The sonar array in this boat is accurate to within one centimeter. Later tonight we will weigh anchor to go further south to begin our chase after hake.

Divers over the side to check the propeller and sonar.

For those of you who don’t know hake. This is a cod type of fish that is very important to the fish industry on the west coast of the US and Canada. If you’ve had a fish stick, you’ve probably had hake.

We were visited today by some very interesting animals: several species of jelly fish, several sea lions, a few dolphins, and a mola mola fish which is sometimes called a sun fish.

A Mola Mola, or Sun Fish. This guy was probably 6 feet in length.

June 19, 2009April 5, 2021

Ruth Meadows, June 19, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Ruth S. Meadows
Onboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
June 12 – July 18, 2009

Mission: Census of Marine Life (MAR-Eco)
Geographical Area: Mid- Atlantic Ridge; Charlie- Gibbs Fracture Zone
Date: June 19, 2009

Weather Data from the Bridge
Temperature: 9^oC
Humidity: 95%
Wind: 4.36 kts

Scientific and Technology Log

We are currently working in the pelagic zone of the ocean. Pelagic refers to the open ocean away from the bottom. The word pelagic comes from a Greek word that means “open ocean”. The pelagic area is divided by depth into subzones. .

The epipelagic , or sunlit zone, is the top layer where there is enough sunlight for photosynthesis to occur. From 0 – about 200 meters (656 feet)deep
The mesopelagic, or twilight zone, receives some light but not enough for plants to grow. From 200 – 1000 meters (3281 feet)
The bathypelagic, or midnight zone, is the deep ocean where no sunlight penetrates. From 1000 – 4000 meters(13,124 feet)
The abyssal zone is pitch black, extremely cold and has very high pressure. From 4000 – 6000 meters.(19,686feet)
Hadalpelagic zone is the deepest part of the ocean. These zones are located at trenches where one tectonic plate is being subducted under another plate. 6,000 meters to over 10,000 meters. (35, 797 feet)

Setting up the net that will collect organisms

Today we are using a special trawling net to capture organisms that live in the mid-water area around 3000 meters deep. The closed net is lowered slowly from the rear of the ship until it arrives at the correct depth. The length of the wire released is measured by the winches as they unwind. A timer is used to open the cod-ends (containers at the end of the net). It is then pulled underwater very slowly. The five cod-ends are set to open and close at different times so there will be samples of organisms from different depths. After a specific amount of time the net is slowly reeled in. It takes about 8 hours to fully deploy and retrieve the trawl. Each cod-end should have samples from different depths. Once the net is back on board the ship, it is very important that the material collected from each cod-end be kept separate and labeled correctly.

All the blue buckets contain various organisms

The second trawl came in around 4:30 in the afternoon. We were really excited to see the organisms that were collected in each of the cod-ends. Each container was emptied into a large bucket and a picture was taken to record the catch. One set of material was left out to begin sorting and the other containers were put into the freezer to remain cold. David Shale, the professional photographer for the cruise, selected the best samples to use for his photographs. Then the actual sorting began. Several of us would do a rough sort, all the crustaceans (different types of shrimp-like animals) in one container, fishes in another, and jellyfishes in another. After the rough sort then the final sort is started (dividing all the organisms into groups by specie or family).

Certain types of organisms were abundant – hundreds of them, others were rarer – only one or two of each species. As soon as we are finished with one species, information about them is entered into the computer (number, length, mass) and then the organism is saved for later investigations by either freezing or placing in a preservative. A printed label is included in all samples so they can be identified by name, depth and location of trawl.

Personal Log

Everyone on board the ship is always interested in any sightings of marine mammals. The officer on the bridge will often announce to the lounge area if he spots any type of animal, “Whales off the bow.” As soon as the announcement comes on, we bolt out of the lounge to the outside as fast as we can. Sometimes you are fast enough and sometimes you aren’t. The dolphins usually are the easiest to spot as they swim in groups and surface frequently as they are swimming. The whales, however, are a little more difficult to see. They are usually far off so the distance makes them difficult to spot. When they surface, the spray from the blowhole is usually your first indication of where they are. After that, most of them dive again and you may not get a second chance to see them. So far the type of whales spotted have been pilot whales, sei whales and a sperm whale. They knew it was a sperm whale because the spray from the blowhole was at an angle. It is much more difficult to see these animals than I thought it would be. It is like trying to find a needle in a haystack – a very big haystack…

Did You Know?

The Mola mola is the heaviest known bony fish in the world. It eats primarily jellyfish which doesn’t have a lot of nutrition in is so they have to eat LOTS of them. It looks like a fish with only a head and a tail, no middle part.

Dr. Mike Vecchione took this picture of a Mola mola, a very large ocean sunfish, at the beginning of the cruise off the coast of Rhode Island.

September 17, 2008April 2, 2021

Mary Anne Pella-Donnelly, September 17, 2008

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Mary Anne Pella-Donnelly
Onboard NOAA Ship David Jordan Starr
September 8-22, 2008

Mission: Leatherback Use of Temperate Habitats (LUTH) Survey
Geographical Area: Pacific Ocean –San Francisco to San Diego
Date: September 17, 2008

Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 3614.8661 W Longitude: 12402.7415 N
Wind Direction: 190 (compass reading) SW
Wind Speed: 2.1 knots
Surface Temperature: 15.230

Science and Technology Log

Above is a spreadsheet of some of the Chrysaora fuscescens data that was collected on September 15. The first trawl was at 4:48 pm, the second at 6:39 pm and the third at 8:20 pm. A fourth trawl was deployed at 10:49 pm. A total of 204 jellies were sorted and measured. Of these, the first 7jellies measured from trawl numbers’ 46, 47 and 48 are recorded above. All of the species in this data set are Chrysaora fuscescens. Using the spreadsheet, create a graph that compares mass to length for these 21 animals. When you believe you have completed this, answer the questions listed below.

Questions:

Is your graph complete?
Check to see if you have included; all units-mass in kilograms, length in millimeters; a legend that includes the code of the points; title for each axis(length of jelly in millimeters, mass of jelly in kilograms); title for graph.
Did you make a scatter plot, bar graph or line graph? The best choice would be a scatter plot, this may give an indication of patterns in the relationship between length and mass.
Can you see any pattern? Is there a relationship between mass and length? This would be indicated by a linear pattern in the points?
Do there appear to be any points that do not fit a general pattern? What might cause these points that do not fit the norm to exist?
Compare your graph with the one shown below, generated by the computer.

These Chrysaora fuscescens were caught in “jelly lane”, in the waters near Pacifica, CA that are known to have large jelly populations. It is also an area known for leatherback sightings because of this food source. A great deal of information is known about the oceanographic conditions in this near-shore habitat. The reason the LUTH survey is crisscrossing off the continental shelf, is that much less is known about deeper offshore waters as a potential food source for migrating leatherbacks. The routes they travel on must have some food available, so we are working to find out where that is, and gain information about relationships to oceanographic variables so that researchers will be able to eventually estimate where that food is using satellite images that will be translated into jellyfish habitat.

Chico Gomez and Scott Benson sorting jellies.

Personal Log

There was quite a bit of excitement today up on the flying bridge. Although we were traveling out beyond the continental shelf, we moved over a front of water that had an abundance of moon jellies. It was unexpected and the scientific team became very excited. New plans were made based on this observation and a decision was made to cross back across the front and collect temperature data within the water column every 10 minutes. Quantitative observations were made of all jellies seen port and starboard and a net trawl was deployed at one point along the zone of interest. It was quite a day. We also spotted blue sharks, ocean sunfish, and a swordfish jumping. It was a good day.

Animals Seen Today

Extracting stomach contents from large C. fuscescens

Sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus
Sea nettle jellies Chrysaora fuscescens
Moon jellies Aurelia aurita
Northern Fur seal Callorhinus ursinus
Elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris
Swordfish Xiphias gladius
Blue shark Prionace glauca
Buller’s shearwater Puffinus bulleri
Ocean sunfish Mola mola
Rhinoceros auklet Cererhinca monocerata
Black-footed Albatross
Phoebastria nigripes

Questions of the Day

What might be possible reasons the scientific team was excited at finding jellyfish out beyond the continental shelf?
The weather has been very calm and mostly overcast. One of the officers told me he would much rather have those conditions, than windy and sunny. What effect might wind have on a sturdy, ocean-going ship?

Sunset seen from flying bridge, the first sunset we’ve seen on this leg.

August 24, 2008April 5, 2021

Alex Eilers, August 24, 2008

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Alex Eilers
Onboard NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
August 21 – September 5, 2008

In the picture, the “Big Eyes” are covered and on the left side of the picture, the antennas are directly above me.

Mission: Leatherback Sea Turtle Research
Geographical area of cruise: California
Date: August 24, 2008

Today we were in assembly mode and I spent the majority of my time on the flying bridge (top deck). With the help of several scientists, we cleaned and replaced the viewing seats, installed the “Big Eyes” – (the largest pair of binoculars I’ve ever seen), and assembled and tested the Turtle tracking antennas. The “Big Eyes” will be used to help track and identify marine mammals, leatherbacks and birds near the boat. This is especially important prior to and during the times scientists have equipment in the water so we don’t catch or injure these animals. The receiver will be used to track the Leatherback Sea Turtles who have a transmitter attached to their carapace. The good news is we are receiving reports that there is a Leatherback approximately 110 miles off the coast of Monterey – the bad news is he may not be there when we arrive.

Safety training During our first true “day at sea” we had two practice safety drills; a fire in the galley (kitchen) and an abandon ship. The crew handled both drills quickly and efficiently. The abandon ship drill was exciting. When the bell rang, everyone was responsible for his or her own billet (job duty). My billet required me to grab my life preserver and survival suit and muster to the O1 deck (report to an area for role call).

Training to be a VO – visual observer We started the day on the flying bridge. Karin Forney, marine mammal researcher, trained us on how to be a marine animal visual observer or VO for short. During the first observing session, we only saw a few animals – sea lions and various birds.

I’m getting fairly good at spotting kelp beds (seaweed), however, the scientists are not interested in them, so I still need more practice identifying marine mammals.

By the afternoon, we started to see more marine life. A large pod of common dolphins swam playfully near the ship. This was a beautiful sight to see but not ideal for net testing. We waited 30 minutes without a mammal sighting then successfully tested the nets. As the scientists were pulling the nets aboard we spotted another smaller pod of common dolphins, some California sea lions and a small mola mola (sun fish). All in all it was a good day!