NOAA Teacher at Sea Louise Todd Soon to be Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II September 13 – 29, 2013
Mission: Shark and Red Snapper Bottom Longline Survey Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico Date: September 9, 2013
Welcome to my NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog!
Personal Log
On Jekyll Island, GA with a Sea Pork
I am thrilled that in just a few days I will be aboard NOAA ShipOregon IIas a NOAA Teacher at Sea. I have been eagerly waiting for this week to arrive and now it is almost here! On Friday, September 13, I will fly from New Orleans to Houston and then drive to Galveston. I will be aboard the Oregon II from Galveston, Texas until we dock in Pascagoula, Mississippi on September 29.
I am the Education Coordinator at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, Louisiana. I manage our education animal collection, those animals that are used in programs at the aquarium and in our outreach programs, and I coordinate the AquaKid program. Our animal collection includes a range of animals from saltwater invertebrates like horseshoe crabs to large reptiles like a red tail boa. Caring for these animals is one of the best parts of my job. I love interacting with them each day and ensuring they receive quality care. Our program animals are an important part of our mission to connect our audiences to nature. Inviting our guests to interact with these animal ambassadors helps demonstrate just how awesome animals can be! The AquaKids are youth volunteers who enter our program when they are in 7th-9thgrades. AquaKids go through a training session during the month of July that covers basic marine biology and prepares them to serve as educators at the Aquarium for the next school year. Some of my favorite parts of the summer training session with the AquaKids are the field trips we take every week and the dissection of spiny dogfish that we do in the last week of training. I am ecstatic to be aboard the Oregon II and to be able to bring back new research and information to share with the AquaKids during our summer training.
AquaKids dissecting a spiny dogfishAudubon Youth Volunteers at the sorting table on a summer field trip
Science and Technology Log
I will be aboard the Oregon II participating in the fourth and final leg of a shark and red snapper longline survey. These longline surveys are crucial in assessing the populations of sharks and red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean. You will be able to track the progress of the Oregon II as we move through the Gulf of Mexicousing NOAA’s ship tracker. I will be participating as a member of the science crew working a 12 hour shift each day. I cannot wait to see what we catch during this leg of the survey! This will be an amazing opportunity for me to see population research in action and to share that research with my blog readers and visitors to the Audubon Aquarium when I return from this experience.
I have had a great summer with trips to the barrier islands of Georgia for vacation and New York for my sister’s wedding. This time aboard the Oregon II will be an exciting end to my summer. I hope you will continue reading as I post about my experience and ask any questions you might have in the comments section!
NOAA Teacher at Sea Julie Karre Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II July 26 – August 8, 2013
Mission: Shark and Red snapper Longline Survey Geographical Range of Cruise: Atlantic Date: Monday August 12, 2013
Weather Data from the Bridge Sadly, I don’t know because I’m not there anymore.
The sunset on the last night. Exquisite. Photo Credit: Holly Perryman
Post-Cruise Log
I have been back on land for three days now and all I want to talk about are my adventures aboard the Oregon II. I miss everyone I met and hope that we all remain friends. But now that I am not in the moment and experiencing the adrenaline rush of handling sharks, I have time to think about all that I have learned and how I will make this experience valuable to my students. Because, while it was a true honor and privilege to have been aboard the Oregon II for two weeks, the real honor and privilege of my life is spending 10 months with students of Baltimore City Public Schools. And they matter the most right now.
I begin school in two weeks. Two weeks from now I will be standing in my classroom setting up what I hope to be a remarkable year of learning with 40 or so 7th graders and 40 or so 8th graders. Just picturing their faces coming through the door and the hugs and the squeals of delight as we get excited about seeing each other makes me the happiest version of myself.
My Armistead Gardens 7th graders received homemade cookies as a New Years Gift. I look forward to seeing them for a new year beginning August 26th.
So what am I going to do with this experience? How will I make two of the most meaningful weeks of my life meaningful for kids who were not involved? How will I make what was mine, theirs?
Those are the questions that bounce around in my head all of the time now. No amount of blog writing and sharing pictures on Facebook matters if I don’t do this justice to those kids. And in the meantime, I would really like to make the people who made this possible proud. From the NOAA employees who run Teacher at Sea to the crew and scientists on the Oregon II to the volunteers who cheered me on and supported me to my parents who watched my dog, I want to make them proud.
So the brainstorming begins and this is where it starts. Over the course of the cruise, I kept track of our latitude and longitude at 11am each day and at each of our stations. During a 1-2 week unit during my Ecosystems In and Out of Balance semester of study, we will be using the research from my cruise to celebrate Shark Week – Armistead Gardens Style. We will begin by plotting the course of the Oregon II from July 26 to August 8. We will study the written descriptions of the shark species I encountered and see if we can match them with pictures. We will hypothesize how the flow of energy works in the marine ecosystems where these sharks are found – will the students guess that some of the big sharks eat some of the little sharks? I didn’t know that. Then we will begin to study what struggles these species encounter in an out-of-balance ecosystem – things like fishing and hypoxia and oil spills.
Beyond the marine science, we will look at who makes marine science possible. I cannot wait to share with these students the opportunities that abound in marine careers, from becoming a scientist like Kristin to driving a ship like Rachel.
This is just a beginning and I look forward to sharing the final product as I continue to develop it.
Thank you so much to everyone who followed my adventure. Thank you so much to everyone who made this possible. I will not let you down.
The volunteers from the first leg take their leave of the Oregon II and head back to their other lives. Photo Credit: Amy SchmittAnd now I am home with my lovely dog, Maddox.
Animals Seen Over Two Weeks
Atlantic Sharpnose Shark
I handle an Atlantic Sharpnose in one of my last hauls aboard the ship. Photo Credit: Claudia Friess
Blacknose Shark
Nurse Shark
Scalloped Hammerhead
Bull Shark
Sandbar Shark
Night Shark
Silky Shark
Ribbonfish
A ribbonfish makes an appearance. Quite the face it has.
Grouper
Red Snapper
Black Sea Bass
A black sea bass makes a guest appearance in one of the final hauls on the Oregon II’s first leg. Photo Credit: Claudia Friess
Sea Turtles
Dolphins
Pilot Whales
Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi swim along as the night shift brings in the line. Photo Credit: Holly Perryman
Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska Date: 8/8/13
Weather Data from the Bridge (as of 17:00 Alaska Time): Wind Speed: 15.72 knots
Temperature: 13.4 C
Humidity: 73%
Barometric Pressure: 1012.1 mb
I just read this heads up about the weather tonight.
Science and Technology Log:
We came. We fished. We measured, counted and weighed. Now What? We completed one last trawl on Tuesday night (August 6th). When we finished we had caught over 65,000 walleye pollock and a whole lot of POP (Pacific ocean perch) on this leg of the survey.
The scientists now process and analyze the data.
Darin Jones and Chief Scientist Patrick Ressler going over data collected.
Darin and Patrick will present at a public meeting when we are back in Kodiak on Friday. They will discuss what was seen and preliminary findings of the walleye pollock survey. Back in Seattle the MACE team will further evaluate the data along with data from the bottom trawl survey and determine the walleye pollock biomass for the Gulf of Alaska. This will then be taken under advisement by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
There is also the lab to clean. Even though we cleaned the lab after each trawl, it needed a good scrub down. There were scales and slime hidden everywhere. Just when you thought you were done, more scales were discovered.
Kirsten, Abigale and Darin cleaning the fish lab.
Did You Know?
The note on the white board stated that there will be beam seas tonight. What does that really mean? It means the waves are moving in a direction roughly 90° from our heading. So the water will be hitting us at a right angle to our keel. It will be a rocking boat tonight.
Darin took a sample of the salmon shark’s fin when we caught it. It will be sent to a scientist in Juneau who works at Auke Bay Laboratories (where Jodi works). The sample will be used to examine the population genetics of the salmon shark and other species such as the Pacific sleeper shark.
Personal Log:
In my first blog, I wrote about a childhood dream of becoming an oceanographer. After my third year of teaching in the Peace Corps, I decided education was my new direction. I was excited to taste that bygone dream aboard the Oscar Dyson. How do I feel now? I jokingly sent an email to my assistant principal telling her to look for a new science teacher because I love life at sea. I love collecting data in the field. Although I was not responsible for analyzing the data and I do miss my boys, I had an awesome cruise. So where does that leave me?
Heading to Kodiak across the Gulf of Alaska
It leaves me back in the classroom with an amazing sea voyage experience to share with my students. I will always long for that oceanographic career that could have been. But perhaps after my experience, I will inspire future oceanographers and fisheries scientists. And I would do Teacher at Sea again in a heartbeat. I will follow up with the outcomes and biomass estimates from MACE (Mid-Water Assessment & Conservation Engineering) and I will most definitely follow Jodi’s research on the use of multibeam sonar for seafloor mapping.
I want to say thank you to everyone who made my experience one of the best of my life and definitely the best professional development of my career. Thank you to Jennifer Hammond, Elizabeth McMahon, Jennifer Annetta, Emily Susko and Robert Ostheimer for the opportunity to participate in the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program. Thank you to NOAA for developing a practical and realistic opportunity to connect my students to ocean science. Thank you to the science team (Chief Scientist Patrick Ressler, Darin Jones, Paul Walline, Jodi Pirtle, Kirsten Simonsen, and Abigale McCarthy) aboard the Oscar Dyson for their willingness to train me, answer all of my questions, preview my blogs, and to allow me have a glimpse of their lives as scientists. Thank you to Patrick Ressler and XO Chris Skapin for promptly providing feedback on my blogs. And a special thanks to the night shift crew (Jodi, Paul and Darin). I was very nervous about adjusting to my work hours (4 pm to 4 am) especially after falling asleep that first night, but I am very grateful for colleagues who were fascinating and night-time enjoyable. Chats with everyone aboard the Oscar Dyson from fishermen to NOAA Corps to engineers to stewards to scientists were educational and pleasant. I met lots of people from all over the U.S. and some just from Newport (2 hours from Eugene).
WOW. How fortunate was I to be chosen? I am nearly speechless about what I saw and what I did. What a mind blowing three weeks. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Now I begin the transition of living during daylight hours.
Here I am before the system hit us.
I hope everyone was able to sample a little of my adventure. I appreciate everyone who followed my blog especially Camas Country Mill folks.
Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska Date: 8/5/13
Weather Data from the Bridge (as of 17:00 Alaska Time): Wind Speed: 9.54 knots
Temperature: 15.7 C
Humidity: 83 %
Barometric Pressure: 1017.9 mb
Current Weather: The winds have decreased and we are not moving as much. The weather report calls for an increase to the winds with 7 ft swells on Wednesday. But maybe it will die down before it reaches us.
August 6th sunset
Science and Technology Log:
We only will fish during daylight hours. The sun is now setting before 10:00 pm and rising around 5:30 am. And even though we are not fishing between sunset and sunrise, science continues. At nightfall, we break transect and Jodi begins her data collection.
The Sustainable Fisheries Act mandates an assessment of essential fish habitat. This is in conjunction with stock assessments of groundfish. Jodi’s research involves integrating multibeam accoustic technology to characterize trawlable and untrawlable seafloor types and habitat for managed species.
Species that are part of the groundfish survey. Photo courtesy of Chris Rooper (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) from the Snakehead Bank multi-beam survey
A bottom trawl survey is conducted every other year in the Gulf of Alaska. The goal is to better identify seafloor types using multibeam acoustics. This would help improve groundfish assessment, and limit damage to habitat and trawling gear.
The Gulf of Alaska survey area is divided into square grids.
Trawlable or Untrawlable?
On this cruise we are conducting multibeam mapping in trawlable and untrawlable grid cells. A grid cell is divided into 3 equidistant transects for a multibeam survey. Jodi directs the ship to follow these smaller transect lines. While the ship is following the transects lines, the multibeam sonar is active and data is collected.
Multibeam sonar Photo courtesy of Tom Weber (University of New Hampshire)Jodi monitors the screen during ME70 activity.
The SIMRAD ME70 is the multibeam sonar that Jodi is using for her research. There are 6 transducers on the ship that will send out a fan of 31beams of varying frequencies. The strength of their return (backscatter) can be analyzed for sea floor type. Looking at the diagram below, you can see the differences in backscatter clearly in the range of 30 to 50 degrees (away from straight down).
Silts will have a very weak backscatter and rock will have a strong backscatter.
Substrate differences when looking at 30 – 50 degrees. Courtesy of Jodi Pirtle
After the transects are completed, Jodi and Darin complete 1 – 3 camera drops to record visually how the seafloor appears. This camera below will be lowered to the ocean floor and video footage will stream to the computer for 10 minutes. Then the camera is brought up.
Drop Camera
An example of an untrawlable area. Photo courtesy of Jodi Pirtle.
Last night, Darin gave me the opportunity to operate the camera drop. After a bit of instruction, it was showtime. I am very grateful for the chance to explore the seafloor.
I operated the drop camera. Photo by Darin Jones
Here is what I saw at 190 meters.
Fish and rocks on the seafloor.I saw a flatfish right in front of the camera.
For more photos of my drop camera experience, see the end of this blog.
CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) drops are conducted in the grid as well. Data that are gathered are used to correct for the speed of sound under varying conditions of the ocean.
CTD drop to record physical oceanographic data
The next day, Jodi processes the data from the ME70. The bottom detection algorithm (a series of calculations) removes backscatter from the water column (from fish).
Each frame product represents 5 minutes of seafloor. The following are outcomes from the algorithm and represent angle dependent data. The images below, show backscatter on the left and bathymetry on the right.
This represents a homogenous sea floor.This represents a heterogenous sea floor.
Then Jodi takes into account a number of factors such as results from the CTD, motion of the boat (offset, attitude, pitch, roll), and tides. These uncertainties are applied.
Uncertainties Photo courtesy of NOAA
Then she mosaics the data.
Results Photo courtesy of Tom Weber
The color image above represents the depth and the bottom image provides information on seafloor substrate.
The footage from the camera drops is also reviewed for more evidence of the seafloor substrate and to look for objects that would snag trawl nets.
I really appreciate Jodi taking the time to educate me on her research. Her passion for her work is evident. I look forward to seeing where her research leads.
Personal Log:
So who actually works the night shift (4pm to 4 am) in the “cave”. Jodi Pirtle, Paul Walline and Darin Jones are the three scientists I have been lucky to work with during my cruise.
I discussed Jodi’s work on the ship in the science section. She has an extensive educational background. She earned a BS in Biology from Western Washington University in Bellingham and then a MS in Environmental Science from Washington State University in Vancouver. Then she earned a Ph.D in Fisheries from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Her thesis was on ground fish habitat on rocky banks along the US west coast. And her dissertation was based on red king crab nursery habitat. She just finished her postdoc at the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping where her work applied multibeam acoustics to study trawlable and untrawlable seafloor types and groundfish habitat in the Gulf of Alaska. She is now working on groundfish habitat suitability modeling after she was selected to be a National Research Council NOAA postdoc at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center Auke Bay Lab in Juneau. Jodi continues to integrate multibeam acoustics in her research at ABL.
Jodi was born and raised in Cordova, Alaska which we came near when we were in Prince William Sound. I have enjoyed listening to her speak of growing up in Alaska. There are no roads out of Cordova, so imagine traveling with a sports team in high school? I will not forget how she described the Exxon Valdez oil spill to me from the eyes of herself at 11 years old.
I have greatly appreciated her knowledge of the creatures we bring up in the nets. She has an eye for finding the hidden gems like the chaetognath (arrow worm).
Jodi with a lumpsucker fish
Jodi enjoys cross country skiing, snow boarding, berry picking, hiking and yoga. She introduced me to beautiful ripe salmon berries back on Kodiak.
Delicate salmon berries
Darin is a MACE (Midwater Assessment & Conservation Engineering) scientist who earned his BS in Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and then his MS in Fisheries Resources form the University of Idaho at Moscow. His master’s work involved disease resistance in bull trout. He spent 5 years collecting fishing data as an observer aboard commercial fishing boats in Alaska. He also tagged cod on George’s Bank and worked at several conservation fish hatcheries before moving to Seattle to work for MACE. Darin is part of the team to assess the biomass of the walleye pollock in the Gulf of Alaska.
Darin filets some of the fish caught.
I have heard that Darin played in a band with some MACE colleagues but they broke up because one of them moved. Maybe there will be a reunion tour.
Darin measuring a spiny dogfish
He is a surfer and has surfed on Kodiak but his favorite surf spot so far was in Costa Rica. Darin is an easy-going guy who I often call Scott because he reminds me so much of a colleague at school. Darin has patiently explained my tasks to me and helped me learn what I am really doing. And he supported me as I did my first camera drop.
Darin watching me control drop camera. Photo by Jodi Pirtle
Paul is a native of Washington state and completed his academics there as well. He earned a BS in Oceanography and a Ph.D in Fisheries Oceanography from the University of Washington. For 20 years he worked at the Israel Limnological and Oceanographic Institute. He was involved in managing the water quality in Lake Kinneret. His role was to estimate the number of fish to determine their affect on water quality. Paul accomplished this by developing acoustics surveys of fish stocks in Israel. Lake Kinneret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, provides Israel with 40% of its drinking water.
Lake Kinneret Courtesy of GoogleEarth
In 2000, Paul moved back to Seattle and is working as a fisheries biologist for MACE.
Paul reading echograms and deciding to fish
I have been fortunate to see photographs that Paul has taken both on this trip and elsewhere. He has an incredible talent for finding beauty.
Paul Walline
I am writing this as we are tossing and turning in ten foot swells. According to Paul, it doesn’t matter if the swells get any bigger because the effect is the same. His calmness, knowledge and expertise remind me a lot of my dad.
As you can see, I worked with amazing, brilliant individuals. The night shift rules. We had awesome teamwork when a haul needed to be processed.
Jodi weighs and measures the pollock. Darin removes otoliths and I packaged them up
And then we slept through the fog and awoke to beautiful sunsets (on some days).
Sunset by Yakutat Bay
Did You Know?
Glacial runoff changes the color of the ocean. Compare the two photos. The one at the bottom is near a glacier.
The ocean with no glacial runoff.The ocean with glacial runoff.
Animals Seen Today:
The bottom trawl that was brought up right when I began work, contained three types of sharks. The smaller ones were spiny dogfish and spotted spiny dogfish. The big one was a salmon shark. Check out the video.
To read more about salmon sharks and to monitor their migration pattern, check out the content on Tagging of Pacific Predators website. Click here: TOPP
My Drop Camera Experience
Checking out the bottom with the drop camera. Photo by Jodi PirtleJodi and I monitoring the drop cam. Photo by Darin JonesJulia bringing drop camera aboard. Photo by Darin JonesSea urchin in color.Fish hiding on the left.Another sea urchin
NOAA Teacher at Sea Julie Karre Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II July 26 – August 8, 2013
Mission: Shark and Red snapper Longline Survey Geographical Range of Cruise: Atlantic Date: Monday August 5 – Tuesday August 6, 2013
Weather Data from the Bridge Monday – NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS
SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET
DOMINANT PERIOD 6 SECONDS
Tuesday – E WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS
SEAS 3 TO 4 FEET
Science and Technology Log
Meet the Scientists
Meet some of my favorite people in the world. Without these people my experience would have lacked the learning and laughter that made it such a joy.
Kristin Hannan
Field Party Chief Kristin Hannan has the pleasure of working with her favorite shark species, the Tiger Shark. And those little babies are cute!
Kristin was the Field Party Chief for the first and second legs of the Longline survey. She was also my watch leader, which meant she was by my side in support every step of the way. And as I progressed as a shark handler, she was there with a high five every time. I hit the jackpot landing on a ship with Kristin. She is now off to visit Harry Potter World (I’m so jealous I can hardly stand it) before rejoining the the survey when it leaves Mayport. This is Kristin’s fifth year doing the Longline Survey. The first time she did it, she was a volunteer just like us. I wish Kristin the best of luck in all she does and hope to call her a friend for years to come.
Amy Schmitt
Research Biologist for NOAA Amy Schmitt gives a big smooch to a baby Tiger Shark.
Amy is a research biologist out of the Pascagoula-based fisheries lab. She has been with NOAA for two years, but has been working in research biology for most of her career. She is a native of Colorado and shares my blond hair and fair complexion. We could usually be found together cooling off in the dry lab as often as possible. It was also Amy who coined one of my nicknames on the cruise – Data Girl. According to the science team, the Teachers at Sea make excellent data recorders. I can’t imagine why 🙂
Amy and I work together to process an adolescent Tiger Shark. Amy and I often worked together and truly enjoyed our time together.
Lisa Jones
NOAA scientist and Field Party Chief for the third and fourth legs of Longline, Lisa Jones handles an Atlantic Sharpnose on the first haul of the night shift.
Lisa has been doing the Longline survey for 16 years now. She is a wealth of information about sharks, living aboard a ship, and marine life. She is also a passionate dog lover, which many of the volunteers shared with her. Lisa will be taking over the duties of Field Party Chief for the third and fourth legs of the survey. She will be aboard the Oregon II for all four legs of the survey this year. That’s a lot of boat rocking!
Mike Hendon
NOAA Research Biologist Mike Hendon works to quickly process a Sandbar Shark.
Mike is a research biologist out of the Pascagoula-based fisheries lab. He’s a seasoned veteran of the Longline survey and was a great mentor for those of us new to the shark-handling community. Mike also has two adorable kids and two cute dogs waiting for him at home. He was part of the science team for the first leg of the survey. He can sometimes be found wearing mismatched socks.
Mike and Volunteer Claudia Friess work on Atlantic Sharpnose.
Personal Log
My final days are winding down and I am caught (no pun intended) off guard by how much I am going to miss this. There is such a peacefulness that comes from the rocking of a boat, especially if you don’t get seasick. And working alongside people who share a passionate nature – we may not all be passionate about the same things, but we are all passionate – is such a reinvigorating experience. These two weeks gave me an opportunity to talk about my environmental science integration in my classroom with people who care very much about environmental science. It was so inspiring to have them care about what I was doing in my classroom. It gives me another reason to trust the importance of what I’m doing as well as more people I want to make proud.
Fun list time! Things you get used to living on a ship:
Noise. There is so much happening on a ship, from the engine to the cradle pulling up a shark. It’s all loud. But you get used to it.
Sneaking into your stateroom as silently as possible so you don’t wake up your AWESOME roommate Rachel.
NOAA Corps Officer ENS Rachel Pryor steering the Oregon II during a morning haul back.
Waiting. There’s a lot of waiting time on a survey like this. You find ways to make that time meaningful.
The night shift waiting in anticipation as Lead Fisherman Chris Nichols begins to bring in the line.
Rocking. Duh.
Taking high steps through doorways. The doors that separate the interior and exterior of the ship are water tight, so they don’t go all the way to the floor. You can only bash your shins in so many times before it becomes second nature.
Sharks. I said in a previous post that this survey has been eye opening and it’s worth sharing again. I don’t have a marine science background and I had fallen victim to the media portrayals of sharks. I had no idea that there were sharks as small as the Sharpnose that can be handled by such an amateur like myself.
This is what it feels like when you successfully (and quickly) unhook a shark! VICTORY! Volunteer Kevin Travis is victorious.
Sunsets. Words cannot describe the colors that make their way to you when there’s uninterrupted skyline. Oh I will definitely miss those sunsets.
One of the last sunsets for the first leg of the Oregon II.
The stars. I live a life of being asleep by 10pm and up at 6 am and often times forget to look up at the stars even on the nights when I might have been able to see them. These two weeks gave me some of the darkest nights I’ve had and some of the best company in the world.
Dolphins escort the Oregon II back towards land on its final day at sea for the first leg of Longline. Photo Credit: Mike Hendon
