NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

August 11, 2026August 11, 2026

Jo Slavitz: 1,000 Words: Aug 2, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jo Slavitz

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 19 – August 10, 2026

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey, Leg 3

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 30, 2026

Photography is an austere and blazing poetry of the real. — Ansel Adams

Science and Technology Log

The internet is filled with selfies created by everyone from silly kittens to the Kardashians, but why are photos so addictive to us as humans? Cameras allow us to not only record where we have been, but also allow us to take others along on our adventures. They give proof of phenomena, chronicle history and record changes over time. Photography, since its invention in the 1820-1830’s, has played an important role in the toolbox of scientists (and also travel enthusiasts). The scientists of Oscar Dyson are no different. They too love a good photo, and continue to innovate new technology to capture and utilize photography for research. These photos take others along with them into the Bering Sea, but also provide important scientific information. NOAA scientists are earth influencers helping those on shore to understand this unique environment and inform decisions about the health of the Alaskan fisheries.

There are many different tools to capture pictures on Oscar Dyson because there are lots of different types of research that need to be recorded. Several of these specialized camera devices have been designed and built by innovative NOAA scientists to complete specific tasks in diverse locations. Two of my favorites are CamTrawl and CATCam.

three crewmembers, wearing float coats, live vests, hard hats, and gloves, stand on both sides of trawl net as it extend over the deck from the spool (out of frame) to the water (out of frame.) they reach their arms in to position an underwater camera array — CamTrawl coming in with the trawl net

CamTrawl: CamTrawl is a camera that attaches to the side of the pollock trawl net near where the fish collect. It takes images of the things flowing through the net. This is valuable information as it can be compared to the FS70 on the mouth of the net and Echosound data from the ship (both explained in a previous blog) to show what species was captured at specific locations and depths.

CamTrawl captures two pictures from different perspectives at the same time allowing scientists to measure the size of each specimen. NOAA scientists use a program specifically written to view CamTrawl images to look at each image set and use computer clicks to label each creature’s species. The program also lets scientists measure the length of the pollock and view the depth at which they are captured. Knowing the size of the pollock helps to determine its age/stage of life, important information when reporting on the health of the Alaskan fisheries.

photo of a computer screen displaying underwater photos of fish on the left and an annotated echogram (acoustic backscatter v time) on the right — CamTravel image added to Echogram

Look at the image of the data sources combined together. On the left is the photo taken by CamTrawl that was labeled by scientists. The location this photo was taken is marked on the chart next to it by an open red circle (center bottom). The black line represents the path of the trawl net. The bright colored circles are the groups of each species, the more that have been identified on a photo, the larger the circle. The background is the echogram information gathered by the boat during fishing.

Can you find krill, pollock and jellyfish? Do they appear at the same or different ocean depths? These different data sets allow NOAA scientists to determine if the fish patterns on the echogram were actually the fish they expected.

close up view of a camera apparatus resting on the deck of the ship — Constant Altitude Towed Camera (CATCam)

CATCam: CATCam (Constant Altitude Towed Camera) is a device used to capture deep underwater images from the seafloor. Dropped over the side, CATCam is a remote control submersible camera. It is designed to keep a constant height from the bottom and photograph the seafloor while slowly being towed by the ship. CATCam has sensors that detect the seafloor and activate thrusters that keep the cameras from crashing into the bottom. Scientists onboard the ship are also able to control the thrusters to guide CATCam into just the right spot. It is also equipped with bright lights to light up the dark bottom waters.

Because the pollock trawl doesn’t typically move along the bottom, often the species photographed are especially fun to see. Here are some of my favorite CATCam pictures:

underwater image from above of an orange rockfish swimming just above the ocean floor, near an anemone — Rockfish & Anemone

underwater image of a stake on the seafloor, next to a sea cucumber — Rockfish & Anemone

Under Pressure: In designing and building underwater cameras like CamTrawl and CATCam, NOAA scientists need to consider the issue of water pressure. These camera systems need to go deep down into the ocean and the deeper they go the higher the pressure becomes. Underwater pressure is called hydrostatic pressure and it increases dramatically as you travel deeper.

Check out these styrofoam cups. They were sent down on various deep water missions. They show the effect of underwater pressure. Styrofoam is made up of plastics filled with tiny pockets of trapped airy open space. When brought down under the water, these airy spaces are crushed inward on all sides, shrinking the cup. My middle school teacher had a tiny styrofoam cup that was towed behind a WHOI submarine that fascinated me: I can’t believe I now have one of my own. You can learn more about hydrostatic pressure with the fun interactive WHOI simulation.

four decorated styrofoam cups in a line on the table; these have all been shrunk and are now a bit misshapen. a fifth cup rolls on its side in the background. — shrunken styrofoam cups

Try It on Dry Land

Just like styrofoam, marshmallows are filled with tiny little pockets of air surrounded by a flexible material. Both styrofoam and marshmallow react to changes in pressure in similar ways. It took me decades to catch a ride to a deep sea environment and get a tiny styrofoam cup. If you aren’t that patient, you can create a similar environment at your desk with a few simple materials.

A.I. generated illustration of a marshmallow inside a syringe — Illustration of a marshmallow inside of a syringe, created with Gemini AI

Marshmallows from the Deep

Materials:

2-3 Mini Marshmallows
60ml Plastic Syringe
Sharpie

Instructions

Use Sharpie to decorate mini marshmallows
Take plunger out of syringe and add marshmallows
Replace plunger
Hold finger over tip (or add a drop of hot glue tip)
Gently push plunger in to increase the pressure inside the syringe

What happens to the marshmallow?
What happens to the decoration?
If you gently pull the plunger in the opposite direction you are decreasing the pressure inside the syringe. What happens to the marshmallow?

Personal Log

Alongside all the scientific photographs being taken, I have been frantically clicking away behind my camera. I hope my photos introduce my story to my students. I hope they can feel the vastness of the ocean, the magic of life teeming underneath it and the breathtaking majesty of a return to the Alaskan mainland. I hope these photos cause students to ask questions I can’t answer, to think about careers far beyond those in our neighborhood, and dream of new innovations of exploration and preservation of this incredible place.

view, entirely in shades of dark teal-blue, of mountains rising above the ocean's surface, surrounded by dark clouds. — Return to land

August 4, 2026August 6, 2026

Jo Slavitz: Expect the Unexpected, July 30, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jo Slavitz

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 19th – August 10th

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey, Leg 3

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 30, 2026

Weather Data from Bering Sea

Latitude: 58° 38.303’ N

Longitude: 176° 17.674’ W

Winds: SW at 9 mph

Air Temperature: 46.94° F (8.3° C)

“It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for – the whole thing – rather than just one or two stars.” – David Attenborough

Science and Technology Log

NOAA scientists conducting the Acoustic-Trawl survey are skilled at finding pollock, but even, so tiny amounts of other species also sometimes slip into the net. These unexpected creatures are called “bycatch.” Although not targeted, it doesn’t mean that these species are not important. A healthy pollock population depends on a complete and healthy ecosystem, so the science team also measures and takes data on these creatures before releasing most of them back to the water. Sometimes, the science team also gathers information about these species for other scientists on land conducting special projects for other programs. Here are some of the interesting fish that came in with trawls aboard Oscar Dyson on Leg 3.

Jellyfish

Outside of pollock, jellyfish have been the most frequent visitor to the trawl. Existing before dinosaurs, jellyfish trace their origin back over 500 million years, their closest relatives being corals and anemones. They are invertebrates (meaning they do not have a backbone) in the phylum Cnidaria, subphylum Medusozoa. Jellyfish are found around the planet in the world’s oceans and even in some fresh water ponds/lakes. Not a fish at all, jellies contain no brain, bones, gills or hearts. They are considered a keystone organism, one that holds the ecosystem together because it interacts with so many other species within the food web. Jellyfish’s main diet consists of tiny animals and plankton. They serve as food for sea turtles, fish, crabs, birds and even humans. Even though they can often sting, small animals will swim among jellies to hide from predators. So far we have seen 3 species of jellyfish in the trawls in the Bering Sea:

Chrysaora: The most common jellyfish found in the trawls this trip are by far Chrysaora. These stunning animals get their name from mythology. Chrysaor was the warrior child of Poseidon the sea god and Medusa, and his name means “adorned in gold” or “golden warrior.” It’s the perfect name for this golden beauty. Chrysaora are in the family commonly referred to as sea nettles. They can grow to reach up to 2’- 3’ in diameter. Chrysaora is typically found at depths up to 100 meters in the Bering and Arctic Seas. Since the 1990’s the total biomass of this species has been increasing. Biomass is the total amount of mass of an animal population in a specific area.

Jo, wearing overalls, long yellow gloves, and sunglasses, leans forward over a sorting table in the wet lab. On the table in front of her is a yellow-orange jellyfish that may be 3 feet in diameter. — Chrysaora Jellyfish

Aequorea: Less showy and bright than Chrysaora, Aequorea jellies are predominantly clear with a flat smooth disk-shaped bell. Its name is taken from the Latin words aequor “from the sea” and aequus “even, flat or level.” Their family is commonly known as crystal jellies. This family of jellyfish fascinates scientists because they contain photoproteins that allow them to fluoresce with bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the ability for animals to create their own light. Animals such as backyard lightning bugs and deep-sea fish are also capable of this unique adaptation.

close-up view of a completely translucent jellyfish spread out on a white plastic measuring board. we can read the measuring line through the jellyfish; it extends from about 2.5 cm to about 13.5 cm. — Aequorea Jellyfish

Aurelia: Aurelia or moon jellyfish are one of the most widely distributed family of jellies. A. limbata, or brown moon jellies are native to the Bering Sea and coastal Alaska. They range in size from about 9 to 12 inches in diameter. They have a clear cup-shaped bell with brown to orange organs arranged in a circle around the center.

Fish

Pacific Cod: A relative of the Alaskan pollock, Pacific cod are also a cold water whitefish. Also similar to pollock, many people like to cook and eat cod, so this fish ended up as our guest in the mess later that night for dinner.

cooked fish filet plated with vegetables, topped with a lemon slice

A Pacific cod in sample basket; later, plated for dinner in the mess hall

Northern Rock Sole: As a bottom dweller, the northern rock sole has both eyes on a single side of its head. His topside is a splotchy brown color, while his underside is a translucent white.

mottled brown right-eyed flatfish laid out against a white surface — Northern Rock Sole

Chum Salmon: Though this one is not so big. Chum salmon are the second largest pacific salmon after chinook. Males of this species develop large canine-like fangs

one salmon in a green plastic basket — Chum Salmon

Smooth Lumpsucker: A deep-sea fish, the smooth lumpsucker has a slippery, scaleless skin. Look closely to see the circle on its underside. The pelvic fins in this species are modified to form a disk used to help secure the fish to ocean surfaces in fast moving waters.

a remarkably round fish held up in someone's glove hand tilted toward the ceiling to reveal the suction disk on its underside — Smooth lumpsucker

Try It on Dry Land

Although you may not be able to hitch a ride out to the Bering Sea for the pollock acoustic survey, you can create your own trawling simulation with a box of Trix cereal and a few kitchen materials.

Trix Trawl

Materials:

1 box Trix Cereal
1 cookie sheet or shallow baking pan
A ruler
Tape
1 Tbs measuring spoon or scoop
Data chart (downloadable pdf)

* Optional small kitchen scale

Instructions

Use ruler to measure and mark with tape both long sides of the cookie sheet in 2” segments. These are your transects lines that you will sample from.
Drag the tablespoon from the mark on one side to the corresponding mark on the opposite side. This is your trawl net. You may not touch the cereal with anything but the spoon.
Sort the cereal into groups of the same shape/color type and record on data sheet.
Repeat until all steps until transects are complete.

Did you get the same number for each shape/color?
Do you feel like it was an accurate representation for all the cereal in the box?
Did you find anything unexpected in the cereal box?
NOAA scientists also gather the weight for each species group. If you have a small kitchen scale you can weigh each shape/color group and record. Is the set with the most individual pieces also the heaviest?

Trix Trawl data Download

Happy Sampling!

Jo, wearing overalls, yellow gloves, and sunglasses, stands in the wet lab in front of stacks of plastic sample bins. She stretches her arms toward the camera to show off a large, yellow-orange chrysaora jelly. a few pollock are visible on the sorting table off to the side. — Jelly Love

July 31, 2026July 31, 2026

Jo Slavitz: A Lot of Fish in the Sea: July 26, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jo Slavitz

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 19 – August 10, 2026

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic Survey, Leg 3

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 24, 2026

Weather Data from Bering Sea

Latitude: 58° 48.960’ N

Longitude: 173° 43.168′ W

Winds: E at 15-20 mph

Air Temperature: 45.68° F (7.6° C)

“The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” – John Buchan

Science and Technology Log

As the saying goes “there are lots of other fish in the sea,” so how exactly does NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson find mostly Alaskan pollock in such a huge ocean? It’s a combination of structured transect planning, analyzing complex acoustic data and a little bit of luck.

Transects: At first glance the map of the 3 legs of the Alaskan Pollock Survey look like a crazy zig-zag path, so what’s going on and where are we going? The Oscar Dyson is traveling on a transect. A transect is a line drawn by scientists across an area used to measure, count and record the species living there. Oscar Dyson scientists are tasked with figuring out how many pollock are living in the Bering Sea, what age they are and their reproductive stage. As Oscar Dyson travels along each transect, the scientists decide where good places are to sample the pollock population using a long trawl net. It’s difficult to look into the ocean (though we will talk about cameras later) so NOAA scientists actually “listen” for the fish as they swim under the boat.

line drawing of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson demonstrating acoustic calibration. we can see the sounding board extending beneath the hull; metal calibration balls are suspended farther beneath the sounding board. — The sounding board on the bottom of Oscar Dyson sends and receives frequency information. (NOAA Fisheries)

EchoSound: Many people are familiar with the way animals such as bats and dolphins emit sounds and use echoes to gather information about their surrounding environment. The scientists on the Oscar Dyson also use sound and echoes to gather information about their environment in the Bering Sea. The boat has a sounding board underneath called a transducer that emits energy pulses at different frequencies and receives the echoes as they are bounced back. Objects with different densities send back different amounts of echo energy. Scientists in the Acoustic Lab onboard Oscar Dyson watch a screen for echo patterns that match the patterns that are expected from individuals and schools of pollock.

photo of a screen displaying an echogram. in this graph, the x-axis is time and the y-axis is depth; colored dots represent the intensity of backscatter from a particular frequency encountered at each depth over time. — An echogram is a visualization of an echosound

Check out this image of an echogram. Echograms are a visualization of detected echo sounds. The bright red lines at the top and the bottom of the screen represent the surface and the dense ocean floor. The top wave of blues and greens is referred to as the “munge” ; it is a mixture of stirred up air bubbles, algae, plankton and other things that the team has determined is not pollock. Pollock are primarily in the area just above the bottom to about the middle of the water column. Boney fish such as pollock have a specialized organ called a swim bladder which allows them to take in and release gas, thus changing their density and allowing them to rise and fall in depth like a submarine. Not only is this organ useful to the fish, the air it contains has a different density from the surrounding water and reflects the echo energy that is emitted and picked back up by the ship’s transducer. Look carefully and you can see little colored dots and patches just above the ocean bottom depicted on the echogram. Those are fish and schools of fish. The scientists are confident that they are pollock but to be sure they need to collect a sample of the fish in those areas and get measurements from them.

diagram of a trawl net being pulled behind a vessel. labels point out the codend (the narrowest part at the back); the headline rope; the sweeps (lower lines); the weights attached to the lines; warp wires connecting the trawl to the vessel; and otterboards to help direct fish into the net. — Basic Trawl Net (source: Nettingland.com)

Trawl: Once a spot has been identified by the scientists, a call goes out to the crew, “Fishing, Fishing, Fishing”. This alerts all aboard that the vessel is going to break from the transect and drop the nets into the spots that had lit up with fish patterns on the echogram. The net is rolled out from a giant spool controlled by the deck crew rather than the scientists. The tip of the net is called the codend, from the old English word “cod” meaning a bag or pouch and this is where the fish are collected. At the opposite end of the net is the opening where fish enter. The weave, or meshes, of the net gets progressively tighter the closer it is to the codend.

three crewmembers wearing hard hats and life vests kneel to attach equipment to a portion of the trawl net on the deck of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson — “Turtle” being attached to the kite

photo of the output from the FS70 echoscan showing a radar image across two-thirds of a circle — “Turtle” being attached to the kite

Attached to the net are several pieces of equipment that allow the scientist to analyze what is going into the net and when, during the trawl. The FS70, or netsounder, is a bright yellow device that also uses echoes to gather information. This piece is also sometimes called the “turtle.” You can see the crew here connecting it to a special part of the net called the kite. The kite and netsounder are attached and fly just above the opening of the net allowing the scientist to monitor what is going in.

Next to the picture of the crew you can see the image of what is being recorded by the netsounder on an information panel. This image of the “turtle” shows whether it is flying correctly, or oriented in the correct direction. The 2/3 circle image is a visualization of the echos the netsounder is receiving. The rainbow of color on the very bottom of this circle is the echo bouncing back from the bottom of the ocean, above that is another rainbow that represents the bottom of the net, above that if you look closely there are small blue marks just forming an oval with the rainbowed net bottom, those are the top of the net. When fish go into the net, they are represented as small dots, or blobs if a whole school is captured within this oval. The screen showing the echogram from below the ship and the screen with the netscan are placed next to each other on the control panel so that scientists can see the fish coming and hopefully adjust the nets accordingly to catch them.

close up view of a control panel showing two displays: the FS70 echoscan output, and the echogram of acoustic backscatter. — The control panel on the Bridge.

Scientists only want a sample of the fish, so they monitor the netsounder until they feel they have enough fish to accurately represent what they are seeing and then call “Haul Back.” This call tells the crew to raise the net back onto the boat, and the science crew to put on their wetlab gear in preparation for fish processing.

Try It on Dry Land

Swim bladders allow fish to change the density and buoyancy of their bodies, allowing them to change their position in the water column. Buoyancy is an upward force of an object causing it to float or sink. You can make a simple model of a fish’s swim bladder (and a fun catch game) using items found around your house.

You need:

Paperclips
1 pen cap (Bic pen or other with the stick part)
1 soda bottle with cap
Clay

Instructions:

illustration of a hand holding a plastic bottle filled with water and the pencap diver — Source: sciencebob.com

Fill bottle to top with water
Secure clay around stick of pen cap (do not cover opening)
Bend paperclip to form hook
Attach paperclip into clay with hook pointing down
Drop cap/hook into soda bottle so that it floats
Twist another paperclip into an L shape and drop to bottom
Put cap tightly on bottle

To Activate:

Squeeze the bottle and watch the pen cap drop
Release your grip and pen can will rise
Practice controlling where in the water column you can direct the cap
Can you dive the cap to the bottom and hook on to the L shaped paperclip?

What in the Science is going on… The cap holds a bubble of air underneath which allows it to float. When you squeeze the bottle the pressure makes the bubble smaller and changes the density of the cap causing it to sink. A fish’s swim bladder works by the same principles. Find out more here: www.instructables.com/Cartesian-Divers/

Personal Log

a circle, representing the earth tilted on its axis. arrows point out the north and south celestial poles, the meridian, the zenith (90 degrees). ellipses inside the circle represent three different paths of the sun. the first, closest to the north celestial pole, is labeled "Sun's path on July 21." The middle one, around the celestial equator, is labeled "Sun's path on March 21 and Sept 21." The third, closer to the south celestial pole, is labeled "Sun's path on Dec 21." — Sun Path Diagram

Life on Oscar Dyson is different in many ways then life on land. For one, the scientists work in shifts. There is a 4 am to 4 pm shift considered the dayshift and another from 4 pm to 4 am considered the nightshift. Acoustic monitoring and fishing happen all day and all night. I am on the day shift. Adding to the change in daily rhythms is the extended amount of daylight during the Alaskan summer season. The sun is up and bright when I hit my bunk to sleep. The sun will not set until approximately 12:30am, some nights I have gotten up in the night to watch the sunset out my window. I report to the Acoustic Lab at 4 am in the dark to find out what the night shift has been working on, the sun will then rise again at around 7 am. It takes some getting used to as the sun is a natural trigger for my body to know when to be active and when to rest. It makes for a long day, but who can complain with such a stunning beginning.

a beautiful view of sunrise over railing of the ship. there is a pile of rope in the foreground. the sky is golden, and the water, curling softly with the ship's wake, reflects the gold light. — Bering Sea Sunrise

July 28, 2026July 28, 2026

Jo Slavitz: Getting There is Half the Fun, July 20, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jo Slavitz

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 19th – August 10th

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic Survey, Leg 3

a travel coffee mug sits on the window sill of a ship's square window. out the window, we see a green mountain at some distance, perhaps across a harbor; the sky is cloudy and gray. — View of Dutch Harbor out the ship’s window

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 20, 2026

Weather Data from Dutch Harbor, AK

Latitude: 53° 50.68′ N

Longitude: 166° 34.79’ W

Winds: NW at 7-10 mph

Air Temperature: 49.5° F (9.7° C)

“A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd

Personal Log

a view of waters off of Dutch Harbor; from a rocky shoreline, with a purple lupine prominently in the foreground, we look across gray waters to a line of green-covered mountains. two ships are visible transiting between the land masses. — Lupines in Dutch Harbor

A lot has to happen before the first pollock net is even cast. First the crew, including officers, engineers, deckhands and scientists must meet the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. If you are traveling from Dover, NH the trip is over 4,200 miles or about ⅙ circumference of the Earth. Dutch is a remote community nestled within an archipelago of volcanic islands which formed approximately 60 million years ago where the Pacific tectonic plate forces under the North American Plate. This meetup takes planning, time, and sometimes patience as the Aleutian Islands are often windy and foggy, making air travel from mainland Alaska unpredictable. Read more information about NOAA Ocean Exploration’s geological studies in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

a nautical chart of the Eastern Bering Sea, on which someone has drawn with different colored markers the planned north-south transect lines for Leg I (orange), Leg II (pink), and Leg III (green). Taped on top of the chart are two pieces of paper containing titles: "DY26-04" and "Summer Pollock" — Survey Transect Map

Once everyone is onboard, NOAA officers pilot Oscar Dyson out of Dutch Harbor and the Aleutian Islands into the Bering Sea. Check out this map of the Summer Acoustic Pollock Survey. The black line represents the path of the summer pollock survey which takes place over the course of 3 separate trips. I am traveling on the final survey of the summer, so it’s the farthest western side of the Bering Sea pollock survey that needs to be completed, the black line on the map not yet highlighted. It takes over a day to get out to this part of the ocean, but the crew and scientist have lots to do to get ready for the trawl during the trip.

Science and Technology Log

Running a science research center in a remote part of the ocean comes with “boatloads” of STEM challenges. Without the ability to order things online, go to a local home improvement store, or buy specialized parts off the shelf, the scientists and crew need to create their own solutions to the challenges that arise. Just like a STEM makerspace, NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson is well stocked with a tool workshop, 3D printer, and rolls and rolls of duct tape. Here are some of the amazing inventions from the super simple to the more complex that were designed onboard the ship.

pegboard holding tools - funnel-shaped plastic holders have been attached to the peg board to hold the tools in place — Pegboard holding tools

Pegboard Modifications: On the high sea, wave and wind motion can be powerful, traditional pegboard hooks are just not going to cut it. These bright-colored accessories were custom designed and 3D printed on board to secure tools in their place. The calipers proved a bit trickier due to their asymmetrical design.

Underwater Camera: This underwater camera was created because the science team needed more information about what is going on beneath the ocean’s surface. To keep it from crashing into the ocean floor and becoming damaged, it was designed with sensors that move the robotic cameras up and down as it detects obstacles.

underwater camera: at this angle, we mostly see a sideboard and buoys or rollers. — Underwater camera

view of a scanner with the top pulled open; on the bed of the scanner is a 3-D printed grid with squares of two different sizes — Krill scan insert

Krill Scan: Needing a way to get tiny organisms measured and recorded, NOAA scientists came up with this 3D printed gadget designed to fit on the ship’s scanner. Soon after a trawl is pulled in, a pocket net (a small net used to recapture small fish that escape the larger net) is emptied and krill samples are sorted into their own square within the grid. Images are scanned and recorded while the creatures are still fresh. Marking around the squares allow scientists to calculate krill size easily and the boxes keep specimens from clumping together.

a red plastic cell phone stand on a bench next to a microscope — Camera stand

Microscope Camera Stand:This tool was designed and 3D printed to hold a cell phone in place to capture images of objects under the microscope.

Ichthystick: When fish come aboard, data on their length needs to be quickly calculated. The motion of the moving boat, and the slipperiness of a squirming fish make using traditional tools such as rulers and tape measures cumbersome and impractical. Meet the Ichthystick. This nifty device was designed by a NOAA scientist on Oscar Dyson for just these situations. Simply put the fish on the measuring board, set the magnetic marker at the fork of the fish’s tail and it instantly gives the fish’s length on screen. It can also toss the data right into a data collecting program. Look up the prefix “Ichthy” and find out why I think the name “Ichthystick” is such a perfect name for a device designed for keeping tabs on native Alaskan Pollock who often end up in your freezer.

view of the electronic fish measuring board, with the name Ichthystick and a simplified image of a pollock printed in the bottom corner. a red magnet that ends in a point, which sports a matching pollock picture, rests on top. — Ichthystick and magnetic reader

Try It on Dry Land

STEM Scholars don’t just gripe about problems, they create solutions to these challenges. Think about things around you that don’t work quite right or annoy you as you try to complete your work. Design a device that helps you solve a reccuring challenge in your environment. Diagram your idea, or build a prototype to see if it works.

Here are some common middle school challenges or think up your own:

Your pencil frequently rolls of your desk
Your pet leaves muddy footprints across the floor
You can never find your sports gear when it’s time to leave
You can’t reach something you want on a top shelf
Your backpack is not keeping you organized

July 27, 2026July 27, 2026

Guy Sturdevant: The Wet Lab, July 18, 2026

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Guy Sturdevant

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

June 21 – July 15, 2026

Mission: Summer Pollock Acoustic Survey, Leg 2

Geographic Area of Cruise: Bering Sea, Alaska

Date: July 14, 2026

Weather Data from the Bridge

N 58.16° W 172.21 °, 0 AMSL

Conditions: Overcast, Seas at < 1’

Visibility: >3 NM

Wind: 4°/ 6 kt

Barometric Pressure 1010.3 mBar

Dry Bulb Temp: 46 ° F

Science Log

Last time we left off with a bin full of fish waiting to be processed. Today we’ll dive into the wet lab where we sort, measure, and process the fish.

a large bin full of hundreds of pollock (fish) — *A full bin of pollock awaiting immediate processing. A full haul can take between 1.5 and 3 hours to process.*

Trigger Warning: In order to provide you with the most accurate understanding of the important science aboard Oscar Dyson, I will describe laboratory procedures and handling processes that require dissection of select fish.

While no one involved enjoys this, it helps scientists understand and protect this natural resource. Fish caught are handled ethically, bycatch (catching species other than the intended target) is extremely minimal, and any sensitive species are immediately released back into the ocean.

The wet lab is just that, wet! Seawater is used to process and clean fish, so every device and surface in the lab must be waterproofed and corrosion-resistant. Before we hop into the lab, we need to don cold-weather rain gear to keep us warm and dry. Once suited up, the science team uses a conveyor belt to sort the haul.

Each haul is unique; the wet lab supervisor decides which sorting method to use. To ensure we have gathered a statistically representative sample of what we are seeing on the echosounder, we aim to process approximately 350 pollock per haul, as well as sample any other species captured. This sample lets scientists divide the acoustic backscatter they recorded on the transect into categories by fish species and size classes- without the catch, there’s no way to know exactly how to assign this backscatter. A skilled acoustic lead scientist aims to land the perfect amount of fish; no more, no less.

view of the sorting table in the wet lab. three people stand - one on each side and one at the end - each wearing orange overalls and large yellow gloves. a pile of pollock (fish) is visible extending down the right side of the sorting table. — A nice, clean haul of juvenile pollock. Night lab lead David Bryan weighs and counts the fish into baskets for further processing. It is important that no bias is introduced in which pollock to include in the sample (no keeping just the big ones, etc.). *Kevin McCarty* *and Julia Clemons are ensuring that only pollock make it to David. Anything else is diverted into other bins and handled separately.*

top down view of a sorting table covered mostly in pollock (fish). yellow gloved hands reach into the frame from both sides of the table and image. one gloved hand lifts a jellyfish out of the pile. — *Day lead Mike Levine removes a Chrysaora jellyfish from the sorting table. Jellyfish are far and away the most common bycatch. Luckily, Chrysaora jellies are unlikely to cause a reaction in humans.*

top-down view of a salmon on an electronic fish measuring board set up on a metal table. a yellow gloved hand places a red magnet at the base of the fish's tail to electronically record its length. — *A rare bycatch, Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), is* quickly measured, weighed, and returned to the ocean. The icthystick measuring board was developed in the MACE fish lab and is now a commercial product that uses a magnet placed behind the fish’s tail to automatically record its length in CLAMS. A skilled user can process about 400 fish in about 20 minutes. The icthystick is a great example of the innovations being made by the *Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering team*.

The Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) group of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center is responsible for running acoustic pollock surveys representing over 2.5 million square kilometers. To achieve this herculean task, the team has designed and continues to develop novel tools, processes, and methods. This spirit of innovation makes MACE unique.

screenshot displaying output from the computer program used to track fish data inputs; currently, it displays an image of an adult pollock, the name of the scientist doing the measurement, the weight and count — *The CLAMS software suite, developed by MACE, allows them to quickly gather, organize, and analyze large data streams from both the wet lab and the cave.*

In my next (and last!) post, we will look at some of these innovations and how they will empower scientists in MACE and across NOAA to produce the best possible data and science.

Personal Log

As my time at sea draws to a close, I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity and the very special crew of people that make this research happen. In my next and final post, we will look at the career pathways across the different departments and meet some of the new friends I’ve made aboard Oscar Dyson.

four NOAA Corps officers stand in a line at the controls on the bridge of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson. they each face out the windows, away from the camera. through the bridge windows, we can see green land and other docked vessels. — The junior officers on the bridge during docking at Dutch Harbor. Left to right: LT Jesse Pierce, LTJG Robert Sobelsohn, ENS Miles Litzmann, and ENS Alex Banh. Each operates a single control as ENS Banh practices what might be the toughest parallel parking job in the world.

Emergencies At Sea

During safety drills, we practice mustering to life rafts and donning survival dry suits. As we wait on the back deck, the lead for each lifeboat practices recording key information, such as our current location and the bearing and distance to the nearest land. As I sat on the back deck, flopping like a fish while I squeezed into my survival suit, it struck me that the nearest hospital could well be over 500 kilometers away.

Aboard NOAA vessels, medical emergencies are the responsibility of the medical person in charge (MPIC). MPICs are typically junior officers trained in basic life support who have access to a small medical bay, basic life support equipment, and a limited cabinet of medications. A fair comparison might be to think of the medical bay like the back of an ambulance. Unlike an ambulance, however, the medical bay could be tasked with keeping a person alive for days awaiting evacuation. The MPIC is not alone; they are supported by a team of medical professionals ashore, with access to live feeds of patients’ vitals, who will help guide the MPIC in providing care.

Aboard Oscar Dyson, we were incredibly lucky to have LCDR LeeAnn Keener, a nurse practitioner serving in the US Public Health Service. Were we to have an emergency, LCDR Keener’s training and practice as a licensed medical professional would be a great asset. Currently, only a handful of vessels sail with a licensed medical professional.

orange, white, and navy rescue helicopter in flight over water; the door is open, and one person leans out to help lower another person — *A USCG MH-60 rescue helicopter prepares to lower a rescue swimmer to respond to an emergency. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons*

Were an emergency to occur, the US Coast Guard would respond from their base in Kodiak, the largest USCG base in the world. First, an MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter would scramble and begin moving towards the vessel in distress; this could take as long as 8 hours to arrive on scene. While underway, the flight surgeon aboard would contact the MPIC and begin preparing to receive the patient or patients. If necessary, Kodiak would begin marshaling additional resources to aid in the evacuation. In some cases, aircraft such as an HC-130 will be dispatched to a remote airfield to serve as the second leg of the emergency relay. Even with this incredible effort, it may take well over a day for a patient to reach the nearest level II trauma center in Anchorage. The total cost of such a remote rescue may well exceed $100,000.

a U.S. Coast Guard rescue plane in flight past large icebergs in an ocean — The USCG operates the HC-130H, sister to the famous AC-130, a highly specialized aircraft designed to respond to nautical emergencies. The C-130 class of aircraft has astonishing range and endurance and can be equipped with specialized electronics, including radar and radio systems, that allow it to serve as a mobile command center at sea. NOAA Hurricane Hunters operate a similar airframe in their mission to predict and study the tropical systems that produce hurricanes. (photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard Visual Information Gallery)

Stay tuned for my final post where we put all the pieces together and profile career opportunities at NOAA!