Tag: Oscar Dyson

Posted on

Laura Guertin: My Journey Begins on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, May 31, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Laura Guertin

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

May 31 – June 22, 2023


Mission: 2023 Summer Acoustic-Trawl Survey of Walleye Pollock in the Gulf of Alaska

Geographic Area of Cruise: Islands of Four Mountains area, Western Gulf of Alaska
Location (in port): 57o 47.0200′ N, 152o 25.5543′ W

Date: May 31, 2023

Not every educator has the amazing opportunity to volunteer with scientists on a NOAA ship. But in 2014, that opportunity became a reality for me when I joined NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson for a hydrographic survey in the Atlantic Ocean. Now my journey at sea with NOAA continues in 2023 as I head out on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson for an acoustic-trawl survey of walleye pollock populations in the Gulf of Alaska.

Ever since I was an undergraduate intern for two summers at NOAA Maine Operations Center – Atlantic in Norfolk, VA, I wanted to sail on a NOAA ship. The NOAA Teacher at Sea (TAS) program opened that door for me and has provided so much, from my own advancement of the science and technology used to map the ocean floor, to content and stories I share with students and at science outreach events for the public. Now as a TAS alumna, I can’t wait to see how much more I can learn, teach, and share from my latest ocean expedition with NOAA.

Photo of Laura Guertin on a boat on the Atlantic ocean
Offshore of Miami, Florida, where I went to graduate school (University of Miami – Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science)

I’m a college professor, teaching introductory-level earth science courses primarily for non-STEM majors at Penn State Brandywine in Media, Pennsylvania. I am dedicated to not only helping my students build their science literacy but also seeing the relevance of why and how science matters in their present and future lives. My research has involved using technology tools to enhance student learning of geoscience content, with my current work focusing on having students produce audio narratives (or “podcasts”).

Photo of Laura Guertin with RDML Gallaudet standing in front of flags in DC office
RDML Gallaudet and I in his office in Washington DC

I also blog for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) about educational technology, pedagogy, and science communication on my blog GeoEd Trek. I’ve dedicated several posts on NOAA and its programs and resources . But it was my blog post A New Year’s resolution: help the public learn about NOAA (December 30, 2017) that caught the attention of RDML Tim Gallaudet, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at that time. He was kind enough to invite me to his office in Washington DC to thank me for the post – and, naturally, I wrote up a blog post about the visit and our conversation! That visit has been “the” highlight of all my NOAA experiences! (*see A conversation about science communication with NOAA’s RDML Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D. (March 13, 2018))

Heading back out to sea with NOAA in 2023 is special for so many reasons. Life for all of us was disrupted in March 2020 – the COVID pandemic has been long and hard. My teaching and research has had so many twists and turns, and I still don’t know how everything will be moving forward. Getting out to sea on my first-ever fisheries expedition is not just exciting for me, but it has been heartwarming to see how many of my students and colleagues are sending me messages and looking forward to frequent updates! In a way, I’m taking so many people out to sea with me, and I’m going to work so hard to make this an informative and thrilling adventure for us all!

Photo of book cover, Endless Novelties of Extraordinary Interest - The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger and the Birth of Modern Oceanography
Cover photo of Macdougall’s book on the Challenger expedition

Last year (2022) was a notable year for the field of oceanography. It was the 150-year celebration of when the H.M.S. Challenger set sail to collect meteorological and oceanographic data ranging from deep sea soundings and temperatures to biological samples. Although there were several ships that went out on scientific expeditions prior to 1872, the Challenger expedition (from 1872-1876) is the one credited as giving rise to the field of oceanography – and it’s interesting that before 1872, the term “oceanography” didn’t even exist in any dictionaries! I read the book Endless Novelties of Extraordinary Interest: The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger and the Birth of Modern Oceanography by Doug Macdougall, and I couldn’t help but make connections between the methods of oceanographic research back at the time of Challenger versus today. Keep a look out for many comparisons between the work and logistics of Challenger to my experiences on Oscar Dyson in my upcoming blog posts – no doubt I will be sharing some current items of “extraordinary interest!”

I’m also looking forward to continuing to explore the intersections of science and art (STEAM) can be used to engage audiences and to communicate science data. I like to crochet temperature data and use these temperature records created in yarn for teaching and outreach (it is similar to the amazing work of The Tempestry Project!). While on board Oscar Dyson, I’ll not only be exploring under the sea but looking up towards the sky as my atmospheric observations will inform my Stitch the Sky project! Stay tuned for a future blog post to follow along and/or to create your own data visualization for your location.

*If you are interested in reading about my first TAS experience on NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, here are direct links to those blog posts:

Photo of Laura Guertin in front of the hull of the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson (at Marine Operations Center-Atlantic, 2014)
Posted on

Phil Moorhouse: The Rest of the Story, September 22, 2019

airport meal

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Phil Moorhouse

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 27, 2019 – September 15, 2019


Mission: Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations.

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska (Kodiak – Aleutian Islands)

Date: September 22, 2019


Weather Data from Richmond, Virginia

Latitude: 37 44.36 N
Longitude: 77 58.26 W
Wind Speed: 5 knots
Wind Direction: 195 degrees
Air Temperature: 31 C
Barometric Pressure: 1018 mBar
Sky:  Clear

Conclusion

Wow, it’s hard to believe that my time on the waters of Alaska aboard the Oscar Dyson are over.  It was an experience I will never forget.  I just hope that I can instill in my students the idea that all kinds of things are possible when you follow your interests. 

It has taken me several days to reacclimatize to life on land.  Standing in front of my class, I have caught myself swaying.  It also took several days to readjust my sleep schedule.  (I don’t get rocked to sleep anymore and my hours are completely different.)

There were so many things I will miss and never forget: all of the unique experiences and sights I got to see, starting with my side trip to Barrow and swimming in the Arctic Ocean before the start of the expedition, getting to explore some of Kodiak before we left port, all of the open sea and species that were part of the random samples, the little coves we snuck into when storms were approaching, getting a “close-up” of the Pavlof volcano, and getting to explore the native land around Dutch Harbor where we were able to watch Salmon spawning and Bald Eagles doing their thing. 

  • Arctic Ocean swimming partners
  • Spires marking the opening of Castle Bay where we hid out from the storm.
  • Pavlof Volcano and Pavlof’s Sister
  • Shelikof Strait
  • Bald Eagle fishing near Dutch Harbor
  • Bald Eagles were common site. This one perched on a Russian Orthodox Steeple.

It was also interesting talking to and learning from the ship crew.  There are some interesting stories there about how they got to NOAA and what they have experienced since then.

  • Oscar Dyson crew preparing the nets for the next trawl.
  • Survey crew, Megan Shapiro checking out a smooth lumpsucker.
  • Ensign Lexee Andonian and 1AE Alan Currie managing the trawling equipment off the ship stern.
  • Survey Chief Phil White and Megan Shapiro monitoring the trawl nets in the water.
  • Engineer crewmember Gavan Roddey showing me the water purification system.
  • Scientists and Survey Crew working together.

At the top of the list though would have to be the connections I made with the scientists I spent almost three weeks with.  Being able to go out into the field with them and talking about what they have seen and learned over years of research has really reenergized my love for science in general.  Starting my shift looking forward to seeing what each Bongo station would bring up or what each trawl would bring to the sorting table, made for an expedition that went much too quickly.  It was interesting listening to my fellow scientists comparing how the numbers and ages of pollock caught at the various stations compared to what they had found in the Spring and in previous years. 

airport meal
The science crew all had the chance for one last meal together at the Anchorage airport before parting ways. I am very thankful for being accepted so well and for everything I have learned.

Overall, this has been an experience I will never forget.  I have learned so much about Alaska, the ocean, marine species, global warming, and scientific technology.  My time as a Teacher at Sea aboard the Oscar Dyson is something I will never forget and hope I can pass the excitement and experiences on to my students.

Posted on

Emily Cilli-Turner: One Fish, Two Fish….Pollock Counting Techniques July 29, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Emily Cilli-Turner

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 24 – August 11, 2018

 

Mission: Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Eastern Bering Sea

Date: July 29, 2018

 

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Latitude: 57° 10.46 N

Longitude: 171° 58.29 W

Wind Speed: 11.16 knots

Wind Direction: 77.54° (NW)

Air Temperature: 10.1° C (Manual Reading from the Bridge)

Barometric Pressure: 992.7 mb

Visibility: 6 nautical miles

Sea Wave Height: 3 feet

Sky: Overcast

 

Science Log:

How do the scientists aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson estimate the number and biomass of pollock in the Eastern Bering Sea? By using the science of statistics, of course! When political strategists want to determine what percentage of voters support a specific candidate or issue, they take a sample from the population of all registered voters. Voters in this sample are then asked about their preferences and statistical techniques are employed to extrapolate the results from the sample to the entire population and measure the margin of error.  Similar statistical techniques are employed by the scientists on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, but as you can imagine it is more difficult to sample pollock than voters that can be called on the phone!

Before each pollock survey begins, a set of transects is created for the Eastern Bering Sea.  These transects are paths for the ship to follow along which the scientists sample the pollock.  As you can see below, the transects for this survey are a fixed distance apart and cover the entire area of interest.  Generally, the transects are straight lines created to be perpendicular to the ocean depth grade. This allows for the scientists to encounter a variety of species as well as different ages of pollock to gain a robust picture of the ocean life in the area.

transect
The transects for this survey leg can be seen as the straight lines. The other markings are places where the trawls have been done and other scientific instruments have been deployed.

The NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson follows the transects during daylight hours, continuously recording water column acoustic backscatter data using EK60 instruments mounted on the bottom of the centerboard.  Scientists monitor the backscatter images, and when they observe sufficient pollock or other fish aggregations they  use the trawling nets to take a random sample of the fish and other ocean life they observed.  The trawling net is 140 m long with a vertical mouth opening of 25 m and horizontal mouth opening of 35 m. The net is deployed from the back of the ship and dragged at a fixed depth for an amount of time determine by the lead scientist to ensure a large enough sample. Once the trawling net is hauled in, the sample of marine fish and invertebrates is processed in the wet lab and entered into a database. Later the pollock numbers and weights by length are combined with  recorded acoustic data to create a robust estimate of the pollock population in the Eastern Bering Sea.

View of trawling nets being hauled in from the bridge.
View of trawling nets being hauled in from the deck.

After the catch comes in, the first job in processing the sample is to sort the specimens from the trawling net.  The first part of the net to come in is called the pocket net. This small net, also called a recapture net,  has a fine mesh and is designed to capture small species such as krill, age 0 pollock and jellyfish which slip through the meshes of the large trawl.  After the pocket net is processed, we process the codend, the closed end of the net and the main section where larger fish enter and are captured.  The fish in the codend are sorted by species.  The scientists can choose to measure the length of all the pollock in the haul or, if it is a particularly large catch, split the haul and measure length of a subsample of pollock.  Other species are also identified and their length is measured for later estimates of the total biomass that pollock make up as compared to other species.  Smaller species such as krill are weighed in aggregate instead of individually.

codend
The codend of the trawling net.

Sample analysis consists of measuring the lengths of approximately 200-400 adult pollock in the catch using the magnetic length board.  This is just one of the numerous software and instruments created by the MACE (Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering) group at NOAA in Seattle to make analysis easier and more automated.  The length distribution of the adult pollock helps scientists determine the approximate age distribution of pollock in the sample and it also helps them compare this distribution to other samples taken in the Eastern Bering Sea.  A subsample of about 50 pollock from the haul is taken to get more in-depth measurements. From these pollock, we measure both the length and weight and a subsample from the 50 is taken to determine the gender, measure maturity (i.e. what stage in the life cycle the pollock is at), and collect the otolith (ear bone), which gives a more accurate measurement of the pollock’s age.

TAS Emily Cilli-Turner
measuring the length of pollock from a haul.

Personal Log:

At this point, I am getting used to life at sea and have a nice routine.  The beginning of my shift, from 4am to a little past 7am, starts at sunrise and during which we resume our path along the transect.  No trawling operations are conducted at night, but there is still excitement.  If the underwater acoustics show that the pollock are at an appropriate depth, we can go pole fishing off the boat.  NOAA scientist Mike Levine is interested in post-capture mortality of pollock and the feasibility of tagging pollock.  Thus, he would like to catch pollock using a fishing pole, which puts much less stress on the pollock and increases the chance of their survival after the catch, instead of the trawling nets.

fishing
NOAA scientist Mike Levine with a pollock caught with a fishing pole.

As an instructor of mathematics, I have little knowledge of fish biology, but the scientists are great teachers!  I have been given a crash course on fish anatomy using specimens from the catch and I have learned how to sex the fish as well as how to collect the ovaries and the otoliths (ear bones).  If you asked me a week ago if I ever thought I would know so much about pollock after just a couple days on board, I would have laughed.  It has been great being the student and being able to learn so much in such a short time with real hands-on experience!

Did You Know?

Most of the personnel that are responsible for piloting and maintaining the ship are part of NOAA Corps, which is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.

Posted on

Emily Cilli-Turner: Getting Ready for an Adventure! July 22, 2018

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Emily Cilli-Turner

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 25 – August 15, 2018

Mission: Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Dutch Harbor, Alaska

Date: July 15, 2018

Personal Introduction:

Olympic Mountains
Hiking in the Olympic Mountains near Seattle, WA

Hello!  My name is Emily Cilli-Turner and I will be aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson as a participant in the 2018 NOAA Teacher at Sea program.  I am Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of La Verne in La Verne, California where I teach the entire undergraduate curriculum in mathematics.  This will be my sixth year teaching full-time. My bachelor’s degree in mathematics is from Colorado State University and I received my doctorate from University of Illinois at Chicago, where I specialized in undergraduate mathematics education.  I am especially interest in the transition students make when they enter a proof-based course and how to best acclimate them to the abstract and non-formulaic nature of proving.

I am passionate about math and science education and excited to use the data collected from my time on the ship to create real-world applications problems for my students.  I will be teaching Calculus I and II next semester and I plan to use the data gained from my experience to teach my students about concepts such as rates of change and statistical techniques.

I have a strong love for the ocean and so I am excited to be on the water for so long. I am transitioning to California after living in Washington, where I co-owned a 23-foot sailboat with some friends.  We often would sail to different islands and ports on Puget Sound, which was always a blast. When I am not teaching or sailing, I enjoy walking my dog, hiking and reading!

On a boat
TAS Emily Cilli-Turner on her boat in the Puget Sound

Personal Log

In about a week, I will fly to Dutch Harbor, Alaska to board the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson and participate in the Alaska Pollock counting survey.  Before receiving this placement, I have never really heard of Pollock, but after researching it I realized it is an amazing fish! Pollock can easily taste like other fish and is often used for imitation crab amongst other things.

I am also really excited to meet the scientists and the crew.  The reason I know about the Teacher at Sea program is that I have a friend that works at NOAA in Seattle.  I mentioned offhandedly that I would love to go out on a NOAA cruise and she said, “Well…they do have the Teacher at Sea program.”  I was immediately intrigued and I wrote my application as soon as it was available. As a person who is passionate about education and the ocean, the Teacher at Sea program is a great fit for me and I know I will learn a lot that I can take back to my students. Hopefully, I can also inspire them to seek out a career with NOAA.

Did You Know?

Pollock eat crabs, shrimp and small fish.

Posted on

Jenny Smallwood: Rough Seas Asea, September 13, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Smallwood

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

September 4 – 17, 2017

Mission: Juvenile Pollock Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: September 13, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 55 06.6N
Longitude:158 39.5W
Winds: 20 S
Temperature: 11 degrees Celsius (51.8 degrees Fahrenheit)

Up. Down. Up. Down. Left. Right….no I’m not in an aerobics class. High winds and seas cause my chair to slide across the floor as I type.

weather

Thus far we’ve been working 12 hour shifts, 24 hours a day. Today we’re sitting about twirling our thumbs as 12 feet seas toss us about. It’s not too bad actually, but it is bad enough to make operations unsafe for both crew and equipment. I’ve been impressed with the safety first culture on-board the Oscar Dyson. Hopefully, it’ll calm down soon, and we can start operations again.

Science and Technology Log

Ship support systems for power, water, sewage treatment, and heating/cooling are all several levels below the main deck, which makes ship engineers a bit like vessel moles. These hard working guys ensure important life support systems work smoothly. Highlights from my time with them include a lesson on the evaporator and engines.

The evaporator, which for some reason I keep calling the vaporizer, produces the fresh water drinking supply. The evaporator works by drawing in cold seawater and then uses excess engine heat to evaporate, or separate, the freshwater from the seawater. The remaining salt is discarded as waste. On average, the evaporator produces approximately 1,400 gallons of water per day.
*Side note: the chief engineer decided vaporizer sounds a lot more interesting than evaporator. Personally, I feel like vaporizer is what Star Trek-y people would have called the system on their ships.

IMG_20170909_145438
The evaporator in action.

The Oscar Dyson has 4 generators on board, two large, and two small. The generators are coupled with the engines. Combined they produce the electricity for the ship’s motors and onboard electrical needs, such as lights, computers, scientific equipment, etc.

IMG_20170909_145326

IMG_20170909_145132
I even got to see the prop shaft.

Personal Log

This week I also spent time in the Galley with Ava and Adam. (For those of you who know me, it’s no surprise that I befriended those in charge of food.) Read on for a summary of Ava’s life at sea story.

Me: How did you get your start as a galley cook?

Ava: When I was about 30 years old, a friend talked me into applying to be a deck hand.

Me: Wait. A deck hand?

Ava: That’s right. I was hired on to a ship and was about to set out for the first time when both the chief steward and 2nd cook on a different ship quit. My CO asked if I cook to which I replied “for my kids,” which was good enough for him. They immediately flew me out to the other ship where I became the 2nd cook. 12 years later I’m now a Chief Steward.

Me: Wow! Going from cooking for your kids to cooking for about forty crew members must have been a huge change. How did that go?

Ava: To be honest, I made a lot phone calls to my mom that first year. She helped me out a lot by giving me recipes and helping me figure out how to increase the serving sizes. Over the years I’ve paid attention to other galley cooks so I now have a lot of recipes that are my own and also borrowed.

Me: What exactly does a Chief Steward do?

Ava: The Chief Steward oversees the running of the galley, orders food and supplies, plans menus, and supervises the 2nd Cook. I’m a little different in that I also get in there to cook, clean, and wash dishes alongside my 2nd Cook. I feel like I can’t ask him to do something that I’m not willing to do too.

Me: So you didn’t actually go to school to be a chef. Did you have to get any certifications along the way?

Ava: When I first started out, certifications weren’t required. Now they are, and I have certifications in food safety and handling.

There are schools for vessel cooking though. My daughter just recently graduated from seafarers school. The school is totally free, except for the cost of your certification at the very end. For people interested in cooking as a career, it’s a great alternative to other, more expensive college/culinary school options. Now she’s traveling the world, doing a job she loves, and putting a lot of money into her savings.

Me: Talking with crew members on this ship, the one thing they all say is how hard it is to be away from family for long stretches of time. A lot of them are on the ship for ten months out of the year, and they do that for years and years. It’s interesting that your daughter decided to follow in your footsteps after experiencing that separation firsthand.

Ava: I was surprised too. Being away from friends and family is very hard on ship crew. Luckily for me, my husband is also part of the NOAA crew system so we get to work and travel together. Nowadays I’m part of the augment program so I get to set my own schedule. It gives me more flexibility to stay home and be a grandma!

Did You Know?

Nautical miles are based on the circumference of the earth and is 1 minute of latitude. 1 nautical mile equals 1.1508 statue miles.

Posted on

Jenny Smallwood: WWE at Sea, September 5, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jenny Smallwood
Aboard Oscar Dyson
September 2 – 17, 2017

Mission: Juvenile Pollock Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: September 5, 2017

Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 56 38.8 N
Longitude: 155 34.8
Clear skies
Wind speed 10 mph NNE
Air temp 11.5 degrees Celsius (52.7 degrees Fahrenheit)

Science and Technology Log
Today I got smacked in the face by a jellyfish. It practically flew into my mouth. Don’t worry I’m perfectly fine. I’ll admit to a lot of silent shrieking when it happened. Perhaps even some gagging….How did this happen you might be asking yourself? Read on my friend, read on..

After a couple of days at the dock in Kodiak, Alaska, we are finally underway!  My first shift was spent hanging out and watching the scenery as we cruised to the first station.

Fluke
Here’s one of the whales we saw while cruising to our first station site. Photo courtesy of Jim McKinney

 We went through the aptly named Whale Passage where we saw orcas, whales, sea otters, and puffins!  It was also the first time we’d seen the sun in two days.  To be honest, that was more exciting than seeing whales.

It took about twelve hours for us to reach the first station site. The established routine is bongo net and Stauffer trawl, cruise to next site, bongo net and Stauffer trawl, cruise to next site, bongo net and…well you get the point.

When the Stauffer trawl net is hauled in, the science team and survey tech sort through everything in the net. Juvenile pollock (less than a year old) go into one bin, capelin into another bin, so on and so forth.

Stauffer Trawl Sorting
The science team and survey tech sort a pile of jellies and fish. *Caution! Watch out for flying jellyfish!*

Now what makes this really interesting is that we’re basically digging these fish out of one massive, gelatinous pile of jellyfish goop. Once all the fish are sorted, the jellies get sorted too, which is where the jellyfish face smack comes in. Picture a smallish conveyor belt with 5 people standing around throwing fish, squid, isopods, and jellyfish into appropriate bins. It turns out that when you throw jellyfish into a bin, it sometimes explodes on impact causing jellyfish goop to go flying, and sometimes it flies onto my face. *smh*

lumpsucker
We caught a cool looking smooth lumpsucker fish.

 

GOPR0491 - Edited.jpg
Here I am holding the smooth lumpsucker.

When the crew and science team aren’t working jellyfish laden Stauffer trawls, they’re busy with the bongo nets. These are my favorite because they pull up lots of plankton.

GOPR0498.JPG
The deck crew and survey tech bring in the bongo nets.

Most people would totally freak out if they knew how much stuff was swimming around in the water with them, including pteropods, which look a bit like slugs with wings. Pteropods are a type of zooplankton also know as sea butterflies for the small “wings” attached to their bodies. The ones we got today were big enough to be slugs. My goal over the next couple of weeks is to get a decent video of them swimming.

Personal Log
Peer pressure is a powerful thing. Even though I’ve never gotten seasick, I succumbed to peer pressure and took some meclizine before leaving the dock. I really didn’t want my memories of the Oscar Dyson to include yakking over the side of the ship. In this case, positive peer pressure was a good thing. I’ve been feeling just fine even when confined in small, fishy smelling rooms. Eau de poisson anybody?

The biggest adjustment has been the time change and 12 hour work shift from noon to midnight. I like to describe myself as the oldest, young person alive. We’re talking early bird specials, going to bed early, and waking up at the crack of dawn. So while the day shift I’m on is clearly a perk, it’s still taken me a few days to get used to it, especially since it’s 4 pm to 4 am east coast time. Judging by the 9.5 hours of sleep I got last night, it’ll be smooth sailing from here.

I can also report that the food on board is delicious. Ava and Adam crank out tasty options at every meal, and somehow meet the needs of about 35 people some of whom are vegetarian, vegan, low acid, etc. Since Kodiak was a washout, I tagged along on the shopping trip prior to our departure. Five shopping carts later we were ready to eat our way across the Gulf of Alaska!

Did You Know?
NOAA scientists on board the ship rotate through different at sea research cruises throughout the year. They even participate on cruises that have nothing to do with their actual research. It’s like a big group effort to get the data NOAA needs for its various research projects.

 

 

Posted on

Jenny Smallwood: Adventure Awaits, August 29, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Jenny Smallwood

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

September 4 – 17, 2017

 

Mission: Juvenile Walleye Pollack Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Gulf of Alaska

Current Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Date: 8/29/2017

 

Weather Data from the beach

Currently Virginia Beach is experiencing Potential Tropical Cyclone 10.  The temperature is topped out at 75°F.  The winds are out of the NE at about 13 mph right now.  That’s expected to increase to 25-35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph this afternoon.  Forecasts predict mild flash flooding and some tidal flooding around the 2 pm high tide.

Potential Tropical Cyclone 10
Potential Tropical Cyclone 10 Wind Speed Probability Map. Image courtesy of the National Hurricane Center

Introduction – Personal Log

My name is Jenny Smallwood, and I’m a school and youth programs educator at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  I’m in my 11th year as an educator, which included 8 years as a high school science teacher.  These days I get to hang out with and educate scouts, school groups, and other visitors to the Aquarium.  One of the coolest things I’ve experienced working here is watching as a student sees the ocean for the very first time!  It was that experience that helped me realize how important it is to share the oceans and oceanic research with people who can’t experience it themselves.  I want to bring my Teacher at Sea experience to those individuals who don’t have the Chesapeake Bay or an ocean in their backyard.  I want to help them experience the life of a marine researcher.

Outside of my role as an educator, I love to go on all the adventures.  My husband, Lee, and I enjoy traveling and have nicknamed ourselves “adventure nerds.”  We even have a theme song.  Like I said, we’re nerds.  I’m super excited about this latest adventure with Teacher at Sea.  I’m still amazed that I was one of the few chosen for this year’s research cruises.

Eldfell Volcano
Warming our hands from the heat emitted by Eldfell, a volcano located on the Westman Islands in Iceland.

Science and Technology Log

The Oscar Dyson is a NOAA research vessel used for fisheries surveys important to fisheries management.  Commissioned in 2005, this 208.6 feet long ultra-quiet survey ship is considered one of the most technologically advanced fisheries survey vessels in the world.  That’s right.  This ship is super stealthy so we can sneak up on the fish.  It also has numerous labs onboard, including a wet, dry, bio, and hydro lab.

Oscar Dyson
The Oscar Dyson near Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Courtesy of NOAA.

On this trip, the Oscar Dyson will pull out of Kodiak, Alaska and make its way southwest through the Gulf of Alaska to take up position for Leg 2 of the EMA-EcoFOCI Juvenile Walleye Pollock and Forage Fish Survey.

Leg 2 Map
Leg 2 Sampling Station Map in the Gulf of Alaska. Image courtesy of NOAA

What does that mean exactly?  Well, it means that scientists will collect Walleye Pollock data to get an idea of what the population looks like.  They’ll also take zooplankton samples, smaller prey fish samples, and collect environmental data to see how these factors might be affecting Pollock.  Basically scientists and policy makers need information in order to properly manage this fishery, and this is where NOAA comes in.  I can’t wait to learn more about the application of this research as scientists learn even more about the ecology of Pollock. 

To collect these samples, scientists will be using a variety of tools.  Bongo nets will be used to collect zooplankton samples.  From what I’ve learned so far, it sounds like specially mounted equipment collects water data along with the plankton.  A Stauffer trawl net will be used to sample fish species.  A CTD rosette (CTD stands for conductivity, temperature, and density) will be used along the way to corroborate that the other water data equipment is indeed working correctly.  Scientists, like mathematicians, do love to double check their work.

 

Did You Know?

Did you know that NOAA is part of our daily lives?  Both the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center are part of this organization.  To learn more about the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Harvey, or Potential Tropical Cyclone 10, visit their website: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

 

 

 

Posted on

Amanda Dice: Bongos in the Water, August 24, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Amanda Dice

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 21 – September 2, 2017

 

Mission: Juvenile Pollock Fishery Survey

Geographic area of cruise: Western Gulf of Alaska

Date: August 24, 2017

Weather Data: 11.5 C, Foggy

Latitude 56 35.5 N, Longitude 153 21.9 W

IMG_1101
This map on the bridge helps everyone keep track of where we are and where we are headed next.

Science and Technology Log

At each sampling site, we take two types of samples. First, we dip what are called bongo nets into the water off of the side of the boat. These nets are designed to collect plankton. Plankton are tiny organisms that float in the water. Then, we release long nets off of the back of the boat to take a fish sample. There is a variety of fish that get collected. However, the study targets five species, one of which is juvenile walleye pollock, Gadus chalcogrammus. These fish are one of the most commercially fished species in this area. I will go into more detail about how the fish samples are collected in a future post. For now, I am going to focus on how plankton samples are collected and why they are important to this survey.

IMG_1096
Juvenile walleye pollock are fish that are only a few inches long. These fish can grow to much larger sizes as they mature.

As you can see in the photos below, the bongo nets get their name because the rings that hold the nets in place resemble a set of bongo drums. The width of the nets tapers from the ring opening to the other end. This shape helps funnel plankton down the nets and into the collection pieces found at the end of the nets. These collection devices are called cod ends.

IMG_0993
Bongo nets being lowered into the water off of the side of the ship.

IMG_1092
This is the collection end, or cod end, of the bongo nets.

This study uses two different size bongo nets. The larger ones are attached to rings that are 60 centimeters in diameter. These nets have a larger mesh size at 500 micrometers. The smaller ones are attached to rings that are 20 centimeters in diameter and have a smaller mesh size at 150 micrometers. The different size nets help us take samples of plankton of different sizes. While the bongo nets will capture some phytoplankton (plant-like plankton) they are designed to mainly capture zooplankton (animal-like plankton). Juvenile pollock eat zooplankton. In order to get a better understanding of juvenile pollock populations, it is important to also study their food sources.

IMG_1081
Here I am, helping to bring the bongo nets back on to the ship.

Once the bongo nets have been brought back on board, there are two different techniques used to assess which species of zooplankton are present. The plankton in nets #1 of both the small and large bongo are placed in labeled jars with preservatives. These samples will be shipped to a lab in Poland once the boat is docked. Here, a team will work to identify all the zooplankton in each jar. We will probably make it to at least sixty sampling sites on the first leg of this survey. That’s a lot of zooplankton!

 

IMG_1121
A jar of preserved zooplankton is ready to be identified.

The other method takes place right on the ship and is called rapid zooplankton assessment (RZA). In this method, a scientist will take a small sample of what was collected in nets #2 of both the small and large bongos. The samples are viewed under a microscope and the scientist keeps a tally of which species are present. This number gives the scientific team some immediate feedback and helps them get a general idea about which species of zooplankton are present. Many of the zooplankton collected are krill, or euphausiids, and copepods. One of the most interesting zooplankton we have sampled are naked pteropods, or sea angels. This creature has structures that look very much like a bird’s wings! We also saw bioluminescent zooplankton flash a bright blue as we process the samples. Even though phytoplankton is not a part of this study, we also noticed the many different geometric shapes of phytoplankton called diatoms.

 

sea angel
A naked pteropod, or sea angel, as seen through the microscope.

Personal Log

Both the scientific crew and the ship crew work one of two shifts. Everyone works either midnight to noon or noon to midnight. I have been lucky enough to work from 6am – 6pm. This means I get the chance to work with everyone on board at different times of the day. It has been really interesting to learn more about the different ship crew roles necessary for a survey like this to run smoothly. One of the more fascinating roles is that of the survey crew. Survey crew members act as the main point of communication between the science team and the ship crew. They keep everyone informed about important information throughout the day as well as helping out the science team when we are working on a sample. They are responsible for radioing my favorite catchphrase to the bridge and crew, “bongos in the water.”

IMG_1105
A sign of another great day on the Gulf of Alaska.

Did You know?

You brush your teeth with diatoms! The next time you brush your teeth, take a look at the ingredients on your tube of toothpaste. You will see “diatomaceous earth” listed. Diatomaceous earth is a substance that contains the silica from ancient diatoms. Silica gives diatoms their rigid outer casings, allowing them to have such interesting geometric shapes. This same silica also helps you scrub plaque off of your teeth!

diatoms
Diatoms as seen through a microscope.

 

Posted on

Staci DeSchryver: Exploring HICEAS on the High Seas! June 20, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Staci DeSchryver

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette

July 6 – August 2, 2017

Mission:  Cetacean Study

Geographic Area of Cruise:  Hawaiian EEZ

Current Location:  Impatiently waiting to sail in Centennial, Colorado

Date:  June 20

Weather Data from the “Bridge” (AKA My Sun Porch):

wxdata_0620
Here’s the weather data from the “Bridge” in Centennial. (In Station Model format, of course. How else would we practice?)

 

Personal Log – An Introduction

Hello!  My name is Staci DeSchryver and I will be traveling this upcoming July on the Oscar Elton Sette as part of the HICEAS program!

I am an Oceanography, Meteorology, and Earth Science teacher at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, CO.  This August will kick off my 14th (yikes!) year teaching.  I know you might be thinking, “Why Oceanography in a landlocked state?”  Well, the reason why I can and do teach Oceanography is because of Teacher At Sea.  I am an alumna, so this is my second official voyage through the Teacher At Sea program.  It was all of the wonderful people I met, lessons I learned, and science that I participated in on the

 

DeSchryverIntroPic
This is my husband, Stephen, and I, at the game that sent the Broncos to the Superbowl!

 

Oscar Dyson in 2011 that led me to encourage my school to put an Oceanography course in place for seniors as a capstone course.  This past year was the first year for the Oceanography and Meteorology courses, and they were very well received!  I have three sections of each class next year, as well!  (Shout out to all my recent senior grads reading this post! You were awesome!)  We study our World’s Ocean from the top of the water column all the way to the deepest parts of the Marianas Trench, and from the tiniest atom all the way up to the largest whale.  I  believe it is one of the most comprehensive courses offered to our students – incorporating geology, chemistry, physics, and biology, but then again, I’m a bit biased.

Apart from being a teacher, I am a wife to my husband of 8 years, Stephen.  We don’t have children, but we do have two hedgehogs, Tank and Willa, who keep us reasonably busy.  Willa only has one eye, and Tank is named Tank because he’s abnormally large for a hedgie.  They are the best lil’ hedgies we know.  We enjoy camping, rock climbing, and hiking – the typical Coloradans, though we are both originally from Michigan.  When we aren’t spending time together, I like to dance ballet, read, write, and I recently picked up a new weightlifting habit, which has led me to an entire new lifestyle of health and wellness with an occasional interjection of things like Ice Cream topped with caramel and Nachos when in the “off” season (hey, nobody’s perfect).

I will be leaving for Honolulu, Hawaii on July 4th to meet up with the fine scientists that make up the HICEAS team.  What is HICEAS?  Read below to find out more about HICEAS and the research we will be doing onboard!

Science Log

The HICEAS (Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey) is a study of Cetaceans (Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises) and their habitats.  Cetaceans live in the ocean, and are characterized by being carnivorous (we will get along just fine at the dinner table) and having fins (since I am a poor swimmer, I will humbly yield to what I can only assume is their instinctive expertise).  This means that the study will cover all manners of these majestic creatures – from whales that are definitely easily identifiable as whales to whales that look like dolphins but are actually whales to porpoises that really look like whales but are actually dolphins and dolphins that look like dolphins that are dolphins and…  are you exhausted yet?  Here’s some good news – porpoises aren’t very common in Hawaiian waters, so that takes some of the stress out of identifying one of those groups, though we will still be on the lookout.  Here’s where it gets tricky – it won’t be enough to just sight a whale, for example and say, “Hey! We have a whale!”  The observers will be identifying the actual species of the whale (or dolphin or possible-porpoise).  The observers who tackle this task are sharp and quick at what is truly a difficult and impressive skill.  I’m sure this will be immediately confirmed when they spot, identify, and carry on before I say, “Wait! Where do you see it?”

hawaiian_archipelago_map_sm
This is the research area for the HICEAS project. Map/photo is credited directly to the HICEAS website, https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/hiceas/whats_hiceas.php

There are 25 cetacean species native to Hawaiian waters, so that’s a big order to fill for the observers.  And we will be out on the water until we locate every last one.  Just kidding.  But we will be looking to spot all of these species, and once found, we will do our best to estimate how many there are overall as a stock estimate.  Ideally, these cetacean species will be classified into three categories – delphinids (dolphins and a few dolphin-like whales), deep diving whales (whales with teeth), and baleen whales (of the “swim away!” variety).  Once identified in this broad sense, they will then be identified by species.  However, I do have a feeling these two categorizations happen all at once.

Once the data is collected, there is an equation that is used to project stock estimates for the whole of the Pacific.  More on this later, but I will just start by saying for all you math folk out there, it’s some seriously sophisticated data extrapolation.  It involves maths that I have yet to master, but I have a month to figure it out, so it’s not looking too bleak for me just yet.  In the meantime, I’m spending my time trying to figure out which cetaceans that look like dolphins are actually possible-porpoises, and which dolphins that look like dolphins are actually whales.

Goals and Objectives of the HICEAS

The HICEAS study operates as a part of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SFSC), both under the NOAA umbrella.  Our chief scientist is Dr. Erin Oleson, who will be the lead on this leg of the cruise. HICEAS last collected data in 2010, and is now ready for the next round of stock assessments.  HICEAS is a 187-day study, of which we will be participating in approximately 30 of those days for this particular leg.  Our research area is 2.5 million square kilometers, and covers the whole of the Hawaiian Archipelago and it’s Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ!  The HICEAS study has three primary goals:

  1.  Estimate the number of cetaceans in Hawaii.
  2.  Examine their population structure.
  3.   Understand their habitat.

Studies like the HICEAS are pretty rare (2002, 2010, and now 2017), so the scientists are doing their best to work together to collect as much information as they possibly can during the study.  From what I can gather in lead-up chats with on board scientist Kym Yano, we will be traveling along lines called “transects” in the Pacific Ocean, looking for all the popular Cetacean hangouts.  When a cetacean is sighted, we move toward the lil’ guy (or gal) and all his friends to take an estimate, and if it permits, a biopsy.  There is a second team of scientists working below deck listening for Cetacean gossip (whale calls) as well.  Acoustic scientists will record the whale or dolphin calls for later review and confirmation of identification of species, and, of course, general awesomeness.

But that’s not all!

We will also be dropping CTD’s twice per day, which is pretty standard ocean scientific practice.  Recall that the CTD will give us an idea of temperature, salinity, and pressure variations with depth, alerting us to the presence and locations of any of the “clines” – thermocline, halocline, and pycnocline.  Recall that in areas near the equator, rapid changes of temperature, salinity, and density with depth are pretty common year-round, but at the middle latitudes, these form and dissipate through the course of the solar year. These density changes with depth can block nutrients from moving to the surface, which can act as a cutoff to primary production.  Further, the CTD readings will help the acoustic scientists to do their work, as salinity and temperature variations will change the speed of sound in water.

There will also be a team working to sight sea birds and other marine life that doesn’t fall under the cetacean study (think sea turtles and other fun marine life).  This study is enormous in scope.  And I’m so excited to be a part of it!

Pop Quiz:

What is the difference between a porpoise and a dolphin?  

It has to do with 3 identifiers:  Faces, Fins, and Figures.

According to NOAA’s Ocean Service Website…

Faces:  Dolphins have prominent “beaks” and cone-shaped teeth, while Porpoises have smaller mouths and teeth shaped like spades.

Fins: Dolphin’s dorsal (back) fins are curved, while porpoises fins are more triangle-shaped

Figures: Dolphins are leaner, and porpoises are more “portly.”

Dolphins are far more prevalent, and far more talkative.  But both species are wicked-smart, using sonar to communicate underwater.

Resources:

HICEAS website

Bradford, A. L., Forney, K. A., Oleson, E. M., & Barlow, J. (2017). Abundance estimates of cetaceans from a line-transect survey within the U.S. Hawaiian Islands Exclusive Economic Zone. Fishery Bulletin, 115(2), 129-142. doi:10.7755/fb.115.2.1

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Virginia Warren: Home Sweet Home

NOAA Teacher at Sea Virginia Warren
Mission: Acoustic and Trawl Survey of Walleye Pollock
Geographical Area of Cruise: Shelikof Strait
on NOAA ship Oscar Dyson
Date: 3/25/2016

Science and Technology Log:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

I created the video below  to document some of my activities aboard the Oscar Dyson during my 2016 Teacher at Sea research trip.

In this video, Virginia opens with exciting footage from the front of the Oscar Dyson’s bow as they transit through Alaska’s Shelikof Strait. Interspersed, she shares various steps involved in processing the fish caught in the survey: sorting the catch by species (0:34), collecting the pollock into bins (1:00), making an incision to determine the sex of the pollock (1:07), measuring the pollocks’ lengths and taking biological samples (1:33), removing the otoliths (2:23 and 3:29), preserving the otoliths for analyzing on shore (3:12), and measuring and recording other fish using the Ichthystick and the CLAMS computer program (3:57). Virginia also takes the opportunity to show off some interesting species—lumpsucker fish (2:18), starry flounder (2:53), and salmon (3:53). Finally, Virginia gives a brief tour of the deck (4:38) and finishes with a photo of her wearing a survival (or “Gumby”) suit (5:02.)

My students know a good bit about my previous Teacher at Sea experience out of Woods Hole, Massachusetts where we used the HabCam to look at the ocean floor. With that knowledge in mind a couple of my students asked me if there was a way that we were able to look at the fish while they were still in the water. The simple answer to that question is yes. While my previous TAS experience used the HabCam, the Oscar Dyson uses a CamTrawl. The CamTrawl is attached to the net and it records pictures as fish enter the  cod end of the net.

AWT001_camtrawl2
Image from the CamTrawl

 

DSC02936
CamTrawl

DSC02920
Nick and Ryan Attaching the CamTrawl to the Net

 

After each trawl we would use custom software written in MATLAB to measure lengths of pollock while they were in the water. This program uses the pictures taken from the CamTrawl during the trawl to measure the length of the fish. The CamTrawl takes two pictures at different angles so that most of the time we can see the same fish from two different angles. Fish length irregularities occur in the MATLAB program when it selects nets or two fish at one time to length, so therefore a person has to go back and check to make sure that the program has selected valid fish to length. As the fish pictures come up on the MATLAB screen the person rating the fish selects the fish when the yellow box around the fish covers most of the fish from both angle camera shots of the CamTrawl.

Untitled
A Screen in MATLAB that Shows Valid Fish Lengths

The above picture shows three different fish that were valid choices for length measurement. The pictures on the left show one camera angle and the pictures on the right show the other camera angle. When both angles have a valid fish with the correct placement of the yellow box, the person selecting the fish will click the fish to tell the program to use that fish in the measurement data.

 

Interview With a NOAA Survey Technician: Alyssa Pourmonir 

Alyssa Pourmonir inside the Wet Lab
Alyssa Pourmonir inside the Wet Lab

  1. How did you come to be in NOAA Corps? (or what made you decide to join NOAA Corps and not another military branch.

I am not in the NOAA Corps, instead I am a civilian government employee under the title of Survey Technician. I was in the US Coast Guard for 3 years where I took many courses related to navigation, leadership, and ship life. I feel my background in the Coast Guard has allowed me to excel in this demanding environment.

  1. What is your educational/working background?

I have been lucky to have the opportunity to be in the Coast Guard which taught me many professional skills and built me up to be stronger and more independent. I also spent an entire summer forecasting for the weather in Pennsylvania. Here I gained an abundance of practice presenting the weather on the green screen and performing on live television for WNEP TV. Before coming to Alaska for this job, I worked as a consultant at NASA Stennis Space Center performing remote sensing analysis of forests using data from the MODIS and VIIRS data.

Academically, I have a BS in Marine Environmental Science from SUNY Maritime College, although most of my college experience took place at the US Coast Guard Academy.

  1. How long have you been in NOAA Corps?

I’m not in the NOAA Corps, but I have worked for NOAA for almost 2 years as a Survey Technician. May 2014 to present.

  1. How long have you been on the Dyson?

June 2014 to present.

  1. How long do you usually stay onboard the ship before going home?

In the past 2 years I have visited my family one time. Partly because I wish to send money home so my family can struggle a little less and hopefully enjoy a life with less debt; especially as my father passes retirement age. He has worked several full time jobs at a time for many years just to support my mom and sisters. Potentially, his work ethic and care giving nature is what I try to embody each day.

  1. Have you worked on any other NOAA ships? If so, which one and how long did you work on it?

Nope

  1. What is your job description on the Dyson?

On the NOAA Oscar Dyson, I am a crew member who acts as a liaison to the scientific personnel on board. I work up to 12 hours each day, 7 days per week maintaining the scientific data, equipment, and lab spaces on board. I also work alongside the scientists, deck department, and bridge watch standers to collect data by completing many different oceanographic or fishing operations.

  1. How is your science job on the Dyson different from the NOAA Scientists that you work with?

As a crew member, I facilitate a positive environment with the needed resources for the scientists to fulfill their data analysis and data collection. I also work alongside the scientists to process the fishing catch in our lab. So you can imagine me suited up with the scientists analyzing the fish’s reproduction development stages and extracting otoliths.

  1. What is the best part of your job?

I get to explore and work in the infamous Bering Sea Alaska, Gulf of Alaska, and Aleutian Island chain which most people can’t even imagine doing. Here in Alaska, I do not have the luxuries found in Continental US, so I believe out here there is a great opportunity for character building. It takes someone pretty amazing to live out here and do what we do.

  1. What is the most difficult part of your job?

Being in remote places and not seeing family or friends, but also being so far away that it is super expensive to try to see them.

  1. Do you have any career highlights or something that stands out in your mind that is exceptionally interesting?

I began my BS absolutely hating biology. I dislike and do not eat seafood. I was skittish and would let my partners do all of the dissections during classes, and I felt that I knew nothing about biology. As a Marine Environmental Science major I decided to take as many biology electives as I could. I went from the lowest grade in my classes to someone who received one of the highest grades in each class. I graduated just one class shy of a minor in Marine Biology and now toss around fish on the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, a fisheries research vessel. While my first day I would jump when the fish would move unexpectedly, now I can analyze characteristics of the fish with little alarm and much confidence. It is amazing how I enjoy biology now. I hope to encourage others to confidently try new things, for with a little practice and hard work you may accomplish anything or overcome fears you may not have realized you had.

  1. Do you have any advice for students who want to pursue a career with NOAA?

If you wish to pursue a career with NOAA, be sure to work hard to learn as much as you can, but also come out of your comfort zone to pursue as many volunteer or paid jobs that will give you work experience that correlates with your interests. Time management and resilience is often my secret to success.

Personal Log:

I had a fabulous time aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson and I’m very thankful to NOAA giving me the opportunity to travel to Alaska and learn from their scientists!!!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My flight home started on a small plane from Kodiak to Anchorage.

20160324_144957
Ravn Alaska’s Bombardier DHC-8-100

 

After the plane got into the air and was flying away from Kodiak, we were treated to a flyby of the Kodak Harbor and even got to see the Dyson outside of the harbor as we flew away.

20160324_150614
Aerial view of the Kodiak Harbor

We flew into Anchorage, Alaska and I was amazed at the beauty of the mountains in Alaska!

20160324_195443
Mountains Outside the Anchorage, Alaska Airport

A little while before sunset I caught a plane from Anchorage to the Chicago, O’Hare airport. The scenery and sunset leaving Alaska was beautiful!!!! I hope this won’t be the last time I get to come to Alaska, because it is a beautiful, adventure-filled part of the United States.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

It was good to be back on land again when we got back to Kodiak, but I do miss being on the ocean!!

20160324_132915
Bow of the Oscar Dyson

20160324_103709
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

 

20160324_103737
Finally back on land in front of the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson!

This experience was wonderful for me, however for my students this experience was invaluable. I was able to communicate and share my experiences with them through email almost daily and they were also able to read my TAS blogs as they were posted. If they don’t learn anything else from my experiences in Alaska, which I know that they will, I hope they will learn that the world is theirs to explore, study, and learn about no matter how small the town is that they come from!!

Posted on

Virginia Warren: CLAMS and Trawls March 22, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea Virginia Warren
Mission: Acoustic and Trawl Survey of Walleye Pollock
Geographical Area of Cruise: Shelikof Strait
on NOAA ship Oscar Dyson
Date: 3/20/16 – 3/22/16

Data from the Bridge (3/21/16):
Sky: Snow
Visibility: 8 to 10 nautical miles (at one point it was more like 2 to 3 nautical miles)
Wind Speed: 23 knots
Sea Wave Height: 4 – 6 feet
Sea Water Temperature: 5° C (41°)
Air Temperature: 0° C (32° F)
Barometric (Air) Pressure: 994.3 Millibars

Science and Technology Log:
The purpose of this research survey is to collect data on walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) that scientists will use when the survey is complete to help determine the population of the pollock. This data also helps scientists decide where and when to open the pollock fishery to fishermen. Data collection such as this survey are critical to the survival and health of the pollock fishery.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, we use an AWT (Aleutian Wing Trawl) to complete the pollock survey. The AWT has two doors that glide through the water and hold the net open. The cod end of the net is where all of the fish end up when the trawl is complete.

awt-model-commented1
Scale model of the Aleutian Wing Trawl (AWT) net courtesy of NOAA Scientist Kresimir Williams (Source: TAS Melissa George)

Codend of the Net – This is where all the fish are when the trawl is brought up.
Trawl Door

After the trawl is brought back onto the boat, the cod end of net is dumped onto a hydraulic table. The hydraulic table is then lifted up so that it angles the fish down a shoot into the Wet Lab on a conveyor belt.

The door to the shoot is opened allowing fish from the table outside to be dumped down the shoot and on to the conveyor belt inside.
Kim and Virginia sorting fish on the conveyor belt.

 

Once the pollock come through the shoot and onto the conveyor belt, the first thing that we do is pick out every type of animal that is not a pollock. So far we have found lots of eulachons (Thaleichthys pacificus), jellyfish (Cnidaria), isopods, and squid. We have even found the occasional chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), rock fish (Sebastes spp.), and a lumpsucker (Cyclopteridea). The pollock continue to roll down the conveyor belt into a plastic bin until the bin is full. Then the bin of pollock are weighed.

Contents of the Trawl

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

The data from every fish we sample goes into a computer system called CLAMS. CLAMS stands for Catch Logger for Acoustic Midwater Survey. While we are taking samples of the fish our gloves get covered in fish scales and become slimy, so to be able to enter the data into the CLAMS system without causing damage there is a touch screen on all of the computers in the Wet Lab.

 

20160322_161321
CLAMS computer system with a touch screen.

 

Once the pollock are weighed, a sample of the fish are taken to be sexed. To sex the fish, we use a scalpel to slice into the side of the fish. The picture of the chart below shows what we are looking for to determine if a pollock is male or female. Once we know what sex the fish is, we put it into a bin that says “Sheilas” for the female fish and “Blokes” for the male fish.

DSC02989

This chart of the Maturity Scale for Walleye Pollock is hanging in the Wet Lab.

DSC02937
Up-close of the Maturity Scale for female pollock.

DSC02988

Up-close of the Maturity Scale for male pollock.

 

Sexing the fish1

Kim showing Virginia what to look for when sexing the fish.

Once the fish are in their correct male/female bin, they are then measured for their length using an Ichthystick.

The Ichtystick was designed and built by MACE staff Rick Towler and Kresimir Williams who wrote a paper on it: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165783610001517

The Ichthystick has a magnet under the board. When the fish is placed on top of the board, a hand held magnet is placed at the fork of the fish tale. Where the hand held magnet is attracted to the magnet under the board tells the computer the length of the fish and the data is automatically stored in the CLAMS program.

DSC03092
Ichtystick

Starry Flounder Length
Getting the length of the starry flounder using the Ichthystick.

The next station is where the stomach, ovaries, and otoliths are removed from the fish and preserved for scientists to research when the survey is over. The ovaries of a female fish are weighed as well. Depending on the size of the ovaries, they may be collected for further research. Once all of the data has been collected from the fish, a label is printed with the data on it. This label is placed in the bag with the stomach or ovaries sample. Kim completes a special project for this survey. She is a stomach content analysist, so she collects stomachs from a sample of fish that will be taken back to her lab to analyze the stomach content of what she collected. She puts the stomach and the label with the fish’s information, into a bag that is placed in a solution of formalin that preserves the samples.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The next step is to get the otoliths out of the fish. A knife is used to cut across the head of the pollock. Otoliths are used to learn the age of the fish. The otoliths are placed in a glass vile that has a barcode number that can be scanned and put with all of the fish’s information in CLAMS. This number is used to keep track of the fish data for when the otoliths get analyzed later on.

Getting the Otoliths

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We also collect length, weight, sex, and stomach samples from other fish that come up in the trawl as well.

Interview with a NOAA Corps Officer: Ensign Caroline Wilkinson
Caroline is a Junior NOAA Corps Officer on board the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson. She is always very helpful with any information asked of her and always has a smile on her face when she does so. Thank you Caroline for making me feel so welcomed on board the Dyson!

DSC03089
Ensign Caroline Wilkinson

How did you come to be in NOAA Corps? (or what made you decide to join NOAA Corps and not another military branch?

  • I graduated from college in May of 2015. I was looking for a job at a career fair at my school and discovered the NOAA Corps. I had heard of NOAA, but didn’t know a lot about NOAA Corps. I wanted to travel and NOAA Corps allowed me that opportunity. I was unsure what type of work I wanted to do, so I decided to join and explore career options or make a career out of NOAA Corps.

What is your educational/working background?

  • I went to the University of Michigan where I received an undergraduate degree in ecology and evolutionary biology and a minor in physical oceanography.

How long have you been in NOAA Corps?

  • July of 2015 I started basic training. Training was at the Coast Guard academy in a strict military environment. We had navigation and ship handling classes seven hours a day.

How long have you been on the Dyson?

  • I have been here since December of 2015.

How long do you usually stay onboard the ship before going home?

  • We stay at sea for two years and then in a land assignment for 3 years before heading back to sea.

Have you worked on any other NOAA ships? If so, which one and how long did you work on it?

  • Nope, no other ships. I had no underway experience except a five-day dive trip in Australia.

Where have you traveled to with your job?

  • We were in Newport, Oregon and then we went to Seattle, Washington for a couple of weeks. Then we went to Kodiak and then to Dutch Harbor.

What is your job description on the Dyson?

  • I’m a Junior Officer, the Medical Officer, and the Environmental Compliance Officer. As a junior officer I am responsible for standing bridge watch while underway. As a Junior Officer I am responsible for standing 8 hours of watch, driving the ship, every day. As medical officer, we have over 150 drugs onboard that I am responsible for inventorying, administering, and ordering. I also perform weekly health and sanitary inspections and Weekly environmental walkthroughs where I’m looking for any safety hazards, unsecured items, leaks or spills that could go into the water.

What is the best part of your job?

  • Getting to drive the ship.

What is the most difficult part of your job?

  • Being so far away from my family and friends.

Do you have any career highlights or something that stands out in your mind that is exceptionally interesting?

  • During training we got to sail in the US Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. It’s a tall ship (like a pirate ship). We were out for eight days. We went from Baltimore to Port Smith, Virginia and had the opportunity to do a swim call 200 miles out in the Atlantic.

What kind of sea creature do you most like to see while you are at sea?

  • We have seen some killer whales and humpback whale in the bay we are in this morning. We’ve also seen some albatross.

Do you have any advice for students who want to join NOAA Corps?

  • You need an undergraduate degree in math or science. There are 2 classes of ten students a year. Recruiters look for students with research experience, a willingness to learn, and a sense of adventure.

DSC03090
Ensign Caroline Wilkinson at the helm.

 

Personal Log:
I have really been enjoying my time aboard the Oscar Dyson and getting to know the people who are on the ship with me. I love spending time on the Bridge because you can look out and see all around the ship. I also like being on the bridge because I get to witness, and sometimes be a part of, the interactions and camaraderie between the NOAA Corps Officers that drive/control the ship and the other ship workers.

DSC03085
Panoramic view of the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson‘s Bridge. Look at all of those windows!

 

Arnold and Kimrie are responsible for making breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all 34 people on the Oscar Dyson. They also clean the galley and all of the dishes that go along with feeding all of those people. They probably have the most important job on the ship, because in my previous experiences, hungry people tend to be grouchy people.

20160322_095134
Arnold and Kimrie are the stewards of the Oscar Dyson.

 

We’ve had a variety of yummy dishes made for us while we’ve been at sea. Breakfast starts at 7 a.m. and could include a combination of scrambled eggs, breakfast casserole, French toast, waffles, chocolate pancakes, bacon, sausage, or my personal favorite, eggs benedict.

20160322_070541
Breakfast is served. YUM!!!

Lunch is served at 11 a.m. and seems like a dinner with all of the variety of choices. Lunch usually has some type of soup, fish, and another meat choice available, along with vegetables, bread, and desert. Dinner is served at 5 p.m. and usually soup, fish, and another meat choice available, along with vegetables, bread and desert. I loved getting to try all of the different types of fish that they fix for us and I also really liked getting to try Alaskan King Crab for the first time!!

If you are still hungry after all of that, then there is always a 24-hour salad bar, a variety of cereal, snacks, and ice cream available in the galley. The left-overs from previous meals are also saved and put in the refrigerator for anyone to consume when they feel the need. If we are working and unable to get to the galley before a meal is over, Arnold or Kimrie will save a plate for us to eat when we get finished.

I also tried Ube ice cream, which is purple and made from yams. At first I was very skeptical of any kind of sweet treat being made out of yams, but I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted really good!

DSC02999
Ube ice cream made from yams! Very YUMMY!!!

 

There is even a place to do laundry on this ship, which I was very happy about because fishy clothes can get pretty stinky!

DSC03081
Laundry Room

I can’t end a blog without showing off some of the beautiful scenery that I have been privileged to see on this journey. The pictures below are of the Semidi Islands.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Posted on

Virginia Warren: Calibrations, Drills, and Interviews March 19, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea Virginia Warren
Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey of Walleye Pollock
Geographical Area of Cruise: Shelikof Strait
on NOAA ship Oscar Dyson
Date: 3/17/16 – 3/18/16

Data from the Bridge:
Sky: Cloudy
Visibility: 10 Nautical Miles
Wind Direction: 0.2 (20°) From the Northeast
Wind Speed: 25 Knots (30 Knots at point during the day)
Sea Wave Height: 5 – 6 ft. on average (10 ft. at highest)
Sea Water Temperature: 5.6° C (42.08° F)
Dry Temperature: 4° C (40° F)
Barometric (Air) Pressure: 1018.4

Science and Technology Log:
When the wind picked up, it was decided that the ship would quit fishing and running transect lines with the echo-sounder and instead go into one of Kodiak’s bays to seek protection from the weather (>40 knot winds and 16 – 20 foot sea waves were forecast). While were were ‘hiding’, the ship’s crew had time to fix a trawl winch problem and change nets, and the scientists conducted a calibration of the echo-sounder (this is done at the beginning and end of surveys). When we left the transect line, we went through Alitak Bay and stopped the ship in front of Hepburn Peninsula, with Deadman Bay to the left of the peninsula and Portage Bay to the right (if you are looking at the map). Where the ship was sitting, the bay was 74.8 m (245.4068 ft) deep and 5.6° C (42.08° F). It was still pretty windy (15-20 knots), but the Hepburn Peninsula blocked us from a lot of the wind.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

DSC02951
Deadman Bay to the left of Hepburn Peninsula and Portage Bay to the right

The calibration process of the echo sounder took some time. The science crew before me already started the process of calibrating the echo sounder before it was time for my shift to take over. They used three down riggers to send three lines under the center of the boat, where the echo sounder is positioned. A calibration sphere was placed a little further down one of the lines. There is also a lead weight put at the end of the line so that it will help hold the calibration sphere in place as the current moves.

tomichFig1
Echo Sounder Calibration Diagram (Source Credit: Sea Technology Website)

Then one of the science crew uses a system to align the calibration sphere with the echo sounder. There are two types of calibration spheres that we used today. The first, and smaller one, was made out of a tungsten-carbide alloy.

patrick-with-sphere1_small
Patrick holding the Tungsten-Carbide Calibration Sphere (photo by Julia Harvey, TAS summer 2013 DY1307)

The second calibration sphere was larger than the first and it was made out of solid copper. This made for a very easy, get a blog done, day for me because the job was completed by the lead scientist Patrick and Robert, one of the other science crew members.

DSC02956
Robert Putting the Copper Calibration Sphere on the Line

 

Echosounder calibration screen
Echo-sounder display during calibration. On the echogram (depth on vertical axis, time on horizontal axis) you can see the calibration spheres hanging below the ship above the seafloor. (credit: Patrick Ressler)

 

x6602ebs

Diagram to Describe Echo Sounder Technology (Source Credit: FAO Website)

x6602ebt
Diagram to Describe Echo Sounder Technology (Source Credit: FAO Link)

 

Lead Weight Sphere
Copper Calibration Sphere

 

Interview with a Scientist: Kim
For this leg of the research cruise Kim is on the same shift that I work on and she’s also my roommate. She has been great in helping me get accustomed to sea life and training me on what to do while we are sorting trawls in the science lab. She also agreed to let me interview her to share her story with my students. I am extremely grateful for all of the help, training, and friendship she has provided while I have been on the Dyson. Her interview is below:

IMG_0399
Kim Holding a Smooth Lumpsucker from a Bottom Trawl Survey (photo credit: Kim)

What is your educational background?
I have a bachelor’s of science degree aquatic and fishery sciences and a minor in marine biology.

How long have you been working as a scientist?
About 10 years.

How long have you been working as a NOAA contractor?
6 years.

What is your job description?
I am a stomach content analyst.

How often do you go on a survey?
Usually twice during the summer for about three weeks at a time.

What is a highlight for you while at sea?
A family of 4 got lost at sea and had been missing for 60 hours. We were out on survey and came across them in their life raft. We were able to pull them out. They wrote a book about it called “Lost in the Shelikof: an Alaskan Family’s Struggle to Survive”.

If you would like to read more about this story, here is the link to the book:  http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Shelikof-Alaskan-Familys-Struggle/dp/145650584X

What made you want to be a scientist?
I spent a lot of time on the water as a kid crabbing and playing in the water. I was always drawn to sea life and I wanted to learn as much about it as I could.

What enjoy most about being a scientist?
The survey work is my favorite part of my job. You get to see a lot of unique species that most people don’t get to see. A lot of deep water species. I also like going out on survey because most of my work is done in the lab looking at samples under a microscope. It’s refreshing to be able to travel up here and work on a boat every summer. Sometimes when I’m out here I stop and think “I can’t believe this is my job.” I learn something new every time I come out here. It’s hard work, but it’s also a lot of fun.

What is the hardest part of your job?
We have a sampling plan that tells us what species and what size range of fish we want to collect stomachs from. It can be difficult to get stomachs from all the fish that you’d like to simply because the net doesn’t catch individuals of a certain size. Fish frequently regurgitate their food when they come up in the net and it can be a challenge sometimes to find ones that haven’t thrown up.

What is your favorite sea creature?
Cuttlefish, they are pretty cute.

Here is a short YouTube video about cuttlefish if you would like to see what they look like and how they act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-zodF-XrSE

Any advice for people who want to be a scientist?
Volunteer as much as you can. Internships, especially those involving field work, are a great way to gain experience and help you decide what aspects of a particular field of science you’re most interested in. Also, having enthusiasm for the work that you’re doing goes a long way towards helping you get possible internships and job opportunities in the future. Hard work and enthusiasm are what helped me get where I am today in my career.

Personal Log:
For the first couple of days on board the Dyson we had beautiful weather blue skies, pretty clouds, beautiful scenery, and calm seas. However, experiencing calm seas came to a halt on Thursday. The wind picked up which caused the ship to rock back and forth with the waves. Gusts of wind would cause water to splash over the bow of the ship, creating a very entertaining show. I loved to watch the waves move and feel the ship’s reaction to the power of the water. When I went to visit the bridge of the ship one wave hit the boat hard enough to ring a bell that is hanging in the bridge. Sitting down to do work or eating a meal can be kind of fun when the wind is up. It’s almost like a roller coaster, because you never know when your chair is going to slide sideways. Walking while the ship was rocking was also interesting because two normal steps could become 5 so that you can keep your balance and stay on your feet.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On Friday we had our mandatory at sea drills. The first was a fire drill which was very easy for me because all I had to do for that drill was meet up with the rest of the science crew in a preplanned muster station. The next drill was a little more eventful. We had to bring a survival suit, a life jacket, a hat, and gloves to the preplanned muster station. Once we were there roll was called to make sure we were in the correct station to get on the correct life raft should it became necessary. This part wasn’t too bad because the scenery outside was very pretty. However, after that part was complete the people new to the ship had to put on the survival suit, which is supposed to take less than a minute to put on. This was my first attempt to get into a survival suit and I needed a lot of guidance from ENS Ben Kaiser, one of the NOAA Corps officers. He was very patient with me and also took my picture when I was finally able to get it on.

DSC02993
My First Time in a Survival Suit

 

The Oscar Dyson takes safety very seriously!!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Posted on

Virginia Warren: Life at Sea is GREAT!! March 15, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea Virginia Warren
Mission: Acoustic and Trawl Survey of Walleye Pollock
Geographical Area of Cruise: Shelikof Strait
on NOAA ship Oscar Dyson
Date: 3/15/2016

Data from the Bridge:
Sky:  Light and variable
Visibility: 10+ Nautical Miles
Wind Direction: West
Wind Speed: 2.50 (4 knots)
Sea Wave Height:  1 – 2, light swell
Air Temperature: 4.2 degrees C (40 degrees F)
Barometric Pressure: 1004.8

 

NOAA and NOAA Corps Information:

NOAA is an acronym that stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is a government agency that helps keep citizens informed on weather conditions and the climate. It also conducts fisheries management, and coastal restoration. As stated on their website, NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. NOAA has nine key focus areas, 12,000 NOAA personnel, and 6,773 scientists and engineers.

If you would like to read more about what NOAA does, please check out their website here: http://www.noaa.gov/about-our-agency

The NOAA Commissioned Corps Officers are in charge of running NOAA ship Oscar Dyson. The officers keep the ship functioning properly and the people safe. The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As stated on the NOAA Corps website, the NOAA Corps mission is to provide officers technically competent to assume positions of leadership and command in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Department of Commerce (DOC) programs and in the Armed Forces during times of war or national emergency.  If you would like read more about what the NOAA Corps does, please check out their website here:  http://www.noaacorps.noaa.gov/about/about.html

You can also watch the NOAA Corps Recruitment video here: http://www.noaacorps.noaa.gov/audiovideo/noaacorps_video.html

 

Science and Technology Log:

This is my second full day on the ship and my science crew has sorted three trawls. On the first day on shift, I learned that there is a lot of waiting to get the fishing pollock job done correctly. The Chief Scientist, Patrick, is responsible for choosing where and when to launch the trawl. He does this by watching data on a screen that comes from the echo sounder, which is placed under the ship. When you see bright red color on the screen, then you know there is something registering on the echo sounder. This part of the process can take several hours.

Echo Sounder Screen
Echo Sounder Screen

Once you find the fish, then you have to launch the trawl net. This is a very intricate process because as the net is being launched, it has to be kept free of tangles. If tangles occur in the net it could cause the net to rip once the trawl has begun. At the mouth of the trawl where the opening is for fish to enter, there are two large trawl doors that glide through the water like airplane wings, except the “lift” is a spreading force that goes sideways to open the mouth of the trawl for fish to enter.

awt-model-commented1
Scale model of the Aleutian Wing Trawl (AWT) net courtesy of NOAA Scientist Kresimir Williams

 

Once the trawl is complete, the catch is dumped onto a table that lifts up to the conveyor belt where we separate pollock from all the other types of animals. The pollock are placed into baskets where they are then weighed. A sample of pollock is taken to examine further. Data on everything that we catch goes into a computer system called CLAMS, which is an acronym for Catch Logger for Acoustic Midwater Survey. I will further explain the sorting and data collection processes, and the CLAMS program on a future blog.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Personal Log: 

I’m happy to report that all of my flights went great and my luggage didn’t get lost on my way to Kodiak, Alaska. I spent Friday and Saturday nights in Kodiak waiting to rendezvous with the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson Sunday morning.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Kodiak is a beautiful, scenic fishing community. I love that Kodiak is able to use clean, alternative-renewable energy resources to make their energy for the island. Notice the wind turbines in the picture below, however Kodiak also uses hydroelectric dams to make most of their power.

Wind Powered Turbines
Wind Powered Turbines

The Oscar Dyson anchored up outside of the Kodiak harbor in efforts to save time by not having to completely dock up in the harbor. The Dyson sent out its small boat called “The Peggy D” to take people to and from the ship. We put really warm jackets that also served as life jackets(float coats).

The "Peggy"

I loved this boat ride because it gave me a view of the harbor I hadn’t been able to see yet!

Beautiful Mountains from the Harbor in Kodiak, Alaska
Beautiful Mountains from the Harbor in Kodiak, Alaska

My first view of the Oscar Dyson was spectacular. I saw it as we rounded a very small island outside of the harbor. With the mountains in the background, the ship made a pretty picture.

NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

This is only the beginning of the trip and I am so looking forward to experience the rest of it.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Posted on

Virginia Warren: All My Bags are Packed, I’m Ready to Go!!! March 9, 2016

Hi! My name is Virginia Warren. I teach 5th Grade math and science at Breitling Elementary School in Grand Bay, Alabama. I have been a teacher for 6 years. I am currently in the process of going back to graduate school at the University of South Alabama to get my Master’s Degree in Instructional Design and Development.

I am set to fly out of Pensacola, Florida this coming Thursday morning. I will have a short layover at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas.Then, I will be off again to Seattle, Washington where I will stay the night before finishing my journey the next day. I am excited about getting to spend even a short amount of time in Seattle because I have never been on the West Coast of the United States. I plan to get as much sight seeing in as possible before my flight to Anchorage, Alaska the next morning. Once I get to Anchorage, I will catch another plane to Kodiak, Alaska where I will rendezvous with the rest of the science crew and the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson on Saturday.

Flight Diary
This image is created from http://flightdiary.net/ and it depicts the flights that I will take to get to Kodiak, Alaska.

 

This will be my second NOAA Teacher at Sea opportunity. In the summer of 2013 I participated in a sea scallop survey on the Research Vessel Hugh R. Sharp. As a teacher this experience has become invaluable to me because it made scientific research come alive to me in way that I had never been able to express to my students prior to this experience. I am extremely excited about having a second opportunity to travel the world and learn about real data research. I am also excited to be able to share this trip with my 5th grade students back home in Grand Bay, Alabama.

edited2 without man behind me.jpg
This picture is from my first NOAA Teacher at Sea research cruise in 2013 aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp

I will spend about 2 weeks aboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson participating in an acoustic-trawl survey to estimate pollock abundance in Shelikof Strait.

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Andrea Schmuttermair: Engineering Extravaganza! July 21, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Andrea Schmuttermair
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
July 6 – 25, 2015

Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: July 21, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Latitude: 57 09.0N
Longitude: 151 16.5W

Sky:  broken clouds

Visibility: 10nm
Wind Direction: 245 degrees

Wind Speed: 24 knots
Sea wave height: 3ft

Swell wave: 5-7 ft

Sea water temp: 11.3 C
Dry temperature: 11.1 C

Birds are always abundant after a trawl
Sunset from the ship

Science and Technology Log

Aside from our survey, there is a lot of other science taking place on the ship. In fact, science is all around us. The officers on the bridge are using science when they use weather patterns and sea swells to calculate the best course of navigation for the ship. The survey technicians are using science when they collect water samples each day and test the salinity of the water. The engineers are using science when they are monitoring the ballast of the ship. Science is happening in places we don’t always take the time to look.

Today we look at a different realm of science, the engineering world. I recently had the opportunity to tour the brains of the ship with two of our engineers on board. I not only learned about the construction of the ship, but I also learned about the various components that help the ship run. The Oscar Dyson was constructed as one of NOAA’s first noise-reduced fisheries vessels. Data have been collected over the years that show fish avoid loud vessels by diving down deeper or moving out of the way of the noise. There was concern that this avoidance behavior would affect the survey results; thus the creation of acoustic quieting technology for research vessels. Another interesting part of the ship’s construction is the retractable centerboard, which allow the transducers to be lowered down below the ship and away from the hull in order to reduce noise and gather higher quality sound data for the surveys.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It turns out 2 of our engineers are from San Diego, the place I lived for my first 21 years of life. Nick even graduated from Westview High School, the rival of my high school, Mt. Carmel (albeit 10 years after me). The engineers are responsible for making sure everything is working on the ship. They, along with the rest of the engineering team, have to anticipate and troubleshoot problems, and be ready to fix something at a moment’s notice.

In addition to taking me on a tour around the innards of the ship, Nick and Rob also sat down for an interview about marine engineering.

Interview with the Engineers: Rob Ball and Nick Cuellar

Nick, Rob, and....Wilson!
Nick, Rob, and….Wilson!

What is your educational/working background?

Nick: I played soccer throughout high school and was recruited during my senior year by the US Merchant Marine Academy. I went to school there, played soccer, and received a BS degree in marine engineering. I spent 1 of my 4 years at sea doing hands-on training. I was also commissioned into the US Navy as a reservist.

Rob: I’m what they call a hawespiper in the merchant marine world- I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I started at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in 1988 and worked my way up ranks from oiler to engineer. I received my captain’s license, and ran sport fishing boats because I wanted to know boats from top to bottom. I went to professional college for refrigeration, and my main forte is refrigeration and air conditioning, I know I’ll never be out of work. I’m a first engineer now, and am going to go for my chief’s license.

How long have you been working on the Oscar Dyson?

Nick: I came on in August of 2014.

Rob: I just came on board in April of 2015

What are your main responsibilities as an engineer on board?

Nick: As a second engineer, I give fuel reports and transfer fuel to maintain stability of the ship. We have saltwater tanks for ballast, which changes as we burn fuel, and I help monitor this. I check the electricity, lights, fuel, water, and AC and make sure everything’s running. I fix anything that’s breaking.

Rob: As a first engineer, I am the supervisor of engine room and am responsible for how everything is operating. I get updates on the fuel status, and communicate with CO of the ship if changes need to be made. I also look at when the oil/filter needs to be changed. My position is more supervisory, and I oversee responsibilities and delegate tasks. I handle the plant and the people.

What is your favorite part of the job?

Nick: Travel; getting work experience, marine life

Rob: Money and travel; getting to see things in ocean that most people would only see on National Geographic

What is most challenging about your job?

Nick: The different personalities you have to work with

Rob: I agree with Nick. Our life exists in 204ft. I am able to take frustrations and put it into things I enjoy, such as working out, reading, or playing guitar.

What is something unique to being an engineer on a ship as opposed to an engineer on land?

Nick: You have to have knowledge of every square inch of the ship; the two things I think about are: are we sinking and are the lights on.

Rob: You have to keep things going when you have big seas, and you have to have the knowledge and ability to handle problems and stay on your feet (literally). You have everyone’s lives in your hands- you have to be on all the time.

What would tell students who are looking at careers in engineering?

Nick: Don’t give up and keep on fighting. Don’t let hardships get in the way. If it makes you happy, keep doing it. And know your math!

Rob: it’s a limitless field; you can build anything, and fix anything. If someone else made it, you’ll have the ability to figure out what they did. You get to break stuff and fix it.

What is your favorite marine animal?

Nick: Humpback whale

Rob: Orca and Great white shark

Rob, Nick and I
Rob, Nick and I

Thanks gentlemen for the interview!

 

Personal Log

This baby humpback whale was having a blast breaching over and over again.
This baby humpback whale was having a blast breaching over and over again.

The ringing of the phone woke me up from the gentle rolling of the ship. I had told the officers and scientists to wake me up if there was anything cool happening, and an excited ENS Gilman spoke into the receiver claiming there were hundreds (ok, maybe hundreds was a bit of an exaggeration) of whales breaching and swimming around the ship. Throwing on a sweatshirt and grabbing my camera, I raced up to the bridge to get a view of this. I had low expectations, as it seemed that every time we got the call that there were whales around, they left as soon as we got up there. This time, however, I was not disappointed. It was a whale extravaganza! Humpback whales, fin whales, orcas, there were so many whales it was hard to decide where to point my camera or binoculars. Like one of those fountains that spurt up water intermittently through different holes, the whales were blowing all around us. I was up on the bridge for over an hour, never tiring to see which one would spout next, or show us a fluke before it dove down deep, only to resurface somewhere else 15 minutes later. It was truly a treat to be able to watch them, and the weather couldn’t have been better. My favorite shot was of a baby humpback breeching – we had been tracking him for a while, his blow noticeably smaller than the adults around him. He looked as if he was just playing around in the water, enjoying himself without a worry in the world. I had been hoping to see Alaska wildlife on this trip, and am thrilled my wish was granted.

A pod of orcas was amidst the whale extravaganza!
The sight of the fluke indicates they are diving down deeper, and may not resurface again for several minutes.
So many whales!

The bathroom in our staterooms
The bathroom in our staterooms

stateroomI had a question about our living accommodations on the ship, and I must admit they aren’t too shabby. I share a room with another one of the scientists, and she works the opposite shift. This works out nicely as we can each have our own time in the room, and can sleep uninterrupted. We have bunks, or racks as many refer to them, and I am sleeping on the top bunk. We have a bathroom with a shower in our room, and it’s nice not to have to share those amenities. The walls are pretty thin, and the ship can be loud when operations are going, making earplugs or headphones helpful.

Posted on

Nikki Durkan: Parasites Abound, June 29, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Nikki Durkan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Midwater Assessment Conservation Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: Monday, June 29, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Wind speed (knots): 8.25
Sea Temp (deg C): 10.59
Air Temp (deg C):  10

Science and Technology Log:

Parasites – some lurk inside our bodies without us knowing and some could even have an influence on our personalities. One of my favorite Radio Lab episodes describes research conducted on this subject. National Geographic Magazine also published a feature article I found quite interesting – Zombie Parasites that Mind Control Their Hosts.  In addition to capturing our interest because of their sci-fi-like existence, parasites may also be utilized to study ecological interactions.  Parasites a fish picks up throughout its life can indicate information about where the fish has traveled – these co-dependent organisms serve as biological tags that scientists can then interpret.

Nematodes on Pollock Liver - most of the Pollock we caught have had these in their guts.
Nematodes on Pollock Liver – most of the Pollock we caught have had these in their guts.

Parasites often require several hosts to complete their lifecycles and one nematode that can infect Pollock (and humans incidentally) is Anisakiasis.  While I love sushi, raw fish can pose serious risk to our health.  “Sushi-grade” labels, similar to the ubiquitous “natural” labels, do not meet any standardized specifications. However, the FDA does set freezing requirements for the sale of raw fish that commonly possess parasites…so enjoy your sushi 🙂

The pathobiologists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center are currently investigating the impacts certain parasites may have on Pollock. While many species of parasites have been recognized, we still have a lot to learn about their impact on populations and ecosystems. Scientists are attempting to identify those that are likely to influence the booms and busts that can occur within the Pollock populations. More specifically, their current research centers around a microsporidian (pleistophora sp.) that lives within the muscle tissue of Pollock and may impact the fishes ability to swim and breed. (AFSC Pathobiology)

Microsporidian (pleistophora sp.) marked with asterisk Photo Credit: NOAA

These critters are found in most Pollock catches as well - they are sometimes called sea lice.
These critters are found in most Pollock catches as well – they are also called sea lice.

Sometimes ships pick up parasites too! The introduction of invasive species to fragile ecosystems is one of the leading causes of extinction and ballast water is the number one reason for the distribution of aquatic nuisance species. The Great Lakes region serves as a warning about the devastation ballast water can inflict on an ecosystem. Ships can transport ballast water from one region to another and then release the ballast water (along with numerous non-native organisms). No longer encumbered by natural predators or other environmental pressures that help to keep populations in check, the invasive species can flourish, often at the expense of the native species. NOAA has implemented strict guidelines for the release of ballast water to limit the spread of invasive species.  The Oscar Dyson also uses a lot of oil to keep all the working parts of our engine room functioning, but some of this oil drips off and collects in the bilge water. This oily bilge water is then separated and the oil is used in our trash incinerator (all garbage with the exception of food scraps is burned in the incinerator).  Thanks to our Chief Marine Engineer, Alan Bennett, for taking me and Vinny on a tour of the ship.

Thanks, Allan!
Thanks, Allan!

Personal Log:

Fortunately, after three weeks of being splattered with all parts of a Pollock you can think of and eating my fair share of fish, I am currently free of fish parasites…to my knowledge! Our wonderful chefs, Arnold Dones and Adam Staiger, have been cooking healthy, varied meals for 32 people over the course of three weeks – this is no small feat!  The soups are my favorite and have inspired me to make more when I return home. I know from camping experiences with my students and living at a boarding school campus, that food is directly connected to morale.  Last night, the chefs spoiled everyone with steak and crab legs!

Chef Adam Staiger is full of smiles!
Chef Adam Staiger is always full of smiles!

 

Posted on

Vincent Colombo, What makes the Oscar Dyson tick?, June 29, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Vincent Colombo
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Annual Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographical area of the cruise: The Gulf of Alaska
Date: June 29, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:

  • Wind Speed: 10.7 knots
  • Sea Temperature: 9.6 degrees Celsius
  • Air Temperature: 10.5 degrees Celsius
  • Air Pressure: 1008.8 mb

Sunrise in Alaska
Sunrise in Alaska

When the fog lifts, hidden beauties and dangers are revealed

Another picture of Shishaldin Volcano – taken by scientist on board the Oscar Dyson, Robert Levine

A view of the Gulf of Alaska
A view of the Gulf of Alaska

In front of Kuiukta Bay
In front of Kuiukta Bay

Mitrofania Bay
Mitrofania Bay

Sandy Point, Alaska
Sandy Point, Alaska

The NOAA Vessel Oscar Dyson is named after the late Oscar E. Dyson. His placard reads the following:

Oscar Dyson

A Friend of Fisheries

Oscar promoted research and effective management

to sustain Alaska’s fisheries for future generations.

Oscar Dyson Plaque
Oscar Dyson Plaque

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2003/s2102.htm
Learn more about the Oscar Dyson here

The small vessel on the Oscar Dyson is named after his wife
The small vessel on the Oscar Dyson is named after his wife

Science and Technology Log:

If you read the link under my page: http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov/#/2015/Vincent*Colombo/ship , it will tell you all about the ship, Oscar Dyson. This ship is nothing less than a modern marvel of technology. Luckily my fellow teacher at sea, Nikki Durkan and I got to experience the science of this ship first hand. Our Chief engineer, Mr. Alan Bennett took us for a tour of the inner workings of this ship.

Chief Engineer Alan Bennett
Chief Engineer Alan Bennett

Our tour started with a look at the Ship’s control panel. From this set of computers and controls, everything, and I mean everything on the ship can be controlled.

The Control Panel below deck
The Control Panel below deck

"We can control the entire ship from right here."
“We can control the entire ship from right here.”

From there, we went into the main engine room. One may recognize the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which in part of the poem says:

“Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.”

Not the case on the Oscar Dyson, because the heat from the engines is used to distill up to 1,000 gallons of freshwater each day!

Where the Oscar Dyson makes fresh water
Where the Oscar Dyson makes fresh water

The ship also uses an Ultra Violet filter to kill all the undesirables in the water just in case.

Ultraviolet Filter
Ultraviolet Filter

Warning for the filter
Warning for the filter

From there, we got to travel through water tight doors into the rear of the ship. These doors are intimidating, and as our Chief Engineer said, in case there is a loss of power, the door can be bypassed so no one is trapped under the ship.

Alan in front of the door showing us the manual bypass
Alan in front of the door showing us the manual bypass

Water tight door. You DO NOT want to be in the way when this closes.
Water tight door. You DO NOT want to be in the way when this closes.

Here you can see one of the massive winches used for the trawl net the ship uses to catch fish. One winch is over 6 foot in diameter and has a thousand meters of steel cable. I wonder if it will fit on the front of a Jeep…

Those winches are no joke. The ship also has a bunch of hydraulic pumps ready and able to bring those trawl nets in fast if need be. Each of these hydraulic pumps has 1,000 gallons of fluid ready to retrieve a net in a hurry if the need exists.

The hydraulic pumps
The hydraulic pumps

One really cool thing I learned was that in case the ship had a major issue and could not be steered from the bridge, there is a way to use the ship’s heading underneath for someone to manually operate the rudder.

Yes you can drive the ship blind
Yes you can drive the ship blind

The manual rudder control
The manual rudder control

From there we got a tour of the remainder of the ship.

One of the ship's massive generators
One of the ship’s massive generators

A water pump for a fire station
A water pump for a fire station

A transformer to convert all that electrical energy
A transformer to convert all that electrical energy

The Oscar Dyson creates ALOT of energy. Here is a read out for one of the many generators on board. Take a look at the Amps produced.

818.6 Amps!
818.6 Amps!

A ship this big also has multiple fuel tanks. Here the engineers can choose which tank they want to draw from. Interesting also is the engineers have ballast tanks to fill with water to compensate for the fuel the ship uses. Alan also showed us the log book for this, as ships taking on ballast water can be an environmental issue. The crew of the Oscar Dyson follows this protocol as set forth by the United States Coast Guard. You can learn more about that protocol by clicking here

Fuel tank selection
Fuel tank selection

Our last stop was seeing the bow thruster. It was a tight space, but the bow thruster can actually power the ship if the main engine loses power.

In the bow thruster room
In the bow thruster room

Here are some other pictures from the tour:

Nikki, Alan, and I in the engine room
Nikki, Alan, and I in the engine room

A serious pipe wrench
A serious pipe wrench

This surface is squishy and covers the entire engine room. It makes the boat super quiet!
This surface is squishy and covers the entire engine room. It makes the boat super quiet!

 

After our tour, it was back to business as usual, the Walleye Pollock Survey. Our Chief Scientist spends countless hours analyzing the acoustics data then sampling the fish.

Our Chief Scientist, Dr. Patrick Ressler analyzing the acoustic data from the survey
Our Chief Scientist, Dr. Patrick Ressler analyzing the acoustic data from the survey

The Walleye Pollock which we are studying is a very integral part of the Alaskan ecosystem, as well as a highly monetary yielding fishery. One thing I noticed almost immediately is the color change between juveniles and adults. It is theorized that as the fish get older, they move lower in the water column towards the bottom, thus needing camouflage. Take a look at this picture that shows a mature Walleye Pollock and it’s juvenile counterparts.

The adult Walleye Pollock gets "brassy" spots on it's body.
The adult Walleye Pollock gets “brassy” spots on it’s body.

You can learn more about the life cycle of Pollock by clicking here.

Here is another site with some useful information on Pollock, click here.

Personal Log: 

Working on the deck of the Oscar Dyson is no laughing matter. What is required to step on deck? A hard hat, float coat, and life jacket. Watching the deck crew, controlled by the lead fisherman, is like watching an episode of Deadliest Catch… just without the crabs. Giant swells that make the boat go up and down while maintaining a solid footing on a soaking wet deck is no joke. My hat is off to our hard working deck crew and fisherman.

 

The deck crew and fisherman deploying an Aleutian Wing Trawl
The deck crew and fisherman deploying an Aleutian Wing Trawl

Fisherman Brad Kutyna retrieving an Aleutian Wing Trawl
Fisherman Brad Kutyna retrieving an Aleutian Wing Trawl

The best part about fishing, is it is just that, fishing. NOAA sets the standard when reducing by-catch (fish you do not want to catch), but sometimes a fish’s appetite gets the best of him/her.

This Pacific Cod ended up in our Aleutian Wing Trawl, it wanted Pollock for lunch
This Pacific Cod ended up in our Aleutian Wing Trawl, it wanted Pollock for lunch

These Pacific Cod were 8 pounds each.
These Pacific Cod were 10 pounds each.

Fishing has always been apart of my life. My Grandfather always said, “If the birds are working, you will find the fish.” A good piece of advice… Look for circling gulls and chances are a group of bigger fish has some bait fish balled up under the surface.

Here the birds are working off the stern of the boat
Here the birds are working off the stern of the boat

Meet the Scientist: 

On board the Oscar Dyson this part of the Walleye Pollock survey is scientist Tom Weber. Tom lives in Durham, New Hampshire and is here to test new custom acoustic equipment. Tom is married to his wife Brinda and has two sons, Kavi and Sachin.

Tom has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Ocean Engineering from the University of Rhode Island. He attained his PhD in Acoustics from Penn State in State College, PA.  Currently Tom is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Hampshire. He also is a faculty member of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM for short). Both places of employment are located in his hometown of Durham, New Hampshire.

Tom explaining the brand new acoustic technology
Tom explaining the brand new acoustic technology

Tom has been affiliated with NOAA and their projects since 2006 and is here to test a custom Acoustic Transducer (a piece of technology that sends out a signal to the ocean floor) and sonar transceiver. As he explained to me, this technology sends out a multi-band frequency and the echo which returns could potentially identify a species of fish hundreds of meters below the boat. He is also here to study Methane gas seeps found along the convergent boundary in the Aleutian Islands.  Methane gas seeps are of particular curiosity on this trip because of their unique properties.

Tom busy at work in the Acoustic Lab on board the Oscar Dyson
Tom busy at work in the Acoustic Lab on board the Oscar Dyson

On a side note, Tom saw the first grizzly bear of our trip just hanging out on one of the many coastlines we have passed. He said being on the Oscar Dyson is “Not like being in Beaver Stadium, but the ship moves as much as your seats do during a game.”  When I asked Tom for any words of advice, he said: “Never name your boat after a bottom fish.” Apparently that is bad luck.

A methane gas seep on the ocean floor makes quite a disturbance. Here Chris Bassett is observing what it looks like.
A methane gas seep on the ocean floor makes quite a disturbance. Here Chris Bassett is observing what it looks like.

Tom loves working side by side with the scientists on this study and is ecstatic to see this new technology being used on this survey.

Meet the NOAA Corps Officer: 

Meet Lieutenant Carl Rhodes, the Oscar Dyson’s Operations Officer, and acting Executive Officer for this part of the Walleye Pollock Survey. LT Rhodes is from Bayfield, Colorado and joined the NOAA Corps to use his degree in science. LT Rhodes has a Bachelors degree in Marine Science with an Associates Degree in Small Vessel Operations from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. LT Rhodes also has a Masters of Science in Facilities Management from Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

His job as Operations Officer on board the Oscar Dyson includes:

  • Ensuring all scientific operations are conducted safely and efficiently.
  • Act as a liaison between all members of the ship’s crew and scientific parties.
  • Record and observe all scientific missions during the day.

His extra duties as acting executive officer include:

  • Managing the ship’s personnel and human resources
  • Taking care of payroll and travel requests
  • Supervising junior officers and crew members

Lieutenant Carl Rhodes on the bridge of the Oscar Dyson
Lieutenant Carl Rhodes on the bridge of the Oscar Dyson

Hands down, the best job of all not mentioned above is driving the boat! All officers stand watch (aka drive the boat) for two, four hour shifts a day. Not to mention all the other work they are required to do. Being a NOAA Corps officer is no easy job. LT Rhodes has the goal to one day be the Captain of a NOAA research vessel.

In his free time, LT Rhodes enjoys scuba diving, climbing mountains, hiking, camping, biking, photography, and flying drones. LT Rhodes shared with me how he has overcome many obstacles in his life. His words of advice to any student are: “Anyone can get anywhere if they try hard and really fight for it.”

LT Rhodes and all the rest of the crew of the Oscar Dyson have not had a day off yet on this research cruise, and work 12 hour shifts around the clock. Seeing this first hand has given me much respect for the type of work NOAA does!

 

Did You Know? 

Seafood is a billion dollar industry in Alaska, with more than half of U.S. commercially captured fish caught in the state nicknamed “The Last Frontier.” According to Alaska’s Department of Labor and Workforce, around 32,200 people fished commercially in Alaska in 2011, averaging 8,064 people per month. Salmon harvesting represents half of all fishing jobs in Alaska, with ground fish and halibut following in second and third place, respectively, according to the state’s labor bureau. Read more here.

 Thanks for reading my blogs! I am hooked on Alaska and would love to come back! I will see you all soon in Delaware!

Posted on

Nikki Durkan: Navigating the high seas, June 24, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Nikki Durkan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Midwater Assessment Conservation Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Wind speed (knots): 6.5
Sea Temp (deg C): 11.1
Air Temp (deg C):  11.4

Meet:  Ensign Nate Gilman NOAA Corps Officer

Qualifications:  Master of Environmental Studies from Evergreen State College, Certificate in Fisheries Management from Oregon State University, Bachelors in Environmental Studies from Evergreen State College

Hails from:  Olympia, Washington

Photo Credit: NOAA
Ensign Nate Gilman, Photo Credit: NOAA

What are your main responsibilities?  Nate is the ship Navigation Officer and Junior Officer On Deck. He not only drives the ship and carries out all the responsibilities that come with this job, but is also responsible for maintaining the charts on board, setting waypoints and plotting our course (manually on the charts and on the computer).  If an adjustment to our course is necessary, Nate must work with the scientific party on board to replot the transects.

What do you enjoy most about your job? Driving the ship, of course!  

Do you eat fish? **This is roughly how my conversation with Nate went on the subject of fish consumption: I don’t eat bugs. (He is referring to shrimp and lobster) – I thought I loved shrimp cocktail, now I know that I love cocktail sauce and butter, so celery and bread are just fine.

Aspirations?  Nate hopes to be stationed in Antarctica for his land deployment (NOAA Corps Officers usually spend two years at sea and three on land).  Ultimately, he wants to earn his teaching certificate and would be happy teaching P.E., especially if he can use these scooters, drink good coffee, ski, and surf.

Science and Technology Log

I spend much of my time on the bridge where I can learn more about topics related to geography and specifically navigation. This is also where I have easy access to fresh air, whale, bird, and island viewing, and comedic breaks. A personality quality the NOAA Corps officers all seem to share is a great sense of humor and they are all science nerds at heart!

Our sextant on board NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
Our sextant on board NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

Our Executive Officer, LT Carl Rhodes, showed me several pieces of equipment used to navigate and communicate at sea – the sextant, azimuth ring, and Morse code signaling lamp. Because the sextant relies on triangulation using the sun, moon, or stars – none of which we have seen often, the sextant is a beautiful, but not currently used piece of equipment for us on this trip. The majority of our navigation relies on GPS triangulation; however, the officers still need to mark on the charts (their lingo is to “drop a fix on”) our position roughly every 30 minutes just in case we lose GPS connection. Morse code is a universal language still taught in the Navy and NATO (they install infrared lights to avoid detection). Alternatively, on the radio English is King, but many of the captains know English only as a second language. Think you get frustrated on customer service phone calls? The NOAA Corps Officers actually go through simulations in order to prepare them for these types of issues. During one instance, the language barrier could have caused some confusion between LT Carl Rhodes and the ship he was hailing (the man had a thick Indian accent) but both were quite polite to each other, the other captain even expressed thanks for accommodating our maneuvers.  All the Officers attend etiquette classes as part of their training in NOAA Corps and I just read in their handbook that they must be courteous over the radio.

Unimak pass with lots of traffic – We are the green ship surrounded by other boats (black triangles) - we happened to want to fish in this area, but had to change plans.
Unimak pass with lots of traffic – We are the green ship surrounded by other boats (black triangles) – we happened to want to fish in this area, but had to change plans due to traffic.

Shipping with ships:  80% of our shipping continues to be conducted by sea and many of the ships we encounter here are transporting goods using the great circle routes. These routes are the shortest distance from one point on the earth to another, since the Earth is a spinning sphere, the shortest routes curve north or south toward the poles.  Look at your flight plan the next time you fly and you will understand why a trip from Seattle to Beijing involves a flight near Alaska. Airplanes and ships use great circle routes often and Unimak pass is a heavily trafficked course; however, ships also adjust their plans drastically to avoid foul weather – the risk to the cargo is calculated and often they decide to take alternative paths.

Look at a chart of the Aleutian Islands and you will quickly gain insight into the history of the area. On one chart, you will find islands with names such as Big Koniuji, Paul, Egg, and Chiachi, near Ivanof Bay and Kupreanof Peninsula. The Japanese and Russian influence is quite evident.  NOAA has other ships dedicated to hydrographic (seafloor mapping) surveys. The charts are updated and maintained by NOAA; however, in many cases, the areas in which we are traveling have not been surveyed since the early 1900s. Each chart is divided into sections that indicate when the survey was last completed:

  • A   1990-2009
  • B3 1940 – 1969
  • B4 1900 – 1939

An easy way to remember: When was the area last surveyed? B4 time. I told you they like their puns on the Bridge!

Flathead Sole - How these guys navigate the seafloor is beyond me!
Flathead Sole – How these guys navigate the seafloor is beyond me!

Personal Log

Maintaining fitness while at sea can be a challenge, and I am thankful the ship has a spin bike because trying to do jumping jacks while the boat is rocking all over is quite difficult, I am probably getting a better ab workout from laughing at myself.  Pushups and situps are an unpredictable experience – I either feel like superwoman or a weakling, depending on the tilt of the ship which erratically changes every few seconds.  Ultimately, I am finding creative ways to get my heart pumping – I do my best thinking while exercising!

One of my most valuable take-aways from this experience is my broadened perspective on those who choose to serve our country in the military and the varied personalities they can have.  Most of the individuals on board the ship year round have experience in the military and I have now met individuals from NOAA Corps, Coast Guard, Airforce, Army, Marines, and the U.S. Publice Health Service.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to meet them!

Vinny (my co-TAS) also served in the military.
Vinny (my co-TAS) also served in the military.

Did you know?  Saildrones are likely the next big step for conducting research at sea.  These 19 foot crafts are autonomous and have already proved capable of sailing from California to Hawaii.  Check out this article to learn more:  The Drone That Will Sail Itself Around The World 

Posted on

Nikki Durkan: Fish Heads and Otoliths, June 21, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Nikki Durkan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Midwater Assessment Conservation Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: Sunday, June 21, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Wind speed (knots):  13.01
Sea Temp (deg C):  10.45
Air Temp (deg C): 9.46

Career Highlight

Meet:  Patrick Ressler PhD, Chief Scientist on board the Oscar Dyson

Employed by: Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NMFS, NOAA

Hails from: Seattle, Washington

Fun in the fish lab! Happy Father's Day, Patrick!
Fun in the fish lab! Happy Father’s Day, Patrick!

What are your main responsibilities as Chief Scientist? As chief scientist I’m responsible for the scientific mission and for the scientific party.  In terms of the science, it’s my job to make sure that everything that needs to happen does happen, before as well as during the cruise, and that the scientists have positive and productive interactions with each other and with the ship’s crew.  Some of the decisions that need to be made are scientific or technical, some are logistical, some are managerial.  Though I don’t and can’t do all of the different jobs myself, I need to have some understanding of all the elements of our survey work and research projects, and pay attention to the ‘big picture’ of how it all fits together.   I am also the main line of communication between the scientific party and the ship (principally the captain), and between our scientific party and the lab back onshore.

What do you enjoy about your profession? Science involves a great deal of creativity and collaboration. The creativity comes into play when designing a study and also when problem solving; complications always arise in research, and it is part of Patrick’s job to address the issue or know who to ask to assist in overcoming the obstacle.  He also enjoys doing literature reviews because the process involves more than data collection and meta-analysis; the studies tell stories in a way, scientists leave clues about their interests, bias, and even personalities in their pursuit of research topics.

Do you eat fish? Yes! — Patrick uses the seafood guide when making decisions about purchases and eats salmon often. He smokes his own fish and looks forward to cooking at home with his wife and two children.

Vinny (TAS) and Emily Collins bringing in the catch of the day.
Vinny (my co-TAS) and Emily Collins bringing in the catch of the day.

Otolith extraction - the head incision is made just in front of the operculum (gill covering)…not my favorite part of the day, but as close as I’ll ever get to be a surgeon.
Otolith extraction – the head incision is made just in front of the operculum (gill covering)…not my favorite part of the day, but as close as I’ll ever get to be a surgeon.

 

Science and Technology Log

Fish heads and more fish heads: Once on board, the fish are sorted by species and we then determine length, weight, sex, and gonad development for the Pollock. The next step is to extract the otoliths, a calcium carbonate structure located in the skull that allows the fish to hear and provides orientation information. These small structures provide scientists with data on ages of the Pollock populations and environmental fluctuations. Understanding how Pollock populations respond to stresses such as the pressures of commercial fishing operations or variations in prey availability, help fisheries managers make informed decisions when setting quotas each year.

 

Pollock otolith
Pollock otolith

These structures are analogous to the human ear bones; the otoliths allow the fishes to determine horizontal and vertical acceleration (think of the feeling you experience while moving up and down in an elevator). The otoliths pull on the hair cells, which stimulate an auditory nerve branch and relay back to the brain the position of the head relative to the body. A disturbance in this function is also why we humans experience motion sickness. Many of you may also be familiar with the growth rings of a tree and how scientists can measure the width of the rings to determine age and growth rate; similarly, each year, a fish will accumulate deposits on the otoliths that can be interpreted by scientists back in the lab. NOAA has a neat program you can try: Age Reading Demonstration. My co-Teacher at Sea (Vinny Colombo) and I will be bringing back samples to use in our classrooms!

My cod-face with a Cod that tried to swallow a Pollock. Photo credit: Patrick Ressler
My cod-face with a Cod that tried to swallow a Pollock. Photo credit: Patrick Ressler

For some species, the information gathered from these otoliths can also be used to infer characteristics about the environment in which the fish travels. Climate scientists use similar data from trees, ice cores, coral reef cores, and sediment deposits to produce geochemical records used in modeling paleoclimates and projecting future changes in climate. Likewise, the otoliths contain a geochemical record because the calcium carbonate and trace metals correlate with water samples from certain areas. Scientists can then ascertain the otolith’s chemical fingerprint using a mass spectrometer and uncover information on the fishes’ spawning grounds and migration routes. In some cases, these data are even used to establish marine protected areas.

Personal Log

I have great appreciation for the hard work the crew puts in on a daily basis and am thankful for the humor they continue to provide! I’ve seen more than a few impressions of overly stuffed Puffins and fish faces, shared laughs while Rico pulls fish scales out of my hair, danced to Persian pop songs, and continued to laugh at the ridiculously overused puns in the Bridge. Humor is vitally important out here! The ship operates 24 hours a day and shifts are long, with spurts of demanding physical labor. A lot of coffee is consumed on board and the Oscar Dyson even has a fancy espresso machine! Sadly, I figured out early on that coffee makes me quite nauseated on board. I am a firm believer in the health benefits of coffee and thanks to John Morse (a fellow teacher at Steamboat Mountain School), I have accumulated many scientific articles to back up my claims; however, in this case I had no choice, and after a few headaches, I am free from the bean addiction…for now!

Trying out the engine room sound powered phone

 

 

Did you know? In the event of a power failure, the Oscar Dyson is equipped with sound powered phones – the sound pressure created when a person speaks into the transmitter creates a voltage over a single wire pair that is then converted into sound at the receiver – no electricity necessary!

Posted on

Nikki Durkan: Global Commons, June 13, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Nikki Durkan
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Midwater Assessment Conservation Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Alaska
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Wind speed (knots):  14.16
Sea Temp (deg C):  8.97
Air Temp (deg C):  8.06

Science and Technology Log

During my first several days in Kodiak, I spent as much time as possible exploring the island on foot.  I hiked up Pillar Mountain to the wind turbines which now help to make Kodiak virtually 100% renewably powered; 14% comes from these turbines while the bulk of the electricity is generated by Terror Lake hydro-power facility located within the interior of the island.  The hydro and wind generation replaced a diesel powered generator and resulted in many benefits to the town and our atmospheric global commons.

View from Pillar Mountain
View of turbines from Pillar Mountain

The idea of a global commons is one I spend a lot of time discussing in the first days of my environmental science course.  The Global Commons includes resources or regions outside the political reach of any one nation state:  the Atmosphere, Outer Space, Antarctica, and you guessed it…the High Seas!

June is National Ocean Month – and the theme for this week is marine debris.  I recently learned a new doctrine of mare liberum (free sea for everyone), but I’d like to add the latin word for responsibility, officium.  Dumping wastes is commonplace with the mantra of “dilution is the solution to pollution” and this practice continues to create challenges in our oceans.  Plastics pose a major threat to our marine life and NOAA is taking significant steps toward reducing plastic pollution through a variety of educational campaigns.  Plastic marine debris can come from a variety of industrial and domestic products, as well as lost or discarded fishing equipment.

While exploring the lovely little town of Kodiak, I came upon the rare plastic Iqaluk (Iñupiaq word meaning fish):

Sculpture constructed from collected marine debris
Sculpture constructed from collected marine debris

Another challenge facing our Global Commons includes over fishing in the High Seas.  Have you eaten Fish sticks, Filet-o-fish, Imitation-crab….otherwise known as Alaskan Pollock?  My mother often told me she craved McDonald’s fish sandwiches while pregnant with me; perhaps those sandwiches somehow led me to this spot 20 miles off the Aleutian Islands?  One of the main reasons we are on the Oscar Dyson for the next three weeks is to gather data on the Alaskan Pollock populations so that the fishery can be maintained at a sustainable level.  This Alaskan Pollock commercial fishery is one of the most economically valuable and well managed fisheries in the world.  Part of this success is due to the implementation of the MSA (Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act) that set up a system governing the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone – waters three to 200 miles offshore), and also established NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) under NOAA (you better know what this means).  The UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) provides international guidelines and law for our oceans.  Acronyms…scientists and the military love them.  I will learn to love them.

 Personal Log

On the topic of marine debris, there are often jokes made on the bridge about the too-fat-to-fly puffins. They furiously flap their little wings in front of our ship.

Tufted Puffin
Tufted Puffin Photo credit: NOAA image gallery

Apparently cribbage is the game to play on the Oscar Dyson and thanks to Emily Collins (fisheries biologist), I now have another card game to add to my repertoire.  Ever tried to ride a stationary bike on a ship?  The feeling is hard to describe and I must have a sensitive stomach because occasionally I feel as if I am on a roller coaster! Currently I am sitting in my stateroom listening to the sloshing ocean that gurgles and surges with the swell against the wall; the sounds are 95% soothing and 5% terrifying.  I will not get sea sick and I will do my best not to become marine debris….
Did You Know?  In the event that I have to abandon ship, my “Gumby suit” will help me survive the frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska.

Donning my Immersion Suit!
Donning my Immersion “Gumby” Suit!

 

Posted on

Vincent Colombo, Dynamic Positioning, June 15, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Vincent Colombo
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Annual Pollock Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: The Gulf of Alaska
Date: June 15, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:

  • Wind Speed: 4.52 knots
  • Sea Temperature: 8.5 degrees C
  • Air Temperature: 6.4 degrees C
  • Air Pressure: 1034.33 mb

A United States Coast Guard Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawk flying over the Oscar Dyson
A United States Coast Guard Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawk flying over the deck of the Oscar Dyson

Science and Technology Log:

Are you a morning person? How about a night owl? Well if you said yes to the first question, then Alaska during the summer is your place to be. Currently where we are right now, the sun officially rises at 5:08 and sets at 23:12 (that’s 11:12 pm for those of you not used to 24 hour format). But, do not think that it means it turns dark by any means. Sunrise and Sunset are when the sun is officially seen, or disappears on the horizon respectively. So far in my time spent here in Alaska, I have only seen it dark for about one hour.

The 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth exaggerates the effect of the sun during the time around a solstice
The 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth exaggerates the effect of the sun during the time around a solstice

The reason why is easily explained, seasons. Students in Delaware learn about seasons in 8th grade, and again if they take Physics or Astronomy in high school. The tilt of the earth causes the northern hemisphere to be more exposed to the sun for longer periods of time. Thus the concept of day and night is greatly changed.

In order to fully grasp this concept, you must also understand why it never gets dark either. The term we use is twilight, or the time between darkness and sunrise in the morning,  and sunset and complete darkness in the evening. Twilight is also defined as when there is light outside, but the sun is below the horizon.

There are 3 types of twilight: civil, nautical, and astronomical.

  • Civil twilight occurs when the Sun is between 0 degrees and 6 degrees below the horizon. In the morning, civil twilight begins when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and ends at sunrise. In the evening, it begins at sunset and ends when the Sun reaches 6 degrees below the horizon. Typically civil twilight begins and ends one half hour before or after sunrise or sunset. Most outdoorsmen know this as the 1/2 hour before and after rule. If you’re a deer hunter, civil twilight signifies legal shooting time has begun or ended.
  • Nautical twilight occurs when the geometrical center of the Sun is between 6 degrees and 12 degrees below the horizon. Nautical twilight is usually an hour before and after sunset. This twilight period is less bright than civil twilight and artificial light is generally required for activities.The term, nautical twilight, dates back to the time when sailors used the stars to navigate the seas. During this time, observers on Earth can easily see most stars. Although not completely dark outside, one could safely get around.
  • Last is Astronomical twilight, and this occurs when the Sun is between 12 degrees and 18 degrees below the horizon. In the morning, the sky is completely dark before the onset of the astronomical twilight, and in the evening, the sky becomes completely dark at the end of astronomical twilight. This is typically an hour and a half before or after sunrise or sunset respectively.
  • During the summer months, especially around the Summer Solstice, the North and South Poles experience several days with no complete darkness at all. Currently our civil, nautical, and astronomical twilights are exaggerated, only leaving about an hour of actual darkness.

My next scientific topic I would like to discuss is the system the vessel Oscar Dyson uses called Dynamic Positioning. When we were calibrating the acoustic equipment in my last post, the ship did not move more than 0.3 meters in any direction.

Dynamic positioning diagram
Dynamic positioning diagram

The ship uses GPS systems to hold it in one single place for a period of time. Using a minimum of three satellites and triangulation, the ship’s position is able to be maintained. The ship uses its main engines as well as bow thrusters to keep it steady in one position.  I was also introduced to some new vocabulary:

  • surge: moving the ship forward or back (astern)
  • sway: moving the ship starboard (right) or left (port)
  • heave: moving the ship up or down
  • roll: the rotation about surge axis
  • pitch: the rotation about sway axis
  • yaw: the rotation about heave axis

How a ship is able to maintain it's position
How a ship is able to maintain its position

Not only can the ship stay in one position, I also learned that it can stay in one position over a column of water, which is vital for a research ship like the Oscar Dyson when conducting research one specific area of the ocean.

A view of the dynamic positioning monitor from the bridge
A view of the dynamic positioning monitor from the bridge

A view of the current state of the rudder of the ship. It changes as the dynamic positioning controls the ship
A view of the current state of the rudder of the ship. It changes as the dynamic positioning controls the ship

The bow thruster control on the bridge of the ship
The bow thruster control on the bridge of the ship

Personal Log:

It took us almost three days to reach where the scientific study was to begin. For those of you who know me, it is hard for me to stay in one place for an extended period of time. Luckily the ship has an abundance of DVDs to watch, Direct TV and a fantastic galley (aka kitchen) to make it feel more like home. I can honestly say the food is some of the best I have ever eaten.

Luckily (knocking on wood), our ship has not hit any rough seas. It has taken a day or so to get used to the rocking, just make sure you have a free hand to grab hold of something when moving about.

Underway, I got to deploy the first An Expendable Bathy Thermograph or XBT for short. You can find out more by going to this NOAA website: XBT uses

Getting briefed on use of the sensor
Getting briefed on use of the sensor. Notice I am harnessed in.

Deploying the sensor
Deploying the sensor

According to our Executive Officer, LT Carl Rhodes, we will be seeing some AMAZING Alaskan geography including volcanoes. Check back for some awesome photos.

Did You Know?

Most modern oil rigs are not fixed to the sea floor! They also use dynamic positioning. Learn more about dynamic positioning here.

 

Posted on

Vincent Colombo, Getting Ready to Leave, June 4, 2015

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Vincent Colombo
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 11 – 30, 2015

Mission: Annual Walleye Pollock Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Bering Sea
Date: June 4, 2015

Introduction

Greetings from Delaware! This is my introductory post for my Teacher at Sea experience. I am set to arrive in Kodiak, Alaska on Monday June 8th. My name is Vinny Colombo, teacher at Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown, Delaware. I live near Bethany Beach, DE, and an experience on the water is less than a 5 minutes drive away. As you can see below, Delaware is part of the Delmarva Peninsula. A peninsula is an area surrounded on three sides by water. Accordingly, the Atlantic Ocean and tidal bays are part of our every day lives.

The Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula

My next post will be from NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson. I am anxiously awaiting being a part of the annual walleye pollock survey. Some of the reasons I have decided to study fisheries is because I absolutely love the water. Below are some pictures of things I will be missing out on until I return in July.

Sunrise on Indian River Bay
Sunrise on Indian River Bay

A beautiful day on the Indian River Bay
A beautiful day on the Indian River Bay

Blue Crabs
Blue Crabs

Flounder Fishing in the Bay
Flounder Fishing in the Bay

Another Picture of Indian River Bay
Another Picture of Indian River Bay

While on the Bering sea, my research study will be to assess the population of Walleye Pollock, an integral part of the Alaskan ecosystem, economy and global commerce. Pollock are a key fish in the food web of the waters surrounding Alaska. The best comparison I have to the pollock is the Atlantic Menhaden found in the waters surrounding Delmarva. Menhaden have different names depending on where you live, such as Bunker, Elwys, Moss Bunker, and Pogy. The way we know exactly the species is by its scientific name: Brevoortia tyrannus.  Many other species of fish and invertebrates rely on this very special species of fish.

A juvenile menhaden
A juvenile menhaden

A catch of over 300 Menhaden
A catch of over 300 Menhaden

Sustaining fisheries is vitally important to all of the environment. I look forward to learning more and sharing my experiences with you right here. Please check back soon for more information.

Posted on

Kacey Shaffer: All Good Things… August 13, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Kacey Shaffer

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 26 – August 13, 2014

Mission: Walleye Pollock Survey

Geographical Location: Bering Sea

Date: August 13, 2014

Weather information from the Bridge:

Air Temperature: 12º C

Wind Speed: 10 knots

Wind Direction: 306.62 º

Weather Conditions: Clear

Latitude: 53º 51.38 N

Longitude: 166º 34.85 W

Science and Technology Log:

Before we get into detail about data and where all of it ends up, let’s talk acronyms. This trip has been a lot like working in the Special Education world with what we like to call “Alphabet Soup.” We use acronyms a lot and so does the NOAA Science world. Here are a few important acronyms…

AFSC – Alaska Fisheries Science Center (located in Seattle, WA)

MACE – Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering Program (also in Seattle)

CLAMS – Catch Logger for Acoustic Midwater Surveys

Drop TS – Dropped Target Strength System

CTD – Conductivity, Temperature and Depth System

SBE – Sea-bird Electronics Temperature-Depth Recorder

We recorded data in a program called CLAMS as we processed each haul. The CLAMS (see above: Catch Logger for Acoustic Midwater Surveys) software was written by two NOAA Scientists. Data can be entered for length, weight, sex and development stage. It also assigns a specimen number to each otolith vial so the otoliths can be traced back to a specific fish. This is the CLAMS screen from my very first haul on the Oscar Dyson.

Kacey's first haul on the Oscar Dyson.
Kacey’s first haul on the Oscar Dyson.

From the Species List in the top left corner you can see I was measuring the length of Walleye Pollock- Adult. In that particular haul we also had Age 2 Pollock, a Chum Salmon and Chrysaora melanaster (a jellyfish or two). There is the graph in the lower left corner that plots the sizes in a bar graph and the summary tells me how many fish I measured – 462! When we finish in the Wet Lab we all exit out of CLAMS and Robert, a zooplankton ecologist working on our cruise, ducks into the Chem Lab to export our data. There were a total of 142 hauls processed during the 2014 Summer Walleye Pollock Survey (June 12 – August 13) so this process has happened 142 times in the last two months!

Next, it is time to export the data we collected onto a server known as MACEBASE. MACEBASE is the server that stores all the data collected on a Pollock survey. Not only will the data I helped collect live in infamy on MACEBASE, all the data collected over the last several years lives there, too. CLAMS data isn’t the only piece of data stored on MACEBASE. Information from the echosounding system, and SBE (Sea-bird Electronics temperature depth recorder) are uploaded as well.

We’ve reached the end of the summer survey. Now what? 142 hauls, two months of echosounder recordings, four Drop TS deployments and 57 CTD’s. There have also been 2660 sets of otoliths collected. Scientists who work for the MACE program will analyze all of this information and a biomass will be determined. What is a biomass? Some may think of it as biological material derived from living or recently living organisms. In this case, biomass refers to the total population of Walleye Pollock in the Bering Sea. In a few weeks our Chief Scientist Taina Honkalehto will present the findings of the survey to the Bering Sea Plan Team.

That team reviews the 2014 NOAA Fisheries survey results and Pollock fishing industry information and makes science-based recommendations to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, who ultimately decide on Walleye Pollock quotas for 2015. Think about Ohio’s deer hunting season for a minute. Each hunter is given a limit on how many deer they can tag each year. In Pickaway & Ross counties we are limited to three deer – two either sex permits and one antlerless permit. If every deer hunter in Ohio was allowed to kill as many deer as they pleased the deer population could be depleted beyond recovery. The same goes for Pollock in the Bering Sea. Commercial fisheries are given quotas and that is the maximum amount of Pollock they are allowed to catch during a given year. The scientific research we are conducting helps ensure the Pollock population remains strong and healthy for years to come.

Personal Log:

Earlier today I took a trip down to the Engine Room. I can’t believe I waited until we were almost back to Dutch Harbor to check out this part of the ship. The Oscar Dyson is pretty much a floating city! Put on some ear protection…it’s about to get loud!

Kacey stands by one of four diesel engines on the Oscar Dyson.
Kacey stands by one of four diesel engines on the Oscar Dyson. (Photo credit: Sweet William)

Why must we wear ear protection? That large machine behind me! It is a 3512 Caterpillar diesel engine.  The diesel engine powers an electric generator. The electric generator gives power to an electric motor which turns the shaft. There are four engine/generator set ups and one shaft on the Dyson. The shaft turns resulting in the propeller turning, thus making us move! When we are cruising along slowly we can get by with using one engine/generator to turn the shaft. Most of the time we are speeding along at 12 knots, which requires us to use multiple engines/generators to get the shaft going. Here is a shot of the shaft.

The shaft of the Oscar Dyson.
The shaft of the Oscar Dyson.

 

Engineering Operation Station
Engineering Operation Station

The EOS, or Engineering Operation Station, is the fifth location where the ship can be controlled. The other four locations are on the Bridge.

Engine Data Screen provides information about the engines, generators and shaft.
Engine Data Screen provides information about the engines, generators and shaft.

This screen provides Engineers with important info about the generators (four on board) and how hard they’re working. At the time of my tour the ship was running on two generators (#1 and #2) as shown on the right side of the screen. #3 and #4 were secured, or taking a break. The Officer of the Deck, who is on the Bridge, can also see this screen. You can see an Ordered Shaft RPM (revolutions per minute) and an Actual Shaft RPM boxes. The Ordered Shaft RPM is changed by the Officer on Deck depending on the situation. During normal underway conditions the shaft is running at 100-110 RPMs. During fishing operations the shaft is between 30 and 65 RPMs.

The port side winch of the Oscar Dyson.
The port side winch of the Oscar Dyson.

When I talked about the trawling process I mentioned that the Chief Boatswain is able to extend the opening of the net really far behind the stern (back) of the ship. This is the port side winch that is reeled out during trawling operations. There are around 4300 meters of cable on that reel! How many feet is that?

When Lt. Ostapenko and ENS Gilman were teaching me how to steer this ship they emphasized how sensitive the steering wheel is. Only a little fingertip push to the left can really make a huge difference in the ship’s course. This is the hydraulic system that controls the rudder, which steers the ship left or right. The actual rudder is hidden down below, under water. I’m told it is a large metal plate that stands twice as tall as me.  This tour really opened my eyes to a whole city that operates below the deck I’ve been working on for the last 18 days. Without all of these pieces of equipment long missions would not be possible. Because the Oscar Dyson is well-equipped it is able to sail up to forty days at a time. What keeps it from sailing longer voyages? Food supply!

And just like that I remembered all good things must come to an end. This is the end of the road for the Summer Walleye Pollock Survey and my time with the Oscar Dyson. We have cleaned and packed the science areas of the ship. Next we’ll be packing our bags and cleaning our staterooms. In a matter of hours we’ll be docking and saying our goodbyes. There have been many times over the last 19 days where I’ve stood, staring out the windows of the Bridge and thinking about how lucky I am. I will never be able to express how thankful I am for this opportunity and how it will impact my life for many, many years. A huge THANK YOU goes to the staff of NOAA Teacher at Sea. My fellow shipmates have been beyond welcoming and patient with me. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to everyone on board the Dyson!! I wish you safe travels and happy fishing!

To Team Bluefin Tuna (night shift Science Crew), thank you for your guidance, ice cream eating habits, card game instruction, movie watching enthusiasm, many laughs and the phrase “It is time.” Thanks for the memories! I owe y’all big time!  

Did you know? The ship also has a sewage treatment facility and water evaporation system onboard. The MSD is a septic tank/water treatment machine and the water evaporation system distills seawater into fresh potable (drinking and cooking) water.

Posted on

Gregory Cook, On Sea Sickness and Good People, August 10, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Gregory Cook

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 26 – August 13, 2014

Mission: Annual Walleye Pollock Survey

Geographical Area: Bering Sea

Date: August 10, 2014


Science and Technology Log:

Last night and afternoon was by far the craziest we’ve seen on the Oscar Dyson. The winds were up to 35 knots (about 40 miles an hour). The waves were averaging 12 feet in height, and sometimes reaching 15-18 feet in height. Right now I’m sitting on the bridge and waves are around 8 feet. With every rise the horizon disappears and I’m looking up at stark grey clouds. With every drop the window fills with views of the sea, with the horizon appearing just below the top of the window frames.

UpDownUpDownUpDown
In the space of three seconds, the view from atop the bridge of the Oscar Dyson goes from looking up to the sky to down at the sea. The above pic is a MILD example.

Ensign Gilman, a member of NOAA Corps, explains to me how the same thing that makes the Bering Sea good for fish makes things rough for fishermen.

“This part of the Bering Sea is shallow compared to the open ocean. That makes the water easier for the wind to pick up and create waves. When strong winds come off Russia and Alaska, it kicks up a lot of wave action,” Ensign Gilman says.

Andrew, Bill and Nate
Lt. Andrew Ostapenko, Survey Tech Bill Potts, and Ens. Nathaniel Gilman on the Bridge

“It’s not so much about the swells (wave height),” he continues. “It’s about the steepness of the wave, and how much time you have to recover from the last wave.” He starts counting between the waves… “one… two… three… three seconds between wave heights… that’s a pretty high frequency. With no time to recover, the ship can get rocked around pretty rough.”

Rough is right! Last night I got shook around like the last jelly bean in the jar. I seriously considered finding some rope to tie myself into my bunk. There were moments when it seemed an angry giraffe was jumping on my bunk. I may or may not have shouted angrily at Sir Isaac Newton that night.

Which brings us to Sea Sickness.

Lt. Paul Hoffman, a Physician’s Assistant with the U.S. Public Health Service, explains how sea sickness works.

“The inner ears are made up of tubes that allow us to sense motion in three ways,” Hoffman explains. “Forward/back, left/right, and up/down. While that’s the main way our brain tells us where we are, we use other senses as well.” He goes on to explain that every point of contact… feet and hands, especially, tell the brain more information about where we are in the world.

“But another, very important piece, are your eyes. Your eyes are a way to confirm where you are in the world. Sea Sickness tends to happen when your ears are experiencing motion that your eyes can’t confirm,” Hoffman says.

For example, when you’re getting bounced around in your cabin (room), but nothing around you APPEARS to be moving (walls, chair, desk, etc) your brain, essentially, freaks out. It’s not connected to anything rational. It’s not enough to say “Duhh, brain, I’m on a boat. Of course this happens.” It happens in a part of the brain that’s not controlled by conscious thought. You can’t, as far as I can tell, think your way out of it.

Hoffman goes on to explain a very simple solution: Go look at the sea.

“When you get out on deck, the motion of the boat doesn’t stop, but your eyes can look at the horizon… they can confirm what your ears have been trying to tell you… that you really are going up and down. And while it won’t stop the boat from bouncing you around, your stomach will probably feel a lot better,” Hoffman says.

The Deck is your Friend.
Everything is easier on deck! Clockwise from left: Winch Operator Pete Stoeckle and myself near Cape Navarin, Russia. Oceanographer Nate Lauffenburger and myself crossing the International Date Line. Survey Tech Alyssa Pourmonir and Chief Scientist Taina Honkalehto near Cape Navarin, Russia.

And he’s right. Being up on the bridge… watching the Oscar Dyson plow into those stout waves… my brain has settled into things. The world is back to normal. Well, as normal as things can get on a ship more than a third of the way around the world, that is.

Personal Log:

Let’s meet a few of the good folks on the Oscar Dyson. 

NOAA Crew Member Alyssa Pourmonir

Job Title: Survey Technician

Alyssa and the Giant Jelly!
Survey Tech Alyssa Pourmonir assesses a giant jelly fish!

Responsibilities on the Dyson: “I’m a liaison between crew and scientists, work with scientists in the wet lab, put sensors onto the trawling nets, focus on safety, maintaining all scientific data and equipment on board.” A liaison is someone who connects two people or groups of people.

Education Level Required: “A Bachelors degree in the sciences.” Alyssa has a BS in Marine and Environmental Science from SUNY Maritime with minors in oceanography and meteorology.

Job or career you’ve had before this: “I was a life guard/swim instructor in high school, then I was in the Coast Guard for three years. Life guarding is the BEST job in high school!”

Goal: “I strive to bring about positive change in the world through science.”

Weirdest thing you ever took out of the Sea: “Lump Sucker: They have big flappy eyebrows… they kinda look like a bowling ball.”

Lump Sucker!
Lump Sucker! When provoked, this fish sucks in so much water that it becomes too big for most other fish to swallow. That’s its defense mechanism! It sort of looks like a cross between a bowling ball and grumpy cat!

Dirtiest job you’ve ever had to do on a ship: “Sexing the fish (by cutting them open and looking at the fish’s gonads… sometimes they explode!) is pretty gross, but cleaning the PCO2 filter is nasty.  There are these marine organisms that get in there and cling to the filter and you have to push them off with your hands… they get all slimy!”

Engineer Rico Speights
Engineer Rico Speights shows off how nasty a filter can be! He and his wife (Chief Steward Ava) sail the Bering Sea together with NOAA!

NOAA Rotating Technician Ricardo Guevara

Job Title: Electronics Technician

Responsibilities on the Dyson: “I maintain and upkeep most of the low voltage electronics on the ship, like computer networking, radio, television systems, sensors, navigation systems. All the equipment that can “talk,” that can communicate with other devices, I take care of that.”

Education level Required: High school diploma and experience. “I have a high school diploma and some college. The majority of my knowledge comes from experience… 23 years in the military.”

Tech Guevara
Technician Ricardo Guevara shows me an ultrasonic anemometer… It can tell the wind speed by the time it takes the wind to get from one fork to the other.

Job or career you’ve had before this: “I was a telecommunications specialist with the United States Air Force… I managed encryption systems and associated keymat for secure communications.” This means he worked with secret codes.

Trickiest problem you’ve solved for NOAA: “There was a science station way out on the outer edge of the Hawaiian Islands that was running their internet off of dial-up via satellite phone when the whole thing shut down on them… ‘Blue Screen of Death’ style. We couldn’t just swap out the computer because of all the sensitive information on it. I figured out how to repair the disk without tearing the machine apart. Folks were extremely happy with the result… it was very important to the scientists’ work.”

What are you working on now? “I’m migrating most of the ship’s computers from windows xp to Windows 7. I’m also troubleshooting the DirecTV system. The problem with DirecTV is that the Multi-Switch for the receivers isn’t communicating directly with the satellite. Our antenna sees the satellite, but the satellite cannot ‘shake hands’ with our receiver system.” And that means no Red Sox games on TV! Having entertainment available for the crew is important when you’re out to sea for two to three weeks at a time!

What’s a challenging part of your job on the Dyson? “I don’t like it, but I do it when I have to… sometimes in this job you have to work pretty high up. Sometimes I have to climb the ship’s mast for antenna and wind sensor maintenance. It’s windy up there… and eagles aren’t afraid of you up there. That’s their place!”

Lt. Paul Hoffman

Job Title: Physician Assistant (or P.A.) with the U.S. Public Health Service

Paul and Peggy
Lt. Paul Huffman and the small boat Peggy D behind him. Lt. Huffman is with the U.S. Public Health Service. But secretly I call him the Bat Man of Health Care. Peggy Dyson is a beloved part of the Alaska Fishing Industry’s history. Before the internet and satellite telephones, her radio service served as a vital link home for fishermen out at sea.  She was married to Oscar Dyson, the man for whom the ship was named.

Responsibilities on the Dyson: He’s effectively the ship’s doctor. “Whenever a NOAA ship travels outside 200 miles of the U.S. coast, they need to be able to provide an increased level of medical care. That’s what I do,” says Hoffman.

Education required for this career: “Usually a Masters degree from a Physician’s Assistant school with certification.”

Job or career you’ve had before this: “Ten and a half years in the U.S. Army, I started off as an EMT. Then I went on to LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) school, and then blessed with a chance to go on to PA school. I served in Iraq in 2007-2008, then returned for 2010-2011.”

Most satisfying thing you’ve seen or done in your career: “Knowing that you personally had an impact on somebody’s life… keeping somebody alive. We stabilized one of our soldiers and then had a helicopter evac (evacuation) under adverse situations. Situations like that are what make being a PA worthwhile.”

Could you explain what the Public Health Service is for folks that might not be familiar with it?

“The Public Health Service is one of the seven branches of the U.S. Military. It’s a non-weaponized, non-combative, all-officer corps that falls under the Department of Health and Human Services. We’re entirely medical related. Primary deployments (when they get sent into action) are related to national emergen