Tag: phytoplankton

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Jim Jenkins, April 19, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jim Jenkins
Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman
April 18 – 30, 2005

Mission: Pollock Survey
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: April 19, 2005

Mr. Jenkins holding a temperature sensor.
Mr. Jenkins holding a temperature sensor.

Weather Data 

Latitude:  55, 36, 50 North
Longitude: 155, 51, 00 West
Visibility: 10 Nautical Miles
Wind Direction:  164
Wind Speed: 18 Knots
Sea Wave Height: 1-2 Feet
Sea Swell Height: 2-3 Feet
Sea Water Temperature:  5 Degrees C
Sea Level Pressure: 1002.8
Cloud Cover: Cloudy

Science and Technology Log

The better part of the morning was spent putting temperature and pressure sensors in metal cages. I will send a photo with the subject line, “Metal Cages” so that you will have a good idea of the construction of these devices. The sensors mounted in metal cages are suspended from moorings at 3 feet intervals to give scientists a good indication of the temperatures at various depths in the ocean.  Data collected from similar sensors has been collected for a long time and will continue to be collected well into the future. Scientists can look at the data collected over the years to draw conclusions about the patterns noted. For example, should temperatures continue to rise over the years, scientists might look for a reason for this rise in temperature.  You have heard of the idea of “Global Warming.”  Data collected in this project can be used to monitor the severity of this problem.

Today has been mainly a day of transit, the term used by NOAA folks to refer to travel to a work location. The down time gave me the opportunity to interview my roommate, Chris Garsha, an engineer with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California. Chris and Lisa Munger, a doctoral student from the University of California at San Diego, are here to place instruments in the sea which will monitor whale calls. Chris and Lisa are great people. They provided a lot of good information which I will share with you now. Also, they volunteered to e-mail you with more information about whales when they return home to California.  I gave them my card so that they would have your school address. First, I will give you the address of a web site that both Chris and Lisa recommended.

The site has sounds of whales which have been recorded by the instruments that Chris and Lisa are here to deploy. I know that you will enjoy this.

Do you remember studying sound waves in class?  I think that you will remember that a wavelength is measured from crest to crest, or from trough to trough. Chris and Lisa use this idea when recording sounds of whales. They measure the frequency of whale sounds in Hertz (Hz). 1 Hertz (Hz) would be 1 wavelength per second.  40 Hz would be 40 wavelengths per second. 1 Kilohertz (kHz) would be 1,000 wavelengths per second.  40 kHz would be 40,000 cycles, or wavelengths per second.  I hope that I have explained this clearly, please let me know if this is not the case.

Chris and Lisa are going to put an instrument in the water which will be attached the top to a huge yellow ball which will float just beneath the surface of the sea.  The bottom of their instrument will be attached to one of the railway wheels we mentioned yesterday so that it will be in the same place when they come back to pick up their instrument in 6 months.

The instrument that Chris and Lisa are going to put into the sea has three tubes.  One of the tubes is for power.  The power is provided by the same D cell batteries that you use in your flashlight at home.  Only in this case, the power is provided by 192 batteries!!!

A second tube contains a data logger to record whale sounds and associated electronics.  This tube contains sixteen 80-gigabyte discs.  This represents the computing power of sixteen lap top computers.

The third tube contains a hydrophone. This is a device that initially picks up the pressure caused in the water by whale’s sound. The pressure of the sound causes oil inside the hydrophone to move.  This movement or pressure is picked up by electronics inside the tube and recorded.

As I noted earlier, Chris and Lisa are coming back in 6 months to pick up their instrument and analyze the sounds. Some of the sounds will be converted to spectrograms so that they can analyze the sounds visually.  Loud sounds will show up on the computer screen in shades of red. Softer sounds will show in shades of blue.

Human hearing is in the 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz range.  This will give meaning to some of the things I am about to tell you.  For example, Baleen whales (Right Whales or Fin Whales) make lower frequency sounds in the 10 Hz to 10 kHz range.  Would you be able to hear a Fin Whale making a sound at its lowest frequency? I look forward to your answer to this question.

Toothed whales (Dolphins, Porpoises, Killer Whales, Sperm Whales and Beaked Whales) make sounds at higher frequencies.  This helps Chris and Lisa to tell a toothed whale from a baleen whale just by listening to their sound.

Did you know some whales make different sounds for different reasons?  For example, a Killer Whale whistles at a lower frequency for social reasons of communication.  Higher frequency clicks are used for echolocation, just like the Little Brown Bats which live in caves there in Virginia.

Chris and Lisa are scheduled to put their instrument into the water shortly.  Please let me know if you would like an update on its deployment?

Personal Log

Your teacher had an old man’s day, retiring at noon for a two-hour nap.  Some seasickness had persisted so I decided to see it I could sleep it off.  Well it worked!  After not eating all day, I had a delicious dinner that ended with my all time comfort food, banana cream pie. I feel great!

I must confess that a dose of Dramamine taken just after getting up may have helped the situation. You may find humor in the fact that I chose the Less Drowsy Formula because I did not want to waste time sleeping while I was here!

Question for the day

Today’s seawater temperature is 5 degrees Celsius.  Can you convert this to degrees Fahrenheit?

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Jim Jenkins, April 18, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jim Jenkins
Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman
April 18 – 30, 2005

Mission: Pollock Survey
Geographical Area: Bering Sea
Date: April 18, 2005

Mr. Jenkins with NOAA Ship MILLER FREEMAN in the background.
Mr. Jenkins with NOAA Ship MILLER FREEMAN in the background.

Weather Data 

Latitude:  57, 37, 50 North
Longitude: 156, 02, 34
West Visibility:  8 Nautical Miles
Wind Direction: 161 Degrees
Wind Speed:  17 Knots
Sea Wave Height: 4-5 Feet
Swell Wave Height:  4-6 Feet
Sea Water Temperature:  4 Degrees C
Sea Level Pressure: 1001.5
Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy

Science and Technology Log

I arrived in Kodiak on the afternoon of April 15.  The first few days in Kodiak were spent helping scientists and deck hands load equipment and assemble moorings.  The sensors are used to gather information about currents, salinity (saltiness), water temperature, weather, and ocean organism populations.  Some of the moorings are so large that a crane needed to move them about the deck for assembly.

One of these moorings will ride on the surface of the ocean on a doughnut shaped center about the size of a monster truck tire.  A 12-foot high triangular tower made of metal is  attached to the top of doughnut like piece with bolts.  This part of the mooring collects weather data. A second triangular metal tower is bolted to the bottom of the center piece. This section is made of different types of metal which enables collection of data  on salinity. Three 110-pound metal triangles attached in the center of this section hold the  mooring down in the water. The whole apparatus is anchored to the bottom of the ocean using old railway wheels. What do you think of this form of recycling?  I am sending  photos of the mooring as well as the wheels used to anchor the mooring.  Please take a careful look at the photos.  I know that you will have excellent questions as usual. Be certain that I will post replies to your questions quickly.

Above is the mooring. Ms. Thornton’s instrument to determine nitrate level will be placed beneath this.
Above is the mooring. Ms. Thornton’s instrument to determine nitrate level will be placed beneath this.

Most of this cruise will be involved with the study of conditions above a relatively shallow shelf in the Bering Sea. Water depths in this section of the sea are less than 100 meters.  Your knowledge of the food chain will enable you to see that study of this  productive zone is not an accident.  The relative shallowness of the water enables the sun’s rays to penetrate to provide food for plant plankton or, phytoplankton, which make their food by photosynthesis.  Animal plankton, or zooplankton, eat the phytoplankton starting the food chain which provides nutrition for all ocean organisms as well as you and me!

Walleye Pollock are the most harvested fish in the Bering Sea.  Each year, about 1,000,000 metric tons of this fish are caught and sent to food processing factories.  Can you tell me how many pounds make up a metric ton?  This may require a little research as  well as your math skills, but I am sure that you can do this.  I look forward to your answer.

You may have eaten Walleye Pollok and not known it!  Much of the fish caught is processed into fish filets or fish sticks.  You probably have eaten Walleye Pollock if you  have had a fish sandwich at a restaurant.  Some of the walleye harvest is made into a paste. This paste is added to crab products in the artificial crab that you may have  enjoyed. Does this make you want to look at food packages and do other research  regarding the source of your food?  Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed your taste of the bounty of the Bering Sea!

I needed to go up to the bridge yesterday to get the data which begins this journal.  A Killer Whale came to the surface right in front of the ship while I was recording the data. Awesome!

Personal Log

Kodiak was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.  I particularly enjoyed hikes along the beaches, through the spruce forests and on the hillsides.  A box of rocks was put into the mail to all of you on Saturday.  The rocks came from a gorgeous cobble beach called Mayflower Beach.  I think you will enjoy the way the sea smoothed your rock to leave the wonderfully sculpted pieces which you will soon have. I hope you enjoy these treasures of nature!

A sculpin was one of the fish caught on a fishing trip yesterday.  I remember how interested all of you were in the report on sculpin done by Alison.  A photo was taken before releasing the fish. I am sending a copy of the photo.

I have proven that it is possible for a human being to become seasick on a 215 boat in 4-foot seas (Very Big Grin)! Anyway, I am peachy now and look forward to your replies. I miss you guys!

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Jane Temoshok, October 13, 2001

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jane Temoshok
Onboard NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown
October 2 – 24, 2001

Mission: Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate Processes
Geographical Area: Eastern Pacific
Date: October 13, 2001

Latitude: 11ºS
Longitude: 91ºW
Air Temp: 19.7 ºC
Sea Temp: 19.9 ºC
Sea Wave: 3-4 ft.
Swell Wave: 3 – 4 ft.
Visibility: 8 – 10 miles
Cloud cover: 3/8

Science Log

Energy from the Sun

The sun is the source of all energy on the Earth. The sun gives us this energy in the form of light and heat. Where does all that energy go? Why? How can it be measured? These are some of the questions many of the scientists on board are asking.

Toby Westberry and Olga Polyakov are scientists that have 2 instruments to help them understand how solar energy behaves in the ocean. The first is the SPMR which is a tool used to measure how much light penetrates the water. The more light = the more heat. You can see in the photo that it is a small black device attached to a long cord.

Temoshok 10-13-01 ucsbsbmrlaunch
Scientist Toby Westberry holds the SPMR, a tool used to measure how much light penetrates the water.

Toby and Olga lower the SPMR over the side and let it sink to 300 meters. Then they reel it back in just like a fishing pole. It tells them the “color” (wavelength) of the light at different depths. They do this over and over again in different locations in the ocean. Why? We know that the ocean water is not the same temperature in all places on the planet. Can you think of why this might be?

Well Toby and Olga know that there are tiny living organisms in the ocean that play a role in how warm or cool the temperature is. They are called phytoplankton. It seems that the more phytoplankton there is near the surface of the water, the more heat is trapped there.

Here’s an excellent explanation from Mrs. Richards of what’s happening that might help you to understand the process:

Imagine a nice clear swimming pool. The sun’s heat energy can penetrate all the way to the bottom of the pool because the water is so clear. Whatever heat energy hits the pool will be dispersed throughout the water somewhat evenly. Makes sense, right?

Now imagine that the pool has a layer of scum and algae at the top. Face it, you just haven’t done a very good job at cleaning the pool, and your allowance just isn’t big enough to make the job worthwhile. Now, the sun’s heat energy can’t pass all the way to the bottom of the pool because the scum is blocking the light. The very top of the pool water is going to capture almost all of the sun’s heat energy, and the bottom layers of water will be darker and colder. Imagine how the temperature of the water will be affected by the amount of scum in the water.

Knowing how much phytoplankton is hanging around would certainly help understand how the sun’s energy is being used. For this experiment they use a CTD. (Boy they sure use a lot of abbreviations for things!) This instrument is really big and needs a big machine called a winch to lift it in and out of the water.

Temoshok 10-13-01 ucsbctd
The CTD is lowered in and out of the water by a winch.

It has 12 tubes that fill up with water, each at a different depth.When the CTD is back on the ship, Toby and Olga fill labeled plastic bottles with the water.

Temoshok 10-13-01 ucsbctdcoll
Toby and Olga fill labeled bottles with the water collected at each depth.

Then their work begins. First they run all the water samples through a filter to figure out how much phytoplankton was in the sample.

Temoshok 10-13-01 ucsbolgalab
Scientist Olga Polyakov works with the water samples in the lab.

Remember each tube on the CTD took in water at a different depth. So each bottle will tell a different story. They use this information to create a data graph which is used with other information to tell how the sun is heating the ocean.

Travel Log

Sea birds! I don’t know how they do it or where they came from but all of a sudden 5 “boobies” showed up over the ship. What was amazing is that they hardly ever flap their wings, yet they fly as fast as the ship. The ship is moving forward at about 10 miles an hour and has big engines to push it. These birds just seem to glide along over us. Beautiful!

Temoshok 10-13-01 bird
A booby flies over NOAA Ship RONALD H. BROWN.

Question of the day: What is an updraft and what causes it?

Keep in touch,
Jane