Pollock Survey – Page 2 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 12, 2024August 8, 2024

Nick Lee: Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, July 10, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Nick Lee
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 29 – July 20, 2024

Mission: Pollock Acoustic-Trawl Survey

Geographic Area of Cruise: Eastern Bering Sea

Date: July 10, 2024

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Latitude: 50° 40.9 N

Longitude: 178° 29.9 W

Wind Speed: 20 knots

Air Temperature: 6.2° Celsius (43.1° Fahrenheit)

Science and Technology Log:

Last blog post, I talked about acoustic backscatter, which scientists on board use to locate fish. When scientists notice high-intensity backscatter – or backscatter that they’re interested in collecting more biological data about – they’ll call the bridge and ask to go fishing. The bridge then makes the announcement over the radio:

“All stations. This is the bridge. We will be fishing, fishing, fishing.”

This announcement sparks a flurry of action from scientists, NOAA officers, and the deck crew. A few scientists go up to the bridge for a marine mammal watch, where they make sure that there are no marine mammals in the area of the operation. NOAA officers navigate to the science team’s target fishing area, and the deck crew prepares the net to go in the water.

Teacher at Sea Nick Lee on marine mammal watch. Nick stands at a window on the bridge and looks out through binoculars at gray waters under a gray sky. — *Marine mammal watch on the bridge.*

Before my cruise, I thought fishing nets were relatively simple and uniform. However, I’ve since learned that the net has many different components and sensors, which help scientists collect additional information about the fish seen with acoustics.

Codend

During the trawl, the net is dragged behind the boat. Near the opening at the mouth of the net, the net’s mesh is over a meter wide. This helps reduce drag from the water, while still funneling fish toward the back of the net. The net gradually gets smaller until the very end of the net – called the codend – where the fish are collected. At the end of each trawl, the net is hauled out of the water, and the contents of the codend are emptied into a sorting table for further processing in the fish lab, where length, weight, sex, and maturity are recorded for a representative sample.

Pocket Nets

In portions of the net with larger mesh, small fish and other organisms can escape through the holes in the mesh. This creates a problem for scientists – a trawl could show that only adult pollock are present in a certain area when in reality the population is mixed, but all of the juveniles escaped! Since scientists will be using trawl samples to understand the overall population of pollock, they want to avoid bias as much as possible in their data.

To get around this problem, scientists are studying the rates at which different sized pollock (and other organisms) escape from the net. They use pocket nets, or small nets made of the same fine mesh as the codend, to get an idea of what escaped from each trawl. Nine pocket nets are attached to the side, top, and bottom of three different sections of the net with varying mesh sizes. As the trawl net is being hauled back on the boat, one of my jobs is to help empty these pocket nets and collect what’s inside.

We’ve mostly found krill and jellyfish, but occasionally we’ll find a larval fish or squid!

CamTrawl

Near the codend, there is also a camera, referred to as CamTrawl. This camera provides scientists with a visual of what is going into the net, and can be used to help identify species and length of fish that are caught.

Scientists deploying PelagiCam. View through a doorway of two scientists in orange foul weather gear and green and white hardhats standing close to one another at the railing of the ship. They face away from the camera. In the foreground, on the deck, is a spool containing yellow cable. — *CamTrawl (left) and scientists Matthew Phillips and Mike Levine deploying PelagiCam (right).*

On this cruise, scientists are also testing a camera that they lower over the side of the ship (without a net), known as PelagiCam. They are hoping that PelagiCam may be able to collect species and length data, supplementing the data captured when processing fish from the trawl. If PelagiCam can record this data accurately, it could provide an efficient complement to trawling, which requires a lot of time and collaboration between different teams of people.

Pollock seen on PelagiCam — *A pollock seen on PelagiCam (left). Posing with scientist Mike Levine in front of the PlagiCam (right).*

Teacher at Sea and scientist posing in front of PelagiCam. They are wearing foul weather gear and hard hats; Mike is also wearing a mask and gloves. — *A pollock seen on PelagiCam (left). Posing with scientist Mike Levine in front of the PlagiCam (right).*

FS70 Net Sounder

The FS70, nicknamed the Turtle, collects acoustic data and produces a live image of the net’s opening when it is in the water. This data allows scientists and the deck crew to monitor the shape of the net while fishing, ensuring that the net opened correctly. It also monitors when fish enter the net.

Live data from the FS70. a square screen mounted in a console displaying sonar data. — *FS70 (left), nicknamed the turtle, and the live data it shows scientists during a trawl.*

Personal Log:

Going fishing can sometimes be a lot of “hurry up and wait.” After the marine mammal watch, at least one scientist stays on the bridge to monitor the net using the FS70, and the others get ready to process the trawl. Letting the net out and hauling it back in is far from simple, however. It requires constant communication between the bridge and the deck crew, and it can be made more complicated by the weather or equipment malfunctions. Once the net is in the water, trawling can take anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour.

Opening the codend is always exciting, because we’re never quite sure what we caught. While our target is always pollock, we’ll often find other interesting organisms mixed in as well. Some highlights include rockfish, squid, and a smooth lumpsucker.

close-up of a Rockfish in a white bin — *Organisms caught in the trawl so far include rockfish, squid, and smooth lumpsuckers.*

Squid in a white bin — *Organisms caught in the trawl so far include rockfish, squid, and smooth lumpsuckers.*

Did you know?

The net used on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson was specifically designed for this survey!

August 29, 2023August 29, 2023

Germaine Thomas: Farewell to the Oscar Dyson and Summer, August 19, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Germaine Thomas (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 7 – August 21, 2023

Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey (Leg 3 of 3)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean/ Gulf of Alaska
Date: Saturday, August 19, 2023

Weather Data
Lat 58.1 N, Lon 150.1 W
Sky condition: Partly Sunny
Wind Speed: 5.81 knots
Wind Direction: 346.98°
Air Temp: 12.91 °C

Science Log

The last trawl sample that the Oscar Dyson’s crew and scientist’s took was in deep water with a Methot net, named after Dr. Rick Methot, the NOAA scientist who developed it. This type of trawl net slows down the water as marine organisms tumble into it, so their delicate bodies are not crushed. The codend looks a lot like what you would see in a plankton tow, only it will catch a lot more organisms.

Micheal, wearing foul weather gear, yellow gloves, a hard hat, and a flotation jacket, stands on deck holding a net draped into a plastic bin. He turns his head to the side to look at the camera for a photo. Beyond, the sky is cloudy and the water is calm and gray. — Michal Levine as he removes the codend from the Methot trawl net

Sub-samples are taken from what the Methot catches. Some krill is preserved and sent back to NOAA in Seattle for identification and analysis. On board, the krill are weighed and counted. The krill and other organisms are small, so the tools used to sort them are designed for capturing and moving small organisms.

several strainers resting on a white table surface. two are rimmed circles with mesh centers. one is a standard kitchen strainer with a handle. we can also see a knife, a pencil, electrical tape, and a small torpedo-shaped device for measuring flow inside the net. — The tools used to sort krill

some krill (maybe 40, not thousands) displayed on a white surface — Krill

After the last krill was counted and weighed, the science team quickly jumped into action cleaning up the Fish Lab. Yes, I am including this in the science log, because cleanup is an important part of science that many high school students seem to forget.

view of cleaned equipment on the aft deck. Stacks of empty buckets, some suds still visible on the deck surface. a trawl net rests in a pile in the background. — Totes and baskets were scrubbed and then washed with a pressure hose

The crew had unreeled the trawl nets and were getting ready to ship them to Washington state.

trawl nets, orange and blue in color with ropes and buoys attached to them, sit in piles on deck beneath the large spools (now empty) where they had been mounted during the survey operations — Trawl nets neatly stacked on deck

Personal Blog

Being a Teacher at Sea on the Oscar Dyson was a fantastic way to end the summer for me. Shortly I will be heading back to Anchorage where high school has already started and students have already been to my class with a substitute teacher. I look forward to teaching school, but am so thankful for the opportunity to have this adventure.

It has been so wonderful working with the science team on this cruise. After so many unforeseen delays the objectives were met through team work and the organizational skills of the lead scientist Taina Honkalehto.

The people on this ship really enjoy working on the ocean. Whether it is captaining the boat, engineering, the mess, to programming echo sounders, identifying species of fish, weighing and sampling them, they all love what they do. They also really care about the work that they are doing, the health of the ocean, and they want to support the people working and living with it. Also, there is a unique brand of humor that comes with working together for extended periods of time at sea. You just have to laugh at strange fish that come aboard and wonder at the beautiful sunsets or northern lights.

two crewmembers wearing foul weather gear and large yellow gloves stand laughing at the sorting table in the wet lab. a woman holds a grenadier fish in two hands and closes her eyes in laughter while the man reaches toward the fish with something else (not discernable) in play. — A Grenadier fish

Germaine poses for a photo at the railing. the sun set creates nice pink and orange colors over a mountainous shoreline in the distance. — A Grenadier fish

On the bridge I found the ship’s communication flags. These flags are a way to communicate with other ships if the radios are not working or to hang on holidays with a message. When I was a kid back in Ketchikan, Alaska, I admired the flags so much I would draw cartoons with flag messages. So, to NOAA, the science team and the crew of the Oscar Dyson…

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with horizontal bars in red, white, blue, meaning "T" — T

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with white on top and red on the bottom, meaning "H" — H

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with white on top and blue on the bottom, and a notch in the blue, meaning "A" — A

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with blue and white checkers, meaning "N" — N

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a flag with blue on top and yellow on the bottom, meaning "K" — K

Germaine, wearing her Teacher at Sea hat, holds up a white flag with a blue square in the middle, meaning "S" — S

May the seas lie smooth before you. May a gentle breeze forever fill your sails. May sunshine warm your face, and Kindness warm your soul. – An Irish Sailor’s Blessing

August 28, 2023August 29, 2023

Germaine Thomas: Fish Reproduction and Why it’s Important, August 18, 2023

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Germaine Thomas (she/her)

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 7 – August 21, 2023

Mission: Acoustic Trawl Survey (Leg 3 of 3)
Geographic Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean/ Gulf of Alaska
Date: Friday, August 18, 2023

Weather Data
Lat 58.18 N, Lon 148.82 W
Sky condition: Partially Cloudy
Wind Speed: 10.55 knots
Wind Direction: 32.58°
Air Temp: 14 °C

Science and Technology Blog

Meet Sandi Neidetcher, she is a fish biologist investigating fish reproductive status. Why care about fish reproduction? Well, the seafood industry is extremely important to Alaska and other coastal states. And they would not have an industry if those “little fishes” could not reproduce. But the ocean is changing due to climate and different types of pollution.

Climate change is making our oceans a warmer place—just a couple of degrees, but that may be enough to really change how fish reproduce and spawn. A few degrees in temperature could change when and where fish reproduce, and then cascade to the fishing industry, the food market, and the people who depend on them as food.

NOAA wants to have background information on fish reproduction so they can recognize whether the fish have changed their reproductive strategies over time and how that could impact fisheries.

Sandi received her Masters degree studying the ovaries of Pacific cod to determine the phenology and geography, or the timing and location, of spawning. She specialized in histology, which is the study of microscopic tissue structures, for her it was specifically the ovaries. To understand the reproductive process and ovary maturation, she studies slides with ovary tissue mounted and stained to show oocyte (unfertilized egg) structures that develop as the spawning season progresses.

a collection of eight histograms presented in two columns. each histogram displays a stained (artificially colored) cross-section of a piece of ovary tissue viewed on a slide under a microscope. in each slide, the tissue ranges from red to purple, with some gray; structures appear as circles, swirls, cells, unfortunately difficult for a lay person to describe helpfully. Germaine likely includes these as a general example of Sandi's research. The slides are labeled: 1) Immature (IMM) - reserve fund, tightly packed oocytes, little tunica, thin wall. 2) No development (ND) - reserve fund, more tunica, thick wall. 3) Developing (DEV) - Cortical Alveoli. 4) Vitellogenesis (VIT) - early to late vitellogenesis, nucelar migration, coalescence. 5) Prespawning (PSWN) - VIT plus hydration. 6) Spawning (SWN) - VIT, some hydration, plus post ovulatory follicles. 7) Partial Spent (PSNT) - VIT (no coalescence or hydration) plus post ovulatory follicles. 8) Spent (SNT) - early post ovulatory follicles, residual VIT resorbing. — Examples of histograms from Sandi’s research, showing the progression of Pacific cod oocyte structure development over the course of the spawning season

Now she is involved in a study looking at the reproductive states of Walleye Pollock. Pollock are multi-batch spawners. They have the ability to spawn (lay eggs) more than once in a season. So the female ovaries can be in different stages of reproduction throughout the season.

The first step in this analysis is to collect the ovaries from the pollock.

Sandi and Robert, wearing foul weather gear and long, yellow, heavy-duty gloves, stand at a work bench in the wet lab. Sandi, closer to the camera, holds a pollock in her right hand over a white cutting board. Robert, standing ready at the fish measuring board, looks down at the pollock Sandi is holding. — Sandi Neidetcher and Robert Levine work together to collect data on a pollock.

In the photo above, the fish will be measured for length and weight, then the ovary and the liver will be removed, weighed, and saved for analysis. The fish’s ear bones (otoliths) will also be removed and used to determine its age. Samples are sent back to Sandi at NOAA AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) in Seattle, Washington. Half of the ovary will be sent to a histology lab where technicians will prep the tissues and return the sides ready to be analyzed. The other half of the ovary is scanned on the ship.

Sandi is comparing the histological samples to Raman Spectroscopy Analysis that she does aboard the Oscar Dyson. A long time ago when I was an undergraduate student in chemistry, Raman spectrometers were very large. The one I worked with in my physical chemistry class was in the basement of a building on a special concrete slab that stopped any vibrations from disturbing the path of the laser. Did I mention that the whole setup took up almost half of the basement?

view of an equipment set up in the wet lab. the spectrometer (which Germaine has labeled in this photo) sits on a table to the left of the photo. the laser wand, connected to the spectrometer by a cable, rests nearby, adjacent to a small foil-covered plate holding a little blob of pink tissue. there's also a computer monitor displaying a graph of the readings. the table is a bit cluttered, with stacks of paper, a pair of goggles, a file box, a computer mouse. — The computer displays a scan of the ovarian tissue

Raman spectrometers have come a long way since my undergrad. Today, Sandi has a small wand that contains a laser connected to a spectrometer the size of a donut box. A small desktop computer connected to the spectrometer will give an immediate readout of the analysis.

The wand with the laser is held over the ovary to collect data on large macromolecules like lipids, proteins, and DNA.

two hands steady the laser wand over a bit of pink tissue resting on a foil-covered plate (itself on some paper towels.) the wand connects by a cable to the spectrometer, visible in the background. — You can see the laser light as it penetrates the ovary.

The analysis that Sandi does is to compare the molecular composition identified through the spectral patterns with the structures seen in the histology samples, and to determine if the maturation status can be identified through the spectral patterns. The ultimate goal would be to have a small hand-held spectrometer that a scientist could use right as the ovaries are extracted. This would greatly increase the amount of ovaries analyzed quickly and efficiently and reduce the cost and time required for histological analysis

Sandi sits at a table in the wet lab, turning to smile for the camera. She is wearing a gray NOAA logoed sweatshirt. A stack of a box and a binder (and some goggles) on the right end of her table - the foreground of the photo - obscure the view of what she is working on at the moment but this is likely the same table as the previous two photos. — Sandi at her work station on the *Oscar Dyson*

Pollock have variability in their reproductive strategies and may be impacted by environmental conditions. One strategy is down regulation, where a fish will reabsorb a number of eggs during maturation and, as a result, reduce the resources spent on reproduction. This reduces the fecundity, or number of eggs released by that fish in a season. Knowing how fecund a fish population is helps managers determine how many fish can be removed by a fishery. Atresia is the resorption of an oocyte and can be seen histologically. Mass atresia is where a whole ovary of oocytes is be reabsorbed. If the fish is not finding enough food or the temperature is not correct then, then a female fish can save energy by reducing, or stopping the whole process of reproduction.

Recent warming sea temperatures have been seen in the Gulf of Alaska, and this may be impacting fish reproduction. In 2020, the number of Pacific cod predicted had dropped so low that the federal waters fishery was closed. That same year, crew fishing for Pacific cod reported seeing a number of Pacific cod with mass atresia. Scientists do not know if the observation of atresia, during a warming period, is related to the population crash but studies like this will give more information for the future. Predicting population crashes that may be related to climate change, fish health or temperature differences are an important part of fisheries management and impact us all because the ocean is an important resource.

Personal Blog

Crew Members in the Spotlight

Juliette and Ben cross their arms and lean toward one another slightly to pose for a photo. They are standing in front of a wooden workbench with blue shelving containing small cubbies for nuts, bolts, other supplies. Two hard hats rest on top of the blue shelves. Juliette grips ear protection with her right hand. Ben wears a NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson t-shirt. — Pictured left to right, Juliette Birkner – Engineering, and Ben Boswell – Survey Technician

The Commanding Officer runs the ship, but there are many important jobs that the Oscar Dyson would not function without. Engineering is one of them. There is a small team of Engineers aboard that are constantly monitoring the ship when on shift.

Juliette is a member of the Oscar Dyson’s Engineering department and may have been on the staff the longest. Her personality is direct, friendly and capable. Before becoming an Engineer, she attained her bachelor of science degree at the University of Washington. After receiving her degree she did not really have a clear plan for a job. So she went to a community college and received the equivalent associates degree of a Junior Unlicensed Engineer. Eventually, through NOAA, she can be a fully qualified Engineer with time aboard ships.

Juliette has a wildly creative side and interest in science. The scarf she is wearing in the picture has different layers present in sedimentary rock. She is also a big fan of dinosaurs, placing several all over the ship for people to find when work is slow. Honestly, it is the kind of humor that keeps everyone moving around with a smile. Some dinosaurs even have sweaters that she knitted, in her down time. Her knitting is extremely impressive.

A stormtrooper figurine, riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex figurine, suspended from twine in front of a computer screen

a plastic dinosaur wearing a pink and blue knitted sweater, propped up on a metal surface against a wall

Ben is the Survey Technician for the ship. Survey Technician is the kind of job you would never know exists as a high school student. There are jobs out there in this world that people would never specifically train for in high school or college , but are highly needed where you have different groups collaborating in complex situations. Ben’s job description is a pretty long list; calibrate scientific instruments, collect data, assist scientists, help the deck crew, and act as a liaison between science and the deck crew.

How did he arrive at this position? He attained a bachelor of science in Wildlife Biology and worked in the field for a while. Unfortunately, he found the job hard to make a living with the low pay. Fishing’s siren song came in the form of factory trawling and other crew positions in smaller boats. Because of his academic training and work experience the “perfect storm” of a Survey Technician was born.

Soon we will be taking our last trawl sample and heading to port in Kodiak. There have been moments on the cruise where time crawled in the dead of night while I was struggling to stay awake. Mostly, it has been a trip of a lifetime, with an incredibly capable and adaptive team of scientists and crew members willing to share stories that keep you awake and lull you to sleep, dreaming about tomorrow.

panoramic view over the bow of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, from the flying bridge (the top most level); it's a beautiful day, with blue skies and wispy clouds — The view from the *Oscar Dyson’s* fly bridge

September 10, 2019September 11, 2019

Phil Moorhouse: It’s Bongo Time! September 7, 2019

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Phil Moorhouse

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 27 – September 15, 2019

Mission: Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations.

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

Date: September 7, 2019

Weather Data from the Bridge

Latitude: 56 15.09 N
Longitude: 157 55.74 W
Sea wave height: 8 ft
Wind Speed: 1.9 knots
Wind Direction: 179 degrees
Visibility: 10 nautical miles
Air Temperature: 12.8 C
Barometric Pressure: 1010.45 mBar
Sky: Clear

Science and Technology Log:

One of the more technologically interesting pieces of equipment we are using is the Bongo net. One of the main aspects of this cruise is the zooplankton survey. As I have stated before, this survey is important to studying the prey for the juvenile pollock and is done at the same stations where we trawl for juvenile pollock so that scientists looking at the data can compare the ecology of the pollock with the ecology of their prey. The Bongo net is used to collect the zooplankton. This contraption is a series of two large and two smaller nets attached to metal rings. It gets its name because the frame resembles bongo drums.

20 cm bongo nets
Bongo we are currently using

The diagram on the left shows a 20 cm bongo net set-up. (Photo credit: NOAA – Alaska Fisheries Science Center). The picture on the right shows the Bongo we are currently using on the Oscar Dyson with two 60 cm nets and two 20 cm nets.

lowered bongo — *The Bongo has just been lowered into the water and following its descent.*

The bongo net design we are using includes two large nets on 60 cm frames with 500 micrometer nets and two small nets on a 20 cm frames with 153 micrometer nets. The 500 micrometer nets catch larger zooplankton and the 153 micrometer nets catch smaller zooplankton. The diagram above has just two nets, but our Bongo has 4 total nets. At the top of the bongo net setup is a device called the Fastcat. This records information from the tow including the depth that bongo reaches and the temperature, salinity, and conductivity of the water.

This whole process involves a lot of working together and communication among the scientists and crew. It usually involves three scientists, one survey tech, a winch operator, and the officer on the bridge. All members involved remain in radio contact to ensure that the operations run smoothly. Two scientists and the survey tech work on the “hero deck”. They oversee getting the nets overboard safely and back on the deck at the end of the evolution. The unit is picked up and lowered over the side of the ship by a large hydraulic wench attached to the side A-frame. Another scientist works in the data room at a computer monitoring the depth and angle of the Bongo as it is lowered into the water. As the Bongo net is lowered, the ship moves forward at approximately 2 knots (2.3 mph). This is done to keep the cable holding the Bongo at a 45-degree angle. A 45-degree angle of the wire that tows the Bongo is important to make sure that water flows directly into the mouth opening of the net. One of the scientists on the hero deck will constantly monitor the wire angle using a device called an inclinometer or clinometer and report it to the officer on the bridge. The bridge officer will then adjust the speed if necessary, to maintain the proper wire angle.

monitoring the bongo tow — *Here, I am monitoring the angle of the Bongo wire using the inclinometer.*

*The flat side of the inclinometer gets lined up with the wire and an arrow dangles down on the plate and marks the angle.*

The depth the Bongo is sent down depends on how deep the water is in that area (you wouldn’t want an expensive piece of equipment dragging on the ocean floor). The Bongo is deployed to a depth of up to 200 meters or to a depth of no less than 10 meters from the bottom. When the Bongo is at the designated depth, the survey tech will radio the winch operator to bring the Bongo back up slowly. It is brought back up slowly at 20 meters per minute and the 45-degree angle needs to continue to be maintained all the way back up. When the Bongo reaches the surface and is lifted back into the air, the survey tech and two scientists grab it and guide it back onto the deck. This operation can be difficult when the conditions are windy, and the seas are rough.

Once the Bongo has been returned to the deck, the scientist that was in the data room will record the time of the net deployment, how long it took to go down and back up, how much wire was let out, and the total depth of the station. They will also come back out to read the flowmeters in order to see how much water has flowed through the net during the deployment. If anything goes wrong, this is also noted on the data sheet.

Next the nets are washed down with sea water, rinsing all material inside the net towards the codend. The codend is the little container at the end of the net where all the plankton and sometimes other organisms are collected. The codends can then be removed and taken into the Wet Lab to be processed with all the collected material placed in glass jars and preserved with formalin for future study.

Zooplankton sample from the Bongo
Specimen being preserved with formalin
Specimen sample from the Bongo.
Plankton specimen samples ready for shipment

These samples are then shipped to Seattle and then on to Poland where they are sorted, the zooplankton identified to species, and the catch is expressed at number per unit area. This gives a quantitative estimate of the density of the plankton in the water column and can provide good information on the overall health of the ocean as they indicate health of the bottom of the food chain. After all, a high density of pollock prey means there is a good feeding spot for juvenile walleye pollock, which in turn means more Filet-O-Fish sandwiches down the line.

Species caught during the last Shift:

Common Name Scientific Name

Capelin M. villosus
Northern Smoothtongue L. schmidti
Walleye Pollock G. chalcogrammus
Eulachon or Candlefish T. pacificus
Arrowtooth Flounder A. stomas
Rockfish S. aurora
Smooth lumpsucker A. ventricosus
Prowfish Z. silenus
Sunrise Jellyfish C. melanaster
Lion’s Main Jellyfish C. capillata
Moon Jellyfish A. labiata
Bubble Jellyfish Aequorea sp.
Fried Egg Jellyfish P. camtschatica
Shrimp
Isopods

Personal Log:

As I have said, I am working with some interesting people with some very interesting stories. I am going to start sharing a little of their stories here.

*LT Laura Dwyer is the Field Operations Officer on the Oscar Dyson.*

How long have you been working with NOAA? What did you do before joining NOAA?

Laura has been a commissioned officer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Corps for almost seven years. Before joining NOAA, Laura attended James Madison University, earning her degree in International Business. She went to Bali, working as a dive instructor before moving on to Australia to do the same. While in Australia, she decided she wanted to study Marine Biology and came back to the states to study at George Mason University.

Where do you do most of your work?

Most of the time, she can be found on the bridge navigating the ship.

What do you enjoy about your work?

Laura said the most fun thing about the job is driving a 209-foot ship.

Why is your work important?

She gets to safely navigate the ship safely while working with scientists to help them get their work done.

How do you help wider audiences understand and appreciate NOAA science?

Laura had the opportunity to be the second NOAA officer who completed a cross-agency assignment with the Navy. While there, she said she was able to show the Navy personnel that they were using NOAA products such as navigational charts and weather data. Most of them did not realize that these products were made by NOAA.

When did you know you wanted to pursue a career in science an ocean career?

Laura said that while she was in Australia, she was working with another diver who was going out counting fish species for his PhD. She said that experience made her realize her father was right all along and she should have studied science.

What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?

Radar

What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?

Driving ships. She also stated that she never expected to be part of a Navy Command and shooting small arms weapons.

What classes would you recommend for a student interested in a career in Marine Science?

A lot of your regular classes, but definitely any conservation classes.

What’s at the top of your recommended reading list for a student exploring ocean or science as a career option?

“Unnatural History of the Sea” – about overfishing throughout history
“The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemmingway

What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?

Laura said she would probably be going back to school to work on her Masters in Marine Biology, particularly coral conservation, or going to Fiji to be a dive instructor.

Do you have any outside hobbies?

Diving, reading, working on puzzles, and just being outside exploring (I also understand that she is a pretty good water polo player.)

Did You Know?

For each minute of the day, 1 billion tons of rain falls on the Earth.

Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth.

Question of the Day:

The fastest speed of a falling raindrop is __________.

a. 10 mph

b. 18 mph

c. 32 mph

d. 55 mph

Answer: b

September 3, 2019

Phil Moorhouse: We’re At Sea! September 2, 2019

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Phil Moorhouse

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

August 27 – September 15, 2019

Mission: Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations.

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

Date: September 2, 2019

Weather Data from the Bridge

Latitude: 57 35.35 N
Longitude: 153 57.71 W
Sea wave height: 1 ft
Wind Speed: 14 knots
Wind Direction: 208 degrees
Visibility: 8 nautical miles
Air Temperature: 15.4 C
Barometric Pressure: 1002.58 mBar
Sky: Overcast

After a series of unfortunate events, we finally got underway! It turns out arriving several days before the ship departure ended up being very helpful. My checked bag did not arrive with me and the morning of departure it still had not arrived. I had given up on seeing it before we pulled out and gone shopping for replacement “essentials”. Then, an hour before our scheduled departure I got a call from my airline hero saying that my bag had finally made it to Kodiak. A quick trip to the airport and back to the ship and I was ready to go. That’s when the waiting game really started. Repairs to the Bongo apparatus caused a several hour delay as we waited on repairs, then after moving out into open water to test it, we found that it still wasn’t working properly. The ship crew worked to make adjustments and finally, we were off!

Science and Technology Log

We departed for the stations where the previous group had left off. The first couple of stations were methodical as everyone was becoming accustomed to what to expect. I have been asked by multiple people what kinds of things are going on during these expeditions and what the day-to-day life of a scientist is on this ship. There are several projects going on. The primary focus is on assessing the walleye pollock population, but there is also data being collected simultaneously for scientists working on other projects.

Each station starts with a bongo tow in which the bongo nets are lowered over the side and pulled along collecting plankton. Once the bongo is pulled back onto the ship, the flowmeters are read to record the amount of water that went through the net, and the nets are then carefully washed down to concentrate the plankton sample into the cod end. This end piece can then be removed and taken into the lab area to prepare the sample for shipping back to the NOAA labs. As this process is being completed, our ship’s crew is already working to bring the ship back around to complete a trawling operation in the same area.

Trawling operations off the ship’s stern. During an average trawl, the net will extend up to 540 meters behind the boat and up to 200 meters deep.

at work on the bridge — A good example of scientists and crew working together during a trolling operation. Ensign Lexee Andonian is manning the helm and watching the trawling operations on the monitor while scientist, Annette Dougherty is recording data off the monitors.

It is preferable to complete both operations from the same location since the plankton are the primary food source and a comparison can then be made between the amount of producers and consumers. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. During one of the trials yesterday, a pod of humpback whales decided they wanted to hang out just where we wanted to trawl. Because of this, it was decided to attempt to move away from the whales before starting the trawl. When all goes well, the trawling nets should bring in a nice variety of species and in our case, a large number of pollock! For the first two trials, we found mostly jellyfish with only a few other fish samples. Later trials, though, have been much more successful in finding a better mix of species. Below is a list of species caught during the last Station.

Table full of jellies
Jelly
Jelly

As the catch is spread onto the table, all other sea life is separated from the jellyfish and sorted for measurement and recorded. The jellyfish are weighed as a mixed sample, then re-sorted by species and weighed again. The fish are all measured, recorded, and bagged and frozen for future use by scientists back in the lab in Seattle that are working on special projects.

Species caught during the last Station:

Common Name	Scientific Name
Sockeye Salmon	O. nerka
Northern Smoothtongue	L. schmidti
Walleye Pollock	G. chalcogrammus
unidentified juvenile Gunnels	Pholidae family
Eulachon, or Candlefish	T. pacificus
Isopods
Shrimp
Sunrise Jellyfish	C. melanaster
Lion’s Mane Jellyfish	C. capillata
Moon Jellyfish	A. labiata
Bubble Jellyfish	Aequorea sp.

Personal Log

Drills were the word of the day the first day as we went through fire drills and abandon ship drills. It is always nice to know where to go if something goes wrong while out at sea. I now know where the lifeboats are, how to get into my immersion suit, and what to do in case of a fire on the ship.

*** Of course, just when we really start to get into the swing of things, a weather front comes through that forces us to find a place to “hide” until the waves calm down.

On another note, I have seriously been geeking out enjoying talking to the NOAA scientists about their research and experiences. There is a wealth of information in the minds of the scientists and crew on this ship. I have initially focused on getting to know the scientists I am working with and slowly branching out to get to know the crew. Hopefully I will be able to translate some of my admiration here in the coming posts.

Did You Know?

Did you know, there are approximately 1800 thunderstorm events going on in Earth’s atmosphere at any one time?

Question of the Day:

What type of fish can be found in McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich, Arby’s Classic Fish Sandwich, Long John Silver’s Baja Fish Taco, Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen, and Birds Eye’s Fish Fingers in Crispy Batter?

Answer: Pollock