population collapse – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

August 1, 2005March 18, 2021

Cary Atwood, August 1, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cary Atwood
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 25 – August 5, 2005

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: August 1, 2005

Weather from the Bridge
Visibility: undetermined
Wind direction: E ( 107 degrees)
Wind speed: 12 knots
Sea wave height: 3’
Swell wave height: 0’
Sea water temperature: 14°C
Sea level pressure: 1022.2 millibars
Cloud cover: 30% Partly cloudy,cumulus

Question of the Day

Does the temperature of ocean waters change depending upon its depth?

Answer to yesterday’s question

Bilateral symmetry is the drawing of a line through an object and having it be the same on both sides as a mirror image, such as sea stars and mud stars.

Science and Technology Journal

Aside from the major science mission of the scallop survey a few other scientific investigations are taking place on the Albatross. One such project is the CTD measurements. C for conductivity, T for temperature and D for depth. I will elaborate on this in tomorrow’s journal. Another smaller project is the mapping of habitat using acoustic sounders.

Although the scallop watch crews are labeled as scientists aboard ship, with many us with our master’s degrees in a particular science specialty, only a few are fully engaged in that role for this leg. Vic Nordahl, Chief Scientist, Dvora Hart and Avis Sosa.

Vic is ultimately responsible for collecting and reporting accurate numbers of all scallops and other marine species we have documented. The watch chiefs report the data to him, but they must audit the data before a full report is made.

Dvora, while on watch, depending upon the tow number will randomly check numbers of starfish, crabs and the weight of scallop meat and gonads. We are collecting numeric quantities to help better determine the age and growth of scallops in different sampling areas.

Avis Sosa moonlights on these scallop survey crews during her summer vacation from teaching. Currently she is teaching advanced placement chemistry in a large international school in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is an amazing woman with a huge supply unique life experiences from all over the world under her belt. For the past 14 years, Avis has been working on various NOAA ships, first as a volunteer, now as a contract employee. Over the years, she has become a source of expertise in her knowledge of marine mollusks. While sorting through the pile, she will identify anything in it and give you not only the common name, but the scientific name as well. Currently she is collecting specimens for the collection in the museum at the Marine Fisheries Lab. She is my role model as the quintessential independent, worldly woman!

Personal Log

Another day of calm seas and perfect weather. Even though I hate getting up every morning at 5 a.m., when I arrive on the fantail after breakfast, the fresh salt air and sunrises always makes the early hours worth the struggle of waking my body up. After donning my rubber boots and “Hellies”, I take a few moments to scan the horizon, note the texture of the water, lean over the deck to watch the shape of the boat wake and breathe in the air of a brand new day.

July 27, 2005March 18, 2021

Cary Atwood, July 27, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cary Atwood
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 25 – August 5, 2005

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 27, 2005

Weather from the Bridge
Visibility: Clear
Wind direction: NNW (230)
Wind speed: 15 knots
Sea wave height: unknown
Swell wave height: unknown
Seawater temperature: 11.4° C
Sea level pressure: 1012 millibars
Cloud cover: Dense Fog

Question of the Day: What might be the major predators of Atlantic scallops?

Yesterday’s Answer

According to Dr. Dvora Hart, probably the world’s expert on Atlantic scallops, who just happens to be on our cruise and is a part of my watch crew, the elements listed below are essential to the survival of these scallops:

Water temperatures in the range of 0 degrees Celsius –17 Celsius. Above this point they will die.
Firm sand or pebbly gravel needed for attachment as it grows
A good supply of phytoplankton and similar sized micro and protozoa and diatoms and detritus to feed upon

Science and Technology Log

This morning after my watch, I interviewed Captain Michael Abbott who is captaining the ALBATROSS during this cruise. We stood up on the bridge while he demonstrated some of the navigation equipment. I like spending time on the bridge because the open view from the bow is fabulous, and there are rarely any people up there. I’ll write about navigation in another entry.

I talked with him about his career in the NOAA officer corps. He joined the Corp about 21 years ago making it a career when he heard about it on his college campus. At that time he was completing a degree in geology and hydrology at the University of New Hampshire. After a three month officer training at the Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, New York he became a uniformed officer in the NOAA Corps. It is the smallest branch of the uniformed non-military service, with less than 300 officers operating ships and aircraft for scientific research purposes.

According to Captain Abbott, his major responsibilities aboard the ALBATROSS IV are the safety of the crew, a successful completion of the scallop survey mission and making the cruise enjoyable for all on board. The crew includes 5 uniformed NOAA officers, scientists and ship crew–all together, about 25 people. Being at sea gives Mike great pleasure in that he is able to contribute to NOAA’s mission and play an active part in stewardship towards the environment.

Personal Log

A poem today…

Ocean water Glassy smooth
Rippling velvet
Sunset shimmering
Fog rainbows dancing
Ship rocking
Sun glimmering
Shearwaters circling
Teacher adjusting
To daily rhythms
Of the cruise

July 26, 2005March 18, 2021

Cary Atwood, July 26, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cary Atwood
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 25 – August 5, 2005

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 26, 2005

Question of the Day

What do scallops need in order to survive within their habitat?

Yesterday’s Answer

The scientific name of the Atlantic Sea Scallop is Lacopectin magellanicus. Lacopectin means “smooth scallop.

Science and Technology Log

The real work of the ALBATROSS IV mission is accomplished during the four six-hour shifts with a crew of six workers each. On my watch, they are Sean, watch chief, Bill, Avis, Dvora, Noelle and myself. Working as a team, we accomplish great things in each tow, which takes about 30 minutes to process. Here’s how it unfolds. The eight-foot dredge basket is specially designed to capture all sizes and ages of scallops for research. It is dredged from a depth up to 100 meters to the surface for a fifteen-minute time period.

After each tow comes out of the water, fishermen release it from the cable and it’s deposited on the fantail, also known as the back deck of the ship. The fantail is a huge open area complete with a non-skid surface–very important when the boat is on an intense rock and roll session. With our “Helly’s” on (the yellow and orange storm gear you see in the pictures) and tall rubber boots, I take a picture of the mound, along with Bill, who holds up a whiteboard indicating the catch number, the tow and the strata (level) where we do the dredging. Once that is done, orange baskets, white buckets and kneepads are hauled to it. On our hands and knees we look for what might seem like buried treasure; sifting through the debris of the sea. We toss scallops and many varieties of fish, into the baskets until we have combed through every inch of them. Once the sort is done, we all move into the covered lab area for a variety of assessments, including the weight and length measurements of each scallop, as well as any ground fish that are caught. Even though some of the work is manual, computers play a very important role in accurate capture of the data. One instrument we use is a long, flatbed magnetically charged scanner. Once we put a scallop shell on the bed and hold a magnetized wand against it, it reads out the measurement onto a touch computer screen. Computers such as this one have relieved some of the tedium of the work, making it more accurate and faster. The same is done with fish, and depending upon the tow, we will keep crabs and starfish out.

All of this data is uploaded into the FSCS – Fisheries Scientific Computer System which compiles the data from the survey. This valuable data is used to assess populations and biomass for the scallop fishery and then make management decisions for present and future fishery use. The watch crews and scientists love it because it has saved so much time, and compilation of the data is considerably easier and less time consuming in the long run.

Personal Log

Sleep of any length of time is longed for, but never received. Due to our 6 hour on, 6 hour off shifts, at best we can manage 5 hours. Today I am feeling very zombie like as my body adjusts to this schedule. I rarely see John, my other TAS compadre since he works opposing shifts from mine. When we do meet, we share notes and commiserate about the work and our need for sleep!

One of my favorite haunts on board in my free time is the bridge and the upper bow. It is a quiet, calm place with great views–and a really strong pair of binoculars and field guides. The ever shifting texture of the water always captures my attention when I am outside; from the glossy velvet of early mornings, thick fog during the day, complete with fog rainbows!-and the ethereal brightness of sunset through the fog.

Another constant is the “ocean motion”. We are in a constant state of rocking–at times delicate and other times, the swells are deep and we will roll with them. I am very glad I have an ear patch to mitigate the possibility of seasickness….now I can just enjoy the ride!

July 25, 2005March 18, 2021

Cary Atwood, July 25, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cary Atwood
Onboard NOAA Ship Albatross IV
July 25 – August 5, 2005

Mission: Sea scallop survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: July 25, 2005

Question of the Day

What is the scientific name of the Atlantic sea scallop, and what does the Latin name mean?

This question will be answered in tomorrow’s log.

Science and Technology Log

Day one: the adventure begins! I arrived last night from Boston into Wood’s Hole–what a cool respite from the heat of western Colorado! A short walk later, I was in front of the ALBATROSS IV, the ship that would be my home for the next 11 days. Tony, the lead fisherman, welcomed me aboard and showed me to my stateroom. Soon after, Kris, the watch chief for our other work shift, and Noelle, who is working on her master’s thesis showed up. I took the remaining top bunk and moved my gear in. Our room has two portholes. The most exciting porthole is the one in the shower stall; my eyes are almost dead even with the water line outside….it almost feels like I live in an aquarium!

The mission of the ship on this cruise is the sampling of Atlantic sea scallops. Why are scallops being sampled? The scientific work revolves around the close monitoring of scallop populations up and down the New England coastline from Cape Hatteras in the south, to the outer extremes of Georges Bank to the north.

Over the past 30 years, unregulated commercial fishing of scallops has had a huge negative impact on scallop populations. Because this area holds the largest wild scallop fishery in the world, it has great economic importance not only to the fishermen who dredge to make their living, but also to the economies up and down the coastline. Historically, commercial fishing could be done by anyone who had a seaworthy vessel and the ability to dredge. Prior to the early 1970’s not much data had been gathered about numbers and locations of scallops, hence the need for surveys to acquire data and impose limits to prevent total decimation of this species. In my next entry I will explain more about the nitty gritty work that must be accomplished each day by watch crews.

Personal Log

Old ship sits in port
hiding new technology beneath its decks
Salt spray and seagull call
Grey clapboard houses rest close to water’s edge
As whitecaps signal a change in weather
We are on our way!

Until next time,
Ms. Atwood