NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cheryl Milliken
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 25 – August 10, 2025
Mission: Bottom Longline Survey, Leg 1
Geographic Area of Cruise: Atlantic Coast of Florida
Date: August 3, 2025
Weather Data from the Bridge (3:00 PM)
Latitude: 32° 54.4’ N
Longitude: 079° 00.3’ W
Wind speed: 18 kts.
Wave height: 1-2’
Air temp.: 28.1 C
Sky: Clouds
Science and Technology Log
To date, we have caught, tagged, and fin-clipped silky, sharpnose, sandbar, tiger, great hammerhead, blacknose, nurse, and scalloped hammerhead sharks. We have also brought up red snappers, a pale spotted eel, and a blunt-nose lizardfish. I have never seen any of these fishes before, so it has opened a whole new world of sea creatures for me. I am grateful to have this opportunity to explore a region of the ocean with which I am unfamiliar.
Top row: Scallloped hammerhead shark in mesh cradle; Large tiger shark being hoisted by crane and cradle to be processed alongside the ship (photo courtesy NOAA Corps officer on the bridge); Field Party Chief and PI Trey Driggers lifting red snapper onto cutting table to remove otoliths and eye lenses. Bottom row: Face of scalloped hammerhead shark prior to removal of circle hook; I am holding a sharpnose shark after measuring and fin-clipping it. (Photo by Gretchen Kruizenga).
Personal Log
Living on a ship is much different than living on land. Obviously, we’re on a moving vessel, so the scenery and location are different every time we wake up. As soon as the mooring lines were cast off, we had no access to shopping for anything that we might have forgotten…
One major change from when I was last aboard a ship 25 years ago is the internet. Thanks to a satellite connection through Starlink, I can now stream movies, call my husband, and scroll through Facebook — even miles from shore. It’s strange but comforting to feel connected to the outside world while being so physically remote.
Our living quarters are compact and communal. On the main deck where we fish, there’s a toilet and sink, while the lower deck — where we sleep — has two water closets with an adjacent sink. Each stateroom also has a small sink, which makes washing up and brushing teeth a bit easier. For showers, we have two shared ones for the entire crew, so we limit ourselves to ten-minute showers to make sure everyone gets a turn and can get to bed soon after their shift.
Before leaving port, the crew was split into two watches: day watch (12 noon to midnight) and night watch (midnight to noon). Most staterooms house two people on opposite watches, so the person off duty has the room to themselves while the other works. Unfortunately, our bunks are located just below the deck where the fishing line is hauled in, so it gets quite noisy. Sleep is something we grab when we can, knowing it may be disrupted by the sound of the winch or the motion of high seas. I’m on day watch, so my schedule feels more natural — but for those on night watch, sleeping during daylight and staying alert all night is a real challenge.
Yesterday we also launched the second drifter. This one had Falmouth High School stickers, of course, but also the crew of NOAA Ship Oregon II wrote their names, drew, or wrote favorite quotes. It was fun to get everyone on the ship involved in this project! The track of Drifter #1 appears to be keeping up with the ship!
Interview with Trey Driggers
Trey Driggers is the PI, or principal investigator, of the Southeast Fisheries Science Center Bottom Longline (BLL) Survey. He originally wanted to be a musician playing guitar, but his father said that if he went to military school first, he would pay for college. That seemed like a good deal, so he completed an associate’s degree at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, PA, then continued for a BA in History from Clemson University.
Trey imagined being a lawyer, but he was always interested in sharks. His fascination with large predators was driven after his childhood dog was eaten by an alligator in his grandparents’ yard in Florida. He was 8 years old when the movie Jaws came out, and although he was too young to see it, he was intrigued by all the shark-related merchandise that was on the shelves at that time. During his senior year in college, scientists from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History released a book entitled, Sharks in Question: The Smithsonian Answer Book. The last section was entitled, “How Do I Become a Shark Specialist?” He read that and thought, “That’s a job?” His career goals dramatically changed; now he realized that he could be a shark biologist. After graduating from Clemson, he enrolled in the courses needed to earn another degree in Marine Science. Once Trey had this focus, he became a straight A student. He finished that program in two years.
After finishing his coursework in marine science, Trey applied for graduate school and was accepted into Dr. John Dean’s lab at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Dean was very supportive of his students and is considered one of the godfathers of otoliths, studying ear stones of finfish to determine their age. Trey’s master’s thesis was on the age and growth of yellowfin tuna. Dr. Dean convinced him to stay in that lab to complete his PhD, as well. Part of his research on blacknose sharks required him to collect fin clips from sharks for a genetic study which was done in part on the Southeast Fisheries Science Center’s Bottom Longline Survey, which solidified his desire to work for the National Marine Fisheries Service. He has been participating in this survey since 1999. The rest is history!
Tell me about your family:
“We live in Ocean Springs, MS. My wife is a biology teacher in middle school. We met at USC and are both Clemson Tigers. We’ve been married for 26 years and have three children: Amelia is a biomedical engineer; Boyd is a junior at Ole Miss; and Max is a senior in high school. We have a malinois dog named Lilah and a chihuahua named Oliver.”
How did you get your position at NOAA Fisheries?
“In 2002 I was still a post-doc, but I went to the Resource Surveys Branch Chief at the Pascagoula lab three separate times to ask for a job. I think I finally wore him down and was hired in 2003. In 2012, I became the Shark Unit Leader. Kristin Hannan is my right-hand partner, and Will Tilley complements us both to make a solid team.”
What is the most fun part of your job?
“There are many fun parts of my job. My coworkers and I are very close, and it’s great being around people who have the same interests. I get to see things very few people get to see and I feel very fortunate to have access to the resources that allow me to conduct broad scale research. When I retire, I will know I did exactly what I set out to do and will have achieved my professional goals.”
What is the most difficult part of your job?
“I miss important family events such as birthdays, first days of school, etc. The good definitely outweighs the bad, though. Our work helps conservation and fishermen. I feel it’s critical to have boots on the ground when conducting research and in my field there is only one place to do that and that is on the water.”
What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
“I least expected the Deepwater Horizon disaster. When that happened, we were told, ‘You’re now forensic biologists,’ and our jobs changed significantly for a time. It was a big adjustment, and a massive effort by many, many people.”
What would you be doing if you didn’t work for NOAA?
“I’ve thought about that a lot and don’t have a good answer. I do play my guitar 3-4 hours per day, though, and would try to do something with that.”
Did You Know?
Scientists have identified ten different species of hammerhead sharks. We are fortunate to have caught two different species so far!
New Animals Seen:
- Scalloped hammerhead shark
- Pale spotted eel
- Decorator crab
- Semipalmated plover
(courtesy of Lila Xenakis)
