Sea Ice – Page 10 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

April 12, 2007April 1, 2021

Maggie Prevenas, April 12, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Maggie Prevenas
Onboard US Coast Guard Ship Healy
April 20 – May 15, 2007

Mission: Bering Sea Ecosystem Survey
Geographic Region: Alaska
Date: April 12, 2007

Ship Crew

Ray Sambrotto is the PI (principal investigator) for this expedition. His job, besides doing investigations in the lab, is to coordinate the entire BEST mission. He has to meet daily with the Coast Guard Officers, check accountability and coordinate sampling, but there is a lot more. He is constantly on watch to fix potential problems that might arise. And they do arise.

Dr. Sambrotto works with two scientists, Drs. Cal Mordy and Nancy Kachel to coordinate sampling.

So we needed a point of contact, to run communication and requests between the very busy scientists and us. David Hyrenbach, from the University of Washington, is acting as our liason with the scientists on the BEST cruise. There are so many scientists and so many projects, we needed organization to help us learn who is who doing what and when and maybe why.

David Hyrenbach is our education liason.

He steered us in the direction of creating a table of rotation visits to the various scientific teams on board. We used the theme of ‘Energy and Matter Transfer Through the Ecosystem.’ We divided all the teams into where they fit in the ecosystem.

Easy enough?

But in reality, it doesn’t work that way. Some scientists might have equipment malfunction. Some might have sample contamination or lack of a sample. There are many ways things can go wrong. And they do. When that happens, they go to a holding pattern and regroup. All scientists suffer setbacks. It matters not that you have had extensive meetings, done problem solving, and communicated with everyone that needs to know. This is science. And anything that might happen will happen.

In science, you need to have a backup plan, and then another backup plan. If something happens to Plan A, continue the experiment with Plan B. If Plan B goes down, take up Plan C.

Dr. Cal Mordy was my first rotation scientist. He is testing the water for certain nutrients. The data he gets is important for many of the scientists on this mission. — Dr. Cal Mordy was my first rotation scientist. He is testing the water for certain nutrients.

Making observations from the bridge is an enjoyable task.

After all, this is science.

April 10, 2007April 1, 2021

Maggie Prevenas, April 10, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Maggie Prevenas
Onboard US Coast Guard Ship Healy
April 20 – May 15, 2007

Mission: Bering Sea Ecosystem Survey
Geographic Region: Alaska
Date: April 10, 2007

Albatross often mate for life. Photo by Maura Naughton

Species Profile: Laysan albatross: Diomedea immutabilis

One bird that we expect to find up here in the western part of the Bering Sea is the Laysan Albatross. This is one beautiful bird, large creamy white, and so elegant! It breeds in the Hawaiian Islands, mostly in the isolated Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). My students have a great connection to the Bering Sea with this animal as it flies from those small Hawaiian islands all the way up here to find food. They will have the chance to study its diet when they dissect boluses from the chicks bred on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals of the NWHI archipelago later on this quarter.

Where can you find the Laysan Albatross?

The Laysan Albatross breeds on isolated islands in the central Pacific Ocean, but is found throughout the northern oceans during all times of the year. They are most commonly seen in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands flying low over the waves searching for food.

How large are they?

Laysan Albatrosses are among the largest of all flying birds, having a wingspread greater than 2m (6 ft), but weighing only 10 kg (22 lbs).

What do they eat?

Laysan Albatrosses are specialized feeders on schooling fish and snatch unwary victims from just under the surface. They also eat squid, flying fish eggs, and most unfortunately, lots of plastic marine debris.

What’s pelagic mean?

Birds and other animals that spend most of their lives at sea, and use land only to breed are called pelagic. Once hatched, albatrosses will return to land only to breed, the rest of their life is spent at sea.

How do they sleep?

They sometimes are seen asleep on the water but this makes them easy targets for killer whales and hunters. Most albatrosses apparently sleep while gliding in the air.

This information was copied and slightly modified from this website:

http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/albatross.html

Please visit the website and credit them correctly if you use this information.

April 9, 2007April 1, 2021

Maggie Prevenas, April 9, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Maggie Prevenas
Onboard US Coast Guard Ship Healy
April 20 – May 15, 2007

Mission: Bering Sea Ecosystem Survey
Geographic Region: Alaska
Date: April 9, 2007

Personal Log

Yesterday I boarded the ship!

It’s a big ship. And I’m learning.

I learned that many hands make light work. Ned Cokelet, one of the NOAA oceanographers, volunteered to haul us to the boat. The gear of six scientists and two teachers is voluminous. It filled up the pick-up box of a good-sized truck. We topped it off with two scientists who couldn’t fit into the inside of the cab and off we bumped. We bounced pass the airport and didn’t have to wait for airplanes crossing the road (the only stoplight in Dutch). The ride was short and we didn’t get lost.

Unloading the gear was light work. Eight people grabbing bags and shuffling up the gangplank drained the back of the pickup in short time. We learned the names of a few of the crew, essential to the upload process and began the transfer of our gear to our sleeping quarters or berths. Although the stairways were steep, to conserve space on ship, they were easy enough to navigate. Bag by bag I filled the space that would be mine for the next 33 days.

I can do this.

Much of the afternoon and evening centered in the science lab area. I sensed urgency in the scientists securing their equipment and setting up their lab gear. They used bungee cords, duct tape, rope and these little screw wires with eyehooks to secure their areas. We learned that the boat can pitch and sway in the spring seas. Anything unsecured soon becomes a flying projectile. Safety is the top priority. Unsecured gear can hurt you and others. Tie it down, tape it up, or put it away.

We watched and tried to volunteer for jobs that would make their lives easier. After a while we realized that we were taking up space and busied ourselves with our assignment, observing, taking mental notes, and writing about the expedition. We familiarized ourselves with the ships internal computer system and science public log-ins.

We posted and massaged our journals. Soon it was bedtime, but the ships scientists worked on into the night.

The scientists on board are playing in rhythm to their own music. It is a musical symphony! Sometimes one section of the orchestra will break away and so a solo, but for the most part, they play together, in melodies that support and enhance the whole. That’s what this expedition is all about. Doing research to supports the understanding of the whole ecosystem. One instrument cannot play the entire symphony. One scientist cannot do it all. It’s going to take many hands working together, insightful minds interpreting data, all listening to each other.

We can do this.

And after we learn how, I’m going to teach you. And you can tell others and show them how. So what exactly are we are trying to learn?

One ocean, one earth, one people.