seafloor mapping – Page 24 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 26, 2005March 18, 2021

Philip Hertzog, July 26, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Philip Hertzog
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 25 – August 13, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Aleutian Islands, AK
Date: July 26, 2005

Weather Data from Bridge

Latitude: 55˚ 44.95’ N
Longitude: 158˚ 47.42’ W
Visibility: 10 nm
Wind Direction: 065˚
Wind Speed: 7 kts
Sea Wave Height: 2 feet
Sea Water Temperature: 13.3˚C
Sea Level Pressure: 1011 mb
Cloud Cover: 8, stratus, cirrocumulus

Science and Technology Log

Today the RAINIER continues its journey from Kodiak Island to Mitrofania Island where our mapping work will start. I awoke and found the ship off the coast of Kodiak Island in the Shelikof Strait that separates Kodiak Island with the southwestern Alaskan peninsula. A straight is a long stretch of water where the wind can travel great distances without being blocked and build up large waves. The waves in the Strait are between 1 and 2 feet high, but it is enough to rock the ship back and forth. I have to be careful not to spill any food or drinks in the cafeteria and it takes a while to get use to the rocking back and forth.

Though we are traveling today, our ship’s crew is already working and mapping the bottom of the Shelikof Strait. I attended a meeting lead by Lt. Ben Evans and listened to him explain our plan for the next several days. Today we are using the ship’s sonar to map the main portion of the Shelikof Strait and to look for anything that could harm ship traffic. The sonar sends beams of energy in the form of sound waves to the bottom which then bounce back to the ship. By measuring how long it takes for the sound to return to the ship, a computer can determine how deep the channel is. Behind the bridge is the plot room where the mapping action takes place. The plot room has a big table in the middle to lay out charts and several computer stations line the walls around the table. Each computer station has two monitors hooked together so the hydrographer (a person who maps the ocean bottom) can put up sonar images and compare it to maps and other information. Today we had one of the computer stations working to show the data being collected for the Shelikof Strait. The bottom is around 400 meters deep and relatively flat. The computer monitor shows us a colorful image of the bottom depths as we move along the straight.

In the late afternoon, we enter into a large bay and circle around to the back side of Mitrofania Island. Suddenly, I see four sprays of water in the air, one right after another, about half a mile from the ship. As we move farther into the bay, we see more sprays and soon see curved, dark backs surface and then glide along the surface in an arch before disappearing below the surface. As we move closer we can make out a tiny fin on these large creatures toward the rear of their backs and realize these are fin whales.

Fin whales are one of the largest whales found in the world and can reach 24 meters in size. All around us we see spray being blown out by the fin whales as they surface and mill about with each other. One whale surfaces right in front of the RAINIER and the Captain had to back off on the engine to avoid a collision. The whale moved to the side of our ship as we slowed down and I could see it staying in the same place for 3-5 seconds looking up at us before moving away below the surface.

After our greeting by the fin whales, the Captain anchored the RAINIER in a quiet bay off Mitrofania and the crew prepared for a busy day of mapping tomorrow.

Personal Log

Though I find I am excited to be on the RAINIER, I found myself dizzy with a little bit of motion sickness from the rocking of the ship in Shelikof Strait. Taking the advice from books and several of the crew members, I kept myself from becoming sicker by getting fresh air on the deck and looking at the horizon. I also drank plenty of fluids and ate all of my meals. After a couple of hours and a nap, I felt much better.

The high point of the day came when we entered Mitrofania Bay and saw the fin whales. We also saw salmon jumping throughout the bay and several of the crewmembers fished off the back of the RAINIER after they had finished their duties for the day.

Question of the Day

What do fin whales eat and where do they spend the winter?

July 25, 2005March 18, 2021

Philip Hertzog, July 25, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Philip Hertzog
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 25 – August 13, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Aleutian Islands, AK
Date: July 25, 2005

Weather Data from Bridge

Visibility: 10 nm (nautical miles)
Wind Direction: 127˚
Wind Speed: 12 kts
Sea Wave Height: 1-2 feet
Sea Water Temperature: 12.8˚ C
Sea Level Pressure: 1009.5 mb
Cloud Cover: 8

Introduction

Welcome to my Teacher at Sea Log. Over the next three weeks, I will document my experiences on board the NOAA Vessel RAINIER as part of the Teacher at Sea (TAS) program. NOAA established the TAS program about 15 years ago as a means to educate the public about its mission through the use of classroom teachers. Over 400 teachers have participated in the TAS program and have used their NOAA experience to bring marine research and mapping into the classroom for thousands of students.

I currently teach 7^th Grade Science to students at Hunt Middle School located in Tacoma, Washington. Hunt Middle School is located about a mile and a half from Puget Sound and many of our students play in parks next to estuarine waters. I hope to use my experience with NOAA to enhance my classroom curriculum and to provide other teachers in my school district with enhancements to our adopted program.

I have taught for six years and prior to that I worked for government in the field of natural resources management. Some of my work included hazardous waste cleanup in the aquatic environment and near shore aquatic habitat mapping.

Science and Technology Log

Today we begin our journey from Kodiak, Alaska to Mitrofania Island on board the NOAA vessel RAINIER. Kodiak is an island located in southwestern Alaska about 250 miles by air plane from Anchorage. Mitrofania Island is located along the southwestern Alaskan peninsula about half way between Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. Our trip will take a day and a half to reach Mitrofania.

The RAINIER is a hydrographic ship that measures 231 feet long and displaces 1800 tons of water. Hydrography is the science of using sonar and other complicated devices to bounce sound waves off the bottom of the ocean that can be used to identify hazards (like rocks) that could sink passing ships. The information gathered by the RAINIER is used to update maps of the ocean bottoms and coastlines. Ships’ captains call these special maps charts. The charts help keep ships safe and away from shallow waters, lurking rocks and jagged coastlines.

The waters around Mitrofania are remote and have not been mapped in years. Fisherman, large ships and the Alaska State Ferry use these waters and pass the island on occasion. Our job will be to gather information to update the charts for the waters around Mitrofania Island to help increase the safety of passing ships.

I spent the morning watching the ships’ crew prepare the RAINIER for its three-week journey. The crew made repairs on small cracks, moved mooring lines and loaded supplies onto the ship. Two trucks full of food drove up to the ship and I helped carry boxes of milk, fruit and vegetables up the gangway and into the narrow passages of the ship for storage.

Prior to our 2:00 pm departure, the ship’s safety officer gathered me and other new members of the crew for safety training. Working and living on a ship can be exciting, but one needs to be extremely careful to avoid accidents and learn how to live with 49 other people. I spent most of today attending safety classes.

My first class was to learn how to stay afloat in water that is 56 º F. The answer is simple, wear a life vest! However, the answer isn’t really that simple. I got issued 4 different types of life vests. If I work inside a small boat, I get to wear a vest that blows up with a carbon dioxide cartridge. If I work outside on the deck of a small boat or handle lines at the pier, I have to wear a “Mustang” float jacket that doesn’t need to be blown up. If I have to abandon ship, I must put on a survival suit that consists of thick foam and covers my body entirely. The survival suit makes a person look like the cartoon character “Gumby” and hence gets the nickname “Gumby Suit.” To make matters more interesting, I am also issued a standard life vest that most people are familiar with. I am now ready to float for any occasion, formal or informal!

After my floatation class, I learned where to go in the event of an emergency on the ship. We have three main types of emergencies: fire/general emergency, man overboard, and abandon ship. For each type, I am assigned a different station to report to and given specific duties. For example, I will serve as a look out in the event someone should fall off the ship and if we need to abandon our vessel I need to bring extra blankets for the life raft. Each type of emergency has its own signal on the ship’s whistle. Three long blasts means a person fell overboard, six short blasts followed by a long one means we need to abandon ship, and a continuous ringing means fire. Everybody on board the RAINIER is well trained and given a job to do during an emergency.

After the emergency training, we got to watch the RAINIER “film festival” in the ship’s Wardroom, which is like a lounge on land. The “film festival” consisted of a series of three safety videos on how to use an air respirator, avoid hazardous materials and general safety on board a ship. I then finished the day by taking two more safety classes through the ship’s computer that also gave me a test. Luckily I passed the tests and now feel ready to go forward in safety.

Though it may seem like a lot of time, all of the training is important and will help me to save myself and help others around me in the event of an emergency. Students should be aware that learning doesn’t stop when you graduate from school, but continues for a lifetime as one meets new challenges and experiences.

Personal Log

Despite a full day of safety training, I managed to spend several hours on the flying bridge to watch the Alaskan scenery pass by as we made our way out of Port. The flying bridge is the deck above the Captain’s bridge and is the highest point on the ship. You can look out from the flying bridge in all directions and see for miles.

We passed through a narrow passage between Kodiak and Afognak Island where the mountains rose out of the water as the RAINIER carefully made its way with a series of turns and maneuvers. At one point, we passed 10 sea otters floating by the ship on their backs that looked at us and seemed to wonder what we were up to. We constantly saw puffins vigorously flapping their wings in a struggle to avoid hitting the ship. Often the fat puffins could not take flight, but always avoided our ship at the last minute

A real highlight of today was seeing several Minke whales blow spray and surface gracefully near the ship. You first spot a spray of water at the surface followed by a sleek, dark back arching over the water that finishes with the appearance of a small fin that then disappears below the surface.

Question of the Day

How is safety training on the RAINIER like safety training at school? How is it different?

July 7, 2005March 18, 2021

Debbie Stringham, July 7, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Debbie Stringham
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 5 – 15, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific, Alaska
Date: July 7, 2005

Weather Data
Location: in transit
Latitude: 55 37.5’ N
Longitude: 156 17.8’ W
Visibility: 10 nm.
True Wind Speed: 14 kts.
True Wind Direction: 295
Sea Wave Height: 1 ft.
Swell Wave Height: 2-4 ft.
Swell Wave Direction: 270
Sea Water Temperature: 13.1 C
Sea Level Pressure: 1007.6
Sky Description: Clear
Dry Bulb Temperature: 14.9 C
Wet Bulb Temperature: 13.0 C

Science and Technology Log

I woke up at 0300 to stand watch on the bridge with the XOs– Shifts are usually four hours on and eight hours off. I learned how to use the Combined Wind Plotting Board Calculator to determine true wind speed and direction. I estimated wave and swell heights and direction and collected data on dry and wet bulb temperatures, latitude and longitude, barometric pressure and sky description. Weather readings are collected every hour on the bridge while en route.

In order to find true wind, one must find the bearing and speed of the ship from a GPS unit and correlate that on the plotting board. Then, apparent wind speed and bearing are taken from an anemometer and plotted on the board. When the board is spun and the two points are aligned vertically, one can correlate those points to find the true bearing and the difference between those two points give true wind speed in knots.

While on the bridge, I also learned the reference system that crew members use to indicate another ship, landmark, or object in the ocean. For example, if a light is spotted at 45 degrees from the bow of the ship, then one would say, “There is a light, broad on Starboard Bow.” If the light were on the portside at 270 degrees, then one would report, “There is a light, broad on Port Beam.” The 360 degrees view is actually broken into bearing points. A point equals 11 degrees and there are 32 points in all. During my watch, I was able to spot whales at both of the locations mentioned above.

Question of the Day

What is hydrography and why is it important?

Answer from Previous Day

1 fathom equals six feet.

June 22, 2005March 18, 2021

Miriam Sutton, June 22, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Miriam Sutton
Onboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
June 17 – 22, 2005

Mission: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: June 22, 2005

Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: 10 nautical miles (nm)
Wind direction: 200°
Wind speed: 13kts
Sea wave height: 2-3′
Swell wave height: 1′
Sea water temperature: 15.6°C
Sea level pressure: 1005mb
Cloud cover: Partly cloudy

Personal Log

I am seated on a park bench near a section of seawall adjacent to the NOAA dock in Woods Hole, MA. The NANCY FOSTER is secured to her moorings and the crew is working to prepare her for the next research cruise. As I gaze across the dock at my home for the past week, I am in awe at the opportunity NOAA provided me through the Teacher at Sea program. What a marvelous experience and one that I will not soon forget. I am extremely grateful to NOAA for providing me with a research experience that will help me with science curriculum design and the development of activities and lessons to assist my students in gaining a deeper understanding of the technologies used in the ocean exploration. I am also thankful that the NOAA scientists allowed me to take such an active role in their research. They were most helpful in teaching me the logistics of remote sensing technologies and also provided some terrific teaching ideas to help middle school students grasp such an evasive concept.

In all honesty, I was not ready to disembark the NANCY FOSTER this morning. I truly loved the experience of living at sea and conducting research for NOAA scientists. During my adventure, I never felt like an outsider. The NOAA corps, crew, and scientists allowed me to settle in quickly and become a part of their research team. I am forever grateful for their hospitality. NOAA’s Teacher at Sea program has been a wonderful experience that I would highly recommend!

June 21, 2005March 18, 2021

Miriam Sutton, June 21, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Miriam Sutton
Onboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
June 17 – 22, 2005

Mission: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Survey
Geographical Area: New England
Date: June 21, 2005

Science and Technology Log

Today was our last day of remote sensing along Stellwagen Bank and everyone was hoping that our towfish would find something along the seafloor. By our second run of the day, our towfish successfully located “something” along the seafloor but it wasn’t quite what we had in mind. As Chief Scientist, Matt Lawrence watched the cable length read out begin to climb shallower and shallower, he realized our towfish had captured some fishing gear. The towing operations were stopped, the ship reversed course and we retrieved the towfish so we could remove the line of fishing gear that had wrapped around the towing shaft. Once removed, the sensor was re-deployed and maritime archeology research continued.

The fishing gear must have been synonymous to a lucky horseshoe because we began locating several possible wrecks shortly after freeing the sensor from the gear. In actuality, it is the fishing gear used by local fishermen that gives the scientists a starting point for their searches. Local fishermen keep logs of “Hang” areas they try to avoid so as not to get their fishing gear caught up in the debris. Fishermen share their “Hang” logs with the scientists who can then use the fishermen’s data to set up remote sensing search areas and transect lines. Fishermen have years of experience from fishing local waters and have become a valuable resource of information for the scientists to use in their quest to preserve the maritime heritage of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.