SEFIS – Page 4 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 20, 2013August 20, 2021

Paul Ritter: Trap-Tastic – A Great Day in the Sun, July 18, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Paul Ritter
Aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces
July 16– August 1, 2013

Mission: Southeast Fishery-Independent Survey (SEFIS)
Geographical area of cruise: Southeastern US Atlantic Ocean waters (continental shelf and shelf-break waters ranging from Cape Hatteras, NC to Port St. Lucie, FL)
Date: July 18, 2013

Weather Data from the Bridge

Science and Technology Log

Life at sea is crazy and amazing. It is kind of like Forrest Gump would say “ you never know what you’re gonna get”. Today we set out our first two sets of traps. Six individual traps are baited up with a fish called Menhaden—Brevoortia tyrannus.

Menhaden are about 15 to 35 cm long and they very stinky. They might stink more than any fish I have ever smelled. Menhaden are high in oil and a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, which make them delicious to other fish and keeps them from having heart disease and Alzheimer’s. It must work. Think about it, I have never heard of a fish having a heart attack let alone Alzheimer’s. Back to the traps….

Each trap gets four bait lines of Menhaden and then we cut up and throw in eight more just for good measure, kind of like they did in Jaws. Once the bait is in, the trap door is shut, and cameras are put on tops of each trap. One camera facing forward and one camera facing backwards completes the setup for the reef survey chevron trap. The cool thing about the cameras on the traps is the front ones are Go Pro video cameras which are most often used in extreme sports. I actually own two of them. No. I am not really in to extreme sports. We use them as helmet cams when we ride our four wheelers on trails.

The traps, which are individually numbered, are laid out on the aft deck (back) of the ship to prepare for sending them to the ocean floor. An amazing feature of the ship is the ramp deck. The moment Zeb “the chief scientist” gives the shout on the radio, Ryan “the skilled fisherman” (his actual title) pulls the lever and the back of the ship, or ramp deck, slides down. It is at this point when the traps, cameras, and Menhaden are pushed off the back and all fly to the reef below. It takes a little over a minute for the trap to reach the bottom which is around 70 meters or 223 feet deep. Ninety minutes later we recover the traps one by one and inspect the catch.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Menhaden bait fish dangling from stringers

Personal Log

Thursday July 18, 2013

Well, the great big exciting news for this expedition…. I don’t get sea sick. Woo Hoo. You might not think this is such an amazing thing but you have no idea how happy I am to be able to say this. We had at least one person who got sick already and I am thankful not to have gone through it.

I woke up around 5:30 A.M. this morning to get ready for our first day of work. Breakfast consisted of pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, and juice. I am here to tell you that the Chief Steward (Moises) aboard the NOAA Ship Pisces might be one of the best things to happen to her. While I have only been on board for 48 hours, it is readily apparent that the crew has been well taken care of when it comes to eating. Delicious.

After breakfast our team made our way to set up our video/chevron live trap on the aft (back)deck to prepare for the day’s work. At around 7:45, we got the call from Zeb (the chief scientist) in the dry lab to start dropping traps. First set of six traps made it into the water with no trouble. Ninety minutes later we hauled them all back in one by one. We emptied the live fish from the traps into tubs and placed them into the wet lab. Zack Gillum, a graduate assistant from East Carolina University and my roommate for this expedition, and I carried the traps back to the aft deck and prepared them for re-baiting. With the ship in full gear it only took about a half hour for us to reach our second drop zone or sampling area.

After our ninety minute bottom time, the traps came up, the traps were cleaned out and we were done sampling for the day. The main reason we were done is that it was going to take us quite awhile to travel to our next sample site. During this time of cleaning up, we emptied the traps, which were very smelly, and filled with half eaten Menhaden. Wow they even stink after they have been underwater for ninety minutes. which included swabbing the deck. The only thing I could think of when we were scrubbing away is a song I learned during my childhood… It goes something like this….

Maybe you've heard the expression, "Swab the Deck?" It just means "Mop the Floor." — Maybe you’ve heard the expression, “Swab the Deck?” It just means “Mop the Floor.”

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck (swish, swish),

If you’re a pirate and you know it, then your face will surely show it (swish, swish),

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck (swish, swish).

Trust me if you sing it once it will stick in your head the rest of your life, it has mine for the last 35 plus years.

Somewhere in the middle of about the 50^th verse of the song, we had an emergency fire drill. It was relatively easy. We simply had to quickly make our way to our prearranged staging area. No big deal. Shortly after that the Captain of the Pisces called an emergency evacuation drill. This drill was not quite as easy. We had to run to our stateroom, grab long sleeve t-shirts, long pants, a hat, and our survival suit. Once on deck we had to don all of our gear in about sixty seconds. Man that thing was hot and sweat was pouring off of me like water going over Niagara Falls. What is worse, I looked like a giant red Gumby Doll. After the drill we finished cleaning up our messes, and filleted all of our fish and whatever we do not need to keep for research, will get donated to the local food pantries. NOAA is amazing and so are her people.

Did You Know?

Ships use different terms to describe direction on a ship. They are easy to remember.

Port = left side

Starboard = Right side

Aft = Back

July 15, 2012August 11, 2021

Carmen Andrews: Transforming Fish into Data, July 15, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Carmen Andrews
Aboard R/V Savannah
July 7 – 18, 2012

Mission: SEFIS Reef Fish Survey
Location: Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Date: July 15, 2012

Latitude: 28 ° 50.28’ N
Longitude: 80 ° 26.26’ W

Weather Data:
Air Temperature: 28.6° C (83.48°F)
Wind Speed: 18 knots
Wind Direction: from the Southeast
Surface Water Temperature: 27.6 °C (81.68°F)
Weather conditions: Sunny and Fair

Science and Technology Log

How are fish catches transformed into data? How can scientists use data derived from fish to help conserve threatened fish species?

The goal of the Southeast Fishery-Independent Survey or SEFIS is to monitor and research reef fish in southeast continental shelf waters. Marine and fisheries scientists have developed sophisticated protocols and procedures to ensure the best possible sampling of these important natural resources, and to develop fisheries management recommendations for present and future sustainability.

During the cruise, important commercial fish in the snapper and grouper families are caught over as wide an area as possible; they are also taken in large enough numbers that they can be worked up into statistically reliable metrics. In addition to counts and measurements, biological samples are also taken at sea for future analysis in land-based research labs.

Gag grouper ready for its work up — Gag grouper ready for its work-up

Scientists strive to render an informative snapshot of reef fish stocks in a given time interval. Reports that analyze and summarize the data are submitted to policy-makers and legislators to set fisheries rules, restrictions and possible quotas for commercial and sports fishermen.

After fish are caught and put on ice, processing includes several kinds of measurement that occur on deck. This data is referred to as ‘Length Frequency’. Tag information from the trap follows the fish through all processing. Aggregate weight measurements for all the fish of one species caught in a trap are made and recorded in kilograms.

David is weighing the gag grouper, with Adam P. looking on

The length for each fish in the trap is noted, using a metrically scaled fish board. Not all fish are kept for further processing.

David measuring the length of the gag grouper

Species-specific tally sheets randomly assign which fish from the catch are kept and which ones are tossed back into the ocean. These forms, which specify percentages of fish identified as ‘keepers’, are closely consulted by the data recorder and the information is shared with the scientist who is measuring the catch.

Shelly is recording length frequency measurement data

Kept fish are put in a seawater and ice slurry. The others are thrown over the side of the boat.

Age and reproductive sampling are done next in the wet lab.

Small yellow envelopes are prepared before fish work up can begin. Each envelope is labeled with cruise information, catch number, fish number, and the taxonomical name of the fish, using binomial nomenclature of genus and species.

Adam P. and Shelly labeling envelopes and plastic specimen containers

A small color-coded plastic container (the color indicates fish species tissue origin), with the fish’s source information riveted at the top, is also prepared. This container will store fish tissue samples.

The fish trap catch number is documented on another data form, along with boat and science team identification, collection method and other important information about the circumstances surrounding the fish catch. Each species’ data is separately grouped on the data form, as individual fish in a catch are sequentially numbered down the form.

Me, transcribing fish weight & length data

Each fish is weighed, and the weight is noted in grams. The scale is periodically calibrated to be sure the fish is weighed accurately.

Vermilion snappers and scamp, labeled and ready for dissection

Three length measurements that are made: standard length (SL), total length (TL), and if the fish species has a fork tail — fork length (FL). The fish is laid, facing left on a fish board. The board is long wooden plank with a metric measuring scale running down the center.

Standard length does not include the caudal fin or tail. It begins at the tip of the fish’s head; then the fish measurer lifts the tail up slightly to form a crease where the backbone ends. Standard length measurement includes the fish’s head to end of backbone dimension only. Total length is the entire length of the fish, including the caudal fin. In fork-tailed species, the fork length measurement begins at the fish’s snout and ends at the v-notch in the tail.

Source: Australian Government – Department of Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Part of the dissection of every fish (except gray triggerfish) is the extraction of otoliths from the fish’s head. An otolith is a bone-like structure made of calcium carbonate and located in the inner ear of fish. All vertebrates have similar structures that function as gravity, balance, movement, and directional indicators. Otoliths help fish sense changes in horizontal motion and acceleration.

To extract the otoliths, the scientist makes a deep cut behind the fish’s head and pulls it away from the body. The left and right otoliths are found in small slits below the brain. They must be removed carefully, one at a time with forceps. They can easily break or slip into the brain cavity.

Otoliths reveal many things about a fish’s life. Its age and growth throughout the first year of its life can be determined. Otoliths have concentric rings that are deposited over time. The information they show is analogous tree ring growth patterns that record winter and summer cycles. Other otolith measurements can determine when the fish hatched, as well as helping to calculate spawning times in the fish’s life.

The oxygen atoms in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) can be used to assay oxygen isotopes. Scientists can use these markers to reconstruct temperatures of the waters the fish has lived in. Scientists also look for other trace elements and isotopes to determine various environmental factors.

Each pair of otoliths is put into the small labeled yellow envelope.

The otoliths on the gray triggerfish are too small to be studied, so the spine from its back is collected for age and growth analysis.

The last step standard data collection is determining the sex and maturity of the fish. The fish is cut open at the belly, similar to preparing the fish as a filet to eat it.

If the fish is big, the air bladder must be deflated. The intestines are moved or cut out of the way. The gonads (ovaries and testes) are found, and the fish can be identified as a male or female. (Groupers can be hermaphroditic.) The fish’s stage of maturity can also be determined this way. Maturational stages can be classified with a series of codes:

U = undetermined

1 = immature virgin (gonads are barely visible)

2 = resting (empty gonads – in between reproductive events)

3 = enlarging/developing (eggs/sperm are beginning to be produced)

4 = running ripe (gonads are full of eggs/sperm and are ready to spawn)

5 = spent (spawning has already occurred)

Dissected gonad specimens are removed from the fish and placed in a plastic containers, snapped shut and stored in a formalin jar to preserve them. These preserved samples will be analyzed later by histology scientists. Histology is the science of organ tissue analysis.

Red snappers have their fins clipped to provide a DNA sample. They may also have their stomachs removed and the contents studied to better understand their diets.

Video data from the underwater cameras is downloaded in the dry lab. This data will be analyzed once scientists return to their labs on land.

Personal Log

Many different kinds of echinoderms and other invertebrates have been pulled up in the fish traps. Several are species that I’ve never seen before:

Basket Star — I am holding a basket star. It is a type of brittle star in the echinoderm phylum.

Small crab, covered in seaweed, shell and sand

We also catch many unusual large and small fish in the traps and on hooks. Several of these have been tropical species that I’ve only seen in salt water aquariums.

July 10, 2012August 11, 2021

Carmen Andrews: News from Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean off the Coast of Georgia, July 9, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Carmen Andrews
Aboard R/V Savannah
July 7 – July 18, 2012

Mission: SEFIS Reef Fish Survey
Geographical Location: Atlantic Ocean, off the coasts of Georgia and Florida
Date: July 9, 2012

Location Data:
Latitude: 30 ° 54.55’ N
Longitude: 80 ° 37.36’ W

Weather Data:
Air Temperature: 28.5°C (approx. 84°F)
Wind Speed: 6 knots
Wind Direction: from SW
Surface Water Temperature: 28.16 °C (approx. 83°F)
Weather conditions: Sunny and fair

Science and Technology Log

Purpose of the research cruise and background information

The Research Vessel, or R/V Savannah is currently sampling several species of fish that live in the bottom or benthic habitats off the coasts of Georgia and Florida.

Reef fish study area — The coastal zone of Georgia and Florida and the Atlantic Ocean area where the R/V Savannah is currently surveying reef fish

These important reef habitats are a series of rocky areas that are referred to as hard bottom or “live” bottom areas by marine scientists. The reef area includes ledges or cliff-like formations that occur near the continental shelf of the southeast coast. They are called ‘reefs’ because of their topography – not because they are formed by large coral colonies, as in warmer waters. These zones can be envisioned as strings of rocky undersea islands that lie between softer areas of silt and sand. They are highly productive areas that are rich in marine organism diversity. Several species of snapper, grouper, sea bass, porgy, as well as moray eels, and other fish inhabit this hard benthic habitat.

Reef fish — Hard bottom of reef habitat, showing benthic fish — black sea bass is on left and gray trigger fish is on right side of image.

It is also home to many invertebrate species of coral, bryozoans, echinoderms, arthropods and mollusks.

Bottom organisms pulled up with fish traps — Bottom-dwelling organisms, pulled up with fish traps deployed in the reef zone.

The rock material, or substrate of the sea bottom, is thought to be limestone — similar to that found in most of Florida. There are places where ancient rivers once flowed to a more distant ocean shoreline than now. Scientists think that these are remnants of old coastlines that are now submerged beneath the Atlantic Ocean. Researchers still have much to discover about this little known ocean region that lies so close to where so many people live and work.

The biological research of this voyage focuses primarily on two kinds of popular fish – snappers and groupers. These are generic terms for a number of species that are sought by commercial and sports fishing interests. The two varieties of fish are so popular with consumers who purchase them in supermarkets, fish markets and restaurants, that their populations may be in decline.

Red snapper close up — Red snapper in its reef habitat

At this time, all red snapper fishing is banned in the southeast Atlantic fishery because the fish populations, also known as stocks, are so low.

How the fish are collected for study

The fish are caught in wire chevron traps. Six baited traps are dropped, one by one from the stern of the R/V Savannah. The traps are laid in water depths ranging from 40 to 250 feet in designated reef areas. Each trap is equipped with a high definition underwater video camera to monitor and record the comings and goings of fish around and within the traps, as well as a second camera that records the adjacent habitat.

Chevron fish trap — Fish swimming in and out of a chevron fish trap

I will provide the details of the fish trapping and data capture methods in a future blog.

Who is doing the research?

When not at sea, the R/V Savannah is docked at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SKIO)on Skidaway Island, south of Savannah, Georgia. The institute is part of the University of Georgia. The SKIO complex is also the headquarters of the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. The facility there has a small aquarium and the regional NOAA office.

The fisheries research being done on this cruise is a cooperative effort between federal and state agencies. The reef fish survey is one of several that are done annually as part of SEFIS, the Southeast Fisheries Independent Survey. The people who work to conduct this survey are located in Beaufort, North Carolina. SEFIS is part of NOAA.

The other members of the research team are from MARMAP, the Marine Research Monitoring Assessment and Prediction agency, which is part of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources . This team is from Charleston, South Carolina.

Carmen, suited up to retrieve fish from traps — Mrs. Andrews, on deck near the stern of the R/V Savannah, getting ready to unload fish traps

NOAA also allows “civilians” like me — one of the Teachers at Sea– as well as university undergraduate and graduate students to actively participate in this research.

June 1, 2012March 12, 2021

Kristy Weaver: What’s a Reef Fish Survey? May 30, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kristy Weaver
Aboard The R/V Savannah
May 23 – June 1, 2012

Mission: Reef Fish Survey
Location: 44 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, FL
Date: May 30, 2012

Current Weather: 80 degrees and sunny

Science and Technology Log

Today is our last full day at sea. We have caught about 2,000 fish in the past week! A lot of them were thrown back into the water because we only need to keep a fraction of them for the reef fish survey. The fish that we keep are studied by the scientists for a few reasons.

First, every fish we catch is measured and weighed.

TAS 021 — David, a fisheries biologist, measures every fish that we catch

Then we have a sheet that tells us which fish we “keep” and which fish we “toss” back into the ocean.

TAS 022 — Stephen writes down the length of every fish as David calls out the numbers

TAS 024 — After Stephen writes down the length he uses this paper to tell David to keep the fish or toss it back into the ocean

TAS 032 — Every fish that we keep gets its own ID number and envelope.

After it gets dark we stop fishing and go inside to the lab to collect information about the fish we caught that day. Every single fish that we keep gets its own ID number, and gets weighed and measured again. We write everything down. These notes are data.

TAS 026 — Here I am writing down the length and weight of each fish as Stephen weighs and measures them

When you make observations using your senses you are collecting data too! Can you think of a time you collected data or made an observation like a scientist?

After we record the length and weight I give Stephen the envelope and the other scientists come get the fish.

TAS 031 — Passing Stephen the envelope for the fish he just measured and weighed

TAS 025 — Scientists Jennifer and David take parts of the fish that they will study under a microscope later

Once all of the information is brought back to the scientists at the lab, they look at different parts of the fish using a microscope. This will tell the scientists three main things…

1) Is the fish a male (boy) or a female (girl)?

2)How old is the fish?

And

3) Are these fish from all different families, or are they all related to each other?

Once the scientists answer these questions, they can decide if its okay for people to go fishing for certain types of fish, or if too many fish are being taken out of the ocean and need to be protected. Right now fisheries are not allowed to take Red Snapper out of the Atlantic Ocean. That fish is a very important part of our survey.

Special thanks to Captain Raymond and the crew and of the R/V Savannah and to Zeb, the chief scientist, and his team of scientists for a great experience!

TAS 033 — This Red Snapper nearly knocked me over

May 25, 2012March 12, 2021

Kristy Weaver: The Sea is All I See, May 23, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kristy Weaver
Aboard R/V Savannah
May 22, 2012-June 1, 2012

Mission: Reef Fish Survey
Geographical Location: Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Savannah, GA
Date: May 23, 2012

Current Weather: 85 and Sunny

Hello from the Atlantic Ocean! Right now we are about 75 miles off the coast of Savannah, GA. and there is water all around me! The last time we saw land was about an hour after we left the dock yesterday.

TAS 005 — Sunset on our first night at sea

Before I left many of you asked that I be careful while I am out here. I wanted to tell you that I am safe and that safety seems to be a very important part of being a scientist, especially when you are on a ship. I took photographs of a lot of the safety equipment and information throughout the ship. We even had a safety meeting before we went out to sea. The first mate (he does a lot of work on the ship) showed us how to put on a survival suit, which is something you wear that covers your whole body and has a hood. This suit will keep you warm and floating if something happens and you need to go into the water.

After the meeting we had a fire drill just like we have at school, except we didn’t leave the boat. The captain (he is the leader of the ship) sounded the alarm and we all put on life vests and met on the deck. The deck is the back of the ship–the part that is outside. A life vest is also called a life jacket or life preserver. A life vest is put on like a jacket, but it doesn’t have any sleeves. It’s bright orange and gets buckled and tied around you so that you can float if you go in the water. You can see a picture of me in my life vest in the safety video that I made.

Many children asked what type of marine life is in the water here. Here is a list and pictures of the animals I have seen so far.

After we empty the traps we sort the fish by family. Jennifer (a scientist) and I are sorting Red Porgy in this picture.

TAS 001 — The Red Snapper is the large pink fish. The black fish is a Shark Sucker.

TAS 002 — If you look closely you can see that the Shark Sucker has a flat head with deep pockets on it that work like suction cups.

TAS 004 — One of the fishermen caught a shark with a fishing pole. We had to get a picture of it quickly so that we could get it back into the water as soon as possible!

AND…to answer the #1 question that I have received…(drumroll please) YES! Someone did catch a small shark today!

Did you know that you do things in science class that I have seen real scientists do on this ship? What things do you think you do that make you like a real scientist? Check my next blog to find out how you already are a student scientist!