shark – Page 11 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 23, 2012August 11, 2021

Steven Frantz: Introduction, July 23, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Steven Frantz
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 27 – August 8, 2012

Mission: Longline Shark Tagging Survey
Geographic area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic off the east coat of Florida.
Date: July 23, 2012

Introduction

Hello! My name is Steven Frantz and I am from the “Buckeye State” of Ohio. OH—IO! I teach 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade science classes at Roswell Kent Middle School in Akron, Ohio.

As you can see with this Google Earth view, for being a school in the city, there is quite a bit of land around the school. In addition to a ¼ mile track, two baseball fields, and a football field we also have an outdoor classroom. If you look between the two square shaped parts of the building on the west side you will see two very small squares. They are two math patios in our outdoor classroom. This past year our outdoor classroom was recognized by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a Wild Ohio School Site. It is also a monarch butterfly way station, has a tall-grass prairie, pond, bird feeders, and even has a “hidden” geocache. If you are interested in looking for our geocache, we are listed as Scientists in Progress.

Here we have some of our students relaxing in the Outdoor Classroom.

There are many things Akron is famous for:

The Goodyear Blimp and the HUGE blimp hanger. The hanger is the largest building in the world without any internal support. It is so big it even has its own weather! Or so we are told!
The old Quaker Oats factory has been turned into a hotel. The rooms are very unique in that they are round. This is because they used to be silos for storing grain.
The All-American Soap Box Derby is held every year in Akron, Ohio. Maybe you have seen the movie 25 Hill about the Soap Box Derby. This past year we built our first Soap Box Derby car and raced it in the Gravity Challenge. We ended up winning the first two heats, but lost the third heat. If you are ever in Akron, go to the top of Derby Hill and look down. And then imagine going down the hill in a very small car.

Our Soap Box Derby car about to descend Derby Hill

Our students enjoy showing, discussing, and sharing their science research projects at events such as the Bioinnovations BEST Medical Science Fair, Akron, Ohio; Intel Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair, Cleveland, Ohio; AmericaView Fall Technical Meeting, Cleveland, Ohio; the SATELLITES Geospatial Technology Conference, Toledo, Ohio; and the GLOBE Program Annual Partner Meeting this year in Minnesota. If our students do well enough they qualify to go on to district or state competitions. We even had a group of students go to the GLOBE Program Learning Experience in Cape Town, South Africa!

Roswell Kent Middle School students at the AmericaView Fall Technical meeting — Roswell Kent Middle School students at the AmericaView Fall Technical Meeting, Cleveland, Ohio

There are many more exciting things our students do at Roswell Kent Middle School. I could go on and on for a very long time telling everyone about them. I can’t wait to be able to share my Teacher At Sea experience with them. I will be on the NOAA Ship Oregon II research ship in the Gulf of Mexico. This will be her 300^th mission! While on this milestone mission we will be doing a longline survey studying sharks. Thanks for following along with my blog!

August 3, 2011March 12, 2021

Jennifer Goldner: Ready to Sail, August 2, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jennifer Goldner
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
August 11 — 24, 2011

Mission: Shark Longline Survey
Geographical Area: Southern Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico
Date: August 2, 2011

If you asked me 35 years ago, “Who is your hero?” My reply would’ve been, “Wonder Woman.” If you asked me the same question today, my answer would be “lifelong learners.” It is due to these people that solutions are being found for clean water, that animals are being saved, and that people are being educated at just how fragile our earth is right now. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is full of such people (Jennifer Hammond, Liz McMahon, Rob Ostheimer, Elizabeth Bullock, for starters). I have been in contact with each of these individuals. They have one thing in common: a passion about learning. To this end, NOAA has a Teacher at Sea program. This season over 30 were chosen out of the United States. Each of us will be on a different voyage. This is where I come in because I am a 2011 Teacher at Sea. So, who am I?

My name is Jennifer Goldner. I teach 5^th grade science in Room 8 in Jay Upper Elementary School in Jay, Oklahoma. Our town is small in size, but we have big ideas. If we don’t have resources, we find a way to get a project done. Here are just a few of the things we have done: our class has been featured in Popular Science and on Channel 6 News; we’ve worked with U.S. Satellite and Laboratory and NASA; and we’ve designed and built a tree house. We recently took a trip to Space Camp where we took home top honors of having the highest accuracy in completing our missions.

Speaking of mission, let’s get down to business: my NOAA Teacher at Sea assignment. Though I have been to the ocean, I have never sailed on a ship.

Take the poll to tell me if you have traveled on the ocean. I will be traveling aboard the Oregon II in the Gulf of Mexico, August 11-24^th.

There are 3 main types of ships: 1. fisheries research ship, 2. hydrographic survey ship, and 3. oceanic and atmospheric ship. I am on the most physically challenging of all the cruises: the fisheries cruise. I, along with the crew, will be doing 12 hour work shifts. We will be doing a shark and snapper longline survey. I am privileged to be studying with Chief Scientist Mark Grace. His work precedes him. I have already been told he is top notch. He is the Shark Unit Leader. I cannot wait to learn from him! The crew consists of about 30 people, including officers, fishermen, deck crew, engineers, electronics crew, cooks, scientists, and 1 teacher (that would be me). NOAA Ship Oregon II, also referred to as “O2”, is headed by Commanding Officer, Master Dave Nelson. Again, I have heard rave reviews about him. I am anxious to meet him in person!

As for my travel plans, I will fly in to Jacksonville, Florida. I will then spend the night on my new “home away from home,” NOAA Ship Oregon II, in Mayport, Florida. We will depart on August 11^th and sail around the entire coast of Florida. O2 will travel to Pascagoula, Mississippi, arriving on August 24^th. You can follow us on the Ship Tracker.

Current Cruise (8-2-11) for Oregon II on The Ship Tracker — Current Cruise (8-2-11) for NOAA Ship Oregon II on The Ship Tracker

While at sea I will be posting 2-3 blogs a week. Please join in on our polls, read along about our voyage, and post comments and questions. Let’s show NOAA that we are lifelong learners who value the importance of oceanic research. Besides, if you have read this entire blog entry, that makes you my hero.

July 18, 2011April 28, 2021

Maureen Anderson: Introduction, July 15, 2011

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Maureen Anderson
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 25 — August 9, 2011

Mission: Shark Longline Survey
Geographical Area: Southern Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico
Date: July 15, 2011

Personal Log

Maureen Anderson, Science Instructor, MS442, Brooklyn NY

Hello! I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Maureen Anderson and I teach middle school science at MS442 in Brooklyn, NY. In one week, I will be leaving for my NOAA Teacher at Sea trip aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II. I’m very excited to be a part of this survey! I don’t have a very strong background in science (I have 4 years of teaching experience – 3 in math and 1 in science), so I’m eager to learn as much as I can and share it with my students and community when I return.

Here’s a little bit of information about the trip. I will be helping scientists survey various fish species in the Gulf of Mexico, with a focus on sharks and snapper. Our boat leaves from Pascagoula, Mississippi on 7/25 and returns to Mayport, Florida on 8/9. We will cruise from one station to another to do hauls and sort through our catch. In this way, scientists get an idea about how many species are in this area and the overall health of these species.

A lot of people have already told me many shark jokes, or given me tips for how to handle a shark. But guess what? I won’t be dealing with sharks in the water directly (no diving on this trip). My students ask me tons of questions about sharks. While I sometimes encounter them during scuba diving, I really don’t know too much about them. So I’m looking forward to learning more about how to identify different shark species and finding out about the their overall health in this area of the world. Overall, I’m also eager to learn about how everything works on a ship, and about the different kinds of science jobs and careers of the crew.

Red Snapper — Red snapper (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org)

The Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (photo courtesy of Discovery.com)

I have never slept on a boat before, so I’m hoping that I have no problem adjusting to life at sea for 16 days. I have a ready-to-go seasickness patch just in case… Other than that, I am excited and eager to learn!

I will aim to make a blog post about 3 times a week, so please check back. Feel free to post your comments, feedback, and questions along the way!

September 2, 2010April 22, 2021

Peggy Deichstetter, September 2, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Peggy Deichstetter
Aboard Oregon II
August 29 – September 10, 2012

Mission: Longline Shark and Red Snapper Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: September 2, 2010

Finally, my first taste of shark.! My shift started at midnight. We baited 100 large hooks with mackerel. Then at a precise location the hooks were released one by one on a long line. The hooks were left in the water for one hour. Then the hooks were pulled out in the same order they were put in the water.

We cleaned up everything because it is really good to wash fish slime off before it smells too bad. After our shark adventure, we did another plankton tow. This time we collected pounds of sea grass. A piece of discarded plastic about the size of a Frisbee blocked the plankton shoot so that grass accumulated.
We arrived at our next site and once again baited 100 hooks, released them and waited an hour. Our luck was a little better this time. We got two large sharks, one of which I got to tag, a couple small ones and a remora.

August 30, 2010April 22, 2021

Peggy Deichstetter, August 30, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Peggy Deichstetter
Aboard Oregon II
August 29 – September 10, 2012

Mission: Longline Shark and Red Snapper Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Day 1 August 30

I met my roommate, Claudia, this morning. She was on this cruise last year. Basically we catch, tag and release sharks and any other fish we may catch. I walked into town to pick up things I forgot. Ashley, Guy and I run into town for our last meal on land, a Subway. During the excitement of casting off, I’m informed that I have the night shift. Me, the goddess of the morning. they must be kidding. As we reach open water the sea is really rough.

At dinner I’m advised to go to bed right after dinner and get up at 2:00am to acclimate my body to the night shift. So right after (6:30pm) dinner I head off to bed. My roommate is already there, she is green. She tells me she doesn’t feel well and needs to lie down. There is no way I can fall asleep. I lie there, waiting to fall asleep. Finally, I’ve been lying there so long, it most be time to get up. I look at my watch… its only 9:00. I finally fall asleep.