Tag: ship crew

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Tamil Maldonado, July 19, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tamil Maldonado
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 18 – 28, 2005

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 19, 2005

Science and Technology Log

We took off from port at 10:00 a.m., after dealing with some ship problems.  An hour after we started testing all research equipment and noticed there was a problem with the coaxial cable that connects nets with computer interface.  The Electrical Technician worked with that issue for hours. Everything else was fine.  This coaxial cable and getting data information to computers was really important to get research correctly.  They should be able to know depth, temperature, salinity, pressure and chlorophyll information through the net’s path in water, main keys for their oceanographic research.

At night I interviewed Chief Scientist Janet T. Duffy-Anderson and other participating scientists (Colleen E. Harpold, Matthew T. Wilson, Miriam J. Doyle, Sigrid A. Salo, Dylan Righi, David G. Kachel and William J. Floering).  We discussed cruise objectives and operations.  FOCI will conduct an ichthyoplankton survey in the Gulf of Alaska in the vicinity of Kodiak Island, Alaska. This area is a known nursery ground for a variety of species of fish – walleye Pollock, Pacific cod, rock sole, Pacific halibut.  Work is needed to describe larval fish and zooplankton assemblages in summer, and to examine the movement of water and associated biota from the slope to the shelf.  Six satellite-tracked drifters will be released to study current trajectories in the vicinity of Port Lock Bank. Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth profiler casts will be made to characterize water column properties, collect nutrient and chlorophyll information, and to evaluate the flow field.

A goal of the Eco-FOCI is to identify the physical and biological factors that underlie ecosystem change, and to understand how those factors interact.  One focus is the effects of perturbation at lower trophic levels; therefore they will collect ichthyoplankton using a 1 m2 Tucker net and collect juvenile and small fishes using a Method net.  And Sea-Bird Electronics SBE 911plus Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) casts will collect physical data as well as water samples for nutrients and chlorophyll.

Scientific Computer System shall operate throughout the cruise, acquiring and logging data from navigation, meteorological, oceanographic, and fisheries sensors.

I recorded their first test and learned how to throw the nets, how to get them back, etc.   In that way I was going to be able to do it myself for the next stations.

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Melissa Fye, April 19, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Melissa Fye
Onboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai
April 4 – 25, 2005

Mission: Coral Reef Ecosystem Survey
Geographical Area: Northwest Hawaiian Islands
Date: April 19, 2005

Location: Latitude: 23*36.3’North, Longitude: 164*43.0’W

Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: 10
Wind Direction:90
Wind Speed: 14 knots
Sea Wave Height: 2-4 feet
Swell Wave Height: 5-7 feet
Sea Level Pressure: 1018.8
Cloud Cover: 2/8 Cu, As, Si
Temperature outside: 24.4

Ship safety drill
Ship safety drill

Science and Technology Log

The AHI was once again placed in the water with Joyce Miller and Jeremy Jones aboard to continue running benthic habitat lines around shallow areas in the area of French Frigate Shoals. A wire jumped out of a sheave (pulley) while trying to deploy the AHI. Boatswain O’Connor and other deckhands secured the line, deployed the boat, and went on to repair the sheave. The ship continued to run benthic habitat lines in the area while scientists edited swath data in the drylab.  In the wheelhouse, NOAA corps officers continued to plot the ship’s position, using charts and GPS systems. GPS (Global Positioning System) are satellites positioned up in space which provides a map of any place on earth. The system sends out a signal that a receiver (like on top of the ship) captures. At least 3 satellites are used to obtain a map because of time delay and other extraneous factors needed to determine one’s position. The Nobel Tec software, used on the bridge, combines GPS systems with charting to provide a location. GPS alone cannot provide location coordinates, so additional technology is combined with it to provide exact positions on a chart. Fire and Abandon Ship drills were also performed prior lunchtime today. Everyone on board has certain positions to be at and jobs to do in case of emergency.  Members of the fire team completely suit up, get out hoses and equipment, etc. The AHI was brought back on board in the late afternoon and TOAD operations continued into the evening.

Personal Log

Today consisted mostly of answering emails from students and interviewing more members of the HI’IALAKAI.  The drills broke up the usual routines and the seas picked up towards the evening hours, making it more difficult to travel down the passageways and do simple tasks.

I interviewed some members of the ship on watch in the wheelhouse. They included Executive Officer John Caskey, GVA Jason Kehn, and deckhand/survey technician Jeremy Taylor.  XO John Caskey has lived many places including Georgia, North Carolina, and California. He has many duties onboard including administrative tasks like hiring, firing, and paying people on the ship. He has been employed by NOAA for twelve years and after graduating from college with a degree in Marine Biology, traveled to Alaska, to be a Fisheries Observer on a NOAA ship. As a Fisheries Observer, people perform sampling techniques (tallying, tagging, counting) to measure the reproductive and population rates of fish. XO Caskey comments that he has known since he was seven years old that he wanted to have a job centered around marine life because his father was a diver and took him on expeditions under the water. NOAA provides the same pay, benefits, and sights to see as the Navy but caters more to scientific research; which attracted Mr. Caskey to the NOAA corp. The travel is a perk in the job but he says the drawbacks include sea sickness and time away from his growing family. Independence, patience, and good interpersonal skills are attributes a qualified applicant should possess for this type of job because XO Caskey comments that it isn’t an easy lifestyle. The Executive Officer will spend approximately 190 days at sea this year.

GVA Jason Kehn was also interviewed in the wheelhouse.  He is originally from Santa Rosa, California but has spent most of his life moving from place to place. He has worked for NOAA for over 3 years on and off, and his title GVA, stands for General Vessel Assistant. His duties include anything associated with working the ship, to include steering the vessel, being a coxswain of the small boats, as well as operating cranes and machinery while aboard. He enjoys the travel associated with the job and has hobbies like recreational diving and photography (which are very compatible to this profession). He would like to learn more about the biological aspects of the work onboard the HI’IALAKAI and he comments that rope is the tool he uses most in his job.  Compatibility is a character trait he believes a person needs to possess in order to function in close quarters. GVA Kehn will spend an average of 190 days at sea this year also.

Deckhand Jeremy Taylor is a wage mariner employed by NOAA.  His duties include operating machinery on the ship, conducting CTD casts, but he additionally helps out as a survey tech in the drylab of the ship. Taylor has degrees in computer science as well as marine biology. His job is tied to the HI’IALAKAI and he enjoys the views, troubleshooting, and computer work he does out at sea.  Mr. Taylor believes a person should be inquisitive and enjoy problem solving to do a job such as this one. The myriad of responsibilities he has everyday makes this job interesting in his opinion and the computer is his most used tool on this research trip.

QUESTION OF THE DAY for my fourth grade students: Using a reference source:  1) List the 3 types of coral reefs. 2) What type of reef is common in Hawaii (and parts of the Caribbean)? 3) What was your reference source?

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’s Question: Find out more about the giant green sea turtle. List the answers to the sea turtle’s niche: Answers to yesterday’s question are provided by Sai, one of my 4th grade students at Ashburn Elementary. 1) Where does it live? They live mostly in warm and temperate water, also among sea grass. 2) How does it eat (what body parts does it have to aid in eating?) 4 flipper- like appendages with 2 tiny claws on each leg. They also have a hawk like beak. 3) What does it eat?  Jellyfish, crabs, shrimp, snail, seaweed, small fish, mollusks, and algae. 4) How does it reproduce?  They lay ping-pong sized eggs on land and bury the eggs in the sand. They return to the same beach where they hatched to reproduce again. 5) What resource did you use to find these answers? Enchanted Learning.com and Kids Planet.com

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Melissa Fye, April 16, 2005

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Melissa Fye
Onboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai
April 4 – 25, 2005

Mission: Coral Reef Ecosystem Survey
Geographical Area: Northwest Hawaiian Islands
Date: April 16, 2005

Location: Latitude: 23*36.3’North, Longitude: 164*43.0’W

Weather Data from the Bridge
Visibility: 10
Wind Direction:90
Wind Speed: 14 knots
Sea Wave Height: 2-4 feet
Swell Wave Height: 5-7 feet
Sea Level Pressure: 1018.8
Cloud Cover: 2/8 Cu, As, Si
Temperature outside: 24.4

Science and Technology Log

Sunrise brought the morning launch of the AHI, Acoustic Habitat Investigator, once again. Scientist Joyce Miller and Jeremy Jones deployed the sonar research boat to 23 degrees 43.6′ N and 166 degrees 15.7′ West to map shallow areas of the ocean bottom. Throughout the morning and mid-afternoon, the ship, HI’IALAKAI, resumed running benthic habitat mapping lines; filling in gaps around the reef from previous runs.  Scientists onboard continued editing swaths of sonar data in the computer lab (dry lab).  By 1630, the AHI was recovered in the southern work area and lifted back onto the ship using the cranes. Ship based TOAD camera operations began at 1800 as the sun was setting. The TOAD was set down in the water off the aft deck.  The camera recorded images as the ship drifted. Images of coral, sand beds, and small fish zipped by on the monitors. Scientist Chojnacki, commented he would email me some of the images at a later date, since we couldn’t capture them any other way at the time.  By 2300, TOAD camera operations concluded and the ship resumed benthic mapping around the outer circumference of the French Frigate Shoals.

Personal Log

I awoke from a much calmer night at sea and felt refreshed! The day was spent on the ship, interviewing members of the NOAA corps and crew. I also helped edit pixels of data for the multibeam sonar mapping project ongoing in the dry lab. The following interviews were conducted aboard ship on the bridge:

The four to eight watch shift on the bridge is conducted on a daily basis by Operations Officer Lt. Matt Wingate, ENS Sarah Jones, and ABS Gaetano Maurizio. Lt. Wingate is originally from Connecticut and is the Operations Officer for the HI’IALAKAI. Besides having watch duties on the bridge, he is responsible for collaborating with the lead scientist and CO to act as a go between to establish the P.O.D. (plan of the day) for each day at sea. He posts the P.O.D. around the ship every morning to inform all hands of the day’s activities.  His job involves some paperwork handling and coordinating details. He comments that the best part of his job is that it is different everyday, and every cruise has varied goals. He enjoys the variety on the job but does admit being far from friends and family can be a hindrance in this line of work.

Like many other people onboard the ship, the lieutenant has an alternative sleep schedule.  He works from four p.m. to eight p.m. as well as four a.m. to eight a.m. everyday. This type of schedule forces a person to sleep during daylight hours in order to get sufficient rest. Mr. Wingate possesses a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and advises anyone thinking of a career in the NOAA corps (officer division) to obtain a degree in science to meet the requirements. It is also helpful to not get seasick in this field of work! The resources he uses the most for his job are the lead scientist and the computer.  He will spend an average or 190 days at sea this year, usually in intervals of 3 weeks at sea and 6 days on land in a one month period. He is the third highest ranking officer aboard the HI’IALAKAI.

Ensign Sarah Jones was also present on watch this afternoon. ENS Jones is originally from Kansas and joined the HI’IALAKAI officers in June of last year. Her undergraduate degree is in meteorology, a perfect fit for the extensive weather data being collected everyday aboard the ship and NOAA’s objectives. Upon entering the NOAA Corps (the nation’s smallest and most elite uniformed division) she was given a three month hands-on course on driving a ship, using radar, Nobel Tec, and other various equipment located on the helm.  Her responsibilities while on watch include the equipment on the helm, observing the depth sounders, using paper charts and the Nobel Tec system to see the ship’s course across the Pacific Ocean.  She works with the scientists in the survey room (using walkie-talkies) to keep the ship on course, following established survey lines to fill in benthic habitat data needed for the scientific work being conducted onboard. She commented that the perks of her job include the travel and dive training, and the worst part is the occasional sea sickness she suffers from. Patience, situational awareness, and the ability to multi-task are all traits ENS Jones believes someone should embody to perform well at this type of job. Her current assignment will be approximately two years at sea, then a three year land assignment.  After accruing years with NOAA she can then decide to go back out to sea or apply for positions in the aviation sector of the organization.

Lastly, I interviewed ABS Gaetano Maurizio.  ABS stands for Able Bodied Seaman, which encompasses a myriad of responsibilities. ABS Maurizio originates from Molokai, Hawaii and was in the U.S. Navy prior to his current position at NOAA.  He has brought with him knowledge of maritime search and rescue and fire fighting from his previous training in the Navy. His current job encompasses being a coxswain (steering the ship or a Zodiac boat), a deck hand (involved in any aspect on deck, including crane systems), preservation of the ship in emergencies (like fire fighting), and he also occasionally helps the engineering department with tasks as they arise. He comments the pay he receives in this job is encouraging and he enjoys the travel.  Drawbacks include being far from friends and family for long periods of time. ABS Gaetano Maurizio reflects on the fact that someone should be mechanically inclined and react quickly to stress or emergencies to perform well at this job.

The ongoing interviews I conduct are helping me to better understand the interdependence between the officers, crew, scientists, and engineers aboard the HI’IALAKAI!

QUESTION OF THE DAY for my fourth grade students:  Multiple Choice! The ocean floor is full of nutrients and food particles resulting from___________________. a) tornadoes.  b) water currents. c) salt water. d) decaying matter settling on the bottom.

ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’s Question: All living things in an area, together with their environment, is called an ecosystem.