Weather Data From the Bridge Lat: 49°11.7′ Long: 123°38.4′
Skies: Broken
Wind: 16kn at 120°
Visibility: 10+ miles
Seas: 2ft
Water temp: 15.5°C
Air Temp: 17.6°C Dry Bulb, 15.6°C Wet Bulb
Science and Technology Log
NOAA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1968 launch of Ship Rainier and Ship Fairweather this past spring. These two vessels together have provided 100 years of hydrographc service. Its amazing to consider this vessel has been cutting through the waves for 50 years!
It took a few days for me to get familiar with the layout of Ship Rainier. Let me take you on a video tour of several sections of the ship and welcome you aboard.
First some orientation. The decks are identified with letters – where A represents the lowest level and G is the highest level. “A deck” is actually a collection of tanks and bilge areas…the work of the engineering team mostly takes place on B deck in the engine room. The ship also uses numbers to address areas of the ship – starting with 01 at the bow and 12 at the stern. This way, any location on the ship can be identified by an address.
So lets get started on a tour…
Often, work days start with a meeting on the Fantail of this ship. This is on the D deck – the deck with most of the common spaces on board.
This is a diagram of the fantail.A typical morning safety briefing before a busy day of launches.
We’ll start our walk at the base of the stairs on the starboard side of the front of the fantail. You’ll see the green coated bollards on several decks. These are used for tying off the ship when in port. The large yellow tank is gasoline for the outboard motors. It is setup to be able to jettison over the side in a fire emergency.
Next, we’ll walk in the weather tight door amidships (center) of the front of the fantail. As we walk forward, notice the scullery (dishwashing area) on the left side followed by the galley (kitchen). To the right is the crew mess (eating area). Continuing ahead, we’ll walk through the DC ready room (Damage Control) and into the wardroom (officers eating area) and lounge.
Next, we’ll start in the Ward room and proceed up the stairs to the E deck. Here we’ll walk by several officers quarters on either side of the hall. Then we’ll turn and see a hallway that goes across the E deck and is home to FOO’s (Field Operations) and XO’s (Executive Officer’s) offices. Then we’ll step out onto the deck and walk towards the deck on the bow (the front of the ship).
Starting once again at the fantail, now we’ll proceed up the steps to the E deck. This is the level where the davits are mounted (small cranes) that support the launches (small boats). After passing the base of the davits, we stop into the boat shop. This is where engineering maintains the engines of all of the launches on board Rainier. Next we walk up to the F level and turn towards the stern to see the launches from alongside. Notice, also, the large black crane in the center of the deck that is used for moving additional equipment and launches. Finally, we’ll walk all the way up the port side to the fly bridge on the G level. Here you’ll see “Big Eyes”, my favorite tool on the ship for spotting things in the distance. As I turn around you’ll see the masts and antennas atop this ship for communications and navigation. The grey post with the glass circle on it is the magnetic compass – which can actually also be viewed from the bridge below with a tube that looks up from the helm position. You might also notice this where the kayaks are stored – great for an afternoon excursion while at anchor!
Here is a quick look in the plot room that is also located on the F deck just aft of the bridge. This is one of two places where the hydrograph scientists work to collect and process the data collected with the MBES systems.
In the front of the ship on the F deck is the bridge. This is the control center for the ship and the location of the helm. There is more detail on the bridge in an earlier post. The sound you hear is a printer running a copy of the latest weather updates.
Finally, visit my C-03 stateroom. My room has two bunks and plenty of storage for two people’s gear. There are four staterooms in this cluster that share two heads (bathrooms). The orange boxes on the wall are EEBDs (Emergency Escape Breathing Devices). These are located throughout the ship and provide a few minutes of air to allow escape in the event of fire. Notice at the top of the steps were back to the hallway and steps just outside of the lounge on D level.
The entire engineering department is not included in these videos and exists mostly on the B level. Please see my second blog post for more detail on engineering systems and several photos!
Personal Log
Sunday, July 8, 1000 hrs.
We’re coming around the northwestern most point of Washington State this morning and then turning south for the Oregon Coast. The ship is rolling a bit in the ocean swells. I’ve come to be very used to this motion. Last night we had a chance to go ashore in Friday Harbor, in the San Juan Islands for a few hours. I was surprised just how ‘wobbly’ my legs felt being back on solid ground for a while. My ship mates tell me this is how it is the first few times back ashore after being at sea!
This has been a great experience – one of plenty of learning and a real appreciation for the work accomplished by this team. I look forward to drawing in all I can in the last day on the ocean.
Who is On Board?
This is our cox’n Mike Alfidi at the helm of Launch RA-3.
This is augmenter Mike Alfidi. Mike has been a cox’n (boat driver) here on Rainier for about two years now, and has quite a bit of past experience in the Navy. Mike is a part of the deck department. His primary duties here are driving small boats and handling equipment on the decks. As an “augmenter,” he makes himself available to NOAA to be placed as directed on ships needing his skills.
One of the things Mike loves about his work is getting to see beautiful places like Southeast Alaska. And, he appreciates updating charts in high traffic areas like the harbor at Pelican. He loves to be a part of history – transitioning survey data from the old lead line to the much more accurate MBES. One of the toughest parts, he says, is riding our rough seas and plotting in less trafficked areas. He did a great job of piloting our launch just as the hydro scientists needed to collect the data we were after!
Weather Data From the Bridge Lat: 57°52.59′ Long: 133°38.7′
Skies: Broken
Wind 1 kt at variable
Visibility 10+ miles
Seas: calm
Water temp: 5.6°C
Science and Technology Log
A typical longline fishing boat. The fishing lines get spread out behind the boat from the large booms on either side.
The ultimate focus of Rainier is to assure accurate navigational charts are available to all mariners. This task is critical to the safety of many industries. About 80% of all the overseas trade in the US (by weight) is moved over water. Here in SE Alaska, it appears the largest industry is commercial fishing. Many boats fish both with nets and long lines to catch halibut, rockfish, cod, and several varieties of salmon.
Another major industry here is certainly tourism. As we conduct our work, we often see very large cruise ships. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to be in a narrow inlet surrounded by mountains, ice, and wildlife and then come across a large ship. We passed the brand new ship Norwegian Bliss around 11 PM on our transit to Tracy Arm. This ship is 1,082 feet long, carries a crew of 2,100 people and has a guest capacity of 4,004 people! The safe navigation of all of these vessels depends upon the accuracy of charts produced by NOAA.
The cruise ship Norwegian Bliss as we passed her port to port in the evening.
The freely available charts offered by NOAA are created with three essential steps. First, the bulk of the depth data in this area is measured with MBES (Multi-Beam Echo Sounder). This creates a three-dimensional digital image of the bottom.
Secondly, important features to navigation that are shallow are best identified by our launches which travel along the shorelines and inspect for rocks, ledges, and other potential dangers. The locations of features are identified by GPS location and charted digitally by hydrographers on each launch.
Thirdly, bottom samples are collected by launch crews to confirm the type of material present on the bottom.
The MBES systems aboard Rainier and the launches come from Kongsberg Maritime. Two transducers (devices that transmit and receive) work in tandem. The transducer that is oriented front to back sends out an array of sound signals in a wide beam. The width of the beam on the sea floor depends directly on the depth – deeper water allows the beam to spread farther before reflecting. The transducer that is oriented side to side in the water receives a narrow swath of the ‘pings’ of sound that were transmitted. The time it takes any ping to get to the bottom and reflect back to the ship is recorded. The greater the time, the larger the depth.
This shows the position of the MBES on the bottom of one of several launches.This is the pair of MBES transducers on a launch, looking from the bow towards the stern.This image, courtesy of NOAA, depicts an MBSS beam below the ship and the mapped results off the stern.
A couple of issues provide challenges to this technique. One, the speed of sound in water depends on several factors. The salinity (concentration of salt in the water), the conductivity (how easily electricity passes through the water), and the temperature each fluctuate as the depth changes and affect the speed of the sound waves. As hydrographers receive data, the system has to account for these changes in speed to produce an accurate depth measurement. One way to do this is with a static CTD sensor. This device is lowered from the launches all the way to the bottom as it measures the speed of sound in the water. It provides a set of three charts as the depth changes which are used to adjust the time data from the MBES accordingly. There is also a version of the CTD, called a MVP (Moving Vehicle Profiler or ‘fish’), that can be pulled behind Rainier as we are moving and take dynamic data.
Here the crew lowers the profiler “fish” into the water.These three plots represent the speed of sound, temperature, and salinity (from left to right) vs. depth (on the vertical axis).
A second issue is GPS signal drift. Over time, the location information can shift slightly. To account for this potential problem, the scientists place a HORCON (Horizontal Control) station onshore in the area where they are mapping. I described this tool in my previous post.
Another interesting technology that is currently being developed is called “backscatter” mapping. Here scientists look not only at the time it takes the sound waves to bounce back to the transducer, but also at the quality of the return signal. Different materials on the seafloor reflect the sound differently – hard surfaces like rocks have a sound signature that is much different than soft surfaces like silt or plants. NOAA is continually improving the tools they use to learn!
I had a chance to take the helm yesterday! It’s interesting how sensitive the steering on this large vessel really is. The rudders are able to turn from “amidships” or their center position, up to about 35° to either side. But while traveling at about 8 knots, we tend to use a maximum of about 5° of rudder to alter the ship’s direction. While at the helm, we keep close track of the heading (compass bearing) of the ship as indicated by the gyro compass and magnetic compass on board. Then we provide steering input to hold the ship to the course ordered by the CONN. I had the chance to help steer around several icebergs as we transited into Tracy Arm. Careful attention to detail – and willingness to promptly follow commands make for success!
My opportunity to take the helm of Rainier.
I also took an opportunity to head out in a kayak from the ship where we are anchored! Two of my new colleagues and I paddled across this bay and had a great chance to look very closely at pieces of ice. The ice is really beautiful and forms many interesting shapes. The quiet of the bay – hearing only the distant waterfalls, birds, and our paddling was beautiful!
This piece of ice drifted through Tracy Arm from the glacier. It was temporarily ‘grounded’ on the bottom by the receding tide.
It’s crazy to consider the ice we were seeing may have been formed thousands of years ago in the glacier – and it just now melting as it floats away.
Did You Know?
President Thomas Jefferson signed a mandate in 1807 ordering a survey of the nation’s coasts. This fundamental task is always ongoing, with 95,000 miles of US Coastline.
About 90% of any floating piece of ice will be submerged below the salt water. Because the density of frozen fresh water just slightly less than salt water, the ice floats very low in the water! Read more here!
Who is Onboard?
I’d like you to meet HST (Hydrographic Survey Technician), Amanda Finn! Ms. Finn has been with NOAA since last September – and started working aboard NOAA Ship Rainier in October of 2017. As an HST, Amanda works with the team of hydrographers to collect MBES data from either the ship or any of the launches. Amanda graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2016 with a bachelor of science degree in GeoSciences and a minor in Oceanography. At the end of her college experience, she knew that seafloor mapping was her passion but wasn’t sure how to make that into a job. But it all came together when she found NOAA through a friend of a friend!
HST Amanda Finn with recently acquired depth data for Lisinaski Inlet!
Amanda was performing at her first harp concert (another skill!) when she met a relation of a hydrographer who works on a NOAA ship! Based on her experience, her advice to students is: “When things don’t seem to be going the way you want, take time to focus on something else you like instead. In good time, things will work out!”
One positive challenge Amanda shares working here on a hydro ship is developing an understanding of systems integration. Many different pieces must come together to create the finished charts. The people aboard Rainier make the experience very positive! The passion for seeking the unknown is the drive to continue!
Latitude: 54° 40.914′ N
Longitude: 134° 05.229′ W
Sea Wave Height: 8-9feet
Wind Speed: 15 knots
Wind Direction: NNW
Visibility: 10 km
Air Temperature: 9.5oC
Sky: Partly Sunny in the AM, Cloudy in the PM
Science and Technology Log
Over the past two days, the crew of NOAA Ship Fairweather has been hard at work on the first major project of the season, charting the ocean floor along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault System. The project itself will take seven days, though with two days at sea before heading to port in Ketchikan, the survey techs have been focusing on the first sheet, D00245, roughly 900 kilometers offshore in an area known as West of Prince of Wales Island.
The Survey Starts Here: Note Sheet D00245 to the Left in Blue
Fairweather is completing the survey in collaboration with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) which has spent the last three years researching and mapping the seafloor along the fault. Geologists are particularly interested in this fault as little is known about the region and the seafloor here is largely unexplored. Geologists believe that by studying the fault line and the geology of the ocean floor, they may be able to unlock secrets about the history of our oceans as well as develop new understanding of seismic activity that can keep communities safer when future earthquakes strike.
The Plot Room: Survey Techs aboard Fairweather Can View the Data Being Collected in Real-Time
One of the reasons the USGS turned to NOAA to complete its charting efforts is because of the tremendous ocean depths. The survey techs are using Fairweather‘s multibeam echosounders for the project which will take a total of seven days to complete. Sonar pings from the ship’s transducer hit the ocean floor and bounce back to the ship, creating 2D and 3D charts of the ocean floor. Additionally, survey techs can learn more information about the type of surface on the ocean floor (sandy, rocky, etc.) based on the strength of the return of the sonar pings. Despite the seafloor in the area being some 15,000 years old, it has never been explored! Thus, for the survey techs and geologists working on this project, there is a sense of pure excitement in being able to explore and discover a new frontier and help others sea what humans have never seen before.
1520 Meters Down: The Number at the Top Left of the Screen Shows We’re in Water Nearly a Mile Deep!
One of the geologists remarked that he was surprised to see that despite how old the ocean floor in the area is, little appears to have changed, geologically speaking in thousands of years. Another surprise for geologists is how the fault appears to be one large, long crack. Many other fault areas appear to be made up of lots of small, jagged, and complicated “cracks.” Another question to explore!
A Much More Shallow Area: Notice the Sonar Here Shows We’re Just 247 Meters Deep
Notice the colors which help survey techs see the changing depths quickly. The green, mostly vertical lines, show the ship’s course. To collect data, Fairweather runs about 6 hours in one direction, before turning around to run 6 hours in the opposite direction. This allows survey techs to gather more data about ocean depths with each turn. In total, survey techs collected nearly 48 hours of data. This meant survey techs working all night long to monitor and process all of the new information collected.
Survey Tech Bekah Gossett Prepares to Launch a CTD off the Ship’s Stern
Just like on the launches during patch tests, survey techs deploy CTD’s to measure the water’s conductivity (salinity), temperature, and pressure. This information is key in order to understand the speed of sound in a given area of water and ensure that the sonar readings are accurate.
The Survey Techs Work in Rough Seas to Ready the CTD
Personal Log
Nothing But Blue Skies in Every Direction!
In striking contrast to the beautiful coastlines that framed the Inside Passage, the last two days have provided endless blue skies mixing with infinite blue seas. No land in sight!
Finding the Survey Area West of Prince of Wales Island on a ChartThe Ship’s Radar Shows Just One Vessel Nine Miles Due East
The open ocean is challenging (huge waves make the entire ship sway constantly and gives new meaning to earning one’s “sea legs”), but far more inspiring. I’m grateful for the glimpse into life at sea that NOAA has provided me. There is deep sense of trust among the crew, in their collective hard work that keeps us all safe in the middle of the ocean. There is also a wonderful sense of adventure, at being part of discovering something new. Just as explorers have sought after new frontiers for hundreds of years, Fairweather today is charting areas still unknown to humankind. There is something truly invigorating about watching the sonar reflect the ocean floor in a rainbow of colors, in watching as peaks and valleys slowly are painted across the monitors in the plot room and bit by bit, another sliver of science is added to the charts. There is something particularly refreshing and exciting about seeing whales spray and play in the waves while standing on the ship’s bridge. I’m truly grateful to all onboard Fairweather and NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program for this remarkable opportunity, and I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned with students back at Devotion.
The View out a Port Window Shows Some of the More Extreme Wave Heights as Fairweather Rocks and Rolls
Did You Know?
Prince of Wales Island is one of the southernmost parts of Alaska. Home to some 4,000 inhabitants, Prince of Wales Island is the 4th largest island in the US and the 97th largest island in the world. Originally home to the indigenous Kaigani Haida people, Spanish, British, and French explorers all passed by the island in the 1700 and 1800’s. In the late 1800’s, miners came to the island looking for gold, copper, and other metals. Today, most of the land is protected as the Tongass National Forest covers a great portion of the island.
Challenge Question #5: Devotion 7th Graders – Can you find the depths of the Charles River, the Boston Harbor, and 900 kilometers offshore the Massachusetts coast? What sort of aquatic life exists in each area? What does the river/seafloor look like in these areas? Create a comic strip or cartoon showing your findings.
Latitude: 50° 10.002′ N
Longitude: 125° 21.685′ W
Sea Wave Height: 7 feet
Wind Speed: 5 knots or less
Wind Direction: Variable
Visibility: 14 km
Air Temperature: 9oC
Sky: Mostly Sunny
Science and Technology Log
NOAA Ship Fairweather has begun its transit to Alaska for the heart of the field season which means transiting the famous Inside Passage, a roughly two day voyage through a stretch of nearly a thousand islands between Washington State and Alaska. The more protected waterways of the Inside Passage provided a smooth, calm ride. I took advantage of the transit to spend more time on Fairweather‘s bridge in order to learn a bit about navigation.
Magnetic North v. True North
One thing that quickly became clear on the bridge of Fairweather is that for many navigational tasks, the crew has at least three ways of being able to obtain needed information. For example, navigational charts (maps) show two compasses: magnetic and true north. The inner circle represents the magnetic compass, which in reality points 17 degrees right of true North and is dependent upon the pull of the Earth’s magnetic core. Because the magnetic compass can be offset by the pull of the ship’s magnetic fields (the ship is made of steel, after all), Fairweather’s compass is actually readjusted each year. During our Inside Passage transit, a specialist came aboard near Lopez Island to reset the ship’s magnetic compass.
The Ship’s Magnetic Compass Located on the Flying Bridge (Top Deck)A Series of Mirrors Allows the Crew to Read the Magnetic Compass from the Bridge
The ship’s magnetic compass is located on the flying deck, just above the bridge. So, to be able to read the compass from the bridge, the crew looks through a series of mirrors above the helm. Notice that next to the mirrors, is a digital display that reads “78.” This is an electrical reading from the gyrocompass. The gyrocompass reflects “true North” also referred to as geographical North.
The Gyrocompass is Secured in a Closet on D Deck Near the GalleyAn Auxiliary Compass, Connected to the Gyrocompass, is Located Right Off the Bridge on Both Port and Starboard
When at sea, a crew member on the bridge takes “fixes” every fifteen minutes, both day and night. To take a fix, the crew member uses an auxiliary compass and chooses three landmarks on shore as points. The crew member then lines up the viewfinder and records the degree of the line formed between the ship and the given point.
The Crew Focuses the Auxiliary Compass on a Landmark on Shore. This Allows for a Reading on the Gyrocompass.
Next, the crew member plots the three points on the chart using triangles (similar to giant protractors). The point where the three lines intersect is the ship’s current location. Though technically, the crew could just plot two points ashore and look for where the lines intersect, but as a way of triple checking, the crew chooses three points. Then, if a line doesn’t intersect as expected, the crew member can either retake the fix or rely on the other two points for accuracy.
The Crew Use Triangles to Plot Their CourseA Crew Member Uses a Compass to Verify Our Current Location, Measuring and Checking Latitude and Longitude
In addition to using the two aforementioned compasses to determine the ship’s location, the open seas often mean majestic night skies. Some of the crew members told me they also look to the stars and find the Big Dipper and North Star. A central theme on the bridge is being prepared: if both compasses malfunction, the crew can still safely guide Fairweather along its course.
The Original Navigation System: The Night SkyThe Ship’s Location Also Displayed Electronically above the Helm
In addition to being able to take fixes and locate constellations in the night sky, modern day technology can make the crew’s job a bit easier. The ship’s latitude and longitude is continually displayed by an electronic monitor above the helm via GPS (Global Positioning System). Below, the ship’s Electronic Navigation System (ENS) essentially acts as Google Maps for the sea. Additionally, the ENS provides a wealth of data, tracking the ship’s speed, wind, and other contacts.
The Electronic Navigation System – Sort of Like Google Maps for the Ship!
Next to the ENS on the bridge is the ship’s radar, which shows other vessels transiting the area. Similar to ENS, the radar system also provides information about the ship’s speed and location.
The Ship’s Radar Is Yet Another Navigational ToolThe Electronic Wind Tracker above the Helm
Wind matters in navigation. The force and direction of the wind can affect both currents and the ship’s route. Winds may push the ship off course which is why taking fixes and constantly monitoring the ship’s actual location is critical in maintaining a given route. The wind can be monitored by the weather vane on the bow, the electronic wind tracker above, or on the ENS below. Additionally, a crew member demonstrates a wheel, used for calculating and recalculating a ship’s course based on the wind’s influence.
A Crew Member Holds a Wheel for Calculating Wind and DirectionAn Old-Fashioned Speaker System on the Bridge
On the bridge, multiple ways of being able to perform tasks is not limited to navigation alone. Communicating quickly on a ship is important in case of an emergency. Fairweather is equipped with various communication systems: a paging system, an internal telephone line, cell phones, satellite phones, etc.
A Collection of Bells and Phone Systems for Contacting Various Parts of the Ship
Personal Log
Just before leaving Puget Sound, I had the chance to go kayaking for a few hours with two of the crew members. We had great luck; not only was the water placid, but harbor seals played for nearly an hour as we paddled around one of many coves. It was neat to see Fairweather from yet another perspective.
Kayaks are Secured for Seas on the Flying Bridge – The Hardest Part Is Carrying the Kayaks Up and Down Several Docks to Be Able to Launch ThemA Bit Tricky: Launching Kayaks from a LaunchApproaching Fairweather in KayaksWide Open Waters of Puget SoundReady to ExploreHarbor Seals Played in the Water Around Our KayaksIncredibly Calm Waters in Puget Sound Made for Picturesque Reflections
Did You Know?
The Inside Passage is a series of waterways and islands that stretches from Puget Sound, just north of Seattle, Washington on past Vancouver and British Columbia and up to the southeastern Alaskan panhandle. In British Columbia, the Inside Passage stretches over more than 25,000 miles of coast due to the thousand or so islands along the way. In Alaska, the Inside Passage comprises another 500 miles of coastline. Many vessels choose the Inside Passage as their preferred coast as it is much more protected than the open waters of the Pacific Ocean to the immediate west. Nonetheless, rapidly changing tidal lines, numerous narrow straits, and strong currents make navigating the Inside Passage a challenging feat. In addition to frequent transit by commercial vessels, tugboats, and barges, the Inside Passage is also increasingly popular among cruise ships and sailboats. On average it takes 48-60 hours to navigate.
Approaching Open Waters as the Fairweather Leaves British Columbia and Enters the Alaskan Portion of the Inside PassageA More Protected Stretch of the Inside Passage Creates a Glassy ReflectionCrew on Anchor Watch on the Inside Passage as We Approach Seymour Narrows. Note the Weathervane on the Bow.Snowy Peaks Along the Inside PassageEnjoying a Late Afternoon View from Fairweather’s FantailSome of the Many, Many Islands along the Inside PassageBlackney PassageA Tugboat Pulls a Barge Near Lopez Island
Late Afternoon on the Inside Passage as Seen from Starboard, F DeckImpossible to Get Tired of These Views!
Challenge Question #4: Devotion 7th Graders – NOAA and NASA collaborated to produce the National Weather Service Cloud Chart which features explanations of 27 unique cloud types. Clouds can tell sailors a great deal about weather. Can you identify the type of clouds in the ten above pictures of the Inside Passage? Then, record your observations of clouds for five days in Brookline. What do you notice about the relationship between the clouds you see and the weather outside? What do you think the clouds in the pictures above would tell sailors about the upcoming weather as they navigated the Inside Passage? Present your observations as journal entries or a log.
A Bonus Challenge. . .
Just outside the bridge on both the Fairweather‘s port and starboard sides are little boxes with two thermometers each. What is the difference between dry and wet temperatures? Why would sailors be interested in both measurements?
Two thermometers, labeled “Dry” and “Wet”, with different readings
Latitude: 48° 25.012′ N
Longitude: 122° 44.039′ W
Sea Wave Height: 1-3 feet
Wind Speed: 10-20 knots
Wind Direction: NE
Visibility: 14.1 km
Air Temperature: 14oC
Sky: Scattered Clouds
Science and Technology Log
As NOAA Ship Fairweather began its northward journey through the Inward Passage, I took advantage of a few days at sea to conduct interviews with crew from each of the various departments onboard: deck crew, engineers, officers, stewards, and survey technicians. Through the interview process I realized just how much goes in to making Fairweather successful. Two themes arose again and again in conversations: First, the crew of the Fairweather loves what they do — the crew’s commitment and passion for being at sea was unanimous. . .and contagious. Second, Fairweather is family.
Enjoy the five interviews below, the first of which is with a Edward Devotion School alum. . .
An Interview with AB Carl Coonce, Fairweather Deck Crew & Devotion School Alum (1971-1974)
AB Carl Coonce at the HelmAB Carl Coonce & Devotion School Alum on Fairweather’s Bridge
Q: What is your role aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather?
A: I’m an able-bodied seaman or AB. My permanent job is to take care of the ship. Some duties include maintaining the ship’s cleanliness, ensuring the security of the vessel, and steering the ship.
Q: Why is your work important?
A: Without AB’s, the ship can’t be driven. AB’s also maintain the security of the ship and watch out for the safety of the ship’s personnel. AB’s work on the upkeep of the ship’s inside and outside condition, checking to prevent rust and other damage. The AB’s ready the equipment for different missions and load and unload equipment, too. Finally, the AB’s help with the officers’ work, with surveying, and with engineering.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your work?
A: I love being at sea. I love being able to see different sunrises and sunsets every day. I see things most people only see on TV or in pictures. For example, I’ve seen two rainbows cross before at sea. Sometimes rainbows are so close when you are at sea that you can almost reach out and touch them. Every day at sea is a new adventure.
Q: Where do you do most of your work?
A: I mostly work as a helmsman (driver) up on the bridge (which is like the front seat of the car/ship). A helmsman is the person who drives the ship. A helmsman keeps watch, looking for any potential dangers such as things floating in the water, other ships, and certain parts of land (such as sand bridges). Another important part of my job is to understand how to read maps and use all of the radar and other navigational equipment up on the bridge.
Q: What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
A: Sleep!
Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue an ocean career?
A: I always wanted to come to sea because my father was a sailor. I took a different route for a long time, but about 15 years ago I started my ocean career. I guess it was in my blood. It was hard to get started because I knew nothing about ships and what was required in the beginning. I went online and researched shipping companies and sent my resume out to a few hundred companies. I received a call from NOAA and began my sea career in Woods Hole, Massachusetts on a fishing vessel, NOAA Ship Albatross. By the way, Albatross is actually where the NOAA Teachers at Sea Program started.
Q: What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
A: I didn’t expect to be around the same people 24/7. You are always with the people with whom you work and your boss. Eventually, though, it becomes like a family.
Q: How do you help wider audiences to understand and appreciate NOAA science?
A: I would tell other people that NOAA is a wonderful job for people interested in going to sea. When you start off, you can go out to sea for a few weeks at a time. With NOAA, you have a chance to see and do things that you don’t get to do on commercial boats. You also are able to see new parts of the country. I’ve seen the east and west cost. The benefits are outstanding. Aside from traveling, I also have three months of vacation each year, something I would probably not have with a desk job, even after many years.
Q: How did you become interested in communicating about science?
A: When I was on the east coast, I was on NOAA Ship Henry Bigelow out of Newport, Rhode Island. A group of scientists came onboard, and we sailed up by Newfoundland. We sent a special net nearly three miles down into the ocean. The most memorable thing was catching a fish that was about 2.5 feet long, incredibly white, paper thin, and had bright red fins. The scientists told me that this fish only lives two miles down. Experiences like this are once in a lifetime. That was one of the most exciting and memorable trips I’ve had with NOAA.
Q: What advice would you give a young person exploring ocean or science career options?
A: Don’t take the sea for granted. There is a mystery for the sea. We know more about the moon than we do about the oceans. There is so much to learn at sea. Even after fifteen years at sea, there is so much more to learn about the ocean. It is never the same. There is always something new to see. I’m still amazed by some of the things I’ve seen at sea, even if I’ve seen them over and over again. For example, hearing the sound of the glaciers hitting the water is unforgettable. Seeing the different colors of the ocean, you realize there is so much more than green and blue. Once you think you’ve learned it all, the ocean changes again on you.
Q: What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
A: I’d probably be back in Boston working as a chef. I went to school for culinary arts, but I think I’d be miserable if I wasn’t at sea.
Q: Do you have an outside hobby?
A: When I’m home, I like to work in my backyard. I like to work on my garden. I also like to work out.
Q: What is your favorite memory as a student at the Edward Devotion School?
A: I loved growing up in Brookline. It was a wonderful town to grow up in. I really feel now that being a kid at Devotion School was one of the happiest parts of my life. There is so much history at the Devotion School. Even after having traveled all around the country with NOAA, I love going back home to Boston and Brookline. Boston and Brookline are my favorite places. I still keep in touch with five of my friends from school in Brookline. We’ve been hanging out together for over thirty years. My friendships from grade school and later at Brookline High are still tremendously important to me today.
An Interview with HST Bekah Gossett, Fairweather Hydrographic Survey Technician
HST Bekah GossettThe View from the Plot RoomOne of HST Gosset’s Projects from Last Season: Notice the Green Plot Lines and Surrounding GlaciersA Finished Sheet from Last Season: Notice the Contrasting Depths (69 fathoms on a Previous Chart v. 94 fathoms Based on Sonar Data)Comparing Updated Charts with an Outdated One (Green Represents Data Matched, Blue/Red Show One Data Set is Deeper/Shallower than the Other)
Q: What is your role aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather?
A: My role on the ship is to acquire and process data that gives us information about the depth of the seafloor.
Q: Why is your work (or research) important?
A: This work is important because it contributes to updating and creating charts (maps) that are navigationally significant for US mariners to keep them safe and to support them economically. And, it’s cool!
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your work?
A: I really like working on the small boats (the launches) and working in Alaskan waters is great. It is a really open and good learning environment for this field of work. I have learned a whole lot in just a year and a half. This goes beyond hydrography. I’ve learned a lot about others and myself and about working with people.
Q: Where do you do most of your work?
A: I do most of my work in the plot room and on the launches. During the field season, we’re on the launches almost every day. The plot room is the data processing room where there are lots of computers. It is adjacent to the bridge, the central and most important location on the ship.
Q: What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
A: A computer!
Q: If you could invent any tool to make your work more efficient and cost were no object, what would it be and why?
A: I would create something with lidar (lasers) or a super sonar. Lidar is used on planes or drones to scan and provide data back. Lidar on launches would help us get data quicker.
Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue an ocean career?
A: I studied art in school, but then I switched to science. I’ve always liked ocean sciences. I decided to pursue an ocean career when I was 19.
Q: What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
A: I run the ship store, which is never something I expected to be doing. The ship stores sells snacks, candy, soda, and ship swag for the crew to keep morale high.
Q: How do you help wider audiences to understand and appreciate NOAA science?
A: I usually explain the ship’s mission as updating and correcting nautical charts. Sometimes we have different projects. Last year, for example, we were searching for a ship that sunk in Alaska in February 2017. We found it!
Q: How did you become interested in communicating about science?
A: When I was in college studying geology, I realized exactly how important it is to communicate science, because there is a lot of knowledge there that we can all learn from and use.
Q: What advice would you give a young person exploring ocean or science career options?
A: There are a lot of different things one can do. There are many different degrees from engineering, to environmental science, to biology. You can study ocean science, but you don’t have to. Any science can be applied in the ocean. It is not just science. You can learn about many different careers in oceans. Engineers and deck crew are great fields to pursue. You could also be a steward and travel a lot.
Q: What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
A: I would probably be working for an environmental agency, but I would probably not be very happy. I might be at home with my dog.
Q: Do you have an outside hobby?
A: I like to paint. I also have a ukulele. I also love to read.
An Interview with EU Tommy Meissner, Fairweather Engineer
EU Tommy Meissner Hard at Work in Fairweather’s Boat ShopFirst Assignment: In the Navy, Onboard the USS Forrestal, The World’s First Supercarrier at 1,060 Feet Long in 1990
EU Tommy Meissner: An Engineer & His Electric Guitar
Q:What is your role aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather?
A: I’m a utility engineer. I stand watch on the main engines and check all of the propulsion equipment. I do maintenance on the small boats. I work on air conditioning, refrigeration, heating, etc. I am jack-of-all-trades.
Q:Why is your work (or research) important?
A: There is always something too hot or too cold, something leaking or blocked. There is always too much of something or not enough of something else. That is really the challenge of the job.
Q:What do you enjoy the most about your work?
A: The travel aspect is the best thing about my job. I can go anywhere in the world I want to go, whenever I want to go. The oil field in Mexico is opening back up, and so now there is lots of work available.
From a work aspect, it is challenging to understand why a piece of equipment isn’t working. Fixing the engines. . .or anything really. . . is all about following a process, working methodically. It feels good to be able to fix the boat and keep it in the water.
Q:Where do you do most of your work?
A: I do most of my work in the boat shop on the small boats on E-Deck. That’s where all the maintenance is performed while the launches are in the davits (the machines that put the boats in the water). When underway, I spend eight hours a day in the machine room, but when in port I work mostly in the boat shop. Eight hours a day, four hours a watch. In addition to the two watches, I usually do at least two hours of overtime a day. During a watch, I walk around, checking all the machines, pumps, generators, boilers, air conditioners, fridge, freezer, etc.
Q:What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
A: The first thing I always grab is a pipe wrench. It is always good to have one nearby. A pipe wrench is a tool that we use to take apart plumbing and to loosen and tighten any connections. I am pretty well known on this boat for unclogging restrooms and showers.
Q:If you could invent any tool to make your work more efficient and cost were no object, what would it be and why?
A: I would want a third hand! There is always a time when you need another person. It would be helpful to have one more hand to do work more efficiently. There are lots of times when I can’t reach or need that extra hand.
Q:When did you know you wanted to pursue an ocean career?
A: I’ve been sailing since 1990. I joined the Navy in 1989. All my life I’ve liked being around boats and on the water. Even though I lived around the water when I was little, I never had the opportunity to go to sea, so it was something I dreamed about for when I was older. Living in Fort Lauderdale, I saw the Navy come through and watched all the ships. I thought it would be cool.
Q:What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
A: I had no idea where I would be going when I joined NOAA. Before I said yes to the job, they gave me the choice to go on the Fairweather or the Rainier. Initially, I wondered about Alaska. Nome, Alaska is as far away from home for me as Dubai. I had never been so far west. Alaska has been great, though.
Q:How do you help wider audiences to understand and appreciate NOAA science?
A: Everyone I talk to doesn’t seem to know what NOAA is. NOAA has various missions, mapping the bottom of the ocean, studying coral reefs, fish ecology (understanding how many tuna are in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and what species of fish are on the reef off North Carolina). I don’t think people know enough about NOAA.
Q:What recommendations do you have for a young person interested in pursuing an ocean career?
A: I would study oceanography and math and science if you want to go to sea. Decide what type of career you would like; there are so many options at sea.
Q:What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
A: If I wasn’t working for NOAA, I would go back to South Carolina and work in building or construction. I prefer NOAA!
Q: Do you have an outside hobby?
I play guitar and teach guitar. I was always a metal head.
An Interview with 2C Carrie Mortell, Fairweather Steward
2C Carrie Mortell Serving a Delicious Meal in Fairweather’s Galley
Q: What is your role aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather?
A: I work in the galley (kitchen), which is very, very busy. It is kind of like the heart of the ship. We work to feed everyone, make sure everything is kept clean, etc. There is a lot to do! We work twelve hours everyday. Many people think the galley is just cooking, but there is a lot more to the galley such as keeping track of massive amounts of stores (supplies), keeping everything fresh, and more.
Q: Why is your work (or research) important?
A: Keeping the mess deck (dining area) clean and keeping people happy and healthy with good meals is key. We boost morale. People look forward to sitting down and having a good meal at sea. We try to take peoples’ requests and keep the crew satisfied.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your work?
A: I love being at sea. I love to cook. I like to see people happy and satisfied. I always try to keep upbeat. We all have to live together, so it is important to keep morale up. We’re like a big family at sea.
Q: Where do you do most of your work?
A: I spend most of my day in the galley. All of the stewards cook. We rotate every week. One week, one cook is in the galley, and then we switch into the scullery (where dishes are cleaned).
Q: What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
A: My hands!
Q: If you could invent any tool to make your work more efficient and cost were no object, what would it be and why?
A: Another pair of arms to help cook. It is really, really busy in the galley!
Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue an ocean career?
A: Well, I used to commercial fish. I have always loved being on the ocean. I grew up around fishing people. When I was little, I always wanted to live in a lighthouse. I also like being able to go to different places. It is exciting to always get to travel when at sea. I loved the French Polynesian Islands, where I traveled with NOAA. I worked out of Hawaii for about eight years, so I spent a lot of time sailing around the Pacific, visiting Guam, Sonoma, the Marshall Islands, and crossing the equator several times. On the East Coast, I enjoyed sailing Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. I also love Alaska, so sailing on Fairweather is great! Eventually, I want to move back to Alaska.
Q: What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
A: I really love cooking, which is what I get to do everyday. I feel really passionate about my job. There isn’t anything I didn’t expect. You do have to really like what you do, though, at sea.
Q: How do you help wider audiences to understand and appreciate NOAA science?
A: All the ships do different missions. NOAA Ship Fairweather, for instance does mapping. Another NOAA ship I worked on put out buoys for tsunamis. NOAA helps keep oceans clean. NOAA also works with fisheries and brings many scientists out to sea to study the population of our oceans. NOAA even has gone on rescue missions for aircraft and other ships in distress.
Q: What advice would you give a young person exploring ocean or science career options?
A: First, you should love the sea. It is hard sometimes if you have a family. Sometimes you miss out on important events, but if you pick a ship in the right area, you can see your family more often. Sometimes, NOAA isn’t what people expect. It is really hard work, but I love it. There are lots of different departments and jobs on the ship though, so it is possible to find something you love.
Q: What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
A: I definitely would be working in culinary arts somewhere.
Q: Do you have an outside hobby?
A: I love to write, paint, draw, crochet, and read. I’ve always dreamed of writing children’s books. I used to tell my children stories, especially scary ones which they loved.
An Interview with ENS Linda Junge, Fairweather Junior Officer
ENS Linda Junge on the BridgeENS Linda Junge Leading a Navigation Briefing, Explaining Fairweather’s Course for the Inside Passage
Q: What is your role aboard NOAA Ship Fairweather?
A: I’m a junior officer (JO).
Q: What’s the process for becoming a JO?
A: The process to apply to become a JO is much like applying to graduate school. You write essays, get three to five letters of recommendation, fill out the application, and have an interview. You need a BS in a field relating to NOAA’s mission, which can be pretty much any math or science field (geology, physics, calculus, engineering, biology, environmental sciences, etc.). Then you attend BOTC (Basic Officer Training Class), which is held at the Coast Guard Academy along with their officer candidate school. Another way to become a JO is to transfer in if you were formerly enlisted. BOTC for JO’s lasts five months, and we have lots of navigation classes.
Q: Why is your work (or research) important?
A: NOAA Ships have three main categories: oceanography, hydrography, and fisheries. The major job of JO’s on ships is driving, we’re like bus drivers for science. When we are underway, 50% of my work is navigation, driving the ship, and deck stuff. 30% is collateral duties, extra administrative things to make the ship run such as thinking about environmental compliance and working as a medical officer. 20% (which can fluctuate) is focused on hydrographic survey, driving small boats or helping with survey sheets, managing an area, collecting data, and being sure data is processed on time.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about your work?
A: I really enjoy knowing that I’m keeping people safe while they are sleeping. I really enjoy traveling. I really enjoy the sense of family that comes from living on a ship.
Q: Where do you do most of your work?
A: All of the navigation is done from the bridge. The rest of the work is desk work. Any ship needs lots of administrative work to make it run. It’s like a space ship, a hotel, a restaurant, a family. To make all of those things run you need cooks, plumbers, etc., you need a lots of admin. It is like a government-run hotel. There is lots of compliance to think about. It’s a JO’s job to make sure everything is done correctly and all is well taken care of because it is paid for and continues to be paid for by tax payers. Everyone who serves aboard a ship has documented time of when you have been on the ship, sea-service letters. A commercial ship may have human resources (HR), and yeomen (arranges paperwork for travel, keep everything supplied and running, stocked, etc.), pursers (who manage money and billable hours), but all of these tasks are done by JO’s on Fairweather.
Q: What tool do you use in your work that you could not live without?
A: Red lights. At night, it is dark on the bridge. We can’t destroy our night-vision, so we use red lights, which are gentle on the eyes and don’t affect one’s night vision. It’s important to be able to see the charts as well as to maintain night vision while keeping watch.
Q: If you could invent any tool to make your work more efficient and cost were no object, what would it be and why?
A: I would hire someone to be the yeomen to make sure we never ran out of pens, always had travel vouchers, made sure copiers ran, and helped with all the other random jobs.
Q: When did you know you wanted to pursue an ocean career?
A: Before I did this, I was a fisheries observer. I was a biologist who went out to sea. I always loved standing on the bridge and hearing the stories. I loved not commuting, not having to go to the office. I loved casting out to sea, working hard, and then, pulling in, tying up, and feeling a huge sigh of relief that the crew worked hard and arrived safely back in port. It stuck with me, I enjoyed that, and I decided to pursue a career with NOAA.
Q: What part of your job with NOAA did you least expect to be doing?
A: All the administrative stuff!
Q: How do you help wider audiences to understand and appreciate NOAA science?
A: NOAA is everywhere, and sometimes people don’t appreciate that. NOAA produces weather reports and regulates fisheries in Alaska, where I’m from. NOAA could do a better job of advertising to the public its many pursuits.
Q: What advice would you give a young person exploring ocean or science career options?
A: There are many cool internships on research vessels. The commercial sector will always take people looking for adventure. If you don’t make a career of it, that’s fine. At the worst, you learn something new about yourself while having a really cool experience. That is not such a bad thing. I highly recommend giving an ocean job a try.
Q: What do you think you would be doing if you were not working for NOAA?
A: I would probably be in grad school. I would study city planning.
Q: Do you have an outside hobby?
A: I like walking. I like being in the woods.
Personal Log
While most of the crew spends days working on the bridge (navigation), the plot room (data analysis), in the galley (preparing meals), or in the engine room/boat shop (keeping everything running smoothly), there are a lot of other areas on the ship that help make Fairweather feel more like home. Below are some pictures of such key places:
The Ship’s Gym Next to the Engine RoomThe Ship’s Movie Theater. Some Nights the Crew Gathers to Watch Films Together or Play Games.The Ship’s Library – Lots of Science Fiction and Suspense!The Ship’s Mailroom – Mail is Sent to Each Port; One of the Many Things to Look Forward to in a New Destination.The Ship’s Conference Room Where Navigation Briefings and Safety Meetings Are HeldThe Ship’s Laundry RoomThe Ship’s Store – Candy & Snacks – Treasures at SeaThe Ship’s Store – SwagA Berth (or Living Space) on the Ship Shared by Two Members of the Crew. Note the Bunk Beds & Curtains. The Crew Works Various Shifts 24/7.
Did You Know?
There is a lot of lingo aboard! Here are some terms helpful to know for navigating a ship:
Aft: towards the back of the ship
Bow: the front of the ship
Bridge: the navigation or control room at the front/top part of the ship
Deck: a floor/level on a ship
Flying Bridge: the top-most deck of the ship that provides unobstructed views
Fantail: area towards the back of the ship
Galley: the ship’s kitchen
Hands: a popular way to refer to the crew or people working aboard the ship
Head: the bathroom on a ship
Helm: the “steering wheel” of the ship
Hull: the outside sides/bottom of the vessels
Mess: dining area on the ship
Scullery: where dishes are washed
Starboard: to the right of the ship
Stores: the supplies kept in the hull that the crew will need while away at sea for a long time
Stern: the back of the boat
Port: to the left of the ship
Challenge Question #3: Devotion 7th Graders – Create a scale drawing of your ideal research or fishing vessel! Be sure to include key areas, such as those shown above. Remember that your crew will need space to eat, sleep, navigate, research, work, and relax. At a minimum, include the plan for at least one deck (or floor). Include your scale factor, show conversions and calculations, and label each area using some of the vocabulary included above. Needs some ideas? Check out this link to NOAA’s Marine Vessels for some inspiration.
Latitude: 47° 44.116′ N
Longitude: 122° 32.070′ W
Sea Wave Height: 1 foot or less
Wind Speed: 5-8 knots in the AM, then less than 5 knots in PM
Wind Direction: SSE, variable
Visibility: 16.1 km
Air Temperature: 8oC
Sky: Scattered Clouds
Science and Technology Log
For the past two days, NOAA Ship Fairweather has been anchored in Port Madison, part of Puget Sound off the coast of Seattle, Washington. The crew is currently stopped for a few days in Puget Sound before heading north to Alaska in order to complete the yearly Hydrographic Systems Readiness Review (HSRR). During HSRR, the survey techs test all of the hydrographic survey equipment that will be used during the field season. It’s essential to test and calibrate the equipment at the start of the season in order to ensure the data accuracy for upcoming projects.
The first part of HSRR began Thursday morning. Because NOAA Ship Fairweather spent winter at dock in Yaquina Bay, barnacles and algae were able to grow plentifully on the ship’s bottom, making it their home. The dive team deployed to check the Fairweather‘s hull and clean off the sonar transducers, removing any biofouling (sea life that had built up on the ship’s bottom) from the winter in port.
Dive Team Beginning HSRR in Port Madison, WA
Divers Preparing to Remove Biofouling from Ship’s Hull and Sonar Equipment
On Thursday afternoon and Friday, the next phase of HSRR began. On Friday, I was able to spend most of the day on the survey launches as a few of the survey techs conducted patch testing (a process for precisely determining an orientation of the launch’s sonar). NOAA Ship Fairweather has four 28-foot launches, and I spent the morning on 2808, and then the afternoon on 2806. When working on projects in relatively shallow waters, the Fairweather deploys these launches to collect data more efficiently as four launches can work on a project simultaneously.
Safety Meeting Before Launches DeployOne of the Launches is Lowered from F Deck (the 6th Deck Up)One of the Launches Being Lowered into Puget SoundA Launch Begins Patch Tests
The launches are driven by a coxswain, often a NOAA officer or deck hand, while a Hydrographer-in-Charge (HIC) plans track lines for the vessel to run. Sometimes, a coxswain-in-training or HIC-in training will also join the launch. As part of HSRR, the HIC chose a few track lines for the launch to run, and the coxswain, drove the launch back and forth on the lines at various speeds. While we ran the track lines, the HIC was able to gather data by sending an acoustic ping from the sonar which reflects off the seafloor and is then recorded when it returns to the sonar. The two-way travel time of the pin is measured, which (when coupled with the speed of sound through the water) can be used to calculate the water depth.
The Coxswain Helps Deploy the CTDThe Coxswain’s SeatThe HIC Readies the Launch as We Pull Away from NOAA Ship FairweatherThe HIC and HIC-in-Training Prepare the CTDThe HIC Checks Data Being Collected as the Launch Runs Patch Tests
While in Port Madison, the crew will send all four of the Fairweather‘s launches out to run the same track lines and to ensure the data collected by each launch matches. At night, after the HIC’s have gathered data, the survey techs spend hours in the plot room, looking at the day’s data and checking for any discrepancies. The survey techs correct any errors in the data and the saved changes are sent back to each launch’s computing system. This is known as calibrating. By running patch tests and calibrating the launches to one another, survey techs are able to guarantee that data collected throughout the season is precise, no matter which launch is used for a given area.
The CTD Up Close: The Powerful Little Machine that Measures the Speed of Sound!
Data Being Collected from the CTD on the Launch Monitor: Conductivity (Salinity), Temperature, and Depth (Pressure)
The CTD Stands Ready to Be Deployed on the Launch’s Deck
Before and after running the patch tests, the crew deploys a CTD The CTD measures the conductivity, temperature, and depth of the water. The survey techs are interested in the CTD readings because this information helps them assess the speed of sound (or the sonar waves) in a given body of water. In turn, knowing the speed of sound and the amount of time the CTD takes to reach the ocean floor, allows survey techs to calculate ocean depths. (The classic distance equation, d=rt!)
Data Being Collected from the CDT on the Launch Monitor
Conductivity refers to the ability of the given water sample to pass an electrical current. Survey techs are interested in the conductivity, because the conductivity is another way to gauge the salinity (or “saltiness” of the water). The more salt in a sample of ocean water, the greater the ocean water’s conductivity and the faster the sound waves travel. Next is temperature. Water closer to the surface is warmer, and thus, sound will travel faster closer to the surface. Conversely, the cooler the temperature, the slower the sound waves travel. The final measurement is depth, or pressure. The deeper the water, the greater the pressure. Greater depths increase the speed of the sonar waves. The average speed of sound in the water is 1,500 m/s. By comparison, the average speed of sound in air is about 340m/s.
Night Processing of Data in the Plot Room
After dinner, survey techs are assigned to night data processing. I joined one of the survey techs, Ali, who was kind enough to explain how the launch data is analyzed. One interesting note is the red light in the plot room. The red light is used because the plot room is next to the bridge, where the officers and deck crew keep watch. The red lights help the crew keep their eyes ready for night watch, so those processing data also work under red lights.
A “Painting” of Collected Data: Different Colors Represent Differing Depths
In the above photograph, notice the various colors representing the differing ocean depths. In this case, red is shallower and purple is deeper. Notice that as the survey tech, hovers over a datapoint with her mouse, the data collected by Fairweather launch 2807 is shown as a coordinate with a depth of 168.3 meters. Creating a color “painting” of the data points is helpful because the changing colors help the survey techs understand the slope of the ocean floor; closer together colors mean a steeper slope or a sharp increase in depth, whereas larger swatches of the same color mean a flatter seafloor.
The green lines in the picture represent the “lines” that the launch ran, meaning the area where the coxswain drove back and forth in the boat at varying speeds. Notice that there are two lines as the launches always run two lines to ensure accuracy. As the launch is driven back and forth in the water, the transducers on the bottom of the launch emits multi-beam sonar, and sound waves ping off the ocean floor several times per second, sending sound waves back to the launch which are translated into millions of data points by the survey techs.
A Cross Section of the Patch Test “Painting”
On This 3D Grid, Survey Techs Show a Virtual Map of the Sea Floor of Puget Sound
Two Lines Being Compared for Accuracy
The survey techs use various computer programs and imaging software to analyze the data. Above, the survey techs can look at a 3D cross-section of the data, which essentially looks like a virtual map of the sea floor. In the bottom right corner, the survey tech compares two lines for accuracy, one with data points colored red, the other green. When the lines line up exactly, precision is ensured. The survey techs analyze the data to make sure the rocking of the boat in any direction (front/back, side-to-side, etc.) won’t interfere with mapping accuracy later in the season. Finally, survey techs compare their work with each other to ensure precise calibration.
Personal Log
One of my favorite things about being onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather are the tremendous views every time I look outside. Sunrises and sunsets are spectacular. We’ve had some really great weather over the last few days, and though it has been a bit chilly, the skies have been fairly clear.
Sunset in Port MadisonMount Rainier at SunsetPulling Up the Anchor in Port Madison Shortly After SunriseBrainbridge Island, WashingtonTwo of the Crew Checking the Anchor Line Angle During Anchor RecoveryPuget SoundMount Olympia National Park
Did You Know?
On nautical charts (or maps), units of measurement vary. Ocean depths can be marked in feet, meters, or fathoms. Fathoms, like knots, is another term steeped in nautical history. When sailors used to measure ocean depths by hanging rope over the side of a vessel, they would pull in the line, looping the rope from hand to hand. The distance of the rope from one outstretched hand to another (a sailor’s wingspan) became known as a fathom.
Challenge #2 – Devotion 7th Graders: Measure your wingspan, the distance from one outstretched hand to another. Then measure four other friends, classmates, or family members’ wingspans. What is the median wingspan for you and your friends? What is the mean wingspan for you and your friends? What is the mean absolute deviation for your collective wingspans? One fathom is equal to 1.8288 meters or 6 feet. If one fathom is the average sailor’s wingspan, how do your wingspans compare? Present your findings on a 8.5x11inch paper as a mini-poster. Include illustrations and calculations.
Geographical area of cruise: Southeast Alaska, including Chatham Strait and Behm Canal, with a Gulf of Alaska transit westward to Kodiak
Log date: June 25, 2013
Weather conditions: Misty rain under a blanket of thick clouds and fog, 13.76⁰C, 84.88% relative humidity, 1001.09 mb of atmospheric pressure, very light variable winds (speed of less than 1.5 knots with a heading between 344⁰ and 11⁰)
Remember that headings on a ship are measured around a full 360⁰ circle clockwise from north. Therefore, 344⁰ and 22⁰ are only 38⁰ apart directionally.
The operation of NOAA Ship Rainier, S-221, requires the cooperation of a large, hard-working, and multi-talented crew.
Especially as we leave the confines of childhood, society views us, at least in part, by our intentional decisions about which people make up our circle of friends and our group of colleagues. Certainly such outside judgments can be unfair when based only on short-term glimpses, predisposed biases, or moments misunderstood for lack of context, but I think that long-term observations of our personal associations can provide meaningful information about us.
With Ai Wei Wei’s zodiac sculptures in Washington, DCAfter the 5K race at O’Leno State Park
My closest circle of friends – intentionally – is populated by a rich gumbo of personalities, ideas, ideals, physiques, insights, humors, tastes, preferences, and behaviors, all of which serve to stimulate my mind, activate my creativity, enrich my soul, entertain my spirit, and motivate my direction. In other words, they are the scaffolding that supports me and the team that carries me along through so many parts of my own explorations. Jasmine’s appreciation of intelligence and beauty, Collin’s sharp wit, Reece’s focused intensity, Dad’s analysis, Mom’s honesty, Lisa’s support, Grandma Madeline’s generosity, Aunt Marilyn’s and Uncle Marc’s welcome, Aunt Lynn’s spunkiness, Cheryl’s cool, Dillon’s quiet observation, Jack’s vision, Teresa’s organization, Bob’s perspective, Katy’s goodness, Chris’s enthusiasm, Emilee’s wonder, Kyle’s repartee, Casey’s lyricism, Will’s genuineness, Rien’s kindness, Tyler’s motivation, Zach’s creativity, Brian’s investment in service, Matt’s passion for justice, Gary’s sense of direction, Tommy’s helpfulness, Silas’s wordsmithery, Loubert’s jocularity, Jonathan’s love….
And then add the brilliant and rich colors and flavors and voices of my larger group of friends and acquaintances: the teachers, administrators, students, and neighbors who daily contribute their own stories and wisdoms to my experiences, and the result – again, intentionally – is very nearly a portrait of me… or at least the me that I aspire to become in my own journeys.
(For my varied generations of readers, think of the Magnificent Seven, the Fellowship of the Ring, and/or the Order of the Phoenix. This is my posse.)
In other words, we often are judged and almost always are defined by the company we keep.
Wedding celebration
The NOAA Ship Rainier is no exception. Beyond the mechanical body of the ship herself, the personnel here are the essence of the vessel that carries them.
Acting CO Mark Van Waes maintains a vigilant lookout on the bridge.
Smart and funny, resourceful and dedicated, skilled and hard-working, the crew members of NOAA Ship Rainier are an impressive bunch, all of whom have enriched me in the short time that I’ve been aboard, and all of whom do their jobs and interact in ways that produce superb results. And the wholeness of their shared strengths, talents, and personalities is far greater than the sum of their individual aspects, as always is the case when a team is well-assembled.
One of the NOAA Commissioned Corps Officers appreciates the beauty of Southeast Alaska.
For more than 150 (and sometimes more than 250!) days per year, the men and women aboard ships in the NOAA fleet sacrifice time away from their own homes, friends, and families – and regularly that remoteness isolates them from news, television, phone, and internet for days or weeks at a time – in service to the public at large through their assigned missions at sea. Currently, nearly four dozen crew members serve aboard Rainier in several departments, each of which serves its own set of functions, but all of which are unified by their shared mission, like the instrumental sections of an orchestra in the production of a symphony.
NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps
The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, sharply outfitted aboard ship in their navy blue ODUs (operational dress uniforms), is one of the seven uniformed services in the United States government. For this leg of the mission, the officers aboard Rainier serve under Acting Commanding Officer (ACO) Mark Van Waes and Executive Officer (XO) Holly Jablonski to perform three sets of functions: administrative, navigational, and participatory. As the administrators of the ship, the officers are responsible for everything from payroll to purchases, and communications to goodwill. In the navigational capacity, the officers are responsible for charting the courses to be traveled by the ship and moving the vessel along those courses, sometimes with helm in hand and sometimes by giving the command orders to effectuate those maneuvers. Finally, aboard Rainier and her sister hydrographic vessels, the junior officers are trained members of the hydrographic survey team, participating at all levels in the gathering and processing of data regarding the floor of the sea. Ultimately, the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps members work to define the missions of Rainier and oversee the execution of those missions.
NOAA Commissioned Officers and Third Mate Carl VerPlanck of the Deck Department navigate NOAA Ship Rainier.
Deck Department
Members of the Deck Department let go the anchor on the bow.
Beyond the uniformed NOAA Corps crew members, Rainier also employs many highly-skilled civilian merchant mariners who work around the clock to support the officers in the duties of navigation and sailing of the ship while it is underway. Essentially, while following the decisive command orders of the Officer Corps, the Deck Department handles the endless details involved in steering the ship and its smaller boats, along with deploying and anchoring those vessels. Under the departmental leadership of Chief Boatswain (pronounced “bosun”) Jim Kruger, the members of the Deck Department all hold various levels of U.S. Coast Guard ratings in navigational watch-standing and deck operations, and their experiences and proficiencies earn them respect with regard to many facets of decision-making and operations on the bridge.
(The NOAA Corps and the Deck Department together have been responsible for the passage of NOAA Ship Rainier through the waterways of Southeast Alaska during my weeks aboard. To see a cool video of NOAA’s travel through Alaska’s Inside Passage made using stop-motion photography by Ensign John Kidd, click here.)
Survey and Deck Department members work together to prepare for the day’s launches.
Survey Department
The members of the Survey Department aboard NOAA Ship Rainier are civilian scientists (working hand-in-hand with survey-trained NOAA Corps officers) who have been trained in the specialized work of conducting surveys of the sea floor using single-beam sonar, multi-beam sonar, tidal gauges and leveling devices, CTD devices (to gather data about conductivity, temperature, and depth of the water column), and several very highly-technical components of computer hardware and software packages.
Can you see the horizontal lines on this rock formation? They are caused by cyclical changes in the elevation of the sea water as a result of tidal forces. Only the highest point (around where the bald eagle is perched) of this 150-meter-wide set of rocks (extending beyond the boundaries of this image in both directions several times the width of what this photograph shows) remains above the water line at high tide. However, the portions that become submerged remain extremely dangerous to seagoing vessels, which is why the work of the Survey Department is so important.
From Hydrographic Assistant Survey Technicians (HASTs) upward through the ranks to Chief Survey Technician (CST) Jim Jacobson, they are superb problem-solvers and analysts with undergraduate- and graduate-level degrees in the cartography, biology, geography, systems analysis, and many other fields of scientific expertise, and one survey technician aboard Rainier is an experienced mariner who transferred into the Survey Department with a broad educational background ranging from the humanities to computer science. The members of the Survey Department spend countless hours gathering, cleaning, analyzing, and integrating data to produce nautical charts and related work products to make travel by water safer for everyone at sea.
The Survey Department compiles raw sonar and quantitative data from the ship and the launch vessels and first converts those data into a graphic file that looks like this…… which is a slice of this image …… which then goes through this sounding selection stage before eventually being finalized into a nautical chart for public use.
Physical Scientists
NOAA physical scientist Kurt Brown joins Rainier in surveying the sea floor of Chatham Strait.
One or two physical scientists join the ship’s crew for most of the field season from one of two NOAA Hydrographic offices (in Seattle, Washington and Norfolk, Virginia), where their jobs consist of reviewing the hydrographic surveys submitted by the ships to make sure that they meet NOAA’s high standards for survey data, and compiling those surveys into products used to update the approximately 1000 nautical charts that NOAA maintains. The ship benefits from the physical scientists’ time on board by having a person familiar with office processing of survey data while the surveys are “in the field,” and also by receiving an extra experienced hand for daily survey operations. The physical scientists also get a refresher on hydro data collection and processing along with a better understanding of the problems that the field deals with on a daily basis, and they bring this up-to-date knowledge back to the office to share with coworkers there.
Engineering Department
Oiler Byron Doran of the Engineering Department chooses the right tools for the job.
The Engineering Department is a combination of U.S. Coast Guard licensed Engineering Officers (CME, 1AE, 2AE, and 3AE) and unlicensed engineering personnel (Junior Engineer, Oiler, and GVA). Their work is concerned with the maintenance of the physical plant of the ship — everything from stopping leaks to making mechanical adjustments necessary for Rainier‘s proper and efficient running in the water. The engineers are skilled craftsmen and craftswomen who wield multiple tools with great dexterity as needs arise.
Electronics Technicians
Electronics Technician (ET) Jeff Martin is hard at work.
The Electronics Technician aboard NOAA Ship Rainier (some ships have a larger department) has the important role of making sure that the many computerized systems — both hardware and software — are properly networked and functional so that navigation and survey operations can proceed effectively and efficiently. Having trained on radar equipment with the U.S. Navy “back in the days of glass tubes,” ET Jeff Martin is an expert’s expert, adept at prediction and troubleshooting, and skilled at developing plans for moving systems forward with the ship’s mission.
Steward Department
Chief Steward Doretha Mackey always cooks up a good time and a great meal.Chief Steward Kathy Brandts and GVA Ron Hurt keep the crew happily well-fed.
The Steward Department runs the galley (the ship’s kitchen) and currently is composed of four crew members aboard Rainier. Specifically, they are responsible for menu preparation, food acquisition, recipe creation, baking, and meal preparation for the 40+ people who must eat three meals (and often have snacks) spread across the entire day, both underway and at port, including special meals for away-from-the-galley groups (like launch vessels and shore parties), when local goods (like fish, fruits, and vegetables) are available, and/or for crew members or guests with dietary restrictions. An army moves on its stomach. The meals aboard this ship, by the way, show great diversity, technique, and nutritional value, including grilled fish and steaks, vegetarian casseroles, curried pastas, homemade soups, fresh salads, and a wide variety of delicious breakfast foods, snacks, and desserts.
Second Cook Floyd Pounds works to prepare a meal for the crew.
So those are the current citizens of the seagoing vessel NOAA Ship Rainier, harmonizing within a common chord, travelers who together explore the seas by working together to achieve their unified mission. They are the excellent company that I keep on this leg of the exploration.
As you endeavor upon your own journeys, remember always to choose your company wisely so that your efforts are supported when challenging, insulated when vulnerable, motivated when difficult, and celebrated when successful. And once you are surrounded by those good people, keep exploring, my friends.
Sea otters enjoy one another’s company along their way.
Personal Log: Enjoy yourself along the way
Although they all work long, hard hours at their many assigned tasks, members of the team aboard NOAA Ship Rainier also enjoy one another’s company and occasionally get to have a good time. Sharing an isolated, moving home barely 70 meters long with four dozen people for several weeks at a time guarantees social interaction, and the sounds of testimonies of laughter and friendship regularly fill the air in and around the ship, both among the workstations and away from the ship.
Ensign Theresa Madsen and Second Assistant Engineer Evan McDermott, my exploration partners in Red Bluff BayOne of Carl’s many catches
Since joining the crew of Rainier just a week and a half ago – and beyond the many exciting excursions that are simply part of the regular jobs here – I already have been invited to join various smaller groups in exploring a town, dining in a local eatery, watching a movie, climbing a glacier, fishing in the waters of Bay of Pillars, walking on a beach, and kayaking through beautiful Red Bluff Bay past stunning waterfalls, huge mountains, and crystal-clear icy streams, including a spontaneous hike into the deep and wild, verdant and untrammeled woods above the shore, following uncut paths usually trod only by deer and bears on their way to the frigid water running down from the snow-capped peaks high above.
Evan replaces his socks after walking through the frigid stream.Evan takes the lead hiking into the woods, armed with bear spray and an adventurer’s spirit!
Truly, the people aboard Rainier know how to enjoy the gift of life. And I feel honored, flattered, privileged, and happy to be included among these new friends on their great adventures.
A beautiful waterfall that Theresa, Evan, and I explored in Red Bluff Bay
(at Frederick Sound in Keku Strait off Kake, Alaska)
Mission: Hydrographic survey
Geographical area of cruise: Southeast Alaska, including Chatham Strait and Behm Canal, with a Gulf of Alaska transit westward to Kodiak
Log date: June 22, 2013
Weather conditions: 14.08⁰C, overcast skies with increasing cloud coverage, 92.82% relative humidity, 1014.29 mb of atmospheric pressure, light variable winds (speed of less than 3.5 knots with a heading between 10⁰ and 19⁰)
This large cruise ship is one of many seagoing vessels ships in Southeastern Alaska that rely on NOAA-produced nautical charts for safe navigation.
Explorer’s Log: Long days on the trail
Thick fog had settled on Chatham Strait, where the launches would be surveying for the day, as seen from the ship’s anchored location in Bay of Pillars.
When we think about explorers, we usually focus on the “big moments” – the crescendos of excitement that build as the storytellers regale us with tales of daring escapes from danger, amazing sights visible only from the summit, or exotic flavors tasted upon the foreign shore. But life-long explorers know that those moments are far outnumbered by the sometimes seemingly endless minutes or hours, days or weeks, maybe even months or years of simply walking the path, step after step after step, watching the slow passing of tree after tree after tree.
Those less thrilling hours rarely are described in the grand adventure stories, but in those countless footfalls lie many of the greatest parts of exploration, for it is only in those moments that the explorer has time to ponder.
Smooth water and thick fog are common conditions in the navigable waterways of Southeast Alaska, underscoring the importance of good nautical charts.
In 1905 a very bright young man in his mid-twenties worked for a few years as a clerk in the patent office in Bern, Switzerland. Although the post gave him access to interesting new inventions and processes being developed in electronics, thermodynamics, mechanics, and communications, his job often required him to grind through the daily routine of receiving, reviewing, and filing thousands upon thousands of technical and administrative documents, tasks which his brilliant mind could achieve without much effort. Not too exciting, perhaps. But it is only in that easy comfort of performing the same routine behaviors minute after minute that the young clerk found the quiet sanctuary to evaluate and synthesize a miasma of strange ideas and eventually synthesize them into five papers about matter, time, energy, space, and motion that would revolutionize the field of physics.
Indeed, not every person is Albert Einstein, but all explorers sometimes find themselves in that “cruise control” mode, where the body knows the routine mechanics to perform, and so the mind can invest in a different sort of exploration. Inward.
Small cruise ships can navigate deep into scenic waterways, like Bay of Pillars along Chatham Strait.Teacher At Sea Rob Ulmer uses the winch aboard launch vessel RA-6 to cast the CTD device, which gathers data about conductivity, temperature, and depth of the water in the column from the surface to the sea floor.
A gardener mowing back and forth across the lawn, a painter applying the brush line after overlapping line to cover the wall, and a swimmer pulling stroke after stroke to swim his half-mile of warm-up laps all gain skill with their craft over hours or miles or practice, and so their minds can be freed to wander a bit, perhaps contemplating more deeply the patterns in the passing clouds, maybe solving a puzzle that has been teasing at the edge of consciousness, or maybe considering how a hedge of heather might look if planted in a certain area of the landscape. Or – just as meaningfully – maybe the explorer in those moments revisits something far more personal or spiritual or metaphysical, some conundrum or quandary or dilemma, whether recent or from long ago, in a way that is available only because of the serenity of the repetition. Sometimes such musings simply aren’t accessible when the mind is occupied with more accelerated or more cumbersome activity.
This winch mechanism can lower the CTD device (the tube to the left) through many fathoms of water.AB Jeff Mays casting the “fish” with the MVP
And as the explorer’s mastery of basic skills evolves from novice toward more expert levels, his place on the learning curve changes, as well. The learning curve where the novice stands is steep, as every bit of investment offers the possibility of relatively fast and tremendous growth, while the marginal returns for the wise and skilled explorer of the craft come subtly from patient observation and insight. For the rookie woodworker, for example, every spin of the lathe is an iteration of powerful change to be controlled and investigated and marveled at, but the more advanced craftsman who has milled thousands of dowels in his journey toward expertise in his craft has room during the lathe-work to possibly discover some small nuance about cutting bevels or reading grains that would be lost even if offered to the rookie in his excited novitiate mindset.
AB Tony Nielsen operates the Moving Vessel Profile (MVP) to cast and recover the “fish” as Rainier conducts a multi-beam survey of the sea floor in Chatham Strait.
The “fish” in the water
Some of my own moments of greatest inspiration have arrived when my friend Rien and I have been wordlessly walking the autumnally brisk trails of the North Georgia mountains. No longer burdened with the previously-taxing questions of how to deal with unstable rocks at my feet or what gait to use on a certain downhill slope, in those miles of simply continuing to walk forward my cleared mind has unfolded complete verses of poetry, bits of insight about soccer or macroeconomics or how to differently arrange the gear in my backpack, even exact phrasings for whole lessons or assessments to be used in my classroom. Those thoughts simply couldn’t have reached such clarity in the exciting exhaustion of the first morning’s climb up Amicalola Falls.
Survey/Launch team meeting on the fantail
Yesterday morning, after Field Operations Officer Mike Gonsalves finished the usual pre-launch meeting on the fantail and dismissed the crews to their boats (with my shift remaining aboard the ship to learn some data processing skills), I began one of my most common activities aboard Rainier, taking photographs of the scene. Pictures of the FOO and the Chief Boatswain coordinating launch activities, pictures of the rest of the crew at work, pictures of the ship herself, pictures of the waters and land features surrounding the ship… all very routine.
This is the view forward across the bow of NOAA Ship Rainier as a launch vessel departs to survey the sea floor of Chatham Strait.Isn’t it difficult to notsee the fog above the rock island now that you’re looking for it?
But then it happened. I noticed in the distance beyond the bow of the ship a slight something. Something different than usual. A small hemispherical island – a rock, really – extending ten feet or so above the waterline, protruding through the fog that hovered ethereally a few feet above the water in every direction. But it was the fog that caught my eye. The fog didn’t just surround the rock; it blanketed the rock at not quite exactly the same elevation that it otherwise maintained above the nearby sheet of flat, still water. And in the quiet comfort of my rote and repeated clicking of the shutter, I had an epiphany, a sudden symphonic upwelling of clarity about pressure and temperature and fluid dynamics and light that simply could not have happened if my thoughts had been cluttered with hasty necessities of rapid activity.
FOO Mike Gonsalves and HAST Curran discuss survey data in the plot room.
Like most insights, I’m not sure if or when that particular bit of understanding will ever matter again in my future, but at the moment it was pure and good in its value to the core of my inner explorer: I saw something that I had not seen before.
Some very exciting information during multi-beam surveying aboard the launch vessel surprises TAS Rob Ulmer and HAST Curran.A whole day of surveying aboard the launch vessel can become a long venture in close quarters!
So where does this soliloquy about walking the long and quiet path fit with my experiences aboard NOAA Ship Rainier? For the past several days and for the next several coming days, two or three small, crewed launch vessels per day (and often the ship herself) are painting overlapping swaths of sonar across the sea floor in Chatham Strait. Back, forth, back, forth….
Imagine mowing an enormous lawn miles long at a slow walking pace with a lawnmower that needs constant adjustment and calibration every time you pass a tree or shrub, all the while keeping data about the thickness of the grass, the color of the soil beneath, the amount of dew on the blades, and the exact rotational velocity of the motor. And this lawn is not just enormous by usual standards, either. It’s miles long, miles wide. Rain, snow, wind, uneven ground, you just keep mowing. And when you get finished for the day, not only do you know that you have dozens of days left before you finish mowing this lawn as it continues over the horizon, but you also discover as you look back out with your special viewing machinery at home that there are a few spots that you missed on the first pass and must clean up tomorrow before you can move forward, maybe because the mower blade malfunctioned, or maybe because the ground underneath was slightly tilted as you passed above it. But you keep mowing, both because you want the job done, but also because you love the work and take great pride in your work product.
The boys finally reach a resolution in their debate about survey data.
Replace it with painting a giant wall, and the analogy to multi-beam sea floor hydrographic surveying still is nearly perfect.
Oh, and don’t forget that you have a partner at home who will spend hours analyzing every bag of grass clippings, sorting and organizing and then weaving every single blade of grass into a beautiful and varied quilt of fabric that she makes from the piece that you bring her after painstakingly separating out random bugs and sticks leaves from trees and shrubs that look like grass but aren’t…. Whew! This partner (following the analogy) is a member of the post-launch evening processing crew, by the way, who begins work as soon as the launch vessels return and doesn’t finish until hundreds of lines of data have been uploaded, converted into other numerical and graphical forms, and then “cleaned” for initial post-survey analysis aboard ship before being more thoroughly analyzed for months or years at NOAA shore-side labs and offices before ultimately evolving into published nautical charts or other useful end-products.
Launch vessel RA-4 “paints” the huge floor of Chatham Strait one slow swath at a time.Aboard launch vessel RA-6, we passed this fishing boat several times while surveying a “polygon” of Chatham Strait.
Day after day, mile after mile, the NOAA survey teams explore the seas, quietly walking their own trail so that other explorers can more safely navigate their treks, as well. And every once in an inspired while, the hydrographer can be heard uttering a gleeful, “Aha!” about some insight discovered along the way.
Keep walking, my friends, even when the trail is long. Sometimes it is there that you will do your best exploring.
Another pass of the same fishing boat. A long day for both crews, perhaps, but at least the magnificent scenery leaves plenty of room for pondering.
Geographical area of cruise: Southeast Alaska, including Chatham Strait and Behm Canal, with a Gulf of Alaska transit westward to Kodiak
Log date: June 19, 2013
Weather conditions: 10.93⁰C, less than 0.5 km visibility in thick fog, 95.42% relative humidity, 1013.38 mb of atmospheric pressure, light variable winds (speed of less than 3 knots with a heading between 24⁰ and 35⁰)
Explorer’s Log: Survey, sample, and tide parties
Scientists are explorers, wandering the wilderness of wonder and curiosity their with eyes and minds wide open to events, ideas, and explanations that no other humans may have previously experienced. And by definition, explorers — including scientists — also are builders, as they construct novel paths of adventure along their journeys, built always upon the strong foundations of their own reliable cognitions and skill sets.
Ensign Rosemary Abbitt making a level sighting measurement
Starting from their own observations of the world around them, prior knowledge, and context, scientists inject creativity and insight to develop hypotheses about how and why things happen. Testing those ideas involves developing a plan and then gathering relevant data (pieces of information) so that they can move down the path of whittling away explanations that aren’t empirically supported by the data and adding to the collective body of knowledge, so that they and others might better fathom the likely explanations that are behind the phenomena in question.
NOAA Ship Rainier lowers launch vessel RA-5 for a survey excursion.
Because progress along the scientific path of discovery and explanation ultimately depends on the data, those data must be both accurate and precise. Often these terms are confused in regular conversation, but each word has its own definition.
A view from the skiff of the shoreline where the benchmarks and tide gauge staff already are installed.
Accuracy is a description of the degree of closeness or proximity of measurements of a quantity to the actual value of that quantity. A soccer player who shoots on goal several times and has most of his shots reach the inside of the net is an accurate shooter. Likewise, a set of measurements of the density of a large volume of seawater is more accurate if the sample data all are near the actual density of that seawater; a measurement that is 0.4% higher than the actual density of the water is just as accurate as another measurement of the same water that is 0.4% below the actual density value.
Before making more detailed data collections, Hydrographic Assistant Survey Technician (HAST) Curran first conducts a visual inspection of the previously-installed tide staff upon arriving at the shore.
Precision (also called reproducibility or repeatability), on the other hand, is the degree to which repeated measurements under unchanged conditions show the same results. If every shot attempted by the soccer player strikes the left goalpost four feet above the ground, those shots aren’t necessarily accurate – assuming that the player wants to score goals – but they are very precise. So, similarly, a set of measurements of seawater density that repeatedly is 5.3% above the actual density of the water is precise (though not particularly accurate).
HAST Curran collects data near the tide staff during the closing level run in Behm Canal.
The NOAA teams that conduct hydrographic surveys, collect seafloor samples, and gather data about tide conditions must be both accurate and precise because the culmination of their work collecting data in the field is the production of nautical charts and tide reports that will be used around the world for commerce, recreation, travel, fisheries management, environmental conservation, and countless other purposes.
Crew of the survey/sample team in the cabin of the launch vessel (and the Coxswain piloting the boat)
Hydrographic surveys of some sort have been conducted for centuries. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs show men aboard boats using ropes or poles to fathom the depths of the water. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signed a mandate establishing the Survey of the Coast. Since that time, government-based agencies (now NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey) have employed various systems of surveying depths, dangers, and seabed descriptions along the 95,000 miles of navigable U.S. coastlines, which regularly change due to attrition, deposition, glaciation, tectonic shifts, and other outside forces.
Hydrographic Senior Survey Technician Barry Jackson and Physical Scientist Kurt Brown analyze historic and new data from multi-beam sonar aboard the launch vessel.
For most of that history, data were collected through a systematic dropping of weighted lines (called “lead lines”) from boats moving back and forth across navigable channels at points along an imaginary grid, with calibration from at least two shore points to assure location of the boat. Beyond the geometry, algebra, and other mathematics of measurement and triangulation, the work was painstakingly slow, as ropes had to be lowered, hauled, and measured at every point, and the men ashore often traveled alongside the boat by foot across difficult and dangerous terrain. However, the charts made by those early surveys were rather accurate for most purposes.
Starboard of launch vessel RA-4
The biggest problem with the early charts, though, was that no measurements were made between the grid points, and the seafloor is not always a smooth surface. Uncharted rocks, reefs, or rises on the seabed could be disastrous if ships passed above them.
HSST Barry Jackson pulls a line hand over hand to retrieve a scooped sea floor sample from a depth of more than 45 meters in Behm Canal.… and then analyzes what the scoop captured: mud and gravel in this case.
Starting in the 1990s, single-beam sonar became the primary mechanism for NOAA’s surveys. Still looking straight down, single-beam sonar on large ships and on their small “launch vessels” (for areas that couldn’t be accessed safely by larger craft) provided a much more complete mapping of the seafloor than the ropes used previously. Sonar systems constantly (many times per second) ping while traveling back and forth across and along a channel, using the speed and angle of reflection of the emitted sound waves to locate and measure the depth of bottom features.
Data about sea floor samples first are recorded by hand on a chart aboard the launch vessel before being uploaded to NOAA computers later.
Sound waves travel at different speeds through different materials, based on the temperature, density, and elasticity of each medium. Therefore, NOAA also deploys CTD devices through columns of surveyed waterways to measure electrical conductivity (which indicates salinity because of ionization of salts dissolved in the water, thus affecting solution density), temperature (which usually is colder at greater depths, but not necessarily, especially considering runoff from glaciers, etc.), and depth (which generally has a positive-variation relationship with water pressure, meaning more pressure – and thus, greater density – as depth below the surface increases).
This CTD device measures conductivity, temperature, and depth in the water. All three affect the speed of the sound waves in water, and the speed of sound is a necessary bit of data when using sonar (which tracks reflected pings of sound) to determine the distance to the sea floor.
The most modern technology employed by NOAA in its hydrographic surveys uses multi-beam sonar to give even more complete coverage of the seafloor by sending sound waves straight downward and fanned outward in both directions as the boat travels slowly forward. Even though sonar beams sent at angles don’t reflect as much or as directly as those sent straight downward, uneven surfaces on the seabed do reflect some wave energy, thus reducing the occurrence of “holidays” (small areas not well-defined on charts, perhaps named after unpainted bits of canvas in portraits because the painter seemed to have “taken a holiday” from painting there).
FOO Mike Gonsalves and HAST Allix Slagle acquire hydrographic data with the ship’s Kongsberg EM-710 multi-beam sonar.Aboard the small launch vessel, everyone works. This is Teacher At Sea Rob Ulmer hauling in a sea floor sample in Behm Canal.
But that’s not all. To help sailors make decisions about navigation and anchoring – and often giving fishermen and marine biologists useful information about ecology under the waterline – NOAA also performs systematic samples of the types of materials on the sea floor at representative points in the waterways where it conducts surveys. Dropping heavy metallic scoop devices on lines* dozens of meters long through waters at various locations and then hauling them back aboard by winch or hand-over-hand to inspect the mud, sand, silt, gravel, rocks, shells, plants, or animals can be physically demanding labor but is necessary for the gathering of empirical data.
* A note about terminology from XO Holly Jablonski: Aboard the ship, lines have a job. Think of a “rope” as an unemployed line.
Additionally, Earth’s moon and sun (along with several underground factors) affect the horizontal and vertical movement of water on Earth’s surface, especially due to their gravitational pulls as Earth spins on its axis and orbits the sun and as the moon orbits Earth. Therefore, information about tides is extremely important to understanding the geography of nautical navigation, as the points below the waterline are identified on charts relative to the mean low water mark (so sailors know the least amount of clearance they might have beneath their vessels), and points above the waterline are identified relative to the mean high water mark (including notation of whether those object sometimes are fully submerged).
Can you see the evidence of tidal changes along the shoreline of Behm Canal? Color differences form strata along the rocks, and lowest leaves of the trees give further evidence of the highest reach of the water.Ensign Damian Manda manually levels the sighting rod upon the “turtle” using a carpenter’s bubble-leveling device.
To gather accurate and precise data about tidal influences on local waters, NOAA sends tides-leveling shore parties and dive teams into difficult conditions – commonly climbing up, down, and across rock faces, traversing dense vegetation, and encountering local wildlife (including grizzly bears here in Alaska!) – to drill benchmarks into near-shore foundation rocks, install (and later remove) tidal gauges that measure changing water heights and pressures, and use sophisticated mathematics and mechanics to verify the levels of those devices.
Ensign Rosemary Abbitt and HST Brandy Geiger ponder the placement of equipment before the next level measurement.
Needless to say, this description is significantly less detailed than the impressively intricate work performed at every level by NOAA’s hydrographic scientists, and in the end, all of the collected data described in the paragraphs above – and more, like the velocity of the sonar-deploying vessel – must be analyzed, discussed, and interpreted by teams of scientists with broad and deep skills before the final nautical charts are published for use by the public.
A leveling rod is balanced on the highest point of a “turtle,” positioned carefully to be seen from multiple points.
As you choose where and how to proceed in your own journeys, remember that you can be more confident about your decision-making by using information that is both accurate and precise. And keep exploring, my friends.
This is the view from the benchmark atop a rocky outcropping (under an 80-foot evergreen) along Behm Canal while righting a measurement rod with the tide gauge leveling party.
Did You Know?
NOAA Ship Rainier in Behm Canal with launch vessels underway
Every ship in the NOAA fleet also is a voluntary mobile weather station, and so are many other seagoing vessels around the world. For many years ships have been required to report their locations and identities on a regular basis to agencies like the U.S. Coast Guard and local or regional harbormasters. Those periodic reports were (and still are) vital for local traffic control on the waters and for helping to provide quick response to emergency situations on vessels at sea.
The view aft through Behm Canal from the launch vessel
Eventually, someone insightful realized that having the ships also provide weather reports from their positions along with those identity-and-location reports would make a much richer and broader network of timely data for the National Weather Service, which is another branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As NWS adds the weather data from those many boats to the data gathered at land-based NWS stations and from voluntary land-based reporters of conditions, their models and forecasts become stronger.
(For more info about being a volunteer weather observer or volunteering with NOAA in some other capacity related to oceans, fisheries, or research, please visit www.volunteer.noaa.gov.)
Especially because weather conditions are the results of interactions among local phenomena, regional climate, and the global systems, building more accurate and precise forecast models depends on information from everywhere, but the result is that everyone benefits from the better forecasts, too.
Southeast Alaska is area with frequent tectonic activity, including uplift and earthquakes. Here a scar among the trees on the mountainside shows evidence of tectonic shifts, which also creates a ready path for meltwater to move downhill from the snowy mountaintop to the seawater below, taking trees and soil with it.NOAA Ship Rainier waits offshore, ready to receive the skiff returning with the tide/level shore party.
(at anchor in Behm Canal at the mouth of Chickamin River)
Mission: Hydrographic survey
Geographical area of cruise: Southeast Alaska, including Chatham Strait and Behm Canal, with a Gulf of Alaska transit westward to Kodiak
Log date: June 16, 2013
Weather conditions: 26.04⁰C, scattered altocumulus clouds, 32.91% relative humidity, 1012.18 mb of atmospheric pressure, light variable winds (speed of less than 3 knots with a heading between 26⁰ and 51⁰)
A rare bit of breathing room in the passage of NOAA Ship Rainier through Wrangell Narrows
Explorer’s Log: Preparing for the transit through Wrangell Narrows
When watching a great concert, recital, or athletic event, we often forget the hours upon hours of preparation that were invested before the starting whistle or the rise of the curtain. History remembers and recites the first few moments of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the surface of Earth’s moon, but too often neglected from that history are the many years of research, discussion, calculation, prediction, and practice by thousands of people – including Armstrong – prior to that famous “one small step,” for without those advance preparations the brilliant moment likely never would have occurred.
Photos at the top of Everest belie the training, packing, mapping, and grueling climb that precede the snapshot. Last-minute buzzer beaters arise out of years of dribbling and shooting in empty gyms long after scheduled team workouts end. The revolutionary insights of Copernicus and Kepler were built upon hundreds of previous models and millions of recorded observations and related calculations. Great campaigns are waged on drawing boards long before they approach the battlefield.
This is the chart used during the navigational team meeting in preparation for Rainier’s approach to Wrangell Narrows.
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier the culture of preparation is omnipresent. Posted on the door of my stateroom and carried in my pocket at all times is a billet card that delineates where I am to report and what task I am assigned in each of several emergency situations aboard ship. Within an hour of getting underway from the port of Juneau, the alarm sounded for a fire drill, and every person aboard reported smartly to his or her assigned station. Heads were accounted, gear was readied, and some crew members even donned full firefighting suits and deployed hoses and fans to address the fictional fire in the XO’s office. Because every person aboard knew his or her role in advance, the ship was prepared for the drill. And more importantly, because the entire ship participated actively in the drill, dealing with a genuine emergency, if necessary, will be more seamless and effective.
Then only ten minutes later, the alarm rang again. This time an abandon ship drill. As assigned, I retrieved my emergency gear and moved quickly to Muster Station 1 on the starboard bridge wing, where ACO Mark Van Waes explained in detail what would happen in the event of such an emergency.
As this sign above the fantail proudly displays, NOAA Ship Rainier values teamwork and puts safety first in all operations and missions.Careful navigation requires attention to details, like avoiding this small dock while leaving Juneau Port.
Of course, most of the preparatory work aboard Rainier is not about emergency situations, but rather is focused on readying for the work of navigating and operating the ship or the scientific missions of conducting surveys and samples, and that aspect of life aboard ship is non-stop. Everywhere around me, crew members and scientists are constantly working together, giving formal and informal trainings and lessons, offering one another ideas, insights, questions, and answers, unencumbered by the impediments of pride and arrogance that too often prevent achievement through growth. To the left of me, a young ensign is given room to make navigational decisions, while to my right two expert hydrographers consult available data and each other while they brainstorm about technical and theoretical issues on their own horizons.
The entrance to Wrangell Narrows is alongside the town of Petersburg, Alaska.Scientists from the survey team review data and documents while aboard the launch.
And the gathering of minds aboard Rainier is impressive. Today the hydrographic survey team assembled in the wardroom to talk about the upcoming week’s launches of smaller vessels to perform multi-beam sonar surveys and gather bed samples from the floor of Behm Canal. Under the guidance of FOO Mike Gonsalves, data were shared, schedules were outlined, and every member of the team – regardless of rank or role – was encouraged to share thoughts, concerns, and inquiries relevant to preparation for the task at hand, the ultimate task of this leg of Rainier’s mission. Like those other great events throughout history, here is yet another example of prior preparation preventing poor performance at the critical moment. And those were not the last conferences regarding the survey launches, either. A meeting regarding safety and other last-minute issues was held on the fantail before putting the launches out, and the various people aboard each small vessel constantly interacted to update and modify their ideas before executing their actions.
(Note: My next blog post will be about the scientific survey launches, so stay tuned!)
A panoramic view of the passage forward through Wrangell Narrows
The most impressive preparation during the past few days, though, was that of the navigational crew. After hours of work compiling past data and available current information and building itemized route plans for passage through the potentially-treacherous Wrangell Narrows, Ensign JC Clark led a large and comprehensive meeting to discuss every bit of the upcoming traverse. Utilizing charts, mathematics, weather forecasts, and expert opinions, the group of men and women in the boardroom created a plan of execution that considered everything from tides to local traffic, from channel depths to buoy patterns. Adjustments were made in an air of excitement tempered by the confidence of experience, preparation, and skill.
This device (called an alidade) on the starboard bridge wing is used for visual bearings.
And when the ship approached the town of Petersburg at the mouth of Wrangell, the preparation paid off. Turn after turn, command after command, the teamwork was superb, and the resulting passage was seamless. The ride was so smooth as the bridge maneuvered Rainier through the slalom in that deep and narrow fjord, that only the beautiful scenery itself was breathtaking.
During a brief opportunity to look away from the water, Chief Boatswain Jim Kruger worked on maintaining his expert knot-tying skills.
We tend to envision genuine explorers as being people who dare to travel beyond the horizon, choosing adventure over caution every time they set out. But the truth is that every great explorer, long before he lifts his foot for the first step of the travel, asks himself and his companions: Quo vadimus?
Where are we going?
Field Operations Officer Mike Gonsalves conducts one last survey team meeting on the fantail before the launches get underway.
The answer to that question might be a physical location, or it could just as easily be a direction. Up that mountain. Toward that little island. Around the bend. It could even be broad and metaphorical.
The ACO pulled out the binoculars to answer his own question of why that red buoy at the entrance to Wrangell Narrows was listing so much to the right. The tilt was because these sea lions were using the buoy to bask in the warm near-solstice sun.
But regardless of the short answer, the great explorer knows that the value of good preparation ultimately is the maximization of adventure can be maximized. Explorers may appear to disregard caution, but in fact, they have done the training, built the skills, plotted the course, and considered the likely obstacles in order to address that caution before getting underway.
But regardless of the short answer, the great explorer knows that the value of good preparation ultimately is the maximization of adventure can be maximized. Explorers may appear to disregard caution, but in fact, they have done the training, built the skills, plotted the course, and considered the likely obstacles in order to address that caution before getting underway.
ACO Van Waes shared with me a superb insight: The difference between a road map and a nautical chart is that a road map outlines a suggested path of travel, while the chart simply shows the traveler what things are out there. The hydrographic survey teams and supporting scientists who work for NOAA make nautical charts so that seagoing explorers can continue the great human endeavor of creating their own maps to turn curiosity into discovery, and I am very proud to spend these weeks working and learning among the people who keep that grand tradition going forward.
So prepare yourselves, practice your skills, plan a bit, and choose a direction or two. And then keep exploring, my friends.
Personal Log: Father’s Day
On the day before I left Florida I cropped my hair closely and stopped shaving my face (for the first time ever), in part to minimize the need for maintenance away from home, and also as a minor-league scientific experiment to compare rates of hair growth on the face and on the crown. After five days the chin, cheeks, and jawline seem to be winning the race. But the most interesting datum – as so often is the case in scientific tests – is a peripheral notation: When passing a reflective window this morning, I saw a familiar face framed by the short beard and small wrinkles at the edges of the sunglasses under the brim of my hat, but the face that I saw wasn’t my own. This third Sunday in June, thousands of miles from home, sort of pensively half-smiling at a fleeting thought that was blending with a pretty view of the treeline off starboard, I saw the face of my dad looking back at me. And my smile grew a bit softer and fuller when I caught glimpses of my sons in the reflection, too.
So happy Father’s Day to you three other Ulmer men who do so much to define this Ulmer boy. I’m proud of you, and I love you guys.
And on behalf of children everywhere, happy Father’s Day to the rest of you readers who have undertaken the great task of raising kids. Your work is important.
Did you know?
Underway through Gastineau Channel, outbound from Juneau
The ship’s propellers are called screws because essentially they spiral through the water to propel the boat forward by pulling water from in front and pushing it backward. NOAA Ship Rainier has two screws, one starboard (right) and one port (left), and they spin in opposite directions to make smoother and more efficient fluid dynamics. On this ship the screws constantly spin, but they are tilted differently to increase or decrease forward propulsion.
To increase forward vessel speed, the screws hang with a vertical profile so that the water moves horizontally backward from the boat, thus pushing the boat forward. To decrease forward vessel speed, the screws are tilted toward a more horizontal plane, decreasing the backward push of water, and consequently reducing the ship’s thrust force. It’s very much like holding your open, flat hand outside the window of a moving car and feeling the wind push it backward, upward, or downward, depending upon the angle of your palm relative to the car’s (and the wind’s) trajectory. Newton’s Third Law of Motion says that every action comes with an equal and opposite reaction, and so the more directly backward the water is pushed, the more directly forward (with the same amount of force) the ship is pushed in the opposite direction.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Mark Friedman
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier June 8-20, 2008
Mission: Hydrographic Survey and ocean seafloor mapping Geographical Area: Southeast Alaska Date: June 19, 2008
TAS Friedman holds up a macrocystis algae.
Weather Data from the Bridge
Southern winds 10-15, Patchy fog, High of 55 º F.
Seas a slight chop with waves of 3-5 feet.
Science and Technology Log
The POD reports (Remember from the last log what a POD is?)
We began this nearly two-day journey Wednesday, June 18 after a short day of surveying. The day before, June 17, I participated in a coastline survey team to check on smaller marine anomalies that could be rocks or dense macrocystis algae (A.K.A. giant kelp in southern California) that often appear as a solid formation from aerial observations and laser surveys done by the Coast Guard. The same macrocystis algae that has fronds (leaves) up to about 18 inches long in California, grows to over three feet up here. Each frond is as large as a tobacco leaf (see photo). My marine biology students back in LA will enjoy the comparison as I am drying some to bring it back. We shall arrive in Kodiak June 20 at 0900, and the crew and guests will disembark to get some land time. Some of us off hiking, others R and R camping, golfing, biking, etc. We’ll return to the ship to sleep and I depart back for LA June 22.
My Project and Lesson Plan
The macrocystis laid out on a bench is one meter long
My task on board the RAINIER has been successfully completed. It has been to learn as much as I can about hydrography and the charting of nautical maps. I shall be able to share this information with others thru the creation of a lesson plan soon to be available on the Teacher At Sea website.
The primary purpose of this lesson plan “Marine Careers on Board NOAA Research Vessels” is to make more available a descriptive motivation of potential jobs and careers that NOAA offers. To accomplish this I developed a questionnaire which 25 crew completed, from the ship’s commander to the entry-level wiper or ordinary seaman. Each interviewee was photographed on the job and both documents will soon be posted on multiple websites and made available to teachers and counselors internationally. There are hundreds of jobs available on NOAA ships and land support positions that are rarely publicized. Through this effort I hope to be part of publicizing NOAA job openings available to any youth over 18.
An Unforgettable Journey
I have been fortunate to be on board this premier NOAA research vessel, RAINIER, for two weeks as an observer and student. It has been an exhilarating experience I shall share with other science teachers individually and at national, state and regional science conferences. The Teacher At Sea program is an exceptional opportunity for teachers to learn and be part of real time scientific research that has concrete and immediate application to understanding the marine environment and the preservation of its character in the face of the human destructive onslaught. I leave a more committed environmental steward, materialist and marine scientist. Please feel free to contact me for any information about the program or materials associated with this experience. Mark Friedman. Mfriedman@animo.org.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Mark Friedman
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier June 8-20, 2008
Mission: Hydrographic Survey and ocean seafloor mapping Geographical Area: Southeast Alaska Date: June 16, 2008
Here I am studying nautical charts as preparation for the Tidal Gauge expedition.
Science and Technology Log
Each day the RAINIER’s “Ship’s Officer,” in collaboration with the field operations officer and the ship’s commander, issue a “Plan of the Day” also known for short as the POD. (Who knows what marine animals move in groupings called a POD? First one to reply from Los Angeles gets a free Alaskan souvenir!) The POD contains important information such as, for Sunday, June 15, Sunrise was at 0415 (4:15 am), and sunset is at 2139 (9:39 pm!) It will be a long day! I rise at 6 am to read the POD and find my assignment.
POD Revelations
The ship’s position is: Anchored, Palisade Is., AK. The POD also has tide levels, U.S. Coast Guard beacons in the area, the weather, and who the officer on duty is. The weather you ask? How important, especially because many of us are going out on launches and the smaller skiffs for specific assignments. The launch drivers need this especially to make sure all operations are safe. The winds are mild, coming in from the south at 5-10 mph, cloudy with showers, air temperature a balmy 51F with seas of 1-2 foot waves.
The POD has major assignments for anchor watch and officers on duty. Safety is a constant refrain as there are anchor watch positions around the clock to staff the bridge (command center) sending regular weather reports to the Coast Guard and National Weather Service and maintaining a secure and safe environment. The POD also lists all the assignments for the launch vessels being dispatched by the mother ship—no not Battlestar Galactica or the Enterprise, but the RAINIER. Today two vessels will be doing sonar readings around San Christoval Channel and North San Fernando Island. The other two, one of which I will be on, is going to remove a tide gauge and do a recon (reconnaissance) mission for a new tide gauge location.
The Journey Begins
Here I am learning to withstand the cold in my Arctic survival suit.
7 am- We are all up for a hearty breakfast, made by three talented chefs (especially in the omelet, soup and dessert department).
7:30am- I struggle into my arctic survival suit and boots in preparation for a “wet landing.” I feel like Sylvia Earle in her “Jim Suit” as I waddle like a penguin to the stern of the ship to board a skiff for an hour journey up narrowing channels and over rapids to reach our destination. (I have put on all layers of clothing that I brought with me from Los Angeles, preparing for frigid temperatures and lots of wind and mist en route.)
8:30 am- With a spraying salt mist and a wind chill factor making the temperature about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, we race up the labyrinth of islands and channels to our destination. A deer and her fawn stare blindly at us on our port side, a humpback whale breaches on our starboard. We even glimpse a couple of sea otters playing/rafting in the kelp.
On Location
9:30 am- We have reached the tide (marine), or water level, gauge. Our assignment is to remove it after ensuring calibrations have been correct. The tide is coming in and the shore is covered with algae, mini-white barnacles, a sprinkle of clams, a species limpets and small purple mussel beds which are thriving.
A NOAA tidal gauge benchmark
What is a tide gauge and why are they important? Water level gauges are instruments to measure water surface elevation over long and short durations of time. They have been used for centuries by mariners to improve their knowledge on the depth of water and apply this information to the chart. This information can aide in the calculation of tidal currents, the ebb and flow of water as the tides change. More modern gauges need a power supply to relay information via satellite to appropriate organizations interested in this data.
A tide gauge consists of a number of instruments including, foremost, a measured, calibrated staff that is securely mounted into rocks to give a visual baseline of water levels. It is connected to benchmarks by using a survey instrument called a level, which optically measures height differences on a survey rod, which I held during the operations. Benchmarks used by NOAA, and previously by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, are brass survey discs (see photo right) that are imbedded into bedrock and stamped with a code that correlates in NOAA data banks to date of installation, project, location number, etc. Five of them are traditionally imbedded at various locations in the vicinity of the staff. They are leveled between each other and the staff, establishing a mathematical correlation. Gauge measurements are all related to the benchmarks, which hold the permanent datum for the tide station.
The Underwater Component
NOAA divers retrieve a submerged tidal gauge
Another component of the gauge is an orifice (brass pipe with an open end) that is placed where it is continually submerged. It is connected to an electronic readout instrument via strong plastic tubing that is filled with nitrogen. As the gas comes under more or less pressure, based on the pressure exerted by the quantity of water pressing down upon it (water pressure), it registers the height of water levels. (Similar to how air pressure is registered by a barometer, a little remembered instrument but critical to meteorological forecast and studies).The information on depth is thus recorded and electronically transmitted out of the area thru solar powered equipment. In addition to water levels for meteorological (weather) purposes, over time these tidal gauges, when coordinated with others and register actual sea level rise which is now occurring more rapidly due to glacial melting from global warming. They have also been used to register tectonic plate movements. We disassembled the land equipment after completing our benchmark surveys. Later we scouted for a new location further south for a new tidal gauge and benchmark installation site. Then the divers went into action (see above photos). Their job was to retrieve the submerged gauge and piping for future use. In the process they took a video of part of the undersea flora and fauna.
Back on the Ship
All equipment is secured, checked and prepared for the next installation site. The gauge team tomorrow will secure benchmarks for the establishment of a new tide gauge station. (Guess what? At the installation site they found a 1927 benchmark still intact and functional!!)
A sun star, a type of sea star, was observed during the tidal gauge dive.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Mark Friedman
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier June 8-20, 2008
Mission: Hydrographic Survey and ocean seafloor mapping Geographical Area: Southeast Alaska Date: June 8-9, 2008
NOAA Teacher at Sea, Mark Friedman, helps deploy the CTD prior to surveys in SE Alaskan environs.
Science and Technology Log
This is a NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) ship based out of the U.S. Northwest. This ship is primarily dedicated to the construction and updating of marine navigational charts that are of importance to marine commerce, navigation and general recreation. To do this they use SONAR waves emitted from the bottom of the launch boats. (Underwater sound waves travel at 1500 meters per second, four times as fast as sound in air.) Data obtained by the ships surveyors are sent to marine map makers (cartographers) in Seattle and also NOAA’S base in Silver Spring, Maryland where they are processed and constructed and made available to the public in paper or digital format.
June 8
Arrived Juneau Alaska. Greeted at the airport by the ship’s XO (Executive Officer). Onboard I was issued a bunk (or a rack as mariners call it) and given a ship tour. Once settled I visited the town, including a significant museum of history, artifacts and anthropology of the indigenous peoples and early European settlers. Juneau is a stopping off point for many of the Northwest cruise ships cruising the inside passage.
June 9
Snowcapped mountains surround the inside passage south of Juneau, AK
Safety instructions: multiple videos on asbestos, personal safety, fire emergencies. Drill practice: Abandon ship, Man overboard. Survival suit issued along with multiple style life vests, hardhat. Underway from Juneau 1600 for destinations near Sitka to begin depth soundings for marine navigational chart additions and corrections. All is well. Bright outside and it’s nearly 9pm Wednesday night. Sunset is at 10pm and sunrise at 3:15am. It is a long day by our usual Los Angeles standards. The water is 41 degrees (so you don’t want to fall in or risk hypothermia (rapid loss of base body temperature (Who can guess the temperature of hypothermia?) which rapidly sets in) and the air a cool and misty 51 degrees.
Green conifers line the banks and small islands proliferate in the inner passage here just south of Sitka. The inside passage was made by a combination of glaciers, volcanic and plate tectonic action (subduction of North American and Pacific plates). The tide differential from high to low can be extreme…nearing 30 feet in the Juneau harbor! Spruce and pine trees abound, and snow-capped mountains on either side of us rise up majestically as we move along at about 12 knots (nautical speed terminology, or about 15 mph). The spruce are afflicted by the same type of exponential pine beetle growth that is devastating California and Southwest evergreens. No drought up here so scientists have no hypothesis yet as to the cause.
I had to get up at 4am yesterday (even earlier than my usual 5am school day rise) for a wild ride thru close straits (aptly named Peril) (must get there at high tide so there is enough clearance beneath and currents are not as dangerous with increased volume of water) entering Sitka for our first series of data collection, cartography of inside passage.
The bridge of NOAA Ship RAINIER
RAINIER to the Rescue
There is an important heavy emphasis on safety and special cold water survival suits and vests, have been issued to all crew members, followed by instruction donning them and knowing out stations to report to for such rises as “fire onboard” and “man overboard.” We have already had an abandon ship drill. Yesterday after I joined three boats of marine surveyors which go out to surrounding areas in 29 foot launches to begin data collection thru the use of sonar, the RAINIER saved two fisherpeople whose boat had taken on water and was rapidly sinking. RAINIER heard their MAYDAY and was within 2 miles so they sent a rapid launch to the scene and got there even before the Coast Guard. Fortunately the fisherpeople had on their survival suits so they were not in too much shock when they were rescued. It brought home to me the importance of these survival suits that are like insulated neoprene wetsuits that are watertight. I’m always wearing some type of floatation vest while on deck or in the launch, colored bright orange for easy sighting when bobbing up and down in choppy seas.
Personal Log
I saw some favorites yesterday too…but not too close. Sea otters and whales but too far away to identify. The most common up here now are the humpbacks. The gray whales that have migrated up from Baja California, the ones that can bee seen off the California coast are already further north feasting on that yummy krill, a marine crustacean key to the food web). And the ship’s cuisine—fine and more than plentiful prepared by multiple professional chefs…lots of healthy food and Tapatio, my newfound hot sauce delight thanks to my Mexicano and Latino students.
Fortunately there is a gym so I hopefully won’t come back TOO much heavier. Crew and staff of about 50…mostly young, lots of women for a big change from my last extended marine experience six years ago on the R/V New Horizon out of Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego.
Vocabulary and Marine Terminology Hydrography- the science of measuring, describing and mapping the sea bottom, mudflats and the positions of stationary objects (seamounts, shipwrecks, etc.) Cartographer-makes nautical charts for the aid of moving ships on the ocean Echosounder-high resolution instrument to record depths of ocean bottom using SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging – similar to some marine mammals use of echolocation). Also a side-scan sonar can be used and is on the RAINIER. CTD-Instrument to collect and register conductivity (flow of electrical current), temperature and depth. Deployed by ship launches in each surveyed area to obtain data and make calculations on sound speeds of sonar under various conditions (deeper, warmer and saltier water increases the speed of sound waves due to density) Sound speed- Sound travels at a speed of 1500 meters/second faster than thru air that is 380 meters per second. (This enables whales to communicate over hundreds of m8iles of water)
Get Your Hands Wet
To learn HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HYDROGRAPHIC PROJECT, go to this NOAA website.
