styrofoam – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Dorothy Holley

Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces

July 31 – August 15, 2025

Blog Post #7

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (EcoMon)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Date: August 14, 2025

Weather Data from Bridge:
Latitude: 4025.699
Longitude: 07321.16
Relative Wind speed: 4
Wind Direction: 66
Air Temperature: 23.5
Sea Surface Temperature:
Barometric Pressure: 1011.47
Speed Over Ground: 10.1
Water Conductivity: 4.69
Water Salinity: 31.21

First, Ferdinand asked about Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data the ship is collecting and how to access it. Storm Events, like the Hurricane Dexter and Tropical Storm Erin draw energy from warm ocean waters, which act as their primary fuel source. Warmer waters lead to increased evaporation and provide more latent heat to the storm, allowing it to strengthen. The National Weather Service (NWS) is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and uses SST data in making forecasts. The data is available publicly here. Thank you for reading and asking good questions!

screenshot from the Windy app. it shows a map of the Atlantic Ocean, including the east coast of the United States, and small lines marking wind direction and speed. the ocean is color coded but the key is not visible. — Images from Windy App

Second, an answer to the math problem on the last BLOG: If each of the engines’ cylinders has a displacement of 51 liters, and the engine has 12 cylinders, so the total displacement of the engine is 612 liters. The displacement from a car engine could fit into the Pisces 204 times.

A woman wearing a pink sweatshirt and purple gloves holds a cable with two hands as it extends over the railing of NOAA Ship Pisces

a woman wearing a floppy hat and life vest stands at the railing near a piece of scientific equipment

Victoria (left) and Rowan (right) wrangle a radiometer

Science at Sea

How do we know that satellite information is valid? The satellites must be calibrated, just like the sensors in all other electronic devices.

One ongoing project taking place on our NOAA Summer EcoMon cruise is a calibration validation of a NASA PACE satellite measuring plankton. (See more here.) Victoria and Rowan are Biological Oceanographers, studying how light interacts with the ocean. Once a day, when the PACE satellite crosses over our location, they throw out the radiometer, pull it to the surface from different depths, and ensure it is collecting radiation or light data as it sinks to about 1% light transmission.

Victoria and Rowan also test the water with radiometer casts, once per day during satellite overpass. If we are doing a CTD stop, they will use water from the Rosette, but if we aren’t doing a CTD stop they can use water from the flowthrough system in the chem lab sink. This is a special plumbing network that allows seawater from below the ship to be retrieved in the lab spaces. These tests must happen during daylight hours.

The water is filtered out for particulate matter (plankton and other stuff) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM). These will eventually be used to characterize coloration through a spectrophotometer, although some of it will go directly to NASA. That’s right. They measure the wavelength of water, specifically how the light and color change throughout the water column.

The data are analyzed, triangulated, and compared with data being collected at other places. (Read about another validation team here.) Understanding light saturation might someday help fisheries measure water health in ways that will save money. If areas don’t have plankton, the bottom level of the food chain, then they won’t have higher levels either and fisheries should look elsewhere to fish.

Dorothy, wearing her Teacher at Sea t-shirt and holding a notebook with a Teacher at Sea sticker on it, stands in a lab room with one hand resting on a spectrometer, smiling for the photo — Dorothy in the *Pisces* Chem Lab

Another member of the science crew is collecting dissolved oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon data as we make our planned stops. It seems like everything is tied to Chemistry in some way!

infographic about ocean acidification. How will changes in ocean chemistry affect marine life? Carbon dioxide plus water plus carbonate ion results in two bicarbonate ions. Consumption of carbonate ions impedes calcification. — NOAA Graphic showing the Chemistry of Ocean Acidification

You do the Math: If we sorted through 1/8 of our last sample from the Bongo nets, and identified 20 krill, how many krill would you estimate to be in the total sample. Then determine abundance if the nets filtered through 5 cubic meters of water. In other words, how many krill would you estimate we would find per cubic meter in this part of the ocean. Check in the next blog post for both answers.

Career Spotlight: James Walker, Chief Boatswain.

portrait of man wearing a gray shirt and a gray bucket hat. he stands against the wall of a hallway and we can see a hatch door behind him. — Chief Boatswain James Walker

James Walker serves as Chief Boatswain on NOAA Ship Pisces where he manages a 7-person department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources from Park University. Having retired from serving 20-years in the Navy and serving as the Upward Bound Activities Coordinator for the University of Tennessee, James joined NOAA 18 years ago.

He is responsible for running the gear for our science experiments – cranes, hydro wrenches, A-frames, net grills, bongo nets, and CTD rosettes – as well as watch, lookout, and security. Without James and his crew, the experiments could not happen.

He loves playing all sports, especially bowling and baseball. His favorite tool is his computer because it keeps him informed of what is happening on the ship and in the world, but mainly because it keeps him in touch with his family. With his wife and nine children back home in Tennessee (ok, one child escaped to Mississippi), staying in touch is an important task!

photo of a wooden plaque with 25 engraved nameplates. the plaque is titled NOAA Ship Pisces (R 226) Plankowners. A line drawing of NOAA Ship Pisces is mounted toward the top of the plaque, above the nameplates. — *Do you see James Walker’s name on the plaque?*

Interesting Things: James Walker is also a NOAA Ship Pisces plank owner. That means he is a part of the original crew (since 2009) and has been responsible for establishing the operations. We don’t use that term in the Education-world, but if we did, we would say that Kris Bennet, Heather Earp, Chris Lee, Don Roncska, and Yvette Truman are West Johnston High School plank owners. These five teachers have been at West Johnston since 2003, the first year it was a four-year high school. Plank owners have a way of keeping things even-keeled. I think that every school should have a plank owner plaques!

Personal Log

When I was in high school, my Chemistry teacher Lavonda Ritchie showed me a styrofoam cup that had been sent to the bottom of the ocean and had shrunk. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. But now I have my own styrofoam cup. and bird. and ball. and another cup. I am SOOOOO excited to show my students! Thank you Mrs. Ritchie!!!

stryrofoam birds, decorated with marker to resemble specific species, lines up on a table top.

now shrunken stryrofoam birds, decorated with marker to resemble specific species, lines up on a table top. a plain white unshrunken bird foam sits nearby for comparison.

Before and after…. our styrofoam birdies shrunk! The picture on the left is before they were sent to the bottom of the ocean. The white, undecorated, styrofoam bird on the right is another way to see how big the birds were before the dive. Increased pressure from all the water molecules pushing down on them at the bottom of the ocean decreased the volume of gas trapped in the styrofoam. The cups and cones (below) were also part of the fun experiment!

line of styrofoam cups on a table; the first one is plain and regular size, and the others are decorated and shrunk

three styrofoam cones: the first is white and full size, the other two are decorated and shrunk

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Dorothy Holley

Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces

July 31 – August 15, 2025

Blog Post #6

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey (EcoMon)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Date: August 11, 2025

Weather Data from Bridge:
Latitude: 3956.51 N
Longitude: 07043.5 W
Relative Wind speed: 17
Wind Direction: 336
Air Temperature: 23.6
Sea Surface Temperature: 24.965
Barometric Pressure: 1022.81
Speed Over Ground: 9.8
Water Conductivity: 5.326
Water Salinity: 35.03125

close-up of the buoy portion of the drifter; it is a white fiberglass ball covered in stickers and marker decorations

close-up of the buoy portion of the drifter; it is a white and blue fiberglass ball covered in stickers and marker decorations

Dorothy and Miles, wearing life vests, stand near the railing of NOAA Ship Pisces, and together hold up the drifter buoy and its folded up drogue

Dorothy and Miles, wearing life vests, stand at the rail just after deploying the drifting buoy. it is a lovely day, with some sunset colors and only a few clouds

view of the ocean with the drifting buoy perhaps barely visible in the distance

Miles and Dorothy launch the drifter!

First, Janice from NC is asking about the drifters! In my first blog I mentioned the Global Drifter Program. Since 1979 countries have been placing and monitoring drifters around the world to better understand and make better predictions . Amanda, Miles and I launched the last of our drifters yesterday.

Sam Ouertani, CIMAS (UMiami/NOAA) Research Associate, provided the following answers to Janice’s questions:
How long are the drifters collecting information?
> Drifters typically collect data until the drifter runs aground, the batteries die, or the sensors die. Most drifters are able to collect data for 450 days, however they typically lose their drogue within a year. Without a drogue, data from drifters cannot be used to accurately estimate the surface current velocities, but drifters are still able to measure sea surface temperature and other parameters if equipped with additional sensors.

Are there cameras on the drifters?
> Unfortunately, Global Drifter Program drifters don’t have cameras but several programs in NOAA have started to add cameras. The National Data Buoy Center has added cameras to almost 100 buoys. I believe the Arctic Buoy Program has started adding cameras to observe sea ice conditions, but footage is not yet available.

Do they collect data about depth of the ocean?
>Drifters only collect data at the surface of the ocean; therefore they don’t measure any parameters below the surface, and they do not measure sea floor depth. Another NOAA program, Argo, collects temperature, salinity, and pressure below the ocean surface, but Argo floats do not reach the bottom of the ocean.

Where’s the deepest part?
>The deepest part of the ocean is the Challenger Deep, 35,876 feet deep or over 6.7 miles deep, located in the Mariana Trench. Humans measured this depth by lowering a rope from a submersible vehicle.

Thank you Sam for such thorough answers, and thank you Janice for asking! You can find more information about the drifters we launched here.

Second, an answer to the math problem from the last BLOG: On the First Christmas Bird Count, 18,500 individual birds were logged by the 27 participants. On average, 685 birds were seen by each person. That’s a lot of birds! (The numbers 25, 89, and 1990 were not used to solve the problem.) How do you think that number compares to today’s counts?

Engineers Drew, Glen, and Eric on NOAA Ship Pisces

Science at Sea: If steel is heavier than water, how does the 1840-metric ton Pisces stay afloat? Her density, that’s how! The total volume of water she displaces (including steel, people, parts, and air) must have less mass than that same volume of saltwater. Saltwater’s density is 1.025 g/mL, that’s more dense than freshwater, making it easier for you to float in the ocean. You might remember the Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg, ripping the hull and allowing water to enter and add more mass to the ship.

I recently was given a tour of Pisces hull space by the fabulous Engineering Department. They literally make everything run.

bright red door to the engine room, with a window showing equipment inside. Signs on the door read: DANGER - High Noise Level. Double Ear Protection Required. DANGER. Eye hazard area. Wear eye protection.

on a wall of the engine room, painted in red above a collection of hanging wrenches, are the words SAFETY FIRST

two fire extinguishers mounted on a railing

Safety is paramount

With ear plugs safely protecting my eardrums, we traveled down into the engine space. Safety is paramount. Fire stations can reach any point on the ship with 2 different hoses. There are 2 or 4 of everything – fire hoses, engines, generators, AC units, proportion motors, you name it – because EVERYTHING needs a backup. There are traditional CO₂ fire extinguishers, but I’ve never been to a school that had a CO₂ flooding system like the engine room has. Carbon-dioxide (CO₂) breaks the oxygen side of the fire triangle by displacing oxygen in the combustion reaction, effectively stopping the reaction. If you were taught to “stop, drop, and roll,” you learned another way to smother the fire. The CO₂ flooding system is so powerful that it cannot be used without doing a full body count of the people onboard to make sure no one is in the engine room.

a man stands in the engine room, his right hand resting on an unidentified piece of equipment — Engineer Eric

a man in a blue jumpsuit, with ear protection resting over his shoulder, stands in front of a narrow desk in the engine deck, posing a bit for the photo — Engineer Eric

Dorothy poses for a photo in the middle of an engine room with metal grated floors, many wires, unidentified equipment — Dorothy tours the engine room

oily water separator. close up view of a control panel and a warning plaque that reads: Discharge of Oil Prohibited — Dorothy tours the engine room

Engineers Eric (left) and Travis (right) show Dorothy how water, electricity, and power are provided

Our first stop was the water maker unit. The water needed for cooking, bathing, and drinking can be distilled from ocean water or processed through reverse osmosis. Both options are available on Pisces. Past the expansion tanks and power distribution units Engineer Eric pointed out the refrigeration system for our Chemistry lab above. We freeze chlorophyll samples taken in one of our CTD projects in an ultra low freezer maintained at -75^oC. I was looking at the equipment that was making the freezer work. Air compressors, generators, and motors make the 600-volt electricity on board, step it down to 480 volts for the major machinery, and down even farther to 110 volts for the outlet in my stateroom to charge my cellphone.

Dorothy stands in front of some equipment in the engine room. — Dorothy takes notes during her tour of the engine room

We continued inspecting the machinery that runs Pisces and enables our teams to fulfil our mission. Another piece of equipment that resembles an instrument from our chemistry lab is the centrifuge. It is used to purify the diesel fuel. These pull out the heavier impurities and store water, the lightest part of the mixture, underneath. You might have seen centrifuges at work in the dairy industry. Understanding the science of the engine room helps the science outside the engine room work even better!

view down a narrow hallway, lined with reflective tape, in the engine room

Schematic (bottom left) of the 2 generators and 2 propulsion motors (down walkway on right). Water maker unit (top left) and refrigeration system (middle left) .

More information on Pisces: The ship is 206 feet long, is capable of trawling up to 6,000 feet, and can lift 8,000 pounds. She also has a “quiet hull” which helps reduce underwater sound. Maybe that’s why the whales and dolphins get so close?!

view down at metal flooring in the engine room, interspersed with see-through metal grating. we see two sets of legs. — Feel the power!

You do the Math: If each of the engine’s cylinders displacement is 51 liters, and it has 12 cylinders, what is the total displacement of the engine? Compare this with a car engine which holds 2-3 liters. Check in the next blog post for the answer.

To increase the speed of the ship requires an increase in power, but this is not a directly proportional relationship. Doubling the speed requires the power to be cubed. Engineer Eric described the importance of understanding fuel use on ships, math is money! Large container ships easily spend $300,000 a day on fuel. Saving 1% translates to $30,000 savings.

Decorated styrofoam shapes in a mesh bag on a table

view of the lower portion of the CTD rosette, showing a mesh bag filled with colored styrofoam pieces attached underneath the apparatus

Styrofoam science experiment…. submerged 500 meters…. inverse relationship between pressure and volume predicts the air pockets in the styrofoam will decrease when the pressure is increased. What do you think will happen?

Interesting Things: I am surprised by the ways I have been prepared for life on a boat by classroom life in a public school. At West Johnston High School, in Benson, NC, we have fire drills at least once a month. On a boat, we have safety drills at least once a week. The horn blows a series of long and/or short blasts to let us know if there is a fire, a “MAN OVERBOARD”, or if we need to “ABANDON SHIP!”

Dorothy stands on deck, wearing a fully zipped orange survival suit, holding her arms wide for the photo. the sky and water are bright blue in the background.

a fast rescue boat speeds across the water

Everyone must get into their Gumby suit in less than a minute during an emergency fire drill. The FRB (Fast Reserve Boat) practices the man overboard rescue!

group photo - taken by a camera set up on a table with a timer, we discern from the table in the foreground - of 10 people on the aft deck of NOAA Ship Pisces, seated around a picnic table underneath a canvas shade awning. — *The Science team on NOAA Ship Pisces EcoMon Summer 2025*

Career Spotlight: Meet NOAA Ship Pisces’ new CO! Commander Sinquefield.

a man in a NOAA Corps uniform stands on the bridge of NOAA Ship Pisces, facing a head, holding an intercom up to his ear and smiling. — Commander Sinquefield, NOAA Ship *Pisces*

Did you know there was a Change of Command last month? Our new CO brings a wealth of knowledge and a desire to be a good leader. He showed me around the bridge this week and shared some of his background (BTW, the view on the bridge is amazing!). CDR Sinquefield’s command philosophy is to respect yourself, respect your shipmates, and respect your ship. Likewise, take care of yourself, take care of your shipmates, and take care of your ship. He believes in personal communication and fresh air.

The things he likes about being CO? He likes seeing things you just can’t see on shore, the continuity of historical traditions (like the language, for instance the word “starboard,” has had meaning for 1000 years), training, the opportunity to put into action leadership skills that he was taught and learned through leaders he admired, and regulations. OK, regulations might be pushing it, but he did say he had great respect for the loss of life that has prompted many of the regulations in the shipping industry today.

Growing up in Mississippi, he joined the Coast Guard to complete the trifecta of working in cotton fields, chicken plants, and river tugboats. CDR Sinquefield worked on three different ships while in the Coast Guard, hauled more 80-lb batteries up Alaskan mountains to replenish navigation lights than he’d care to remember, and became familiar with NOAA projects that informed fisheries reports on the west coast. He left the Coast Guard as ship assignments became highly competitive as the service was taking older ships offline at a greater rate then they were being replaced. He left the USCG and he joined NOAA as a civilian, later joining NOAA’s uniformed service, the NOAA Corps.

a hand points to a spot on a map displayed on a computer monitor.

a man in a blue NOAA Corps uniform and black NOAA sweatshirt stands on the bridge. He grasps a metal bar mounted along the ceiling with his right hand and smiles for a photo.

view through one window of the bridge over an outer deck. mounted on or in the window is a cylinder surrounded by a circle.

CO teaches the teacher about maps available for navigation. ENS Howsman (top right) stands watch on the bridge. The center of the circular device (bottom right) spins so fast during cold weather it keeps the area ice free.

CDR Sinquefield was able to earn his commercial shipping license, but doesn’t plan on driving a Mississippi tug boat anytime soon. He stands firm with NOAA’s of 10,000 people, 7 line offices, 15 research and survey ships, and 10 specialized environmental data collecting aircraft. The extraordinary mammals – we’re talking seals and blue whales here – affirm his career choice every. single. day.

Personal Log

Life on is very different from life on land. We work 12-hour shifts. Everyone gets to walk to work – I take 53 steps (10 of them are down 1 staircase) from my cabin door to the door of the dry lab. I take 19 steps to the mess hall for lunch and dinner. There are 67 steps (up 3 staircases) from my door to the Flying Bridge where I see gulls, Mola mola, a full view of the sun in the day, and a sky load of stars at night. I am there now, working on this Blog post when I am not distracted by nature.

Dorothy takes a selfie from a chair on the deck of NOAA Ship Pisces. She is wearing a pink shirt with the outline of the state of North Carolina and the word "Teacher." Her laptop rests on her knees. — Dorothy “working” on this BLOG on the Flying Bridge

One thing that is the same on a boat is the need to wash clothes (probably more frequently since everything had to fit in a carry-on bag and I needed that fleece sleeping bag just in case!). Here is a picture of the laundry room. The ship has 3 washers, 3 dryers, and all the detergent you need.

Dorothy takes a selfie next to a stack of washing machines

close up view of label on dryer that reads: Clean lint trap after each use.

Dorothy checks out the washer and dryer on board. Detergent is provided. The most important rule when using is to clean out the dryer lint trap before AND after using. Extra Credit if you can tell me why!

Tag: styrofoam

Dorothy Holley: It’s ALL Chemistry, August 14, 2025

Dorothy Holley: Moving Metal, August 11, 2025