Tag: teacher at sea

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Staci DeSchryver: Super Bonus Spiritual History Blog! July 29, 2017

NOAA Teacher At Sea

Staci DeSchryver

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette

July 6 – August 2, 2017

 

Mission:  HICEAS Cetacean Study

Geographic Area:  Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary  

Date:  July 29, 2017


Location:  20 deg, 20.0 min N, 156 deg, 08.6 min W

Weather Data from the Bridge:

Scattered Clouds

Visibility: 10 nmi

Wind @ 23 kts from 65 degrees

Pressure: 1015.1 mb

Waves: 4 – 5 feet

Swell:  7-8 feet at 70 deg

Temp: 26.5 deg

Wet bulb:  23.5 deg

Dewpoint: 25 deg

Bonus Spiritual History Blog

On July 23, we briefly suspended our operations to help out fellow scientists camped out on the French Frigate Shoals (Lalo), located along the Northwest Hawaiian Island chain – about halfway between the northernmost main islands and Midway (Kuaihelani).  The trip was brief, and we never set foot on terra firma, but with the help of the Big Eyes we could see something that we had not seen up close in 3 days – land.

Two nights prior, we finally crossed over to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands – a sacred and certainly mysterious (at least to me)  area for the Hawaiian People.  I was waiting with some anticipation for the moment we would cross into these waters.  The entire Northwest Hawaiian Island chain and its surrounding seas are limited-access for the vast majority of seafarers; the waters are protected by a proclamation signed by President George W. Bush in 2006, and expanded by President Barack Obama in 2016. This Marine Sanctuary’s designated area begins near the start of the Northwest Hawaiian Island chain, and stretches all the way to the Kure Atoll (Hōlanikū), just past Midway Island (Kuaihelani).  We were not permitted to cross into these waters until we had a permit, part of which included a component requirement of a briefing on the history of the area before we entered.  ers Native Hawaiian Program Specialist Kalani Quiocho introduced us to this sacred ground during our pre-cruise training with this briefing on this Marine National Monument, Papahānaumokuākea.  His presentation was so moving that I felt it necessary that the story of these waters (through my limited experience) must be told.

Mr. Quiocho’s presentation began with the name song for Papahānaumokuākea.  His voice bellowed out in an ethereal chant – one in a smooth and haunting language with sound combinations like nothing I had ever heard before.  His song was punctuated with ‘okinas and kahakōs, and accented with stunning photographs of ocean life, ritual, and artifact.  The music moved me to a tear, though I couldn’t quite pinpoint the emotion that was supposed to accompany it.

name song for papahanamoukuakea
The Name song for Papahānaumokuākea, reprinted with permission from Kalani Quiocho.

I realize now that I have traveled to this sacred place that it was one of simple reverence for the culture and its people who belong so fully to it.  It was at that moment that I realized that this trip would be a whole other ball game – one that is sacred, cosmic, and mysterious.

Papahānaumokuākea (pronounced Papa-hah-now-mow-coo-ah-kay-a) is the first officially designated Mixed Cultural and Heritage site, and is the largest fully protected conservation area in the United States.   Its name commemorates the union of two Hawaiian ancestors – Papahānaumoku and Wākea, who according to Hawaiian ancestry gave rise to the Hawaiian archipelago, the taro plant and the Hawaiian people.  These two ancestors provide a part of the Genesis story for Hawaiʻi – land to live on, food to eat, and people to cultivate, commune, and thrive as one with the gifts of their ancestors. The namesake alone of this marine sanctuary highlights the importance of its existence and its need for protection.  Many of the islands are ancient ceremonial sites, two of which we passed on the way to the Shoals (Lalo).

Crossing over to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands also marks a celestially significant line in the Hawaiian archipelago – the Tropic of Cancer.  The Tropic of Cancer is the furthest north that the sun will reach a direct overhead path during the solar year – you might know this as the summer solstice.  Right on the Tropic of Cancer lies the island Mokumanamana, a sacred place of cultural distinction for the Hawaiian people.  The Tropic of Cancer divides the entire Hawaiian archipelago into two distinct sections, Pō and Ao – the Ao represents the more southern islands and spiritual daylight, and the Pō representing the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and spiritual twilight.

ao and po
This diagram shows the separation between the NWHI and the main Hawaiian Islands. The horizontal line through the center divides day (Ao) from night (Pō) and lines up with the Tropic of Cancer. The Island Mokumanamana lies directly on the boundary between the living and spiritual realms. Our destination was Lalo, or French Frigate Shoals, though our travels took us much further northwest than that. (Diagram Credit: Kalani Quiocho)

The crossing over as we passed Mokumanamana is significant in that we entered a different spiritual zone of the Hawaiian Islands.   The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument’s website (click here to read much more about it) describes the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as “a region of primordial darkness from which life springs and spirits return after death.”  In this sense, transiting past Mokumanamana represented a “crossing over” into a different realm of ancient history.  Mokumanamana is known for its high density of ancient ceremonial sites and is considered a center of Hawaiian religion and ideology.  Mr. Quiocho expands on the geographical importance of the area to the Hawaiian people in his commentary stating that,

“Papahānaumokuākea encompasses the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands which is ¾ of the Hawaiian archipelago and includes high basalt islands and low-lying atolls, and surrounding marine environments. It stretches nearly 2,000 kilometers and straddles the Tropic of Cancer also known to Hawaiʻi as Ke Ala Polohiwa a Kāne – The sacred black glistening path of Kāne, the patron god of the sun. It is believed that the Hawaiian Archipelago is divided into two regions called Pō and Ao, which essentially means night and day. Most of the NWHI is within Pō, a place of creation and origin where ancestors return to after death. The region known as Ao includes the main Hawaiian Islands where man resides. The entire Hawaiian Archipelago represents the dualisms and cycles of the Hawaiian universe. From the east where the sun rises and the islands are volcanically birthed from the oceanic womb to the west where the sun sets and the islands return to the sea. And all of the extraordinary biology that is found in the Northwestern and main Hawaiian Islands are accounted for in our oral traditions. The Kumulipo, a creation chant with more than 2,000 lines expresses the cosmology of the Hawaiian Islands, beginning with the birthing of the coral polyp and eventually the Hawaiian people. Naturally this is an inspiring place that is the framework of our worldview and the knowledge systems that tell us we are people of place. Which is why many refer to this area as the kūpuna islands, kūpuna meaning elder or grandparent.”

Today, Native Hawaiians will travel by double-hulled canoes from the main islands all the way up to Nihoa and Mokumanamana during times of ritual importance and follow in the footsteps of their ancestors to honor the tradition and the spiritual practice.  I’m sure the journey is both treacherous and fulfilling, one that would rival other more commonly known great expeditions, especially considering its spiritual significance.

rainbow
Papahānaumokuākea is rich with history – both ancient and recent, and full of its own surprises!

Mr. Quiocho continues by expanding on the importance of the navigation of these waters to the Hawaiian people and how it honors their homeland connections:

“Native Hawaiians believe that the vast region that makes up the NWHI is an incredibly sacred place and is regarded as the construct of their cosmological genealogy. This region is rooted in creation and origin as a place where all life began and to which ancestors return after death. Native Hawaiians have historical connections to all parts of their homeland, which encompass all the islands, atolls, shoals, coral reefs, submerged seamounts and ocean waters that connect them. While the islands themselves are focal destinations for traditional voyages, the vast ocean is equally important. It is a cultural seascape that is imbued with immense value. The ocean is more than an unknown empty space that isolates islands, but rather a pathway for movement and potential.

orca
A rare sighting of Tropical Pacific Orca – one of the first Cetaceans to welcome us to the Monument. What a gift!

Long-distance voyaging and wayfinding is one of the most unique and valuable traditional practices that Native Hawaiians have developed and continue to advance. It is an ancient way of interacting with the ocean that continues to inspire and create social change. The ocean region surrounding the NWHI is the only cultural voyaging seascape within the Hawaiian Archipelago. The main Hawaiian Islands are large enough for any novice navigator to find, but the ocean region throughout and surrounding Papahānaumokuākea provides challenging opportunities for apprentice navigators to excel. This expansive ocean environment was the setting for ancient Hawaiian chiefs to voyage back and forth between the main Hawaiian Islands and the NWHI over the course of 400 years.”

On our journey, we slipped passed Mokumanamana in the cover of night – through the invisible gates and into this ancient ancestral realm.  Although we had been in the monument since the previous day, for some reason this crossing marked a distinction for me personally in an indescribable way.  Since arriving on Oahu and in my travels since, I’ve known there was something special and different about this place, and I’ve known that part of the “different” was me.  Walking through Ala Moana Park on the 4th of July revealed threads of a culture that formed a beautiful tapestry of family, community, and heritage as I strolled past hundreds of families camped out in anticipation of the upcoming fireworks over the ocean.

volcanic neck
A volcanic neck stands high above the waters surrounding the shoals.

There was something communal and sacred about it, even though the time and event was modern.  There was an “old” feeling of togetherness that buzzed through the park amongst strangers and friends.  I knew I was an outsider to this energy, but I didn’t feel entirely left out of it.  It’s one thing to feel like a foreigner on the “day” side of the Tropic of Cancer, but the “night” side held a spiritual distinction, as though I was trespassing in a dimension to which I did not belong. Knowing that the only passage of ships through this area would come with permits and regulations left a feeling of emptiness in an already vast ocean.  Knowing the ocean is full beneath with life both current and past – fish and whale and ancient Hawaiian spirit alike gave back some reassurance that we were not entirely alone.  For the first time I didn’t want to just know about Papahānaumokuākea, I wanted the ocean to tell me the story herself.

Nestled in the middle of Papahānaumokuākea was our target destination – French Frigate Shoals (Lalo).  On this tiny island a small team of scientists have been camped out for a little over six weeks studying the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal.  We were tasked with delivering critical supplies to the scientific team – fuel, replacements of scientific gear, and a small care package with a few creature comforts they had not had access to in quite some time.  (I mean, seriously.  Who drops off fuel without dropping off chocolate? Not us!)   We also picked up some specimens from them to take back to the lab in Honolulu. The Shoals are a special place – a World War II military outpost slowly decays on the far side of the island, providing some cover for the scientists as they work. The island hosts thousands upon thousands of terns, flying en masse around the island in huge swarms.

FFS
A closer view of the island. The dots in the air above the island are all birds.

The terns were in preparation of fledging, and in anticipation of that day, tiger sharks stalked the surrounding waters, waiting for their next meal. On the opposite side of the island a few hundred meters away from shore, a lone sandbar (formerly dredged up for use as a military runway) rose to the surface providing a quiet place for a monk seal and her two pups to lounge in the sand.  One seal pup practiced swimming in the shallows as the mother casually glanced in its direction.  The other pup would hobble a few feet away down the beach, only to run back to its mother and lie next to her for a time.  It was a little reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell beach vacation painting, had Rockwell chosen an animal personification route as his medium.  A turtle dotted the far edge of the landscape on the main island, basking in the rising sun as the waves gently rolled on to the beach behind him.

runway
This flat strip of land is a dredged up runway, slowly returning back to the ocean after years of abandonment from use. A mother seal and two pups lounge on the sand, enjoying the sun.

The structures on the land from afar looked like a distant movie set for an apocalyptic storyline. The wind howled as we approached the atoll, and birds fought against the invisible currents in frantic circles around the island.  Two boats lay destitute along the far side of the island while waves crashed merciless against the sea wall built to hold the atoll in place during the time the island was volunteered to serve in a wartime capacity. The island itself is a surreal duplicity – serving both as a protector of life and a vessel of war.  I found myself taking stock of this history;  watching from far away to learn the eternal evolution of this strange place – first a volcano, sunk beneath the surface, then to a primordial breeding ground for coral, fish, and shark – onto a pristine landscape, possibly used by ancestral Hawaiians for ceremony and stopover en route to Kure (Hōlanikū) – a military base as a refueling station and an outpost – and finally a protected home for hundreds of species, some hanging desperately onto the last strings of life but finally thriving under the care of a dedicated research team.

As much as I desperately wanted to go on to the island to have a look at this former military operations base-turned-endangered-animal-sanctuary, none of us could go on shore – even those who shuttled supplies to the scientists.  French Frigate Shoals marked the first time I had ever seen a coral atoll in anything other than a picture, and it seemed a natural part of my inner explorer to want to pop on to shore to have a look about, even for just a few minutes.  Everything in French Frigate Shoals is protected under the Papahānaumokuākea permitting restrictions.

pulley system
Supplies were hauled ashore by the small pulley system jutting up from the shoreline – visible on the left-middle portion of the island.

Had we wanted to explore the land, we would have needed to quarantine our clothing and ourselves for a minimum of 72 hours to protect the landscape from anything foreign taking foot on shore. Our ship couldn’t make it much closer than a mile or two from the island so as not to put it in danger of running aground. So, a team of four people shuttled supplies in the small boat, navigating the shallows and hauling the supplies on shore through a pulley system.  Two quick trips out to the island, and we were soon on our way again in our search for cetaceans.

When Mr. Quiocho parted ways with us after our training, he made a casual but powerful statement in closing.  He told us the whale dives deeply to commune with ancient wisdom commissioned to the deep ocean, bringing this deep knowledge from the ancestral depths to the surface so that it can become part our collective consciousness. Our trip, then, is a not merely a collection of data or a series of samples.  Each time we interact with the whales, they are bringing us the knowledge of the ancients in hope that we will continue to pass that information on to anyone at the surface willing to listen. The responsibility of our work when described in this light brought a new reverence to the study – one that is not just a story for the present in hopes of preserving for the future, but that weaves ancient knowledge from the past into our work, as well.

Did you know?

  •         Each day at noon, the ship’s alarms are tested to ensure they will work in an emergency situation.  Guess who got to test the alarms?

    fire alarm
    Yup! I got to test the alarm. Thanks Lieutenant Commander Rose!
  •         Ship safety is the height of the focus of everyone on board.  Each Friday, we complete drills to make sure we are ready in the event of an emergency.  Of the many dangers at sea, a fire can prove to be most catastrophic.  It’s not like the fire department can come out to the middle of the Pacific at the first sign of burning bacon (which may or may not have happened to me two days before I left for Oahu).  The entire Sette crew acts as the fire department, so it is important for them to practice in the event of an emergency.  This week we simulated a live-fire scenario, complete with a fog machine.  I got to call the drill up to the bridge!  It was a little extra fun built into a very serious situation.
  •         Classes are still continuing each afternoon on the bridge, Monday through Friday. 
    amanda and hexacopters
    Dr. Amanda Bradford gives the Wardroom a lesson on Hexacopter Operations (see blog #5 for more!)

    tim and msds
    ENS Tim Holland gives a lesson on MSDS chemical safety sheets.
  •         Officers are in a friendly competition to see who is on watch when the most sightings occur, among other friendly battles.  It is the topic of lively discussion at most meal times.  

    The tallys
    Officers can make a competition out of ANYTHING!  Here are the tallys for the past 25 days.
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Cathrine Prenot: Introduction, July 8, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cathrine Prenot
Aboard the Bell M. Shimada
July 17-July 30, 2016

Mission: Pacific Hake Research
Geographic area of cruise: Newport, OR – Seattle, WA
Date: Friday, July 8, 2016
Weather Data from the Bridge: N/A

Personal Log
In 2011 I was honored to learn and work aboard the NOAA ship the Oscar Dyson in Alaska as a Teacher at Sea, and I can’t tell you how many people told me that it was the trip of a lifetime.  Imagine my excitement to learn that I get to return to sea as a Teacher at Sea alumni aboard the Bell M. Shimada.  The way I see it is that I get two trips of a lifetime, in one lifetime!  I feel pretty lucky.

On my first Teacher at Sea voyage, I documented my trip via a cartoon series called Adventures in a Blue World, a tribute to Sylvia Earle’s book The World is Blue.  This time I will once again do my best to bring to life my Teacher at Sea experiences via a second volume of cartoons.  You can read the introduction below on being selected as a Teacher at Sea, Hake, and the beginning of this next adventure.  (Cartoon citations 1, 2, and 3)

Adventures in a Blue World, CNP, 2016
Adventures in a Blue World, CNP, 2016 Click on the image to open in a new window

I have been an educator for nineteen years, and now live and work in West Texas–on the Llano Estacado–in Lubbock.  I’m a science instructional coach at Estacado High School, which basically means that I get to collaborate with teachers and students to develop great labs and activities.  It is a wonderful job, and I am looking forward to bringing back real-world research and developing curriculum for our students.

I am going to miss my family, Ike, Madalyn, and Eva.  The girls love the water (even bringing inflatable fish into the house…), and Ike has run rivers all over the Southwest, but I get to go where no family and friends are allowed–from Newport, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington on the NOAA ship the Bell M. Shimada.  They will also be following along with me remotely.

Gulf of Mexico, 2014
Gulf of Mexico, 2014
The girls 'water' the garden
The girls ‘water’ the garden
Found Nemo: in living room
Found Nemo: in living room

Did you Know?

Some quick math for you: since its inception in 1990, Teachers at Sea have logged over 100,000+ hours of research on 8,200+ days at sea.  Crunching some quick numbers, this equals about 67 school years of professional development in Real Science-Real Research-and Real Experience.  Pretty nifty, eh?  See this link for more.

Until our next adventure,

Cat

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Julia Harvey: That’s a Mooring: June 29th, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Julia Harvey

Aboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai

June 25 – July 3rd 2016

 

Mission: WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS)

Geographical Area of Cruise: Pacific Ocean, north of Hawaii

Date: June 29th, 2016

 

Weather Data from the Bridge

(June 29th, 2016 at 12:00 pm)

Wind Speed: 12 knots

Temperature: 26.3 C

Humidity: 87.5%

Barometric Pressure: 1017.5 mb

 

Science and Technology Log

Approaching Weather
Approaching Weather

When an anchor is dropped, forces in the ocean will cause this massive object to drift as it falls.  Last year, after the anchor of mooring 12 was dropped, an acoustic message was sent to the release mechanism on the anchor to locate it.  This was repeated in three locations so that the location of the anchor could be triangulated much like how an earthquake epicenter is found.  This was repeated this year for mooring 13 so next year, they will know where it is.  From where we dropped the anchor to where it fell, was a horizontal distance of 3oo meters.  The ocean moved the 9300 pound anchor 300 meters.  What a force!

The next morning as the ship was in position, another acoustic message was sent that triggered the release of the glass floats from the anchor. Not surprisingly, the floats took nearly an hour to travel up the nearly 3 miles to the surface.

Float recovery
A small boat went to retrieve the mooring attached to the floats

Once the floats were located at the surface, a small boat was deployed to secure the end of the mooring to the Hi’ialakai. The glass floats were loaded onto the ship.  17 floats that had imploded when they were deployed last year.  Listen to imploding floats recorded by the hydrophone.  Implosion.

Selfie with an imploded float.
Selfie with an imploded float.

Next, came the lengthy retrieval of the line (3000+ meters). A capstan to apply force to the line was used as the research associates and team arranged the line in the shipping boxes. The colmega and nylon retrieval lasted about 3 hours.

Bringing up the colmega line.
Bringing up the colmega line and packing it for shipping.

Once the wire portion of the mooring was reached, sensors were removed as they rose and stored. Finally the mooring was released, leaving the buoy with about 40 meters of line with sensors attached and hanging below.

Navigating to buoy.
Navigating to buoy.

The NOAA officer on the bridge maneuvered the ship close enough to the buoy so that it could be secured to the ship and eventually lifted by the crane and placed on deck. This was followed by the retrieval of the last sensors.

Buoy onboard
Bringing the buoy on board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following day required cleaning sensors to remove biofoul.  And the buoy was dismantled for shipment back to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Kate scrubbing sensors to remove biofoul.
Kate scrubbing sensors to remove biofoul.

 

Dismantling the buoy.
Dismantling the buoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mooring removal was accomplished in seas with 5-6 feet swells at times. From my vantage point, everything seemed to go well in the recovery process. This is not always the case. Imagine what would happen, if the buoy separated from the rest of the mooring before releasing the floats and the mooring is laying on the sea floor? What would happen if the float release was not triggered and you have a mooring attached to the 8000+ pound anchor?  There are plans for when these events occur.  In both cases, a cable with a hook (or many hooks) is snaked down to try and grab the mooring line and bring it to the surface.

Now that the mooring has been recovered, the science team continues to collect data from the CTD (conductivity/temperature/depth) casts.  By the end of tomorrow, the CTDs would have collected data for approximately 25 hours.  The data from the CTDs will enable the alignment of the two moorings.

CTD
CTD

The WHOTS (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Hawaii Ocean Time Series Site) mooring project is led by is led by two scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution;  Al Plueddeman and Robert Weller.  Both scientists have been involved with the project since 2004.  Plueddeman led this year’s operations and next year it will be Weller.  Plueddeman recorded detailed notes of the operation that helped me fill in some blanks in my notes.  He answered my questions.  I am thankful to have been included in this project and am grateful for this experience and excited to share with my students back in Eugene, Oregon.

Al Plueddeman
Al Plueddeman, Senior Scientist

The long term observations (air-sea fluxes) collected by the moorings at Station Aloha will be used to better understand climate variability.  WHOTS is funded by NOAA and NSF and is a joint venture with University of Hawaii.  I will definitely be including real time and archived data from WHOTS in Environmental Science.

Personal Log

I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with the crew of the Hi’ialakai.  There were many pathways taken to get to this point of being aboard this ship.  I learned about schools and programs that I had never even heard about.  My students will learn from this adventure of mine, that there are programs that can lead them to successful oceanic careers.

Brian Kibler
Brian Kibler

I sailed with Brian Kibler in 2013 aboard the Oscar Dyson up in the Gulf of Alaska.  He completed a two year program at Seattle Maritime Academy where he became credentialed to be an Able Bodied Seaman.  After a year as an intern aboard the Oscar Dyson, he was hired.  A few years ago he transferred to the Hi’ialakai and has now been with NOAA for 5 years.  On board, he is responsible for rigging, watch and other tasks that arise.  Brian was one of the stars of the video I made called Sharks on Deck. Watch it here.

Tyler Matta
Tyler Matta, 3rd Engineer

Tyler Matta has been sailing with NOAA for nearly a year.  He sought a hands-on engineering program and enrolled at Cal Maritime (Forbes ranked the school high due to the 95% job placement) and earned a degree in maritime engineering and was licensed as an engineer.  After sailing to the South Pacific on a 500 ft ship, he was hooked.  He was hired by NOAA at a job fair as a 3rd engineer and soon will have enough sea days to move to 2nd engineer.

 

 

There are 6 NOAA Corps members on  the Hi’ialakai.  They all went through an approximately 5 month training program at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT.  To apply, a candidate should have a 4 year degree in a NOAA related field such as science, math or engineering.  Our commanding officer, Liz Kretovic, attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy and majored in marine safety and environmental protection.  Other officers graduated with degrees in marine science, marine biology, and environmental studies.

Nikki Chappelle, Bryan Stephan and Brian Kibler on the bridge.
Nikki Chappelle, Bryan Stephan and Brian Kibler on the bridge.
ENS Chappelle
NOAA Ensign Nicki Chappelle

Ensign (ENS) Nikki Chappelle is new to the NOAA Corps.  In fact, this is her first cruise aboard the Hi’ialakai and second with NOAA.  She is shadowing ENS Bryan Stephan for on the job training.  She spent most of her schooling just south of where I teach.  I am hoping that when she visits her family in Cottage Grove, Oregon that she might make a stop at my school to talk to my students.  She graduated from Oregon State University with degrees in zoology and communication.  In the past she was a wildfire fighter, a circus worker (caring for the elephants) and a diver at Sea World.

All of the officers have 2 four hour shifts a day on the bridge.  For example ENS Chappelle’s shifts are 8am to 12pm and 8pm to 12am.  The responsibilities of the officers include navigating the ship, recording meteorological information, overseeing safety.  Officers have other tasks to complete when not on the bridge such as correcting navigational maps or safety and damage control. ENS Stephan manages the store on board as a collateral assignment.  After officers finish training they are sent to sea for 2-3 years (usually 2) and then rotate to land for 3 years and then back to sea.  NOAA Officers see the world while at sea as they support ocean and atmospheric science research.

Frank Russo
ET Frank Russo

Electronics technician (ET) seem to be in short supply with NOAA.  There are lots of job opportunities.  According to Larry Wooten (from Newport’s Marine Operation Center of the Pacific), NOAA has hired 7 ETs since November.  Frank Russo III is sailing with NOAA for the first time as an ET.  But this is definitely not his first time at sea.  He spent 24 years in the navy, 10 at Military Sealift Command supporting naval assets and marines around the world.  His responsibilities on the Hi’ialakai include maintaining navigational equipment on the bridge, making sure the radio, radar and NAVTEX (for weather alerts) are functioning properly and maintaining the server so that the scientists have computer access.

I have met so many interesting people on the Hi’ialakai.  I appreciate everyone who took the time to chat with me about their careers or anything else.  I wish I had more time so that I could get to know more of the Hi’ialakai crew.  Thanks.  Special thanks to our XO Amanda Goeller and Senior Scientist Al Plueddeman for reviewing my blog posts.  And for letting me tag along.

 

Did You Know?

The buoy at the top of the mooring becomes a popular hang out for organisms in the area. As we approached mooring 12, there were several red-footed boobies standing their ground. There were also plenty of barnacles and other organisms that are planktonic in some stage of their lives. Fishing line is strung across the center of the buoy to discourage visitors but some still use the buoy as a rest stop. The accumulation of organism that can lead to corrosion and malfunction of the equipment is biofoul.

Boobies to be Evicted
Red-Footed Boobies
Biofoul prevention
Wires and line to prevent biofoul.

 One More Thing

South Eugene biology teacher Christina Drumm (who’s husband was  Ensign Chappelle’s high school math teacher) wanted to see pictures of the food.  So here it is.  Love and Happiness.

Lobster for Dinner
Lobster for Dinner

 

Last supper
Last supper on the Hi’ialakai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colors of the sea
I love the colors of the sea.
Sea colors
Sea colors
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Denise Harrington, Getting Ready for an Adventure, April 23, 2016

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Denise Harrington
(Almost) aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
May 04, 2016 – May 17, 2016

Greetings from Garibaldi, Oregon. My name is Denise Harrington and I teach Second Grade at South Prairie Elementary School in Tillamook, Oregon, along the north Oregon coast. There are 300 amazing second and third graders at our school who can prove to you that no matter how young you are, you can be a great scientist.  Last year they were caught on camera by Oregon Field Guide studying the diversity of life present in our ocean.

 

I applied to become a NOAA Teacher at Sea because I wanted to work with scientists in the field. I seem to learn best by doing.  In 2014, I joined the crew of NOAA ship Rainier, mapping the ocean floor near Kodiak Island, Alaska.  I learned how vast, connected, and undiscovered our oceans are. Students watched in disbelief after we discovered a sea floor canyon.  I learned about the technology and skills used to map the ocean floor. I learned how NOAA helps us stay safe by making accurate nautical charts.  It was, for our students and myself, a life changing experience.

As an avid sea kayaker, I was able to share my deeper understanding of the ocean with fellow paddlers. Photo courtesy of Bill Vonnegut

Now, I am fortunate enough to participate in another NOAA survey. On this survey aboard NOAA ship Pisces, scientists will be collecting data about how many fish inhabit the area along banks and ledges of the Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico.
NOAA believes in the value of sharing what they do with the public, and students in particular. The crew of Pisces even let fifth grader students from Southaven, Mississippi name the ship after they won a writing contest. Maybe you can name the next NOAA ship!

On May 3, 2016, Ship Pisces will begin Leg 3 of their survey of reef fish. I have so many questions.  I asked Chief Scientist Kevin Rademacher why the many survey partners chose snapper and grouper to survey. He replied “Snapper and grouper are some of the most important commercial fisheries here in the Gulf of Mexico. There are 14 species of snapper in the Gulf of Mexico that are good to eat. Of those the most commercially important is the red snapper. It is also currently over-fished.”   When I hear “over-fished” I wonder if our second graders will have many or any red snapper to eat when they they grow up. Yikes!

Another important commercial catch is grouper.  My brother, Greg, who fishes along the Kenai River in Alaska understands why grouper is a focus of the survey. “It’s tasty,” he says. I can’t believe he finds grouper tastier than salmon.  NOAA is making sure that we know what fish we have and make sure we save some for later, so that everyone can decide which fish is the tastiest when they grow up.

I have so many questions keeping me up at night as I prepare for my adventure. What do I need to know about fish to do my job on the ship?  Will I see evidence of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, the Deepwater Horizon spill? How crowded will we all be aboard Ship Pisces? If I dissect fish, will it be gross? Will it stink?  Will I get sea sick? With my head spinning with questions, I know I am learning. Yet there is nothing more I can do now to prepare myself for all that I will learn, except to be early to the airport in Portland, Oregon, and to the ship in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on May 3rd.

I will get home in time to watch my daughter, Elizabeth, graduate from high school.  Ever since I returned from the NOAA cruise in Alaska, she has been studying marine biology and even competed in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl.

liz with a crab

 

During research in the Gulf of Mexico with the crew of Ship Pisces, I will learn about the many living things in the Gulf of Mexico and about the technology they use to protect and manage commercial fisheries.  Soon, you will be able to watch me collect data about our ocean critters. Hope for fair winds and following seas as I join the crew on Ship Pisces, “working to protect, restore, and manage the use of our living ocean resources.”

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Rebecca Loy, Land, Sea and Flexibility! September 9, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Rebecca Loy
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier
September 8 – 24 , 2015

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical area of Research: Kodiak Island, Alaska
Date: September 9, 2015

Current Location: Women’s Harbor, U.S. Coast Guard Base, Kodiak, Alaska

Science Log

Kodiak, Alaska is amazing and NOAA Ship Rainier is even more so.  When I arrived I learned that we were going to be in port for a few days.  Instead of leaving on Tuesday, September 08, 2015 we are scheduled to leave on Saturday.  Early in my planning and training I learned that FLEXIBILITY is very important and it has proven to be true.

NOAA TAS 2015 005
Rainier with the rising sun behind it at Women’s Bay

During this time at port, the entire crew is very busy with ship activities.  I thought this would be the perfect time to give some background on this amazing ship!  Here is a link to more detailed information Rainier information flyer.  An even more detailed, “let the geek out” link is   Rainier special details.

Rainier is named after Mount Rainier in Washington State and was put to work in 1968.  Do the math, how old is Rainier this year?  Rainier is a long 231 foot ship.  The breadth (width) is 42 feet and the draft, or how far down it sits in the water is 14 feet.  One of the most interesting facts about this vessel is the ice strengthened hull.  Rainier is one tough ship!!

To keep this unique ship running so well it has an incredible crew.  I have learned that there are 7 main areas of work.  I am only going to give a general overview so everyone can understand a little bit more about what happens here.  I will go into more detail with future blogs.

Wardroom – This is what the NOAA uniformed officers are called.  They can be seen wearing their blue uniforms.  The hydrographic officers have a more interesting job than the officers on other NOAA vessels because they act not only as officers getting the ship where it needs to go safely, but they also work right alongside the survey scientists making tidal observations and coastal maps.

The Rainier Officers working in the Plotting Room
Rainier Officers working in the Plotting Room

It makes a lot of sense for the people who are researching and creating the very important coastal maps to understand them.  There is no one better than the men and women who work with them every day!

Survey – These are the scientists who work with the officers to collect the data.  Collecting the data is just the beginning.  Once the data is collected they begin analyzing data and putting it to work.  Similar to students who have classwork, they get assignments that need to be met and deadlines to get the work done.  It can take weeks and months for the data to be put together to make the charts.

Engineering – The engineers are the inner working of the ship.  They are the men and women who keep Rainier going strong!  While here, there is a constant hum of mechanical parts (later the engines will be going and we will hear and feel those).

Just one of many areas the engineers work. This is an organized machine shop for repairs/fabricating.
Just one of many areas the engineers work. This is an organized machine shop for repairs/fabricating.

Everywhere you look inside the ship you can see something that the engineers are responsible for maintaining.  On my tour, I was amazed from top to bottom of the fans, gears, plumbing, wires, generators, motors, hydraulics, engines, heating/cooling, launch maintenance, refrigeration, distillers for water plus so much more that needs to be kept going.  As you can see, this is also a very busy department!

Deck – While the engineers maintain the inside of the ship, the deck crew maintains the outside or what is called the “weather deck”.   Here you will see the massive crane on the back of the ship and two smaller cranes at the front.

The large crane at the stern (back) of the ship.
The large crane at the stern (back) of the ship.

They work the two large anchors and the “windlass” or winch to pull them up along with the smaller launches (boats) that are attached to the ship and the davits (hoists) to put them in and out of the water.  The deck crew also make sure the ship is moored (tied up) properly plus so much more.

EET and ET – These are the two smallest departments, but they are needed to keep everyone working.  The EET is the electronics engineering technician.  He is an electrician that takes care of all the wiring throughout the ship.  The Rainier EET has been here for over 20 years.  The ET is the electronics technician and he builds, maintains and programs the computers and servers that are needed to run Rainier.

Steward – Have you heard the term “laughter is the best medicine?”  Here on Rainier the food is the best medicine and what keeps this crew connected and happy!

The incredibly clean and efficient galley on the Rainier
The incredibly clean and efficient galley on Rainier

The galley (kitchen) is incredibly clean, organized and delicious!  The selection of food has been healthy, varied and with just the right amount of sweet treats.  They are up very early and work later to keep this crew fed.  Every department has to come through here so they are the true backbone of the ship!

As I get to know the ship and crew more, I am continually amazed at the people here, how they communicate and work together and it all runs so smoothly.  I am looking forward to our upcoming adventures doing research around Kodiak Island.

Personal Log

Being chosen for this experience is a great honor for me.  I was here for only 24 hours and I had already seen so much of this beautiful area.  I was fortunate enough to get here the night before Labor Day so the crew and I had the day off.

One of the harbors in Kodiak, AK
One of the harbors in Kodiak, AK

I walked around the harbor town of Kodiak and then went hiking to Abercrombie State Park.  This now incredibly beautiful area of moss draped trees, cliffs and black rock/sand beaches was once a World War II gun site.  I saw the massive guns, the lookout that was half buried in the rock and the searchlight shelter.  Due to the northern site, there are times that the sun is not out for long so they had big searchlights that were rolled out of the structure to search for planes and ships out in the Pacific Ocean.  While there I got to see the resident Bald Eagles and other wildlife (no Kodiak bears yet but I keep looking).

Draping moss on the trees that are now growing at Abercrombie.
The black sand/stone beach at Abercrombie.
The lookout tucked into the mountainside of Abercrombie State Park
Details about the search lights used. They were rolled out of a structure at night.

Later, I was able to head to the southern shore of Kodiak Island to see where people surf on Surfer Beach.  Again, the sand is very dark and the waves were incredible.  I didn’t think Alaska was an area for surfing, but it is very popular.

The incredible Surfer Beach!
The incredible Surfer Beach!

After looking at Surfer Beach I was taken over to the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska.  I was able to let my Space Geek out.  Too bad I didn’t have my Blue Flight Suit, I could have had my picture taken there.  This is an active launch pad for launches over the Arctic.  They had an explosion here in November, 2014 (no one was hurt thankfully) so it is being repaired before more launches can take place.

An interesting sign at the Pacific Spaceport Alaska.
An interesting sign at the Pacific Spaceport Alaska.

On the ship, the crew is incredibly welcoming and helpful.  I am gradually learning my way around and how things work.  Off the ship, I used the time to connect with the local Kodiak High School and their award winning robotics team.  They are doing some pretty amazing things here with STEAM in this small coastal town.

More adventures to follow as we head out and I become a true Teacher At Sea, not just a Teacher In Port!

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Kathleen Gibson, Preparing to Leave for the Mississippi Coast, July 10, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kathleen Gibson
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 25 – August 8, 2015

Mission: Fisheries – Conduct longline surveys to monitor interannual variability of shark populations of the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico.
Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.
Date: July 10, 2015

Introduction

Town of Trumbull, Fairfield County , CT
Town of Trumbull, CT

My name is Kathleen Gibson and I bring you greetings from Trumbull, CT where live and teach. In two weeks I will travel to Pascagoula, MS, located on the Gulf of Mexico, to join NOAA Corps members, research scientists, and the crew aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II, as a  2015 NOAA Teacher at Sea.

I work at Trumbull High School and currently teach Biology to sophomores and two elective courses for seniors–Marine Science and AP Environmental Science.  I’m passionate about environmental education and am always looking for opportunities to engage students in the world outside of the classroom.  Trumbull has a large amount of protected green space, wetlands, streams and a river, and while we aren’t on the coast, we are only a few miles from Long Island Sound.  The woods and the shoreline have become our laboratory.

Pequonnock River, Trumbull, CT
Pequonnock River, Trumbull, CT

I’m open to adventures and new experiences that help me grow both personally and professionally.  I’m fortunate to have an awesome family, terrific colleagues and open-minded students who are willing to go along with my ideas; whether it be be hiking around volcanoes and rift zones, looking for puffins, or wading in nearby streams looking for life below.

About NOAA and Teacher at Sea

NOAA Ship Oregon II Photo Credit: NOAA.gov
NOAA Ship Oregon II
Photo Credit: NOAA.gov

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an agency within the United States Department of Commerce that seeks to enrich life through science.  While NOAA is somewhat familiar to many of us– thanks to the abundance of weather data that is collected and disseminated to the public–that’s not all that is happening  there. NOAA is working to increase our understanding of climate, weather and marine ecosystems, and to use this knowledge to better manage and protect these crucial ecosystems.  In addition to the abundant educational resources available to all teachers, NOAA provides unique opportunities for teachers and students.  The Teacher at Sea Program  brings classroom teachers into the field to work with world-renowned NOAA scientists.

The Mission

The Mission of the cruise I will be a part of is to monitor Shark and Red Snapper populations in the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast. Data collected will be compared to findings from previous years, as a part of the ongoing research studying inter-annual variability of these populations. We are scheduled to embark on July 25, 2015 and plan to sail from Pascagoula, MS, down the west coast of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast as far as Mayport, FL.

I am honored to have been selected to be a Teacher at Sea for the 2015 Season  and look forward to a number of “firsts”. I’ve never been to Mississippi nor have I been at sea for more than 24 hours. Also, I’ve only experienced sharks as preserved specimens or through aquarium glass.  I’m also looking forward to meeting my shipmates and learning about career opportunities and the paths that led them to be a part of this Oregon II cruise. I’ll share as much as I can through future posts. I’m excited to bring my students and others along with me on this journey.

Trumbull to Pascagoula. Longline survey area is marked in blue.
Trumbull to Pascagoula. Longline survey area is marked in blue.

Next Up?

My next post to you should be coming later this month from off the Mississippi coast.  However, the first rule of being on board is FLEXIBILITY, so things may change.  Either way, I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, please check out some of the TAS 2015 blogs written by my fellow NOAA Teachers at Sea, and spread the word. There is so much to learn.

Did You Know?

  • While some sharks release eggs into the water where they will later hatch, as many as 75% of shark species give birth to live young.
  • Shark babies are called pups.
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Bill Henske, Sharks and Minnows, June 25, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Bill Henske
Aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
June 14 – 29, 2015

Mission: Spawning Aggregation Survey
Geographical Area: Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas
Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge: East to southwest winds 15-20 kts. Decreasing to 10 to 15 kts.  Seas 3 to 5 ft. Isolated showers and thunderstorms.

Science and Technology Log

Integrated Tracking of Aquatic Animals of the Gulf Coast

One of the best games you can play in the pool is Sharks and Minnows. The premise of this game is that you and your school are small fish that have to travel from one side of the pool to the other without getting caught by the shark. If you are caught you get turned into a shark for the next round.  Eventually the sharks are well distributed, preventing any minnows from getting through.

Acoustic Monitoring Arrays in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Acoustic Monitoring Arrays in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

I am reminded of this as the fin fish team from FWC sets up a grand game of sharks and minnows for fisheries science.  Over the past week we have been setting up several arrays of acoustic receivers that catch tagged fishes’ signals as they swim through the Florida Keys reef system.  The plan is designed to capture fish moving within and between different parts of the ecosystem.  Any tagged fish coming into Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary should come into contact with one of the receivers, as will any fish traveling out.  The placement of the receivers on the west and east of the sanctuary create and “entrance” and “exit” for tagged fish.

Within the sanctuary there are now several concentrated grids of receivers in places that make for good fish habitat (aka good fishing spots).  The VR2 receivers can record the identification number of the tagged fish as well as the time and date they connected to the receiver and their distance from the receiver.  When the receivers are collected, that data can be downloaded and a picture of fish movement created.  The data from the FWC’s arrays and tagged fish will be incorporated into a more extensive project called ITAG (Integrated Tracking of Aquatic Animals of the Gulf Coast).   In this project, collaborators share their acoustic tag data and receiver logs with each other, extending the reach of all project.   In the vastness of our marine environments, any one project will produce only a small snapshot of what is happening.  By collaborating between projects, the complexity of fisheries and ecosystems might be more easily untangled.

Sonar profile of one of our sites for an acoustic release receiver.
Sonar profile of one of our sites for an acoustic release receiver.

Today we set up individual stations of a new device which uses an acoustic release.  These are for much deeper sites containing “humps” which are relief features rising 100 to 200  feet about the surrounding sea floor.  Because of the relief, humps offer a large variety of habitats in a small amount of space, creating a highly diverse area for aquatic life.  Since these deeper areas are inaccessible to most divers, the receivers we set out can be triggered to return to the surface.  When data is ready to be collected in a few months, a device will be lowered into the water that communicates with the receiver using sound.  This device, called a VR100, can trigger the receivers to jettison themselves to the surface with the help of two small floats.  At that time the receivers can be collected from a small boat.

Joel from FWC checks the connection to an acoustic receiver that has just been dropped to the sea floor.
Joel from FWC checks the connection to an acoustic receiver that has just been dropped to the sea floor.

This video below shows our deployment of the acoustic release receiver from the side of the Nancy Foster.

 

Personal Log

City in the Sea

The Nancy Foster has been at sea since February of this year.  While it resupplies every few weeks, most of the vital functions for human habitation are performed on board.  The ship is, for its officers, crew, and science passengers, a small floating city.

View of the engine room control panels.
View of the engine room control panels.

Electricity requirements for a large ship are quite high.  If you factor in air conditioning, navigation systems, lighting, motors and pumps, kitchen, and scientific tools, the energy consumption equals a small hamlet.  Amazingly, this electricity is all created on board with the ship’s generator and a copious amount of marine diesel.

The Nancy Foster has a main engine for thrust but several others that act as generators for the thrusters, electricity, and backup power.
The Nancy Foster has a main engine and several others that act as generators for the thrusters, electricity, and backup power.

Food is loaded on at ports but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fresh and delicious.  Each day Bob and Lito prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all of the scientists and crew.  These delicious multi-course meals keep all the members of this floating city very happy.  Just like the hungry generators, the humans energy levels are kept well stocked.

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink, except on the Nancy Foster you can just distill it using excess engine heat.
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink, except on the Nancy Foster you can just distill it using excess engine heat.

There is no sewage processing on board the ship.  Ship waste is carried in large tanks until it can be released into open ocean, far from land.  Once in the ocean, its nutrients are quickly consumed by hungry phytoplankton and converted into energy for the next level of the food chain.  Food waste is also separated from recycling and “garbage”.  Food waste, after being ground, is composted at sea.

With 40 people on board eating, showering, and using the head, the ship needs to produce water on a continual basis.  The ship keeps a reserve supply and when it goes down, The Nancy Foster has a device that uses excess heat from the engines and generators to distill water from the ocean.

Every day the Science Chief and project leaders determine a schedule and make staff assignments.
Every day the Science Chief and project leaders determine a schedule and make staff assignments.

Cities need organization and a specialized workforce to get all of these things done.  The NOAA Corps Officers make sure the ship stays on course and its mission objectives are met.  The ships crew ensures the small craft are launched safely, everyone is fed, and the ship keeps humming and running smoothly.  The science staff are visitors, enjoying all of the amenities of the ship while using its resources to complete their scientific missions.  Many of the science staff cruise with the Nancy Foster every year, while for some, it is their first time.

How did you get here?

I asked several of the scientists on board what they wanted to do when they were in middle school and how they became involved in marine science and research.  My middle school students are just starting to think about who they are and who they want to be.  I wanted to get some background information on how some of the scientists here got their start.

J. – A biologist had no clue what he wanted to do when he was in middle school and this trend continued until college! He loved fish and applied for an entry level fisheries job and has been at it ever since.

R. – Thinks she wanted to be a writer in middle school based on a paper she read from back then.  After pursuing her interest in ecology she is now writing about conservation issues for NOAA.

S. – She always loved science and math – After studying geology she had a chance to go to sea.  Loved it more than her geology work and now scans the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico.  She won’t tell you where the treasure is!

P. – He took a test when he was in middle school that said he was not particularly interested in anything.  What he always liked was fish. After a couple related jobs he has worked in fisheries for many years.

S. – When he was in middle school he wanted to be rich and work in biology.  He now works in biology!

One of the major commonalities among the scientists is that they followed, or in some cases, rediscovered their interest.  As a teacher, I hope I can help my students find what they are passionate about.

By the numbers:

226 scuba dives
5 ROV dives
5 Reef Visual Census (RVC) surveys
20 Drop camera ‘dives’
40 New stands and receivers deployed
4 sea turtles
61 square miles of seafloor mapped
1 Teacher at Sea Hat not lost
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Sandra Camp: Aloha from San Francisco! June 5, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Sandra Camp
Soon to be aboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai
June 14 – 24, 2015

Mission: Main Hawaiian Islands Reef Fish Survey
Geographical area of cruise: Hawaiian Islands, North Pacific Ocean
Date: Friday, June 5, 2015

Personal Log

ocean and bay
The Golden Gate Bridge between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay

My name is Sandra Camp, and I teach math and science to 5th graders at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco in northern California. San Francisco is located on a peninsula, which means it is surrounded by water on three sides. On the eastern part of the city lies San Francisco Bay. The western side is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. The famous Golden Gate Bridge spans the divide between these two large and important bodies of water.

 

tide pools
Me exploring tide pools

 

The Pacific is sometimes called the “Mother of all Oceans” because it is the largest ocean on our planet. Although we have many beautiful beaches here, in San Francisco the Pacific Ocean is much too cold for humans to swim in. Even though I can’t swim in it, I do love to go tide pooling along the Pacific Ocean, looking for tiny sea creatures when the tide goes out like sea stars, crabs, and anemones.

 

sea star
Sea star in tide pool

 

elephant seals
Elephant Seals
kelp forest
Kelp Forest – photo courtesy of NOAA

Being surrounded by so much water makes us care a great deal about the health of the world’s oceans and the plants and animals that live there. In our part of the Pacific Ocean, there are giant kelp forests. We are also home to many different kinds of marine animals, such as sea otters, harbor seals, elephant seals, crabs, sea lions, bat rays, and sharks. When there are healthy populations of these creatures living off the coast of northern California, it indicates that our part of the Pacific Ocean is healthy.

I am very excited, because in about a week I will be visiting a different part of the Pacific Ocean, a part where the ocean is warm enough to swim in! Hawaii is a chain of islands located in the northern Pacific Ocean.  Unlike San Francisco, islands are surrounded on all sides by water, and because the ocean water there is warmer, it allows coral reefs to grow.  I will be flying to Honolulu, Hawaii where I will board the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Ship Hi’ialakai at its home port in Pearl Harbor. Do any of you know what Pearl Harbor is famous for?  If so, write your answer to me in the comments section of this blog.  As a Teacher at Sea, I will spend 10 days aboard the ship while scientists conduct reef fish surveys around the main Hawaiian Islands. This means that they will be studying the fish that normally live in the coral reefs around the islands. If there are healthy populations of these fish in the reefs, then that means the coral reefs are healthy. If not, then that indicates the reefs are having problems. Here is a picture of the Hi’ialakai. Its name means “embracing pathways to the sea” in Hawaiian.

Hi'ialakai
The Hi’ialakai – photo courtesy of NOAA

It takes a lot of people to run a ship this big.  Stay tuned, because in addition to the scientists, I will introduce some of the people who work aboard the ship to you in my upcoming blogs.

Science and Technology Log

coral polyps
Coral Polyps – photo courtesy of NOAA

What exactly is a coral reef, anyway? Coral reefs are ecosystems located in warm, shallow ocean water that are home to a very diverse amount of sea creatures, including fish, crabs, turtles, octopus, sharks, eels, and shrimp. Reefs are structures that are made from the skeletons of colonies of tiny animals called coral. The individual animals that make up the colonies are called polyps.  Polyps usually have a cylindrical-shaped body with a mouth surrounded by tentacles at one end.  The polyps use these tentacles to catch tiny animals that drift by called zooplankton, which they eat for food.

 

coral reef
Coral Reef – photo courtesy of NOAA

 

The coral polyps have a symbiotic relationship with algae. The algae help corals build their skeletons, and the corals provide the algae with protection and compounds they need for photosynthesis. Coral reefs are the largest structures built by animals on Earth! Sadly, coral reefs around the world are in danger because of human factors like pollution, over-fishing, and global warming.

 

diver
Scientist Diving – photo courtesy of NOAA

Most of the scientific work aboard the Hi’ialakai will be conducted by scientists who are scuba diving. While they are under the water, scientists can take pictures of the ocean floor and the coral reefs, as well as count the number of reef fish they find. The information they gather will help them determine if the reefs around Hawaii are healthy places for animals to live. I will be sharing a lot more about the work they do with you in the blogs I write while I am aboard the Hi’ialakai.

 

Did You Know?

The Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is over 1400 miles long! Even though coral reefs are the largest structures built by animals and are home to so many diverse species, they cover less than one percent of the ocean floor.

Important Words

peninsula – a body of land surrounded on three sides by water

symbiotic – a relationship between two different species that benefits them both

polyp – the individual body of a coral animal, which is shaped like a cylinder, and has a mouth surrounded by tentacles at one end

zooplankton – tiny aquatic animals

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Trevor Hance: Permission to Come Aboard? May 28, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Trevor Hance
Soon to be Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp
June 12 – 24, 2015

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey
Geographical area: New England/Georges Bank
Date: May 28, 2015

Personal Log: Permission to Come Aboard?

Greetings from Austin, Texas.  In less than two weeks, my grand summer adventure begins.  I will be flying out of Austin, and heading to Boston where Peter Pan will magically transport me down the Woods (Rabbit?) Hole and out to sea aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp, where I will support scientists conducting a Sea Scallop Survey.

sharp_deck_copy
Photo from the NOAA Fisheries website that I’ve been using to determine how to dress!

My Real Job

I teach at a fantastic public school in Austin that incorporates student interest surveys in lesson design and enrichment opportunities across subjects.  Although we are within the city of Austin, our campus backs up to a wildlife preserve (30,000 acres, total) that was set aside as land use patterns changed, and threatened habitat and ecosystems of 2 endangered birds, 8 invertebrates and 27 other species deemed “at risk.”  We have about 5 “wildspace” acres on our actual campus property that is unfenced to the larger Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.  We use that space as our own laboratory, and over the last decade, fifth grade students at our school have designed, constructed and continue to support the ecosystem through ponds supported by rainwater collection (yes, they are quite full at the moment!), a butterfly habitat, water-harvesting shelter/outdoor classroom, grassland/wildflower prairie and a series of trails.  In the spring, I post job descriptions for projects that need work in our Preserve and students formally apply for a job (i.e. – resume/cover letter).  They spend the balance of the spring working outdoors, conducting research relating to their job, and doing their part to develop a culture and heritage of sustainability on our campus that transcends time as students move beyond our campus during their educational journey.  My path through the curriculum is rooted in constructivist learning theory (project-based, place-based and service learning) and students are always outdoors.  Parents, of course, always get a huge “thank you” at the end of the year from me for not complaining that I’ve ruined too many pairs of shoes.

Below are a few pictures from our game cameras and shots I’ve taken of my classes in action this spring.

Capture2
Texas bluebonnets are beautiful, and even more spectacular when you get close and see “the neighborhood.”
DSCN7879
Rain or shine
DSCN8205
Early morning observation in the Preserve
DSCN8303
Gambusia — my favorite!
DSCN8341
Western ribbon snake snacking at the tadpole buffet.
DSCN9907
One of our frog surveys in action
IMG_0092
So, did anyone figure out what does the fox say?
IMG_0106
Wild pigs rooting
IMG_0995
Bandits abound when the sun goes down.

 

2015 05 13 GCW top of observation area
The endangered golden cheeked warbler, taken by me early May

As I write, there are about 5 days left of this school year, which means that most of our big projects are complete and the rain has paused, so we’re spending a few days having a big “mechanical energy ball” competition (aka – “kickball”), and I get the distinct feeling that the students are quite prepared for their summer break!

My Background

I was an “oilfield kid” and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, the heart of Cajun Country, and about an hour’s drive to the Gulf of Mexico.  In college, I worked in the oilfield a bit, and after finishing law school, I was a maritime attorney, so I was able to spend some time aboard vessels for various purposes.  My time aboard the Hugh R. Sharp will be my longest stint aboard a vessel, and I’m quite excited for the work!

My Mission

R/V Hugh R. Sharp (btw students, it is a vessel or ship, not a “boat”) is a 146-foot general purpose research vessel owned by the University of Delaware (go Fighting Blue Hens!).  Each summer I get a travel coffee mug from the college where I attend a professional development course, and I’m hopeful I can find one with a picture of YoUDee on it this year!

GofMmap_750_272953
Photo from the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health

 

LARGEIMAGE_920423
Photo from the University of Delaware bookstore website of the mug I might pick up while traveling this summer

 

rvSharp-AcousticTrials
R/V Hugh R. Sharp

 

While aboard the vessel, we will be conducting surveys to determine the distribution and abundance of scallops.  My cruise is the third (and northernmost) leg of the surveys, and we’ll spend our time dredge surveying, doing an image based survey using a tethered tow-behind observation vehicle, and some deeper water imaging of lobster habitat.  Those of you who know me, know that I am genuinely and completely excited and grateful for the opportunity to “nerd out” on this once-in-a-lifetime get-away-from-it-all adventure!  Check back over the summer and see what I’ve been up to!

Trevor Headshot
That’s me!
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Emily Whalen: Station 381–Cashes Ledge, May 1, 2015

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Emily Whalen
Aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
April 27 – May 10, 2015

Mission: Spring Bottom Trawl Survey, Leg IV
Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Maine
Date: May 1, 2015

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Winds:  Light and variable
Seas: 1-2ft
Air Temperature:   6.2○ C
Water Temperature:  5.8○ C

Science and Technology Log:

Earlier today I had planned to write about all of the safety features on board the Bigelow and explain how safe they make me feel while I am on board.  However, that was before our first sampling station turned out to be a monster haul!  For most stations I have done so far, it takes about an hour from the time that the net comes back on board to the time that we are cleaning up the wetlab.  At station 381, it took us one minute shy of three hours! So explaining the EEBD and the EPIRB will have to wait so that I can describe the awesome sampling we did at station 381, Cashes Ledge.

This is a screen that shows the boats track around the Gulf of Maine. The colored lines represent the sea floor as determined by the Olex multibeam. This information will be stored year after year until we have a complete picture of the sea floor in this area!
This is a screen that shows the boats track around the Gulf of Maine. The colored lines represent the sea floor as determined by the Olex multibeam. This information will be stored year after year until we have a complete picture of the sea floor in this area!

Before I get to describing the actual catch, I want to give you an idea of all of the work that has to be done in the acoustics lab and on the bridge long before the net even gets into the water.

The bridge is the highest enclosed deck on the boat, and it is where the officers work to navigate the ship.  To this end, it is full of nautical charts, screens that give information about the ship’s location and speed, the engine, generators, other ships, radios for communication, weather data and other technical equipment.  After arriving at the latitude and longitude of each sampling station, the officer’s attention turns to the screen that displays information from the Olex Realtime Bathymetry Program, which collects data using a ME70 multibeam sonar device attached to bottom of the hull of the ship .

Traditionally, one of the biggest challenges in trawling has been getting the net caught on the bottom of the ocean.  This is often called getting ‘hung’ and it can happen when the net snags on a big rock, sunken debris, or anything else resting on the sea floor.  The consequences can range from losing a few minutes time working the net free, to tearing or even losing the net. The Olex data is extremely useful because it can essentially paint a picture of the sea floor to ensure that the net doesn’t encounter any obstacles.  Upon arrival at a site, the boat will cruise looking for a clear path that is about a mile long and 300 yards wide.  Only after finding a suitable spot will the net go into the water.

Check out this view of the seafloor. On the upper half of the screen, there is a dark blue channel that goes between two brightly colored ridges. That's where we dragged the net and caught all of the fish!
Check out this view of the seafloor. On the upper half of the screen, there is a dark blue channel that goes between two brightly colored ridges. We trawled right between the ridges and caught a lot of really big fish!

The ME70 Multibeam uses sound waves to determine the depth of the ocean at specific points.  It is similar to a simpler, single stream sonar in that it shoots a wave of sound down to the seafloor, waits for it to bounce back up to the ship and then calculates the distance the wave traveled based on the time and the speed of sound through the water, which depends on temperature.  The advantage to using the multibeam is that it shoots out 200 beams of sound at once instead of just one.  This means that with each ‘ping’, or burst of sound energy, we know the depth at many points under the ship instead of just one.  Considering that the multibeam pings at a rate of 2 Hertz to 0.5 Herts, which is once every 0.5 seconds to 2 seconds, that’s a lot of information about the sea floor contour!

This is what the nautical chart for Cashes Ledge looks like. The numbers represent depth in fathoms.  The light blue lines are contour lines.  The places where they are close together represent steep cliffs.  The red line represents the Bigelow’s track. You can see where we trawled as a short jag between the L and the E in the word Ledge

The stations that we sample are randomly selected by a computer program that was written by one of the scientists in the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, who happens to be on board this trip.  Just by chance, station number 381 was on Cashes Ledge, which is an underwater geographical feature that includes jagged cliffs and underwater mountains.  The area has been fished very little because all of the bottom features present many hazards for trawl nets.  In fact, it is currently a protected area, which means the commercial fishing isn’t allowed there.  As a research vessel, we have permission to sample there because we are working to collect data that will provide useful information for stock assessments.

My watch came on duty at noon, at which time the Bigelow was scouting out the bottom and looking for a spot to sample within 1 nautical mile of the latitude and longitude of station 381.  Shortly before 1pm, the CTD dropped and then the net went in the water.  By 1:30, the net was coming back on board the ship, and there was a buzz going around about how big the catch was predicted to be.  As it turns out, the catch was huge!  Once on board, the net empties into the checker, which is usually plenty big enough to hold everything.  This time though, it was overflowing with big, beautiful cod, pollock and haddock.  You can see that one of the deck crew is using a shovel to fill the orange baskets with fish so that they can be taken into the lab and sorted!

You can see the crew working to handling all of the fish we caught at Cashes Ledge. How many different kinds of fish can you see?
You can see the crew working to handling all of the fish we caught at Cashes Ledge. How many different kinds of fish can you see? Photo by fellow volunteer Joe Warren

 

At this point, I was standing at the conveyor belt, grabbing slippery fish as quickly as I could and sorting them into baskets.  Big haddock, little haddock, big cod, little cod, pollock, pollock, pollock.  As fast as I could sort, the fish kept coming!  Every basket in the lab was full and everyone was working at top speed to process fish so that we could empty the baskets and fill them up with more fish!  One of the things that was interesting to notice was the variation within each species.  When you see pictures of fish, or just a few fish at a time, they don’t look that different.  But looking at so many all at once, I really saw how some have brighter colors, or fatter bodies or bigger spots.  But only for a moment, because the fish just kept coming and coming and coming!

Finally, the fish were sorted and I headed to my station, where TK, the cutter that I have been working with, had already started processing some of the huge pollock that we had caught.  I helped him maneuver them up onto the lengthing board so that he could measure them and take samples, and we fell into a fish-measuring groove that lasted for two hours.  Grab a fish, take the length, print a label and put it on an envelope, slip the otolith into the envelope, examine the stomach contents, repeat.

Cod, pollock and haddock in baskets
Cod, pollock and haddock in baskets waiting to get counted and measured. Photo by Watch Chief Adam Poquette.

Some of you have asked about the fish that we have seen and so here is a list of the species that we saw at just this one site:

  • Pollock
  • Haddock
  • Atlantic wolffish
  • Cod
  • Goosefish
  • Herring
  • Mackerel
  • Alewife
  • Acadian redfish
  • Alligator fish
  • White hake
  • Red hake
  • American plaice
  • Little skate
  • American lobster
  • Sea raven
  • Thorny skate
  • Red deepsea crab

 

 

 

 

I think it’s human nature to try to draw conclusions about what we see and do.  If all we knew about the state of our fish populations was based on the data from this one catch, then we might conclude that there are tons of healthy fish stocks in the sea.  However, I know that this is just one small data point in a literal sea of data points and it cannot be considered independently of the others.  Just because this is data that I was able to see, touch and smell doesn’t give it any more validity than other data that I can only see as a point on a map or numbers on a screen.  Eventually, every measurement and sample will be compiled into reports, and it’s that big picture over a long period of time that will really allow give us a better understanding of the state of affairs in the ocean.

Sunset from the deck of the Henry B. Bigelow
Sunset from the deck of the Henry B. Bigelow

Personal Log

Lunges are a bit more challenging on the rocking deck of a ship!
Lunges are a bit more challenging on the rocking deck of a ship!

It seems like time is passing faster and faster on board the Bigelow.  I have been getting up each morning and doing a Hero’s Journey workout up on the flying bridge.  One of my shipmates let me borrow a book that is about all of the people who have died trying to climb Mount Washington.  Today I did laundry, and to quote Olaf, putting on my warm and clean sweatshirt fresh out of the dryer was like a warm hug!  I am getting to know the crew and learning how they all ended up here, working on a NOAA ship.  It’s tough to believe but a week from today, I will be wrapping up and getting ready to go back to school!

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Gregory Cook, On Sea Sickness and Good People, August 10, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Gregory Cook

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 26 – August 13, 2014

Mission: Annual Walleye Pollock Survey

Geographical Area: Bering Sea

Date: August 10, 2014


Science and Technology Log:

Last night and afternoon was by far the craziest we’ve seen on the Oscar Dyson. The winds were up to 35 knots (about 40 miles an hour). The waves were averaging 12 feet in height, and sometimes reaching 15-18 feet in height. Right now I’m sitting on the bridge and waves are around 8 feet. With every rise the horizon disappears and I’m looking up at stark grey clouds. With every drop the window fills with views of the sea, with the horizon appearing just below the top of the window frames.

UpDownUpDownUpDown
In the space of three seconds, the view from atop the bridge of the Oscar Dyson goes from looking up to the sky to down at the sea. The above pic is a MILD example.

Ensign Gilman, a member of NOAA Corps, explains to me how the same thing that makes the Bering Sea good for fish makes things rough for fishermen.

“This part of the Bering Sea is shallow compared to the open ocean. That makes the water easier for the wind to pick up and create waves. When strong winds come off Russia and Alaska, it kicks up a lot of wave action,” Ensign Gilman says.

Andrew, Bill and Nate
Lt. Andrew Ostapenko, Survey Tech Bill Potts, and Ens. Nathaniel Gilman on the Bridge

“It’s not so much about the swells (wave height),” he continues. “It’s about the steepness of the wave, and how much time you have to recover from the last wave.” He starts counting between the waves… “one… two… three… three seconds between wave heights… that’s a pretty high frequency. With no time to recover, the ship can get rocked around pretty rough.”

Rough is right! Last night I got shook around like the last jelly bean in the jar. I seriously considered finding some rope to tie myself into my bunk. There were moments when it seemed an angry giraffe was jumping on my bunk. I may or may not have shouted angrily at Sir Isaac Newton that night.

Which brings us to Sea Sickness.

Lt. Paul Hoffman, a Physician’s Assistant with the U.S. Public Health Service, explains how sea sickness works.

“The inner ears are made up of tubes that allow us to sense motion in three ways,” Hoffman explains. “Forward/back, left/right, and up/down. While that’s the main way our brain tells us where we are, we use other senses as well.” He goes on to explain that every point of contact… feet and hands, especially, tell the brain more information about where we are in the world.

“But another, very important piece, are your eyes. Your eyes are a way to confirm where you are in the world. Sea Sickness tends to happen when your ears are experiencing motion that your eyes can’t confirm,” Hoffman says.

For example, when you’re getting bounced around in your cabin (room), but nothing around you APPEARS to be moving (walls, chair, desk, etc) your brain, essentially, freaks out. It’s not connected to anything rational. It’s not enough to say “Duhh, brain, I’m on a boat. Of course this happens.” It happens in a part of the brain that’s not controlled by conscious thought. You can’t, as far as I can tell, think your way out of it.

Hoffman goes on to explain a very simple solution: Go look at the sea.

“When you get out on deck, the motion of the boat doesn’t stop, but your eyes can look at the horizon… they can confirm what your ears have been trying to tell you… that you really are going up and down. And while it won’t stop the boat from bouncing you around, your stomach will probably feel a lot better,” Hoffman says.

The Deck is your Friend.
Everything is easier on deck! Clockwise from left: Winch Operator Pete Stoeckle and myself near Cape Navarin, Russia. Oceanographer Nate Lauffenburger and myself crossing the International Date Line. Survey Tech Alyssa Pourmonir and Chief Scientist Taina Honkalehto near Cape Navarin, Russia.

And he’s right. Being up on the bridge… watching the Oscar Dyson plow into those stout waves… my brain has settled into things. The world is back to normal. Well, as normal as things can get on a ship more than a third of the way around the world, that is.

Personal Log:

Let’s meet a few of the good folks on the Oscar Dyson. 

NOAA Crew Member Alyssa Pourmonir

Job Title: Survey Technician

Alyssa and the Giant Jelly!
Survey Tech Alyssa Pourmonir assesses a giant jelly fish!

Responsibilities on the Dyson: “I’m a liaison between crew and scientists, work with scientists in the wet lab, put sensors onto the trawling nets, focus on safety, maintaining all scientific data and equipment on board.” A liaison is someone who connects two people or groups of people.

Education Level Required: “A Bachelors degree in the sciences.” Alyssa has a BS in Marine and Environmental Science from SUNY Maritime with minors in oceanography and meteorology.

Job or career you’ve had before this: “I was a life guard/swim instructor in high school, then I was in the Coast Guard for three years. Life guarding is the BEST job in high school!”

Goal: “I strive to bring about positive change in the world through science.”

Weirdest thing you ever took out of the Sea: “Lump Sucker: They have big flappy eyebrows… they kinda look like a bowling ball.”

Lump Sucker!
Lump Sucker! When provoked, this fish sucks in so much water that it becomes too big for most other fish to swallow. That’s its defense mechanism! It sort of looks like a cross between a bowling ball and grumpy cat!

Dirtiest job you’ve ever had to do on a ship: “Sexing the fish (by cutting them open and looking at the fish’s gonads… sometimes they explode!) is pretty gross, but cleaning the PCO2 filter is nasty.  There are these marine organisms that get in there and cling to the filter and you have to push them off with your hands… they get all slimy!”

Engineer Rico Speights
Engineer Rico Speights shows off how nasty a filter can be! He and his wife (Chief Steward Ava) sail the Bering Sea together with NOAA!

NOAA Rotating Technician Ricardo Guevara

Job Title: Electronics Technician

Responsibilities on the Dyson: “I maintain and upkeep most of the low voltage electronics on the ship, like computer networking, radio, television systems, sensors, navigation systems. All the equipment that can “talk,” that can communicate with other devices, I take care of that.”

Education level Required: High school diploma and experience. “I have a high school diploma and some college. The majority of my knowledge comes from experience… 23 years in the military.”

Tech Guevara
Technician Ricardo Guevara shows me an ultrasonic anemometer… It can tell the wind speed by the time it takes the wind to get from one fork to the other.

Job or career you’ve had before this: “I was a telecommunications specialist with the United States Air Force… I managed encryption systems and associated keymat for secure communications.” This means he worked with secret codes.

Trickiest problem you’ve solved for NOAA: “There was a science station way out on the outer edge of the Hawaiian Islands that was running their internet off of dial-up via satellite phone when the whole thing shut down on them… ‘Blue Screen of Death’ style. We couldn’t just swap out the computer because of all the sensitive information on it. I figured out how to repair the disk without tearing the machine apart. Folks were extremely happy with the result… it was very important to the scientists’ work.”

What are you working on now? “I’m migrating most of the ship’s computers from windows xp to Windows 7. I’m also troubleshooting the DirecTV system. The problem with DirecTV is that the Multi-Switch for the receivers isn’t communicating directly with the satellite. Our antenna sees the satellite, but the satellite cannot ‘shake hands’ with our receiver system.” And that means no Red Sox games on TV! Having entertainment available for the crew is important when you’re out to sea for two to three weeks at a time!

What’s a challenging part of your job on the Dyson? “I don’t like it, but I do it when I have to… sometimes in this job you have to work pretty high up. Sometimes I have to climb the ship’s mast for antenna and wind sensor maintenance. It’s windy up there… and eagles aren’t afraid of you up there. That’s their place!”

Lt. Paul Hoffman

Job Title: Physician Assistant (or P.A.) with the U.S. Public Health Service

Paul and Peggy
Lt. Paul Huffman and the small boat Peggy D behind him. Lt. Huffman is with the U.S. Public Health Service. But secretly I call him the Bat Man of Health Care. Peggy Dyson is a beloved part of the Alaska Fishing Industry’s history. Before the internet and satellite telephones, her radio service served as a vital link home for fishermen out at sea.  She was married to Oscar Dyson, the man for whom the ship was named.

Responsibilities on the Dyson: He’s effectively the ship’s doctor. “Whenever a NOAA ship travels outside 200 miles of the U.S. coast, they need to be able to provide an increased level of medical care. That’s what I do,” says Hoffman.

Education required for this career: “Usually a Masters degree from a Physician’s Assistant school with certification.”

Job or career you’ve had before this: “Ten and a half years in the U.S. Army, I started off as an EMT. Then I went on to LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) school, and then blessed with a chance to go on to PA school. I served in Iraq in 2007-2008, then returned for 2010-2011.”

Most satisfying thing you’ve seen or done in your career: “Knowing that you personally had an impact on somebody’s life… keeping somebody alive. We stabilized one of our soldiers and then had a helicopter evac (evacuation) under adverse situations. Situations like that are what make being a PA worthwhile.”

Could you explain what the Public Health Service is for folks that might not be familiar with it?

“The Public Health Service is one of the seven branches of the U.S. Military. It’s a non-weaponized, non-combative, all-officer corps that falls under the Department of Health and Human Services. We’re entirely medical related. Primary deployments (when they get sent into action) are related to national emergency situations… hurricanes, earth quakes… anywhere where state and local resources are overrun… they can request additional resources… that’s where we step in. Hurricane Katrina, the Earthquake in Haiti… a lot of officers saw deployment there. Personally, I’ve been employed in Indian Health Services in California and NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center (AOC)… they’re the hurricane hunters,” Hoffman concludes.

Kids, when you’ve been around Lt. Hoffman for a while, you realize “adverse conditions” to him are a little tougher than a traffic jam or missing a homework assignment. I’ve decided to call him, and the rest of the Public Health Service, “The Batman of Health Care.” When somebody lights up the Bat Signal, they’re there to help people feel better.

Coming up next: International Teamwork!

 

Posted on

Gregory Cook, Super Fish, August 2, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Gregory Cook

Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson

July 26 – August 13, 2014

Mission: Annual Walleye Pollock Survey

Geographical Area: Bering Sea

Date: August 2, 2014

Science and Technology Log 

See this guy here? He’s an Alaskan Pollock.

If fish thought sunglasses were cool, this fish would wear sunglasses.
Alaskan Pollock, aka Walleye Pollock.
Credit: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov

“Whatever,” you shrug.
“Just a fish,” you scorn.
“He’s slimy and has fish for brains,” you mock.
Well, what if I told you that guy there was worth almost one billion dollars in exports alone?
What if I told you that thousands of fishermen rely on this guy to provide for their families?
What if I told you that they were the heart of the Sub-Arctic food web, and that dozens of species would be threatened if they were to disappear?
What if I told you they were all secretly trained ninja fish? Ninja fish that carry ninja swords strapped to their dorsal fins?
Then I’d only be wrong about one thing.


Taina Honkalehto is the Chief Scientist onboard the Oscar Dyson. She has been studying Pollock for the last 22 years. I asked her what was so important about the fish.

“They’re the largest single species fishery in North America,” Taina says. That makes them top dog…err… fish… in the U.S. fishing industry.

Chief Scientist Taina Honkalehto decides where to fish based on data.
Chief Scientist Taina Honkalehto decides where to fish based on data.

“In the U.S. they are fish sticks and fish-wiches (like Filet-o-Fish from McDonalds). They’ve become, foodwise, what Cod used to be… inexpensive, whitefish protein,” Taina continues. They’re also the center of the sub-arctic food web. Seals, walruses, orca, sea lions, and lots of larger fish species rely on Pollock as an energy source.”
But they aren’t just important for America. Pollock plays an important role in the lives of people from all over the Pacific Rim. (Remember that the Pacific Rim is made up of all the countries that surround the Pacific Ocean… from the U.S. and Canada to Japan to Australia to Chile!)

Pollock Need Love, too!
Pollock Need Love, too!

“Pollock provide a lot of important fish products to many countries, including the U.S., Japan, China, Korea, and Russia,” Honkalehto says.

Making sure we protect Pollock is REALLY important. To know what can go wrong, we only have to look at the Atlantic Cod, the fish that Cape Cod was named after. In the last twenty years, the number of Atlantic Cod has shrunk dramatically. It’s cost a lot of fishermen their jobs and created stress in a number of families throughout New England as well as tensions between the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. and Canada share fish populations.

The primary job of the Oscar Dyson is to sample the Pollock population. Government officials use the results to tell fishermen what their quota should be. A quota is a limit on the number of fish you can catch. The way we gather that data, though, can be a little gross.

The Aleutian Wing Trawl (or AWT)

Fishermen Deploy the AWT
Fishermen Deploy the AWT.

The fishermen guide the massive Aleutian Wing Trawl (or AWT) onto the deck of the ship. The AWT is a 150 meters long net (over one and a half football fields in length) that is shaped like an ice cream cone. The net gets more and more narrow until you get all the way down to the pointy tip. This is known as the “cod end,” and it’s where most of the fish end up. Here’s a diagram that XO (Executive Officer) Kris Mackie was kind enough to find for me.

AWT
The Aleutian Wing Trawl (or AWT). over one and a half football fields worth of Pollock-Snatching Power.

The AWT is then hooked onto a crane which empties it on a giant mechanical table. The table has a hydraulic lift that lets us dump fish into the wet lab.

Allen pulls a cod from the Table
Survey Technician Allen pulls a cod from the Table

Kids, whenever you hear the term “wet lab,” I don’t want you to think of a water park. Wet lab is going to mean guts. Guts and fish parts.

In the wet lab, the contents of the net spills onto a conveyer belt… sort of like what you see at Shaw’s or Market Basket. First we sift through the Pollock and pull any odd things… jellyfish, skates, etc… and set them aside for measurement. Then it’s time to find out what sex the Pollock are.

Survey Technician Alyssa and Oceanographer Nate pull a giant jellyfish out of a pile of pollock!
Survey Technician Alyssa and Oceanographer Nate pull a giant jellyfish out of a pile of pollock!

Genitals on the Inside!

Pollock go through external fertilization (EF). That means that the female lays eggs, and the males come along and fertilize them with their sperm. Because of that, there’s no need for the outside part of the sex organs to look any different. In science, we often say that form follows function. In EF, there’s very little function needed other than a hole for the sperm or egg cells to leave the body.

Because of that, the only way to tell if a Pollock is male or female is to cut them open and look for ovaries and testes. This is a four step process.

Ladies before Gentlemen: The female Pollock (in the front) has ovaries that look like two orange lobes. The Male (in the back) has structures that make him look like he ate Ramen noodles for dinner.
Ladies before Gentlemen:
The female Pollock (bottom) has ovaries that look like two orange lobes. The Male (itop) has testes that make him look like he ate Ramen noodles for dinner.

Step 1: Slice open the belly of the fish.

Step 2: Push the pink, flippy floppy liver aside.

Step 3: Look for a pair of lobes (a bag like organ) that is either purple, pink, or orange-ish. These are the ovaries! If you find this, you’ve got a female.

Step 4: If you strike out on step 3, look for a thin black line that runs behind the stomach. These are the testes… As Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan might say, you’ve got male.

Then the gender and length of the fish is then recorded using CLAMS… a software program that NOAA computer scientists developed for just this purpose. With NOAA, like any good science program, it’s all about attention to detail. These folks take their data very seriously, because they know that so many people depend on them to keep the fish population safe.

Personal Blog

Safety!

Lobster Gumby
Your teacher in an Immersion Suit. Sailors can survive for long periods of time in harsh environments in these outfits.

.

On the first day aboard the Oscar Dyson, we were trained on all matters of safety. Safety on a ship is often driven by sirens sounded by the bridge. Here’s a list of calls, what they mean, and what you should do when you hear them:

What you hear… What it means… What you should do…
 Three long blasts of the alarm: Man Over Board Report to safety station, be counted, and report in to the bridge (unless you’re the one that saw the person go overboard… then you throw them life rings (floaties) and keep pointing at them).
 One long blast of general alarm or ship’s whistle: Fire or Emergency onboard Report to safety station, be counted, and report in to the bridge. Bring Immersion Suit just in case.
 Six or more short blasts then one long blast of the alarm: Abandon Ship Grab your immersion suit, head to the aft (back) deck of the ship, be counted, and prepare to board a life raft.

 

The immersion suit (the thing that makes me look like lobster gumby, above) is made of thick red neoprene. It has two flashing lights also known as beacons…  one of them automatically turns on when it hits water! This helps rescuers find you in case you’re lost in the dark. It also has an inflatable pillow behind your head to help keep your head above water. Mostly just wanted to wear it to Starbucks some day.

Food!

Another thing I can tell you about life aboard the Oscar Dyson is that there is plenty to eat!

kind of awesome. For one thing, there is a never ending supply of food in the galley (the ship’s cafeteria). Eva is the Chief Steward on the Oscar Dyson (though I call her the Head Chef!).

Chief Steward Eva gets dinner done right!
Chief Steward Eva gets dinner done right!

You’ll never go hungry on her ship. Dinner last night? barbeque ribs and mac and cheese. Yesterday’s lunch? Steak and chicken fajitas. And this morning? Breakfast burritos with ham and fruit. I know. You were worried that if I lost any weight at sea that I might just disappear. I can confirm for you that this is absolutely not going to happen.

Tune in next time when I take you on a tech tour of the Oscar Dyson!

 

Posted on

Andi Webb: Living and Learning on the Oregon II, July 13, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Andi Webb
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 11 – 19, 2014

Mission: SEAMAP Summer Groundfish Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: July 13, 2014

Weather Data:
29 Degrees Celsius
75% Humidity
Windspeed: 1.82 Knots
Lat/Long: 2941.97N, 08414.16W
Science and Technology Log

There is truly so much to learn on the Oregon II. It’s almost like a small city with all the jobs everyone has, food preparation on board, safety drills, and a community of people working together to make everything successful. I am working the noon to midnight shift and am partnered with kind, intelligent team members that are helping me learn what it takes to work for NOAA. Our team consists of Michael, Mark, and Brittany. Each has so much knowledge of marine animals that I certainly feel like I have much to learn. It’s pretty amazing how they know the scientific names of most animals and plants we come across while trawling from the Oregon II.

I'm dressed in a survival suit looking a bit like an orange Gumby. These survival suits would protect us from hypothermia if we needed to abandon ship. In order to wear these, you must lay the suit flat on the floor and crawl into it. It took Ensign Laura Dwyer, a Junior Officer, and me working together to get it on. I really was tempted to Sumo wrestle with it on!
I’m dressed in a survival suit looking a bit like an orange Gumby. These survival suits would protect us from hypothermia if we needed to abandon ship. In order to wear these, you must lay the suit flat on the floor and crawl into it. It took Ensign Laura Dwyer, a Junior Officer, and me working together to get it on. I really was tempted to Sumo wrestle with it on!

When it was time to “haul back” the net that was trawling for fish, everyone rushed to get to work. The trawl caught a wide variety of fish, shells, and plants. In the wet lab, all the scientists quickly began sorting the fish into baskets and began identifying them. The data must be entered into the computer with the name of the fish, quantity, weight, etc. On the rare occasion they may not be able to identify the plant or animal immediately, they refer to descriptive books such as Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico.

This is a trawl used to catch fish (and other surprises).
This is a trawl used to catch fish (and other surprises).
The fish on the left are Diplectrum formosum (Sand perch) and on the right are Haemulon aurolineatum (Tomtate).
The fish on the left are Diplectrum formosum and on the right are Haemulon aurolineatum.

Scientist Spotlight: Meet Brittany Palm-She really knows her “stuff” and she is so helpful in explaining everything to me so I can understand. Brittany is a Fisheries Biologist and will soon begin to work on her PhD. Brittany explained the CTD device to me. It measures conductivity, temperature, and depth. It soaks at the surface for 3 minutes to calibrate and flush out sensors. The CTD is then sent from the surface of the water to the bottom and then back up to the surface. It records environmental data for the scientists.

Brittany is a Fisheries Biologist on the Oregon II.
Brittany is a Fisheries Biologist on the Oregon II.
This is me standing by the Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth Measuring Device.
This is me standing by the Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth Measuring Device.

During a trawl today, we had quite a surprise! Check it out below:

Look who showed up on deck of the Oregon II. It's a Loggerhead turtle. Pretty amazing!
Look who showed up on deck of the Oregon II. It’s a Loggerhead turtle. Pretty amazing! After checking out his stats, we returned him to sea.

All in all, it’s been a great day learning lots with some pretty cool people!

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Crystal Davis, Bottom Trawl for Shrimp, June 27, 2014

Bringing in a trawl
Bringing in a trawl

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Crystal Davis

Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II

June 23 – July 7, 2014

Mission: SEAMAP Groundfish Survey

Geographical area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico

Date: Friday June 27, 2014

Weather: Partly cloudy

Winds:  15-20 knots

Waves:  5-6 feet

 

 

Science and Technology Log: Bottom Trawling

The Oregon II is a participant and contributor to SEAMAP (The Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program) which monitors the biodiversity of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. The primary way the Oregon II assists SEAMAP is by conducting bottom trawls with a 42 foot semi-balloon shrimp trawl net.The net is slowly lowered into the ocean until it reaches the bottom and is then dragged along the ocean floor for thirty minutes. The net has a tickler chain between the doors which scrapes the bottom of the ocean floor and flicks objects into the net. The net is then brought to the surface and all of the organisms inside are put into baskets (see video above). The total weight of the catch is massed on scales on the deck. If the catch is large (over 20 kilos), it is dumped onto a conveyor belt and a random sub-sample (smaller) is kept, along with any unique species while the rest of the catch is dumped overboard.

Shrimp Net
Shrimp Net

Once the sample has been selected, the marine organisms are sorted by species and put into baskets. Each species is then massed and counted while the data is recorded into a system called FSCS (Fisheries Scientific Computer System). To obtain a random sampling, every fifth individual of the species (up to twenty) is measured, massed and sexed (more on this later). Once the data has been verified by the watch manager, the marine organisms are put back into the ocean. The following are pictures of a sample on the conveyor belt and the organisms divided into a few species.

The sorting process for shrimp (white, brown and pink) differs slightly from that of the other marine organisms. Every shrimp (up to 200 of each species), is massed, measured and sexed.This data is then used by various government agencies such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, etc… to determine the length of the shrimping season and to set quotas on the amount that can be caught by each issued license. States will not open the shrimping season until SEAMAP reports back with their findings from NOAA’s shrimp survey.

Types of shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico
Types of shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico

The shrimp trawl net used on the Oregon II differs from a shrimp net used on a commercial boat in two main ways. Commercial shrimping boats have BRD’s (Bycatch Reduction Devices) and TED’s (Turtle Excluder Devices). BRD’s and TED’s are federally required in the U.S. to reduce the amount of bycatch (unintentionally caught organisms) and sea turtles. Shrimping boats typically trawl for hours and turtles cannot survive that long without air. TED’s provide turtles and other large marine organisms an escape hatch so that they do not drown (see the video below). Unfortunately, larger turtles such as Loggerheads are too big to fit through the bars in a TED. Additionally, TED’s may become ineffective if they are clogged with sea debris, kelp or are purposefully altered.

     

Boat Personnel of the Week:

Warren Brown:

Warren Brown
Warren Brown

Warren is a gear specialist who is working as a member of the scientific party. He is contracted by Riverside for NOAA.  While aboard the Oregon II, Warren designs, builds and repairs gear that is needed on the boat. Unfortunately, on this leg of the trip either sharks or dolphins have been chewing holes in the nets to eat the fish inside. This means Warren has spent a large chunk of his time repairing nets.

Warren is not a crew member of the Oregon II  and actually works at the Netshed in Pascagoula where he spends his time working with TED’s. He has law enforcement training and will go out with government agencies (such as the Coast Guard or Fish and Wildlife Service) to monitor TED’s on shrimping boats. He also participates in outreach programs educating fishermen in measuring their nets for TED’s, installing them. Warren will bring TED’s and nets to make sure that every everyone at the training has a hands on experience installing them. While he regularly does outreach in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, his work has also taken him as far as Brazil.

Robin Gropp:

Robin playing his mandolin
Robin playing his mandolin

Robin will be a junior at Lewis & Clark College in the Fall. He is currently an intern aboard the Oregon II. Robin received a diversity internship through the Northern Gulf Institute and is one of eight interns for NOAA. For the first two weeks Robin worked at the NOAA lab participating in outreach at elementary school science fairs. He brought sea turtle shells and a shrimp net with a TED installed. The students were very excited to pretend to be sea turtle and run through the TED. They proclaimed, “we love sea turtles.”  After leaving the Oregon II, Robin will return to the NOAA lab to study the DNA of sharks.

 

Personal Log:

Overall I have had a hard time processing and accepting the groundfish survey portion of the trip. I am a vegetarian that does not eat meat, including fish, for ethical and environmental reasons. Yet here I find myself on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico surveying groundfish so that others can eat shrimp. A large part of me feels that I should be protesting the survey rather than assisting. Because of this I spent a lot of time talking to the other scientists on my watch and Chief Scientist Andre Debose. After many discussions (some still ongoing) I do realize how important the groundfish survey is. Without it, there would be no limits placed on the fishing industry and it is likely that many populations of marine organisms would be hunted to extinction more rapidly than they are now. This survey actually gives the shrimp species a chance at survival.

Did You Know?

Countries that do not use TED’s are banned from selling their shrimp to the U.S.

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John Bilotta, Super Highways of Currents and Super Specimens from the Deep: Days 5 & 6 in the South Atlantic MPAs, June 23, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

John Bilotta

Aboard NOAA ship Nancy Foster

June 17 – 27, 2014

 

Mission: South Atlantic Marine Protected Area Survey

Geographical area of cruise: South Atlantic

Date: June 23, 2014

Weather:

Saturday: Sunny, some clouds,  27 degrees Celsius.  6.0 knot wind from the southwest.  1-2m seas.

Sunday:  Cloudy with morning rain clearing to mostly sunny in the afternoon.  27 degrees Celsius. 13 knot wind from the west. 2-4m seas.

 ** Note: Upon request, note that if you click on any picture it should open full screen so you can the detail much better!

Science and Technology Log

Science Part I.  The superhighway under the surface: sea currents

Until today, most everything including the weather and sea conditions were in our favor.  On the surface it just looks like waves (ok well big waves) but underneath is a superhighway.  On Sunday morning the currents throughout the water column were very strong.  The result was the ROV and its power and fiber optic umbilical cord never reached a true vertical axis.  Even with a 300lbs down-weight and five thrusters the ROV could not get to our desired depth of about 60m.  The current grabbed its hold onto the thin cable and stretched it diagonally far under the ship – a dangerous situation with the propellers.  The skill of ROV pilots Lance and Jason and the crew on the bridge navigated the challenging situation and we eventually retrieved the ROV back to the deck.  I presume if I were back home on Goose Lake in Minnesota, I certainly would have ended up with the anchor rope wrapped around the props in a similar situation.  So, where is the current coming from and how do we measure it aboard the Nancy Foster?

The Gulf Stream. Note the direction of the current and consider that on Sunday morning we were due east of North Carolina.
The Gulf Stream. Note the direction of the current and consider that on Sunday morning we were due east of North Carolina.

Answer: The Gulf Stream is an intense, warm ocean current in the western North Atlantic Ocean and it moves up the coast from Florida to North Carolina where it then heads east.  You don’t have to be directly in the Gulf Stream to be affected by its force; eddies spin off of it and at times, water will return in the opposite direction on either side of it.  Visit NOAA Education for more on ocean currents.

Answer: Aboard the Nancy Foster, we have a Teledyne ADCP – Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler.  The ADCP measures direction, speed, and depths of the currents between the ship and the ocean floor.  It’s not just one measurement of each; currents may be moving in different directions, at different depths, at different speeds.  This can make a ROV dive challenging.

For example, at 4pm on Sunday near the Snowy Grouper MPA site off the coast of North Carolina, from 0-70 meters in depth the current was coming from the north and at about 2 knots. At 70 meters to the sea floor bottom it was coming from the south at over 2 knots.  Almost completely opposite.

Hydrphone
Hydrophone

Another indication of the strong currents today was the force against the hydrophone. Hydrophones detect acoustic signals in the ocean.  We are using a hydrophone mounted on the side of the Nancy Foster to communicate the location of the ROV to the ship.  The hydrophone has to be lowered and secured to the ship before each dive.  It ended up in my blog today because the current was so strong, three of us could not swing and pull the hydrophone to a vertical position in the water column.  It was a good indicator the currents were much stronger than the past few days.

 

Science Part II.  Discoveries of Dives in the Deep

Snowy Grouper – one primary species we are on the hunt for this mission

Snowy Grouper are one of the species requiring management due to low and threatened stock levels within the federal 200-mile limit of the Atlantic off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and east Florida to Key West.  The MPAs help conserve and manage these species.  We were excited to have a few visit the camera lens the past two days.

Pair of Snowy Groupers photographed during one of our dives on Friday, June 20. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Pair of Snowy Groupers photographed during one of our dives on Friday, June 20. Sizes are approximately 30-50cm (12-20″).Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Snowy Grouper photographed during one of our dives on Friday, June 20. Size is approximately 40-50cm (16-20"). Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Snowy Grouper photographed during one of our dives on Friday, June 20. Size is approximately 40-50cm (16-20″). Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Snowy Grouper and a Roughtongue Bass photographed during one of our dives on Friday, June 20. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Snowy Grouper and a Roughtongue Bass photographed during one of our dives on Friday, June 20. Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.

 

Scorpianfish (scorpaenidea)

Scorpianfish (scorpaenidea) photographed during one of dives on Saturday, June 21. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Scorpionfish (Scorpaenidea) photographed during one of dives on Saturday, June 21. Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.

Eel

Eel photographed during one of our dives on Saturday, June 21. Saw many of these peeking out of their homes in crevices. We were lucky to capture this one in its entirety. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Eel photographed during one of our dives on Saturday, June 21. Saw many of these peeking out of their homes in crevices. We were lucky to capture this one in its entirety. Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.

Invertebrates – (with much thanks to my education from Stephanie Farrington)

Stichopathes, Diodogordia, & Ircinia Campana. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Stichopathes, Diodogordia, & Ircinia Campana. Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Leiodermatium, Nicella, feather duster crinoids, and a Red Porgy in the far background. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Leiodermatium, Nicella, feather duster crinoids, and a Red Porgy in the far background. Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.

Science Part III.  Rugosity- 

Rugosity is sea- bottom roughness.  Probably one of the terms and skills I will remember most about this experience.  In oceanography, rugosity is determined in addition to the other characteristics I am more accustomed to:  slope, composition, and the cover type (plants, animals, invertebrates.)  It was a little challenging for me to incorporate this into my observations the first few days so thought I would share two of the stark differences.   This compliments my strong knowledge and passion for teaching earth science with Earth Adventure; I cannot wait to use this content in future Earth Balloon & Earth Walk Programs!

Rugosity Comparison. Low rogosity on the left; high rogosity on the right. The low has a flat plain where as the high has rocks, deep crevasses, slopes, and texture. Snowy Grouper desire high rogosity. Photo credit: NOAA UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.
Rugosity Comparison. Low rugosity on the left; high rugosity on the right. The low has a flat plain where as the high has rocks, deep crevasses, slopes, and texture. Snowy Grouper desire high rugosity. Photo credit: NOAA/UNCW. Mohawk ROV June 2014.

Science Part III.  Day Shapes

When a ship has restricted ability to move, the ship displays vertically (up to down) from the mast a black ball, diamond, and black ball.  This informs other ships and vessels in the area not to approach the Nancy Foster as we can’t move; the ROV is in the water.  While radio communication is an option, this is a marine standard that signals others to stay away.  If we were deploying the ROV at night, a series of lights communicate the same message.  On Sunday morning, we observed three recreational fishing boats probably a 1.5 kilometers from the ship.  It seemed one was moving towards us likely interested in what was happening aboard the giant Nancy Foster.

Day shapes displayed on the Nancy Foster ship mast; black ball, diamond, and black ball. The NF has restricted ability to move; the ROV is in the water.
Day shapes displayed on the Nancy Foster ship mast; black ball, diamond, and black ball. The NF has restricted ability to move; the ROV is in the water.

 

Career highlight:  

Lance Horn and Jason White are the two ROV pilots on board from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

ROV pilots Lance Horn and Jason White. On the left, Lance surveys the ocean 'shall we launch the ROV or not?' - or perhaps we is just thinking deep thoughts. On right, Lance and Jason preparing the cable prior to dive.
ROV pilots Lance Horn and Jason White. On the left, Lance surveys the ocean ‘shall we launch the ROV or not?’ – or perhaps he is just thinking deep thoughts. On right, Lance and Jason preparing the cable prior to dive.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
John & Jason White at the ROV pilot control center.

Personal Log:

A week without television.  While I brought movies on my iPad and there is a lounge equipped with more than nine leather recliners, a widescreen, and amazing surround sound, I haven’t yet sat down long enough to watch anything.  I spend 12 hours a day being a shadow to the researches trying to absorb as much as I can and lending a hand in anything that can help the mission. Most of my evenings have been consumed by researching species we saw during the dives using taxonomy keys and well, just asking a lot of questions.  I go through hundreds of digital pictures from the ROV and try to make sense of the many pages of notes I make as the researchers discuss species, habitats, and characteristics during the dives. While I am using a trust book version as well as the multiple poster versions scattered on the walls in the lab, here is a great online key.

Sunday evening, crew members of the Nancy Foster invited me to join them in a game of Mexican Train – a game using Dominos.  Thanks Tim for including me!  I am going to have to purchase this for cabin weekends up north in Minnesota (when the mosquitoes get so large they will carry you away and we can no longer go out in the evenings).

When the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler wasn’t working, we just called on King Neptune and his kite to help us gauge the wind speed, direction and the currents.  Wait, I thought he carried a scepter?

King Neptune collage
Tim Olsen, Chief Engineer – 11 years on the Nancy Foster and 30 years as Chief Engineer.

Espresso!  I really was worried about the coffee when coming aboard the Nancy Foster for 12+ days.  What would I do without my Caribou Coffee or Starbucks?  Chief Steward Lito and Second Cook Bob to the rescue with an espresso machine in the mess.  John has been very happy – and very awake.

I made it a little more progress reading The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman.

“In 2009, we spent $21 billion on bottled water, more on Poland Spring, FIJI Water, Evian, Aquafina, and Dasani than we spent buying iPhones, iPods, and all the  music and apps we load on them.”  (p337)

Glossary to Enhance Your Mind

Each of my logs is going to have a list of new vocabulary to enhance your knowledge.  I am not going to post the definitions; that might be a future student assignment.

NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch has a great site of definitions at

http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/education/workshop/docs/workbook_definitions.pdf

  • Hydrophone
  • ADCP
  • Rugosity
  • Nautical knot
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Denise Harrington: Post Processing — Final Days, May 2, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Denise Harrington
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier
April 20 – May 3, 2014

Geographical Area of Cruise: North Kodiak Island

Date: May 2, 2014, 23:18

Location: 57o  43.041’ N  127o 152.32.388’ W

Weather from the Bridge: 13.09o C (dry bulb), Wind 1 knots @ 95o, clear, 0′ swell, balmy “crazy nice weather”  say Able Seaman Jeff Mays

Our current location and weather can also be seen at NOAA Shiptracker: http://shiptracker.noaa.gov/Home/Map

Science and Technology Log

Today’s blog is all about post processing, or “cleaning up” the data and being on night shift.  It is a balmy, sliver moon night at port here, in Kodiak.  We have come a long way in the last two weeks, during which survey crews have been working hard to finalize a Cold Bay report from last season before they devote themselves entirely to North Kodiak Island. I am in the plot room with Lieutenant Junior Grade Dan Smith who is on Bridge Duty from midnight until 4 a.m. with Anthony Wright, Able Seaman.

Able Seaman Anthony Wright consults with Ensign Steven Wall about conditions on the bridge and other things.
Able Seaman Anthony Wright consults with Ensign Steven Wall about conditions on the bridge and reports “all conditions normal.”

People work around the clock on Rainier whether it be bridge watch, processing data, or in the engine room.  One thing that makes the night shift a little easier is that there is no shortage of daylight hours in Alaska: within two months, there will be less than an hour of complete darkness at night.

After watching Commander Brennan guide us north, and seeing all the work it entails, it is a great sight to see him enjoy a 10 p.m. sunset.
After watching Commander Brennan guide us north, with all the work it entails, it is a great sight to see him enjoy a 10 p.m. sunset with his wife (by phone).

In previous blogs, I described how the team plans a survey, collects and processes data.  In this blog, I will explain what we do with the data once it has been processed in the field. Tonight, Lieutenant Dan Smith is reviewing data collected in Sheet 5, of the Cold Bay region on the South Alaskan Peninsula.  In September, 2013, the team surveyed this large, shallow and therefore difficult to survey area.  The weather also made surveying difficult.  Despite the challenges, the team finished collecting data for Sheet 5 and are now processing all the data they collected.

Cold Bay Sheet Map
Cold Bay Sheet Map.  Recall the shallow areas are shaded light blue, and as you can see much of the north end of Sheet 5 is blue.

While I find editing to be one of the most challenging steps in the writing process, it is also the most rewarding.  Through the editing process, particularly if you have a team, work becomes polished, reliable and usable.  The Rainier crew reviews their work for accuracy as a team and while Sheet 5 belongs to Brandy Geiger, every crew member has played a part in making the Sheet 5 Final Report a reality, almost.  On the left screen, Lieutenant Smith is looking at one line of data.  Each color represents a boat, and each dot represents the data from one boat, and each dot represents a depth measurement  computed by the sonar. The right screen shows which areas of the map he has already reviewed in green and the areas he still needs to review in magenta.

Dan looks for noise after midnight.
Lieutenant Smith looks for noise after midnight.

While the plot room is calm today in Kodiak, there have been times when work conditions are challenging, at best.

.

The crew continues on, despite the weather, so long as work conditions are safe.

Several days ago, Lieutenant Smith taught me the difference between a sonar ping that truly measured depth, and other dots that were not true representations of the ocean floor.  Once you get an eye for it, you kill the noise quickly.  In addition, when Lieutenant Smith finds a notable rise in the ocean floor he will “designate as a sounding.”  Soundings are those black numbers on a nautical chart that tell you how deep the water is.

This line shows three colors, meaning three boats sent pings down to the ocean floor in this area.
This line shows three colors, meaning three boats sent pings down to the ocean floor in this area.

If the line has dots that rise up in a natural way, the computer program recognizes that these pings didn’t go as far down as the others and makes a rise in the ocean floor indicated with the blue line.  It is the hydrographer’s job to review the computer processed data.  One of the differences between a map and a nautical chart is the high level of precision and review to ensure that a nautical chart is accurate.

This nautical chart went through many layers of analysis, processing and review before becoming published as a nautical chart that can be used as a legal document.
This nautical chart of Cold Bay went through many layers of analysis, processing and review before becoming published as a nautical chart that can be used as a legal document. It may be updated after Brandy Geiger and NOAA’s hydrography work in the area is completed.
This is a topographical map of the same area, Cold Bay, that provides some information about landmarks but not necessarily the same legal standing or authority.
This is a topographical map of the same area, Cold Bay, that provides some information about landmarks but not necessarily the same legal standing or authority.

NOAA has several interesting online resources with more information about the differences between charts and maps: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/chart_map.html .

Now let’s kill some noise on this calm May evening.

In this image of a shipwreck on the ocean floor most sonar pings reached the ocean floor or the shipwreck and bounced soundings back to the survey boat.  Look carefully, however, and you see white dots, representing pings that did not make it down to the ocean floor.  Many things can cause these false soundings.  In this case, I predict that the pings bounced back off of a school of fish.  Here, the surveyor kills the “noise” or white pings by circling them with the mouse on his computer. It wouldn’t be natural for the ocean floor or other feature to float unconnected to the ocean floor, and thus, we know those dots are “noise” and not measurements of the ocean floor.

Lieutenant Smith estimates that at least half of his survey time is spent in the plot room planning or processing data.  The window of time the team has in the field to collect data is limited by weather and other conditions, so they must work fast.  Afterward, they spend long, but rewarding hours analyzing the data they have collected to ensure its accuracy and to provide synthesized information to put into a nautical chart that is easy to use and dependable. Lieutenant Smith believes that in many scientific careers, as much time or more time is spent planning, processing and analyzing data than is spent collecting data.

 

Personal Log

As we post process our data, I too, begin post processing this amazing adventure.  I am hesitant to leave: I have learned so much in these two short weeks, I want to stay and keep learning.  But at NOAA we all have many duties, and my collateral, wait–my primary duty is to my students and so, I must return to the classroom.  I will leave many fond memories and a camera, floating somewhere in Driver Bay, behind me.  I will take with me all that I have learned about the complexity of the ocean planet we live on and share my thirst to know more back to the classroom where we can continue our work. I will miss the places I’ve seen and the people I met but look forward to the road or channel of discovery that awaits me and my students.

I am also taking with me a NOAA flag, full of memories from the North Kodiak Island crew and my new friends.
I am also taking with me a NOAA souvenir flag, full of memories from the North Kodiak Island crew — my new friends.

Did You Know? The Sunflower Sea Star is the largest and fastest moving sea star travelling up to one meter per minute.

Here we taking a quick break during a tide gauge set up to look at sea stars and anemones.
Here we taking a quick break during a tide gauge set up to look at sea stars and anemones.

Below are a few photo favorites of my time at sea.

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Kimberly Gogan: The Sounds of the Sea: Marine Acoustics: April 20, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kim Gogan
Aboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
 April 7 – May 1, 2014

Mission: AMAPPS & Turtle Abundance Survey, Ecosystem Monitoring
Geographical area of cruise:  North Atlantic Ocean
Date: Sunday, April 20th – Easter Sunday!

Weather Data from the Bridge
Air Temp: 6.2 Degrees Celsius
Wind Speed: 33.5 Knots
Water Temp: 10.1 Degrees Celsius
Water Depth: 2005.4 Meters ( deep!)

Genevieve letting me listen to the sounds of a Pilot Whale and explaining how the acoustics technology works.
Genevieve letting me listen to the sounds of a Pilot Whale and explaining how the acoustics technology works.

Science and Technology Log

As I explained in an earlier blog, all the scientist on the ship are here because of the Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species, or AMAPPS for short. A multi-year project that has a large number of scientists from a variety of organizations whose main goal is “to document the relationship between the distribution and abundance of cetaceans, sea turtles and sea birds with the study area relative to their physical and biological environment.” So far I have shared with you some of the Oceanography and Marine Mammal Observing. Today I am going introduce you to our Marine Mammal Passive Acoustics team and some of their cool acoustic science. The two acoustic missions of the team are putting out 10 bottom mounted recorders called MARUs or Marine Autonomous Recording Units  and towing  behind the ship multiple underwater microphones called a Hydrophone Array to listen to the animals that are as much as 5 miles  away from the ship. The two different recording devices target two different main groups of whales. The MARU records low frequency sounds from a group of whales called Mysticetes or baleen whales: for example, Right Whales, and Humpback Whales. Once the the MARU has been programmed and deployed, it will stay out on the bottom of the ocean collecting sounds continuously for up to six months before the scientist will go retrieve the unit and get the data back.  The towed Hydrophone Array is recording higher frequency sounds made by Odontocetes or toothed whales like dolphins and sperm whales. The acoustic team listens to recordings and compares them with the visual teams sighting, with a goal of getting additional information about what kind and how many of the species are close to ship. Even though the acoustic team works while the visual team is working during the day, as long as there is deep enough water, they can also use their equipment in poor weather and at night.

Here are Chris and Genevieve preparing to deploy the MARU.
Here are Chris and Genevieve preparing to deploy the MARU.

Science Spot Light: The two Acoustic team members we have on the Gordon Gunter are Genevieve Davis and Chris Tremblay. Genevieve works at Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)  doing Passive Acoustic research focusing on Baleen Whales. She has worked there 2 and a half years after spending  10 weeks as a NOAA Hollings Intern. Genevieve graduated from Binghamton University in New York. She is planning on starting her masters project looking at the North Atlantic Right Whale migration paths.  I have been been very lucky to have Genevieve as my roommate here on the ship and have gotten to know her very well. Chris is a freelance Marine Biologist. Chris recently helped develop the Listen for Whales Website and the Right Whale Listening Network. He also worked for Cornell University for 7 years focusing on Marine Bioacoustics. Chris is also the station manger at Mount Desert Rock Marine Research Station run by the College of the Atlantic in Maine. He actually lives on a sail boat he keeps in Belfast, Maine. Chris also intends of attending graduate school looking at Fin Whale behavior and acoustic activity.

Personal Log

So while most adults were worrying about their taxes on April 15th, I was having fun decorating and deploying Drifter Buoys. Before I left for my trip Jerry Prezioso had sent me an email letting me know that two Drifter Buoys would be available for me to send out to sea during my time on the ship.  Drifter buoys allow scientists to collect observations on earth’s various ocean currents while also collecting data on sea surface temperature, atmospheric pressure, as well as winds and salinity. The scientists use this to help them with short term climate predictions, as well as climate research and monitoring. He explained that traditionally when teachers deploy the buoys, they will decorate them with items they bring from home and that we would be able to track where they go and the data they collect for 400 days! The day before I left, I had my students and my daughter’s class decorate a box of sticky labels for me to stick all over the two Drifter Buoys. I spent the morning of the 15th making a mess on the lab floor peeling and sticking all of the decorations onto each of the buoys. Around mid-day we were at our most south eastern point, which would be the best place to send the buoys out to sea.  Jerry and I worked together to throw the buoys off the side of the ship, as close together as we could get them. A few days later we heard from some folks at NOAA that the buoys were turned on and floating in the direction we wanted them too.

If you would like to track the buoys I deployed, visit the site below and follow the preceding directions.

<http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/trinanes/xbt.html> for near real time GTS data.

From the site, select “GTS buoys” in the pull-down menu at the top left. Enter the WMO number (please see below) into the “Call Sign” box at the top right. Then, select your desired latitude and longitude values, or use the map below to zoom into the area of interest. You can also select the dates of interest and determine whether you’d like graphics (map) or data at the bottom right. Once you’ve entered these fields, hit the “GO!” button at the bottom. Shortly thereafter, either a map of drifter tracks or data will appear.
ID            WMO#
123286    44558
123287    44559
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Suzanne Acord: Cetaceans Are Among Us! March 26, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Suzanne Acord
Aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette
March 17 – 28, 2014

Mission: Kona Area Integrated Ecosystems Assessment Project
Geographical area of cruise: Hawaiian Islands
Date: March 26, 2014

Weather Data from the Bridge at 13:00
Wind: 6 knots
Visibility: 10+ nautical miles
Weather: Hazy
Depth in fathoms: 2,473
Depth in feet: 14,838
Temperature: 26.0˚ Celsius

Science and Technology Log

Cetaceans Are Among Us!

We use these cameras to take close up shots of the marine mammals.
Commanding Officer, Koes (right), and scientist, Gadea, during MMO on the flying bridge.

Our Marine Mammal Observation (MMO) crew was in for a treat today. Just after lunch, we spot a pod of sperm whales. We spotted them off the port side, off the starboard side, and eventually off the bow of the Sette. We frequently see Humpback whales in Hawaii, but sperm whales often evade us. Sperm whales can dive down to extreme depths and they feed on squid. These same squid feed on the micronekton that we are observing during the cruise. Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales. Their enormous size is obvious when they slap the ocean with their giant tails. Another unique characteristic of the sperm whale is their blow hole, which sits to the left rather than on top of the head. This feature allows our MMO team to easily identify them.

Our MMO lead, Ali Bayless, determines that we should take the small boat out for a closer examination of the pod. Within minutes, the small boat and three scientists are in the water following the pod. We think that a calf (baby) is accompanying two of the adult whales. Throughout the next few hours, our small boat is in constant contact with our flying bridge, bridge, and acoustics team to determine the location of the whales. We keep a safe distance from all of the whales, but especially the calf. While on the small boat, MMO scientists also identify spotted and spinner dolphins. We are essentially surrounded by cetaceans. The small boat is just one of the many tools we use to determine what inhabits the ocean. We also use an EK60 sonar, our Remotely Operated Vehicle, our hydrophone, and sonar buoys.

Notice the location of the blow hole on the sperm whale. Photo credit: Ali Bayless
Sperm whale sighting during MMO operations. Photo credit: Eric Mooney
Two adult sperm whales and a calf. Photo credit: Erin Mooney
This sperm whale is about to dive deep to feed. Photo credit: Gadea Perez-Andujar

Our acoustics lead, Adrienne Copeland, is especially excited about our sperm whale sightings. Adrienne is a graduate student in zoology at the University of Hawaii. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science in biology with a minor in math and a certificate in mathematical biology from Washington State University. She has served on the Sette four times and is currently serving her third stint as acoustics lead. This is a testament to her expertise and the respect she has earned within the field.

Adrienne Copeland monitors our acoustics station during our 2014 IEA cruise.
Adrienne Copeland monitors our acoustics station during our 2014 IEA cruise.

Adrienne Copeland studies the foraging behavior of deep diving odontocetes (toothed whales). She shares that some deep diving odontocetes have been known to dive more than 1000 meters. Short finned pilot whales have been observed diving 600-800 meters during the day. During night dives we know they forage at shallower depths on squid and fish. How do we know how deep these mammals dive? Tags placed on these mammals send depth data to scientists. How do we know what marine mammals eat? Scientists are able to examine the stomach contents of mammals who are stranded. Interestingly, scientists know that sperm whales feed on histioteuthis (a type of squid) in the Gulf of Mexico. A 2014 IEA trawl operation brought in one of these squid, which the sperm whales may be targeting for food.

Notice the distinct blue and gray lines toward the top of the screen. These are the think layers of micronekton that migrated up at sunset. The number at the top of the screen expresses the depth to the sea floor.
Notice the distinct blue and gray lines toward the top of the screen. These are the thick layers of micronekton that migrated up at sunset. The number at the top of the screen expresses the depth to the sea floor.

Examine the acoustics screen to the left. Can you identify the gray and blue lines toward the top of the screen? These scattering layers of micronekton ascend and descend depending on the sun. Adrienne is interested in learning how these scattering layers change during whale foraging. Our EK60, Remotely Operated Vehicle, and highly prescribed trawling all allow us to gain a better understanding of the contents of the scattering layers. A greater understanding of whale and micronekton behavior has the potential to lead to more effective conservation practices. All marine mammals are currently protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Sperm Whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Interesting fact from Adrienne: Historical scientists could indeed see the scattering layers on their sonar, but they thought the layers were the ocean floor. Now we know they represent the layers of micronekton, but old habits die hard, so the science community sometimes refers to them as false bottoms.

Live Feed at 543 Meters! 

The ROV prior to deployment.
The ROV prior to deployment.

Our Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) deployment is a success! We deploy the ROV thanks to an effective team of crew members, scientists, and NOAA Corps officers working together. ROV deployment takes place on the port side of the ship. We take our ROV down to approximately 543 meters. We are able to survey with the ROV for a solid five hours. A plethora of team members stop by the eLab to “ooh” and “ahh” over the live feed from the ROV. Excitingly, the ROV is deployed prior to the vertical migration of the micronekton and during the early stages of the ascent. The timing is impeccable because our acoustics team is very curious to know which animals contribute to the thick blue and gray lines on our acoustics screens during the migration. In the ROV live feed, the micronekton are certainly visible. However, because the animals are so small, they almost look like snow falling in front of the ROV camera. Periodically, we can identify squid, larger fish, and jellies.

ROV deployment requires teamwork. These are our winch operators.
Two scientists connect the umbilical and the winch line to ensure our ROV is stable.
Scientist, Eric Mooney, operates our ROV during its deployment using the live feed and the joy stick.

Did you Know? 

Kevin Lewand of the Monterey Bay Aquarium constructs a hyperbaric chamber for marine life on board the Sette.
Kevin Lewand of the Monterey Bay Aquarium constructs a hyperbaric chamber for marine life.

Mini hyperbaric chambers can be used to save fish who are brought to the surface from deep depths. These chambers are often used to assist humans who scuba dive at depths too deep for humans or who do not effectively depressurize when returning to the surface after SCUBA diving. The pressure of the deep water can be life threatening for humans. Too much pressure or too little pressure in the water can be life threatening for marine life, too. Marine life collector, Kevin Lewand, constructed a marine life hyperbaric chamber aboard the Sette. He learned this skill from his mentor. Be sure to say Aloha to him when you visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California.

 

 

 

 

Personal Log

Daily Life Aboard the Sette

Our chief scientist, Dr. Don Kobayashi, examines a specimen after a trawl.
Examining a cookie cutter shark in the wet lab.
Night watch on the Sette.

There is never a dull moment on the ship. Tonight we have ROV operations, squid jigging, acoustics monitoring, and a CTD deployment. We of course can’t forget the fact that our bridge officers are constantly ensuring we are en route to our next location. Tonight’s science operations will most likely end around 05:00 (tomorrow). Crew members work 24/7 and are usually willing to share their expertise or a good story. If they are busy completing a task, they always offer to chat at another time. I find that the more I learn about the Sette, the more I yearn to know. The end of the cruise is just two days away. I am surprised by how quickly my time aboard the ship has passed. I look forward to sharing my new knowledge and amazing experiences with my students and colleagues. I have a strong feeling that my students will want to ask as many questions as I have asked the Sette crew. Aloha and mahalo to the Sette.

 

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Liz Harrington: Introductory Blog, July 25, 2013

NOAA Teacher At Sea
Liz Harrington
Soon to be aboard  NOAA ship Oregon II (NOAA Ship Tracker)
At Sea August 10 – 25, 2013

Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline
Geographical Area of Cruise: Western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico
Date: July 25, 2013

Weather: current conditions from Morrisville-Stowe State Airport
Sunny
Lat. 44.53°  Lon.- 72.61°
Temp.  64°F (18° C)
Humidity 54%
Wind speed   3 mph
Barometer  30.16 in (1021.3mb)
Visibility  10.00 mi

Personal Log:

Mt. Mansfield
Mt. Mansfield

Greetings from Vermont, the Green Mountain State.  My name is Liz Harrington and I live in Cambridge, VT.  Cambridge is a small town at the foot of Mount Mansfield, our state’s tallest mountain with a peak of 4395 feet (1340 meters).  Ok, the Green Mountains aren’t as big as the Rockies, but they provide us with recreational opportunities, wildlife habitat and scenic beauty. We love them.   I am a science teacher at Essex High School in Essex Junction, VT.   Currently I am teaching Earth Science and Forensics.  I also help teach a Belize Field Study class.

Essex High School
Essex High School

My teaching career has worked out perfectly for me.  After graduating from UConn with an Animal Science degree, I married and raised four wonderful children.  As they grew, I returned to school to earn my teacher certification in secondary science education.  When my youngest went to kindergarten, I began teaching part time at Essex High School. I had the best of both worlds.  It was during these first few years of teaching that I heard about NOAA’s Teacher at Sea (TAS) program.  I immediately knew I wanted to be involved in the program, but it required being a full time teacher.  A few years ago my teaching became full time.  I applied to TAS, was accepted and will be aboard the NOAA ship Oregon II this summer.  I’m thrilled!

I have always had a close connection with the ocean as I grew up on the shore of southeastern Connecticut.  I spent many hours swimming off the docks or climbing out onto the rocks to crab.  I also did lots of fishing and boating, but I took the ocean for granted.  I didn’t realize how much I would miss it when I moved away.  I am fortunate that my parents still live at the shore and my children have had the opportunity to create their own ocean experiences.  And it is always an amazing sight to see their Vermont friends encounter the sounds, smells, textures and activities of the ocean for the first time!

CT shore
Recent visit to the Connecticut shore.
Belize
Belize class trip

The Belize Field Study class has a culminating ten day trip to Belize.  The first four days are spent exploring the coral reefs and learning more about issues concerning the reef.  Some of the students snorkel and some of them scuba dive, but either way they are able to explore the underwater world.  Here, again, I am able to bring students to the ocean and I love to see their excitement, interest and concern.  The ocean’s fate will soon be in their generation’s hands and these personal connections make a difference.

Belize sunset
Belize sunset

Science and Technology Log:

The Oregon II is a NOAA ship which supports the programs of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).  The ship conducts studies at various times of the year on organisms such as ground fish, sharks, plankton, reef fish and marine mammals.  I will be joining a Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline Survey.  We will be sailing from Mayport, Florida and spending two weeks in the Gulf of Mexico.  The trip will end in the home port of Pascagoula, Mississippi. I am honored at having been chosen as a Teacher at Sea.  I can’t wait to be working with the scientists and crew aboard the Oregon II and participating in real scientific research.  I’m also looking forward to sharing my experiences with my students and bringing new topics into the classroom.  Through this trip I’m hoping they can make connections to the ocean as well.  I’ll be sharing my adventures a few times a week with this blog.  I hope you will follow along.

Oregon II
NOAA ship Oregon II

 

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Avery Marvin: Beaming With Excitement – Sound Waves and the Sea Floor, July 19, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Avery Marvin
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier (Ship Tracker)
July 8-25, 2013 

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Shumagin Islands, Alaska
Date: July 19, 2013

Current Location: 54° 49.684 N, 159° 46.604 W

Weather Data from the Bridge: Foggy and overcast, wind 21 knots, air temperature: 11.5° C

Science and Technology Log:

As the fog horn sounds every two minutes and we sail solitary through the ocean, we are now in full swing surveying the Shumagin Islands, between and around Nagai, Bird, and Chernabura Islands. Unlike the old-time surveyors who used lead lines (lead weight attached to a long string), we are using a multibeam sonar system, which enables us to gather a large quantity of very accurate data in a more efficient and timely fashion.

3D sea floor
Processed sonar data showing 3D image of the sea floor.

Sonar, (SOund Navigation And Ranging) uses the principle of sound wave reflection to detect objects in the water. Just as our eyes see the reflection of visible light off of the objects around us to create a visual image, when a sound wave hits something, it reflects off that “thing” and returns to its starting point (the receiver). We can measure the time it takes for a pulse to travel from the Sonar device below the boat to the ocean floor and then back to the receiver on the boat. Using a simple distance=speed * time equation, we can get the water depth at the spot where each beam is reflected.

The skiff that we use for the shoreline activities discussed in the last post has a single-beam sonar system that directs a pulse straight down beneath the hull to get a rough depth estimate. However, for our hydrographic work on the ship and launches, we use a multibeam system that sends 512 sound pulses simultaneously towards the sea floor over a 120° angle. When many sound waves or “beams” are emitted at the same time (called a pulse) in a fan like pattern (called a swath), the reflected information creates a “sound picture” of the objects or surface within that swath range. The actual width of this swath varies with the depth, but with 512 beams per pulse, and sending out between 5-30 pulses every second, we acquire a lot of data. If you piece together many swaths worth of data you get a continuous topographical or physical map of the ocean floor, and thus the depth of the water. For more information about the specific sonar system used aboard the Rainier and its launches, check out the ship page or the NOAA page about their hydrography work.

Multibeam
Graphic showing an example of the multibeam swath below a launch. Notice how the swath gets wider as the depth increases.
Multibeam data
Cross section of sea floor data showing dot or “ping” for each multibeam measurement. Notice how many individual measurements are represented in this one section.
Swath data
Cross section of sea floor data. Each color represents data from one swath. Notice the overlap between swaths as well as the width for each one.
3D floor image
Processed sonar data showing 3D image of the sea floor.

In order to understand the complexities of sonar, it is important to understand the properties of sound. Sound is a pressure wave that travels when molecules collide with each other. We know that sound can travel in air, because we experience this every day when we talk to each other, but it can also travel in liquids and solids (which whales rely on to communicate). As a general rule, sound travels much faster in liquids and solids than in air because the molecules in liquids and solids are closer together and therefore collide more often, passing on the vibration at a faster rate. (The average speed of sound in air is about 343 meters every second, whereas the approximate speed of sound in water we have been measuring is around 1475 meters every second). Within a non-uniform liquid, like saltwater, the speed of sound varies depending on the various properties of the saltwater at the survey site. These properties include water temperature, dissolved impurities (i.e. salts, measured by salinity), and pressure. An increase in any of these properties leads to an increase in the speed of sound, and since we’re using the equation distance = speed * time equation, it is crucial to consistently measure them when seeking depth measurements.

CTD Data
Data from CTD showing temperature vs. sound speed from one data set. Notice how the temperature and sound speed seem correlated.

To measure these properties, a device called a CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) is used. Conductivity in this acronym refers to the free flowing ions in salt water (Na and Cl, for example), which are conductive and the concentration of these ions determines the salinity of the water. The CTD measures these three properties (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth) so the speed of sound in the water can be calculated at every point in the water column

To use the CTD, lovely humans like Avery and I will drop it into the water (it is attached to a winch system) at the area where we are surveying and as it travels to the sea floor, it takes a profile of the three saltwater properties mentioned before. Back in the computer lab, software takes this profile data and calculates the sound velocity or speed of sound through the water in that region.  As a crosscheck, we compare our profile data and sound velocity figures obtained at the site to historical measured limits for each property. If our measurements fall significantly outside of these historical values, we might try casting again or switch to a different CTD. However, because we are surveying in such a remote area, in some cases, data outside historical limits is acceptable.

CTD graphs
Graph of our sound speed vs. depth data showing comparison to historical data.

Given that we are trying to determine the water depth to within centimeters, variations in the sound speed profile can cause substantial enough errors that we try to take a “cast” or CTD reading in each small area that we are gathering data. The software the survey team uses is able to correct automatically for the sound velocity variations by using the data from the CTD. This means that the depth profile created by the sonar systems is adjusted based on the actual sound velocities (from the CTD data) rather than the surface sound speed. We are also able to account for speed changes that would cause refraction, or a bending of the beam as it travels, which would otherwise provide inaccurate data about the location of the sea floor.

Avery lowers the CTD into the water for a "cast". The CTD needs to sit in the water for a few minutes to acclimate before being lowered for a profile.
Avery lowers the CTD into the water for a “cast”. The CTD needs to sit in the water for a few minutes to acclimate before being lowered for a profile.
Avery successfully hauls in the CTD out of the water.
Avery successfully hauls in the CTD out of the water.

Personal Log:

You can’t go to Alaska without fishing its waters, rich with a variety of delectable fish species.  So I decided to get my Alaskan recreation fishing license and try my hand at it on the fantail (stern) of the Rainier, while we were anchored in Bird Island cove. Carl VerPlanck, an experienced fisherman with arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger, had coached me on the best jigging techniques for catching a halibut and with my eyes (and mind) on the prize I followed his instructions diligently.  It paid off as I landed several fish my first night on the fantail, with one halibut being a true keeper. John Kidd, NOAA Corps. Officer, gaffed my meaty fish over the steep rail of the Rainier and hauled it aboard.  He was impressed with my catch (and hidden fishing talent), stating “This is the biggest fish caught so far this season.” Woohoo! Most impressive was the amount of meat the fish yielded (4 large filets) which I proudly donated to the kitchen and John. (Three big filets to the kitchen and one filet to John for his camaraderie, the use of his high-tech rod set-up and filleting skills). The following night, we all ate delicious baked Pacific Halibut filets, coated in a creamy Caesar glaze, prepared by chef-extraordinaire, Kathy. It’s pretty cool that I got to feed the ship!!

Avery's meaty catch, a Pacific Halibut.
Avery’s meaty catch, a Pacific Halibut.
John Kidd (NOAA Officer) filleting my halibut
John Kidd (NOAA Corps. Officer) filleting my halibut
Look at all that meat!
Look at all that meat!
4 large fillets from the halibut
4 large fillets from the halibut

This was my first time catching a halibut and after close examination (and dissection) of this large, rather bizarre looking flatfish I became very intrigued and had several questions: How and why do the eyes migrate to one side?  How do you tell the age of a halibut? What does the word “halibut” mean?

Like any good scientist, I proceeded to find the answers to these questions, and in doing so, learned many more interesting tidbits about Halibut. (The other species of halibut is the Atlantic Halibut which is very similar to the Pacific Halibut and is named as such for the ocean it occupies.)

So lets start with the name “halibut.” It’s origin is Latin (hali=haly=holy, but=butt=flat fish) and literally translates to “holy flat fish” because it was popular on Catholic holy days. Now what’s with the eye migration and why are both eyes on the same side? Well to understand this question thoroughly we must look at the conditions under which the halibut is born. Female halibut are sexually mature at age 12, spawning from November to March in deep water (300-1500 feet). Depending on their size, females release several thousand to several million eggs which are fertilized externally by the males. After the eggs are fertilized by the males, they become buoyant and start to float up the water column, hatching into free floating larva at about 16 days.  As the larva mature, they continue to rise to the surface. At this larval stage they are upright, like any other “regular” fish, with one eye on each side of their head. This eye placement makes sense, considering they are in the open ocean with water on all sides of them.  When at or near the surface, the larvae drift towards shore by ocean currents. As they get closer to shore and at about 1 inch in length, they undergo a very unique metamorphosis in which the left eye moves over the snout to the right side of the head. At the same time their left side fades in color eventually becoming white and their right side becomes a mottled olive-brown color. By 6 months, they are ready to settle to the bottom in near shore areas, hiding under the silt and sand, with just eyes exposed. Their mottled side will be face up, blending into their surrounds and their white side will face down, creating a “countershading” coloration, which helps keep them hidden from predators.

From halibut larvae to adult halibut. Notice the migration of the left eye to the right side and the pigmentation at the last stage.
Halibut development: from halibut larvae to adult halibut. Notice the migration of the left eye to the right side and the pigmentation at the last stage.

The Pacific Halibut I caught was by no means a monster or “barn door” as the huge ones are called. But it also was not a “chicken”, slang for a small halibut. Female halibut can reach lengths of 8 feet and a weight of 500+ pounds. Males rarely exceed 100 pounds.  Halibut are generally not picky eaters and will pretty much eat anything that lives in the ocean.  Carl joked that a halibut would even eat an old shoe dangling from a fishing pole.

I was surprised to learn that halibut can live as long as 55 years.  Scientists can accurately age a halibut by counting the rings in their ear bone or “otolith”, similar to dating a tree using its annual growth rings. So next time you catch a halibut and plan on keeping it, try to find the ear bone, grab a microscope and age the fish. If that fails, don’t forget to cut the cheeks out of the halibut (along with the 4 regular meaty fillets), for I am told that is the best part to eat. 🙂

Halibut otolith or ear bone that can be used to age the fish by counting the rings under a microscope
Halibut otolith or ear bone that can be used to age the fish by counting the rings on the otolith (under a microscope).

Fun factoid: Sonar works a lot like the echo sounding of a bat, and its development was partially prompted by the Titanic disaster.

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Jennifer Petro: Getting Ready to Set Sail, July 1, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jennifer Petro
Aboard NOAA ship Pisces
July 1 – July 14, 2013

Mission: Marine Protected Area Survey
Geographic Area of Cruise: South Atlantic United States
Date:  July 1, 2013

Weather Data:
Air temperature: 28 Degrees C (82 Degrees F)
Barometer: 1013.1 mb
Humidity: 74%
Wind direction: SW
Wind speed: 11.29 knots
Water temp: 29.6 C
Latitude: 30.39°N
Longitude: 81.43°W

Science and Technology Log

Hello from aboard NOAA ship  Pisces.  We are gearing up to set sail so I will take this opportunity to introduce myself before we get underway!  My name is Jennifer Petro and I am an 8th grade Science Teacher at Everitt Middle School in Panama City , Florida.  I am particularly excited about this mission as I am working alongside scientists from the NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Lab located on Panama City Beach.  I will also be working with scientist from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute as well as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The focus of this mission is to survey fish and invertebrate populations in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) from Florida to North Carolina.  We will also be doing mapping of new areas to determine future MPAs.

The scientist have been busy setting up and calibrating their equipment.  We will be using an ROV, Remotely Operated (underwater) Vehicle, to view the MPAs.  There are several cameras attached to the ROV which the scientist will use to identify and count species.  There are many feet of wire and cables being set up in the dry lab.

DSCF1919
NOAA Scientists Stacey Harter and Stephanie Farrington setting up equipment for ROV dives during our Marine Protected Area surveys.

Personal Log

Currently we are still at port and are scheduled to set sail in a few hours.  The Pisces is a rather comfortable vessel.  We arrived yesterday afternoon so I already have one night’s sleep on board under my belt.  I imagine things will change when we are out at sea, but for the moment she is gently swaying in port.  I share a room with one of the scientists and we in turn share a bathroom.  Pretty great so far! The Pisces is currently moored at NAS in Mayport , FL and is dwarfed in size to all of the naval vessels that surround her!

DSCF1922
NOAA Ship Pisces
NOAA ship Pisces
NOAA ship Pisces

Today’s post is going to be rather short.  My excitement is definitely building.  we set sail in just about an hour so my next post will be from sea!

Fair weather and calm seas to all.

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Elizabeth Nyman: Tropical Storm Andrea Edition, June 6, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elizabeth Nyman
Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
May 28 – June 7, 2013

Mission: SEAMAP Reef Fish Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: June 6, 2013

Weather Data:
Wind Speed: 19.97 knots
Surface Water Temperature: 27.78 degrees Celsius
Air Temperature: 28.40 degrees Celsius
Barometric Pressure: 1010.40 mb

Science and Technology Log

The Pisces is on its way to port, having had to suspend operations in wake of the bad weather that has since become Tropical Storm Andrea. We were supposed to go into Mayport Naval Base, right outside of Jacksonville, FL, but due to the storm we have been redirected to Port Canaveral.

Ocean
It’s been pretty rough out there! (Picture courtesy Ariane Frappier)

Despite all of this, we made the best of a bad situation. Even though we couldn’t do fishing or camera drops yesterday, we did still manage to get some data. We spent as much time as we could mapping the seafloor before we had to dodge the storm, and we took the time in the morning to do an XBT, an Expendable Bathythermograph.

You can use an XBT to get a temperature and depth reading for the water without having to actually stop the ship. A tube with a probe on it is attached to a launcher and is fired into the water. The probe has copper wire attached to it to send the data back to the ship.

So…you drop the probe, you get the readings, and at least you get some data even if you can’t stop the ship to send more delicate equipment down.

XBT
Launching probe…

Other than that, the past couple of days have been all about cleanup and dodging the storm. To a certain extent that makes the scientific posts a little quieter than usual, but it’s been a very interesting experience watching everyone work together to make sure that the scientists could get as much work done as possible without endangering the ship or its crew.

We didn’t get to do everything that we wanted to do on this leg of the trip, unfortunately. But we still got a lot accomplished, and I feel like it was just as interesting to see how everyone was able to react to the weather and still get their job done.

Personal Log

Whew! I didn’t imagine when I got on the Pisces in Tampa that I’d spend the last bit of the trip dodging the first named Tropical Storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. But I definitely have a greater appreciation that, with science as in all things, sometimes life does not go quite to plan.

If all goes to schedule, I will be leaving the Pisces tonight, for our detour into Port Canaveral. We had to stop working a day early, and we’ll end up arriving a day early and into a different port. My last day has mostly been spent trying to rearrange for my travel home from a new city and with assisting the science crew in cleaning up the lab spaces.

All data collection requires a certain amount of flexibility. I knew that already – social science data is notoriously difficult to collect – but the problems that I face in my work are quite different from these. When international relations scholars have trouble with data, it’s usually because of things like difficulties in getting governments and/or people to tell the truth, etc. But sometimes, as now, it’s because conditions make it unsafe to collect the data. We can’t send people into shooting wars to count casualties, and we can’t send scientists into a hurricane to count fish.

Science is a method, not a subject, and the scientific method is one wherein we all simply do our best with what we have. Science has been so profoundly influential because of the simple power of this process, testing over and over what we think to be true, so that we can learn if we are wrong. It’s true if you study fish, if you study policy, or if you study anything in between.

There are many things we’ve discovered about our oceans, and the fish and other creatures that inhabit them. But there are still many more things to learn. I’m glad that we have scientists like the ones I met on the Pisces out looking for our fish, and glad that NOAA, in conjunction with states and other government agencies like the Coast Guard, are looking out for our oceans.

My thanks go out to the entire crew of the Pisces, and the great people at the Teacher at Sea program, for letting me be a part of the process.

Did You Know?

NOAA is predicting a highly active hurricane season for the Atlantic this year. Stay safe!

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Elizabeth Nyman: First Day at Sea, May 28, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elizabeth Nyman
Aboard NOAA Ship Pisces
May 28 – June 7, 2013

Mission: SEAMAP Reef Fish Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Gulf of Mexico
Date: May 28, 2013

Weather Data:
Surface Water Temperature: 23.84 degrees Celsius
Air Temperature: 23.90 degrees Celsius
Barometric Pressure: 1017.8 mb

Science and Technology Log

So I’ve known for about two months or so that I was going to be taking part in one leg of an ongoing reef fishery survey. I even had an idea that it involved surveying fish that lived on reefs. But after our first full day at sea, and many hours of helping take part in the scientific work, I now begin to understand how exactly one surveys reef fish.

There’s a couple of different things that the scientific crew is doing to observe and understand the reef fish population. First, there is an ongoing video recording process throughout the day, from just after sunrise to just before sunset. For this, the ship and scientific crew lower a large, 600 pound camera array off of the starboard side of the ship. The cameras will go and sit on the sea floor and record all the fish that pass in front of it, for a total recording time of 25 minutes. After this time has passed, plus a little extra time, the cameras are pulled back up, the recordings are downloaded, we move to a different spot and the process begins again.

Underwater Camera Array
Hauling the camera array back on deck. I said it was big, didn’t I?

The video is reviewed the next day. Since this is our first day at sea, I didn’t get much of a chance to see any reef fishery footage, though I’m told that’s on the agenda for tomorrow. What I spent most of my time doing was helping out with another part of the survey process, something called the bandit reels. They’re used for good old-fashioned hook and line fishing.

Bandit Reel
It looks like a nice day to go fishing, huh?

There are three bandit reels on the Pisces, and each one can hold 10 fishing hooks. Each reel has different sized hooks, and the hook sizes are changed every drop. The line has a weight at the bottom to bring the hooks down to the sea floor, which have been baited with mackerel bits. After five minutes, the line is reeled back in, and you have fish…or you don’t.

My first drop, which had the biggest hooks, had a whole bunch of nothing. As did everyone else’s, though, so it wasn’t a testament to my poor fishing skills.

The second drop, however, was luckier.

Eel on hook.
I caught a moray eel!

A spotted moray eel! I was excited, anyway. But morays aren’t one of the fish that we’re looking for out here, so it wasn’t a particularly useful catch.

Our third drop was the most successful. Our bandit reel hauled in seven fish, one of whom got away (the biggest one, of course, one the size of a killer whale…yeah, just kidding!). The other six were brought into the wet lab, where they joined the other fish caught on that drop and would be measured and dissected.

Fish on a measuring board.
We caught a big one!

The fish are measured three different ways. The first, by total length, examines exactly that, the total length of the fish from the nose all the way to the tip of the tail. The second measure goes from the nose to the fork in the tail, so it’s a shorter distance. The third, standard length, goes from the nose to just before the tail fin, where the fish’s vertebrae end, and is the shortest of all. They’re also weighed at this time as well.

After that, we start cutting into the fish. Two things are of interest here: the ear bone and the sex organs. The ear bones are removed from each fish, because they can be tested to determine the age of the fish. The sex organs will reveal gender, obviously, but also are examined to see how fertile each specimen is. We don’t do this kind of analysis on the ship, however. The ear bones and sex organs are sent back to the NOAA lab in Panama City, Florida, where they will conduct all those tests.

Personal Log

The best part of my first day at sea was definitely the ship safety drills.

Wait, what?

No, seriously.  The absolute highlight of this one was my chance to try on what’s known as the Gumby suit. The Gumby suit is a nickname for a immersion survival suit – if we have to abandon ship and float around in the water, the suit will protect us from the elements. Now, we’re down here in the Gulf of Mexico, so that seems a little crazy, but think about how you’d feel if you were stuck in the water for hours on end. In really cold waters, that suit may be the difference between life and death.

The drills are important, and they’re mandated for a reason. In an emergency, all of this stuff can save lives.

Why do I like the drills so much? We’re required to have safety drills by law, and so as someone who studies and teaches international law, I always enjoy taking part in these things. It’s a chance to see the stuff in action that I talk about in class. And that’s kind of what this program is all about – the chance to experience things firsthand as opposed to just having to read about them.

Gumby suit
I guess you kind of have to take my word for it, but that’s me in there.

Did You Know?

You’re supposed to be able to put on a Gumby suit in under a minute. They wouldn’t do much good if they took too long to put on.

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Bill Lindquist: Petersburg–Completing the Journey, May 19, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Bill Lindquist
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier
May 6-16, 2013

Mission: Hydrographic surveys between Ketchikan and Petersburg, Alaska
Date: May 19, 2013

Weather at port. Taken at 1600 (4:00 in the afternoon)
Latitude: 56.8044° N
Longitude: 132.9419° W
Overcast skies with intermittent rain
Wind from the SW at 6 knots
Air temperature 7.2° C

Log: Petersburg: Completing the journey

No Teacher at Sea journey would be complete without immersing oneself in the people whose lives are dependent on that sea. Such an opportunity presented itself as we made port at Petersburg, the town that was “built on fish” (Little Norway Festival Pageant). We pulled into Petersburg during the annual “Little Norway” cultural festival held over Syttende Mai weekend celebrating the signing of Norway’s constitution. Since 1958, Petersburg has celebrated this powerful conjunction of Norwegian heritage and the vital role of fish and the fishing industry.

Alaska's Little Norway
Alaska’s Little Norway
The Little Norway Pageant
The Little Norway Pageant