Tag: transect

Posted on

Jennifer Fry, July 27, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jennifer Fry
Onboard NOAA Ship Miller Freeman (tracker)
July 14 – 29, 2009 

Mission: 2009 United States/Canada Pacific Hake Acoustic Survey
Geographical area of cruise: North Pacific Ocean from Monterey, CA to British Columbia, CA.
Date: July 27, 2009

The CTD, resembling a giant wedding cake constructed of painted steel, measures the composition of the water, salinity, temperature, oxygen levels, and water pressure.
The CTD, resembling a giant wedding cake constructed of painted steel, measures the composition of the water, salinity, temperature, oxygen levels, and water pressure.

Weather Data from the Bridge 
Wind speed: 13 knots
Wind direction: 003°from the north
Visibility: clear
Temperature: 13.6°C (dry bulb); 13.2°C (wet bulb)
Sea water temperature: 15.1°C
Wave height: 1-2 ft.
Swell direction: 325°
Swell height: 4-6 ft.

Science and Technology Log 

Each night beginning at around 9:00 p.m. or 21:00, if you refer to the ship’s clock, Dr. Steve Pierce begins his research of the ocean. He is a Physical Oceanographer and this marks his 11th year of conducting CTD, Conductivity, Temperature, and Density tests.

It takes 24 readings per second as it sinks to the seafloor. The CTD only records data as it sinks, insuring the instruments are recording data in undisturbed waters. For the past 11 years Dr. Pierce and his colleagues have been studying density of water by calculating temperature and salinity in different areas of the ocean. By studying the density of water, it helps to determine ocean currents. His data helps us examine what kind of ocean conditions in which the hake live. Using prior data, current CTD data, and acoustic Doppler current profiler, a type of sonar, Dr. Pierce is trying to find a deep water current flowing from south to north along the west coast.  This current may have an effect on fish, especially a species like hake.

This map illustrates part of the area of the hake survey.
This map illustrates part of the area of the hake survey.

Dr. Steve Pierce reminds us, “None of this research is possible without math. Physical oceanography is a cool application of math.” Another testing instrument housed on the CTD apparatus is the VPR, Visual Plankton Recorder.  It is an automatic camera that records plankton, microscopic organisms, at various depths.  The scientists aboard the Miller Freeman collect data about plankton’s feeding habits, diurnal migration, and their position in the water column.  Diurnal migration is when plankton go up and down the water column to feed at different times of day (see illustration below).  Plankton migration patterns vary depending on the species.The scientists aboard the Miller Freeman followed the east to west transect lines conducting fishing trawls. The first one produced 30 small hake averaging 5 inches in length.  The scientists collected marine samples by weighing and measuring them.

Dr. Steve Pierce at his work station and standing next to the CTD on a bright sunny day in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
Dr. Steve Pierce at his work station and standing next to the CTD on a bright sunny day in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
This illustration depicts the diurnal migration of plankton.
This illustration depicts the diurnal migration of plankton.

Personal Log 

It was extremely foggy today.  We traversed through the ocean evading many obstacles including crab and fishing buoys and other small boats.  Safety is the number one concern on the Miller Freeman. The NOAA Corps Officers rigorously keep the ship and passengers out of harm’s way.  I am grateful to these dedicated men and women.  LTjg Jennifer King, marine biologist and NOAA Corps officer says, “Science helps understand natural process: how things grow and how nature works. We need to protect it.  Science shows how in an ecosystem, everything depends on one another.”

Posted on

Rebecca Himschoot, July 4, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Rebecca Himschoot
Onboard NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
June 21 – July 10, 2007

Mission: Summer Pollock Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific Ocean, Unalaska
Date: July 4, 2007

Weather Data from Bridge 
Visibility: less than 1 nm (nautical miles)
Wind direction: variable
Wind speed:  light
Sea wave height: 4 feet
Swell wave height: 2-3 feet
Seawater temperature: 7.6°C
Sea level pressure: 1020.4 mb (millibars)
Cloud cover: stratus

US Fish and Wildlife Service seabird observer, Tamara Mills
US Fish and Wildlife Service seabird observer, Tamara Mills

Science and Technology Log: Special Studies 

Bird observer Tamara Mills has to keep track of many things.  From her post on the bridge of the OSCAR DYSON, Tamara locates and identifies multiple species of seabirds around the ship, and then records the information to be entered in the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD). She identifies and counts the many fulmars, murres, kittiwakes and other seabirds that are within 300 meters of the ship, often using binoculars to help correctly identify each bird before she records it. As the data are entered into the database, the computer automatically records the GPS location of the ship.

Tamara is a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, but she’s sailing on the NOAA research vessel OSCAR DYSON in order to add data to the NPPSD.  Seabird observations are frequently done in the nesting colonies, but the colonies are where the birds spend the least of their time.  In fact, roughly half of all seabirds may not be nesting in a given year, so that they would never be seen or counted in a land-based survey.  USFWS has therefore collaborated with other agencies to place observers, like Tamara, on “vessels of opportunity,” or research vessels where seabirds can be monitored and counted. USFWS seabird observers can be found on Coast Guard vessels, on NOAA ships, and on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s own research vessel. 

A northern fulmar photographed by Tamara on board the OSCAR DYSON
A northern fulmar photographed by Tamara on board the OSCAR DYSON

Along with counting seabirds, Tamara is also logging marine mammal sightings.  In 2006 USFWS seabird observers spent 168 days at sea and completed 14, 263 km of survey transects in the Bering Sea, some areas of the Gulf of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. In all this work they spotted 69 species of seabirds and 16 species of marine mammals.  Until this recent work, no information had been added to the NPPSD since the 1970’s and 1980’s.

“We want to get an up-to-date picture of what’s really out there,” Tamara said. “These data could be useful in studying climate change or in the event of an oil spill. It may also be possible to link what we’re finding in the bird surveys to the acoustic fish information that’s being collected, and we might then be able to correlate the types of birds we see and their densities when certain kinds of fish are present.”

Personal Log 

The Bering Sea was calm today!! We actually had some sun and were able to trawl and process without hanging on to railings and tables and such.  Tomorrow we should head for our final transect, and we have nearly collected the minimum number of otoliths we set out to, so the cruise is beginning to wind down.  We have plans for an Independence Day barbecue if the weather cooperates later in the day.

Question of the Day

Answer to yesterday’s question (What is conductivity?): Conductivity is the measure of the ability of a solution to carry an electrical current, and is used to measure salinity. 

Posted on

Elsa Stuber, June 9, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elsa Stuber
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II
June 4 – 9, 2007

Mission: Collecting Time Series of physical, chemical and biological data to document spatial and temporal pattern in the California Current System
Geographical Area: U.S. West Coast
Date: June 9, 2007

Science and Technology Log 

Up at 06:00 and arrived in San Francisco @ 08:00  Unloaded equipment, mostly by winch onto truck; cleaned quarters and wet and dry labs.

In preparing my report I have included the data from the casts I worked on. As they were a dollar each to reproduce at Kinkos, I decided to only include those four-colored graphs for beam transmission, depth, salinity, and temperature that illustrate different types of locations, near shore or at sea of varying depths. These graphs certainly show the increase in salinity with depth and the falling of temperature with depth.  They show the inverse relationship between the beam transmission and fluorescence. Compare Table 3, Table 6, Table 7, and Table 9 that are from very different depths. There is a lot of information here for my students to analyze.

This has been a stimulating learning experience.  My students like most high school students are not near the ocean, maybe have never been to an ocean.  I think sharing this first hand experience along with the pictures and doing demonstrations of our work and showing the data collected will open a perspective in their minds about the ocean.  They will realize from the chlorophyll analysis and fluorescence the narrow level of the bottom of the food chain. This will bring home the concern for the protection of the health of the biotic life in our oceans.  I intend to do a mock set up of our lab procedures and have them brainstorm how experimental error could be introduced.  This should reinforce the importance of careful procedure in any scientific work.

The scientific staff on this cruise has been exceptional in willing to share their knowledge and, even when we were all tired, to answer my many, many questions about each individuals work in oceanography.  I have found them to be conscientious scientists very interested, stimulated in their work. Some have given me pictures.  Several have done extended work in Antarctica, which was particularly interesting to me. As well, the MBARI staff was very supportive as the other Teacher At Sea and I were learning procedures for our work. It felt good to see how cooperative, flexible they all were with one another no matter how long the days.  I wish we could have been able to go to the MBARI lab this coming week to see how the work continues there.  I intend to go on line and read more about their research and research findings. This will be something to investigate and follow with my students and extending their understanding of the oceans and the oceanographers’ work.

Posted on

Elsa Stuber, June 8, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elsa Stuber
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II
June 4 – 9, 2007

Mission: Collecting Time Series of physical, chemical and biological data to document spatial and temporal pattern in the California Current System
Geographical Area: U.S. West Coast
Date: June 8, 2007

Weather from the Bridge 
Visibility: clear
Wind direction 282 NW
Wind speed: 18.9 knots
Sea wave height: 3-5 feet
Sea temperature: 10.5 C
Air temperature: 13.5 C
Sea level pressure: 1013.36
Cloud cover: 100 % status clouds

Science and Technology Log 

Wind woke me up at 06:00, boat rolling.  Early morning 03:00—05:00 winds were 30 knots. Casts 31, 32, and 33 processed by other teams.

Cast 34 @ 09:24 Station H3  Latitude 36.44117 N  Longitude 122.01108 W Cast depth 1000 meters CTD cylinders tripped at 1000, 200, 150, 100, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, 0 meters Samples processed and stored.  Data for cast is Table 16 at the end of the report.  Worked on chlorophyll analysis with flurometer.

Cast 35 @ 11:47 Station C1  Latitude 36.478487N  Longitude 121.508392 W Cast depth 225 meters CTD cylinders tripped at 225, 200,. 150, 100, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, 0 meters Samples processed and stored.  Data for cast is Table 17 at the end of the report. I worked on chlorophyll analysis off and on throughout the day.

The HyperPro instrument to measure light up to 40 meters depth in the water has been tested at mid-day each day.  One tube is pointed down and opposite tube is pointed up sensing light levels. A third tube is strapped to the railing registering light levels at all times.  Seechi was used during the daylight hours as well. MBARI staff gave us some Styrofoam cups, two sizes, to decorate as we wanted using different permanent colored markers.  We put all of them in a mesh laundry bag and attached it to a 1000-meter depth cast.  When they came back up they had shrunk to 1/6th of the original size. It demonstrates the amount of air in the Styrofoam, which should be a good illustration for my students.

Wildlife observations: humpback whales, dolphins, sea gulls, cormorants, sooty shearwaters, and albatross. Kathryn said the sooty shearwater cannot take off from the ground very well. This bird will climb up the trunk of a tree a ways and take off from there. They will wear the bark down going up a path on the tree.  She hoped we would see a Yaeger bird, a bird that chases other birds that have been feeding, making them drop their food. That’s how the Yaeger feeds. It is very aggressive she said in pursuing other birds.

Moved to an area in Monterey Bay where whales had been sighted.  Saw five at a distance of half a mile, sometimes a fin, but mostly the whale’s spout from the blowhole.

Packing up equipment so ready to unload early tomorrow in San Francisco.

Each day the plan of the day is posted by the FOO.  I include an example at the end of the report.

We did extra stations as we are ahead of schedule.   Cast 36 @23:58 nutrients only. Final station done by Troy, nutrients only at 03:00 June 9, 2007

Bed at 01:00 June 9th

Posted on

Elsa Stuber, June 7, 2007

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Elsa Stuber
Onboard NOAA Ship McArthur II
June 4 – 9, 2007

Mission: Collecting Time Series of physical, chemical and biological data to document spatial and temporal pattern in the California Current System
Geographical Area: U.S. West Coast
Date: June 7, 2007

Weather from the Bridge 
Visibility: clear
Wind direction: NW
Sea wave height: 5-8 ft.
Sea temperature: 12.79 C
Air temperature: 14.7 C
Swell wave: 5-8 ft.
Sea Level pressure: 1016.
Cloud cover: partly cloudy

Science and Technology Log 

Up at 06:30. Breakfast and watched with mammal observer on flying bridge.  Saw a few albatross. Very rough water, windy, cold.

Cast 21, 22 and 23 taken by other teams.

Cast 24 @ 08:55 Station 67-75 Latitude  35.5749N Longitude 123.504491 W Cast depth 1000 meters CTD cylinders tripped at 1000, 2000, 150, 100, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, 0 meters Very windy. Data for cast is Table 12 at the end of the report

Cast 25 @ 11:35 Station NPS 5 Latitude  36.026137 N  Longitude 123.400087 W   Cast depth 1000 meters CTD cylinders tripped at 1000, 900, 800, 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50, 0 meters Nutrient samples only taken at this cast.  Data for cast is Table 13 at the end of the report.  Very windy (23 knots)

Spent time again on the flying bridge with mammal observer.  She said on the Beaufort Scale winds above 4 one doesn’t expect to see wildlife out in the ocean. Beaufort scale today is “5”.

Casts 26, 27, and 28 ( wind 26 knots) processed by other teams.

Cast 29 @ 21:27 Station NPS 3 Latitude 36.22583N Longitude 122.57275 W Cast depth 1000 meters CTD cylinders tripped at 1000,900, 800, 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50, 0 meters Nutrients samples only collected at this cast. Very windy (wind 22 knots) and water is rough. Data for cast is Table 14 at the end of the report. Worked on chlorophyll analysis.

Took photos of some of the net tow specimen jars to show the extreme of near shore and out at sea differences in material.  Specimens observed today–some shrimp, a few jellyfish, a squid, pteropods, heteropods.  There is not the large amount of krill as observed in the net tow collections closer to shore.

Cast 30 @ 23:37 Station 67-60  Latitude  36.275608 N  Longitude 122.466380 W Cast depth 1000 meters CTD cylinders tripped at 1000, 200, 150, 100, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, 0 meters Very windy (23 knots) Samples processed and stored Data for cast is Table 15 at the end of the report.

Bed 01:00 June 8th