turtle excluder device – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

June 7, 2023June 7, 2023

Kiersten Newtoff: I Got on a Boat! Just, Not my Boat, June 7, 2023

NOAA Teacher ~~at Sea~~ on Land

Kiersten Newtoff

Hanging Out In: Biloxi & Pascagoula, Mississippi

June 1 – June 7, 2023

Date: June 7, 2023

So, here was the plan:

Fly in to Gulfport, MS on Thursday, June 1. Stay the night.
Head to the Oregon II in Pascagoula, MS on Friday, June 2 and stay the night aboard.
Sail out on Saturday, June 3 and be at sea for 2 weeks working on a groundfish survey.

And here’s what really happened:

Fly in to Gulfport, MS on Thursday, June 1. Stay the night.
Get an email on Friday that essential personnel were unable to sail and that we were in a “holding pattern” until the staffing shortage was resolved.
Hang out in Biloxi, MS until Tuesday, June 6 waiting to hear if there is any good news (unfortunately not).
Fly out of Mobile, AL on Tuesday night, with a layover in Atlanta. However, my first flight was delayed, which made me miss my connection, so I spent the night in Atlanta until flying back to the DC area on Wednesday, June 7.

Picture of a scenic overlook over the Gulf of Mexico. Two sailboats are in the distance. — Picture off the Gulf Coast, directly across the street from my hotel.

I have to say, the MVP in this was Emily Susko, the Program Support Specialist for NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program. She was pulling in her connections, rebooking flights, walking me through different options at ALL hours of the day. Emily was feeling bad for the whole situation and shared that she has never had a vessel delayed for this precise reason before. But I reassured her, I am the poster child for Murphy’s Law when it comes to traveling. For example, last summer I did a 3 week camping trip to the National Parks out west. Here’s a sampling of the things that want wrong:

Flight out there was cancelled, had to fly out the next day
About 4 days in, our campsite in Glacier (which was the ending of the trip) had been cancelled due to bad flooding. We weren’t able to rebook due to full campsites.
Spent 2 out of 5 nights in Yellowstone, as we got kicked out because the park was shut down due to insane flooding.
Got COVID and spent quarantine in a hotel.
Rearranged entire trip and went to Bryce Canyon, which had a thick layer of smoke because of nearby wildfires .
Went to Capital Reef NP, where I was stuck in a flash flood in a small overhang for over 4 hours.

So needless to say, a delay on when I will get to ship out is no problem. Plus, the Teacher at Sea Program really stressed being flexible , so while the situation wasn’t ideal, I know to expect the unexpected! While admittedly, I did spend a good chunk of time in the hotel as I needed the cooldown from the end of the semester, I did some exploring and learned a lot as well!

Photograph of an osprey nest as seen through the trees. One osprey sits on top of the nest and another osprey is below the nest on a pole. Both osprey are looking out over the landscape. — A male and female osprey guarding their nest.

My first couple days were spent in the Biloxi area, trying to soak in as much sun, wildlife, and food as possible. The hotel I was staying at was right across the street from the beach. When walking on the beach, I heard an incessant screeching and birds were dive bombing me! This is when I realized I was in a Least Tern colony. Terns are a shorebird that lay their eggs right on the sand. This colony had over 300 adults and was cordoned off by the Audubon Society to protect the nest (and probably, the passersby from the tern attacks). Also along the beach was an Osprey nest . Many conservation societies will purposefully create artificial platforms for Osprey to use, but these guys were nested atop the USS Biloxi memorial.

Picture of a small pond. There is dense vegetation that is mirrored in the water. The top of an alligator can be seen floating in the water. — Can you spot the alligator in this “alligator pond”?

I spent a morning in the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which is protected by the National Park Service. Here I contributed to citizen science by completing three eBird checklists. eBird is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is a way for anyone, anywhere around the world to submit a checklist of all the birds they saw and heard. Then, scientists globally can use the data to answer ecological questions. To give you the scale of eBird, in May 2023, over 2 million checklists were submitted worldwide! One of the ponds that went through the marsh land was named “Alligator Pond”, and after looking in, I understand why!

On my last day in the area, I headed to the Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Pascagoula, MS. Here I met Brandi Noble who is the Vessel/Environmental Compliance Coordinator for the Southeast fleet. While she stays on land, she has been with NOAA for over two decades and has done every type of cruise NOAA conducts! Brandi was also instrumental in juggling me around. She was also kind enough to give me a tour of the Gordon Gunter so that I at least got on some sort of boat and also a tour of the Science Center. The Science Center houses scientists in many different fields (ecologists, microbiologists, chemists) who analyze water and organismal samples when cruises return. They also have an engineering department who creates technologies to be used by fisherman in the US (and around the world) that helps conservation efforts. It’s said that the engineering team at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center is the reason why sea turtle populations have bounced back as much as they have — they are the ones who invented the turtle exclusion devices for fishing nets!

A photograph of a close-up of a trawl net that has a turtle exclusion device installed. — This is a medium-sized trawl net, mainly used for catching shrimp. On the left, where the white buoy is, is the TED — a turtle exclusion device. The metal bars allow smaller organisms to go through, but turtles (and other organisms like sharks) hit the bars and are pushed downwards out of the net through the green mesh at the bottom. The next section to the right, in green, has some pockets where fish can swim out (but shrimp likely wouldn’t). The blue mesh at the far right also helps to “push” undesirable fish out because they are afraid of it and will swim backwards (towards the pockets). Some fish, like menhaden, try to escape by swimming upwards. The orange mesh at the far right end allows them to do so. Meanwhile, all the shrimp are being pushed into a mesh bag at the far right end (not attached in this picture).

With my trip to the Science Center, I learned about the importance of the commanding officer (CO) role. While all roles on a vessel are important, the CO is essentially the captain. Now, captain is an official rank, so a CO may not actually be a captain, but to the layman, they are. In the NOAA corps, a CO is assigned to a ship for a two year post. They direct every cruise, which can be hundreds of days at sea each year. I attended the Change of Command Ceremony for the Gordon Gunter. During this ceremony, the current CO is recognized for their hard work during their tour and a new CO is welcomed aboard. COs have a pin on their uniform recognizing their command. It’s interesting as they pin the new CO first, then change the position of the pin on the old CO so that there is never a moment that the vessel lacks a commanding officer.

Well, this is goodbye for now! I hope I will be able to be placed in another cruise this summer, but if not, I’ll be back next year!

Kiersten stands in front of a large white NOAA boat. Though not shown in the photo directly, it is the Gordon Gunter. — I at least got to check out and board the *Gordon Gunter*!

July 26, 2012August 11, 2021

Steven Frantz: A Day’s Delay, July 26, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Steven Frantz
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 27 – August 8, 2012

Mission: Longline Shark Tagging Survey
Geographic area of cruise: Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic off the east coat of Florida.
Date: July 26, 2012

Personal Log

A DAY’S DELAY

The Oregon II was supposed to leave Pascagoula, Mississippi on Thursday, July 26, 2012. However, a momentous event occurred which delayed our departure by one day. This upcoming mission just so happened to be the Oregon II’s 300^th mission. Thursday was set aside as a day to celebrate this milestone. NOAA employees, media, and public alike joined to reminisce the past and look toward the future. The very first Teacher at Sea sailed upon the Oregon II. Now it is my turn. I am humbled to think of all the great teachers who have gone before me and am honored to now be following in their footsteps.

Cake — The cake decorated with the 300th cruise artwork

The day’s delay afforded me the opportunity to see some of the land operations NOAA conducts and a little bit that the Pascagoula area has to offer.

First stop was the NOAA lab. This building was just opened in 2009 as the former lab was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. After checking in we saw office upon office of researchers working on their projects.

Alex Fogg was working in the lab. He was busy studying the stomach contents of lionfish. Lionfish were released around the Florida Keys several years ago. Having no predators, this invasive species has been reproducing at an alarming rate. Listen to Alex tell about his research.

NOAA also has an educational outreach program. Earlier in the morning a group of four year olds visited and learned how a Turtle Excluder Device (TED) works. TED’s are required to be installed on shrimp nets. Before the advent of TED’s, when a sea turtle was caught in a shrimp net, it usually drowned before the net was hauled up. Now, when a sea turtle gets caught in a net, it travels through the net until it gets to the TED. The TED looks like bars on a jail cell. The smaller shrimp can pass through, but the sea turtle gets pushed up and out through an opening in the net.

Turtle Steve — Mr. Frantz demonstrating how a TED works

The Pascagoula area is known for food: barbecue and seafood. The Shed is a famous outdoor barbecue restaurant, which has been featured on TV. I couldn’t decide what to order, so the sampler, with a little bit of everything fit the bill. A “little bit” has an entirely different meaning here than it does in Ohio. This was a huge meal of ribs, wings, and brisket. It also came with sides of collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and baked beans. There were plenty of leftovers for the next day!

It was also interesting that even though it was very hot and humid and the The Shed was outdoors, it did not feel hot at all. Swamp coolers were installed around the perimeter of the restaurant. What is a swamp cooler? I’ll leave it to you to find out!

Pascagoula, Mississippi is a port town with a rich history. Because of its close affiliations with everything nautical, they use nautical flags in their town logo. See if you can spell out P-A-S-C-A-G-O-U-L-A in the arch of flags. Then, see if you can spell out your own name!

There you have it! One long hot day of good food, celebration, and the wonderful people of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Tomorrow we set sail to find sharks! We have to travel three days at sea to get out of the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, then to the Atlantic Ocean.

July 3, 2011April 28, 2021

Steven Wilkie: June 30, 2011

NOAA TEACHER AT SEA
STEVEN WILKIE
ONBOARD NOAA SHIP OREGON II
JUNE 23 — JULY 4, 2011

Mission: Summer Groundfish Survey
Geographic Location: Northern Gulf of Mexico
Date: June 30th, 2011

Ships Data

Latitude	28.32
Longitude	-95.19
Speed	9.10 kts
Course	273.00
Wind Speed	12.71 kts
Wind Dir.	79.58 º
Surf. Water Temp.	28.20 ºC
Surf. Water Sal.	24.88 PSU
Air Temperature	29.50 ºC
Relative Humidity	75.00 %
Barometric Pres.	1014.84 mb
Water Depth	35.70 m

Science and Technology Log

So despite the long shifts, I managed to rouse myself out of bed early for my shift. I wandered up to the drylab (just off of the deck) to check in and see what had been brought on board during the last trawl. The second watch was working up a catch in the wet lab and on the deck was an unusual but significant catch, a sea turtle. Definitely not a targeted species of

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle — An unintended catch, the Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempi) was brought on board with one of the trawls, but returned to the sea safe and sound.

this cruise. Although rare on NOAA cruises, sea turtles are unfortunately often caught up as bycatch by the fishing industry. Bycatch is an unintended species in the net, and sea turtles were a large bycatch component of the shrimp industry.

NOAA takes sea turtle bycatch very seriously. No sooner had the turtle been put on the deck did the science team spring into action to collect vital statistics and data about the turtle before returning it back to the Gulf safe and sound. The Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempi), like most sea turtles, is considered and endangered species. By collecting data about the sea turtles, NOAA scientists can continue to monitor the health of the population, especially in light of last year’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

Scientists worked the turtle up by collecting measurements (length and width) of the shell, and collecting a tissue sample in order to perform DNA analysis. An electronic tag was inserted under the skin, so that if the turtle is caught again it can be scanned and more data can be added to its file. This would allow scientists to determine migratory patterns and growth rates. Finally the turtle’s rear flippers were fitted with tags that, again, would allow scientists to monitor its movement, age and growth.

Measuring the Kemp's Ridley — Trained NOAA scientists measure the carapace length of our unexpected catch.Before being returned to the Gulf, the Kemp's Ridley is outfitted with two flipper tags. These tags can be used to help scientists monitor the life history of this particular turtle.

A Tagged Kemp's Ridley — Trained NOAA scientists fit the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle with tags that can be used to collect additional data should the turtle be caught again.

In the early 1980s the situation with turtle populations in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters had gotten so dire, that scientists began researching ways to reduce turtle bycatch. TEDs or Turtle Exclusion Devices were introduced to the shrimping industry on a volunteer basis. These devices are rigged to the catch-end of shrimpers’ nets and act like a grate over a storm drain. The water (and shrimp) can flow into the end of the net, but anything as big as a turtle is stopped and able to escape through a trap door. To get a better idea of how a TED works follow this link to NOAA’s video of a TED in action.

Today, TEDs are mandated on all trawl nets used by the fishing industry. Although at first the shrimping industry was reluctant to embrace the technology, by working collaboratively, scientists, the fishing industry, and government legislators are helping to curtail the drastic reduction in sea turtle populations in American waters.

November 19, 2009April 6, 2021

Jeannine Foucault, November 19, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jeannine Foucault
Onboard NOAA Ship Pisces
November 7 – 19, 2009

Mission: Ecosystem Survey
Geographic Region: Southeast U.S.
Date: November 19, 2009

Science Log

Our last day of ROV dives and it was definitely worthwhile. PISCES held off the coast of South Carolina at the Edisto MPA (Marine Protection Area). We were able to get in four dives with the ROV. The scientists paid close attention to the marine habitat within the ecosystems of all four dives. The interesting conclusion was that all four dives had very different habitats. What is even more interesting is that these differing habitats affect the number of animals that live there. Some of the areas we saw were smooth sandy bottom and interspersed on the smooth bottom are rugged rocky outcrops.

The rocky reefs range in height from some being really short to some being very tall. Some of the rocky reefs can even be in a small area the size of a dinner plate and others are hundreds of square miles.

The important fact of the matter is that the rugged hard bottom is favored by many species of animals including corals, sponges, and other invertebrates. Scientists find that sunken ships or other debris that ends up at the bottom of the ocean becomes perfect habitat for animals. These areas protect fish species during spawning and from predators. Today’s discovery is that the most fish species we have seen was found not in the smooth sandy bottom but in fact in the rugged rocky outcrops and rocky reef ranges.

Things I have seen today:

hammerhead shark
sea turtle
sea cucumber
spotted goat fish
lobster
pencil urchin
banded butterfly fish
sand tilefish
sea biscuit

Question of the Day

What is a TED?