Woods Hole – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 9, 2014August 21, 2021

Carol Glor: Lights, Camera, Action, July 7, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Carol Glor

Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp

July 5 – 14, 2014

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey (Third leg)

Geographical Area: Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Date: July 7, 2014

Weather Data from the bridge: Wind SW 18-20 knots, Seas 4-7 ft, Visibility – good

Science and Technology Log: Starring the HabCam

The HabCam is a computerized video camera system. It is a non-invasive method of observing and recording underwater stereo images, and collecting oceanographic data,such as temperature,salinity, and conductivity. The vehicle is towed at 1.5 – 2 meters from the floor of the ocean. The main objective of this mission is to survey the population of scallops as well as noting the substrate (ocean floor make-up) changes. Most substrate is made up of sand, gravel, shell hash and epifauna. We also note the presence of roundfish (eel, sea snakes, monkfish, ocean pout, and hake), flatfish (flounders and fluke), whelk, crab, and skates. Although sea stars (starfish) are a major predator of scallops, they are not included in our annotations.

The crew and science staff work on alternate shifts (called watches) to ensure the seamless collection of data. The scallop survey is a 24-hour operation. The science component of the ship consists of 11 members. Six people are part of the night watch from 12am-12pm and the remaining members (myself included) are assigned to the day watch which is from 12pm until 12am. During the HabCam part of the survey all science staff members rotate job tasks during their 12-hour shift. These include:

A. Piloting the HabCam – using a joystick to operate the winch that controls the raising and lowering of the HabCam along the ocean floor. This task is challenging for several reasons. There are six computer monitors that are continually reviewed by the pilot so they can assess the winch direction and speed, monitor the video quality of the sea floor, and ensure that the HabCam remains a constant 1.5 – 2 meters from the ocean floor. The ocean floor is not flat – it consists of sand waves, drop-offs, and valleys. Quick action is necessary to avoid crashing the HabCam into the ocean floor.

HabCam pilot — Carol piloting the HabCam.

B. The co-pilot is in charge of ensuring the quality of digital images that are being recorded by the HabCam. Using a computer, they tag specific marine life and check to see if the computers are recording the data properly. They also assist the pilot as needed.

HabCam image — One of the images from the HabCam

C. Annotating is another important task on this stage of the survey. Using a computer, each image that is recorded by the HabCam is analyzed in order to highlight the specific species that are found in that image. Live scallops are measured using a line tool and fish, crabs, whelk and skates are highlighted using a boxing tool so they can be reviewed by NOAA personnel at the end of the cruise season.

Personal Log:

When not on watch there is time to sleep, enjoy beautiful ocean views, spot whales and dolphins from the bridge (captain’s control center), socialize with fellow science staff and crew members, and of course take lots of pictures. The accommodations are cozy. My cabin is a four-person room consisting of two sets of bunk beds, a sink, and desk area. The room is not meant to be used for more than sleeping or stowing gear. When the ship is moving, it is important to move slowly and purposely throughout the ship. When going up and down the stairs you need to hold onto the railing with one hand and guide the other hand along the wall for stability. This is especially important during choppy seas. The constant motion of the ship is soothing as you sleep but makes for challenging mobility when awake.

Before heading out to sea it is important to practice safety drills. Each person is made aware of their muster station (where to go in the event of an emergency), and is familiarized with specific distress signals. We also practiced donning our immersion suits. These enable a person to be in the water for up to 72 hours (depending upon the temperature of the water). There is a specific way to get into the suit in order to do so in under a minute. We were reminded to put our shoes inside our suit in a real life emergency for when we are rescued. Good advice indeed.

Did you know?

The ship makes it’s own drinking water. While saltwater is used on deck for cleaning purposes, and in the toilets for waste removal, it is not so good for cooking, showers, or drinking. The ship makes between 600 and 1,000 gallons per day. It is triple-filtered through a reverse-osmosis process to make it safe for drinking. The downside is that the filtration system removes some important minerals that are required for the human body. It also tends to dry out the skin; so using moisturizer is a good idea when out at sea.

Photo Gallery:

WG flag — West Genesee colors; flying high on the Sharp

Floating Frogs at the Woods Hole Biological Museum.

Seal at aquarium — Seal at the Woods Hole Aquarium – Oldest Aquarium in the US.

June 25, 2014August 21, 2021

Carol Glor: The Adventure Continues, June 25, 2014

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Carol Glor

(Soon to be aboard) R/V Hugh R. Sharp

July 5 – 14 2014

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey, Third Leg

Geographical area of cruise: North Atlantic Ocean

Date: June 25, 2014

Personal Log:

commander — Last summer I served as the Commander for our simulated mission during my week-long adventure at Space Camp.

Hello, my name is Carol Glor and I live in Liverpool, New York (a suburb of Syracuse). I teach Home & Career Skills at Camillus Middle School and West Genesee Middle School in Camillus, New York. Last summer, I was selected to participate in Honeywell’s Educators at Space Academy at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It was a week-long camp full of activities that use space to become more effective educators within science, technology, engineering and math. When one of my space camp teammates told me about her experiences as a Teacher at Sea, I knew that I had to apply.

I am so excited to have been chosen by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to be part of the 2014 Teacher at Sea field season. As a Home & Career Skills teacher, I have the opportunity to educate students about the connections between real-life skills in math, science, technology and engineering while learning about important topics such as conservation, career exploration and current events. The best way that I can learn to teach these skills is by practicing them myself. During my upcoming cruise, I will become a real scientist and learn more about the scientific research that is involved in keeping our oceans alive for generations to come.

View from Onondaga Lake West Shore Trail Expansion.

Girls Varsity Crew — Liverpool High School Crew on Onondaga Lake

Sustainability is an important topic of concern for our oceans as well as our lakes and streams. I currently live less than a mile from Onondaga Lake. For many years it has been considered one of the most polluted bodies of water in the US. Since 2007, the Honeywell Corporation has implemented the Onondaga Lake Remediation Plan (slated for completion in 2015) to result in an eventual recovery of the lake’s habitat for fish and wildlife as well as recreational activities on and around the lake. Most recently, the West Shore Trail Extension was opened for the public to enjoy. Onondaga Lake Park has always been one of my favorite places to go to experience nature while walking, running, biking or watching my daughters’ crew races. Now I can enjoy it even more.

Science and Technology:

I will be sailing from Woods Hole, Massachusetts aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp to participate in an Atlantic sea scallop survey. The R/V Hugh R. Sharp is a coastal research vessel, built in 2006, is 146 feet long, and is part of the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment fleet.

The purpose of a sea scallop survey is to determine the scallop population on the east coast. This survey is important to protect the sea scallop from being over-harvested. By collecting digital video data and sea scallop samples, the science crew is able to advise which areas of the east coast are open for scallop fishing.

What I hope to learn:

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. While there, I experienced the beauty of the coastal island as well as savoring the bounty from the sea. As a casual observer, I noticed a few lobster boats, trawling vessels and pleasure cruisers. Each has a stake in the future abundance of sea life in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. I would like to learn first-hand the impact of over-harvesting on sea scallops and be able to observe them in their natural habitat. My work as a scientist will give my students a taste for the vast amount of research careers that are available to them.

Edgartown Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard

A Lobsterman hauling in his catch in Nantucket Sound.

July 17, 2013August 13, 2021

Virginia Warren: The Beginning of Life at Sea, July 11, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Virginia Warren
Aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp
July 9 – 17, 2013

Mission: Leg 3 of the Sea Scallop Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Great South Channel, near Nantucket
Date: July 11, 2013

Weather Data from the Bridge: SW winds 10 to 20 knots, seas 3 to 6 feet, widespread rain and scattered thunderstorms

Science and Technology Log:

The first part of the mission has been to tow the HabCam down the Great South Channel, around Nantucket, and then up part of Georges Bank. If you remember from my previous post, the HabCam stands for Habitat Camera Mapping System, which allows scientists to study the animals’ natural habitat. There are only two HabCams that have been built; the V2 which is an early prototype, and the V4 which is what we are using for this survey. This piece of equipment cost over 1.5 million dollars to design, develop, and build. One of the people on our science crew is the engineer that helped to design the frame built around the equipment to keep it safe. The HabCam has four strobe lights that enable the two cameras to be able to take 6 images per second. Not only does the HabCam have the capability of taking quality underwater images, but it also has sonar and several other data collectors that are capable of testing the water’s salinity, conductivity, pH, and more.

The scientists call the HabCam a vehicle. While the HabCam is deployed in the water, there are two people from the science crew that are always ‘flying’ the HabCam. They are called the pilot and co-pilot. The vehicle is tethered to the ship with a thick, fiber optic cable that also sends data information to the ship’s lab. The pilot uses a joy stick to fly the vehicle. Flying the HabCam vehicle can be a very tricky job because to fly it, the pilot walks a very fine line between having the vehicle close enough to the bottom of the ocean to get clear images and keeping the vehicle from crashing into huge boulders and underwater sand dunes. Pushing the joystick up allows the winch to let more cable out, which sends the vehicle closer to the bottom of the ocean. Pulling the joystick down, shortens the cable and brings the vehicle closer to the ship.

HabCam and Sonar View — The HabCam screen is on the bottom. The screen on top that looks like a desert is the sonar.

My job for the first half of the trip has been to take turns with the other day shift science crew members piloting and co-piloting the HabCam vehicle. The pilot keeps the vehicle at the correct depth, usually around 1.8 to 2.5 meters from the bottom of the ocean. The co-pilot annotates the images as they come from the HabCam. Annotating HabCam images entails quickly identifying objects in the image, such as a fish, crab, or scallop. This sounds easy enough, except that new images are flashing on the screen every second. Eventually the images will be color corrected on shore and annotated in greater detail.

Example of HabCam images strung together to make a larger view of the bottom of the ocean.

The HabCam vehicle is also equipped with side scan sonar. In the pictures below (the ones that look like a picture of the desert) you can see the sand waves on the ocean floor and previous dredging marks.

Personal Log:

I began my journey by flying from Pensacola, Florida at 6 a.m. Sunday morning into Atlanta, Georgia’s airport. From Georgia I flew into Boston, Massachusetts and landed by about 12:30p.m. (That is 11:30 in Mobile time because Boston is an hour ahead of Mobile.) I was very excited to fly into Boston because as all of my students should know, Boston is a very important city for the American Revolutionary War as it is where the war started. I was able to tour the Old State House, which is where the Boston Massacre occurred, as well as explore the beautiful architecture that Boston has to offer! On my return trip home, I hope to be able to learn more about the history behind the city of Boston!

I stayed Sunday night in a hotel so that I would be able to catch a bus from Boston to Woods Hole bright and early Monday morning. Woods Hole is where I would meet up with the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. Woods Hole is an amazing little research community that is part of Cape Cod and has only one main street with a charming high bridge for the sail boats to enter or exit Eel Pond. I spent most of the day walking around and taking in the beautiful scenery of Wood’s Hole. That afternoon I was able to meet up with some the scientists that participate or have participated in scallop surveys. I slept on the ship that night and was able to get to know the ship’s crew and explore the ship.

My first day at sea was really nice. The ship crew made several comments about the water “looking like glass” because it was so calm. The Hugh R. Sharp has a really awesome ship crew. They were very welcoming and were open to any questions that I asked. As we left woods hole, the ship crew went over the safety procedures to follow should an emergency happen while we are at sea. My students should be happy to know that we even participated in a fire drill. I haven’t had any seasickness to speak of so far, knock on wood. The rocking of the ship actually made for some very sound sleeping!

The science crew shifts are broken into 12 hours. The night shift works from 12 midnight till 12 noon. The day shift works the opposite, 12 noon till 12 midnight. I am on the day shift working with the chief scientist.

Virginia Beside the Starboard side of the Hugh R. Sharp

The picture shows where the HabCam is put into the water (left) and the scallop dredge (right).

Scientific Lab Van — This is the outside view of the wet lab.

Science Sleeping Quarters — My home for my time on this ship.

Captain's Chair on the Bridge — Captain’s Chair on the Bridge

Inside of the Van, AKA Wet Lab — This is where we will take measurements from animals from the dredge.

Dry Lab on the Hugh R. Sharp — This is the room where they fly the HabCam.

The Plan of Action — Each star on the page marks coordinates that the ship will sail to.

Question of the Day:

April 30, 2013August 11, 2021

Angela Greene: “I found a Science Town… with great coffee!” April 29, 2013

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Angela Greene
Aboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter
April 29-May 11, 2013

Mission: Northern Right Whale Survey
Geographical Area of Cruise: Atlantic Ocean out of Woods Hole, MA
Date: April 29, 2013

Weather Data from the Bridge: Air Temperature: 12° C or 53.6° F, Sea Temperature: 11° C or 51.8° F, Winds out of the south at 10 knots, Partly Cloudy

Science and Technology Log: Flexibility is definitely the key to success on a NOAA research cruise. I am in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Our ship, the Gordon Gunter, is having minor technical difficulties, so we are not leaving port until tomorrow morning at 8:00 am, one day later than planned. This delay gave me the opportunity to explore a town known as “Little Village, Big Science”!

Little village — “The phrase says it all!”

Woods Hole is a world center for marine, biomedical, and environmental science. Within this tiny village are two large private science organizations, the Marine Biological Laboratory (MLB), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Also in the village are two large federal government science facilities, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). In short, a science town with, not one, but two great coffee houses!

Museum alvin — “Alvin, a ship built for three!” Photo Credit: Peter Partridge, museum staff

I was able to visit the WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center. This is small museum that features the work done by the “Alvin Submarine” including the exploration of hydrothermal vents, and the discovery of the Titanic. I was not familiar with Alvin, so I spent quite a bit of time at this exhibit. Alvin is a submarine that probes the depths of the oceans (all the way to the bottom!) with three scientists in a small titanium sphere. The museum has a simulation model that I was able to board.

Curiosity killed the cat. After leaving the museum, I set out on a quest to find the real Alvin. It seems all I have to do in this town is tell people I am the NOAA Teacher at Sea aboard the Gordon Gunter, and I am permitted to go where no other man has gone before! I. FOUND. ALVIN. Not the old Alvin, but the brand new, not even fully assembled yet, scheduled to deploy this weekend, Alvin! That’s right, folks, I was standing right in front of a scientific vehicle that will propel itself along the floor of the dark, cold ocean with three humans on board in a tiny compartment for a nine hour dive! No standing, no walking, no sunlight, and no bathroom…

I met Bruce, one of the Alvin pilots, who has served on over three hundred dives. He was frantically working on the submarine actually owned by the Navy, to meet his weekend deadline. I was amazed that he not only pilots this underwater ship, but he also works on assembling it. I asked him, “What is the worst part about doing a nine hour dive in Alvin?” I was coming up with answers to my question in my own head such as, “leg cramps, claustrophobia, an unexpected need for a bathroom…” He thought a moment and said, “Nothing. There is no worst part of a dive.” He has never turned down the opportunity to dive. I knew then, that I had to figure out a way to become a “Teacher in Alvin”…

“My new Scallop Scientist Friend, Deborah, Operations Research Analyst for NOAA!” Photo Credit: Anthony L. VanCampen, Electronics Technician onboard the Gordon Gunter

Personal Log: Even though our ship hasn’t left the dock, I am already having a great time learning about so many things I never knew existed. I saw a lady walking out of a NOAA building, obviously on her way home after a long day at work. I introduced myself, once again dropping my new powerful title, and I learned that she is a “scallop scientist”! A NOAA PhD! Even though the NOAA aquarium was closed for the day, she took the time to give me a private tour. She showed me her office, shared a Powerpoint about scallop survey research with me, and gave me a scallop shell. I have collected a new scientist friend.

Today I have learned that so many more things are possible for my students than even I had imagined. In the past I have had a few students say to me that they wanted to be marine biologists. I have made the mistake of telling them to consider limnology, the study of inland waters, because we live in a state bordered by Lake Erie. While limnology would be an amazing field of study for any Tecumseh scientist, marine biology is NOT out of our reach. I see that now. We set sail in the morning.

June 27, 2012August 11, 2021

Janet Nelson: Steaming for Home, June 25, 2012

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Janet Nelson Huewe
Aboard R/V Hugh R. Sharp
June 13 – 25, 2012

Mission: Sea Scallop Survey
Geographic Area: North Atlantic
Monday, June 25, 2012

Weather Data from the Bridge:
Latitude: 41 24.21 North
Longitude: 069 54.98 West
Wind Speed: 13.7 kt
Air Temperature: 17 C

Final Log:

We are steaming for home. Woods Hole, MA that is. In the past ten days we have conducted 71 scallop dredge tows and processed 15, 979 scallops. We also took over 4 million images with the HabCam in 691 nautical miles of this leg. We have been a little busy.

This morning (0600 hrs.) we mustered in the dry lab and began our assignments, ranging from swabbing the decks to vacuuming our state rooms. Tonight I will be in Boston and then on my way back to Minnesota. I am ready to go home, but I know I will think back fondly on a few things. The rocking of the boat when I’m going to sleep. Meals prepared for me. The sound of waves and water. The hum of the engines. Seeing what comes up in the scallop dredge. Being on deck and on the bridge. A hap chance at seeing whales or dolphins. New friends and fun banter. Even though this journey began with an unpleasant introduction, it is ending with fond feelings.

Me and a barndoor skate! — Me and a barn door skate!

Being on this boat has been interesting for several reasons. I have learned new things about ocean life that I can take back to my classroom as well as a few souvenirs. I can honestly say I have never seen more scallops in my life, not to mention sand dollars and sea stars! I am looking forward to sharing this experience with my family, students, and friends. As I write this last blog, I am thinking of what a privilege it has been to be a member of this team of researchers. I am honored to learn from them. To my team: Jon, Nicole, Mike, Jess, Alexis, Ted, Nick (TG), and TR, thank you!! This experience would not have been the same without you! I will remember you fondly for many, many days to come.

Cheers!