Our pond science unit has been amazing, and the first phase is almost completed. We have measured the depth of the pond, and are in the process of converting all our figures to centimeters so that we can make a much reduced scale model. We do though love the scientific method for as we started working with the numbers it became apparent that the length of Francis Short Pond was not the 177 meters which we had recorded. Our pond is no football field, so back to the drawing board, or measuring board.
**Construction Phase
**
After purchasing our PVC pipe it was time to measure and build.
Uriel, Ricky, and Jesus in the construction of our sediment trap.
We are also proud to say that we not only designed and built a sediment trap, but have also completed our fall deployment. But let's...
The work has begun and so far things are looking excellent. The class has completed measuring the depth of Francis Short Pond, with the final stage in this part of our experiment to figure out the area of the little island and remove those dimensions from our final area figures. Next week we hope to make our to scale model out of clay.
**Measuring the Pond! **
The boys working hard during the measurement process.
Uriel, Kris, Zach and Ivan working as a team in measuring the depth of our backyard ecosystem!
We have also been tracking the: pH, Dissolved O2, Nitrates, Phosphates, turbidity and temperature twice weekly. We are hoping to track this data for a month and see what changes occur as we move further into the fall season. As the night temperatures move closer and closer to...
Well, the Triathlon was a bit over a month ago, I have been back in the classroom for almost as long, and feel terribly guilty for taking this many weeks to post my last, but then beginning journal entry. Let me explain:The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HEALY docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska on July 31st. The next twenty four hours were a frenzy of activity with the unloading of scientific personnel and their equipment. It was also the first opportunity for the crew of the HEALY to get a little well deserved shore time, so people were very active.
Up, up and away!
The first part of our triathalon, 2.5 miles up, and up and up!
The begining 2.5 miles were up hill, and the scenery was spectacular!
The first chore of the day after the set up of the broud (gangway) was the offloading of trash,...
Today is our last day at sea. We are scheduled to arrive at Dutch Harbor tomorrow morning at 09:00, and I am a bit sad. After 27 days I feel a part of a new family and do not think I can ever thank the scientists or the crew of the HEALY enough for the amazing experience they have provided.
David has many boxes all getting ready for the trip back to Seattle in ...October
I have learned science about the Eastern Bering Sea Shelf, I have learned dynamics about the U.S. Coast Guard. The science leaves me wanting more, to delve a bit deeper into this amazing ecosystem that I know so little. The Coast Guard makes me want to talk to students, to let them know about the remarkable career options they could have, and the benefits of such an exciting job.
With a scientific tool for...
I was told yesterday that if you want too much, or have expectations too high you will be disappointed. Well I disagree. I believe in going full tilt into everything I do, and well, I want to do pretty much everything.
We have two more full days at sea and still I am learning. Yesterday was busy for me, a 22 hour busy day. The funny thing is, I slept in until 8:30 am, but didn't go to bed until 6:30 this morning.
MK2 Jeffrey Coombe covered in grease after he emerges from the depths of the engine.
It all started with the Webinar and ended with three successive MOCNESS as Alexei tried unsuccessfully to catch pregnant Krill. But I digress. Yes the science is winding down, but there is still so much to do. After the webinar I went to the engine room to watch the successful...
Today will be the last installment of my meet the crew Monday. There are so many people that I would love to interview and share in this forum, but there is just not enough time in the day.
To start today we have MK1 Allan Whiting, and an amazing list of responsibilities he and his department have on board. MK stands for machinery technician, and is within the engineering division. Allan's "A gang" is responsible for EVERYTHING that doesn't move the ship, thus auxiliary equipment, refrigeration, cranes, hydraulics, water (can make up to 8000 gallons of drinking water a day), winches, therefor a lot of responsibility.
Working on refrigeration is only one part of his job!
I think I have previously talked about the scientists as being a web of different fields that drive a...
Today is Sunday, and there is change in the air. For one, we have left the sun and re-entered fog. We have also started the 70 meter line back to Dutch Harbor. A large portion of the scientists have completed their work, and each station is now predominantly the CTD, calvet, and optics. With three days left, the tenor of the vessel is mellow, the frenzy of departure just a warm memory. Three full days and then on the morning of the 31st we arrive in Dutch Harbor. I am not ready to leave; there is still much to learn, and this goodbye will be bittersweet. Needless to say I need to get busy; there are words to be written.
Check out the window, bottom left in
I recently received a blog asking questions about the vessel and yes, I have been lax about sharing information about the...
Saturday's on board the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HEALY are morale dinner nights. This is when different divisions within the crew prepare, cook and then clean up the evening meal. Well today was the scientists turn, and under the direction of Scott Hiller game on!Right after lunch was served and cleaned, it was our turn to invade the galley. Let's see, hamburgers, dogs, salmon patties...to start. Potato salad, pasta salad, green salad, and baked beans, were just a few of the accessories. For dessert apple crisp (my contribution) with vanilla ice cream.
It was a lot of fun working with happy people in making other people happy!
When I say we invaded the galley, we really did. Kristen Blattner and I took charge of the crisp, we recruited Chris Moser and the pealing began. There are...
As you might be able to tell, I am about a day behind in my journaling so I thought this would be a perfect time to really explain my "typical" day. One of the hardest parts of explaining a classic day is knowing when to start, because I go to bed when most people are getting up, soooo I will start at six o'clock in the morning and give you a glimpse into a typical twenty four hours.
I have always hated making the bed, now I can just close the curtains.
06:00 Between six and seven in the morning we will have completed our scientific sampling station so I go to bed. There is no fanfare, I collapse!
11:00 The alarm usually rings by eleven, I head down for my breakfast/lunch (today I had chicken nuggets and fries, I know I have a lot of running to catch up on)...
One of the pleasures while at sea is the concept of time; which is in a word, timeless. Last night the sun set around three in the morning, and if you had asked me what day it was when I went to bed, I could not have answered. I know the date because I made files prior to this cruise so that I could keep track, in some infinitesimal way, of my journals. Right now I know for sure that I am a day behind in writing, that the cruise will be over in less than a week, I still have a lot more science to learn and this afternoon I am making Apple Crisp for the Morale dinner. These things I know, what I am still learning is the science of a sediment trap.Pat Kelly is from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, and he is here, in part, to collect sediment samples that...
Last night I went to bed at four, my wake up call was for seven forty five this morning, needless to say if I have a little difficulty explaining micro-zooplankton there is an excuse.Today I am spending time with Diane Stoeker and Kristen Blattner, both from The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
If she is not at the computer Diane is either at the microscope, the incubators or working on her phytoplankton experiments.
Diane and Kristen are studying phytoplankton and micro-zooplankton, and it is amazing how these small components of an oceanic ecosystem are vital for the survival of pretty much the entire environment. Diatoms are small single-celled organisms, called phytoplankton. Diane is studying how fast phytoplankton are eaten by micro zooplankton, and how...
I have spent the past twenty days discussing science and life aboard a U.S. Coast Guard Ice Breaker, and do not think I have done justice to the "WHY" I am here, and the "WHAT" this will tell us.A grant was written for an extensive five year study of the Eastern Bering Sea shelf, (BEST)The Bering Ecosystem Study. This program involves the collaboration of many scientists, and multiple agencies that research marine ecosystems.
http://bsierp.nprb.org
Can you believe it is only ten o'clock at night?
One component of this cruise which I find extremely fascinating is the link between all the sciences of the scientists. It is as if the HEALY is its own food web. Water samples that the krill grazers use are also vital for people studying oxygen, in turn used by people...
Today is "Meet the crew Monday," and the two sections you will meet today are both fundamental to the smooth running of the HEALY. One, you never want to visit, the other you visit three to four times a day, so with that introduction meet the "Galley, with Tysin Alley" Due to the great quality of the food I usually make it to the galley at least two and in some instances for three meals a day. I am also up most nights and I do not think a day has gone by when I have NOT seen Tysin cooking. He is always there, baking pies, cleaning, boiling crab legs the man never stops.
Surf and Turf Friday, steak and crab legs. Mouth wateringly good.
When living aboard a floating ice breaker, kilometers from land out for 30 days you need to think of priorities, yes maps and...
It is Sunday, I am relaxing. Alexei and I finished our MOCNESS last night around 4:30 am, I looked at copepods for about 30 minutes then went to bed. Got up this morning ( at 9:30am ) for a tour of the medical center and the two men who run it, they will be the focus of tomorrow's meet the crew Monday, but for now...I am relaxing. There is not another scientific sampling station for about four hours, so it is time to kick my feet back and relax. Yes, all work and no play will make ANYONE dull!
Burgers, fries, onion rings, ice cream...delicious!
Now you might think there is no life on board a four hundred and twenty foot ice breaker, but you would be greatly mistaken. Let's take yesterday afternoon for our "Moral" dinner. At 4:30 pm the "First Class Petty Officers...
Numerous times over the past two and half weeks I have mentioned the CTD, small ones attached to moorings, there is one on the MOCNESS, there are even CTD sensors aboard the HEALY, but what does this CTD really tell the scientists?
For every sampling station the CTD needs to be prepared ahead of time so that all the equipment is functioning fully.
As a review, let's remember that a CTD records the Conductivity of the water that when adjusted for Temperature gives us salinity. The Depth of each sample is recorded because the ocean is not static; it is constantly moving both vertically and horizontally, and changing as it moves. When you sample with the CTD you can add a variety of accessory sensors to measure other ocean parameters: O2 salinity, temperature, pressure, fluorescence,...
So there I was feeling really confident on my introductory journal on krill only to realize I really knew nothing at all. Tonight I sat down with Alexei Pinchuk and Rachel Pleuthner, wow, I am so impressed with the depth of their knowledge and expertise. But now I am tasked with trying to open a small window into this vital part of an oceanic food web.You have met Kirby the krill, but we should have called him Sam the spud, for the krill is the potato of this ecosystem. These little guys fuel this bionetwork like there is no tomorrow. But I am getting away from myself. Let's get back to the krill science going on aboard the HEALY.
Part of Tracy's day is spent in front of a microscope keying out different krill species.
The krill team is currently involved with at least three...
To fully understand the today I need to go back two nights. I had been up for over 20 hours and was ready for bed. The educational team and I had been working fiendishly ( love that word) on a power point presentation with fun activities for the students. I was also working on putting together the slides for next Monday's webinar. Anyway, after dinner, I went to bed. The next I knew my clock said eight thirty, and I had slept 13 hours! Frantically I got up got, dressed, and went to "Aft Con" to check on the retrieval of a floating sediment trap. MST Rich Layman told me that the pick-up would be the next day. I of course disputed his time analysis; it had been 24 hours why weren't we picking up the trap? Rich of course replied, "We just set the trap this morning, we...
Today I would like you to meet Kirby Krill, well not really Kirby, it could be Kathy. Whatever the gender "The Krill Grazers" are interested!
(From left) Tracy Shaw, Karen Taylor, Rachel Pleuthner, Megan Bernhardt and Gigi (Virginia) Engel
These five women work nights, waiting until dark to collect their samples. They only need one sampling station an evening where they send down the "bongo net" and retrieve their live critters. What the "Krill Grazers" are interested in is: What krill eat, and if their food choice changes seasonally. They also want to know: if the krill are given a choice, what would they choose to eat. This is similar to a salad bar mentality, give the krill everything, and see what food they prefer, thus the need for a live...
For the past thirteen days I have predominantly been working with the MOCNESS team. These scientists have opened their nets to me, and I have entered a world of plankton, juvenile fish, copepods, jelly fish, crab larva, and even juvenile squid. There is though one member of our team who I have been remiss in mentioning, meet Ron!
There are many research teams aboard, we are just waiting our turn at a sampling station.
Ron Heinz is the head of the nutritional ecology lab for AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) in Juneau, Alaska. And well Ron collects samples of species and literally blows them up! Yes you heard me, he combusts his samples.
Ron has a quest, he wants to know how much energy is stored in a fish and how it is partitioned, specifically in either fat or protein. ...
Prior to sailing on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HEALY I had no idea what it took to run such a huge floating, moving, science sampling community. Everyone that works aboard appears to be constantly busy not only with their formally assigned duties, but also with collateral duties, so that each one of the 15 separate divisions is constantly hopping. This was the case yesterday for the deck division, the largest aboard the HEALY with 17 crew members.
The deck department working with the scientists to retrieve an optical array.
The ship was working with scientists to retrieve an optical array, thus the need for small boats and the deck crew. It was through the guidance of Chief Boatswain's Mate Kidd that not only were two boats launched with appropriate crew, but that they had the...
First there is the disclaimer, then the alarm rings indicating a general emergency. The Crew jumps to action and the science personnel report to their designated standby stations.
I was very lucky when DCC (Damage Control Chief) George Marsden said that I could observe today's training. Three teams were involved in this specific drill: Medical, Damage Control and Engineering with approximately 10 people per team observing the actions of the crew as they responded to the reported emergency scenario.
It is very important to prepare for any drill scenario, and make sure it doesn't turn into an actual casualty.
Our situation is a fire in the number two boiler room with a collateral injury, a crew member with a broken arm. Prior to the drill all training personnel met to discuss the...
Yesterday I watched the deployment of the "Spider C40" a bottom mounted instrument mooring. Today I will spend some time with Jimmy Johnson as he builds a new mooring, from scratch, right here on the HEALY.
To build a mooring at sea, it is vital to remember to bring EVERYTHING you might need, there is no mooring store aboard the HEALY.
Jimmy is building a subsurface mooring, but this one is barely subsurface, designed to float about 10 meters below the surface. But wait a minute, I think I need to back up a bit. Check out this drawing, the potion of the mooring Jimmy is building is at the tippy top.
This is the BEST (Bering Ecosystem STudy) mooring to be deployed on the northwest side of Nunivak Island.
The entire length of this mooring is over 55 meters. But for our...
They are the men of the back deck, working diligently to prepare and then release their moorings in depth determined locations, where they will settle (literally) for a year. These unsung heroes are the mooring men!
Meet Kevin, Jimmy, John and Dave, all ready for mooring action on the Bering Sea!
For the past week I have been observing a lot of scientific research and much has been based on living critters, but there is so much more occurring on the HEALY this summer. Under the guidance of Tom Weingartner, the mooring men have been working diligently to not only construct, but then release their moorings which will stay here in the Bering, collect data and then be retrieved, next year!
So what then is a mooring, well this specific example is a bottom mounted instrument, or "...
At dinner last night I was invited to meet BECCE, and after a moments confusion I realized I had not been invited to meet a person, but to observe a readiness drill. BECCE stands for Basic Engineering Casualty Control Exercise and I was on my way to watch as the experienced crew aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HEALY maintains their skills, and passes that knowledge on to new cadets (students from the CG Academy in New London, CT who are here for a month during their summer break) and enlisted personnel.
A pre-drill brief, to discuss props, expectations and safety issues that the trainers might see. If a real casualty happens during a drill, the ETT would let the individuals who are training take control unless there were difficulties in responding to the casualty. Remember a...
To understand the multi-core I need to step back a bit. Let's say we understand a food web, you know one species eating another all intricately linked through their dependence upon each other. Well if you were to start at the bottom of the ocean you would see different nutrients at different depths with different critters eating different critters, and what you might not know is that what is in the sediments at the bottom of the ocean plays a huge role in what is available to eat and when for many other species.
The Multi-Core has just finished a station, we now have eight fresh sediment samples for testing.
David Shull with his team are working on a four year NSF grant, hoping to prove a few hypotheses involving the sediments of the Eastern Bering Sea Shelf.
TWO SUPPOSITIONS:
-...
