After a delay, Story Miller embarks on Bering Sea with NOAA

Published on July 29th, 2010

By ALASKA NEWSPAPERS STAFF

Editors note: Story Miller, a science and math teacher at Unalaska City School, is spending part of her summer aboard the NOAA research ship Oscar Dyson. As a member of NOAA's Teacher at Sea program, she will work with scientists surveying the populations of walleye Pollock in the Bering Sea and gathering other scientific data from July 19 through Aug. 6. The Fisherman will print selections from her blog as they become available. To view the blog, visit http://storymillernoaa2010tas.blogspot.com/.

July 13

Hello Everyone!

Looks like you have made it to my page! Here, you'll be able to track what I am doing aboard the Oscar Dyson from July 19-Aug. 6. You can also track my daily position in the Bering Sea by following this link: http://shiptracker.noaa.gov/.

From there you can look at the positions of all NOAA ships, or simply follow mine via "Oscar Dyson" (DY) and "Current Cruise."

I encourage everyone to swamp me with questions you may have as you read my blogs. My goal is that everyone can learn from this and share in part of the fun. If you are one of my students, you will be ahead of the came as we will be using the research I am conducting in my classroom this year. Have fun!

July 19

My first day on the boat proved to be interesting as I quickly learned my way around the ship. I sometimes make the analogy of myself being like a rat in a maze trying to find the cheese. In a way, it is accurate because the cook onboard has made some fantastic dinners and I've been successful at finding the mess hall by simply following my nose! For supper on Monday night, we had a buffet-style dinner and I was pleasantly surprised with the menu as I helped myself to prime rib and king crab legs!

July 20

On July 20, we were able to get underway at approximately 1300 hours. Before we pulled away from the dock, we needed to test our FRB (Fast Rescue Boat) to make sure it was functional in the possible event of an emergency. Once we knew the FRB was functional, we hauled it back onto the boat. As soon as we began to move, I went to the flying bridge ( the highest deck on the ship) to catch a glimpse of Dutch Harbor and to watch the local birds sitting on the water. Most of the birds I saw were tufted puffins. I always find them amusing because if you get near them when they have eaten too many fish, they try to fly away but their belly is too heavy. Therefore they simply skim over the water, wings flapping intensely, and bellies dragging over the top of the water!

Some advances in health care that I am extremely excited about is that I have found a seasickness medication that does not knock me out in under five minutes and that works for a long period of time. Thank you, Meclizine!

Currently we are underway and have approximately 381 miles northwest to travel before we make our waypoint, which will take approximately 28 hours. As of right now, my job has been to get acclimated to the ship. Work will begin Thursday at sunrise (about 0700). My current shifts will run from 0400 to 1600 each day. I cannot wait to begin the first part of my assignment!

Animals spotted by me today: Blackfooted albatross, tufted puffin, seagull, sea otter, fur seal.

Something to ponder: Regarding NOAA fish surveys, such as the Pollock survey I'm participating in, what impacts would the scientific information collected have on the fishery industry regarding revenue and long-term success?

July 22

This afternoon, we conducted a test with a drogue, which is like a large sea anchor. Sea anchors allow a boat that is simply sitting in the water to not drift so far with the waves. This drogue will stabilize the camera of an experimental trawl net device, called a Cam-Trawl and prevent it from fluttering when it is photographing the fish. The Cam-Trawl was designed by Kresimir Williams. Currently, the objective of this new device is to observe the fish we see in the backscatter, which are the animals we can see in the echo sounder.

In short, the ship's hull has transducers that send pings of sound energy down through the ocean and when they hit some object, such as the bottom of the ocean or a fish, some of the energy in the sound ping is returned to the ship and received by our echo sounding system in the acoustics lab of the ship.

When we locate a group of fish we want to study with the echo sounder, we have two primary methods of collecting data from the fish. The device we use the most is the Aleutian Wing Trawl (AWT) net and the other is an 83-112 bottom trawl net. The AWT is used for catching fish located at mid-water depths, and the other, as stated in the name, trawls the sea floor. To imagine the shape of these devices in the water, imagine a large funnel with a catch sack on the end. The beginning portion of these nets, nearest to the boat, has large meshes and its primary function is to funnel the fish toward the catch sack, which we call the coded, and once in there, the fish cannot escape. We then pull them to the surface and begin collecting data, such as size and species. The largest drawback to these methods is that the fish caught in the net will most likely die. To understand why, think of a diver in the deep ocean. If the diver comes up too fast, the body cannot adjust to the pressure fast enough as air expands, potentially causing lungs to rupture. For the fish, bringing them up too quickly causes their swim bladders to rupture. Rockfish tend to have their stomachs inverted out of their mouths. While killing the fish for research is unfortunate, it is one of the few ways we can learn about their patterns of behavior, health and diversity. (Visit the blog for more on these devices and photos.)

Personal log: Sleeping at sea was a new experience for me. The seas were only 4 to 8 feet high, which is marginal compared to the conditions this ship experiences in the winter months. Overall, I enjoyed being rocked to sleep but my 0330 alarm was not as pleasant. My room is located four flights of stairs below the bridge deck and I've been told it is one of the better places to be because the rocking of the boat is not as intense. The rooms are pretty cozy, as space is limited, but there is room for a desk, two closets and a bathroom (called the "head" on a ship) that reminds me of the sizes found in European hotels. I have the top bunk and each has a curtain that wraps around the entire bed so that if your roommate has a different shift than you, the light to the main room won't be a disturbance. Of course, since I have lived in Alaska for two years, I have become accustomed to sleeping in bright conditions.

The entire crew participated in a fire drill and abandon ship drill yesterday, so that all hands on the ship know where to muster for a headcount and learn how operate the life rafts in case the ship was sinking.

Additionally, we needed to know how to get into our survival suits (Gumby Suits). My first experience putting on the suit was during a field trip onto this vessel with my seventh- and eighth-grade students in May, so I was aware of the cozy fit! Fire and abandon ship drills are practiced once a week when the ship is underway, which is very important as the crew onboard are not just NOAA employees, but also in charge of fighting fires and responding to any onboard emergencies. So, if you want to be a fireman and a scientist and cannot choose, perhaps serving aboard a NOAA ship would be right up your alley!

To end my day (remember, bedtime for me is early is my alarm is set for 0330) ha had a "late" supper of sushi, spring rolls, meatloaf and for dessert a fabulous set of s'mores! Who says you can't have them on a ship?

Animals observed: Northern fulmar, crested auklets, tufted puffin, orca whales.

Something to ponder: When we are asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" usually we say one occupation — firefighter, actor, scientist, teacher, soldier, waitress. However, most jobs require many skills. For example, the scientists onboard put a variety of skills into practice, and scientist Kresimir Williams engineered the Cam-Trawl which employed his knowledge of the biological sciences (fish/oceanography), physical science (how to deploy the device without it breaking) and photography! So for my students, what do you want to be when you grow up?