Thursday, May 24, 2007
What Are We Seeing??
NOAA Teacher At Sea: Jacob Tanenbaum
NOAA Ship MILLER FREEMAN
Mission: Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations
Day 6: May 24, 2007
Weather Data from the Bridge:
Visibility: 3 Miles
Wind Speed: 23 Kts.
Sea Wave Height: 6 Feet
Sea Wave Height: 6 Feet
Water Temperature: 4.2 Degrees Celsius
Air Temperature: 6.6 Degrees Celsius
Pressure: Mbs
Science Log
Last night around 2:00 AM Alaska Time, we reached the point in the cruise where we were in the right position to deploy our drifter buoy. We stood on the back deck and gently lowered it over the side of the ship and watched it disappear into the Alaska night. Bon Voyage, Excalibur! Click here for the video. We heard from the buoy several times overnight and now are having trouble reaching the website. I will download data as soon as I can.
It was wonderful to see Excalibur in the water. I’m proud of each and every student in Mrs. O’Brien’s Class who worked so hard to put this buoy together. I can’t wait to get back and see the data from the buoy with you.
Another gale has blown in and we are again facing winds above 30 kts. And heavy seas. The work has been tough but we have been able to continue. Well, you have seen how the nets work, you have seen how the lab works. Today I would like to show you some of the incredible creatures that have come up in our tiny nets. The little bowl of reddish liquid you see here holds an incredible array of creatures which make up the plankton community in the Gulf of Alaska. Lets meet a few. We will need a microscope to do it. All of the pictures you see here were taken with a camera mounted to a microscope. But first, will the real Sheldon Plankton from Sponge Bob, please stand up…
Science Log
Last night around 2:00 AM Alaska Time, we reached the point in the cruise where we were in the right position to deploy our drifter buoy. We stood on the back deck and gently lowered it over the side of the ship and watched it disappear into the Alaska night. Bon Voyage, Excalibur! Click here for the video. We heard from the buoy several times overnight and now are having trouble reaching the website. I will download data as soon as I can.
It was wonderful to see Excalibur in the water. I’m proud of each and every student in Mrs. O’Brien’s Class who worked so hard to put this buoy together. I can’t wait to get back and see the data from the buoy with you.
Another gale has blown in and we are again facing winds above 30 kts. And heavy seas. The work has been tough but we have been able to continue. Well, you have seen how the nets work, you have seen how the lab works. Today I would like to show you some of the incredible creatures that have come up in our tiny nets. The little bowl of reddish liquid you see here holds an incredible array of creatures which make up the plankton community in the Gulf of Alaska. Lets meet a few. We will need a microscope to do it. All of the pictures you see here were taken with a camera mounted to a microscope. But first, will the real Sheldon Plankton from Sponge Bob, please stand up…
This is what Sheldon Plankton really looks like. He is a copepod. And he eats phytoplankton (plants), not crabby patties.
This is a baby crab. The female carries the eggs. When they hatch, the float around for a few weeks eating phytoplankton. They go through 3 major stages. This is the last one. At this stage, the crab settles to the bottom and starts to begin life as a bottom dweller. At each stage, these creatures shed a shell, swell with water, form a new shell and then expel the water they absorbed before they grew the new shell. They use the extra space to for real grow before they have to shed again.
This is a pollock larvae. That may be the yolk sack from the egg under its mouth! It absorbs the yolk and then must begin to look for food on its own. You are seeing this pollocks first real meal.
This is a baby Sculpin. At this stage, the fish begin to settle to the bottom. It now begins to have the colors it needs to hide from predators above. The don't have fins quite yet. They are not really able to swim against the current. Right now, since it is too young to swim, it is considered plankton. Look how large they eyes are. Why do you think they need such large eyes?
This is what shrimp look like, when they first hatch. Shrimp like this look red to us, but in deeper water, where there is less sunlight, the red looks black, not red. What great camouflage!
Another pollock larvae. You can clearly see the eye and mouth. This pollock does not have a yolk sack, so it has been eating on its own. Do you see the food in its stomach? I wonder what it has been eating. Take a guess and write a comment. There are no real fins at all on this fish, yet. See how small the stomach is? These fish have to find food and find it fast. They cannot store energy in their bodies yet.
Several different types of zooplankton gather around some phytoplankton. Here is the beginning of the food web. The algae in this photo serve as food for many little creatures in the sea. The copepods and other small creatures eat the tiny phytoplankton, and in turn are eaten by small fish.
This is a a creature called a hyperiid amphipod. It is related to a sand flea. They live in plankton. These particular ones will borrow into the surface of jellyfish and ride around on them. They are tiny hitchhikers. They have plates on their abdomen are where the babies stay when they are young.
Personal Log
The storm is really raging now and the seas are getting bigger. I am NOT seasick! That is because of Lt. Sean. He gave me some medicine which seems to be working. Now it is kind of fun to be out her since the waves don’t’ bother me any more. I kind of enjoy the ride now. We are REALLY moving up and down.
Question of the Day
This is a complex one, but an important concept if you ever sail. The ship was facing 51 degrees (North East) when we let off the buoy, but the ship was moving 355 degrees (almost true north). Why would the ship face one way and travel a slightly different way?
HINT: Think about how the storm affects the ship
Answers to your Questions
The answer to yesterday’s question was 12.5 x 24 or 300 kts. or about 345 miles. Congratulations all who got this one correct. Of course, we stop a lot here to take measurements, so we do not go that far in a day.
Many of you asked how much we are finding. I’ll tell you about that in a day or so when the scientists have a better idea of what the data is showing.
We have not seen any sharks. That’s OK with me.
Was it scary to be at sea in a storm? Not really. You get used to the waves after a while. They are really rolling along right now. But people here are used to it and go about their lives as people do.
What was the deepest ocean we have sailed over so far? 240 meters. We will sail over deeper water in the days to come.
Josh, I’m not getting sea-sick anymore, and there are not many people on deck right now because of the storm. Most of us are inside unless we have to work.
Amanda, good question. I don’t really feel the tides, but I know they are there. They just move us around a little, but what I really feel are the waves from the storm.
Hello as well to Lt. Sean’s family. Thanks so much for writing. I’m glad you are enjoying the blog.
Hello to Nazilla and Earnest in Seattle. Thanks for writing.
The storm is really raging now and the seas are getting bigger. I am NOT seasick! That is because of Lt. Sean. He gave me some medicine which seems to be working. Now it is kind of fun to be out her since the waves don’t’ bother me any more. I kind of enjoy the ride now. We are REALLY moving up and down.
Question of the Day
This is a complex one, but an important concept if you ever sail. The ship was facing 51 degrees (North East) when we let off the buoy, but the ship was moving 355 degrees (almost true north). Why would the ship face one way and travel a slightly different way?
HINT: Think about how the storm affects the ship
Answers to your Questions
The answer to yesterday’s question was 12.5 x 24 or 300 kts. or about 345 miles. Congratulations all who got this one correct. Of course, we stop a lot here to take measurements, so we do not go that far in a day.
Many of you asked how much we are finding. I’ll tell you about that in a day or so when the scientists have a better idea of what the data is showing.
We have not seen any sharks. That’s OK with me.
Was it scary to be at sea in a storm? Not really. You get used to the waves after a while. They are really rolling along right now. But people here are used to it and go about their lives as people do.
What was the deepest ocean we have sailed over so far? 240 meters. We will sail over deeper water in the days to come.
Josh, I’m not getting sea-sick anymore, and there are not many people on deck right now because of the storm. Most of us are inside unless we have to work.
Amanda, good question. I don’t really feel the tides, but I know they are there. They just move us around a little, but what I really feel are the waves from the storm.
Hello as well to Lt. Sean’s family. Thanks so much for writing. I’m glad you are enjoying the blog.
Hello to Nazilla and Earnest in Seattle. Thanks for writing.
Comments:
<< Home
Hello from Mrs. Freeley’s Third grade Class:
What fish did you see other than the Pollack? Did you catch any salmon or eel?
Do you eat salmon? What do you eat besides fish on the boat?
We are curious about your living? How do you take a shower? Or a bath? How do you sleep in your bed? Do you roll out onto the floor? Do you have your own room? Are there cabins?
Are there any animals on board the ship?
Is somebody taking your spot at school while you are at sea?
I hope you have a good time. I hope you survive.
Best,
Mrs. Freeley’s Kids
What fish did you see other than the Pollack? Did you catch any salmon or eel?
Do you eat salmon? What do you eat besides fish on the boat?
We are curious about your living? How do you take a shower? Or a bath? How do you sleep in your bed? Do you roll out onto the floor? Do you have your own room? Are there cabins?
Are there any animals on board the ship?
Is somebody taking your spot at school while you are at sea?
I hope you have a good time. I hope you survive.
Best,
Mrs. Freeley’s Kids
Dear Mr. Tanenbaum,
Hello from Mrs. Bolte's Kindergarten class! Your videos and experiments have influenced this class to be filled with future divers, scientists and one (Vincent) ship captain. They were happy hear of Excalibur's success!
Hello from Mrs. Bolte's Kindergarten class! Your videos and experiments have influenced this class to be filled with future divers, scientists and one (Vincent) ship captain. They were happy hear of Excalibur's success!
Hey Jacob,
Marty Reedy here. I was the guy who was leaving as you were getting on the ship (the bird guy). Was looking through your blog and saw the bird that had landed on the Miller Freeman on May 23. It is actually a Solitary Sandpiper. They are migrating from the tropics up to and including the Aleutian Islands. It is suspected that they stay over the land masses during the migration, so your assumption that it had been blown out to sea is most likely correct.
Good sailing and tell everyone on the MF I said hi.
Marty
Marty Reedy here. I was the guy who was leaving as you were getting on the ship (the bird guy). Was looking through your blog and saw the bird that had landed on the Miller Freeman on May 23. It is actually a Solitary Sandpiper. They are migrating from the tropics up to and including the Aleutian Islands. It is suspected that they stay over the land masses during the migration, so your assumption that it had been blown out to sea is most likely correct.
Good sailing and tell everyone on the MF I said hi.
Marty
Dear Mr. Tanenbaum,
Hello from Mr. Gunther's first grade class. How are you? M. wants to know if you're tired of eating fish already? Morgan wants to know if you are doing experiments today? Toby wants to know when you will be returning.
Hello from Mr. Gunther's first grade class. How are you? M. wants to know if you're tired of eating fish already? Morgan wants to know if you are doing experiments today? Toby wants to know when you will be returning.
Hi this is Ryan from Mrs.Schniders class. whats with the crab legs and butter? Was their relly a festival? please write back. thank you
Hi! Did you have a good time? How much did you learn about plankton?
If I could go any where I would go to Sacremento California.
If I could go any where I would go to Sacremento California.
dearMr.T,
how are you.I hope your having fun.I learned that plankton look so weird and it plays a big role in the food chain
.If I got to go anywhere in the world I would go to Hiwaii because it's warm there and the people are mostly nice there
From,
Justin
how are you.I hope your having fun.I learned that plankton look so weird and it plays a big role in the food chain
.If I got to go anywhere in the world I would go to Hiwaii because it's warm there and the people are mostly nice there
From,
Justin
Hi Mr.T
I learned that we all of at one ponit had eaten plankton.It is so weaird.I would like to go to Colorado.I would like to go to Colorado because I would like ski.Did you ever ski?So see you on Thursday.
From,
Liam
Post a Comment
I learned that we all of at one ponit had eaten plankton.It is so weaird.I would like to go to Colorado.I would like to go to Colorado because I would like ski.Did you ever ski?So see you on Thursday.
From,
Liam
<< Home
