Saturday, October 2, 2010

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Barbara Koch
NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
Mission: Autumn Bottom Trawl Survey Leg II
Geographical area of cruise: Southern New England
Date: Saturday, October 02, 2010

Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude 41.31
Longitude -71.40
Speed 6.50 kts
Course 192.00
Wind Speed 11.29 kts
Wind Dir. 246.00 º
Surf. Water Temp. 18.81 ºC
Surf. Water Sal. 31.87 PSU
Air Temperature 15.90 ºC
Relative Humidity 57.00 %
Barometric Pres. 1014.52 mb
Water Depth 35.81 m
Cruise Start Date 10/2/2010

Science and Technology Log

Stacy Rowe, of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts is the Chief Scientist for our cruise. I had a chance to talk with her about her background, experiences, and job while we were waiting to leave port today.

When working onshore, Rowe is responsible for pre-cruise preparations, such as ordering supplies for the trip and coordinating the collection of special samples for in-house and out-of-house scientists. She also works on testing a new version of FSCS (Fisheries Scientific Computer System), which is the system we are using to collect data about the fish populations.

During the cruise, when serving as Chief Scientist, Rowe shoulders a lot of responsibility. She schedules the watch teams, works with both watch teams, and acts as a liaison between the scientists and the ship’s personnel on the bridge (the room from which the boat is commanded). Although the sampling stations are randomly selected via computer before the cruise, Rowe works with the bridge to determine in which order stations will be sampled. On this cruise she has consulted with the bridge often because the weather has impacted our travel so much. Rowe relates that the job of chief scientist is mentally tiring because she is really on call the entire cruise. After the cruise, Rowe works with post-cruise management. She makes sure the samples collected are distributed to the scientists, and she audits data to make sure there were no errors in data collection.

Rowe grew up in Florida and attended the University of Florida where she earned a BS in Natural Resource Conservation with a minor in Wildlife Ecology. During her undergraduate program, she studied sampling, and uses this information extensively in her job now. After she graduated from college, Rowe joined the Peace Corps. She spent over one year working in Congo, Africa on a fresh water project. Then, she spent two years on Palau in Micronesia working in marine resource management. Rowe has been with NOAA for eight years, now. She goes on five to six research cruises a year, which adds up to about sixty days for the entire year. She serves as Chief Scientist on the majority of her cruises, but still enjoys the rare cruise when she works as a scientist processing catches.

Rowe has some advice for young people thinking they might like a career like hers. First, get a degree in any science area. A marine science degree isn’t really necessary. Work experience is the really important key. Second, volunteer as much as you can. Volunteering to work on research cruises not only builds a resume, but it allows students to try it out early on in their school career to see if they like it.

Stacy Rowe has strong interpersonal and organizational skills that are important for her leadership position, and I’ve enjoyed working as a volunteer scientist under her direction.

Personal Log

Newport, Rhode Island is a great place to visit. It was a center for shipbuilding and trade during colonial times, and is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy. Some of the United States’ wealthiest families built summer homes overlooking the bay, and these homes are open for tours today. I spent a nice afternoon on the “Cliff Walk” which is a trail that skirts around the edge of the estates just above the water. I had been there twenty five years ago, so it was fun to revisit the area.

After two days in port, we are heading back out to sea. It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining, and the waters are pretty calm. It’s hard to believe that we will be in rough waters once we leave Narragansett Bay. I’m riding up on the weather deck as we leave the bay, and I see many sailboats, two commercial cruise liners, Fort Adams (which has guarded Narragansett Bay since Colonial Times), Clingstone (a famous house built on a rock in the water), and the Newport (Pell) Bridge. I’m definitely putting Newport on my list of places to revisit.

In the Wet Lab

We have processed Atlantic Spiny Dogfish in the lab this week. This fish isn’t very popular for food in the United States, but it is exported to Europe for “fish and chips.” In 1998, this species was overfished, therefore, there were limits placed on the numbers fisheries could catch. Since that time, catch levels have been rebuilt.

The Atlantic Spiny Dogfish lives a long time: females up to 40 years and males up to 35 years. Females are larger than males and give birth to between two and fifteen live pups. During gestation (18-24 months) the pups have a yellow sack at their necks called a “yolk.” The Spiny Dogfish, processed here by TK, was a female with six pups. You can see the yolk on the two pups in the picture at right. To read more about the Atlantic Spiny Dogfish or other species visit NOAA’s Fish Watch website at:

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/atl_spiny_dogfish.htm.