Arpeggio, born in 1997, photographed during the aerial survey May 14 by Pete Duley, NEFSC/NOAA.

Another view of Arpeggio, taken by the NEFSC aerial survey team’s Pete Duley, during the May 14 survey flight.

 Arpeggio  from a different angle. Photo by Pete Duley, NEFSC/NOAA

Arpeggio and her calf, sighted during the May 14 aerial survey. Photo by Pete Duley, NEFSC/NOAA

The aerial survey team aboard the NOAA Twin Otter also observed 7 humpback whales, 2 minke whales, 1 fin whale, 1 sei whale, 30 common dolphins, and 4 basking sharks. Details of right whale sightings can be viewed  on the North Atlantic Right Whale Sightings web page at: http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/psb/surveys/.

No right whales, and no other species of note, were observed during the May 16 survey of Rhode Island Sound.

Christin Khan
NEFSC aerial survey team

Right whale calf. Photo by Allison Henry, NEFSC/NOAA

5/9: Oh, fog, how we missed you. Actually, the fog was pretty amazing this morning, as it was really low. Essentially just at sea level, so we could survey from the flying bridge. It still hampered our sightings, but as we moved north along the eastern side of the shipping lanes and out of the fog, we found a pair of right whales skim feeding. Again, we deployed the light profiler and CTD cage. Then as the day wound down we found a small pocket of heavy activity – 2 humpbacks kick-feeding, 1 minke whale, 30 white-sided dolphins, and 3 gray seals – all feeding on the same bait patch. 3 finbacks were lunge feeding nearby. It was nice to end this leg of the cruise on such a high note.

Skim feeding right whale. Photo by David Morin, NERO/NOAA

Pair of skin feeding whales. Photo by Allison Henry, NEFSC/NOAA

There’s only so much you can control on a research cruise, and I am extremely grateful for having such a good-spirited crew (both scientist and shipboard) with me on this one. It’s hard to stay positive when the elements seem to be against you, but they surely did and helped me stay positive, too.

Left to Right: Samara Haver, Nadine Lysiak, Mark Baumgartner, Jennifer Gatzke, Chris Tremblay, Allison Henry, David Morin, Lauren Bamford, Angela Greene, Beth Josephson, Eric Matzen, Sarah Fortune. Photo by Benjamin LaCour, NOAA.

Allison Henry
Chief Scientist
GG13-01 North Atlantic Right Whale Survey and Biology

5/6: If they’re here, we can’t see ‘em. Fog, fog and more fog. We surveyed east/west lines across the southern end hoping to find a break, but didn’t. Cabin fever, or bad weather fever, is starting to set in, so we’re all looking for ways to keep ourselves entertained. See attached (images) for my preferred method. The night was capped off with rousing games of “Peanut” and “Salad Bowl” (trust me, it’s fun).

Beaker surveying the fog….

… plotting tracklines…

…and dealing with seasickness helped pass the time during heavy fog and rough seas. Photos by Allison Henry, NEFSC/NOAA

We’ve still got fog, but it’s lifted enough that we can actually survey from the flying bridge. Here’s hoping the trend continues and we find some right whales today.

Allison Henry
Chief Scientist
GG13-01 North Atlantic Right Whale survey and biology

Fog blanket over Cape Cod May 1 as seen from the NEFSC aerial survey’s Twin Otter. Photo by Christin Khan, NEFSC/NOAA

Eel Grass Cove in Barnstable, Mass. Photo credit: Christin Khan, NEFSC/NOAA

Panoramic view inside the NOAA Twin otter during a right whale survey flight. At left, Tim Cole of the NEFSC’s aerial survey team records data and Pete Duley is in the bubble window at center.  A pilot is partly visible at right. Photo by Christin Khan, NEFSC/NOAA

Here’s Pete Duley in a panoramic view when not observing whales in the plane’s bubble window! Photo by Christin Khan, NEFSC/NOAA

Christin Khan
NEFSC Aerial Survey Team

4/30:  We departed at 8:00 (sans internet) and headed out to Vineyard Sound where we successfully launched and retrieved both small boats and did a test cast with our oceanographic sampling system. The WHOI scientists were able to test all their equipment and make sure that they’re ready to go.  The NEFSC scientists were able to go through all their protocols and equipment and train those who are new to this type of survey. David Morin went through his Level 1 Disentanglement Training presentation for all the scientists. So, now all the folks who will be looking for and at a whale will know what to look for and how to document and assess potential entanglements.

5/1:  Fog. And more fog. We deployed one of five MARU (pop-up) buoys first thing in the morning. Then transited through fog to the southern point of the Great South Channel and began running east/west survey lines across. In the fog. Did I mention it was foggy? Needless to say we didn’t see much other than fog… We tested the oceanographic cage again in deeper water. Also, Tony, the ET made the necessary repairs to get the Internet up and running again.

A fog blanket May 1 over Cape Cod and nearby waters, taken from the NEFSC’s aerial survey airplane, a NOAA Twin Otter. Credit: Christin Khan, NEFSC.NOAA

5/2: Fog is gone!! Couldn’t ask for better sighting conditions. We are still running east/west lines across the channel and so far have had a few sightings of fin whales and sei whales and several small groups of white-sided dolphins. The aerial survey plane is up so hopefully one or both of us will come across some right whales soon.

5/2 (continued): We finished running west and began following the 50 fathom contour line on the western side of the Great South Channel (GSC) north. We found an area with a few right whales and decided to launch the small boats. Given how our luck as gone so far, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the seas picked up shortly after launching. But the whales were very cooperative – 1 breaching, lobtailing, and rolling around and 4 in a Surface Active Group (SAG) – so we were able to photograph them relatively quickly.  The WHOI tagging boat moved in for some attempts, but with the seas and whales’ behavior, weren’t able to get a tag on. We were also able to collect a poop sample from the SAG that will be sent to the New England Aquarium for hormone analysis.

The NEFSC aerial survey team was able to observe a Surface Active Group (SAG) of right whales May 2.  One of those whales, known as “Silver”, was named for the missing left part of his fluke. Photo credit: Jennifer Gatzke, NEFSC/NOAA

Closer view of North Atlantic right whale known as “Silver”. Photo credit:   Jennifer Gatzke, NEFSC/NOAA.

May 3 and May 4:   Big seas and general misery. We had 10+ foot seas for these two days. Needless to say there were some casualties to sea sickness and I’ll admit that I was one of them. But we still made the most of it and were able to run south and deploy the 4 remaining pop-ups. Luckily our Acoustician (Samara Haver) and some of the other scientific staff are made of hardier stuff than I…

We are currently running north on the 50 fathom line again.

Allison Henry
Chief Scientist
GG13-01 North Atlantic Right Whale Survey and Biology

Note:  NOAA Teacher at Sea Angela Greene from Ohio is aboard the Gordon Gunter for the first leg of this survey.   Read her updates on the NOAA Teacher at Sea blog.

Victor Coleman washes mud from the anchor
chain as the Pisces prepares to leave Provincetown harbor. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

While there we hosted tours of our vessel for researchers and staff from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI).  They in turn invited us to visit their impressive facility which was conveniently located just down the road from the state pier where we were docked.  We learned that the GMRI has a multifaceted mission of fostering research, education and sustainable fisheries for the Gulf of Maine.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute staff visit the Pisces while the ship is docked at the Portland State Pier.
Photo by Petri Tuohimaa, GMRI

NOAA Corps Officer Doug Pawlishen gives a tour of the Pisces bridge to GMRI staff during our Portland port call. Photo by Petri Tuohimaa, GMRI

Their gracious hosting of the ship’s complement helped us pass the time while we waited for the weather to abate, which it did by Friday morning, when we left Portland and returned to work.   With cruise time now limited to just a few remaining days we sampled what we could in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank before still another storm system forced us to seek shelter in Narragansett Bay.  We stayed there overnight and calibrated our acoustic fish-locating system, which we had been unable to do when we were anchored off of Provincetown.

NOAA researcher Mike Jech holds up a 38 mm metal sphere placed under the hull for acoustic calibrations while anchored in Narragansett Bay. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

On Monday morning we left our Rhode Island anchorage and finished the last part of the cruise completing sampling of Southern New England waters.  Even though pressed for time sampling as much as they could in the few remaining days, the scientists still managed to squeeze in one more mission; that of education.

Decorated styrofoam cups from Fishing Cove School second graders, shrunken at depth by Pisces scientists. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

They brought out with them fifty-one Styrofoam cups, creatively decorated by second graders from the Fishing Cove Elementary School in North Kingstown, RI.  By placing them in a mesh bag attached to the CTD/Niskin bottle water sampling array, and submerging them during deep water casts, the scientists were able to shrink the cups to about one fourth of their original size, dramatically demonstrating how pressure increases with depth in the ocean.

Scientists working up the mid-water trawl catch in the Pisces wet lab. Photo by Chris Melrose, NEFSC/NOAA

Chief engineer Garet Urban brightens up a dreary day with a barbecue while we are anchored in Narragansett Bay. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Now in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, we have just completed our last station and are heading back to Narragansett Bay to dock at the Newport Naval Station in Rhode Island.  It has been a very difficult cruise in terms of weather, but we are fortunate to have achieved as much survey coverage as we have due to the very hard work of the Pisces command and crew, who did everything they could to assist us with our sampling.  Now they will be returning to their home port in Pascagoula, Miss., after they deliver us to Newport.   I wish them a safe and speedy return home.  We are very grateful to them for their efforts and camaraderie that they shared with us, and hope that we will have an opportunity to sail with them again soon.

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC 13-01 Northeast Pelagic Survey

The midwater trawl, rolled up onto its reel, covered in snow. Photo by Lt. Kyle Byers, NOAA Corps.

The side sampling station on the starboard side of
Pisces, with snow on the deck. Note that the Niskin bottle sampling rosette and CTD unit are secured to a bulkhead on the right side of the photo and protected from ice by a blue cover. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA.

We’ve done very well until this point in time, having completed a total of seventy four stations from North Carolina to Southern New England and even the southwest corner of Georges Bank in just one week.  These stations have included four midwater trawls, twenty three rosette casts and forty seven bongo plankton tows.  The NASA personnel have also conducted several hand-deployed radiometer casts on days when it was not too rough or raining.  Our marine bird and mammal observers have been working steadily in two-hour shifts, to document all sightings along our cruise track.  The midwater trawl catches, all very small (less than one bushel basket), have included spiny dogfish, myctophids (lantern fish), pearlsides (another family of bioluminescent fish), small squid, and some butterfish.

NOAA Corps Officer Jim Europe on anchor watch, peering through the ice-encrusted bridge windows. Note the Pilgrim Monument sticking up from the shoreline, just visible in front of Jim’s face. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Now however, we are pinned down by very strong winds, which are forecast to last well into Monday.  Our plan is to assess the situation on Monday afternoon and then determine whether it will be safe to leave before nightfall or on Tuesday morning to head north and inshore into the Gulf of Maine.  We have ten days until we return to Newport Rhode Island which is enough time to finish sampling the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, but the long range forecast doesn’t look good for offshore, where most of the remaining stations are located.

Crewman Ryan Harris knocking ice off the bridge windows and windshield wipers. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC NOAA.

In the meantime we are doing what we can while at anchor.  Mike Jech, our midwater trawl expert, may conduct a calibration of the acoustic transducers used to “see” fish schools in the water column.  He is waiting for there to be less wave agitation and fewer air bubbles in the water column to get a clearer image from targets lowered over the side.  This eight-hour process will allow him to check out the performance of four transducers, each tuned to a different sound frequency to give a return from organisms ranging in size from plankton to fish.  Patrick Bergin and Reed Maloney, the electronics technician and ship’s engineer, spent some time studying the movement of the huge rack and pinion mechanism that raises and lowers the centerboard where the transducers are located, from an inspection hatch in the floor of the bridge deck.

Looking down into the centerboard trunk from the bridge access hatch. Note the water visible since it is open to the ocean to
permit lowering of the centerboard from the hull. Photo by Lt. Kyle Byers, NOAA Corps.

Although it is frustrating to be stuck at anchor, we have only to hear the sounds of the wind blowing across the hull and feel the ship movement even in this sheltered anchorage, to know this is a far better situation to be in than somewhere offshore!

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC 13-01 Northeast Pelagic Survey

The NOAA vessel Pisces has made a great deal of progress since our last update.  The weather has been remarkably cooperative for February, and although we’ve had some winds and seas, plus rain and snow, we’ve been able to keep working at a rapid clip, and now find ourselves approximately 40 miles south-southwest of Montauk Point, Long Island, conducting our second midwater trawl.  Our first midwater trawl was done 50 miles off the coast of New Jersey, and yielded 14-15 spiny dogfish, many small squid and 1 butterfish.  The total volume did not exceed a one bushel basket.

Despite the large size of this net, our first midwater tow yielded only a one bushel basket-sized tow of spiny dogfish and squid, plus a single butterfish. Photo by Chris Melrose, NEFSC/NOAA

Plankton catches have been light, and very typical for this area and time of year.  Water column temperature and salinity has also been fairly typical for this season, being well mixed and showing little evidence of any thermo- or haloclines in most of our casts.  We had been plagued by intermittent but persistent problems with our water sampler on the Niskin bottle rosette, but today the equally persistent scientists and electronics technician on board have tracked down and corrected several problems, involving both hardware and software and the most recent casts conducted just prior to my writing this went very smoothly.

The Niskin bottle rosette sampler is now functioning smoothly, thanks to patient troubleshooting by NOAA scientists Tamara Holwarth-Davis, Chris Melrose and Jon Hare, and by Patrick Bergin, the Pisces electronics technician. The calm seas evident in this photograph have been the norm for much of this cruise, quite unlike that experienced ashore along much of the east coast. Photo by Chris
Melrose, NEFSC/NOAA

The midwater trawl being deployed from the stern gantry of the Pisces. The net is nearly one hundred meters (roughly 300 feet) long! Photo by Chris Melrose, NEFSC/NOAA

I fear that our streak of excellent weather will end this Sunday, as a front with strong winds is forecast to come through the Southern New England area.  The captain has proposed targeting as many offshore stations as possible prior to that event, a strategy which has already worked very well for us farther south.  We’ll be on our way inshore to calmer waters near Cape Cod when the worst of the storm hits.  The art to this is all in the timing.  If we stay offshore too long, we’ll get caught in the winds and seas and have to stop working.  If we come inshore too soon we could end up finishing work on all the nearby inshore stations and have to stop working until we can get back offshore.  The command aboard the Pisces is quite adept at this game.  Our November ecosystem monitoring cruise last year on this vessel was during Hurricane Sandy and the huge un-named nor’easter that followed it.  They had us out sampling prior to the storms, in for shelter for the worst weather, and quickly back out as the seas subsided, using the superior speed of these newer vessels to best accomplish this.

A screen image captured from the NOAA Ship Tracker page shows the progress being made by the Pisces as the ship works its way northward along the continental shelf. Screen capture by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA.

One fact that has been a cause for concern is that, ironically, we have had better weather at sea than many of our families have had ashore.  While many ashore have had to endure blizzards and power outages, we have continued in relative comfort, by comparison.  I admire the spirit with which everyone aboard has carried on while saddled with concerns about how their families were faring during the worst of the storms that hit much of the east coast.  Of course in our modern age we are able to communicate with much more regularity than we could on past cruises, but it is still not the same as being there with your family when life becomes difficult at home.    I’d like to say thank you, on this Valentine’s Day, to everyone on board who is continuing to make this cruise possible while so far from their loved ones.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC 13-01 Northeast Pelagic Survey