A Seahorse, Salps, and Styrofoam Cups?

The Pisces has made its final trawl and is now heading towards its last plankton station before it will dock in Little Creek, Norfolk, Virginia for the end of this cruise later today. Since our last update we’ve weathered persistent gale-force winds that caused us to miss our first and only station of this entire survey, when gusts of forty knot winds forced us to abort setting the Shallow-Water midwater trawl just before dawn on Monday morning. We altered course to continue working in a more sheltered area further south. Subsequent trawls made late last night have been small in quantity but highly diverse in composition, with cutlass fish, bluefish, a puffer fish, small squid, salps and even a seahorse! We are now heading for our last plankton station which we should arrive at in the wee hours of this Wednesday morning.

The night watch processing one of the last midwater trawl catches of the cruise. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Rich Bell holding a cutlass fish caught in the midwater trawl. Photo by Maura Thomas, University of Maine

This has been an interesting cruise owing to its multi-pronged approach for studying the waters of the northeast continental shelf. Using a variety of tools wielded by scientists from different disciplines, marine life from phyto- and zoo-plankton, to larval, juvenile and adult fish have been studied, together with a backdrop of oceanographic measurements of water temperatures and salinities, and light, chlorophyll, and nutrient levels. The onboard experiment to measure respiration of various fish was a first for one of these survey cruises.

Seahorse captured in midwater trawl. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

 

Emily Brownlee and an Imaging Flow Cytobot Unit from WHOI. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Diatoms and dinoflagellates photographed by the Imaging Flow Cytobot units. Photo by Emily Brownlee, WHOI

There has also been an educational component, where students from Prout High School and Davisville Middle School in Rhode Island, sent highly decorated styrofoam coffee cups and manikin heads out with us to be submerged along with our instruments to depths of 500 meters (1,640 feet) to demonstrate the effect of pressure on them.

Styrofoam cups in mesh bag mounted below instruments on CTD rosette. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/ NOAA

Styrofoam cups and manikin heads from Davis Middle School (top) and Prout High School (bottom) after 36 submersions on CTD rosette. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/ NOAA.

All of this was accomplished in an area ranging from as far north as the Bay of Fundy in the Gulf of Maine, to as far east as the Northeast Channel off of Georges Bank, down to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in the south in just seventeen days. Truly a remarkable achievement, and we, the scientists on this survey, want to thank the officers and crew of the Pisces for doing their utmost to make this possible. By utilizing this vessel to its fullest capabilities, and with their constant help and advice, they have enabled us to accomplish a lot in a short time.

Crewmen Victor Coleman and Jeff Brawley from the Pisces deploying bongo plankton nets. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

We thank you and wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC1405 NE Pelagic-EcoMon Survey

 

The usual, and the oddities

Since transiting the Cape Cod Canal on Thursday, the Pisces has continued its remarkable rate of progress in Southern New England waters. As of 6 p.m. Saturday night (November 15) we are outside of New York harbor and working our way further south towards the New Jersey coast. Tows in these inshore waters have had large amounts of phytoplankton, and catches of salps and ribbed jellyfish have been in several of our plankton tows. We also had ribbed jellyfish in one of our most recent shallow water mid-water trawls, along with a couple of juvenile butterfish and a few larval menhaden. Some earlier mid-water trawls had squid and lanternfish.

Pisces cruise track as of 6 p.m. November 15, 2014. Image courtesy of NOAA Shiptracker website.

Two juvenile butterfish and a menhaden larva captured in a recent tow of the Shallow Water Midwater Trawl. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

We have been striving to catch our fish with as little trauma as possible for oxygen consumption measurements, but have had difficulty keeping most of them alive. We have gotten good data from “Lumpy” the lumpfish, who is still on board and doing well, from some sand eels and a paper nautilus. Our latest tenant of the respirometer is a lookdown, a shiny silvery fish which is not only about the size of a half dollar, but resembles one as well! We had hoped to make measurements on butterfish, but have not had any success in keeping them alive long enough to place them in the respirometers.

A lookdown fish, swimming against a mild current in the flow-through respirometer. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

A codend aquarium for the midwater trawl, made by Chris Taylor and the scientists and crew aboard Pisces, will help keep fish alive during tows. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

To address this issue the scientists and crew worked together yesterday to come up with a tub that is placed inside the codend of the trawl to provide a soft landing place of undisturbed water at the back of the net for at least some of the fish that are scooped up, and also to keep them submerged in water while the net is being dragged up the trawlway and onto the deck.   We think that if we can address these issues of capture trauma we may have a better chance of getting some candidates for the respirometers. So far we’ve only caught a few squid and lantern fish in the tub. The squid were alive and well, but the lanternfish were not. The lanternfish did however appear to be in much better shape than ones we have caught just using the trawl alone, so we feel we are making some improvements. Now we just need a good catch of butterfish to give our design a real test!

We are continuing to catch a few oddities, such as a balloon squid, so named for its round shape, and also some Phronima, the latin name for a small amphipod that feeds on salps and then lives inside the clear salp body, swimming it around like a little barrel-shaped house. This thumb-sized crustacean is reputed to have been the inspiration for the appearance of the alien creature in the series of Alien movies!

A balloon squid captured in the Shallow Water Midwater trawl. Photo by Dan Vendettuoli, NEFSC/NOAA

A Phronima amphipod, captured in the Shallow Water Midwater trawl. Photo by Dan Vendettuoli, NEFSC/NOAA

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC1405 NE Pelagic-EcoMon Survey

Diverse tows, and some unusual finds

The NOAA ship Pisces reached the sea buoy at the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal at 0630 this morning for a sunny but cold transition from the comparatively balmy Gulf of Maine to the waters off the Southern New England coast, now engulfed by a cold front that has crossed the country to meet us. We heard snow is in the forecast for some of this area on Friday!

We have been blessed by mild, calm conditions for much of our time in the Gulf of Maine, and consequently have been able to sample at every single planned station both there and on Georges Bank, a goal we are not often able to achieve at this time of year. We have now completed 74 bongo net plankton tows, 22 CTD rosette water casts, 14 Shallow-Water Mid-water Trawls, and 2 Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawls on the first half of this trip.

Cruise track (red line represents completed portion) for the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine sampling conducted by the NOAA vessel Pisces in the Gulf of Maine during the PC1405 Survey. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Shallow Water Mid-Water Trawl being retrieved after a tow. Photo by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

The catches from the Shallow-Water Mid-water Trawls have been pretty small for the most part, but diverse. Last night’s first tow yielded dogfish, butterfish, herring, red and silver hake and even a paper nautilus, which is a rarity in northern waters! The paper nautilus is doing quite well, and has even taken a turn in one of the respirometer chambers. Other oddities we have picked up from our tows include the pelagic larva of a witch flounder, a viperfish, a white barracudina, and a glacier lanternfish.

A viperfish. Photo by Dan Vendettuoli, NEFSC/NOAA.

Paper Nautilus. Photo by Dan Vendettuoli, NEFSC/NOAA.

Witch flounder pelagic larva. Photo by Rich Bell, NEFSC/NOAA

White barracudina (top) and glacier lanternfish. Photo by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

As I am writing this we are approaching a station south of Block Island. We are planning to sample at 58 more stations from Southern New England down through the Mid-Atlantic Bight, and will try to get in as many as two mid-water trawls per day over the remaining seven working days we have left. Hopefully our good weather luck will continue! I will continue posting these updates with photos on the website nefsc.wordpress.com.

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC1405 NE Pelagic-Ecosystem Monitoring (EcoMon)Survey

Lumpy and the Respirometer

Good Morning All,
Since our last update on Saturday the Pisces has completed sampling the southwestern Gulf of Maine stations and started working east across the northern flank of Georges Bank and into the eastern Gulf of Maine area. We have just completed sampling at the Northeast Channel and are currently heading for Browns Bank. We have made a few more midwater trawls since last time with the Shallow Water midwater trawl and one with the Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl. Although the catches have been very small, consisting of a few silver hake and Atlantic herring, we did manage to get a few fish to try out in the respirometer chambers. Some data was collected from the Atlantic herring caught this past weekend. We had one butterfish which didn’t do well in the chamber, but we had better luck with a lumpfish, which is currently still in the chamber and yielding good data.

Chris Taylor, Rich Bell (holding a respirometer chamber with a herring in it) and Grace Saba working to gather some data on the oxygen consumption of an Atlantic herring. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

“Lumpy”, as he has been christened, even managed to gulp down a shrimp from the holding tank which was still sticking partly out of his mouth when he was transferred to the respirometer. Oxygen consumption data has been gathered from this fish for several hours now, showing a series of classic oxygen consumption curves, when the amount of oxygen in the water is plotted over time. The oxygen level in the chamber with the respiring fish starts at a high level, then drops at a steady rate until freshly oxygenated water is introduced, and the cycle repeats itself, with the rate of decline changing depending on the stress levels of the fish.

“Lumpy” in a respirometer chamber equipped with flowing seawater. If you look closely you’ll see long thin red shrimp spines protruding out from his mouth. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

The oxygen consumption cycles from “Lumpy” showing cycles of oxygen decline over time as seen from a laptop connected to the respirometer. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

The logistics of the respirometry project have been daunting, but the researchers have met the challenges of plumbing, software, and obtaining viable fish, all while working under typical November sea conditions to start getting some positive results. Pictures of this interesting, on-board experiment will be posted on the nefsc.wordpress.com website. This work has been in addition to the continued collection of plankton samples, hydrographic data, and trawl catch assessments.

With a favorable forecast for the next few days, the Pisces is currently steaming along at between twelve and fourteen knots to cover the Gulf of Maine before the next front is due to hit us later this week. We hope to be in sheltered waters near the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal by then, poised to move on to the southern portion of this survey which will take us to Southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic Bight.

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC1405 Northeast Pelagic-Ecosystem Monitoring Survey

Herring after the storm

Saturday, November 8, 2014:

The Pisces has continued making excellent progress since our last update, and reached Cape Cod well
before Friday, so we continued working north into the western Gulf of Maine, with an eye on the approaching storm which did finally reach us on Friday night. With winds reaching as high as 40 to 50 knots, the vessel turned towards the coast and after reaching a station off of Portland, Maine in the wee hours of Saturday morning was able to continue working in the sheltered inshore waters.

Track (in red) for PC 1405 cruise as of late morning November 8, 2014. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

A midwater trawl made with an Isaacs-Kidd net on Friday near Wilkinson Basin did not produce any fish, but a tow made with another shallow-water midwater trawl off of Portland this morning yielded some one year old herring that appeared viable enough for the oxygen consumption experiments planned for this cruise.

Crewmen retrieving the Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawl. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

The shallow water midwater trawl being retrieved onto the aft-deck of the Pisces. The box inside the net is a PVC frame to prevent captured fish from being squeezed by the net. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

These have been placed in an on-deck holding tank for use later today.We did not see many strong signs of fish on the acoustics while we were on Georges Bank and there were almost no larval or juvenile fish seen in the bongo tows there either. This morning, while crossing the southwestern corner of Jeffreys Ledge, there was a strong signal indicating adult herring near the bottom. The CTD water profiles continue to show well mixed water columns at most of our stations, particularly shallower ones, but Wilkinson Basin, which we sampled last night, had bottom water that was cooler and more saline than the surface.

Herring being removed from the cod end of the shallow water midwater trawl. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Biologist Chris Taylor transfers live herring to holding tanks on the aft deck of the Pisces . Photo by Jerry Prezoioso, NEFSC/NOAA

With a favorable forecast for the next several days we are planning to leave the coastal waters of Massachusetts as the seas subside and head east and offshore, to cross the northern edge of Georges Bank and work our way north into the Gulf of Maine. Updates from this cruise will be posted on the nefsc.wordpress.com website maintained by Shelley Dawicki and Jarita Davis, together with photos of our activities.

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC 1405 Northeast Pelagic – Ecosystem Monitoring Survey

Away we go!

Following a blustery weekend spent making final preparations in Newport, Rhode Island, the NOAA ship Pisces departed at noon from the Newport Naval Station on Monday, November 3, 2014 to sail on the Fall Northeast Pelagic – Ecosystem Monitoring Survey. Calibration of the acoustic sensors being used to locate fish schools was conducted in Narragansett Bay by Mike Jech, Joe Godlewski and Mike Ryan. Upon completing their work that evening, Joe Godlewski and Mike Ryan were returned to shore via the Pisces rescue boat, after which the vessel headed out on rapidly diminishing seas towards Georges Bank.

Calibration data in graphic and text form seen during the calibration process. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Mike Jech and Joe Godlewski watching calibration results in the acoustics room aboard the NOAA ship Pisces. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

This cruise is a collaboration between NOAA’s  Northeast Fisheries Science Center and  Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the University of Maine. In addition to the normal complement of plankton nets, midwater trawling nets and hydrographic gear carried for these surveys, the vessel also has two respirometer chambers set up in the wet lab to measure the oxygen consumption of live butterfish captured in the trawls. These data will be used to evaluate the thermal niche model used in a recent butterfish assessment.

Mike Ryan prepares to depart from the Pisces after calibration is completed. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

The calibration team is returned to the Newport Naval Station aboard the Pisces rescue boat. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Initial bongo net tows in Southern New England waters approaching the Great South Channel had some juvenile hake in them. The temperature and salinity profiles in these shallow waters were well mixed which is not surprising given the recent strong winds. Midwater trawls will commence once the vessel is on Georges Bank. The weather right now is excellent and the vessel is making rapid progress with an eye on a storm system forecast for Friday. The immediate plan worked out by the command is to work our way east along the southern portion of Georges Bank and then loop west towards Cape Cod ahead of the advancing system, and hopefully keep working!

Jerry Prezioso
Chief Scientist
PC 1405 Fall NE Pelagic-Ecosystem Monitoring Survey

Bongo Bonanza

17 November 2013

Sunday evening finds us steaming southeast of Nantucket Shoals towards Georges Bank.  We spent most of the weekend working the shelf of southern New England.  This morning we had a nice sunrise over Great South Channel.  We sampled a lot of stations with our main gear, the 60-cm and 20-cm bongo nets.  The 60-cm bongo nets are used to collect quantitative samples.  The nets have flow-meters in the mouth that allow us to calculate the volume of water sampled during a tow.  This allows use to standardize the number of zooplankton or ichthyoplankton (fish eggs and larvae) in each net, then we can estimate the abundance of different species and compare all the stations we sample on the cruise.  We are also collecting samples on this cruise that will be used to genetically identify the fish eggs and some of the different zooplankton species.  These samples need to be preserved differently than the samples used to estimate abundances.  The 20-cm bongos, or “baby bongos”, can fish at the same time as the 60-cm net, allowing us to collect more samples without spending extra time on more tows.  The nets are washed down and preserved for later analysis.

Bongo net launch. Photo by Jerry Prezioso, NEFSC/NOAA

Often visual analysis of the plankton samples can give you a quick idea of the variation of zooplankton abundances and types across the stations sampled.  Samples from the two regions we’ve collected in so far, Middle Atlantic Bight and southern New England, demonstrate this.  The samples from the Middle Atlantic Bight have lower biovolume than those from the southern New England.  Biovolume is the amount of plankton collected at a station, and can give a rough measure of production.  The southern New England samples have greater biovolume than the Middle Atlantic Bight stations.  However, the samples from the Middle Atlantic Bight have more Atlantic menhaden larvae (long skinny white fish floating in the sample on the left from Middle Atlantic Bight).  Estimates of menhaden larval abundance will be calculated after the samples are processed later in the lab.

Everyone on the ship has been enjoying the clam sunny weather of the past weekend, especially in light of the storms forecast for the beginning of the week.  We hope to be able to stay out in the Georges Bank region and ride out the worst of the winds and waves.

Harvey Walsh, Chief Scientist

GU-13-05 Northeast Integrated Pelagic Survey

Mermaids, Barks and Battleships, and Science off the Shelf Break

The Gordon Gunter departed from Norfolk, Virginia on Wednesday, November 13,  to begin the fall Northeast Integrated Pelagic Survey.  The pelagic survey samples stations along the entire northeast US continental shelf from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. We will be sampling several components of the pelagic ecosystem using bongo nets, CTDs, a rosette, acoustics, and visual observations.  The variety of gears and techniques allow use to collect data on water chemistry, hydrography, phytoplankton, zooplankton, ichthyoplankton, seabirds, and marine mammals.  Our cruise was delayed in starting due to mechanical issues and weather.  Unfortunately, the mechanical issues were such that the mid-water trawling portion of our scientific operations has been canceled.

The unplanned delay gave us some time to explore Norfolk, Virginia, over the long Veterans Day weekend, a city with a long nautical and naval history.  Walking the streets you see lots of statues of mermaids decorated on various themes.  The city apparently commissioned local artists to decorate about 100 statues in 1999 and since, local businesses and homeowners have added to the “mermaids on parade” over the years.

Three of the “Mermaids on Parade” in Norfolk. Photos by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

The Nauticus Museum is the home of the USS Wisconsin battleship, one of the largest battleships every built for the US Navy, and an impressive site moored along the waterfront.

The 887-foot battleship Wisconsin is on exhibit at the Nauticus Museum in Norfolk. Photo by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

Another striking naval vessel, the Norwegian flagged Statsraad Lemkuhl, was moored in the city over the weekend.  The 3-masted steel bark is one of the world’s oldest square rigged sailing ships, and is currently being used as a training vessel for the Norwegian navy.  The 98-m vessel has carried up to 200 trainees at one time, and you can see the why when you see all the brass and teak that needs polishing.

The three-masted steel bark Statsraad Lemkuhl, one of the world’s oldest square-rigged sailing ships, now a training vessel for the Royal Norwegian Navy. Photo by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

Aft cabin on the Stattsraad Lemkuhl. Photo by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

As we departed Wednesday, we sailed past the stern of one of NOAAs newest ships, the Reuben Lasker, which should depart for the west coast sometime in the future.

NOAA’s newest fisheries survey vessel, the 208-foot Reuben Lasker, was recently delivered to NOAA in Norfolk. Photo by Harvey Walsh, NEFSC/NOAA

We skirted the coast along the Delmarva Peninsula and across the mouth of the Delaware Bay, working coastal stations, and avoiding the worst of the seas stirred up by the front that brought snow flurries to much of the east coast for the first time this fall.  We have been catching Atlantic menhaden larvae in the bongo nets.  As of early this morning, Friday 15^th, we started our first transect offshore.  Hopefully, the seas will have calmed down enough for us to sample off the shelf break.

Harvey Walsh

Chief Scientist

GU 13-05 Northeast Integrated Pelagic Survey

Education Comes In Many Forms

We have covered a lot of ground since the last update.  After the wind died down we were finally able to leave our Provincetown anchorage and head up into the Gulf of Maine where we sampled a “loop” of stations to cover as much territory as we could before the next predicted storm system forced us to dock in Portland Maine.

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

Wind and Weather Rule

The forecast for the predicted Sunday storm was right on target, with winds and seas increasing dramatically during the wee hours of Sunday morning.  By mid-morning after a hard slog from our last station, the Pisces dropped anchor just outside of Provincetown, tucked in snugly under the very tip of Cape Cod.  The winds are still increasing and we are seeing gusts of better than 50 knots with some regularity this Sunday evening.  The ship is also enshrouded with snow, although precipitation ended earlier today.

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