Tag Archives: Bering Sea

Healy Marine Science Technicians (MSTs)

LTJG Stephen Elliot and MST1 Chuck Bartlett assist scientists deploy the multi-core, a sea floor sampling device.

 

The science conducted on the ship is dependent on the successful deployment of the marine sampling equipment from the multi-core to the sediment trap to the plankton nets to the CTD.  While the operation and positioning of the boat at a sampling location is conducted up on the Bridge, the Marine Science Technicians (MSTs) play a vital role in the work conducted by the scientists on deck.  They help to deploy and recover all of the sample collecting instruments and enable the scientists to complete their experiments.  They are an invaluable resource to the science party.  

MST2 Tiffany Wright recovers the sediment trap and carefully hands the samples to the scientist.

 

MST1 Rich Layman straightens the winch cable before deploying the MOCNESS, a multiple net sampling device designed to collect plankton samples at various depths. 

 

The job of an MST in the Coast Guard is usually a land-based job, but two ships have MSTs, both of which operate in the Arctic.  The Healy is unique in that her mission is to contribute to the advancement of science and our understanding of Arctic and Sub-Arctic oceanography.  When I spoke with MST1 Rich Layman and MST1 Eric Rocklage about being an MST aboard the Healy, they had nothing but positive things to say and told me how much they enjoyed the direct contact and involvement with the science being conducted on board.  Working with the science party and out on deck with the sampling instruments provided a unique opportunity in the Coast Guard and the science party values their hard work and dedication tremendously.  The MSTs are truly an important element in getting the science accomplished aboard the Healy.

MST1 Eric Rocklage prepares the CTD to be deployed.  He must make sure that the ice does not interfere with the cable.

 

MST3 Tom Kruger retrieves a Van Veen Grab which is sent to the bottom to collect mud and the critters living on the sea floor. 

   

 

Sediment Traps and Small Boats

Over the pipes, an announcement to get the small boats ready for launch came over in the early afternoon.  It was time to retrieve the sediment traps that had been deployed the previous afternoon.  Floating and drifting in the Bering Sea for 24 hours while the ship went about its other business, the sediment trap’s beacon had emailed the researchers, Roger Kelly from the University of Rhode Island and Jonathan Whitefield from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, the current location of the instrument.  The bridge had the bright orange buoy in sight and Roger Kelly was in the boat with the Coast Guard crew ready to retrieve it.  This is easier said than done. 

Deployment is simple enough as the collection tubes are set up and lowered into the sea after which the bright orange buoys are attached and lowered followed by the buoy that resembles a lobster buoy with a light on top and the satellite beacon.  After the instrument is carefully deployed, it drifts about in the sea for 24 hours collecting sediment that falls from the surface.  The traps are deployed in deep water (over 300 meters) and usually on the shelf break where there is a high degree of productivity.  

“The sediment trap buoys adrift in the Bering Sea”

 

Retrieval is more complicated.  The small boats are launched into the rough waters of the Bering Sea where the crew must reach the trap and tow it closer to the ship where the winches can be used to bring the samples up carefully.  Once the buoy is reached and towed, a line is thrown from the ship and secured to the trap, which is then carefully brought in.  The great skill of the small boat operators and marine science technicians with the direction of the scientists makes the process go smoothly (most of the time).

  

 “The small boat making contact with the instrument and towing it towards the ship. Roger Kelly tends the buoy line.”

 

“The instrument is about to come aboard as the small boat grabs a tender line from the ship.”

 

On the most recent deployment, I was out on deck for the retrieval of the samples.  When the first sample came up, it was filled with copepods and other critters.  This was the surface sample where we would expect the animals to reside.  The sediment sample collects in the bottom of the tube.  This sample is then filtered and processed both on board and back at their lab to determine the amount of organic carbon in the water column.  Once processed, the scientists are able to determine which organisms are contributing to the material which is made up primarily of animal waste and dead matter.

“The tubes with the samples are carefully collected by Jonathan Whitefield and MST Tiffany Wright for analysis.”

 

“The surface collection tubes sometimes capture animals from the water column. In this tube, there are copepods and a ctenophore (comb jelly) amongst other small critters.” 

 

With the information learned from the sediment trap samples, the scientists are trying to put together pieces of the carbon cycle in order to find the flux of particulate organic carbon from the surface water into deep waters.  Upper waters will draw down carbon dioxide into the water and convert it to organic carbon via photosynthesis.  This carbon will then sink to the sea floor and could in turn draw down more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which would be good for some of our problems but may cause harm to marine organisms.  This project is seeking to find a baseline of what is happening in the system now so that in the future we will be able to measure the changes in carbon export in our changing world.  

 

Ice Station: Ice Coring in the Sunshine

On Monday, we reached the northernmost point of the cruise track and we were in thick ice.  This meant that it was time to get off the boat and do an ice station.  The ship pulled into the ice and “parked” in order for the scientists to disembark and begin a sampling station on top of the Bering Sea ice.  

Before heading out onto the ice, the Captain held a briefing to tell us the procedure for sampling in the ice.  We had to wear special dry suits, Mustang MS900s in case we fell in.  These proved to be challenging to put on but very warm and relatively comfortable for our day on the ice.  Other than that, he told us that a rescue swimmer would be out on the ice, a polar bear watch person would be on the ship and another would be on the ice with a rifle in case a polar bear charged.  We are generally too far south to see polar bears but they need to follow procedure.  Of course, the bear would not be shot as this is only a precaution.  If a bear was spotted, we would have to hurry off the ice and let the bear pass through.  

After suiting up, we heading down the brow and out onto the ice with all of the gear.  There were a few different research teams heading out to sample and we all found our sampling spots and began work.  I was helping Dr. Ned Cokelet and the team from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.  The team is looking at the physical and chemical properties of ice in order to determine how these parameters affect the organisms that live in the ice (phytoplankton, ice algae and other microscopic critters live in the ice).  

“Dylan Righi supervises Gaelin Rosenwaks taking a core in front of the USCGC Healy. This core will be analyzed for the ice algae growing on the bottom.”

 

We set to work to find a good sampling spot and did a preliminary core to check on the thickness of the ice.  It was about 30cm thick and it looked like they picked a good spot.  The team set out to take two cores with a specialized auger and drill out a series of brine holes to different depths.  The two cores are cut into 10cm segments which will be tested for temperature while out on the ice and then salinity, chlorophyll and other nutrients back on board the ship.  In this way, the team can get temperature profiles of the ice and profiles of the nutrient and chlorophyll distribution of the ice.  The ice is not solid but has brine pockets throughout with varying salinities and levels of nutrients and chlorophyll.  The brine wells are dug to various depths and the water that fills them will be tested for salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll as well.  This will tell the team what is happening in the ice from a physical standpoint.

“Dr. Ned Cokelet and Dylan Righi sample an ice core. They will measure it, take temperature readings and then catalogue samples for later analysis.”

 

“David Strausz, Dylan Righi and Ned Cokelet measure the depth of one of their brine wells before sampling the brine for salinity and other nutrients.” 

 

The samples and information from the PMEL group are important segments in understanding how the sea ice affects the overall ecosystem as it fits into the broader questions of the Bering Sea Ecosystem Project.

  

“Rolf Sonnerup and David Strausz carefully pack and label samples from an ice core.”

 

After the sampling was completed, we had time to explore the ice and enjoy a little sunshine while atop the Bering Sea!  It was amazing to be walking on top of one of the roughest bodies of water in the world.  Not only that but it was sunny and warm (well for up here).  The rest of the crew was also allowed off the ship and everyone enjoyed an afternoon on the ice playing kickball and just relaxing on what felt like something solid even though we were floating on top of the sea.  Viewing the ship from below on the ice made quite an impression and it was interesting to get another vantage point.

“The crew enjoys some time off the ship after the science sampling was completed.”

 

“I tried to move the ship. It was too big.”

 

“A beautiful sunset capped off a beautiful (rare) “sunshiney” day in the Bering Sea.”

 

 

Sunday on the Healy

It was a foggy snowy day on the Healy yesterday as we steamed north towards St. Lawrence Island and the northernmost section of our cruise.  In Sunday tradition on the Healy, lunch was a barbeque on the helo deck.  The big grill was pulled out on deck and the rest of the food was served in the hangar.  It was pretty neat to be having a barbeque in the middle of the Bering Sea surrounded by ice as we were cruising along.  

We are in pretty heavy ice now and the one thing that strikes me is how fast the Healy can move through the ice.  We were steaming at 13 knots yesterday and blasting through ice like it was nothing.  The views from the bridge were beautiful despite the lack of visibility.  The sea of white melted into the white sky with seals dotting the ice from time to time.  It was a very nice Sunday.

 

  

 

April 26- Owls in the Bering Sea?

In the fog, we were steaming to our next station in the morning.  We are in the southern part of our cruise again so we are out of the ice, but we are heading north so we should be back in the ice shortly.  One of the first orders of the day was to collect the sediment traps that had been deployed yesterday.  The scientists deploy the sampling device for 24 hours at which time it floats along in the currents until it is retrieved the following day.  (More to come on this.)  The seas cooperated and were very calm for a successful retrieval.  

A little while later, I received a page from the bridge telling me that there was an owl flying around the bridge.  AN OWL?  I went up to the bridge and I had missed the owl.  I was reassured that he would come back because owls don’t belong in the Bering Sea and he would want to come back to the shelter of the ship.  A few minutes later, he flew back into view and we had a great look at him.  He looked very tired so we hoped that he would land on the ship to rest.  Indeed he did, landing first on a small railing, then on the A-frame, and finally on the bow where he hung out for a while.  The bird researchers determined that it was a short-eared owl.  This little guy was far from home but it was very cool to see him.  Definitely the highlight of the day.

  

 

Studying the Bugs of the Ocean, the Copepod Team

Out in the cold and dark early morning the zooplankton ecologists wait for a net tow to come up from the depths in order to collect krill and copepods for their experiments.  Once the net comes up, they put the “bugs” into coolers and get ready to go into the cold room to sort them.  The cooler is teeming with krill, copepods, Clione (a type of pteropod), amphipods and other varieties of critters.  I follow them into the cold room where they divide the plankton and begin sorting through to get the dominant species to run their grazing and other experiments.  Dr. Carin Ashjian from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Dr. Bob Campbell from the University of Rhode Island, with the help of Phil Alatalo and Donna Van Keuren, lead the team which is conducting experiments about the grazing impacts of the mesozooplankton and the fecundity of the animals.  

“Deploying the ring net used to collect the copepods and krill needed for the team’s experiments”

 

Their first set of experiments focuses on the grazing of the dominant species of the mesozooplankton, particularly copepods and krill.  The mesozooplankton plays a key role in nutrient cycling in the ocean as they provide a key link between the primary producers (phytoplankton) and the larger animals.  Their waste settles to the sea floor providing key nutrients for the benthic system.  They sort the animals and place individual species into jars with seawater collected from the depth where the animals live.  The water is tested for the beginning concentration of chlorophyll which indicates how much food is in the water at the beginning of the experiment. Most mesozooplankton are omnivorous but the team uses chlorophyll to estimate how much of the plant biomass is eaten and to determine the proportion of primary production consumed by mesozooplankton.  The jars are then placed in various wraps to emulate the light conditions they would have at depth and they are placed in an incubator of ambient seawater for 24 hours where they rotate and mix constantly.  After this period, the jars are brought to the cold room which is kept at -1 to -1.5 degrees Celsius, where the animals are removed and put into dishes and the water is divided into various bottles for analysis.  The water will then be tested for chlorophyll concentration to quantify the changes to biomass.  The animals are then dried and packed away to be analyzed for carbon content once back on land along with samples of microzooplankton, phytoplankton and ice algae to determine the food preferences of the bugs.  In this way, Dr. Ashjian, Dr. Campbell, et al are able to quantify the role the mesozooplankton plays in the trophic structure (food web).  

“Phil Alatalo sorts through the sample for animals to use in the experiments”

 

“Copepods”

“Krill”

“On the bow, the incubators hold the samples for 24 hours in ambient sea water with constant agitation”

 

Their second experiment is looking at fecundity in females, counting the number of females with eggs, counting eggs and measuring rates of hatching.  The females are collected and put into the  “bug hotel” which I am told has a total occupancy of 120 copepods and is located in the cold room where they check in for 24 hours at which time their eggs are counted and a sub-sample is taken for the hatching studies.  These studies seeks to determine the timing and magnitude of reproduction in relation to what the copepods are eating, is it a function of lipid (fat) reserves, the presence of ice algae or other algal species?  These studies can then give the scientists an index of individual growth and food limitations on this growth.  

“Dr. Campbell carefully picks female copepods out of a sample to put into the bug hotel for their egg studies”

 

“Dr. Campbell puts a tray of female copepods into the bug hotel for the egg growth experiment”

 

The copepod team provides key information to the understanding of a key element of the ecosystem.  By sampling in different areas from north to south in the Bering Sea and at various depths and ice coverage, the team is analyzing the effects of the seasonal ice and what could happen if it is not here. Where will the carbon go if the sea warms and there is less ice, to the mesozooplankton or to the benthos (sea floor)?  

 

“Dr.Ashjian and Dr. Campbell remove the animals from the experiment jars in order to preserve them for analysis of carbon in the lab. The water is siphoned out for chlorophyll concentration studies.”

 

April 25

Today has been a slower day.  The sun is shining and the sea is calm.  It was a beautiful morning with temperatures around freezing here in the open water.  We are heading towards the shelf edge to do some benthic sampling before heading back to our process station to assess any changes on our quest to find productivity and a possible phytoplankton bloom near the ice edge.  It is a relatively quiet day on the ship with some samples being processed and others collected.  Birds were hanging around the ship as we were on station with the multi-core in the water.  We are in 500m of water so the sampling took a fair amount of time.  

I took this opportunity to sit outside and look out at the Bering Sea and think about how beautiful and calm it is out here today and how quickly the weather out here can change.  However, the weather maps indicate that a high pressure system is coming through so hopefully that means nice weather for the next few days.

As the day continued, the clouds took over the sunny sky and the sky became dreary.  The seas remained calm.  We are doing a zigzag pattern for our stations now and came into a productive area in deeper water.  

I stayed up to see the net tows which happened around 1am.  I was anxious to see what kind of critters were in the water.  There were three net tows at this station and sure enough, there were lots critters in the water: copepods, krill, pteropods, polychaete worms and some little fish, among other critters too small to identify.  The water is mostly filled with copepods which are small crustaceans.  We are now headed north to our next station and tomorrow I will find out where we are going next.  We should be back in the ice by Sunday so I am looking forward to that! 

“The Fan Tail”

 

“The krill sampling team and the marine science technicians bring in the bongo nets in the darkness” 

 

“A bucket teeming with copepods, krill and other plankton. Without a microscope, it looks like thick red/orange soup.

 

 

 

Scientist Profile: Dr. Carin Ashjian, Chief Scientist

 

Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down with the chief scientist, Dr. Carin Ashjian, a zooplankton ecologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to find out more about the mission of the cruise, her role as chief scientist of the expedition and her research.  

The mission of the cruise is to determine the importance of the ice and the seasonal melt on the ecosystem in order to determine how different ice conditions affect it.  Essentially, the scientists want to know how important the ice is and what would be the impact if the ice disappeared in the future.  On this cruise, the researchers are looking mostly at the base of the food chain, the phytoplankton, zooplankton, sea floor gas exchange and animals and some physical oceanography to put it all into context.  

With twelve projects going on and forty-six scientists on board, there is a lot to manage and Dr. Ashjian must make sure that everyone gets the samples they need to complete their projects.  This is quite a challenge!  Many of the projects are time dependent or location specific so a careful plan is key.  Unlike in the laboratory, variables change at sea, so while a cruise plan may seem perfect while on land in the planning stages, sea conditions, weather and in the Bering Sea, the ice, may force the original plan to be changed.  Improvisation and flexibility is the key but any changes must be made within the parameters of the project.  For example, one team is studying krill and their samples must be collected at night.  For this reason, we must be at the sampling location around 3am or the work cannot be completed in the dark.  (The sun has been setting at 11:30pm and the days are getting longer and longer.)  Much of the work is collaborative so the samples must be taken at the same location.  For this reason, most of the sampling is completed in the middle of the night.  Dr. Ashjian is responsible for discussing the cruise plan with the Captain, officers and crew and making sure that everything runs smoothly.  

In addition to the multitude of responsibilities associated with being chief scientist, Dr. Ashjian is conducting her own research on copepods and other dominant mesozooplankton (highlights coming soon).  She adds that this is one of the most challenging jobs she has had.  Thus far, all of the scientists are learning a great deal and collecting samples to analyze when back in the lab.  

Our next course of action is to look for areas of high production near the ice edge and continue sampling before heading north to do a specific transect in the ice on Sunday. 

 

 

 

April 24: Ice and Sun

I started the day photographing some net tows in anticipation of learning about the mesozooplankton (copepods, krill, etc) grazing experiments being conducted by a team of scientists on the ship.  I stayed out on deck for quite a while to observe, as various plankton was being collected along with some bottom grabs of mud.  It was quite chilly at about 25 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff breeze.  The swells were sizable but not too bad.  The water temperature was hovering around -1.7 degrees Celsius, just above the freezing point, which is lower than the freezing point of freshwater.  

Shortly after we headed back north and were in the ice!  I was sitting at my desk and started hearing the crunch of the hull breaking through the ice at which point I looked at the images available from the bridge and saw that indeed we were surrounded by large islands of ice intermixed with slush.  It looked beautiful and endless so I headed outside to see it for myself.  (My desk area is in a lab without any portholes so it is easy to lose track of what is going on around me.)  The sun had come out and it was shining on the endless white undulating sea.  I headed up to the bridge to get a better vantage point at which time someone spotted some seals on a ice patch.  They were in the distance but it was still nice to see a seal or two.  Hopefully it is only the beginning of the beautiful things that are to come.  We remained in the ice for a little while and then just after dinner we were back in open water.  There is something amazing about crossing the ice edge.  The swells roll in seeming to go under the ice and the wake of the ship pushes the ice aside with ease.  

Now it is about 10:00 pm and it is still sunny with some clouds.  The sun sets at 11:30pm so I am hoping to see a beautiful Bering Sea sunset.  It has been cloudy every other evening that I have been out here so I am anxious to see a setting sun.  

 

April 23: ICE!!!

As we made our way through water sampling stations, we all anticipated the approaching ice edge.  We were heading north so it was just a matter of time and we all hoped that we would come to it during the day.  The day was cold and started out calm and cloudy but by midday the sun was shining although it was still quite chilly and the wind began to pick up.  There were gulls and other small birds around the ship as we cruised north at 15 knots.  The water temperature was dropping indicating that we were getting close to the ice.  

Shortly after dinner, the bridge made an announcement over the pipes (loudspeaker) that the Healy would be in ice in ten minutes.  I quickly gathered up my cameras and headed out on deck and up to the bridge to see the approaching ice edge.  It was beautiful with the sun shining.  Large and small pieces of ice bobbed in the water.  The ship cruised right through and it was quite beautiful.  We did some sampling and then turned south and out of the ice to follow our research transect.  We should return to the ice sometime tomorrow.  Hopefully the sun will still be shining and we will get into thicker ice.  

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