Outreach & Education: Nancy Opens her doors during our Progreso Open House

The ship Nancy Foster arrived for the first time to Progreso in Yucatán on May 19. On Saturday, May 20, we held an Open House event to explain the scientific research activities we carried out in the Gulf of Mexico. On this occasion we were accompanied by Dr. Mario González Espinosa, Director of ECOSUR, Dr. Magda Estela Domínguez Machín, Assistant Director of Fisheries Resources in the Atlantic of INAPESCA, Dr. Josefina del Carmen Santos Valencia, Chief of CRIP Yucalpetén, and Dr. Alvaro Hernández Flores, Professor-Researcher at MARISTA University, together with Doctorate students in Fisheries and Aquaculture Bioeconomics at the university. The students of Marine Biology (UADY), led by Dr. Alfonso Aguilar Perera, Professor-Researcher of UADY Marine Biology Faculty, were present as well as Mr. Manuel Sánchez González, President of the Yucatán Shipowners Union.

Mike Stukel explains the sediment traps to local fishers

Student explores plankton in the microscope!

While everyone explored the ship, scientists explained the main activities carried out during our campaign in the different laboratories. In the “wetlab,” everyone got an opportunity to see the many organisms that make up the plankton using microscopes. 

The wetlab is also where each sample is carefully examined to search for tuna larvae and multiple filtrations of seawater take place. In the “dry lab” all the controls for deployment and recovery of of equipment take place. On the back deck, we saw the equipment used to ascertain nitrogen sources in relation to the plankton food-web dynamics in the habitats of the BFT. 

Scientists examine specimens under the microscope

Chief Sci Estrella Malca discusses the project goals

This is novel and exciting because, despite its importance, these research activities are being conducted for the first time in the Gulf of Mexico! Finally, on the bridge, the NOAA Corps officers showed us the state of the art navigation equipment and instruments utilized to safely and accurately lead the ship to and from our sampling locations.

Mexico and US collaborators

Students and researchers asked questions about our various activities and were surprised by the great diversity of organisms observed in the microscope and those captured on the computer screen during this survey. We would like to thank everyone for participating and to all of the port agents, the scientists, crew and officers for making this a fun and well organized event!

Outreach & Education in St. Croix

Students from St. Croix 7th Day Adventist School pose in front of the Nancy Foster in Frederiksted, St. Croix

One of our favorite parts of our annual surveys is being able to pull into port and welcome local students on board for a small glimpse into what we do at sea. We know this can be inspirational for many young people who may be interested in pursuing a marine science career, and we greatly value these events during our port visits. It isn't often your school field trip takes you on board a NOAA research vessel!

This year, we pulled into St. Croix, the southernmost of the U.S. Virgin Islands. We welcomed two groups on board, and, with the help of the Nancy Foster's NOAA Corps officers, shared what life and research is like at sea.

Students from the AZ Academy try their hand at sorting plankton under the microscope in the ship's wet lab

We were first visited by an all-female group of students from the AZ Academy, who are part of a community transfer project entitled "Diving for Debris," part of the "Pride in Our Seas, Pride in Ourselves" project at the University of the Virgin Islands, and funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Two-thirds of our own science team was comprised of women - we truly value supporting young women who have an interest in science. These ladies have bright futures ahead of them! 

Students from the AZ Academy work together to match larval fish photos with their adult counterparts

Students from St. Croix 7th Day Adventist School check out plankton under the microscope

Our second group of students joined us from the St. Croix 7th Day Adventist School in Christiansted, who work with the outreach and education specialists at the VI-EPSCoR program. 22 students and 3 teachers toured the ship, visited the wet lab, and examined larval fish and plankton samples under the microscope. These middle and high school students were high-energy, and some wanted to stay on the ship and sail with us!

ENS Keith Hanson shows students from St. Croix 7th Day Adventist School the steering controls on the bridge

Cozumel Open House: Guest Post by Lourdes Vasquez Yeomans

Dear readers, today we feature a guest post written by one of our long-time collaborators Lourdes Vasquez Yeomans (Lulu!). While the ship was in Cozumel, we opened our doors once again to another group of enthusiastic students that wanted to learn a bit about our research in the region. Lulu's post is in Spanish, please ask (in the comments) if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them.

La M. en C. Lourdes Vasquez Yeomans con nuestros
 invitados comparte sobre su experiencia en la campana NF1602

Desde el 6 mayo al 19 del año en curso, la M. en C. Lourdes Vásquez Yeomans de la Unidad Chetumal participó en el crucero oceanográfico a bordo del buque Nancy Foster. Durante 14 días de travesía se obtuvieron muestras de plancton en el NE de Cuba y norte del Caribe mexicano con el objetivo de localizar áreas de desove de valiosos recursos pesqueros, sobre todo atunes, dorados y picudos. También se midieron variables físicas y registraron procesos oceanográficos. 

Estudiantes, profesores, e investigadores con la oficial ENS S. Thompson

El 19 de mayo el Nancy Foster arribó al puerto de Cozumel y el día 20 abrió sus puertas a miembros de la comunidad académica de Quintana Roo recibiendo la visita de estudiantes del Instituto tecnológico de Chetumal (ITCH) y la Universidad de Quintana Roo (UQROO).  También participaron de este recorrido, varios  miembros del personal administrativo de la Unidad Chetumal de ECOSUR. La oficial Ensign Sara Thompson dio una clara explicación de las maniobras y equipos de navegación del buque. Adicionalmente los científicos participantes en la travesía explicaron los objetivos centrales que justifican la realización de este tipo de cruceros de investigación, se explicaron también el funcionamiento de los equipos utilizados para los muestreos biológicos en la columna de agua así como para la obtención de las variables físicas medidas con equipos oceanográficos especializados.  Todo ello implica un esfuerzo coordinado de equipos bien definidos de trabajo que cubren dos horarios de muestreo. 

Lief comparte detalels sobre el esfuerzo de multibeam del Banco San Antonio

Los estudiantes, profesores y personal participante hicieron diversas preguntas sobre las actividades realizadas por los científicos especialmente las que implican el reconocimiento de las especies objetivo, medición y toma de fotografías,  sobre las fuentes de financiamiento para lograr cubrir los costos de un buque de este magnitud, así como de los equipos utilizados para las mediciones de variables físicas. Manifestaron su interés de participar en una de las últimas estaciones de trabajo, si vuelve el Nancy Foster el próximo año, dijeron “queremos subir al NF ver directamente como trabajan los científicos!” una propuesta  para los jefes de campaña John Lamkin, Estrella Malca y Ryan Smith.

Eloy y Lulu explican la maniobra de la MOCNESS abordo

Sharing Our Knowledge

One of the FORCES Lab’s favorite things about our research cruise is the ability to invite groups of young, bright students onto the ship to experience first-hand the science that we’ll be conducting. This is a really unique, one-in-a-lifetime experience for these lucky middle and high schoolers, and we’re thrilled that they get to not only explore a government research vessel, but delve into the exciting world of larval fish ecology!

An iPrep student checks out tiny larval fish on the microscope

For this year’s research cruise, we've scheduled three events to share our science with students and educators at each of our port stops. In Miami, 40 middle school students from iPreparatory Academy and their teacher, Nicole Rasmuson, boarded the ship just days before we set sail for Havana, Cuba. We provided background on why we study larval fish to begin with (did you know less than 1% of fish eggs actually survive to adulthood?), what kind of things we’d be doing on the cruise (Bongos! Neustons! Mocness!), then let them experience what life is like working in a plankton lab! Using microscopes, students sorted through tiny plankton, searching for any fish hiding there. The kids then tried their hand at larval fish taxonomy, looking up close at the tiny fish to find clues to what their identifications might be. Clues can be found in the baby fish’s body shape, pigmentation, and location and number of spines. Many were shocked to learn that the tiny (4-8mm) fish they were looking at would grow into huge adults, like tunas and mahi mahi!

ENS Pickens shows the students around the back deck, along
with their teacher extraordinaire, Ms. Rasmuson

The kids were also treated to an up-close and personal tour of the ship that would be our home away from home for the next few weeks. Ensign Chris Pickens served as tour guide, and taught the students all about the NOAA Corps and what it’s like to live on a ship for months at a time. The students got to explore the bridge, and even adjust the levers that steer the ship! The Foster has two Z-drives, which allow the officers to move her easily from side to side.

The kids find out what it's like to steer a ship by rotating the Z-drives on the bridge.
Can you spot the steering wheel?

We had a blast with iPrep – thanks for letting us share our microscopic world with you!

iPrep students and teachers pose with the FORCES Lab in front of the Foster

 Stay tuned for pictures from our next event in Cozumel, Mexico!