Representing the conventional 'top predators', Mitch Rider from the UM Shark Lab joins the #NF1802 blog

One of our graduate students, Mitch Rider, joins us for another post #ontheblog!

Mitch, John and Chief Survey Tech deploy the CTD  rosette

"My name is Mitchell Rider and I am currently a Master’s Student at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in Miami, FL. I work as a Laboratory Technician in the FORCES Lab tracking eddies using satellite imagery supporting the MBON₁ project, while my graduate research investigates shark movement ecology in relation to urbanization. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to join the lab on this cruise.

Mitch discovers plankton!

My goals were to gain experience working in the open sea (since shark tagging trips last up to six hours) and to participate in the process of taking plankton samples. One of the most significant things I experienced was sorting through plankton samples collected from bongo and neuston nets. I was fascinated to find a plethora of organisms I have never seen before in addition to the larval forms of fish that I am very familiar with such as mahi-mahi, pufferfish, and lionfish. I was most excited in my newfound ability to identify larval bluefin tuna since that was one of the target species of this cruise. I would like to thank the FORCES Lab and the crew of the Nancy Foster for this opportunity to participate in the RESTORE NF1802 Cruise. This experience opened my eyes to a different field of study that is both fascinating and worth looking into for a future career as a marine scientist.

Zooplankton typically encountered in the Gulf of Mexico in May! Magnification is 10x

Sarah, Raul and Mitch with the plankton net

Survey track for leg 2 aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster #NF1802

Mitch in his Shark-Life. Image by M. Bernanke

"As I mentioned before, my work as a lab technician for the FORCES Lab consists of tracking and measuring the sizes of mesoscale and submesoscale eddies along the Florida Channel. This entails running through daily chlorophyll and sea surface temperature satellite imagery and identifying potential eddies. In addition, I am also pursuing my Master of Science degree at RSMAS where my research is investigating the relationship between shark movement and boat traffic. This is achieved
through analyzing the residency patterns of sharks detected on our acoustic receiver array in relation to boat passages that are recorded using passive acoustic hydrophones or ‘underwater listening stations'".

If you are interested in more shark-y research, check out the UM Shark Lab on FB!


₁"The National Marine Sanctuaries serve as sentinel sites for monitoring marine biodiversity of the nation’s coastal, shelf and deep-sea ecosystems. The Sanctuaries MBON project includes Monterey Bay, Flower Garden Banks and Florida Keys ecosystems to assess: 1) the deep sea (pelagic realm and seabed); 2) continental shelves; 3) estuaries and nearshore regions; and 4) coral reefs." (source: MBON website)

Today on the blog: Kiana returns!

Kiana rinses the Bongo-90cm 

Today, one of our youngest scientists, Ms. Kiana Ford shares a brief post. This is Kiana’s second cruise aboard Nancy Foster and has been volunteering in our lab since January 2017. She is now a Senior at the University of Miami's RSMAS and got back from an amazing semester abroad with the UGalapagos & Isabella Oceanographic Institute in Ecuador just a few days before the ship started its journey.

Kiana makes friends with the locals in the Galapagos, Ecuador

Kiana shared with our blog “my goal for the cruise is to help find some bluefin tuna! I would also like to be comfortable jumping into any science role during the cruise, from deploying nets on the back deck to running the computer programs in the dry lab. My favorite experiences from participating in the oceanographic surveys is to get to know other scientists and crew members, and seeing how everyone contributes to some aspect of the expedition. My research goals when I return to land is to complete my senior thesis examining larval lobster populations collected in southern Cuba during NF-16-02-03. This summer I am eager to begin my internship with  Harbor Wildwatch, a non-profit organization in Gig Harbor, WA. They organize outreach events to educate the public on marine and environmental topics." 

Thanks Kiana! She disembarked during our port-stop in Pensacola, but we will see you soon in the NOAA FORCES Lab in the Fall semester.

NF1802! May the tuna be found today!

Fish eggs

Hello and welcome back to another year of our Nancy Foster Chronicles! This time we are well into Episode 2 of our NOAA RESTORE Project "Bluefin Tuna Ecology." Please check out last year's posts particularly the Return of the tuna!

Top: NOAA Shiptracker map of transit
around Florida
Bottom: Four NOAA Ships meet off the
Dry Tortugas!

Our survey started in Jacksonville, FL, and did a fun U-shaped track around the Florida Peninsula until we reached our study destination: the grand Gulf of Mexico. We even sailed past several other NOAA ships doing work in the area (NOAA Ship party!) to include the NOAA Ships Okeanos Explorer (EX), Oregon II (R2), and the Pisces (PI)! The NOAA Ships fleet support science in multiple fields including oceanographic, fisheries, and atmospheric research.

Join us for another adventure on NOAA Ship Nancy Foster!

It's been a week already, and we are now in the Northern Gulf of Mexico searching for the elusive bluefin tuna larvae. They have been hiding from us, but we are relentless and will keep searching! Our strategy is to target some favorable habitat which is usually in between oceanographic features.

I hope you learn something new during our journey and feel free to ask questions!

We are back home! Last post from the Chief Sci

Scientists and crew sign the NF1703/04 NOAA Corps flag 

First of all thank you for following our research expedition by reading our blog! My name is Estrella Malca and I was the chief scientist for this survey (NF1704) aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. What does that mean? Each project has a designated person that takes a leading role on the logistical, scientific and reporting aspect of the entire survey. 

One last selfie!
Estrella (Chief Sci) and Samantha (Senior survey tech)

I love to figure out the 'tetris' of things, so this year's cruise has been challenging but fun! Why challenging? Well, usually we have 6 months+ to prepare for our surveys: buying equipment, supplies, assigning scientists and volunteers to participate, and most importantly, securing any relevant permits as well as communicating with the ship's officers and crew about the multiple operational aspects of our project at sea. However, because of our very recent NOAA RESTORE project selected for funding, we had just two months to get a brand new project planned, signed and delivered on time! Without the rest of the science team, there is no way we can come out here and successfully achieve all of our research goals and deliverables!


We had the pleasure to continue to collaborate with several of our partners and also obtained new research connections!

NF1704 Leg 1 scientists

NF1704 Leg 2 scientists

Estrella and Niki deploy our very last satellite tracked drifter

Here is a list of our NF1704 accomplishments!! We were quite busy this  past month as you can see!

ü  500++ Tunas collected, more than 600 specimens individually measured at sea

ü  90 CTD casts: Depths were (300m, 500m, 1500m, and 2500m). The sensors we used on the CTD included temperature, oxygen, salinity, chlorophyll-a and CDOM, conductivity, PAR.
ü  Continuous measurements of currents (ADCP) from Key West to Progreso and to Miami

ü  Continuous measurement of flow through (TSG) from Key West to Progreso and to Miami

ü  7 SVP Drifters were deployed

ü  546 Flow cytometry samples (phytoplankton, bacteria, water column abundance)

ü  72 Elemental Nitrogen (N₂)-fixing organism samples

ü  6 casts with PAR (Photosynthetically-Active Radiation) sensor

ü  207 Microbial Abundances and Biomass samples

ü  95 Sediment Trap Flux samples

ü  78 Thorium concentration profiles (dissolved + particulate)

ü  354 Primary Production and Nitrate Uptake

ü  226 Deckboard Incubations for nitrogen utilization rates

ü  120 Shipboard Nitrate Concentrations

ü  57 Deckboard Incubations for δ¹⁵N.

ü  130 Nutrient Profiles for NO₃^- + NO_2,^-PO₄^3- and isotope analyses (δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O)

ü  95 Mesozooplankton Biomass and Grazing

ü  48 Growth and Grazing Rate Profiles (8 experiments x 6 depths)

ü  279 Phytoplankton Pigments fluorometric Chla,

ü  210 High-performance liquid chromatography  samples

ü  19 ring net tows (100m)

ü  136 net tows (25m): 120 Bongo-90 (240 jars) & 16 Mini-bongo net tows

ü  16 Mesozooplankton and 16 microzooplankton samples

ü  120 Live-sorted plankton samples
ü  95 specimens selected for genetic analysis
*   40+ Open House attendees. Our outreach event welcomed our scientific counterparts, students, professors, and fishermen in Progresso, Mexico

We hope that our projects will fill in a lot of the gaps about the biogeochemical ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico as it relates to bluefin tuna research for the Western Atlantic stock. Our results will be shared with local and regional stakeholders like NOAA, ICCAT, among others. Soon, we will get started working up the data! Stay tuned and read our posts!

Group selfie, navigating into to the port of Miami

Featured scientist: Loni Mnich

We are wrapping up this year's survey!... but we still have a few more posts from our scientists and will give you the numbers (eventually!)!

Rinsing down the bongo net

Meet our newest UMiami RSMAS marine science graduate, Alanna (Loni) Mnich! Loni has been a volunteer at the FORCES Lab and she shares some of her experiences on her first research survey aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster.

Decked out with safety gear, ready for deployment

She shared with the blog: “My goal for this cruise is get my first at sea experience. I hope to gain a better understanding through practice of field research concepts and learn more about plankton and the early life stages of fish that I can then apply in the lab and in future studies. I am excited to see some cool organisms over the course of this cruise!

“I have been in the FORCES lab at NOAA for about a year and a half. My experience there began with sorting plankton that was collected on other oceanographic cruises, so I am excited to participate in the collection stage now. During the past months I have focused on cephalopod paralarvae as the subject of my undergraduate senior thesis, which I hope to expand into a publication.

Loni takes command of the Bongo and Ring net tows in the dry lab

"Over the course of this cruise I have gained significant hands on experience in plankton collection and processing, including deploying the bongo net, driving the bongo, fixing samples, as well as deploying the CTD. I will soon be able to apply these skills if I get an opportunity to participate in another cruise (hopefully in late July!). Through the rest of the summer, I will be back in the FORCES lab, likely sorting plankton from the cruise and continuing my previous work with cephalopods. In the future, I would like to gain more hands on lab and field experience and I also plan on attending graduate school to expand my studies."

Featured Scientist: Meet Jason!

Today's featured scientist is Jason Mostowy - read on for more about his cruise and future goals!

My name is Jason, I graduated from the University of  Miami in 2015 with a B.S. in Biology/Marine Science, and I've been working as a research tech in the FORCES Lab since 2013.

Larval lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles)
Image credit: FORCES

My main work for the lab involves processing the zooplankton samples we collect on cruises like this one - meticulously removing fish larvae and other target organisms, fitting the results into our considerable database, and dissecting larval fish for otoliths (earstones, used for ageing studies), gut contents, or genetic analysis projects. I'm also currently working on a project to characterize the larval distribution of the highly invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) in the tropical western Atlantic. Gaining a better understanding of the early life ecology of this harmful species will help scientists better predict levels of lionfish population replenishment, which in turn can be used to determine where and how often lionfish removal efforts should be performed.

Jason sorts through plankton search for tunas

Jason rinses down the Bongo-90 with
Sarah and Lulu during night shift

This is my third year sailing aboard the Foster. I love working in the field, especially the many perks that come with going to sea - the chances to practice and expand my scientific skill set, the opportunities to get to know other scientists from a variety of disciplines, the stewards rescuing me from my unfortunate cooking for a few weeks, etc. It's been a long cruise for me; I first embarked way back on April 13th, and by the time we reach port on June 2nd I'll have spend 35 of the last 48 days at sea!

This fall - after what I hope will be a commensurately long and relaxing stint on solid ground over the summer - I plan to start graduate school where I will continue to study the factors that mediate the distribution and survival of larval fish in the GOM and Caribbean.