California Current Ecosystem and Long-Term Educational Research-
Research Cruise Blog Worksheet
Purpose: This blog guided reading worksheet is to help introduce students to how scientists may go about research collecting samples and data while out on a cruise at sea. This particular cruise employed a high school science teacher to go along to help out, learn about the
processes and blog about her experiences.
processes and blog about her experiences.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 1, I’m on a boat!
1: Click on the California Current Ecosystem link- read about about the research site. Why are scientists particularly interested in this specific site? Why is it special?
The scientists will all be working together at the same site looking at how climate change has affected the ocean.
2: What is the name of the research vessel that they are on?
Research Vessel (R/V) Melville.
Which educational institution is the vessel a part of?
The Scripps Oceanographic fleet.
3: How much does the ship weigh when it is fully loaded?
This ship, fully loaded, weighs 3,026,000 lbs or 2,516 tons.
Day 3, Releasing the MOCNESS
4: On day #3, read about zooplankton are captured by the MOCNESS- summarize the process below:
MOCNESS stands for Multiple Opening and Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System. It consists of 10 separate nets that go out simultaneously. Each net opens and closes at a different depth with only one net being open at a time. At its deepest, the MOCNESS will be lowered about a quarter mile deep (~1500 ft) into the Pacific Ocean.The zooplankton that is caught in the net is counted and classified so they can study what types of zooplanton are found at different depths. Different types of zooplankton include krill (euthausiids), copepods (look like Plankton, from Spongebob) and jellyfish.
5: Explain the “vertical migration” of many zooplankton species. Why do they do this?
What that means is during the day, many animals such as krill will try to go deeper in the water to avoid predators such as blue whales, sardines and other animals that find food with their eyes. By going deeper in the water, there is less light, so they can hopefully avoid being eaten. At night they go back to the surface of the water, where there is smaller zooplankton or phytoplankton (tiny plants in the water) that they can eat for food.
6: What are phytoplankton?
tiny plants in the water
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 6, SeaSoaring Away….
7: What information is collected by the SeaSoar? What are they trying to find specifically?
The SeaSoar is dragged along ten-60 mile transect lines (each line is equal to 20 runways at LAX). Each line takes 8 hours since we are going 8 knots (or 1 mile per hour). The data that is sent to the ship includes water temperature, water salinity (the amount of salt in the water), density, dissolved oxygen and other things involved to determine the quantity of zooplankton in the water. This is the picture of the salinity data after 4 lines, and three days of towing the SeaSoar.
8: What is CTD stand for?
CTD stands for Conductivity , Temperature and Depth.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 10, Ahoy E- Front
9: What is the “E- Front”?
We have named this particular front “E front” as in eddy front, since it looks like an eddy (possibly two eddies) from the satellite pictures we are getting from NASA.
10: Why does the sampling need to be conducted at night?
The samples had to be done at night so we could ensure that the zooplankton was present at the sampling depth (remember they migrate up and down in the water column).
11: What is the epipelagic zone?
The zooplankton from the light zone of the ocean, also known as the epipelagic zone
12: These samples were taken along the E-Front- Can you tell where the actual front is located?
The one that was taken along the E-front is the first from right to left.
1: Click on the California Current Ecosystem link- read about about the research site. Why are scientists particularly interested in this specific site? Why is it special?
The scientists will all be working together at the same site looking at how climate change has affected the ocean.
2: What is the name of the research vessel that they are on?
Research Vessel (R/V) Melville.
Which educational institution is the vessel a part of?
The Scripps Oceanographic fleet.
3: How much does the ship weigh when it is fully loaded?
This ship, fully loaded, weighs 3,026,000 lbs or 2,516 tons.
Day 3, Releasing the MOCNESS
4: On day #3, read about zooplankton are captured by the MOCNESS- summarize the process below:
MOCNESS stands for Multiple Opening and Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System. It consists of 10 separate nets that go out simultaneously. Each net opens and closes at a different depth with only one net being open at a time. At its deepest, the MOCNESS will be lowered about a quarter mile deep (~1500 ft) into the Pacific Ocean.The zooplankton that is caught in the net is counted and classified so they can study what types of zooplanton are found at different depths. Different types of zooplankton include krill (euthausiids), copepods (look like Plankton, from Spongebob) and jellyfish.
5: Explain the “vertical migration” of many zooplankton species. Why do they do this?
What that means is during the day, many animals such as krill will try to go deeper in the water to avoid predators such as blue whales, sardines and other animals that find food with their eyes. By going deeper in the water, there is less light, so they can hopefully avoid being eaten. At night they go back to the surface of the water, where there is smaller zooplankton or phytoplankton (tiny plants in the water) that they can eat for food.
6: What are phytoplankton?
tiny plants in the water
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 6, SeaSoaring Away….
7: What information is collected by the SeaSoar? What are they trying to find specifically?
The SeaSoar is dragged along ten-60 mile transect lines (each line is equal to 20 runways at LAX). Each line takes 8 hours since we are going 8 knots (or 1 mile per hour). The data that is sent to the ship includes water temperature, water salinity (the amount of salt in the water), density, dissolved oxygen and other things involved to determine the quantity of zooplankton in the water. This is the picture of the salinity data after 4 lines, and three days of towing the SeaSoar.
8: What is CTD stand for?
CTD stands for Conductivity , Temperature and Depth.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 10, Ahoy E- Front
9: What is the “E- Front”?
We have named this particular front “E front” as in eddy front, since it looks like an eddy (possibly two eddies) from the satellite pictures we are getting from NASA.
10: Why does the sampling need to be conducted at night?
The samples had to be done at night so we could ensure that the zooplankton was present at the sampling depth (remember they migrate up and down in the water column).
11: What is the epipelagic zone?
The zooplankton from the light zone of the ocean, also known as the epipelagic zone
12: These samples were taken along the E-Front- Can you tell where the actual front is located?
The one that was taken along the E-front is the first from right to left.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 12, Team Oozkeki
14: Where is the mesopelagic zone? Why are the critters found here so special?
From 1500 ft below the sea. Fish that live deep in the water. The Vampire Squid, like the Balloon Squid, also has 8 arms, Lantern Fish,Salp,Balloon Squid.
15: Explain why styrofoam cups that were attached to the CTD shrunk when they were lowered to the depths.
that if take three different types/sizes of cup and lower them into the ocean, where the pressure is greater than on land, the the cups should shrink (less volume).
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 19, Trace Metal Group
16: Why is iron so important to phytoplankton?
In the ocean, iron is special, for it is indeed, an element used by phytoplankton as a nutrient they need.
17: What kind of precautions are taken by the scientists on board to make sure that the water samples are not contaminated by metals on or around the ship?
They obtain their water from a special “clean” Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) device, that is covered in plastic parts and special paint to prevent rust from forming on the device.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 21,Twinkle little Scat
17: How can scientists use “poop” to determine the biomass of an ecosystem? Explain.
To gather he samples, he lowers vials filled with salt water that is more dense (heavier) than the salt water in the ocean into the deep .
18: What is “marine snow”? Explain how it is collected.
Marine snow is what scientists commonly call all the scat and other materials, such as phytoplankton , that fall through the water column.It can look like snow falling through the ocean.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 24, Marine Birds
19: Explain how long-lining is dangerous to marine birds.
Long lining is dangerous for marine birds , because when they try to catch a fish on the sea , the might be stuck on the bait.
20: Describe Fin Whales- what do they look like, what do they eat, why are they not hunted as much as other whales?
We were able to identify them as Fin whales because of their unique coloration and the position of the dorsal fin in relation to the blowhole.Fin whales are very interesting because they haven't been hunted commercially since they are found so far off-shore.They are a baleen whales, which means that they filter their food through brush-like bristles called baleen.They take a big mouthful of water and filter out all of the zooplankton to feed on.
They prefer large zooplankton, such as krill.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 26, Copepods…
21: What are copepods? What are they related to?Copepods are type a of zooplankton that is commonly found here in the Pacific Ocean.They are related to crabs and lobsters, and are very small.
22: Explain the two ways that copepods are studied on this ship.
Bongo.Underwater Visual Profiler (UVP)
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 29, Last Day…
23: What is the bow dome? Where is it located? scientists thought it would be great to have windows in the bottom of the front of the boat (bow dome), so that they could watch marine life such as dolphins and whales in their habitat.To get to the dome, you get to walk down a very steep ladder, two flights until the bottom
24: Would you be interested in spending a month at sea? Does a career in oceanography seem interesting?
yes
25: Which part of this blog was most interesting to you? Why?
This trip has taught me a lot about how oceanographers work at sea and what science looks like in the field. Oceanography is a field thats takes a lot of subjects and combines them
14: Where is the mesopelagic zone? Why are the critters found here so special?
From 1500 ft below the sea. Fish that live deep in the water. The Vampire Squid, like the Balloon Squid, also has 8 arms, Lantern Fish,Salp,Balloon Squid.
15: Explain why styrofoam cups that were attached to the CTD shrunk when they were lowered to the depths.
that if take three different types/sizes of cup and lower them into the ocean, where the pressure is greater than on land, the the cups should shrink (less volume).
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 19, Trace Metal Group
16: Why is iron so important to phytoplankton?
In the ocean, iron is special, for it is indeed, an element used by phytoplankton as a nutrient they need.
17: What kind of precautions are taken by the scientists on board to make sure that the water samples are not contaminated by metals on or around the ship?
They obtain their water from a special “clean” Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) device, that is covered in plastic parts and special paint to prevent rust from forming on the device.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 21,Twinkle little Scat
17: How can scientists use “poop” to determine the biomass of an ecosystem? Explain.
To gather he samples, he lowers vials filled with salt water that is more dense (heavier) than the salt water in the ocean into the deep .
18: What is “marine snow”? Explain how it is collected.
Marine snow is what scientists commonly call all the scat and other materials, such as phytoplankton , that fall through the water column.It can look like snow falling through the ocean.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 24, Marine Birds
19: Explain how long-lining is dangerous to marine birds.
Long lining is dangerous for marine birds , because when they try to catch a fish on the sea , the might be stuck on the bait.
20: Describe Fin Whales- what do they look like, what do they eat, why are they not hunted as much as other whales?
We were able to identify them as Fin whales because of their unique coloration and the position of the dorsal fin in relation to the blowhole.Fin whales are very interesting because they haven't been hunted commercially since they are found so far off-shore.They are a baleen whales, which means that they filter their food through brush-like bristles called baleen.They take a big mouthful of water and filter out all of the zooplankton to feed on.
They prefer large zooplankton, such as krill.
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 26, Copepods…
21: What are copepods? What are they related to?Copepods are type a of zooplankton that is commonly found here in the Pacific Ocean.They are related to crabs and lobsters, and are very small.
22: Explain the two ways that copepods are studied on this ship.
Bongo.Underwater Visual Profiler (UVP)
CCE LTER Cruise: Day 29, Last Day…
23: What is the bow dome? Where is it located? scientists thought it would be great to have windows in the bottom of the front of the boat (bow dome), so that they could watch marine life such as dolphins and whales in their habitat.To get to the dome, you get to walk down a very steep ladder, two flights until the bottom
24: Would you be interested in spending a month at sea? Does a career in oceanography seem interesting?
yes
25: Which part of this blog was most interesting to you? Why?
This trip has taught me a lot about how oceanographers work at sea and what science looks like in the field. Oceanography is a field thats takes a lot of subjects and combines them