Unlocking the Ocean’s Black Box With Science

By Courtney Flatt July 11, 2022

Part 1: To Unravel Some Of The Ocean's Mysteries, Scientists Head To Sea

At least twice a year, scientists board the Bell M. Shimada, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel, to study the Northern California Current ecosystem.

Jonathan Witmer, a survey technician with NOAA, readies equipment for the scientists as waves crash against the side of the ship.

Crew members on the Bell M. Shimada drop a net into the ocean at night.

Talia Davis filters water to collect environmental-DNA, just a portion of the research happening aboard the Bell M. Shimada.

Jonathan Witmer, a NOAA survey technician, measure the angle of a net in the water.

Calanus marshallae are fatty copepods that many fish like to snack on. They thrive in waters along the Gulf of Alaska to waters off British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. CREDIT: Bill Peterson/ Courtesy Of Kris Bauer

Bill Peterson's internationally renowned work set standards for long-term oceanographic monitoring. CREDIT: Jennifer Fisher

Scientist Laura Lilly gets a net ready to collect samples from the Pacific Ocean.

Vince Welton (right) and Colin Schmidt fix a CTD cable after it broke.

Scientists collected many zooplankton samples on the Bell M. Shimada survey from May 6-17.

Scientist Kris Bauer gets a closer look at the Calanus marshallae copepods a bongo net pulled up off the coast of Grays Harbor, Washington.

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Courtney Flatt June 20, 2022

At least twice a year, a team of scientists on NOAA’s research vessel Bell M. Shimada survey waters along the Washington and Oregon coast.

On top of the Bell M. Shimada's flybridge, scientist Dawn Barlow searches for any signs of whales.

Scientist Rachel Kaplan watches for krill in accoustics frequencies on the Bell M. Shimada.

Talia Davis (left) and Rachel Kaplan pick through a filter to find krill.

Scientist Rachel Kaplan collects krill to study later.

Scientist Clara Bird scans the horizon for any signs of whales.

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Courtney Flatt June 21, 2022

Scientists aboard the Bell M. Shimada keep an eye out for whales. One scientist hopes to help predict where whales will show up by studying the food they eat.

Rebecca Smoak, a graduate researcher at Oregon State University, and Maria Kavanaugh, an assistant professor at OSU, place plastic Nalgene bottles in an incubator to grow phytoplankton on the Bell M. Shimada, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel.

Aliya Jamil, a graduate researcher at Oregon State University, filters water for a phytoplankton experiment.

Rebecca Smoak, a graduate research at Oregon State University, sets up a dilution experiment on the Bell M. Shimada, a NOAA research vessel.

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Courtney Flatt June 22, 2022

Phytoplankton make up an extremely important part of the ocean’s food chain, serving as food for organisms that feed young salmon and other fish in the ocean.

Jennifer Fehrenbacher looks at planktic forams under a microscope. The research is part of a two-week survey of the Northern California Current ecosystem.

Jennifer Fehrenbacher and Brittany Hupp collected planktic forams, which look like popcorn, on the Bell M. Shimada cruise from May 6-17. CREDIT: Jennifer Fehrenbacher/ Oregon State University

Brittany Hupp looks for planktic forams under a microscope. Scientists collected samples aboard the Bell M. Shimada from May 6-17.

Jennifer Fehrenbacher picks forams out of water samples they collected by edging the single-celled critter onto a tiny paintbrush.

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Courtney Flatt June 23, 2022

One single-celled oceanic organism could provide big answers to questions about climate change.

The deck crew on NOAA's Bell M. Shimada hauls the CTD machine back on deck after it collected water samples from the ocean.

Vince Welton woke up in the middle of the night to fix an important piece of equipment that unexpectedly broke.

Scientist Kris Bauer tosses a bean bag during a game of cornhole.

NOAA's Bell M. Shimada, an oceanic research vessel. CREDIT: Stephen De Blois/ NOAA Fisheries West Coast, Flickr

Bell M. Shimada, an internationally-known scientist. CREDIT: Carmel Finley And The University Of Washington

Crew members watch as a winch operator pulls a net up from the ocean.

Bell M. Shimada officers (from left) Cmdr. Amanda Goeller; Lt. Cmdr. Justin Ellis; Lt. Justin Boeck; Lt. j.g. Jeff Calderon; Lt. Terril Efird; and Ensign Tyler Hall.

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Courtney Flatt June 24, 2022

The Bell M. Shimada is designed to gather scientific information. But the collaborative effort of the crew and officers makes scientific endeavors at sea possible.