Who are Sea Grant’s Extension agents and researchers? What do they do, exactly? What are some current research topics? Netcasts, a new YouTube video series from Oregon Sea Grant, goes behind the scenes to find out the answers to these and other questions. The first installment features Mark Whitham, a seafood product developer for Oregon Sea Grant Extension, who takes us to the Skipanon micro cannery in Warrenton, Oregon. Be sure to watch for more Sea Grant Netcasts on YouTube.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 turned out to be the perfect day for a “Shakedown Cruise” for OSU’s newest research vessel, the R/V Oceanus. Under sunny skies and light winds and with a new crew, the R/V Oceanus pulled away from the dock at Hatfield Marine Science Center passing her sister ship, the R/V Wecoma, which is due for retirement at the end of this month. Crew and scientists alike snapped photos of the R/V Wecoma as we passed her, and waxed nostalgic about previous ventures aboard. All agreed it was an odd sensation to be leaving her behind at the HMSC dock.
But this was a day of new beginnings and much excitement. For many of the crew, this was their first opportunity to sail aboard the R/V Oceanus, and their only opportunity to try out new equipment and systems before they commence a busy season of research out at sea. The day began with a safety briefing by Jeff Crews, the former captain of the R/V Wecoma and new captain of the R/V Oceanus, and the donning of survival suits by scientists and other visitors, an important but humorous activity to witness. The vessel then proceeded to anchor in the middle of Yaquina Bay, where crew and science staff had the opportunity to practice the deploying of coring equipment, which resembles a lunar landing module and is designed to collect samples of ocean sediment. Practicing such procedures in a calm bay for the first time, allowed staff to identify potential challenges while protecting both the crew and vessel.
The R/V Oceanus then turned seaward, passing beneath the Yaquina Bay Bridge, through the jetties, and out into the Pacific Ocean. Her mission in the ocean: allow the captain and mates to see how she handles and practice holding station while other oceanographic equipment was deployed. Scientists from OSU’s Ocean Observatories Initiative took this opportunity to launch “Jane” , an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) or glider, from the back deck of the Oceanus. Jane will spend the next 3 to 4 weeks at sea, diving to 200 meters, collecting information on ocean conditions, including changes in temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Scientists and crew watched as Jane began to submerge then moved to the next task at hand, the deployment of the CTD rosette, another instrument used to collect data on salinity, temperature and depth. The CTD is a large piece of equipment that contains numerous water sampling bottles that collect samples at specified depths for further analysis by scientists aboard. The CTD is one of the most often deployed pieces of equipment and requires the boat be steadily maintained in position as it is deployed and retrieved from the deep.
After a full day of constant activity, the R/V Oceanus began her short journey home. To the delight of passengers and crew, a number of Gray whales were spotted near the vessel. It had been the perfect day all around. The final challenge was the first docking of the R/V Oceanus by her new crew. This too went beautifully, as the R/V Oceanus returned from her first successful cruise to her new home.
(Post and photos by Tracy Crews, Oregon Sea Grant marine education coordinator)
Confluence, a new magazine highlighting the work of Oregon Sea Grant, makes its debut this week, both in print and online.
Produced by Sea Grant Communications, the magazine will be published three times a year, each issue focusing on how the program integrates research, education and public engagement tools to address a specific ocean or coastal topic.
The first issue looks at Oregon Sea Grant’s efforts in coastal earthquake and tsunami preparedness, with feature stories about Extension Coastal Hazards Specialist Patrick Corcoran’s work helping communities prepare for seismic disaster and Lori Cramer’s Sea Grant-supported research into how disadvantaged populations are affected by such events.
Additional stories look at the program’s latest research grants, its Summer Scholars student internship program, and a major, NSF-funded research project examining how people learn in aquariums, museums and other non-classroom settings.
The online edition, available at seagrant.oregonstate.edu/confluence, includes video, resource links and additional articles produced specifically for the Web, as well as instructions for subscribing to both the print and online editions.
Confluence is edited by Rick Cooper and designed by Patricia Andersson; the Web version is produced by Pat Kight. The inaugural issue features articles by Nathan Gilles, 2011 Sea Grant science communication fellow. Joe Cone, Sea Grant assistant director and communications leader, conceived of the project and guided its development.
NEWPORT – Greeted by welcoming blasts from the horns of NOAA research ships berthed nearby, the Research Vessel Oceanus steamed under the arch of Yaquina Bay Bridge in a rainy mist on Tuesday and into her new home port at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center.
It was the end of a 28-day voyage for the Oceanus, which sailed out of its former home at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Jan. 25 and cruised down the East Coast and through the Panama Canal before heading northward for Oregon and her new home port.
Marine science fans on both coasts were able to follow the voyage via a Webcam affixed to the ship’s mast, which also beamed its geographic coordinates to a Google map set up for the occasion.
OSU acquired the Oceanus via the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System, a consortium of 60 academic research institutions that operate 16 vessels around the country. OSU, a member of UNOLS, was retiring its venerable research vessel, The Wecoma, and looked to the consortium for a replacement. Although the two vessels are about the same age, a National Science Foundation rapid assessment determined that the Oceanus would be more cost-effective to operate for the next 5-10 years. By that time, OSU hopes to have a new ship.
The Oceanus was greeted by the same sounds that saw her off from Woods Hole: A chorus of horns from other research vessels, this time those docked at the new NOAA Marine Operations Center facility not far from the Hatfield Center docks.
A formal retirement ceremony for the Wecoma is being planned for March.
(Photos by Bruce Mate. Additional photos on the Oregon Sea Grant Flickr gallery)
Oregon Sea Grant’s Guillermo Giannico and his study of the role flooded farmlands can play in fish survival are the subject of a new episode of Oregon Field Guide, broadcast on on Oregon Public Television this week.
Giannico, a fisheries ecologist with OSU’s Department of Fisheries & Wildlife who also serves as Sea Grant Extension fisheries specialist, was part of a team that set out a few years ago to learn whether dry-all-summer ditches that criss-cross Willamette Valley agricultural lands might house fish during the wet winter months.
What they found surprised them – and some of the farmers, too: A thriving winter habitat for several species of native fish.
Watch the Oregon Field Guide video, Ditch Fish:
PORT ORFORD – Ocean Frontiers, a new feature-length film about ocean management and conservation, will launch its national tour in Port Orford, which stars in the film as an example of how science and fishing can work together to manage marine resources.
The debut screening starts at 5 pm Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Savoy Theatre in downtown Port Orford. followed by a reception in the nearby Community Building, with Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, First Lady Cylvia Hayes, representatives of state and local government and members of the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT) expected to attend. A second screening is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $10 and are available only online, at www.oceanfrontiersportorford.eventbrite.com
The film will also be shown at the Performing Arts Center in Newport at 7 pm Feb. 22.
Port Orford is one of several US coastal communities featured in the 80-minute film, which tracks the evolution of marine resource management from a “maximum allowable catch” approach to a growing recognition that resources are finite, and need to be managed for the future as well as the present. The film explores the shift toward ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning tools that rely on science, and an informed and engaged public. Communities from the Pacific Northwest to Boston Harbor, the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico and even the cornfields of Iowa are featured.
POORT figures prominently in the film as an example of how resource users, scientists, conservationists and others can work together to help understand, protect and manage ocean areas for the benefit of the resource – and the people who depend on it. Ongoing collaboration between fishermen and scientists in the south coast community was a strong factor in the state’s decision to establish one of Oregon’s first marine reserves at Redfish Rocks, just off Port Orford.
Oregon Sea Grant has supported the community-based effort since its early days, helping bring fishermen and scientists together and providing information and assistance as the group grew and evolved. Sea Grant helped the community design and conduct surveys and interviews that let the town build its first long-form community profile to give resource managers greater insight into how fisheries reach deep into the community’s social and economic life. The format and interview has since been applied to other Oregon coastal towns, and is proving to be a model for communities elsewhere in the US.
Learn more:
Watch a 10-minute trailer for the film:
Model of possible debris dispersal (image courtesy of NOAA)
As the one-year anniversary of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami nears, Oregon Sea Grant is teaming with state and local agencies, non-governmental groups and marine scientists to prepare for the possible arrival of earthquake debris on Oregon shores.
In a conference call this week, the group heard that state and county leaders, OSU Extension and the Hatfield Marine Science Center are receiving growing numbers of questions about the debris currently floating toward US coastlines, and began charting a communication strategy to help answer those questions.
OSU oceanographer Jack Barth, an expert in ocean currents, said the debris is still months away from making West Coast landfall, although occasional buoyant items might move more quickly. In October, a Russian ship discovered a small Japanese fishing boat in the waters north of Hawaii, and it was definitively tied to the tsunami, Barth said. “It was about where we thought it should be, given the currents.”
Many questions about the debris have to do with concerns that it might be radioactive, given the the incidents at Japan’s Dai-ichi nuclear plant that followed the earthquake. Kathryn Higley, professor and head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics at OSU, said the lag time between the tsunami and the nuclear incident, coupled with the vastness of the ocean, makes it unlikely that the debris will pose any radioactive risk. The material has been tossed by wind and sea for months now, Higley said, and most traces of radioactive elements will have washed into the sea. “While we may be able to detect trace amounts of radioactive material on this debris, it’s really unlikely that there will be any substantial radiation risk,” she said.
Meanwhile, Oregon Sea Grant’s marine Extension specialists on the coast have been working with multiple public and private partners, from state and local governments to conservation and fishing industry groups, to map out a communication strategy for the debris landing.
Jamie Doyle, Sea Grant Extension specialist in in Coos and Curry counties, said one concern is what happens to personal effects that survive the ocean crossing and wind up on Oregon shores, where they may be found by beachcombers.
“A lot of people lost their lives, and many people still have family members who are missing,” Doyle said. “We need to be sensitive to the possibility of finding something that may be of personal significance to someone in Japan.”
The Seattle office of the Consulate General of Japan has asked that those who find something that could be considered a personal keepsake or artifact report it to local authorities, or to the consulate in Seattle at 206-682-9107.
Patrick Corcoran, Sea Grant’s Astoria-based Coastal Hazards specialist, said Oregon’s focus thus far has been on research and “building the capacity to respond” to the arrival of the debris. Specific information will be forthcoming, he said.
Learn more:
New research suggests that major growth in the travel, leisure and tourism industry in the coming century may be possible as more people begin to define recreation as a learning and educational opportunity — a way to explore new ideas and cultures, art, science and history.
But in a recent study published in the Annals of Tourism Research, John Falk, Oregon Sea Grant Professor of Free-Choice Learning, says that increasingly affluent and educated people around the world are ready to see travel in less conventional ways, and that lifelong learning and personal enrichment can compete favorably with sandy beaches or thrill rides.
“The idea of travel as a learning experience isn’t new, it’s been around a long time,” said John Falk, an international leader in the free-choice learning movement. Falk is among a group of Sea Grant professionals focusing their research on how people learn in their free time – through travel, in museums and aquariums, and through other experiences outside conventional classrooms.
At OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Dr. Shawn Rowe and colleagues are working under a $2.6 million National Science Foundation grant to create a Free-Choice Learning Laboratory, using high-tech tools to observe and analyze use of the Center’s public aquarium exhibits and what people take away from them.
Falk, meanwhile, holds one of two Free-Choice Learning professorships established by Sea Grant with the OSU Department of Science and Mathematics Education, which has developed a masters’ degree program in the emerging discipline.
Writing in the Annals of Tourism Research, Falk and his partners from the University of Queensland, Australia explore travel as part of a “life-long and life-wide” learning experience, tracking the history of travel-for-learning back through the centuries, and examining how the experience has grown and changed in recent times.
“You’re already seeing many tour operators and travel agencies offer educational opportunities, things like whale watching, ecotourism,” Falk is quoted as saying in an article about the new research published today in Science Daily. “The National Park Service does a great job with its resources, teaching people about science, geology and history. The push for more international travel experiences as a part of formal education for students is an outgrowth of this concept.
“We’re convinced this is just the beginning of a major shift in how people want to spend their leisure time, and one that could have important implications for intellectual and cultural growth around the world.”
KLAMATH FALLS – A new documentary, airing Feb. 7 on Southern Oregon Public Television, looks at the work of an Oregon Sea Grant-funded research effort to understand more about a lethal parasite that can infect wild salmon in the Klamath River and elsewhere in the Northwest.
Dr. Jerri Bartholomew, a microbiologist and director of Oregon State University’s salmon disease laboratory, has been studying Ceratomyxa shasta since she was an undergraduate. The parasite is a major cause of mortatlity in juvenile salmon, and may infect up to 80 percent of outmigrating juveniles in the Klamath River. Bartholomew’s work – much of it funded by Sea Grant – has led to new understanding of the parasite’s unusual life cycle, and how changes in water temperature and other environmental factors can cause it to proliferate.
The documentary, Saving Salmon, was scripted, directed and produced by Judith Jensen, director of Educational Solutions, a Klamath Falls nonprofit. Sea Grant videographer Steve Roberts contributed footage to the project, which is scheduled to air at 9 pm Feb. 7 on SOPTV.
Read more:
Oregon Sea Grant has a brand new Website, with fresh content and a host of special features.
Program director Steve Brandt called it “a modern, engaging site that reflects Sea Grant’s mission and our status as an integrated program of research, education and public engagement.”
Visitors will find current news about Sea Grant’s ocean and coastal science initiatives, announcements of grant and fellowship opportunities, and profiles of Sea Grant-supported research and student scholars. Content ranges from short videos about marine safety and seafood buying to in-depth features about critical topics such as tsunami and climate change preparedness, marine spatial planning and invasive species.
The site provides access to hundreds of Sea Grant publications and videos – many of them free.
The site is built on the Drupal content management system, and was developed by Sea Grant communications, led by webmaster Pat Kight, in cooperation with Oregon State University’s Web Communications and Central Web Services units.