What is the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing Network (AMBON) project?
The AMBON project is one of three pilot projects whose goal is to help establish a national network to monitor the biodiversity of U.S. waters, from micro-organisms to whales. The AMBON project focuses on the Chukchi Sea, while the other two projects focus on the Florida Keys, and on Monterey Bay and the Santa Barbara Channel in California.
The AMBON project kicks off today!
The crew is boarding the research vessel Norseman II (see photo above) in Prudhoe Bay, will sample the Chukchi Sea, and will return to Wainwright on September 5th. The cruise will sample all parts of the ecosystem, from various aspects of the water and the sediments, to the zooplankton and fishes, all the way up to charismatic megafauna, including our favorites—seabirds!
Preparing for seabird surveys on the AMBON cruise
Myself (Catherine Pham, Hawaii Pacific University) and Dan Cushing (Oregon State University) are the seabird observers aboard.
Dan and I will be taking turns surveying for seabirds from the wheelhouse of the Norseman II during the day. We prepared for the cruise over the past several days by reviewing survey methods and going through our equipment. As seabird observers, we have little equipment to bring with us on the ship compared to some of the other researchers. We are bringing with us:
– A laptop with the survey program we use to record our observations (see photo below)
– A handheld GPS unit that tells us the exact latitude and longitude of our observations
– Datasheets to record basic information about our surveys
– A rangefinder to help us estimate the distance from the ship to the birds
– Binoculars to help us see birds that are far away
– Field guides to help us identify rare birds
And of course, we have our personal gear with us, including:
– Lots of warm clothes
– Anti seasickness medication
– Cameras to take bird pictures, and of course all these pictures will turn out dark and blurry
– Books, movies, and other distractions to fill downtime
– Lots of candy!
Another research cruise went up to the Chukchi Sea last month, and reported that the seas were flat calm and that there were few seabirds. We are hoping that the seas remain flat calm, but that there are more seabirds this month!
We are curious to see if there were few birds last month because this is a bad year, or if it’s because they were all staying close to their colonies to feed their chicks. And of course, we are hoping to see cool seabirds like Ivory Gulls and Ross’s Gulls!
I will be blogging from the Norseman II over the next month about things such as:
– How we survey for seabirds from a boat
– How the other researchers onboard carry out their work
– Life on a research boat
– Neat things we see
A FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU:
– Find the Chukchi Sea on a map
– Why do you think seabirds go to the Chukchi Sea in August?
– How do you think researchers who work with fish, zooplankton, water, or sediments do their research?
– What do you think it’s like to live and work on a boat?