Ship's Personnel

Officers

Welcome Aboard!
NOAA Ship Oregon II

Scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pascagoula Laboratory in Pascagoula, Mississippi conduct a multitude of sampling and observational activities onboard the Oregon II, these activities include: Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) casts, marine mammal observation, submersible remotely operated vehicles (ROV) operations, shark longlining, bottom trawls, plankton tows using Bongo and/or Neuston nets,fish trap and camera deployments and scuba diving.

Annual projects the Oregon II participates in are the:

Summer/Fall Groundfish Survey: Groundfish surveys are conducted in the summer and fall across the northern Gulf of Mexico from Alabama to the Mexican border. The summer groundfish survey has been conducted aboard the Oregon II since 1982, while the fall survey has been completed since 1972.

Striped Bass Tagging Survey: The objective of the Striped Bass Tagging Survey is to capture and tag adult striped bass, summer flounder, spiny dogfish, and Atlantic sturgeon in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina and Virginia. Since 1988, the Striped Bass Tagging Survey has been completed annually by a NOAA vessel, primarily by the Oregon II.

Spring/Fall Plankton Surveys: The plankton surveys are conducted to collect samples for estimating the abundance and distribution of fish larvae, including Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae. The Oregon II and other NOAA vessels routinely conduct these surveys in the northern Gulf of Mexico out to the the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary.

Oculina/Gag-Grouper Survey: The Oculina/Gag-Grouper Survey which is conducted off the east and west coasts of Florida in February and March to examine existing and artificially transplanted Oculina coral modules for growth, survival, and abundance of fish.

Reef Fish Survey: The objective of the annual Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) offshore reef fish survey is to provide an index of the relative abundances of fish species associated with topographic features (banks, ledges) located on the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) in the area from Brownsville, TX to the Dry Tortugas, FL.

The Oregon II also conducts shark longlining along the coasts of the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. Coastal sharks are caught, measured, tagged, and released in order to assess the abundance, distribution, and migrational patterns, and to examine the distribution with regard to oceanographic features.

Marine mammal observations are also routinely conducted throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. The purpose of the survey is to obtain data on the distribution and abundance of mammals, to monitor trends in abundance, and to examine distribution in relation to oceanographic features.

The Science
Check this page periodically for more information on our projects