Interview on the NOAA Marine Debris Blog

Miriam measuring the wire angle on the J-frame
This is me using a hand-held inclinometer to estimate the wire angle as the manta net is being towed.

I was interviewed by the NOAA Marine Debris blog! It’s about my work this October on a NOAA cruise through the eastern part of the North Pacific Central Gyre.

What goes into deploying your equipment on a vessel as large as the Okeanos Explorer?

Every deployment requires a lot of teamwork! The manta tow is deployed on a piece of equipment called the “J-frame,” which allows us to pull the net on the starboard (right) side of the ship. In order to do this the officer in charge needs to slow down the ship, a trained person needs to operate the J-frame, and two people need to attach the net to the J-frame wire and make sure it enters and leaves the water correctly. Each team constantly talks to each other over the radio to make sure that everyone is coordinated. It takes about a half-hour to do one manta tow.

Read the rest on the NOAA Marine Debris blog.

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