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Happy New Year, Shipmates and NOAA ship fans!
This time of year is often a time of reflection–and we’ve had a great 2024 that also brought some challenges. I’m very proud of the many accomplishments our team has achieved. Here are just a few:
- We spent 2,176 days at sea.
- We traveled 303,071 linear nautical miles
- We mapped 2,162 square nautical miles.
- We held 2 groundbreaking ceremonies for new facilities.
- There were 2,026 dives safely completed by 88 divers.
- We have 2 ships, Oceanographer and Discoverer, under construction.
- We named 2 ships, Surveyor and Navigator, that will join our fleet in 2027 and 2028.
- We completed our first year under the new Shore Leave Policy.
- We’ve embarked on our second group of ships going fully rotational.
We continue with challenging ship repairs, including reconstituting NOAA Ship Rainier after completion of repairs to the damage caused by a fire, work to complete the mid-life repair on NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown, and repairs to the steering system of one of our ships built in the 1960s, Fairweather.
An end of the year highlight for me was an opportunity to meet retired NOAA Corps Capt. Sam Baker. You can read more about that visit below, but having time to talk with him about his career and life experiences was a privilege and puts into context the challenges we face today in comparison to what Capt. Baker faced during his service.
I also want to mention the passing of a longtime shipmate, Able Seaman Carl Coonce, Jr. Since joining NOAA in 2006, Carl spent the entirety of his career supporting the NOAA fleet. He was known for his warm heart, steady hand on the helm, and his nimble feet on deck.
I look forward to sharing more news about our fleet and our upcoming field season with you in the future. As a reminder, anyone can subscribe to Shipshape by clicking here.
Be a good shipmate!
Capt. Jesse Stark, NOAA Corps Director of Marine Operations NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations
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We’re taking several steps towards achieving more energy efficient platforms, both current ships and ships under construction. These investments to make our ships more energy efficient are a part of a longer term strategy to ensure our fleet and operations are more cost effective.
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The U.S. Public Health Service officers working at NOAA in the Marine Medicine Branch assess medical readiness and general wellbeing by performing occupational health screenings and physical exams. They also implement preventative health and wellness programs that ensure the health and safety of the mariners who sail aboard the ships. Learn more about this important partnership.
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NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter wraps up the 2024 Vessel Survey for Abundance and Distribution of Marine Mammals and Seabirds led by NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Read more about the multi-month survey and an endangered Rice’s whale encounter during the survey’s last days. Image credit: Terra Mar Applied Sciences/Kate Sutherland (Permit #21938)
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In October, NOAA partnered with academia and industry to expand the capabilities of uncrewed systems in gathering critical seafloor mapping data. In a project co-led by the NOAA Uncrewed Systems Operations Center, the University of New Hampshire, and partners, the project team tested the effectiveness and concept of operations of operating two uncrewed surface vehicles in the Gulf of Maine from remote shorebased operations centers.
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Meet the Crew
The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps is one of the nation’s eight uniformed services. With approximately 330 officers and growing, the NOAA Corps supports nearly all of NOAA’s programs and missions, and are an integral part of NOAA’s marine operations. Meet some NOAA Corps officers who support marine operations:
Lt. Cmdr. Dustin Picard, Executive Officer, NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Ensign Emily Resendez, Junior Officer, NOAA Ship Fairweather
Our professional mariner workforce is the backbone of our fleet and crucial to safe and effective ship operations. Get a glimpse into the life of a NOAA mariner. Meet our mariners:
Emir Porter, Chief Steward Joe DelTorto, Chief Marine Engineer
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Heritage
In December, leaders from NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps paid tribute to a 102-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona, resident who has a special connection to NOAA and the NOAA Corps. During a surprise visit, NOAA Corps Director Rear Adm. Chad Cary, presented retired NOAA Corps Capt. Leonard (Sam) Baker with a meritorious service medal for his four decades of service to the nation with the NOAA Corps and its predecessors.
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Featured Photo
 While on an annual survey to monitor and understand the West Coast marine ecosystem, NOAA Corps officers and scientists aboard NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker began seeing ash from the California wildfires in the water samples they were collecting and in the air while they were working. The water samples (shown) were taken from a plankton tow net which captures the uppermost surface layers of the ocean and were collected between 4-60 miles off the coast, near Santa Monica. Photo credit: Rasmus Swalethorp, PhD, CalCOFI, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.
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