Alabama's STEM explorers is made possible by the generous support of the Holle Family Foundation, established to honor the legacy of Brigadier General Everett Holle and his parents, Evelyn and Fred Holle.

Champions of servant leadership at the Alabama Aquarium at Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

I'm putting all of these cool fish and stingrays I don't know too much about them, but let's go find someone who does.

Come on.

It's science.

Technology, engineering, math.

Coming up right now on Alabama STEM Explorers.

Hi, welcome to Alabama STEM Explorers.

My name's Mitch, and I'm a Dauphin Island Sea Lab today with my friend Tina.

Welcome to the Sea Lab, Mitch.

We're really happy to have you here.

Thank you.

Have you ever been here before?

No.

Well, let me tell you just a little bit about the lab.

We've been here since the 1970s, like ages ago for you.

Right.

But we are a state organization that tries to let all the students and public in Alabama learn about the wonderful coastal resources of Alabama.

We have three parts to the lab.

We have an aquarium where families can come visit, see the fish that live in this part of the world.

We have a university program that offers university classes.

Students do research, and then we have what we call Discovery Hall.

And that's where we are today in Discovery Hall.

And it's called that so that students like yourself can discover things about the ocean.

So students come down during the school year on field trips or come down and do camps and programs in the summer.

So thanks for coming down.

Yeah, it's already really fun.

Yeah.

Good.

So today what I want to do is an activity that involves learning about ocean currents.

Have you studied the ocean at all in school yet?

A little bit, but not much.

Okay.

Well, one of the things that we've noticed is we get an algae offshore that's called sargassum and it floats.

Tell me what you observe in this picture of Sargassum.

It's definitely red and it almost looks like like a little floating island.

It does look more closely.

Do you see these little white bits?

What do you think those are?

What does that look like?

I don't know.

What is it?

It's trash.

It is.

That actually is a flip flop.

Look over here.

There's a piece of plastic there.

So these big flats of algae sargassum is an algae.

Captures some of the trash that's in the ocean.

That's called the trash is a problem, right?

The trash harms people.

It harms animals.

Why do you think that tras is coming from probably humans?

Exactly right.

And it's not coming from boats that are dumping their garbage offshore.

It's coming from the land.

Right.

So one of the things that we like to do is figure out where all that trash is going so that we can collect it before it does a lot of damage.

Right.

Yeah.

To do that, we need to know something about how the water in the ocean moves.

I want to show you another picture.

There was a ship that wrecked that was carrying bath toys from China to the West Coast of the United States.

And what we saw was a whole bunch of those bath toys washing up on our beaches.

And oceanographers who are people who study the ocean started collecting those toys and noticing when they were hitting the various beaches around the world.

And they sd to form a pattern.

So you can see on this map that we have dates when those rubber duckies washed up and that they seemed to form a pattern.

Right.

And you see that that the over here is a little bit later in time than over here.

But what do you think that means?

The fact that if there was a shipwreck here, that those toys ended up all the way over there?

How do you think they got there?

There must be a current in the ocean that takes them a certain way, maybe.

Exactly.

All the oceans are connected.

There's no fences that separate the Atlantic from the Pacific.

Right.

And so what really happened was this.

Do you see what's in that picture?

What do you think you're looking at?

Is that a boat?

And then some boxes fell off?

Exactly right.

This is what we call a container ship.

Big containers of stuff get loaded onto that ship.

They travel across the world, taking things from one area of the land to another.

This was a ship in which some of those containers fell overboard and some of those containers busted open and all of those rubber duckies floated out and got carried to a certain area.

Have you ever heard of the garbage patches in the ocean?

Is that like where certain places.

There's just a lot of trash?

Exactly.

So this is a map that shows where some of those garbage patches are, right?

Yeah.

Are they all spread across the ocean?

Not really.

They're really kind of confined.

Exactly.

So how do you think all the trash gets concentrated in those areas of the ocean?

Well, I'm seeing these arrows going a certain way, so maybe it's like a current kind of containing them in.

Seems like a little seal.

Yeah.

There are currents thatknow exist in the ocean.

And the fact that that garbage piles up in one area ocean is because the currents bring it there.

They they it all converges on that area.

And unfortunately, this is a pretty famous garbage patch is bad to be famous for garbage.

But this is what's called the North Pacific Garbage Patch and they are trying to clean it up.

But what oceanographers, people who study that are studying is the way that the currents are carrying that stuff.

So to study currents, how do you think they do that?

Probably.

Maybe they put something there like the rubber ducks, like just let it go around.

Maybe.

Yeah.

I mean, the rubber ducks told us something.

I'll tell you something else.

There was a container of shoes that fell overboard.

Nike shoes back in the eighties.

And so they were also tracking where all the shoes came ashore.

But that's not the best way to study the currents is depending on the garbage in the ocean.

Yeah, of course.

And so they they build chnologies that allow them to study where those currents go and how those currents work.

And the technology that we're going to look at today is called a current drifter.

Right.

What does the word drifter mean to you?

Like just kind of moves around slowly, not really going anywhere in particular.

Exactly.

Gets carried by the currents, but it just kind of drifts with the currents, right?

Yeah.

Right.

So that's what we're going to build today.

You will build a mini current drifter, a small scale current drifter.

So what I have for you here is a bunch of bits and bobs, miscellaneous stuff, right, that you can use to build a current drifter.

Cool.

This is our test tank that you're going to test out your drifter in.

And there are three essential parts of a drifter that you need to think about as you build that.

The first part is it needs to be carried by the current.

Right.

So is the current above the water or in the water?

The currents like in the water.

Right?

Exactly right.

So you need to have part of that drifter down in the water so it can capture the current.

Yeah.

The second important part of a drifter is it needs to tell the world where it is.

Right.

Otherwise, we don't know where the current's carrying it.

So they have to be above the water.

That would have to be above the water.

Yeah.

And it needs to be something that can talk to all those satellites that are out there that says, hey, I met Latitude So-and-so and Longitude.

So.

So your drifter model needs to have something above the water.

It needs to have something below the water.

And then obviously, to keep it from sinking in the ocean.

What else does it need?

It needs something to that makes it float?

Exactly right.

So as you look at all this miscellaneous stuff here today, you need to keep those three.

Oops.

I'm sorry.

Those three parts in mind.

A float?

Yeah.

Something that's above the water so it can talk to the satellite and something that's below the water so it can capture the current.

Okay.

Okay.

So now let's talk about what you're going to use for each one of those.

Okay.

So I think this ball would float.

Let's try it.

Let's see.

Oh, no.

Is it?

Can't quite tell.

Looks like it's touching the top.

So what happens is, if it floats, it needs to come back to the surface.

Right?

Okay.

It looks like it does float.

Right.

So I think that will probably be something like the thing on the surface.

Okay.

If it doesn't.

But I can't let too much weight go down.

Exactly.

That's the key.

All right, so let's.

This is a cork just cork float.

Yes, they do that.

They're floating better.

So let's see.

We've got some smaller pieces here for you if you want.

Okay, cool.

Do this.

Does this part of it have to float or set?

See?

Remember, it's got to be carried by the current.

So that had to hang down in the water.

Right.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Some people call that the sock.

So think of it as a sock below your float.

It's just hanging down there in the water.

So maybe something.

I need something to connect the two.

There's some wires in there and some little twist ties and some paper clips.

We can try that.

Maybe try to put something between the hole so it won't fall off.

Is that a good idea?

Maybe I like it.

Yeah, definitely I like it.

Maybe you're thinking in the right line.

Let's see.

So let's try to get this thing.

You see, if there were some paper clips in here.

So we could kind of.

How about that, Mitch?

Okay.

You like that?

That's.

That's great.

There we go.

So maybe put that like that.

And you got another wire here.

You could hook on to it if you need a little bit more length.

Yeah, maybe go down.

It goes down if it goes down like that.

That's when you try to figure out something like, I don't know.

What do you think we could pull off pieces that pool noodle.

Now you got to make a part that's going to catch that current.

Okay.

All right.

That would probably be.

I've never been canoeing or kayaking.

Yeah.

How do you move the water?

You.

You move it with the rope, the rower or the or the paddle or the ore Right.

So that or is a good thing for catching the water.

So maybe you could develop or design some like hanging down structure that's kind of flat, like a paddle that will catch the water.

What do you think?

Something like this.

Exactly.

I've got a pair of scissors here if you want to make it a little bit small.

Yeah.

How do you think?

Maybe something like that work?

Yeah, maybe a little bit smaller.

Because this is going to be your little mini ocean here that you're going to test it out and you don't want it to be too big.

That that's small for you.

Okay.

So like that.

And then maybe how I do this, something like.

So now you're going to catch the current going this way, right?

If the current is flowing this way, it's going to catch that current.

But what if the currents come in this way?

Hmm?

Maybe I.

Maybe two of it.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Yeah, I think that might be a good idea.

I mean, catch another one.

Yeah.

All right, let's do that.

About the same size, right?

Yeah.

What if.

So you want one this way and maybe one this way.

Oh, yeah.

Would you take that?

Makes sense.

Let's.

Here you go.

So maybe something like this.

I like it.

Mm hmm.

So you got your float on there.

How should I maybe say something like, now?

That's the key in the ocean.

You got to build things so the parts don't come off.

Oh, yeah.

It leaves land.

You know, you're not controlling it anymore.

Let's see.

This putty.

It is.

Open it up.

Mm hmm.

Oh, maybe that could help.

I don't know.

You got something a little sticky.

If I could make a little thing to surround it just so it doesn't come out of that.

Yeah.

Doesn't come out.

We also have tape there.

Duct tape.

Oh, wow.

Know, duct tape fixes a lot of things.

Yeah.

Break on ships.

Duct tape is very handy.

Yeah.

And let's see.

Now, remember, you can keep.

You can test it.

Let's make it sure that's hanging below the big.

You see that?

Yeah, it's a little it's a little long, but eventually it's going to go in the real ocean.

Right.

So it's okay if it's a little long.

In fact, we have a bigger test tank there that we can use.

Yeah.

So I just keep it the way it is.

I think your design is going to work.

Okay, let's just.

Let's just make this little bit a little bit more stable.

Okay.

So it doesn't fall.

A key is to make sure that this part is not so heavy that it causes your ball to sink below the surface.

Ocean, right?

Mm hmm.

Because these actually get a little device in them that kind of looks like this.

That is talking to the satellites right.

And of course, this is electronic and, you know, electronics and water.

Do they go together well?

No.

So this has to be kept above the water and kept dry.

And also, satellite signals don't travel well through the water.

Right.

So it has to be up there in the air.

Yeah.

Because the water's more condensed.

So let's see.

I think I've got a little bit of tape here.

Okay.

Just kind of wrap it around.

I like it.

I like the make it.

Yeah.

Looks pretty, pretty stable.

Now, what's the the measure of a successful current drifter if we put it in the ocean with the current, what should happen?

It could would move around with the current.

There you go.

Right.

Yeah.

So we've got our test tank over here in which I have a it's we can think of it as a mini ocean that I have a current in.

You see that spinner spinning and that's creating a circular current.

So let's go over and test in our mini ocean.

Okay.

So tell me what happened when you first put it in the water?

Well, it sank.

So what doest mean you need to do?

So we decided that I think I decided that I needed to put this little flotation thing, which is a piece of a cork.

Right.

And that's exactly what engineers do when they design equipment.

They test it.

The redesign.

They fix what they found out.

That was a problem.

And then they test it again.

So let's test it again.

Okay.

So our mini ocean has this circular current in that.

Do you see that?

Yeah.

And so if your current drifter is working right, it should be traveling in that circular current.

And so what is it?

Doing it slowly making its way.

That way.

Right.

But, you know, the wrinkle is, Mitch, we have wind in the ocean.

Yeah, this is my model wind.

And so if your current drifter is working successfully, should the wind move it?

No.

Very good.

Right.

You want it just to be carried by that current and not by the wind.

So I'm going to turn the wind on a magic right.

And what do you see your currentfter doing?

Is it being blown away by the wind?

Not.

Not much.

Is being well, a little bit, but not too bad.

Well, I still see it traveling in that spirit.

Yeah.

Which means you have designed a successful current drifter.

Great job.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So, Mitch, you have built a successful current drifter because the current carried it and the wind did not great.

Let me show you.

We're going to take a full sized one down to the beach and show you how it works in real life.

Okay.

Okay, cool.

Let me show you this one.

This is one we built, right?

Can you recognize the parts on there?

Yeah, I think that's some of the floatation.

That's probably the the thing that connects to the satellite.

And that's the stuff that's underwater.

Very good.

Right.

And I think this.

These do what?

Those.

Oh, those take the current.

Exactly.

Hit it.

Very good.

So, in fact, this is just a waterproof cap.

Right.

And we do is we put our little tracker unit.

Right.

That talks to the satellites in there.

So it's waterproof.

Then we tighten this up and take it out to the ocean and let it go.

Cool.

And we use software, computer program that tracks that.

Now, we've done that in the past with students.

And I have a map that shows where our drifter went when we did this with a bunch of students, when they got out to get on the boat on the ocean, and we released a drifter, and then that's the path that the drifter took in that cool.

Did it go all the way down the west coast of Florida?

No, not really.

Okay.

Yeah.

Looks like you stayed right over down there.

Exactly.

Got caught in some cast circular current, just like we saw with the garbage patches.

Right?

Right.

Yeah.

All right.

You know what else is we have over in our aquarium?

I told you, the sea lab has a public aquarium over in our aquarium.

There is a an opened up drifter, so you can see the electronic guts inside or something.

That's cool.

So why don't we head over there and we can show you that real current drifter?

Because this is the map from that drifter.

All right.

Okay.

Right over there.

So, Mitch, you built a wonderful little mini drifter, right?

And what we have here at the Alabama Aquarium is a display of a real drifter.

This was sort of a model that they took apart so you could see how they actually worked.

Do you remember we talking about what were the three most important parts to a drifter when you're building one?

Yeah, I think it was the thing that floats like the flotation device.

Sure.

The thing that catches the current.

So it can move.

And then the brains, which connects to the satellite.

That's right.

So this is the brain's what the brains look like on a real drifter.

You can see there's a lot of electronics in there and stuff.

So this is actually reporting its position to the satellite, but it also has a bunch of sensors in there so that it's not only telling you currents, but maybe it's telling you the water temperature, maybe it's the water salinity, stuff like that.

Okay.

But if we look up, what do you think that is?

Isn't that the like the net kind of thing that catches the current?

It catches the current.

Yeah.

We called it the sock.

It's also called a drogue.

But you're right.

That is what makes sure is it's reflecting what the current is doing and not where the wind is blowing it.

Right.

Yeah.

And if you look up at the very top of that, what do you see?

I see the thing that helps the float.

Right.

Because remember, if it doesn't float, it can't talk to what?

It can't talk to the satellite.

Right, exactly.

So as it's drifting in the ocean, it's reporting its position to the satellites.

And what you see here on the floor is what a map looks like when a drifter is drifting or being carried by the currents.

And all of those individual dots are a situation where it has told what where it is to the satellite and thenmap it out.

And that tells us about ocean currents, tells us about where things go to in the ocean.

Because we were talking about the garbage patches this morning, right?

Yeah.

And that happens because of all that currents bringing that floating trash together.

Right.

Yeah.

So this tells oceanographers where those currents are going.

And that's all from a very simple instrument that you built.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, thanks for for building this morning.

And let's do it again sometime, okay?

Okay, great.

All right.

Sounds good.

Thanks, Mitch.

I have a really cool job, and I have two, two roles, right?

One is kind of engineer, and the other one is diving safety officer.

So as diving safety officer, my job is to dive.

Scuba dive, do underwater research, facilitate the underwater research.

So in doing that, I get to experience what other people pay lots of money to go do, and I get to do this on a daily basis.

I'm out scuba diving with giant mola molas like you, just out there doing work, and these incredible animals come by and that's that's not uncommon to experience that kind of stuff.

So that would be that would be the wow factor of my job.

On the engineering side is just it's solving the problems.

Something that I've done that's really exciting.

It's over.

The head of everybody except for me.

And that one scientist that came up with the idea and it took me and that one scientist a year and a half to get to a point where we even remotely understood it.

So it's hard to share, but there are lots of things that I make.

Probably the first one is probably drifters that I made for our physical oceanographer, and he wanted a bunch of those that recorded their GPS position, the salinity and the temperature of the water.

And they are incredibly expensive to go out and buy them.

And he came and he said, Hey, can you do this?

And I said, I have no idea.

I will try these as well.

I will I will support you while you try.

And that was my first real endeavor into solving those problems for scientists.

So that's probably why I say it's one of my one of my kind of sticky moments was ended up being successful.

It was awesome.

And from there, other scientists at the lab said, Oh, can you do this?

Oh, can you do this?

Oh, can you do this?

And for the most part, I think I've been pretty successful.

I'm working on currently So it's it's a device that shoots different light colors at coral and based on just like a black light, you know, you turn on a black light and different colors in the room glow coral do that as well in response to different colors of light.

And based on those colors, you can tell what species of symbionts are living inside the coral.

I was never the smart kid in the class.

Never, never, never, never.

But in the right settings, I was able I'm able to outpace a lot of people that are a lot smarter than me just because I don't mind messing up, I don't mind making mistakes, I don't mind failing.

And that's the mentality you got to have to do well, but a willingness to try and the dedication to see it through, that's where that's where anybody can get into STEM.

My favorite part of my job is mechanically making things.

I've been fortunate enough to have access to a full machine shop.

There's something just incredibly rewarding about taking a a raw block of metal and then forming it into exactly what you want.

I find that to be incredibly rewarding.

That's probably my favorite part.

Thanks for watching.

Alabama STEM Explorers.

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Alabama STEM explorers is made possible by the generous support of the Holle Family Foundation, established to honor the legacy of Brigadier General Everett Holle and his parents, Evelyn and Fred Holle Champions of Servant Leadership.