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Research Expedition to the Gulf of Alaska - 2DY11
NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations & Gulf of Alaska - Integrated Ecosystem Research

May 31 to June 9, 2011

Updated: June 7, 2011
Oscar Dyson with one of the Aleutian volcanos in the background Bongo net deployed from the Dyson Picture of Kodiak landscape
Welcome to the web site for our late spring Gulf of Alaska research cruise. The objectives of this cruise are to conduct an ichthyoplankton survey and fisheries
oceanography process studies in the region between the Shumagin Islands and Shelikof Strait. We will assess the abundance of larval pollock, estimate their transport rates, and identify other factors influencing their growth and survival.  We will also occupy stations on Line 8 to continue our 26-year time series of environmental and biological
conditions in Shelikof Strait that are useful in an integrated ecosystem assessment.  In addition to the FOCI standard sampling, stations have been selected from the main grid of the GOA-IERP research project for additional sampling. At these stations we will deploy a neuston net to assess larval sable fish; one of the five target species for the GOA-IERP. The GOA-IERP is funded by Alaska's North Pacific Research Board (NPRB). EcoFOCI is providing expertise for both the lower trophic level and modeling modules of the GOA-IERP.

The activities on this cruise fit into a larger, multi-year project addressing the interrelationship of climate, oceanography, fisheries, ocean biology,ocean chemistry, and seabirds in a changing ecosystem. This spring expedition is funded through NOAA's FOCI program.

Operations primarily consist of plankton sampling, hydrographic measurements, and water sampling. We will conduct bongo tows and Neuston net tows. Hydrography includes digital profiles of temperature, salinity (calculated from temperature, conductivity, and pressure), pressure, chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen. We also take CTD water samples for phytoplankton, microzooplankton, nutrient and oxygen analysis. We are sampling on a pre-defined grid of stations that has been sampled annually for the past 25 years.


A Short Glossary
NPRB - North Pacific Research Board
GOA - IERP
GOA - Gulf of Alaska
IERP - Integrated Ecosystem Research Program
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NPCREP - North Pacific Climate Regimes and Ecosystem Productivity


NOAA
    EcoFOCI Project Office
NOAA/PMEL and NOAA/AFSC
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, Washington 98115
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