July 15, 2024 — Our ecosystem monitoring cruises help researchers understand and predict changes in the Northeast shelf ecosystem and its fisheries. Our core sampling provides data that help us understand ocean acidification as well as changes in:
- Distribution and abundance of zooplankton and larval fish
- Temperature
- Salinity
Researchers also record observations of seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. Egg data collected are important for managing Atlantic mackerel in U.S. and Canadian waters.
We sampled 131 stations from May 25–28 and June 3–14, 2024. We lost 4.5 operational days due to an unexpected mechanical issue with the fast rescue boat. We completed 79 percent of our planned research activities. We dropped stations in the most southern and northern portions of the cruise to allow for the most efficient cruise track.
The plankton we gather provide information about the food chain supporting fisheries and marine mammals. Scientists use our larval fish and egg samples to learn more about fish stock spawning and help estimate stock abundance. By measuring physical and chemical conditions like temperature and salinity, we can describe:
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- Ecosystem productivity
- Fish spawning
- Larval recruitment
- Species distribution