July 20, 2022 — Our Ecosystem Monitoring cruises help researchers understand and predict changes in the Northeast shelf ecosystem and its fisheries. Core sampling on the spring EcoMon includes the distribution and abundance of zooplankton and larval fish, temperature, salinity, and samples we use to study ocean acidification. Researchers also collect observations of seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. Egg data from this survey are important for managing Atlantic mackerel in U.S. and Canadian waters.
We visited 150 stations between May 31 and June 17. Because we had fewer available days at sea and an unexpected exchange of crew, we dropped 17 of our planned stations. Most of the lost coverage occurred between Chesapeake Bay and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Fortunately, calm seas allowed the team aboard the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow to complete coverage of the southern New England and Georges Bank areas. We nearly completed coverage of the Gulf of Maine, and increased sampling in the Nantucket Shoals wind energy area.
The plankton—tiny animals and young stages of some larger ones—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 ecosystem productivity, spawning, larval recruitment, fish condition, and species distributions.