ME70 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During HB2204

Operational objectives are to: (1) collect biological data with bongo plankton nets; (2) collect ocean acidification samples with rosette water sampler; (3) complete CTD and bongo operations at stations throughout area; (4) collect underway data using TSG, SCS, EK60 and ADCP; (5) collect marine mammal and seabird observations; (6) collect pteropods from ocean acidification stations; (7) collect imagery of phytoplankton and ciliates using Imaging FlowCytobot unit; (8) collect supplemental samples for energy density estimates of plankton and Atlantic Mackerel eggs; (9) collect plankton samples with a 70-cm ring net; (10) collect data on environmental DNA at various depths during water casts.

The Ecosystem Monitoring surveys contribute to stock assessments, protected species assessments, ecosystem assessments, and climate assessments. As such, the surveys satisfy multiple objectives. Ichthyoplankton and hydrographic data are collected for stock assessments. A range of ecosystem observations are made, from nutrients and ocean acidification to marine mammals, and a number of the measurements are used in NEFSC ecosystem assessment products. The ocean acidification and hydrographic measurements are incorporated into the region’s climate assessments.