NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) |

Time 2020-10-03 10:03:28

Web Name: NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) |

WebSite: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov

ID:68645

Keywords:

Marine,Pacific,NOAA,

Description:

Monitoring Change in the Arctic: Expedition to the U.S. Arctic keeps in place some vital research NOAA scientists and crew on NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson deploy a mooring in the Bering Sea to monitor ocean acidification in 2019. Moorings give researchers an expanded view of the remote corners of the world's ocean sproviding near-continuous, year-round measurements. Credit: NOAA Corps LT Laura Dwyer/ NOAA. September 25, 2020 From spring to early fall in a typical year, NOAA and research partners conduct several important scientific surveys in the U.S. waters of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Scientists collect oceanographic and biological data that are used to inform fisheries management, monitor whale populations and support Arctic ecosystem and climate studies.This annual research is essential to understanding a rapidly changing Arctic.But this was no usual year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While NOAA has had to cancel many of its planned research surveys in Alaska, it has been able to conduct a number of scaled-back research surveys in 2020. One such survey that will be finishing up this week is in the Arctic and was conducted on board NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson to collect critical data supporting a long time series involving many scientific partners.Collecting key Arctic dataWith the help of the Oscar Dyson’s crew, which has gone above and beyond their normal duties to assist the scientists during the survey and ensure the continued collection of data, scientists are retrieving and deploying some of the moorings that gather data year-round in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. These moorings are equipped with sensors to collect measurements of nutrients and oceanographic conditions (including currents, temperature, salinity, oxygen, and fluorescence) to better understand the health of this marine ecosystem and how it may be changing. Some of the mooring sites have been operating continuously for more than 20 years and provide critical ocean measurements during the ice-covered winter and spring months. The science team and Oscar Dyson survey team are also collecting physical, chemical and biological water column data in an effort to document ongoing ecosystem changes in the U.S. Arctic. The science team is also sampling the water column for phytoplankton, single-celled plants, in order to monitor harmful algal blooms and are collecting environmental DNA from water samples to document the biodiversity present in the environment.Gaining insights on marine lifeScientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center also hope to retrieve passive acoustic data from year-round moorings to learn more about where whales move throughout the year. Of particular interest is how whales responded to a more typical, colder winter in 2019 than the extremely warm conditions during the previous two years.The survey team deployed new pop-up floats for NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory to map the “cold pool”. The cold pool is a layer of cold bottom water (less than 35°F (2 °C) at approximately 98 feet (30 meters), which results from melting sea ice in the previous winter and spring, and plays a key role for the Bering Sea ecosystem. It can act as a corridor for Arctic fish species and a barrier for sub-Arctic species. The cold pool can restrict movement of commercially important walleye pollock and Pacific cod into northern waters. In the past few years, the cold pool has been markedly smaller, allowing large-scale northward expansions of typically sub-Arctic fish, crab and zooplankton into the Bering Sea.“What is really remarkable about this survey is that scientists and crew are stepping forward to collect data for fellow scientists who aren’t able to get out this year,” said Phyllis Stabeno, NOAA PMEL oceanographer. “It’s a great example of teamwork at its best.”The Oscar Dyson team has already retrieved four seafloor-mounted acoustic moorings for Alex De Robertis, an Alaska Fisheries Science Center fisheries biologist. Data collected by these moorings will help quantify the migrations of walleye pollock between U.S. and Russian waters.Read more about the research cruise on NOAA Research.  Hot, dry weather a factor in Washington wildfire season August 17, 2020 High heat, along with an unusual tropical weather system heading north, helped kick off what is normally the toughest stretch of Washington state’s fire season. The strange part is the remnants of a tropical cyclone that worked its way up through California to the Pacific Northwest,... Hearing the under-sea whispers of a warming climate July 13, 2020 Scientists are using hydrophones, instruments that use underwater microphones, to collect clues about melting glaciers and the songs of whales. Bob Dziak is quoted.  Ocean Acidification Threatens Bivalve Industry July 07, 2020 Worldwide, ocean levels are rising at an accelerated pace. Cape May County is feeling the effects of exacerbated weather events, as a result.  Yet, there is another drastic change affecting the oceans - a decrease in the water’s pH levels. This is a change that industry leaders and... With annual revenues up to $220 million, the Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) is one of the most valuable commercial fisheries on the US West Coast. Yet, rapid intensification of ocean acidification (OA) along the US West Coast is reducing natural habitats of crabs by increasing corrosiveness of the water due to the uptake of human-generated CO2. The steady increase in seawater CO2 can trigger multiple impacts that are most significant in the upper water column that is... more

TAGS:Marine Pacific NOAA 

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