Our biological oceanography lab has a biweekly zooplankton time-series study collected from the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine. The study samples the zooplankton at two stations: one well within the Damariscotta estuary, and the other a few miles out. At the nearshore station, we see an estuarine community, with a diverse collection of copepods and other zooplankton. At the offshore station, depending on the time of year, the community is dominated by the large copepod, Calanus finmarchicus.
These two communities are characteristic of two different marine ecosystems. The big copepods in the oceanic system provide essential prey for pelagic species ranging from herring to right whales. The smaller, more diverse estuarine system can serve as a nursery for larval fish. The seascape modeling lab is interested in the processes that maintain the boundary between the two types of system.
In order to characterize the nearshore-offshore gradient, we ran a cruise on Thursday, taking profiles with the LOPC at fixed intervals of roughly 1 km (see map). We're still feeding out and reeling the LOPC cable by hand, until we get the data logger fixed. This can be tiresome, but thanks to ongoing splicing efforts (including some last-minute work before leaving the dock), it's effective. We have a nice transect showing the shift in size distribution from the nearshore out towards the offshore.
Additionally, it was nice to be on the water on a brisk October day. We got an early start, catching the sunrise ferry from Peaks Island, and we saw some fair wildlife, which, hopefully, Pete will share some pictures of in a later entry.
These two communities are characteristic of two different marine ecosystems. The big copepods in the oceanic system provide essential prey for pelagic species ranging from herring to right whales. The smaller, more diverse estuarine system can serve as a nursery for larval fish. The seascape modeling lab is interested in the processes that maintain the boundary between the two types of system.
In order to characterize the nearshore-offshore gradient, we ran a cruise on Thursday, taking profiles with the LOPC at fixed intervals of roughly 1 km (see map). We're still feeding out and reeling the LOPC cable by hand, until we get the data logger fixed. This can be tiresome, but thanks to ongoing splicing efforts (including some last-minute work before leaving the dock), it's effective. We have a nice transect showing the shift in size distribution from the nearshore out towards the offshore.
Additionally, it was nice to be on the water on a brisk October day. We got an early start, catching the sunrise ferry from Peaks Island, and we saw some fair wildlife, which, hopefully, Pete will share some pictures of in a later entry.
Sampling stations (X).
Reeling in the LOPC and cable.
Reeling in the LOPC and cable.
Nice work guys!