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CalCOFI Cruise Report (9 - 15 Jul 2002):
The second week of
CalCOFI 0207NH continues in moderate seas after a brief reprieve
during the inshore stations. Typical 25-30 kts winds greeted us at
Pt. Conception. The station work has gone smoothly thanks to the
deployment techniques practiced under calmer conditions. We are on
schedule and predict our return early July 18th. Preliminary data
indicate that the California Current continues to flow far offshore.
Contour plots of 10m and 100m temperatures do not show the typical
southward flow. The highest chlorophyll concentrations are mid
pattern directly south of Pt. Conception, indicating some southward
flow of older upwelled water. Plankton volumes have been relatively
high throughout the cruise. Bongo tows were comprised mainly of
salps and euphausiids in fairly high numbers. Pelagic red crabs,
typically seen in El Nino years, have been caught on all three
CalCOFI cruises this year. This cruise, red crabs appeared on line
87, stations 45 and 60, sta 83.42, sta 82.47 (the Santa Barbara Basin
station) and sta 80.55. All five occurrences were found in shallow
pockets of anomalously warm water. Offshore Manta samples contain a
high concentration of Vellela,
vellela another El Nino indicator. The Manta net sampled well over
30,000 anchovy eggs on stas 83.42 and 83 40.6. A high number of fish
eggs for a summer CalCOFI. Haili Wang and Gino Passalacqua continue
to successfully deploy Mitchell's bio-optics MER instrument under
overcast skies. Brian Hopkinson and Kelly Roe have collected and
incubated trace-metal surface samples from 30 stations. Twenty seven
species of avifauna were observed during this time period. Bird
highlights include: Flesh-footed Shearwater, Brown Booby, South Polar
Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Pigeon Guillemot, Buller's Shearwater. The
Flesh-footed shearwater was located in a large mixed group of Sooty
Shearwaters and Pink-footed Shearwaters. The Buller's Shearwters were
observed off of Point Conception. The single Brown Booby was found
sitting on the mast of the New Horizon (station 80.90), and it
remained on transit to station 80.100. Cetacean observations include:
Common dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphin, Dall's Porpoise, and
Bottlenose dolphins, and one Melon-headed whale. Pinnieped
observations include California Sea Lion, Northern Fur Seal, and
Northern Elephant Seal. Macro-nekton sampling improved significantly
on transit from line 80 to 77, doubling our previous count. Albacore
tally is currently 36 with anticipation of continued success on the
transit south. Special thanks to our volunteers Holly Celico, Mark
Friedman and Liz Leonhardt for their help, high caliber analytical
work, and enthusiasm. As we finish the last line of stations and
foresee a successful conclusion, we want to thank Captain John Manion
and crew of New Horizon for another great cruise. Their expertise
and companionship are greatly appreciated. A special thanks to the
cooks, Mike and Laura, whose good cheer and great meals even during
rough conditions made all the difference. (James R Wilkinson 15
July, 2002)
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