Townsend Cromwell
Student Connection
Just in from the Ship
April 28, 2000 The TOWNSEND CROMWELL is now north of the Hawaiian Islands continuing to conduct oceanographic sampling that is used to support fisheries research. The cruise is entitled, "Highly Migratory Species Oceanography", which basically means that we are studying the environmental conditions which are important for understanding the habitat of fish such as tuna and swordfish that range far and wide across the ocean basin.In particular, we are looking at a region north of Hawaii often referred to as the Subtropical Frontal Zone which basically stretches west to east between 28°N and 34°N latitudes. These frontal zone associated fronts are areas where water masses of different characteristics converge and are often good places to look for fish since these regions are also known for food accumulation and concentration of fish for capture.
From the ship, we are lowering an instrument
(called
a CTD) through the water column at selected sites across fronts to measure properties
such as temperature and salinity which provide information needed to decipher water
movement. In addition, water samples are collected at selected depths to determine
microalgae and nutrients concentrations which will help us develop an understanding of the
relationship between the water movement and biological (food) production and distribution.
This year, the fifth in an ongoing series, we have added a
self-contained pump lowered
to 150 m at selected stations to collect particles sinking out of the surface waters; an
independent measure of the regional productivity.
Other Report from This Cruise:
Last modified May 02, 2000