Fisheries Alliance

This is an inter-disciplinary effort to study shelfbreak processes, and if possible a shelf streamer around a Warm Core Ring, to investigate circulation and ecosystem connections south of New England. Previous work has shown that streamers of shelf water aggregate marine species, including squid, around the periphery of Warm Core Rings. We would like to test some hypotheses regarding how streamers of shelf water form, their connection to the Shelfbreak Jet upstream, and how acoustic backscatter patterns can be used to define biota within and around the shelf streamer. We will be in close communication with the commercial fishing industry via the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and the Cooperative Research Branch at NOAA. Results will be shared after the cruise with the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, the Cooperative Research Branch, and the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance. A key motivation is the pattern of upwelling as the streamer forms. A recent Ph.D. thesis (by Jacob Forsyth) suggests that large Warm Core Rings that are in close proximity to the shelfbreak can generate large upwelling rates. Recent tagging efforts led by C. Braun at WHOI have also shown billfish moving within a streamer for large distances.