DBO-EcoFOCI 2024

The two-fold mission of the DBO-EcoFOCI 2024 cruise and planned 2025-2027 research cruises on the RV Sikuliaq are to: 1) occupy the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) standard stations for the purpose of hydrographic CTD/rosette sampling, vertical zooplankton net tows, and benthic and sediment sampling using Van Veen grabs, Haps benthic corer, and beam trawl, and 2) turn around a suite of NOAA moorings and the Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (CEO) mooring in the Chukchi and northern Bering Seas. These cruises are a partnership of the DBO with NOAA’s Ecosystems and Fisheries Oceanography (EcoFOCI) program, Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (AMBON), and the Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (CEO) to achieve objectives of all participating programs. The Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS), North Pacific Research Board (NPRB) and AMBON through the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) all contribute to the CEO mooring operations near DBO4, with the NPRB supporting a sediment trap mooring at the M8 NOAA mooring cluster near DBO1 in the northern Bering Sea. AMBON supports eDNA collections at DBO stations and epibenthic trawling as well as cross-data evaluation through the NOAA Arctic Research Program water column and benthic DBO data collections. The Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) network (NOAA and NSF funding) supports water column and sediment studies. EcoFOCI and the NOAA Marine Mammal Lab maintain a large number of mooring sites across the Bering and Chukchi seas, some of which were serviced during this cruise. The US Fish &Wildlife Service normally provide a seabird observer for the cruise and we recruit a marine mammal observer, such as from UW in 2023.