Contributed by Victor Smetacek
The Southern Ocean GLOBEC Working Group met from June 6-8, 1994 at the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany. The meeting was hosted by Professor Victor Smetacek, co-chair of the Southern Ocean Working Group. The main purpose of the meeting, chaired by Jarl-Ove Stromberg, was to draft the science implementation plan for SO-GLOBEC. The agenda included the following topics: Site selection, platforms (cruises), timing, sampling frequency, technology and instrumentation, data exchange and archiving, modelling, available data sets and their analysis, coordination with other programs, associated national activities. Much of the foot-work, such as identifying the key questions for both zooplankton and top predators, had been completed at the SO-GLOBEC held in 1993 at Norfolk, USA and is reported in GLOBEC Report No.5. Hence, a draft version of the implementation plan could be completed and will be circulated shortly amongst participants.
The participants were: Harvey Marchant (Australia), Victor Marin (Chile), Patrick Mayzaud (France), Uli Bathmann, Victor Smetacek (Germany), Yasuhiko Naito (Japan), Wong Rong (PR China), Vassily Spiridonov (Russia), Suam Kim (S. Korea), Jarl-Ove Stromberg (Sweden), Inigo Everson, Jon Watkins (UK), Eileen Hofmann, Rennie Holt, Mark Huntley, John Klinck (USA).
The three principal areas of investigation recommended are: the Antarctic Peninsula region, the Indian Ocean sector, and the eastern Weddell Sea. The choice of these areas will enable: a) geographical comparisons with respect to key processes such as overwintering strategies of zooplankton, foraging behavior of top predators, reproductive behavior and recruitment to adult populations; b) comparison of ecosystems with different top predators (e.g. a penguin-dominated system in the Peninsula region vs. a seal-dominated system in the eastern Weddell Sea); c) comparison of the influence of sea-ice; whose extent and seasonal patterns of advance and retreat varies greatly amongst these regions. Field studies will be carried out in the years 1995-2000.