Report of Activities
on the RVIB N.B. Palmer Cruise 02-02
4 May 2002
On 4 May, the N.B.
Palmer was working along the middle of the continental shelf on SO GLOBEC
survey line 9. The seas remained
moderate. The clouds were thicker than
yesterday, but higher and the visibility was good. The mountains of
Just after 1600, the fire alarm went off. This time it was a drill. Within a few
minutes all in the scientific party had appeared at the muster station ready, if
necessary to abandon ship. There were quite a few sleepy faces of those on the
Work was completed at broad-scale survey stations 72, 73,
and 74 including 3 CTDs, a MOCNESS tow at station 73, and a 1-m
ring net tow and an APOP cast at station 74.
BIOMAPER-II was in for transits only a portion of the stations because
of a ground fault problem with the Environmental Sensing System. Seabird and marine
mammal surveys took place during the daylight period and two sonobuoys were deployed during the transit to station 74.
CTD Group report (John Klinck, Tim Boyer, Chris Mackay,
Julian Ashford, Andres Sepulveda, Kristin Cobb)
The CTD group did three CTD casts across the shelf on the 180 line (survey line 9). The two deeper stations were typical of the shelf with deep uniform mixed layers and bottom temperatures of 1.3ºC. The shallower station near the coast had a thinner mixed layer and a weaker pycnocline.
Station 72 (cast 75, 438 m). There was a uniform mixed layer to 65 m
(-1.7ºC, 33.4psu , 0.1 ug/l
chlorophyll) and a relic Winter Water (WW) layer at 90 m. The pycnocline
extended to 250 m with thin (3 m) temperature reversals. The deep temperature was uniform (1.3ºC).
Station 73 (cast 76, 523 m). A
uniform mixed layer occurred to 55 m (-1.7ºC, 33.4 psu,
0.1 ug/l chlorophyll) and relic WW layer was at 80 m
(30 m thick). The pycnocline
extended to 250 m with small-scale variability.
The deep temperature was uniform (1.3ºC).
Station 74 (cast 77, 224 m). A
uniform mixed layer occurred to 35 m (-1.8ºC, 33.4 psu,
0.07 ug/l chlorophyll). Salinity increased slowly below 50 m to the bottom. There was a 20 m thick higher temperature
layer (0.7ºC) at the bottom.
Nutrients Status Report (Rob Masserini)
Nutrient analysis continued in the hydrolab
on the NBP. Since the last report (27
April), an additional 511 seawater samples from 23 CTD casts have been run and the
data processed. This brings the total to
1400 samples to date, culminating in 7000 separate analysis for nitrate,
nitrite, ammonia, phosphate, and silicic acid, not to
mention an almost absurd number of standards and quality control samples -
somewhere on the order
of 2250 samples or 11250 analyses.
Preliminary cross-section plots generated by Yulia Serevennikova for transects
7 and 8 indicate that the general hydrographic structure below the mixed layer for
the shelf is consistent with transects 1 through 6 (please see earlier reports
for concentration particulars). The
stations inside of
Marine Mammal report (Debra Glasgow)
Saturday, 4 May dawned overcast and very cold. At 1000, the air temperature was -5.4ºC and
there were problems keeping the inside of the windows in the ice tower free of
ice. It seemed more time was spent scraping ice than doing survey. With the sea
state at Beaufort 5-6, most of the day conditions were borderline
for survey. However, survey began anyway while a MOCNESS was deployed at
station 73 at 1013 and continued along the transect line towards Station 74.
Several icebergs, growlers, and ice bits were past during the day and a total
of 3 fur seals were recorded.
At 1423, an anomalous movement was seen in the water 145º,
2.5 nautical miles ahead, and using the 7x20 binoculars, one humpback was seen
to surface twice. The first time only
the body was seen. On the second, it was the body and the blow. It was swimming
towards 040º and was recorded at 68 32.10ºS; 73 29.64ºW as WOS#24. The first
fur seal of the day was recorded 5 minutes later. At 1557, a black body was
sighted 4.5 nautical miles away, bearing 100º ahead at 68 36.42ºS; 73 12.74ºW
and confirmed that this was one of a group of at least four humpbacks on the
edge of grease ice/shuga. This whale
part breached from its head to the pectoral fins out of the water, and then
continued to wave and slap its pectoral fins creating a lot of splashes.
The other whales nearby seemed to lunge and be active also, but not as much as
the first whale described, two of them were mostly just resting on the surface.
This was sighting number WOS#25.
There were two other distinct groups of humpbacks nearby -
WOS#26 sighting of 2+ humpbacks at 68 37.03ºS; 73 10.78ºW, 6 nautical miles
away, 070º, swimming to 150º, and WOS#27 sighting at 68 37.29ºS; 73 09.91ºW of another pair of humpbacks also
causing splashes at approximately 6 nautical miles away at 110º. Unfortunately,
the fire alarm went off at this point for what turned out to be a drill, so I
could not track these groups or get a better estimate of numbers or activity.
All these whales were within the same general area close to the edge, but
within an extensive area of grease ice/shuga.
Seconds before the fire alarm bell went off at 1617, a humpback surfaced directly beside the port bow of the ship (within 30 meters) at 120º, 68 37.56ºS; 73 09.06ºW. It was swimming very fast alongside the ship heading to 130º. This was recorded as sighting WOS#28. When I returned to the ice tower at 1632, the whales had disappeared and the light was fading fast so I was unable to resight these whales. Survey ended in very poor light at 1643. A total of 10 humpback whales were recorded today.
Sea Birds (Erik Chapman and Matthew Becker)
There were approximately 40 Snow Petrels circling the ship
when the Palmer left station 73 this
morning (4 May) and headed toward
A surface net tow was conducted at station 74, producing no
diatoms and a few larval krill and larval fish.
Larval krill and fish are representative of under-ice biology and are
likely prey that Snow Petrels typically focus on as they forage along the
interface between open water and ice edge.
Station 74 was characterized by 8/10ths ice coverage of small, 2 m
diameter floes, covered in about 50 cm of snow and some brash.
During the fall cruise last year, a large number of Snow
Petrels were seen in the same survey area, both in open water and ice
habitats. This area near Alexander
Island appears to be a focal point for early winter ice production and seems to
generally be characterized by high ice coverage during the early fall. Due to the strong association of Snow Petrels
with ice coverage, such conditions would presumably prove very attractive to
these birds. Proximity to ice coverage
throughout much of the year, including the fall and presumably the early
spring, may also explain why Alexander Island is the site of a relatively large
number of Snow Petrel breeding sites on nunataks
(exposed rock outcropping through glacial ice) and cliff faces.
Snow Petrels may remain in these areas after breeding until
the winter pack-ice develops, after which they radiate out into the ocean to
work open water in the pack ice and ice edges.
Indeed, this is a pattern that was observed as Snow Petrel distribution
shifted dramatically from the fall to the winter cruise last year. During the winter cruise, the study grid was
covered in sea-ice and Snow Petrels were no longer primarily concentrated near
Night observations were performed in the late evening under
calm, clear skies, and 10/10 ice coverage.
Bird activity was reduced to a single snow petrel observation, with no
other species sighted. No penguins or
penguin tracks were visible on the ice.
Braving the cold, we were rewarded with a spectacular stars and a moon
rise over the mountains of
A summary of the species and number of individuals of birds
and seals within the 300 m transect during 3 hours, 23 minutes of daytime
surveys between consecutive stations 73 and 74 is the following:
|
Species (common name) |
Species (scientific name) |
Number observed |
|
Antarctic Petrel |
Thalassoica |
3 |
|
Southern Giant Petrel |
Macronectes gfiganteus |
1 |
|
Snow Petrel |
Pagodroma nivea |
34 |
Material Properties of Zooplankton Report (Dezang Chu, Peter Wiebe)
On May 4, measurements of material properties of E. superba
were made at station 74 (68 40.931ºS, 72 54.889ºW), northwest of the
Shortly before the APOP cast, a loose connection was found
between the wire and ceramic disk in one of the transducers, occasionally
reducing the received signal level and altering the phase, significantly. Since
we didn’t have enough time to fix the problem, we decided to deploy the APOP
anyway. We tied the transducer cables to the APOP framed firmly, hoping they
would not swing around during the measurements. However, at the moment the APOP
entered the water, a severe rattling motion of the APOP was observed and signal
level of one of the two channels was reduced. Since we observed consistent
signals in amplitude and phase after the first disturbance, we decided to
continue the cast without pulling the APOP. The whole cast was, in general,
went well, except that in the middle of the up cast, there was another observed
phase jump. After we compensated the phase changes due to bad cable
connections, we actually obtained very good results. There was basically no difference
between the down and up casts. The difference was only 0.0005, about of an
order of magnitude lower than some of the previous casts. The mean and standard
deviation of the sound speed contrasts were 1.021 and 0.001, respectively. The
variation was very small, indicating consistent measurements. The sound speed
contrast was nearly constant over 200 meters, but a tendency of reduction in
sound speed contrast with depth was also noticeable, 0.01 to 0.02 over 200
meters. The mean value almost exactly the same as that we obtained for the same
species of similar size animals used in a previous APOP cast (see report on
April 27).
The density measurement was not completed because of a
broken syringe. The mixed solution was split out before it was well mixed. We
had to measure the displacement volume to estimate the volume of the animals
with a graduated cylinder.
Zooplankton (MOCNESS/BIOMAPER-II) report (Carin Ashjian, Peter Wiebe)
MOCNESS Tow #18 was conducted at mid-shelf station 73 along
Transect #9, concluding just after
The along track survey of zooplankton and nekton using
BIOMAPER-II was sidelined for a portion of the transits between stations 71, 72
and 73. The cause was due to the failure of the Environmental Sensing System
(ESS) to turn on once the towed body was in the water. During the previous transit, an electrical
fault indicator alarm had been intermittently going on and then off, but checks
of the underwater connectors, the usual cause of such a fault, showed no
problems. It was ultimately determined
to be due to a water leak in the ESSs pressure sensor
tubing in underwater electronics unit.
Fortunately, although a half-cup of water was in the case, there was no
damage. Cleaning of the circuitry with
alcohol and contact cleaner, and refitting of the pressure unit tubing by Andy Girard,
put the unit back in service.
Steaming towards station 73 in the mid-continental shelf
region with bottom depths over 600 m, there was low volume backscattering in
the upper portion of the water column on all echograms and a bit more
scattering deep that was probably associated with the bottom, although the
bottom was too deep to be seen on the echogram.
On way to station 74, there was light scattering between 100 meters and
180 meters, while the sea surface had no ice.
After the ship entered a region of grease and shuga
ice, a thick layer of scattering between 75 and 120 m developed and dense
patches were seen at 40 m. In the
evening, upon leaving station 74 on the run towards station 75, there was very
strong krill-like backscattering just below the surface, starting about 40
m. The VPR images showed the layer to
have both copepods and krill in it. The strong back scattering diminished after
several miles and the backscattering, although moderately strong, was not
krill-like. Along this trackline, the bottom shoaled
and became highly variable resembling a roller coaster ride. This rapid
variation in bottom depths made towyoing BIOMAPER-II
to any depth nerve racking. Before
Cheers, Peter