Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (FOCI)

Ric Brodeur, Al Hermann, Art Kendall, Mark Koehn, Allen Macklin, Ann Matarese, Jeff Napp, Jim Overland, Cindy Tynan, Morgan Busby (rapporteur)

• Dr. Steve Hammond is Division Leader of PMEL's Ocean Environment Research Division (OERD). Effective July 1, the Coastal and Arctic Research Division, where PMEL FOCI presently resides, will become part of OERD, and Dr. Hammond will be division leader for PMEL FOCI. Dr. Hammond's office is in Newport, Oregon, and he makes frequent visits to Seattle. He also leads PMEL's VENTS and Tsunami projects. With FOCI, these projects constitute the research pursued by OERD. As a result of this restructuring, FOCI will acquire another physical oceanographer.

• The PMEL program review will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23-24. FOCI's oral presentations begins Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., followed by posters and coffee at 3:00, and a reception at 4:30.

• The SEBSCC proposal evaluation process in ongoing with determinations to be made late this summer.

• The UNOLS vessel Wecoma has acquired a reduced-rate Inmarsat e-mail link. A fixed account has been established for the chief scientist. The address is: chsci@pigeon.shipops.orst.edu. Individual accounts are created on a cruise-by-cruise basis for those members of the scientific party that want them.

• Field Season Debriefing - A meeting is being planned by Allen Macklin and Jeff Napp during the first half of July to discuss aspects of this spring's field season.

• A symposium "Ecosystems of the North Pacific" is scheduled for July 17 in conjunction with the visit of the Fisheries Research Vessel Oshoro Maru from Hokkaido University, Japan. The symposium will be held in Building 9, rooms A and B, on the Seattle NOAA campus. Contact Ric Brodeur for the tentative agenda.

• W9806B (June 17-30; Matt Wilson, Chief Scientist) - Bering Sea Mooring 2 broke loose from its anchor last Thursday. Wecoma was diverted to the area, found the mooring and recovered it with all sensors intact. Wecoma is now in route to the Gulf of Alaska to conduct a survey of early juveniles. Mooring 2 will be off-loaded in Kodiak, and a replacement will be deployed in July from the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

• W9805A (May 6-22; Ned Cokelet, Chief Scientist) - Bad weather and equipment problems prevented completion of some objectives on this cruise to conduct CTD transects and sample nutrients, phytoplankton, and zooplankton on the eastern Bering Sea shelf.

• W9805B (May 25-Jun 14; Ron Reed, Chief Scientist) - Operations during this cruise to investigate the Bering Sea basin were deep CTD's and nutrient analysis west of Bowers Ridge, and sampling of CFC's (Freon) and Tritium in bottom water. Accomplishments included elucidation of deep circulation near Bowers Ridge, determination that bottom water is 0.3 degrees C colder than intermediate water and flows from west to east. A bottom circulation study of the entire Bering Sea is now possible.

• MF9804 (May 21-30; Kevin Bailey, Chief Scientist) - This annual cruise to survey abundance of late larvae in the Shelikof Strait region successfully completed all objectives including El Nino work. Larval abundance is low this year with less patchy distribution.

• Fall Cruise (September; Ric Brodeur, Chief Scientist) - The Russian R/V Professor Kaganovsky has been chartered for this fall's juvenile pollock ecosystem study near the Pribilof Islands. Cruise scientists are modifying operations to accommodate the physical setup of this ship.

• Bering Sea conditions - Inflow into the Bering Sea is now occurring on the west side of Amchitka Pass, rather than the east side. Temperatures in the S.E. Bering Sea are warmer than previous years and there has been more storm activity. The level of thermal stratification is less pronounced as a result. A spring bloom was not evident in the middle or outer shelf domains. It was hypothesized that some heat absorbed in the upper water column last summer was retained over the winter.

• Shelikof Strait conditions - This region has also been stormy this year. Despite a vigorous circulation, we observed meanders and eddies in the Alaska Coastal Current. As noted above, the abundance and distribution of late larvae were low this year.

Please mail corrections and additions to the FOCI Coordinator.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce / NOAA / OAR / ERL / PMEL