GLOBEC 2000: Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Observation Program
T. Weingartner, L. Haldorson, R. Hopcroft, K. Coyle, T. E. Whitledge (all at University of Alaska, Fairbanks), T. Royer (Old Dominion University)

This project is to conduct the Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Observation Program (GOA-LTOP) as part of Phase II of the Northeast Pacific (NEP) GLOBEC program. The GOA shelf supports a rich ecosystem that includes many commercially important fisheries. The basis for this productivity is enigmatic for the GOA shelf is deep, forced by downwelling-favorable winds, and fed by a massive nutrient-poor coastal freshwater discharge. Both the winds and the freshwater discharge are intimately linked to the strength and position of the Aleutian Low. The GOA ecosystem experiences substantial physical and biological changes on decadal and interannual time scales. Although some of these changes are correlated with various climatic indices a mechanistic understanding of climate change and ecosystem response is unavailable. The generic goal of this LTOP is to understand and quantify temporal (seasonal and interannual) and spatial (cross- and along-shelf) variations in the thermohaline, chemical, and biological properties and relationships of this shelf. Our proposal supports GLOBEC goals that will help: 1) retrospective studies interpret historical data, 2) design a cost-effective long-term monitoring program, 3) provide the seasonal and interannual context for concurrent mesoscale and process studies, and 4) provide boundary conditions and data sets for model evaluation. This 5-year project entails 4 field years and a fifth year for data analyses and synthesis. The field effort involves seven, 9-day interdisciplinary cruises/year in the northern GOA. The study area encompasses the 220-km long, Seward Line (sampled in the 1970s) that extends across the shelf and slope and high resolution sampling of the Alaska Coastal Current (ACC), upstream, downstream, and within Prince William Sound. The ACC is an important shelf habitat for yoy salmon migrating from nursery areas in the sound and into the GOA. The sampling effort (Table A) is year-round and motivated by seasonally significant physical and biological events affecting yoy pink salmon.

Table A. Sampling schedule and rationale for GOA-LTOP. (Key for Winds, Discharge and Stratification: S=strong; M=moderate; W=weak; D=downwelling winds; U=upwelling winds; V=variable; L=low; H=high) Deep water moves onshore during the July-August upwelling period.

The sampling protocol followed GLOBEC guidelines and used gear types and techniques similar to those in the Oregon LTOP that was also a part of the NEP-GLOBEC program. Most of the research was conducted from the R/V Alpha Helix. Fish sampling was done from a chartered trawler in July, August, and October. Both vessels worked together during these cruises so that the fishing charter could verify fish targets detected on the acoustics array towed from the Alpha Helix.