A Preliminary View of the 2016 NOAA West Coast Ocean Acidification Cruise Results

Introduction

The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) West Coast Cruise was conducted in the coastal waters of Baja California, California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia during the spring of 2016 (5 May – 7 June; Figure 1). The oceanographic conditions during this cruise varied significantly from those observed in this region during our last NOAA ocean acidification cruise in the summer of 2013

Snapshots from Sea

As we move up from California into Oregonian waters, we have been documenting both the exciting science and the beautiful views. Here are a few snapshots from the beginning of Leg 2.

Daytime Visitors- Dolphins, Whales, and More Critters in Nets

After our previous post, ‘Creatures of the Night,’ we thought we would share with you some of the creatures we found during the day. Given we could see much better, these may be considerably more exciting than the plankton that turned up in our nighttime net tows (although I personally find the bizarre, microscopic world far more interesting). But I will let you be the judge!

Explora-palooza!

Chalked on Pier 15 in front of the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown. Our sentiments exactly! Photo: Meg Chadsey

Our weekend at the San Francisco Exploratorium was a whirlwind of activity! The festivities began just minutes after the gangplank was lowered with presentations by cruise scientists in the Exploratorium’s Bay Observatory, followed by public demonstrations of zooplankton and toxic algae on the main floor. Meanwhile, sixteen new scientists (some from as far away as Finland!) scurried to load their gear onto the ship, while weary Leg 1 researchers stumbled off in search of lattes…

Eyes in the Sky

[Alternative Title (with apologies to the late David Bowie): Space Oddity Oceanography]

Did you know that in addition to working in the field and laboratory, there are oceanographers that use satellites to study the ocean from space?

Satellite image of the WCOA2016 cruise off Baja California, Mexico (ship not to scale). Image credit: Joint Polar Satellite System

Satellites can provide information about regions of the ocean where direct measurements aren’t possible or regular, and help with the identification of global trends and seasonal changes in the surface ocean. From satellite information, scientists can analyze sea surface temperature, measure surface winds to support weather forecasts, determine sea surface salinity and measure how much sediment and plant life is in the water.

Creatures of the night

After a week to observe the ocean and put our nets in the water at various times, we have seen quite a different community of creatures at night than we do during the day. Granted it is trickier to see things like dolphins and whales at night, so those observations are expected to change.

The CTD Up Close

As a follow up to Katie’s fantastic post about the process of water sampling using a CTD, we wanted to share a video of what deploying and retrieving the CTD actually looks like.

Visit the cruise Photo Gallery!

We’ve created a West Coast OA Cruise Photo Gallery to house some of our favorite images. We’ll post a variety of pictures here: candid photos of the folks on board the Ron Brown, data collection action shots, views from the ship, critters we pull up in the nets, and more. New photos will be added regularly, so visit often.