Zooplankton Aggregations in the Great South Channel and their Interactions with Right Whales

大南海峡的浮游动物聚集及其与露脊鲸的相互作用

• 批准号: 8711847
• 负责人: Karen Wishner
• 金额: $ 51.53万
• 依托单位: University of Rhode Island
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1987
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1987-11-15 至 1990-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8711847&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Zooplankton; Aggregations; Great; South; Channel

The Great South Channel region contains unusually abundant populations of three endangered whale species: right, humpback and fin whales, and their principle prey items in the zooplankton, copepods. The South Channel Ocean Productivity Experiment (SCOPEX) will look at the physical oceanographic and biological/ecological mechanisms responsible for these aggregations. Using both aerial and ship-based surveys (visual, acoustics, tows), the distribution and abundance of right whales and zooplankton in the region will be determined. Detailed distributional and behavioral observations of these animals, including data from intensive sonar and radio-tagging studies, primary production assessments and hydrographic characterization will provide tests of hypotheses on how the aggregations form and are maintained. This component will focus on the phytoplankton and zooplankton investigations.

大南海峡地区拥有异常丰富的种群，包括三种濒危鲸鱼：露脊鲸、座头鲸和长须鲸，以及它们在浮游动物中的主要猎物--桡足类。南海峡海洋生产力实验(SCoPEx)将研究造成这些聚集的物理、海洋学和生物/生态机制。利用航空和船基调查(视觉、声学、拖曳)，将确定该区域露脊鲸和浮游动物的分布和丰度。对这些动物的详细分布和行为观察，包括密集声纳和无线电标记研究、初级生产评估和水文特征的数据，将提供关于聚集如何形成和维持的假说的检验。这一部分将侧重于浮游植物和浮游动物调查。