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CRUISE REPORT

S-263A: WHARTON LEADERSHIP VENTURE PROGRAM

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN ABOARD THE

SSV ROBERT C. SEAMANS

S263A

Auckland, New Zealand – Auckland, New Zealand

30 December 2015 – 6 January 2016

Sea Education Association

Woods Hole, Massachusetts

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Citation:

Engels, M.S., 2016. Final Report for S.E.A. Cruise S263A. Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, MA

02543, USA. www.sea.edu.

To obtain unpublished data, contact the SEA Data Archivist:

Science Data Archivist

Sea Education Association

P.O. Box 6

Woods Hole, MA 02543

508-540-3954 or 800-552-3633 (phone)

508-457-4673 (fax)

data-archives@sea.edu

www.sea.edu

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Table of Contents

Table 1: Ship's company 4

Data Description 5

Figure 1: Final cruise track 5

Figure 2: Surface water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, CDOM fluorescence

& transmissivity 6

Figure 3: Surface current vectors, entire cruise track 8

Figure 4: Wind speed & direction vectors 9

Table 2: Summary of oceanographic sampling stations 10

Table 3a: Neuston tow hydrographic data 11

Table 3b: Neuston tow biological data 11

Table 4a & b: Zooplankton 100 count data 12

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Table 1: Ship's Company, SSV Robert C. Seamans

Nautical Staff & Faculty (S263A)

Jennifer Haddock Captain

Sara Martin Chief Mate

Beth Deal Second Mate

Rocky Bonner Third Mate

Nate Bears Chief Engineer

Ted Fleming Assistant Engineer

Ashley Meyer Assistant Engineer

Nina Murray Steward

Becky Slattery Assistant Steward

David Evans Sailing Intern

Julia McDowell Sailing Intern

Adrianne Wilber Sailing Intern

Scientific Staff

Mary Engels Chief Scientist

Matt Hirsh First Assistant Scientist

Gabo Page Second Assistant Scientist

Erin Adams Third Assistant Scientist

Students/Participants

Rebecca Arnold Wharton Student

Brian Chin Wharton Student

Brent Cohen Wharton Student

Steven Cupps Wharton Student

Jane Fisher Wharton Student

Laura Gordon Wharton Student

Ruslan Goussiatnikov Wharton Student

Robert Hamlin Wharton Student

Imran Karim Wharton Student

Andrea Klestadt Wharton Student

Michael Knetzger Wharton Student

Adam Lamm Wharton Student

Doreen Liou Wharton Student

Divya Menon Wharton Student

Kristy Nguyen Wharton Student

Jamison Pereira Wharton Student

Raghav Puranmalka Wharton Student

Allegra Richards Wharton Student

Jules Roy Wharton Advisor

Audrey White Wharton Student

Jun-chun Wong Wharton Student

Yuan Yang Wharton Student

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Data Description

The S263A cruise leg was primarily focused on educational scientific exploration of the Hauraki Gulf

region (Figure 1). Routine exploratory sampling and hand-on experiential opportunities for students

provided the basis of the scientific mission for this cruise leg aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans.

Oceanographic data were collected opportunistically (weather permitting) along the cruise track and there

were a total of 5 stations (summarized in Table 2; detailed in Tables 3-4). Furthermore, continuous

surface water measurements (sea

surface temperature, salinity, in

vivo chlorophyll fluorescence,

CDOM fluorescence and

transmissivity by the ship's flow-

through system; Figure 2a),

upper ocean currents (ADCP;

Figure 3), and meteorological

data (Figure 4) were gathered

throughout the cruise. Lengthy

CTD, CHIRP, ADCP and flow-

through data are not fully

presented here; all unpublished

data can be made available by

arrangement with the SEA Data

Archivist (contact information, p. 2).

Data from this cruise leg supports ongoing SEA research projects and served as hand-on experiential

educational opportunity for student participants.

Figure 1. Final cruise track for S263A based on hourly (local time)

positions. The voyage began in Auckland and finished in Auckland.

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Figure 2. Surface water temperature (°C), CDOM fluorescence (avg. counts), salinity (psu), transmissivity

(avg. counts) and chlorophyll fluorescence (volts) for S263A as measured by flow through system sensors.

The ship’s flow through system sensors included a SeaBird Thermosalinograph, a WETLabs WETstar

CDOM fluorometer, a WETLabs C-star Transmissometer, and Turner Designs Model 10-AU in vivo

chlorophyll-a fluorometer.

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Figure 3. Surface current vectors (mm/s) for the S263A cruise track from ADCP. Note that some of the

cruise track was within the Huaraki Gulf, which is too shallow to resolve currents with our OS75 ADCP.

500 mm/s is approximately 1.0 knot.

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Figure 4: Wind speed and direction for the S263A cruise track, as measured by the ship’s anemometer.

Note that 0.5 m/s is approximately 1.0 knot.

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Table 2: Summary of oceanographic sampling stations for S263A

Station

Number

(S263A-)

Date Time

(Local)

Latitude (deg

S)

Longitude

(deg E) NT General Locale

001 31-Dec-15 1152 -36.805 174.817 X Auckland Harbor

002 3-Jan-16 1201 -36.422 175.407 X Great Barrier Island

003 4-Jan-16 1037 -37.040 177.113 X Bay of Plenty

004 4-Jan-16 1818 -36.927 176.470 X Bay of Plenty

005 5-Jan-16 1217 -36.373 175.448 X Great Barrier Island

Notes: In Table 2, abbreviations for oceanographic equipment deployed are: NT – neuston tow; MN – 1 meter net (oblique tow); PN –

phytoplankton net; HC – hydrocast with 12 Niskin bottles, CTD and optical instrumentation; SG – shipek grab.

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Table 3a: Neuston tow hydrographic data for S263A. Station locations as in Table 2.

Station

Number

(S263A-)

Date Time

(Local)

Moon

Phase

(%)

Sea Surface

Temperature

(°C)

Chlorophyll

Fluorescence

(volts)

Salinity

(psu)

Tow

Area

(m2)

Zooplankton

Biomass (mL)

Zooplankton

Density

(mL/m2)

General Locale

001-NT 31-Dec-15 1152 66S 20.7 14.01 35.28 1146 14.0 0.0122 Auckland Harbor

002-NT 3-Jan-16 1201 38R 18.7 11.83 35.20 2141 485.0 0.2265 Great Barrier Island

003-NT 4-Jan-16 1037 29R 20.0 5.19 35.58 2284 114.0 0.0499 Bay of Plenty

004-NT 4-Jan-16 1818 24S 19.6 7.85 35.48 1818 5.5 0.0030 Bay of Plenty

005-NT 5-Jan-16 1217 21R 18.5 15.70 35.22 1653 1297.0 0.7849 Great Barrier Island

Moon phase indicates either risen (R) or set (S). Tow area calculated using distance (meters) between successive minutes' GPS positions. Neuston

net opening 1.0m wide by 0.5m tall, with a 333μm mesh net. Zooplankton density recorded as wet volume displacement per tow area (ml/m2).

Table 3b: Neuston tow biological data for S263A. Station locations as in Table 2.

Station

Number

(S263A-)

Phyllosoma

(#)

Leptocephali

(#)

Halobates

(#)

Myctophids

(#)

Sargassum

(g)

Plastic

Pellets

(#)

Plastic

Pieces

(#)

Tar

(#)

Nekton

>2cm (mL)

Gelatinous

>2cm (mL)

001-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0.0 0

002-NT 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0.2 4

003-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0

004-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.5 5.75

005-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.0 0

Eel larvae (leptocephali), spiny lobster larvae (phyllosoma), marine water striders (halobates) and Lantern fish (myctophids) sorted from net

contents and counted. Micronekton and gelatinous micronekton removed using a 333 um mesh sieve; biovolume (ml) recorded. Qualitative

descriptions of micronekton removed from zooplankton biomass are available. Floating plastic and tar removed from net contents, sorted and

recorded as numbers collected per tow.

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Table 4a: Zooplankton 100 count data for S263A. Station locations as in Table 2.

Station

Number

(S263A-)

Cnid Siph Cten Salp Pter Nud Other

Snail Ceph Poly Chaet Cop

Gam

Amp

Hyp

Amp

Crab

(larv)

001-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 11 0 0 72

002-NT 9 0 0 85 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 0

003-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 0 0 0

004-NT 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 92 1 1 0

005-NT 0 0 0 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 58 0 0 0

Table 4b: Zooplankton 100 count data for S263A (continued).

Station

Number

(S263A-)

Shr

(larv)

Lob

(larv) Mys Euph

Stom

(larv) Ostr Clad Iso

Fish

(larv)

Fish

eggs Other

Shannon-Weiner

Diversity Index

001-NT 6 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0.43

002-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.24

003-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

004-NT 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.19

005-NT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.30

Abbreviations for zooplankton categories in Tables 6a and 6b: Cnid – cnidarian medusa; Siph – siphonophore bracts and floats; Cten –

ctenophores; Pter – pteropods; Nud - nudibranchs; Other Snail – pelagic snails; Ceph – cephalopods; Poly – polychaetes; Chaet – chaetognaths;

Cop – copepods; Gam Amp – gammarid amphipods; Hyp Amp – hyperiid amphipods; Crab (larv) – Crab zoea and megalops; Shr (larv) – shrimp

larval stage; Lob (larv) – lobster larval stage; Mys – mysids; Euph – euphausiids; Stom (larv) – stomatopod larval stage; Ost – ostracods; Clad –

cladocerans; Iso – isopods; Salp – salps and doliolids; Fish (larv) - larval fish.

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