1976 - 1976 Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas) Seawater temperature records for the UK Shelf - 14 - Intensive plankton surveys off the north-east coast of England in 1976

This dataset has been extracted as part of an exercise to assemble "all" Cefas Temperature Data and publish it in a Data paper. It is one of 17 Cefas data sources assembled. A series of 12 cruises was carried out in 1976 by DFR staff to investigate the distribution, abundance, mortality and main predators of planktonic fish eggs and larvae of important commercial fish species (e.g. plaice, cod). The cruises secondary aims included the investigation of phytoplankton standing stock (via measurements of chlorophyll concentration, phytoplankton size and abundance) and of zooplankton biomass. Plankton samples were collected at each site on a planned survey grid. These data consist of numbers of macroplankton from 8 of the samples collected from an area off the North East coast of England, along with associated positional data and volumes filtered Measurements of surface water temperature and salinity, and bottom temperature, were carried out at each sampling station on a planned survey grid (see below). Samples for the analysis of dissolved inorganic nutrient and chlorophyll concentration were also collected at the surface at each sampling station. All the hydrographic observations were made from the vessels (RV Corella and Clione). Surface water temperature was monitored through a stainless–steel ship–board pumping system. The pump had an intake 4 m below the water surface and delivered sea water to sensors set up in the ship’s laboratory. The temperature sensor (as well as the salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen and transparency sensors) was mounted in a Perspex box though which the pumped water flowed continuously. The measurement of temperature at the “bottom” at each sampling station was obtained from the chart records of the electronic depth gauge and thermistor sensors mounted on the plankton sampler. The data collected during these cruises was presented in the ‘Fisheries Research Technical Report’ n. 86 by Harding and Nichols in 1987. The original log books from these cruises are in the Cefas plankton physical archive; some of these log books (e.g. containing plankton and icthyoplankton data) were not digitised (because not relevant for the project).