This dataset contains laboratory experiment data that were collected to examine the effects of ocean acidification on shell condition and survival of Puget Sound pteropods. We tested whether the thecosome pteropod Limacina helicina from Puget Sound, an urbanized estuary in the northwest continental US, experiences shell dissolution and altered mortality rates when exposed to the high CO2, low aragonite saturation state (Ωa) conditions that occur in Puget Sound and the northeast Pacific Ocean. Five, week-long experiments were conducted in which we incubated pteropods collected from Puget Sound in four carbon chemistry conditions: current summer surface (~460-500 μatm CO2, Ωa ≈ 1.59), current deep water or surface conditions during upwelling (~760 and ~1600-1700 μatm CO2, Ωa ≈ 1.17 and 0.56), and future deep water or surface conditions during upwelling (~2800-3400 μatm CO2, Ωa ≈ 0.28). We measured shell condition using a scoring regime of five shell characteristics that capture different aspects of shell dissolution. We characterized carbon chemistry conditions in statistical analyses with Ωa, and conducted analyses considering Ωa both as a continuous dataset and as discrete treatments. Shell dissolution increased linearly as aragonite saturation state decreased. Discrete treatment comparisons indicate that shell dissolution was greater in undersaturated treatments compared to oversaturated treatments. Survival increased linearly with aragonite saturation state, though discrete treatment comparisons indicated that survival was similar in all but the lowest saturation state treatment. These results indicate that, under starvation conditions, pteropod survival may not be greatly affected by current and expected near-future aragonite saturation state in the NE Pacific, but shell dissolution may. Given that subsurface waters in Puget Sound’s main basin are undersaturated with respect to aragonite in the winter and can be undersaturated in the summer, the condition and persistence of the species in this estuary warrants further study.

Oceanographic Survey of Cross Seamount and Control Sites (OES0703L1, EK60). The goals of the cruise were to collect acoustic backscatter and oceanographic data at Cross Seamount (18°43.285’ N, longitude 158° 15.710’ W), with an approximately 400 m deep plateau, and at control sites in the surrounding environment. Data collected consisted of CTD casts, trawl samples, and continuous monitoring of currents and biological acoustic backscatter. CTD cats were conducted at predetermined stations. CTDs were equipped with oxygen sensors and fluorometers, and water was sampled at discrete depths during each cast for chloropigment determinations. Trawl operations were conducted at predetermined stations using a Cobb trawl at depths of the shallow (nighttime) and deep (day and nighttime) sound scattering layers. Currents were continuously monitored using a RD Instruments Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) operating at 75 kHz frequency. Biological backscatter were recorded using the EK60 echosounder system (38, and 120 kHz) along predetermined transects.

Multi-frequency (18, 38, 70, 120, 200, and 333 kHz) General Purpose Transceivers (Simrad EK60 GPTs) and Wideband Transceivers (Simrad EK80 WBTs) were configured with split-beam transducers (Simrad ES18-11, ES38B, ES70-7C, ES120-7C, ES200-7C, and ES333-7C, respectively). The transducers were mounted on the bottom of a retractable keel or “centerboard”. The keel was retracted (~ 5-m depth) during calibration, and extended to the intermediate position (~7-m depth) during the survey. Exceptions were made during shallow water operations, when the keel was retracted to ~ 5-m depth; or during times of heavy weather, when the keel was extended to ~9-m depth to provide extra stability and reduce the effect of weather-generated noise. In addition, acoustic data were also collected using an ME70 multibeam echosounder (Simrad), MS70 multibeam sonar (Simrad), and SX90 Omnidirectional echosounder (Simrad). Final Summer 2016 Survey Report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/18376

During summer 2017, the west coasts of the United States and Vancouver Island, Canada, were surveyed using Lasker during the feeding seasons of sardine and anchovy. The survey departed from San Diego, transited to the northern end of Vancouver Island and sampled southward. Compulsory transects were nearly perpendicular to the coast with nominal separations of 20 nmi in most areas and with nominal separations of 10 nmi in areas where CPS were observed acoustically, in trawl catches, or both. The transect positions also covered much of the potential habitat of sardine at the time of the survey. The survey spanned an area from approximately Cape Scott, British Columbia (northern end of Vancouver Island) to Point Conception, with 105 east-west transects totaling 3540 nmi, and 83 Nordic trawls. Multi-frequency (18, 38, 70, 120, 200, and 333 kHz) General Purpose Transceivers (Simrad EK60 GPTs) and Wideband Transceivers (Simrad EK80 WBTs) were configured with split-beam transducers (Simrad ES18-11, ES38B, ES70-7C, ES120-7C, ES200-7C, and ES333-7C, respectively). The transducers were mounted on the bottom of a retractable keel or “centerboard”. The keel was retracted (transducers ~5-m depth) during calibration, and extended to the intermediate position (transducers ~7-m depth) during the survey. Exceptions were made during shallow water operations, when the keel was retracted; or during times of heavy weather, when the keel was extended (transducers ~9-m depth) to provide extra stability and reduce the effect of weather-generated noise.In addition, acoustic data were also collected using an ME70 multibeam echosounder (Simrad) and MS70 multibeam sonar (Simrad). Final Summer 2017 Survey Report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/17367 Final Summer 2017 Biomass Report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19808

During spring 2017, part of the west coast of the United States was surveyed using Lasker during the principal spawning seasons of sardine and anchovy. Since the central sub-population of anchovy inhabits southern and central California during the spring, the survey began off San Diego and progressed northward toward San Francisco. Transect positions, lengths, and spaces were adjusted according to the expected distribution of anchovy at the time of the survey. Compulsory transects were nearly perpendicular to the coast with nominal separations of 20 nmi; adaptive transects were placed between compulsory transects to reduce nominal separation to 10 nmi when the survey encountered putative CPS backscatter in echograms, high-density eggs in the CUFES (1 or 0.3 eggs min-1 for anchovy or sardine, respectively), or adults in trawls. After initiating adaptive acoustic sampling, the adaptive transect immediately south of the completed compulsory transect was sampled before proceeding northward along the next adaptive and compulsory transects. An adaptive cluster was defined as a minimum of five consecutive transects with 10-nmi spacing. The transect positions also covered much of the potential habitat of sardine at the time of the survey. The survey spanned an area from approximately San Diego to San Francisco, with 27 east-west transects totaling 1828 nmi, and 64 Nordic trawls. Multi-frequency (18, 38, 70, 120, 200, and 333 kHz) General Purpose Transceivers (Simrad EK60 GPTs) and Wideband Transceivers (Simrad EK80 WBTs) were configured with split-beam transducers (Simrad ES18-11, ES38B, ES70-7C, ES120-7C, ES200-7C, and ES333-7C, respectively). The transducers were mounted on the bottom of a retractable keel or “centerboard”. The keel was retracted (~ 5-m depth) during calibration, and extended to the intermediate position (~7-m depth) during the survey. Exceptions were made during shallow water operations, when the keel was retracted to ~ 5-m depth; or during times of heavy weather, when the keel was extended to ~9-m depth to provide extra stability and reduce the effect of weather-generated noise. In addition, acoustic data were also collected using an ME70 multibeam echosounder (Simrad) and MS70 multibeam sonar (Simrad). Final Spring 2017 Survey Report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/15394 Final Spring 2017 Biomass Report: No biomass report created. The next available biomass report is the Summer 2017 CCE Survey.

2018 Summer California Current Ecosystem CPS Survey (RL1807). In the California Current Ecosystem (CCE), multiple coastal pelagic fish species (CPS), including Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), Northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus), Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus), and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), comprise the bulk of the forage fish assemblage. These populations of these species can change by an order of magnitude within a couple years, represent important prey for marine mammals, birds, and larger migratory fishes and are targets of commercial fisheries. Between 26 June and 23 September 2018, an Acoustic-trawl method (ATM) survey was performed to sample the west coast of North America, from the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia to San Diego, CA to estimate the biomass distributions and abundances of CPS, krill, and their abiotic environments in the CCE. The ATM survey was part of a larger joint survey with the Southwest Fisheries Science Center Marine Mammal and Turtle Division that used line-transect sampling to estimate the abundances, distributions, and demographics of marine mammals and seabirds within the sampling domain. Acoustic sampling and visual observations of marine mammals and seabirds were conducted along 127 east-west acoustic transects totaling 6104 nmi. To estimate the proportions of coastal pelagic species and their lengths, catches were analyzed from 169 trawls. On the NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker, multi-frequency (18, 38, 70, 120, 200, and 333 kHz) EK60 General Purpose Transceivers (GPT, Simrad) and EK80 Wideband Transceivers (WBT, Simrad) were configured with split-beam transducers (Models ES18-11, ES38B, ES70-7C, ES120-7C, ES200-7C, and ES333-7C; Simrad) mounted on the bottom of a retractable keel or “centerboard”. The keel was retracted (transducers ~5-m depth) during calibration, and extended to the intermediate position (transducers ~7-m depth) during the survey. Exceptions were made during shallow water operations, when the keel was retracted; or during times of heavy weather, when the keel was extended (transducers ~9-m depth) to provide extra stability and reduce the effect of weather-generated noise. In addition, acoustic data were also collected using an ME70 multibeam echosounder (Simrad), MS70 multibeam sonar (Simrad), and SX90 omni-directional sonar (Simrad). Transducer position and motion were measured at 5 Hz using an inertial motion unit (POS-MV, Trimble/Applanix). Final 2018 Report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19759 Final 2018 Biomass Report: https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19853

Open Ocean to Inner Sea, Leg 1 (FK009A, EM710)

Mapping Essential Fish Habitat in the US Caribbean to Inform MPA Management (NF-15-01-USVI, Reson 7125). Scientists will collect high resolution multibeam and acoustic fisheries data in mid-water depths approximately 10 to 2000 meters so as to continue to characterize seafloor habitats within all U.S. States, Territories, and Commonwealths. The objective of this project is to collect a multibeam bathymetry dataset with 100% seafloor ensonification, along with multibeam backscatter suitable for seafloor characterization. Fishery acoustics data will be collected to characterize broad-scale fish abundance, biomass, and utilization patterns, as well as to locate and document fish spawning aggregations. Multibeam data will be collected to conform to IHO Order 1 (less than 100m) and Order 2 (greater than 100m) accuracy standards. The strategies developed for each survey area will take into account the minimum depths, general bathymetry, and time allotment. The delineation and identification of seafloor habitats will be assisted by the use of a moderate-depth Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). The vehicle has video and frame camera capability to depths of 300 meters and will be used for transect sampling within areas mapped during this mission. Two Slocum Glider G2 will be deployed during the duration of the project to collect oceanographic data and passive fish acoustics in the study region.

Oceanographic Survey in the American Samoa Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (OES0403, EK60). Oceanographic data were collected along predetermined transects in the American Samoa EEZ. CTD cats were conducted at predetermined stations. CTDs were equipped with oxygen sensors and fluorometers, and chlorophyll and nutrients were measured at discrete depths. Biological backscatter were monitored using the EK60 echosounder system (38, and 120 kHz) along the transects. Currents were continuously recorded using an RD Instruments Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP).