These data are part of an ocean observation study by Stabeno, Napp, and Whitledge sponsored, in part, by the North Pacific Research Board (Project 602; http://doc.nprb.org). The grant was titled "Sentinels for Bering Sea ecosystem change." Moorings have been maintained on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf at four sites: M2 (56.9B0N, 164.1B0W) since 1995, M4 (57.9B0N, 168.9B0W) since 1996; M5 (59.9B0N, 171.7B0W) and; M8 (62.2B0N 174.7B0W) since 2004. Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, fluorescence and zooplankton were collected around the moorings and along the 70-m isobath on 2 cruises (2MF06, 12 April - 6 May; 7MF06, 25 September - 10 October) to groundtruth the in situ sensors on the moorings and to learn the factors that distinguish the upper water column of the central and southeastern middle shelf.

These data are part of a ocean observation study by Stabeno, Napp, and Whitledge sponsored, in part, by the North Pacific Research Board (Project 517; http://doc.nprb.org). The grant was titled "Sentinels for Bering Sea ecosystem change." Moorings have been maintained on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf at four sites: M2 (56.9B0N, 164.1B0W) since 1995, M4 (57.9B0N, 168.9B0W) since 1996; M5 (59.9B0N, 171.7B0W) and; M8 (62.2B0N 174.7B0W) since 2004. Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, fluorescence and zooplankton were collected around the moorings and along the 70-m isobath on 3 cruises (3MF05, 16 April b?? 7 May; 3TT05, May 12 - 28; 8MF05, 21 September b?? 4 October) to groundtruth the in situ sensors on the moorings. This long-term monitoring supports major findings: (1) Over the southeastern shelf, the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom is determined by the presence of ice, with an early bloom occurring if ice is present after mid-March and a later bloom if there is no sea-ice after mid-March; (2) during 2001-2005, the southeastern Bering Sea shelf underwent a marked warming (~3B0C) that was closely associated with a decrease of sea ice; with shifts in the atmospheric forcing, colder conditions returned to the Bering Sea shelf in the winter 2006 and continued into winter/spring 2007; (3) nutrients supply and summer salinity over the shelf has not significantly changed during the last three decades; (4) in association with the warming there is an indication that the abundance of cold-water zooplankton species (e.g. Calanus marshallae ) has been reduced; (5) from hydrography collected in May and September 2005 along the 70 m isobath starting at M2 in the south and ending at M8 in the north, it is evident that the structure of southern shelf is dominated by temperature, while the northern shelf is dominated by salinity. In addition, the location of the boundary between the southern shelf and northern shelf appears to vary from one year to the next and is mainly, but not completely dependent upon maximum ice extent during the spring.

These data are part of an ocean observation study by Stabeno, Napp, and Whitledge sponsored, in part, by the North Pacific Research Board (Project 701; http://doc.nprb.org). The grant was titled "Sentinels for ecosystem change: long term biophysical moorings on the Bering Sea shelf (2007 b?? 2008)." Moorings have been maintained on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf at four sites: M2 (56.9B0N, 164.1B0W) since 1995, M4 (57.9B0N, 168.9B0W) since 1996; M5 (59.9B0N, 171.7B0W) and; M8 (62.2B0N 174.7B0W) since 2004. Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, fluorescence and zooplankton were collected around the moorings and along the 70-m isobath on 4 cruises (3MF07, 18 April b?? 6 May; 1HE07, 10 April b?? 12 May; 7MF07, 17 b?? 30 September; 1TT07, 24 September b?? 11 October) to groundtruth the in situ sensors on the moorings and to learn the factors that distinguish the upper water column of the central and southeastern middle shelf.

These data are part of an ocean observation study by Stabeno, Napp, and Whitledge sponsored, in part, by the North Pacific Research Board (Project 602; http://doc.nprb.org). The grant was titled "Sentinels for Bering Sea ecosystem change." Moorings have been maintained on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf at four sites: M2 (56.9B0N, 164.1B0W) since 1995, M4 (57.9B0N, 168.9B0W) since 1996; M5 (59.9B0N, 171.7B0W) and; M8 (62.2B0N 174.7B0W) since 2004. Shipboard measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll, fluorescence and zooplankton were collected around the moorings and along the 70-m isobath on 2 cruises (2MF06, 12 April b?? 6 May; 7MF06, 25 September b?? 10 October) to groundtruth the in situ sensors on the moorings and to learn the factors that distinguish the upper water column of the central and southeastern middle shelf.

Ecosystem & Fisheries-Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (Eco-FOCI) is an effort by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and associated academic scientists. Eco-FOCI's goal is to understand the effects of abiotic and biotic variability on ecosystems of the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS), and PMEL/AFSC base. This was the last of a series of cruises in support of research of the Bering Ecosystem Study (BEST) and Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Study (BSIERP) co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the North Pacific Research Board.

The dataset contains records of fish eggs and larvae collected during FOCI assessment surveys. Records include all data pertinent to identify where specimens were collected (lat, lon, date, gear used, max depth of gear, water depth). Specific data on specimens includes scientific name, stage of development, number collected (whole numbers and CPUE), lengths of larvae, and diameters and stages of eggs. In addition, there are comments that explain any irregularities that may have occurred during sample collection; depending on the reason data is being extracted, comments may indicate a sample is not suitable for consideration.

Otolith data are collected to measure age and growth of larval pollock. They are used to determine whether growth rate, hatch data and/or temperature influence fish size.

Data collected on this cruise included the following: We conducted a juvenile fish and benthic fish prey survery in the eastern Bering Sea (61 3-meter beam trawls, 64 modified tucker epibenthic plankton sled tows, 54 van veen benthic grab collections).

A total of 105 stations were occupied. There were two sample grids (southeast Alaska and Yakutat Bay) and two transects in the vicinity of Kayak Island. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively) and a Sameoto neuston sampler (500 micron mesh net) to estimate the abundance of zoo- and ichthyoplankton. A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. At a few selected stations depth-stratified plankton were obtained with a 1 meter squared MOCNESS (500 micron mesh nets) and at other selected stations microzooplankton were sampled with vertical tows of a CalVET net (53 micron mesh).

A total of 105 stations were occupied. There were two sample grids (southeast Alaska and Yakutat Bay) and two transects in the vicinity of Kayak Island. At each station we sampled using paired 20 and 60 cm Bongo frames (150 and 500 micron mesh nets, respectively) and a Sameoto neuston sampler (500 micron mesh net) to estimate the abundance of zoo- and ichthyoplankton. A SeaBird SeaCat (SBE 19 plus) was used with the bongo frames to determine the depth of the samplers in real time and to measure temperature and conductivity. At a few selected stations depth-stratified plankton were obtained with a 1 meter squared MOCNESS (500 micron mesh nets) and at other selected stations microzooplankton were sampled with vertical tows of a CalVET net (53 micron mesh).