TZCF Oceanographic Survey (SE0902L1, EK60). Oceanographic data were collected along the 158°W Meridional from 22°30′N-36°00′N. 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 and currents were monitored using the EK60 echosounder system (38, 70, and 120 kHz) and an RD Instruments ADCP along the transect. Samples of micronektonic organisms were collected from the shallow and deep sound scattering layers at predetermined locations.

Sardine Biomass Survey. Eighty four primary stations were plotted on the survey track with an approximate spacing of 20 - 40 nautical miles. At each station the following activities were performed: a. Deployment of a Seabird CTD down to 200 meters, bottom depth permitting. The self-contained CTD collected depth, temperature, conductivity and oxygen data. b. Standard Pairovet cast down to 70 meters depth deployed concurrently with the CUFES system. c. A CalBOBL (CalCOFI Bongo) standard oblique plankton tow with 300 meters of wire out, depth permitting, using paired 505 µm mesh nets with 71 cm diameter openings. The technical requirements for this tow were: Descent wire rate of 50 meters per minute, held at terminal depth for 30 seconds and retrieved at a wire rate of 20 meters per minute. All tows with ascending wire angles lower than 38° or higher than 51° in the final 100 meters of wire were repeated. Additionally, a 45° wire angle was closely maintained during the ascent and descent of the net frame. d. Standard meteorological data including SST, wind speed and direction, wave height and direction, cloud cover, relative humidity, air temperature and barometric pressure. e. During all transits between stations continuous measurements were made of pelagic fish eggs (CUFES) and acoustic targets using the EK-60. f. A 264 Nordic Rope Trawl with 3.0 meter² foam core doors was towed on the surface at night for a duration of thirty minutes. The 264 NRT was modified for surface trawling with Polyform floats attached to the head rope and trawl wings. The trawls have been modified with marine mammal excluder devices (MMED) to eliminate any possibility of catching marine mammals. Although the probability was very low that the gear being lowered into the water on station will interact with any marine mammals, a marine mammal watch was initiated 30 minutes before arriving on station. If any marine mammals were detected in the area, operations were suspended and the station location moved.

Mixing up the Tropical Pacific (FK150728, EK60). Cruise FK150728 of RV Falkor operated by Schmidt Ocean Institute, departing port Majuro, Marshall Islands on date 2015-07-28 and arriving port Honolulu, Hawaii on date 2015-08-19

Falkor Cruise FK190211 (EK60)

Falkor Cruise FK191005 (EK60)

Characterizing Venting and Seepage along the California Coast

Spring 2011 California Current Ecosystem Survey. The spring 2011 California Current Ecosystem (CCE) survey was conducted aboard one NOAA research vessel and a chartered fishing vessel. The NOAA ship Bell M. Shimada (March 23-April 27) covered the area off of the west coast of US from Cape Flattery, Washington to San Diego, California with most of the stations off California located within the area from San Francisco to San Diego (CalCOFI lines 63.3 to 93.3 from March 27 to April 25). The F/V Frosti (March 26-April 28) covered the area from San Francisco to San Diego, California (CalCOFI lines 61.7 to 95, data collected April 1-26). Within the CCE survey the Shimada occupied the primary CalCOFI lines, 76.7 to 93.3, from April 10 to 25 for the spring CalCOFI cruise. During the CCE and the CalCOFI surveys, CalVET tows, Bongo tows, CUFES and trawls were conducted aboard both vessels. Data from both CCE and CalCOFI surveys were included in the estimation of spawning biomass of Pacific sardines.

Penguin Banks Acoustic Bottomfish Survey (SE0902L2, EK60). Narrow-band, split-beam acoustic data were collected using a Simrad EK60 system operating at 38, 70, and 120 kHz frequencies along predetermined transects to collect reverberation data from organisms in the watercolumn to be processed for echoes of economically important bottomfish.

Falkor Cruise FK190612 (EK60)

2016 Spring CalCOFI. The California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) are a unique partnership of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries Service and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The organization was formed in 1949 to study the ecological aspects of the sardine population collapse off California. Today our focus has shifted to the study of the marine environment off the coast of California, the management of its living resources, and monitoring the indicators of El Nino and climate change. CalCOFI conducts quarterly cruises off southern and central California, collecting a suite of hydrographic and biological data on station and underway. Data collected at depths down to 500 meters include: temperature, salinity, oxygen, phosphate, silicate, nitrate and nitrite, chlorophyll, transmissometer, PAR, C14 primary productivity, phytoplankton biodiversity, zooplankton biomass, and zooplankton biodiversity.