Researchers have completed the first comprehensive survey of the upper waters of the continental shelf off of the Northeast U.S. from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to the Nova Scotia Shelf, including Georges Bank and the Gulf of Maine.
A wide variety of data were collected from the NOAA Ship Pisces on plankton, fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, sea birds, and sea turtles encountered in the survey. Researchers also collected information on the ocean water, including nutrients, light levels, distribution of currents and other properties.
“The Northeast Integrated Pelagic Survey aboard the Pisces was different from past ecosystem-oriented cruises because of its wide scope of coverage,” said Jerry Prezioso from the survey’s Narragansett Laboratory in Rhode Island, who served as chief scientist. “This was the first time we’ve studied light levels, zooplankton, ichthyoplankton, fish, birds and mammals in one all-encompassing survey.”
