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THE MAINE EVENT: FALL 2004 Predation by Gelatinous Zooplankton in the Gulf of Maine MISSION DISPATCH 13 • Saturday, September 27, 2004 Dispatch by Marsh Youngbluth - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution The vertical distribution and diel behavior of Nanomia cara in Wilkinson Basin mirrored the observations that we made in Georges Basin. However, the colonies were smaller (=up to 2 m long) and less numerous in Wilkinson Basin. Ctenophores (Bolinopsis infundibulum) were abundant throughout the water column and actively fed on nauplii, juveniles and adults of at least three species of calanoid copeopods, Calanus finmarchicus, Centropages hamatus, and Pseudocalanus minutus. 
Unfortunately, the Johnson-Sea-Link dives we
conducted today were our last ones. The second half of the cruise
has been cancelled. Many of our ship and submersible crews must return to Florida to help their
families recover from the hurricane damage to their homes.
This Maine Event Cruise marks the end of a 4-year series to study the ecological roles of deep-water (=mesopelagic) fauna, particularly gelatinous creatures. The scientific partnerships developed with our international colleagues and their students will continue for years to come. We have already presented preliminary results of our cooperative research at scientific meetings and oceanographic institutions around the world (i.e., New Zealand, Hawaii, California, Florida, Norway, Spain, France and Austria). More detail accounts of our discoveries are being prepared for publication in the coming year.  |  |
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