Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS37 Linking Dynamic Temporal Processes with Spatial Domains (Spatial and Temporal Connections)

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Time: 4:45:00 PM

Location: San Miguel

Wagner, S, A, SMAST-School of Marine Science and Technology/ Univ. Massachusetts-Dartmouth , New Bedford, USA, g_swagner@umassd.edu

Bisagni, J, J, SMAST-School of Marine Science and Technology/ Univ. Massachusetts-Dartmouth , New Bedford, USA, jbisagni@umassd.edu

CORRELATION BETWEEN SPATIAL & TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF A TIDAL MIXING FRONT AND RIGHT WHALE DISTRIBUTION IN GREAT SOUTH CHANNEL, GULF OF MAINE, DURING 1988-89

A large fraction of the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, population congregated north of the Great South Channel (GSC) tidal mixing front (TMF) during spring 1988 and 1989, and exploited aggregations of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus as a primary food source. While evidence suggests the aggregations of C. finmarchicus resulted from processes associated with the TMF, it is unclear how spatial and temporal variability of the TMF directly affected the whale distribution. This study investigates the relationship between E. glacialis distribution and the location and physical characteristics of the GSC TMF. Discrete time series of maps, containing composited sea surface temperature fronts, generated from satellite-derived images, and E.glacialis sighting data, collected during the South Channel Ocean Productivity Experiment, are employed to examine the direct influences of the GSC TMF on E. glacialis distribution.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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