Continuous Plankton Recorder and Temperature Data, Gulf of Alaska, 2023, Gulf Watch Alaska Environmental Drivers Component

These data are part of the Gulf Watch Alaska, Environmental Drivers component of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC), project number 22120114-D. Gulf Watch Alaska is the long-term ecosystem monitoring program of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council for the marine ecosystem affected by the 1989 oil spill. This dataset contains two types of comma-separated values (csv) files organized by year: CPR category files, describing abundances of phytoplankton and zooplankton taxa retained by a Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR); and physical data files, which are water measurement from a CTD attached to the CPR. CPR data have been collected since 1997. Refer to Related Resource for cross reference to the longer timeseries plankton dataset. These data were collected to describe the plankton populations of the North Pacific and to monitor their distribution and abundance over multiple years. The CPR collected plankton samples as it was towed behind a merchant ship on a transect from Tacoma, WA to Anchorage, AK, and physical data from a Brancker CTD-F attached to the CPR. The CPR has sampled this transect monthly from spring through summer since 2004. There are also data from 2000-2003 from a previous transect. The current transect intersects with the outer part of the Seward Line and provides complementary large scale data to compare with the more local, finer scale plankton sampling on the shelf and in Prince William Sound (PWS). As part of the larger continuous dataset, several transects were occupied during 1997, and from 2000 to present. The samples each represent 18.5km of tow and have been processed according to routine CPR protocols as directed by the Marine Biological Association (MBA) which operates and maintains the CPR survey. The midpoint of each sample is allocated a position and time based on information on deployment and recovery times from the ship's log.