Pilot Census of marine life in the Gulf of Maine: contributions of technology

Abstract

Recent advances in physical oceanography, sampling and observation tools, and data management methods are sufficient to enable a wide range of organisms in the Gulf of Maine to be quantified and related both to other organisms and to the physical habitat. A pilot Census of marine life in the Gulf of Maine would advance the goals of ecosystem understanding and management in a timely manner. A prerequisite is knowledge of the distribution and abundance of the organisms that inhabit, both permanently and transiently, the Gulf of Maine and adjacent waters, namely those of Georges Bank, Browns Bank, and Slope Sea, including the New England seamounts. Both systematic and synoptic investigations of a spectrum of marine life are needed to supplement current data holdings, which, if extensive with respect to fish and certain marine mammals, are sparse with respect to the larger biogeography of the system. Technology offers the means of collecting and organizing such data. Efficiency in collection argues for dividing the spectrum of marine life into a number of functional groups, whose constituent organisms can be observed or sampled by the same or similar techniques. Five groups are identified: offshore subtidal benthos, intertidal and nearshore subtidal benthos, plankton, fish and squid, and large marine animals and seabirds. Associated tools of observation and sampling are listed and illustrated for two categories: high-frequency scientific echo sounders and underwater video microscopes. Parameters of the physical habitat are listed, and the power of the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System to define the physical oceanography is noted. Issues of data management, systems, and uses are described. Some benefits of a pilot census are noted. For the scientific community, these include making available biogeographic data that can support the formulation of data-based hypotheses. Testing these in the Gulf of Maine and adjacent waters may enable new knowledge of the particular ecosystem to be extended to distant ecosystems.