CE16002 Ocean Climate Sections and Geology Survey Galway Bay

CTD and plankton net sampling oceanographic survey This cruise seeks to provide Irish data to the ICES Working Group on Oceanic Hydrography (WGOH). The WGOH produces the annual ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) which summarises oceanic variability from year to year in the ICES region. The cruise objectives are designed to deliver this data to the IROC effort on an annual basis. Survey data will also meet the requirements of the ICES WGOH national reports and contribute to other WGs such as the ICES Working Group on Zooplankton Ecology and OSPAR. The WGOH provide support to other expert groups who require information on oceanic hydrography as well as expert knowledge and guidance to the ICES Data Centre. The cruise is designed to collect multidisciplinary information, which will support the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) and Climate Change assessments related to physical conditions, marine chemistry (dissolved inorganic nutrients, dissolved inorganic carbon/Total alkalinity, dissolved organic carbon/total organic carbon, salinity, dissolved oxygen), fish larval and zooplankton (copepods) assemblages, marine mammals and ocean litter (marine microplastics). The survey will also contribute to national research projects that focus on the temporal dynamics of environmental variables influenced by climate change related processes in offshore deeper territorial waters. The proposed continuation of the standard sections will provide a time series to assess inter-annual variability of physical and biogeochemical conditions at the continental margin that impact on marginal ecosystems through many trophic levels, such as plankton community distribution, fisheries and benthic systems such as cold water coral reefs.