Patterns of distribution of sound‐scattering zooplankton in warm‐ and cold‐core eddies in the Gulf of Mexico, from a narrowband acoustic Doppler current profiler survey

Abstract

The acoustic backscatter intensity (ABI) reflected from epipelagic zooplankton communities in the central Gulf of Mexico was measured during June 1995 with a vessel‐mounted, narrowband‐153‐kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). Horizontal and vertical variations in ABI were documented in three kinds of mesoscale hydrographic features commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico: the warm‐core Loop Current (LC), a warm‐core Loop Current eddy (LCE), and a cold‐core region that separated the two warm‐core features. Since new nitrogen domes close to surface waters in cold‐core features whereas surface waters of warm‐core features are nutrient depleted, the cold‐core region was expected to have higher biological stocks as a result of locally higher primary production. Both ABI and net tow data confirmed that the cold‐core region was in fact a zone of local aggregation of zooplankton and micronekton. During both day and night, ABI when integrated for the upper 50 and 100 m in the cold‐core region was significantly greater than in the LC or in the LCE, and ABI was positively correlated with standing stock biomass taken by the net tows. Further investigations into the biological differences between Gulf of Mexico divergence and convergence regimes are warranted, and the ADCP will be a useful tool for examination of the distribution of sound scatterers in such features.