Dataset extent

Pre-processed SADCP data from the South Coast Moorings and Monitoring Lines Cruise on the Algoa Voyage 213, December 2014

This is pre-processed Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (SADCP) data from the South Coast Moorings and Monitoring Lines Cruise on Algoa Voyage 213 on 1 to 19 December, 2014. Between 1988 and 2011, environmental and plankton sampling was conducted every summer along the South Coast during the annual pelagic spawner biomass surveys. Data collected during these cruises has provided valuable insight into environmental change in this region. There has been significant decline in copepod biomass on both the western and central Agulhas Bank over the past two decades, as well as a decline in the proportion of the large dominant species Calanus agulhensis, resulting in a shift towards a smaller copepod-dominated community. These changes are thought to have been largely driven by predation by planktivorous fish, which have increased in biomass since the mid-1990s, but increasing sea temperatures have also played a role. It is vital that we continue to monitor the environment and plankton community in key areas off the South Coast to extend our time-monitor series of data and to gain further insight into the possible effects of climate change and variability on this important Agulhas Bank shelf system, which straddles both the Benguela Current and Agulhas Current Large Marine Ecosystems. Monitoring lines off Walker Bay, Mossel Bay and Port Alfred have been selected to represent the western, central and eastern Agulhas Bank respectively. Monitoring in these areas will detect variability in important oceanographic features, such as the cold ridge and divergent upwelling, and will also span key spawning areas of pelagic fish. The Algoa Bay and Port St John monitoring line has been added to the south coast mooring cruises during 2013 and these long term lines will be completed to add to the above mentioned lines. This dataset was processed using older standards which may not align with international best practices and the standards currently adhered to by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). The Department is re-processing and replacing data to ensure everything has the same format and is of the same quality and datasets will be marked as obsoleted once that is done. As such the user assumes the entire risk related to the use of these data in its current state and format. DFFE disclaims all warranties of the data whether expressed or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. For any concerns regarding the data, the user may decide to liaise with the listed PIs who will share their insight on the data quality, where possible. It is also strongly recommended that the user liaises with the listed PIs regarding their proposed projects to mitigate against duplication of research efforts.

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Last Updated September 23, 2024, 08:48 (UTC)
Created September 23, 2024, 08:48 (UTC)
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contactInfo 2nd Floor, Foretrust Building, 1 Martin Hammerschlag Way, Cape Town, South Africa
downloadURL https://repository.ocean.gov.za/index.php/s/tajGPqkEwP9Gmde
harvest_object_id 7a428d1a-4f8b-4587-a774-f8b5da605892
harvest_source_id c880098e-385a-4d72-80f0-2f1d6603b53b
harvest_source_title MIMS
individualName Oceans and Coastal Research
organizationName Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)
role originator
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xmax 32.0
xmin 18.0
ymax -30.0
ymin -35.0