Detecting Mesopelagic Organisms Using Biogeochemical-Argo Floats

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Haëntjens, Nils, Della Penna, Alice, Briggs, Nathan, Karp-Boss, Lee, Gaube, Peter, Claustre, Hervé, Boss, Emmanuel
• Other Authors: University of Maine, Applied Physics Laboratory Seattle (APL-UW), University of Washington Seattle, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOC), University of Southampton, Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de la Mer de Villefranche (IMEV), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Project: 246777,EC:FP7:ERC,ERC-2009-AdG,REMOCEAN(2010), European Project: 633211,H2020,H2020-BG-2014-2,AtlantOS(2015)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: BGC-Argo; diel vertical migration; mesopelagic organism; scattering layers; ACL; [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-GEO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02586024; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02586024/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02586024/file/2019GL086088.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086088

International audience During the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study in the western North Atlantic, float‐based profiles of fluorescent dissolved organic matter and backscattering exhibited distinct spike layers at ∼ 300 m. The locations of the spikes were at depths similar or shallower to where a ship‐based scientific echo sounder identified layers of acoustic backscatter, an Underwater Vision Profiler detected elevated concentration of zooplankton, and mesopelagic fish were sampled by a mesopelagic net tow. The collocation of spike layers in bio‐optical properties with mesopelagic organisms suggests that some can be detected with float‐based bio‐optical sensors. This opens the door to the investigation of such aggregations/layers in observations collected by the global biogeochemical‐Argo array allowing the detection of mesopelagic organisms in remote locations of the open ocean under‐sampled by traditional methods.