Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands

Vessel: USCGC Healy; Expedition Dates: July 02, 2016 to August 10, 2016; Ports: Seward, Alaska to Seward, Alaska

Project Principals: Russell Hopcroft¹, Katrin Iken¹, R. Eric Collins¹

Co-Project Principals: None

PI Institution(s): ¹University of Alaska Fairbanks

Partnerships: University of Washington, University of Connecticut, Monterey Peninsula College, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Japan Agency of Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Technical University of Denmark

Grant #: NA15OAR0110209, NA15OAR0110207, NA15OAR0110208; Award Period: August 01, 2015 - June 30, 2020

This project was part of a larger, multi-disciplinary group effort to explore marine communities from microbes to mammals and from sea ice to seafloor in a poorly known, bathymetrically and hydrographically complex Arctic region. As a group, scientists proposed a combination of photographic mapping using remotely operated vehicles, physical sampling, and state-of-the-art metagenomics to assess the diversity of this region. The focus of this module was to provide a taxonomic and biogeographic inventory of benthic invertebrate and fish communities across the complex Chuckchi Borderlands (CBL) region, as well as the marine mammal fauna of the region. Specifically, the project team explored whether the invertebrate and fish community of the CBL presents a biogeographic transition between Chukchi shelf fauna and the adjacent deep-sea fauna. Within this context, they were especially interested in the proportion of species of Atlantic origin because of the increasing influence of Atlantic water in this part of the Pacific Arctic sector. The CBL is a bathymetrically and hydrographically complex region, in which a field of pockmarks is a distinguishing benthic feature. One objective of this benthic module was to investigate these pockmarks for unique associations of invertebrate and fish fauna. Scientists also provided a link to higher trophic levels by observing the marine mammal community utilizing this region. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2015 Funding Opportunity.

Data Citation

Hopcroft, Russell; Iken, Katrin; Collins, R. Eric (2022). Environmental data and products from NOAA Ocean Exploration Grant Awards NA15OAR0110207, NA15OAR0110208, and NA15OAR0110209 Project: Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Project Datasets. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/16arctic/16arctic_cruise_landing_page.html. Accessed [date].