April 11, 2024 — Have you ever forgotten to change your clocks for Daylight Saving Time? You spend the whole day running behind or ahead—trying to catch up. Collecting EcoMon data in the winter on the Northeast continental shelf helps us set our environmental clocks. Without these data, we spend the rest of the year catching up on what has happened just below the ocean’s surface during winter.
Winter Storms Bring Spring Blooms, Too
During the relative calm of spring, summer, and fall, the ocean waters stratify into distinct layers. Although some mixing of these layers happens during any storm, winter storms tend to be more intense and more frequent.
Strong winter storms mix up even the deepest layers and deliver nutrients from the bottom to upper layers where they are available to support life. Add sunlight, and you get a spring bloom!
Because of this, the water properties that define the rest of the year are determined in winter.
Winter EcoMon was only 6 days long this year. We had two storms that impacted our sampling, including how we got to the ship. However, the days between storms were some of the calmest winter days at sea I’ve ever seen.