Cruise Report S-204 : Scientific Activities Undertaken Aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans, Oahu, HI, USA – Kiritimati, Republic of Kiribati – Palmyra Atoll, USA – Oahu, HI, USA. 24 March – 1 May 2006

Abstract

This cruise report provides a record of data collected aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans during Cruise S-204 during March - May of 2006. The cruise track transected the central Pacific Ocean from Oahu, HI to the Equator and back (Fig. 1). The sea-going program is an extension of Sea Education Association (SEA) courses conducted for six weeks on shore in Woods Hole and emphasizes the application of theoretical concepts to the study of the oceans. Oceanographic research conducted during Cruise S-204 involved extensive data collection for individual student projects (Table 1) and ongoing SEA research programs. The student projects focused on current scientific problems in physical, chemical, biological, geological, and environmental oceanography, and stressed the interdisciplinary nature of the applied science. In particular, the complex interaction of oceanic processes was emphasized by interdisciplinary, regional, and temporal comparative analysis of the various data sets collected. Student research papers are available on request from SEA. Permission to conduct oceanographic research within the territorial jurisdiction of the Republic of Kiribati was most kindly granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Republic of Kiribati under Diplomatic Note: FA:44/21/060. Water sampling within the Jarvis Island and Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuges was performed under Special Use Permit 12533-06018 under the auspices of the United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Special thanks to the Project Leader of the Pacific Remote Islands NWR Complex for granting said Permit, and to The Nature Conservancy staff at Palmyra Atoll for hosting such an educationally beneficial port stop. During the cruise, samples or data were collected at 167 discrete oceanographic stations (Tables 2 and 3) in addition to continuously sampling water depth, sub-bottom acoustic profiling, Acoustic Doppler Current Profiles (ADCP) and flow-through sea surface temperature, salinity and in-vivo fluorescence. This report summarizes sea surface chemical properties (Table 3), subsurface physical, chemical and biological characteristics (Fig. 2, Tables 4 and 5), and surface sediment qualities (Table 6). Lengthy CTD, CHIRP, ADCP and flow-through data are not reported here. All unpublished data can be made available by arrangement with the SEA archivist (Contact information, p.2). The information contained in this report is not intended to represent final interpretation of the data and should not be excerpted or cited without written permission from SEA.