Acoustical Detection of High-Density Krill Demersal Layers in the Submarine Canyons off Georges Bank
C. H. GREENE 1,
P. H. WIEBE 2,
J. BURCZYNSKI 3, and
M. J. YOUNGBLUTH 4
1 Ecosystem Research Center, Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, and Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
2 Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543.
3 BioSonics Incorporated, 4520 Union Bay Place NE, Seattle, WA 98105.
4 Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 Old Dixie Highway, Fort Pierce, FL 34946.
High-density demersal layers of krill have been detected in the submarine canyons off Georges Bank by means of a high-frequency, dual-beam bioacoustical technique. Krill densities in these demersal layers were observed to be two to three orders of magnitude greater than the highest densities observed in water-column scattering layers. Such abundances may help explain the unusually high squid and demersal fish production estimates attributed to the Georges Bank ecosystem.
Submitted on March 14, 1988
Accepted on June 7, 1988
