Physical and chemical data collected in the Bering and Chukchi Seas in July 2003

Physical and chemical water properties in the Bering and Chukchi Seas were measured as part of the Joint Western Arctic Climate Study (JWACS) in a science expedition in July of 2003 aboard the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier during the ship’s transit to the Arctic (Institute of Ocean Sciences Cruise Number 2003-18). [...] Objectives of the program were to investigate changing conditions on the continental shelf of the Bering and Chukchi Sea, inter-annual variability of water properties, distribution and concentration of bacteria and benthic parameters from sediment sampling. [...] The region sampled in this part of the JWACS study included the shelf areas of the Bering and Chukchi Seas that form the connection between the North Pacific and the Arctic Ocean. [...] The main focus of the program was to study ocean climate variability and the relationships between the physical environment and biota north and south of the Bering Strait: • To measure the impacts of climate variability on the physical environment and the corresponding biological responses by sampling changes in water mass properties, biological distributions and ocean circulation. [...] The following data collection tasks were done during the cruise: 32 CTD/rosette casts: • 6 casts in a section onto the continental shelf in the central Bering Sea, • 16 casts at benthic sampling sites, • 5 casts in a section across the eastern half of the Bering Strait, • 4 casts at bio-diversity stations in the Chukchi Sea • 1 cast at the instrumented mooring site.