Abstract:
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Alaskan Arctic pose severe risks to the ecosystem health and human populations in the region. Historically, the Pacific Arctic has been considered too cold for these organisms to form recurring blooms. However, both locally originating and remotely advected HABs have recently been documented in the Chukchi Sea. In summer 2022, a widespread and toxic bloom of Alexandrium catenella was measured in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas during two back-to-back research cruises. In this seminar I will share the results from an interdisciplinary biophysical study where we addressed the following main questions: where did the bloom come from? How did the physical properties modulate the initiation, growth and spread of the bloom? To answer these questions, we used shipboard hydrographic and velocity data, together with ocean reanalysis fields.
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https://umassd.zoom.us/j/97440069270
Meeting ID: 974 4006 9270
Passcode: 428029
