PROJECT SUMMARY

1. TITLE: SFERPM 2000 Influence of gyres on the transport of pre-settlement stages into Florida Bay.
2. PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: William J. Richards¹, Principal Investigator; Cynthia Yeung², Maria M. Criales², and John T. Lamkin¹, Co-Principal Investigators
3. INSTITUTIONS: ¹NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149; ²Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149. 
4. TOTAL PROPOSED COST: $459,604
5. BUDGET PERIOD: July 1, 2000-June 30, 2002
6. PROJECT SUMMARY:
   Many valuable marine species in South Florida such as pink shrimp, spiny lobster, and many reef fishes spawn in offshore marine waters and migrate into Florida Bay to settle as juveniles. Physical oceanographic processes would significantly impact the transport of their meroplanktonic pre-settlement stages from spawning to nursery grounds. The understanding of these processes is vital to predicting the variability of marine populations and their effective management. The objective of this study is to clarify the linkages between coastal transport processes and inshore supply and identify indicator variables and functional relationships for incorporation into recruitment models. While wind and tides are most commonly used as transport indicators, evidence from both the Southeast Florida and Caribbean Recruitment project (SEFCAR, NOAA-CIMAS 1989-1995) and the study on inshore pre-settlement stage transport (SFERPM, NOAA-CIMAS 1997-1999) suggest that coastal gyres may be the most important retention and onshore transport mechanism in South Florida. Gyre formation is associated with the dynamics of the Loop Current in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, and may play a role in transporting recruits from upstream sources. This study will focus on the gyre process, working on the hypothesis that high-density influx of pre-settlement stages of lobsters, pink shrimp, and key fish species into Florida Bay occurs in the channels of the Middle and Lower Keys during the presence of a gyre and associated countercurrent. A set of experiments will be conducted to compare the densities of incoming recruits into Florida Bay when a gyre is present versus when a gyre is absent. The sampling sites will be the Long Key Channel and Seven-Mile Bridge in the middle to lower Keys, an area frequented by gyres. Joint cruises with the Physical Science Team in SFERPM will be conducted simultaneously in the coastal waters directly offshore on some occasions to integrate offshore and inshore patterns. In-situ and remotely-sensed instruments, including a Ocean Surface Current Radar (OSCR) system for resolving real-time nearshore surface current vectors, will be employed in the detection of the gyre and circulation patterns. Complementary to the proposed experiments, existing raw data from SEFCAR and SFERPM will be explored to unravel the relationships between recruitment patterns and transport processes. This study addresses a central question in the Strategic Science Plan for Florida Bay, namely: (5) What is the relationship between environmental and habitat change and the recruitment, growth, and survivorship of animals in Florida Bay? It will provide a better understanding of the transport linkages between Florida Bay and the larger adjacent marine ecosystems. The ultimate goal of modeling and predicting recruitment variability and ecosystem changes requires the knowledge of these underlying processes.