Protocol of the Third Joint US-USSR 



Bering & Chukchi Seas Expedition 



on the RA^ Akademik Korolev 



In accordance with the memorandum of the 1 1th meeting 

 of the US-USSR Joint Committee on the Environment 

 Protection (Moscow, USSR, February 1988), the 

 recommendation of the "Soviet-American Conference on the 

 Ecology of the Bering Sea" ( Batumi, USSR, March 1988), and 

 the plan of the joint bilateral activity of 02.07-2101 

 "Comprehensive Analysis ofMarine Ecosystems and Ecological 

 Problems of the World Ocean", the Third Joint US-USSR 

 Bering & Chukchi Seas Expedition was held on 26 July- 

 2 September 1 988 on board the Soviet research wtsi^eX Akademik 

 Korolev. The delegation was headed by Prof. Alia V. Tsyban 

 and Mr. Harold J. O'Connor (Project Leaders 02.07-2101 ). 



The Soviet delegates were represented by participants in 

 the cruise from the USSR State Committee for 

 Hydrometeorology and Control of Natural Environment; the 

 Academy of Sciences from the USSR; and the Academies of 

 Sciences from Ukraine, Belyorussia, and Estonia. A list of 

 participants is given as Appendix A. 



The American delegates were represented by participants 

 from the US Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife 

 Service; University of Texas; Texas A&M University; 

 University of Alaska; University of New England (Maine); 

 University of Washington; University of South Carolina; 

 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography; and Lamont-Doherty 

 Geological Observatory. A list of participants is given as 

 Appendix A. 



The principal objective of the Third Joint US-USSR 

 Expedition was to characterize the contemporary condition of 

 the fundamental oceanographic, hydrochemical (including 

 pollution levels), and the hydrobiological parameters of marine 

 ecosystems and to assess their assimilative capacity for marine 

 pollution. This research was undertaken both on the polygons 

 of long term investigations and in new areas of the Bering Sea 

 (Gulf of Anadyr, Chirikov basin, and the Bering Strait ) and the 

 southern portion of the Chukchi Sea. 



The main scientific tasks were 



1. Biological, chemical . and physical fundamental data were 

 collected to provide a comprehensive ecological and 

 oceanographic profile of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. 



2. Studies of the physiological and ecological characteristics 

 of plankton organisms were conducted. 



3. The ecological health of the Bering Sea was assessed. 



In accordance with protocols of the Joint American- 

 Soviet meeting (Batumi, Mar. 1988), the research vessel 

 Akademik Korolev. with the Soviet participants on board, 

 arrived in Dutch Harbor. USA, on 24 July 1988. During a 

 three-day port of call, the American specialists and their 

 scientific equipment were taken on board. The Third US- 

 USSR Expedition started on 27 July with the transit to the East 

 Polygon. 



Complex ecological investigations in the Bering and 

 Chukchi Seas were accomplished in four stages. In the first 

 stage, work was started in the East Polygon (Stations 1-6) and 

 was completed in the Gulf of Anadyr ( Stations 6-43). The next 

 stage studied the areas of the southern Chukchi Sea (Stations 

 6—13) andincludedatransect of the Bering Strait. After a port 

 of call to Nome, Alaska (USA, 17-18 August), investigations 

 were continued in the Chirikov basin from the Bering Strait to 

 St. Lawrence Island. The final stage of the expedition consisted 

 of six stations (109-1 13)including the South Polygon. Complex 

 ecological studies (see Frontispiece) were conducted in 113 

 stations of the transects and of three polygons (East, North, and 

 South ). A map and station locations are found in the Frontispiece. 

 The joint work and debarkation was completed on 2 September 

 1988 in Dutch Harbor. The entire duration of the Third US- 

 USSR Expedition to the Bering and Chukchi Seas was 42 days. 



In accordance with specialties of the expedition's 

 participants, working groups were organized (Appendix A). 

 At these meetings, work schedules, joint studies, and model 

 experiments were planned. During the expedition, several 

 meetings of the Scientific Council Board were held. 



Examined were: 

 /. ecological problems of monitoring studies of highly 

 productive regions of the World Ocean; 



2. the contemporary state of the knowledge of the Bering and 

 Chukchi Seas' ecosystem; and 



3. preliminary scientific results of the Third US-USSR Bering 

 & Chukchi Seas Expedition. 



In the course of the meeting, scientific reports to the 

 American and Soviet specialists were presented. 



During the Third Joint US-USSR Bering & Chukchi Seas 

 Expedition, the following preliminary results were obtained: 

 the research was undertaken in five different ecosystems in the 

 Bering and Chukchi Seas. Two ecosystems were situated in the 

 East and South Polygons and they have the characteristics of 

 deep-water ecosystems. Three ecosystems were in shallow- 

 water areas of the Bering Sea (Gulf of Anadyr, Bering Strait, 

 Chirikov basin) and the Chukchi Sea (southern portion) and 

 were typical shelf ecosystems. 



The structure of the water mass on the East Polygon 

 consisted of the shelf s boundary and was influenced greatly by 

 the Bering Current tlowing along the continental shelf-slope. 

 Analysis of the distribution of temperature revealed the existence 

 of two water layers. The minimum temperature was found at 

 the depth of 150-250 m (boundary of the shelf- water of the 

 Bering Current), and the maximum temperature was found at 

 the depth of 400-500 m ( intermediate water of the Bering Sea). 

 We must note that both the minimum ( 1 .6°C ) and the maximum 

 (8.9°C) temperatures were approximately 0.3-0.5°C higher 

 than the average long term data for the region. 



