PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC, BIOLOGICAL, AND CHEMICAL DATA 

 SOUTH ATLANTIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES 

 M/V THEODORE N . GILL CRUISE 1 



The program of the South Atlantic Fishery 

 Investigations evolved from: (1) the interest of 

 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the bio- 

 logical and chemical conditions in the offshore 

 waters from Cape Hatteras to Florida Straits; 

 (2) the interest of the South Atlantic Section, 

 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 

 in these matters; (3) the interest of the U.S. 

 Navy Hydrographic Office in the physical 

 oceanography of the same region; and (4) the 

 interest of the Office of Naval Research in the 

 deep scattering layer and related subjects . 



During 1952 the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 M/V Theodore N . Gill was converted and out- 

 fitted. She has a length of 97 feet, beam of 

 21.5 feet, draft of 1 1 . 5 feet, displacesl87 tons, 

 and has a cruising range of 3500 miles. Navi- 

 gation and communications equipment includes 

 Sperry Automatic Pilot, CG Model RD-137 

 Loran, Navy Model SO-1 Radar, Edo AN/UON- 

 1B Echo Sounder, RCA Transceiver Type CRM, 

 and National Type CNA receiver. The basic 

 oceanographic equipment includes BT winch 

 (1200 foot capacity), Markey hydrographic 

 winch (electric powered, with capacity of 5000 

 meters of 5/32" stainless steel cable), and a 

 two-drum Stroudsburg trawling winch (hydraul- 

 ic powered, with 1/4" stainless steel cable) 

 for plankton tows. There are accommodations 

 for eight scientists and a crew of ten . 



The initial effort was a cruise in July, 1952 . 

 This was a cooperative Navy Hydrographic 

 Office Office of Naval Research program in- 

 volving: (1) sound velocity meter tests; 

 (2) scattering layer observations; and (3) 

 the first in a series of twenty -four to forty - 

 eight hour oceanographic stations, termed 

 "standard stations . This work continued 

 until December, 1952. 



By the end of 1952 the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service's South Atlantic Fishery Investigations 

 had established headquarters at Brunswick, 

 Georgia, and developed to the operational 



stage A cooperative operational plan and 

 agreement was reached by the Service, the 

 Navy Hydrographic Office, and the Office of 

 Naval Research. The Service set up a pat- 

 tern of 80 regular stations between Jupiter 

 Light (Florida Straits) and Cape Hatteras ex- 

 tending in area from near the beaches to 

 beyond the axis of the Gulf Stream. These 

 stations were 20 miles apart on the east-west 

 lines, which were in turn, 40 miles apart in 

 the north -south direction, with stations es 

 tablished inshore between some of the east- 

 west lines. The standard station was 

 maintained in its location off Elbow Cay, 

 Bahamas. Additionally, at the request of the 

 Navy Hydrographic Office, nine special sta- 

 tions were located farther offshore. This 

 basic cruise plan is shown in Figure 1. 



The ultimate objective of the investigations 

 is to ascertain the potential productivity of 

 those waters adjacent to our coast from Cape 

 Hatteras on the north to the Florida Straits 

 on the south As a beginning to this study, a 

 general survey of the waters was projected 

 that had three major objectives: 



1. To ascertain the distribution and 

 concentrations of nutrients and the 

 relations between these nutrients 

 and the distributions and concentra- 

 tions of the fishes, as a means of 

 delimiting potentially productive 

 fishing areas . 



2 . To determine the presence, identity, 

 distribution, and interrelationships 

 of marine forms in the area as an 

 aid in understanding the presence, 

 abundance, availability, and fluctua- 

 tions of the fishes. Special attention 

 is directed to the distribution and 

 abundance of fish eggs, larvae, and 

 juveniles; and to the early life 

 history of important species of the 

 area. 



