BRISTOL BAY OCEANOGRAPHY, AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1938 



by 



Felix Favorite and Glenn Pedersen 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Seattle, Washington 



ABSTRACT 



Oceanographic observations tabulated from the files of the U. S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and from the official logs of the U. S. Coast 

 Gucird Tug Redwing present values of temperature, salinity, density, 

 dynamic heights, and dissolved oxygen at 128 stations, current measure- 

 ments at 29 stations including 4 tidal cycles, and descriptions of the 

 bottom from samples at 56 stations. Several horizontal and vertical 

 sections of temperature, salinity, and density have been constructed to 

 show the gross features of the oceanographic conditions in the eastern 

 section of Bristol Bay, Alaska. 



INTRODUCTION 



This report supplements current 

 investigations of the distribution ami 

 migration of salmon in the North Pacific 

 Ocean and the Bering Sea. Data from the 

 field logs kept during the oceanographic 

 work of the Bureau of Fisheries in Bristol 

 Bay in August and September 1938 have been 

 analyzed and tabulated. The results of 

 exploratory fishing in the area during 

 1939-41 have been published by Barnaby — ' . 



The 1938 ocejinographic studies 

 using State Department funds were planned 

 to provide information on the movement of 

 salmon in the ocean, but the time available 

 for these studies was limited. According- 

 ly, since a knowledge of the oceanography 

 of the area was considered essential, an 

 oceanographic data survey was conducted 

 following a program plcuined by Dr. T. G. 



Thompson of the University of Washington. 

 Observations were made aboard the U. S. 

 Coast Gu£ird Tug Redwing equipped to make 

 hydrographic casts, measure currents, and 

 obtain bottom samples. 



Grateful acknowledgement is made 

 to the Commandeint, U, S. Coast Guard, for 

 loaning the official logs of the U. S. 

 Coast Guard Tug Redwing and to Joseph T. 

 Barnaby of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service for describing procedure and de- 

 tails not recorded in the field logs. 



PERSONNEL AND VESSEL 



Joseph T. Barnaby 

 John H. Lincoln 

 Walter C. Sands 



USCG Tug Redwing 



Biologist in Charge 



Oceanographer 



Oceanographer 



J. A. Fletcher, Lt., 

 USCG, Captain 



1/ Barnaby, Joseph T., 1952. Offshore 

 fishing in Bristol Bay and Bering Sea. 

 U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Special Scientific Report — Fisheries 

 No. 89, 30 pp. 



The Redwing was a steam-driven 

 vessel with a hull of wood and steel, mea- 

 suring in length 187 feet 10 inches, beam 

 35 feet 6 inches, draft 12 feet 4 inches, 

 and displacing 1,210 tons. 



