Planning for the second cruise of the Betawave II was done more delib- 

 erately than for the first, but still in an atmosphere of emergency. The 

 Argo Merchant had broken up and the oil had spread more than 150 miles to the 

 east-southeast, crossing part of the South Channel and the southwest of 

 Georges Bank. Maps of oil slick location observed from USCG overflights were 

 used as a guide in the selection of sampling stations. 



Since no one knew if the oil had mixed downward in the water column or 

 had reached the bottom, it was impossible to define the contaminated area 

 with any certainty. Three categories of stations were identified and sel- 

 ected for sampling: (1) control stations well away from the site of the 

 spill and outside the influence of the spill overrun; (2) possibly contami- 

 nated stations outside the immediate area of the wreck, but under the overrun 

 of the drifting oil spill; and (3) probably contaminated stations within 

 about 20 miles of the wreck and under the overrun of the heaviest and most 

 persistent concentrations of the drifting oil. 



Approximately 65 sampling stations were designated, based on random 

 selection of stations within each numbered series of depth strata normally 

 used on NMFS groundfish trawl surveys. These stations were scattered 

 through-out much of Georges Bank south of 41° 45'N latitude and east of 70° 

 OO'W longitude. Several control stations were selected east of Cape Cod near 

 Wellfleet, and the plan was for the Delaware II to go out through the Cape 

 Cod Canal and sample the control stations first. Initially, the ship would 

 stay north of the potentially contaminated area, work eastward across Georges 

 Bank in the uncontaminated area, then work south across the path of the slick 

 overrun, and finally return westward into the area that held the greatest 

 prospect of contamination. 



This plan was followed on cruise DE 77-01 through the first 28 stations, 

 when the cruise was disrupted by stormy weather and the ship sought shelter 

 near Martha's Vineyard. She returned to the vicinity of the spill when the 

 weather improved and successfully completed an additional 11 stations before 

 being forced to return to Woods Hole by a severe storm. The locations of 

 these stations are shown in Figure 4-2. A description of the observations 

 and collections made on both cruises is given in Appendix V. Included in the 

 BeZaware II cruise reports is a description of the surface sediments by R. 

 Wigley, NEFC, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, from samples collected during these 

 cruises. 



The University of Rhode Island conducted a cruise of the Endeavor from 

 December 26-29, 1976, with Jim Quinn as chief scientist. Two stations were 

 occupied, and the following biological samples were taken: (1) one bongo net 

 tow with 0.505 and 0.333 millimeter mesh nets at each station at various 

 depths; (2) plankton net tows on two occasions at each station to sample the 

 water column at the surface and 10- and 20-meter depths; (3) grab samples for 

 sediment and benthic organisms at each station using a Smith-Mclntyre grab 

 sampler (three at Station 1 and four at Station 2) . Only one usable sediment 

 sample was obtained at Station 2; the rest produced only small pebbles and 

 shells, indicating the possibility of a gravel bottom. 



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