SKA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 159 
The results given in the preceding tables bear out in 
a most satisfactory manner the conclusions drawn from 
the first year and a half’s work and given in last year’s 
report. We again find :— 
(1) That in nearly all cases the water at any given 
spot has practically the same salinity from top to bottom. 
The only notable exceptions are the first two stations near 
Morecambe Bay, and, as shown in last year’s report, the 
difference between top and bottom salinities in these cases 
is undoubtedly due to tidal effects. Wven at the very 
deep stations investigated during the June trip there is 
only a very small increase in salinity with depth. The 
importance of this fact will be discussed presently. 
(2) There is a well marked but smali seasonal 
variation in the salinities. This point is clearly brought 
out by the table on page 160, which gives the salinities at 
the ten stations for the various months. Both top and 
bottom salinities are given in cases where there was any 
marked ditference. 
Tt will be seen that in the case of the first four 
stations the salinity is at a minimum about February and 
at a maximum about October, while the times of the 
maxima and minima are exactly reversed in the case of 
stations V, VI and VII. ‘The maximum salinity at 
stations VIII, IX and X no doubt also occurs in October 
and the minimum in February, though unfortunately, 
owing to the bad weather, no samples could be collected 
from these stations during the February trip. 
The cause of these seasonal variations is worthy of 
some consideration. 
Tt is well known that the salinity of considerable 
areas of the North Sea and English Channel is influenced 
by the variation in the amount of warm Atlantic water of 
comparatively high salinity flowing into it (the so-called 
