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CalCOFI
detectives began the search for clues in the California Current, part
of a great
clockwise circulation of the North Pacific Ocean that transports
water along the California coast. Early on they surveyed 670,000 square
miles (1,735,290 km2) of ocean during monthly cruises. A total of 122
hydrographic stations extended from the mouth of the Columbia River
in Oregon to the tip of Baja California, stretching 400 miles (644 km)
outward from the coast.
CalCOFI researchers began to collect samples of larval fish and plankton
in net tows, often using equipment designed by Scripps scientists. To
understand how the organisms interact with the environment, the scientists
initially measured ocean circulation, temperature, oxygen, and salinity.
Through the years they continued to add data, such as on nutrients,
chlorophyll, and pelagic birds, to the time series.
Samples of fish, fish eggs and larvae, and plankton obtained during
CalCOFI cruises become part of Scripps or SWFSC collections. More than
half of the zooplankton samples in the Scripps Planktonic Invertebrates
Collection originated from CalCOFI cruises. The collection provides
historical patterns for various species and environmental conditions
and is available for anyone conducting zooplankton research.
For instance, the collection has been used to conduct content studies
on the pesticide DDT, banned in most industrialized countries in the
early 1970s. Researchers at SWFSC were able to trace the buildup of
DDT in the marine environment and the subsequent reduction of the hazardous
chemical after it was banned.
 Sixteen
research projects are currently supported by the collection. Half of
these are Scripps projects. According to the collection curator, MLRG
professor Mark Ohman, the Scripps plankton collection is the largest
in the world, housing about one billion specimens representing thousands
of species. Each year it is expanded with more specimens from CalCOFI.
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