Vardø-Nord Transect - Arctic central Barents Sea Latitude:   78.9180     Longitude:   33.9990 Associated Investigators: Espen Bagøien , Padmini Dalpadado   Related Time Series: [ Fugløya-Bjørnøya Transect (north) ]   [ Fugløya-Bjørnøya Transect (south) ]   [ Vardø Nord Transect (north) ]   [ Vardø Nord Transect (south) ]   [ Svinøy Transect (west) ]   [ Svinøy Transect (east) ]   [ Arendal (North Sea/Skagerrak) ]   The Institute of Marine Research (IMR) Monitoring Programme samples two standard sections in the Barents Sea: the Fugløya-Bjørnøya (seven stations) and the Vardø Nord transect (eight stations). The Vardø Nord transect is split into two sections: North (17) and South (18) , which are each sampled three to four times a year with a WP-2 net from 100 m and/or bottom to the surface. The data presented in this report are based on bottom-to-surface hauls. Water temperatures along the Vardø Nord transect range from 3 C to 8 C, with the seasonal high in August and the seasonal low in March. Zooplankton biomass starts to increase sometime between April and June, and peaks in July. Zooplankton biomass has been steadily decreasing over the duration of the time-series, most noticeably in the southern section. Lower biomass (during the last four years of sampling) and an overall decreasing trend are common among all sampling sites in the Norwegian and Barents Seas. Water temperatures are currently above the 100-year average for this region and have been increasing since 1980 in both the northern and southern sections (Standard Long-term Comparison Plot). Looking further back, however, the current water temperatures are actually significantly lower than the 100-year maximum reached in 1960 (Standard Long-term Comparison Plot, red dashed line).