Scalloway - Shetland Isles Northwest North Sea Latitude:   60.1342     Longitude:   -1.2825 Associated Investigators: Eileen Bresnan   Related Web Sites: [Marine Scotland - Scalloway Monitoring site]   [Marine Scotland - All Monitoring Sites]   Related Time Series: [ Stonehaven (Zoo+Phy) ]   [ Scapa Bay (Phy, Orkney) ]   [ Scalloway (Phy, Shetland Isles) ]   [ Loch Ewe (Zoo+Phy) ]   [ Loch Maddy (Phy, Western Isles) ]   [ Millport (Phy) ]   Marine Scotland Science (MSS) operates a Coastal Ecosystem Monitoring Programme at a number of sites around the Scottish coast. A variety of physical, chemical, and biological parameters are monitored in order to generate datasets that will allow variability and change in the marine ecosystem to be identified and investigated. Scalloway (60 08.06'N 1 16.95'W) in the Shetland Isles has been participating in this monitoring programme since 2002. Samples are collected by the North Atlantic Fisheries College ( https://www.nafc.ac.uk), and their input to the success of this programme is gratefully acknowledged. The Shetland Isles lie over 100 miles north of the UK mainland. Atlantic water from west of the UK enters the North Sea between the Orkney and Shetland Islands and also around northeast of Shetland through the Norwegian trench. Scalloway is located on the southwest coast of the Shetland mainland. The monitoring site is moderately exposed, and samples are collected from a pontoon close to the North Atlantic Fisheries College. The sampling site is less than 10 m deep. Temperature is measured using a minilogger, and surface-water samples are taken for salinity and chemical analysis. An integrated tube sampler is used to collect samples for phytoplankton community analysis. Phytoplankton samples are preserved in Lugol's iodine and analysed using the Utermohl method (Utermohl, 1958). Seasonal and interannual trends Temperature demonstrates a distinct seasonality, with lowest temperatures in March and warmest in August. The lowest temperatures are observed during spring (ca. 6 C) and the warmest temperatures towards late summer. The temperature at this site rarely exceeds 14 C. A strong annual cycle can be seen in the phytoplankton community at this site. During winter, phytoplankton growth is reduced. Diatoms begin to increase in spring, whereas Dinoflagellates become more abundant during summer. In contrast to other sites in the programme, the summer Dinoflagellate Ceratium is rarely observed at this site. Instead, members of the Dinoflagellate genera Gonyaulax and Alexandrium can become abundant. During some years, small thecate Dinoflagellates such as Heterocapsa can form dense blooms during early summer. Since 2006, Diatom abundance has increased throughout summer. This community has been dominated by Thalassiosira, Chaetoceros, and Pseudonitzschia. Increased numbers of Dinoflagellates during 2008 and 2009 were the result of the high abundance of thecate Dinoflagellates such as Gonyaulax, Heterocapsa, and Scrippsiella. Blooms of Karenia Mikimotoi have also been recorded in this area, and a bloom in 2003 resulted in significant mortalities of farmed fish. Further information and links to the data collected at this site can be found at the Marine Scotland website ( https://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/science/MSInteractive/Themes/Coastal).