Pacific CPR - Cook Inlet northeast North Pacific Latitude:   60.2500     Longitude:  -152.0000 Associated Investigators: Sonia Batten   Related Web Sites: [pices.int/projects/tcprsofnp/default.aspx]   Related Time Series: [ Southern Bering Sea ]   [ Aleutian Shelf ]   [ Western Gulf of Alaska ]   [ Alaskan Shelf ]   [ Cook Inlet ]   [ Northern Gulf of Alaska ]   [ Offshore BC ]   [ BC Shelf ]   The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) was first deployed in the north Pacific in summer 1997 as a feasibility study carried out by the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS). CPRs had been deployed for over 70 years in the north Atlantic from Ships-of-Opportunity, currently managed by SAHFOS, providing a wealth of time series data (Reid et al., 2003). In contrast, the open ocean areas of the north Pacific have been historically poorly sampled. Presentations were made at the 1998 annual North Pacific Marine Science Organisation (PICES) meeting and from this followed a recommendation that the CPR be used to address the lack of open ocean plankton data. The cost-effectiveness of ship-of-opportunity sampling, the tried-and-tested nature of the CPR and the growing recognition that zooplankton respond rapidly to climate change and also provide the link between changes in the atmosphere and important upper trophic level populations all provided the impetus for support for CPR sampling. The Pacific CPR data collection is supported by a consortium for the North Pacific CPR survey coordinated by the North Pacific Marine Science Organisation (PICES) and comprising the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOS TC), Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS).